Chapter 26

26

Harlow

Being in a room with Monroe and Fallon is a little bit like being trapped in a cage with a tiger and a feral wolf. They smile and trade barbs and sharpen their claws. The impossible feat is to get them to stop snarling long enough to agree to something, but it’s been thirty minutes, and now I’m just waiting them out.

Monroe examines her nails. She’s found time to paint them a bloody red since I saw her in the library yesterday. She’s wearing a sleek, short black dress and her blond hair is an artful tumble around her face. As always, her lipstick is bright red.

Ironically, Fallon and she are a matching pair. Fallon’s wearing a black tank top, black pants, and black heels. The dark color makes her skin look ethereally pale and her hair sinfully bright. She’s lounging in a chair with her ankle on one knee, and the way her hand keeps drifting to that ankle makes me think she has a knife stashed there.

Just what I need. Fallon and Monroe getting into a knife fight in the library.

Monroe grins suddenly. “So, Fallon, how is that baby Paine in bed? He seems awfully eager.” She leans forward, all happy smiles and sharp eyes. “Did he come in his pants when he saw you naked the first time?”

I have to fight not to roll my eyes. Gabriel Paine might be the youngest of the Paine brothers, but he’s twenty-eight. Hardly a baby by any definition of the word.

Fallon lifts an imperial brow. “You Amazons are always so vulgar.”

“We prefer the term earthy.” Monroe leans forward in her chair. “But it’s sweet of you to throw stones from that pretty glass house of yours. Vulgar, Fallon? Really? I know what kind of kinky rituals the Mystics get up to when they think no one is looking. Someone’s started believing their own hype.”

“Shut your filthy mouth, Amazon.”

Monroe inches forward. “Make me, Mystic.”

In another second, they’re going to be fighting and this will have been an even larger waste of time. I sip my tea and sigh dramatically. “That’s enough, children. If I wanted you to brawl, I’d put you out in the yard and at least give the people some entertainment.”

Just like that, I have two pairs of eyes cutting in my direction, one green, one eerie gray. Monroe tilts her head slowly to the side. “I knew you were a lap dog, Harlow, but you’re really taking the cake with this. Is Abel’s cock that good? Or were you always an opportunistic bitch?”

I let the insults roll off me. She’s said worse in the past. We’re enemies, after all. Enemies, and yet in a very similar situation. “Lap dog or no, I’m still free to move around as I see fit while you’re confined to your rooms. I didn’t anticipate you’d be one for captivity.”

Her lips curl into a sneer before she catches herself. “I’m biding my time.”

I glance at Fallon. She hasn’t moved since I spoke, hasn’t seemed to breathe. The expression on her face makes me think that she’s visualizing her knife going into my throat repeatedly right now. I keep my tone mild. “And you, Fallon? Are you biding your time as well?”

She finally moves, shifting farther back into her seat. “I take it you have a reason for calling us here. I’m listening.”

Monroe snorts. “Just like that?”

“Unlike you, I’m able to think with my brain and not just my pussy.” She flicks her fingers at me, a clear command to continue.

I have to pause to keep from snarling. It doesn’t matter what these women think of me. It only matters that the faction benefits from this situation that Abel’s created. He’s guaranteed peace in Sabine Valley for the next year, but that doesn’t mean shit for those in power. Underhanded plays and shady deals will be the name of the game for the next twelve months. In order to cut off avenues for a good portion of that, I need these two women on my side. “You have two choices. You can keep fighting and pushing buttons and bickering and stay in this house for the next year. Or you can work with the Paines.”

“Pass,” Monroe says.

I ignore her. “I’m sure you have responsibilities and other things requiring your attention in your respective factions. Obviously you can’t go home, but we’re willing to loosen the leash a bit. There’s no reason for your companies and factions to suffer simply because you’re Brides.” The jab isn’t my most subtle, but I’m irritated and trying hard not to let it get control.

Monroe goes still. She might play like she’s a loose cannon, but it’s a ploy just like Eli’s easy charm is a ploy. People see the pretty face and the irreverent attitude and, despite her being the Amazon heir, they underestimate her.

“Are we expected to run things remotely from Paine territory?” Fallon’s fingers drift to her ankle again. “That’s a potential security breach that won’t be ignored by our people. You might as well keep us under lock and key and be done with it.”

This, I expected. I wrap my hands around my cup of tea. Like last time, neither of them took me up on my offer to share. “I’m merely opening up negotiations. I’m sure there’s a compromise that can get the job done.”

“I doubt it.”

I give Fallon a long look. “It’s your choice, but with you and Matteo gone, do you really think Juniper won’t take advantage of this opening?” Fallon’s sister was third in line for the Mystic throne, and she is actually a loose cannon if ever there was one. Cruel and petty and with no impulse control to speak of, if she took over, both the Mystic faction and Sabine Valley as a whole will suffer. Even Matteo with his dreamy demeanor would be a better option.

Then again, positioning Juniper to take the throne would be a brilliant way to undermine the Mystics and set them up for a hostile takeover from one of the other two factions. It’s ruthless in the extreme and required playing the long game, but I wouldn’t put anything past Abel at this point.

Fallon clenches her jaw, and her eyes flare. “She wouldn’t dare.”

“She would, and you know it. She’s probably already started.” I turn to Monroe. “Your mother followed in the Amazon tradition of teaching her oldest two daughters to rule so that if anything happened to you, Thea will be able to step in and your people will be fine.”

Monroe loses her smile. “I’m not dead; she’s the spare for a reason.”

“You might as well be dead, Monroe. If you stay here for the next year without reasserting your position, you might not have a position to come back to.” I sit back. “Look, call me a lap dog if you want, but the truth is that I want what’s best for my faction. That means that I will do whatever it takes to smooth the way as long as the Paines don’t fuck with our bottom line. That also means that I have no interest in war. Both of your factions are too strong to take on without bleeding Sabine Valley dry—at the moment.” I pause meaningfully. “In a year? That might be a different story.”

“Bitch,” Monroe snarls.

“If you want to insult me, you’re going to have to try harder.”

Monroe shakes her head slowly. “Okay, fine, you have us over a barrel. What do you want?”

“Speak for yourself.” Fallon’s tone could freeze the entire room several times over. “But I will listen to your proposal.”

This is going better than expected. I can only open the door. It’s going to be up to the Paines to enforce it. “We can negotiate you returning to your factions on a limited basis to maintain your power and continue whatever projects you have going right now—with some conditions.” I tick them off on my fingers. “You will not transport anything to or from this faction. Your family members who are Brides will remain behind to ensure good behavior. And you will give your word that you will uphold the Bridal agreement, which means doing nothing to harm, directly or indirectly, the Paine brothers or the Raider faction.”

“You ask too much.”

Monroe laughs. “Get that stick out of your ass, Fallon.” She pushes to her feet and smooths her hands down her body. “I agree, on one condition.”

“I’m listening.”

Her grin is razor sharp. “We limit the definition of harm as physical and financial when it comes to Broderick Paine. I won’t bloody him, but I’m going to spend the next year tormenting the fuck out of him.”

I open my mouth to say no but change my mind halfway through. She’s going to do it anyway. If I give her this concession, then there’s a decent chance Monroe will keep her word, and it will negate the risk of larger consequences. I’ve only seen Broderick in passing, but if he’s even halfway as capable as Abel, he can handle whatever Monroe throws at him. If he’s not? Well, that’s a him problem, not a faction problem. “Deal.”

“Perfect.” She flips her hair off her shoulder. “Are we done here?”

“That was about it.”

“Good.” She turns and walks out of the room, her hips swaying dangerously. No doubt off to start her torment. Or, more likely, continue it.

I focus on Fallon. “And your answer?”

Her face is completely locked down. “You really only care about this faction, don’t you?”

“Yes.” The word feels like a lie on my tongue, but I ignore the sensation. The faction is my end all, be all. Whatever confusing feelings I’m housing for Abel and Eli have nothing to do with that.

She nods slowly. “I’ll take this devil’s bargain as well.” She rises to her feet, a human-shaped pillar of ice. “Just know that if this is some ploy to get the Mystics’ secrets, it will be for nothing.”

That remains to be seen. But I’m reasonably sure that neither Monroe nor Fallon will do anything to endanger their family within this house. I nod, holding her gaze. “I’ll take that into consideration.” I rise as well. “It will take some time to get the details finalized, but we should be able to put this into motion next week.”

“Good.”

I wait for her to leave before I sink back onto the chair and exhale slowly. That went better than expected. It’s still going to be a complicated situation to maneuver through, but as long as we can keep both Fallon and Monroe on leashes, I suspect the rest of the Brides will follow suit.

I pour myself another cup of tea. Despite my best efforts, my mind goes back to Abel and Eli. I don’t know if either of them will listen to me long enough to sit down and have a conversation with each other. It’s impossible to say if that will help or hurt things, but the stark truth is that we can’t go on like this. If we’re too busy tearing into each other, we’re not going to be able to face any threat that arises.

No matter what Eli thinks of the Paines being back, even he has to admit that they’re likely preferable to us losing the faction altogether. At least as Abel’s Brides we have a chance to influence the situation.

Not to mention… Abel isn’t what I expected at all. He’s brutal and harsh, but there are threads of kindness and caring that appear at the most unexpected times. He might seem very similar to his father on the surface, but the core is different.

That makes what happened the night of the coup all that much more tragic, but Eli did what he had to. I believe that even if I stopped believing in us.

Except…

HaveI stopped believing in us? I don’t know. Things were complicated before Lammas, and the last few days haven’t uncomplicated them. I thought my love for Eli had turned to hate, but last night…

I shake my head and lift my tea cup to take a sip. After all this time and all my certainty, it seems foolish in the extreme to let an outstanding night of sex change how I feel. But did it really change things? Or did it bring what was already there to light?

I don’t have answers. All I have are more questions.