Chapter 11

Ares"s good feelings of victory lasted until about ten seconds after Zia had left. Then they vanished and left him hollow. He picked up his towel and wrapped it back around his waist.

"Let it go," he whispered under his breath. He tilted his head back and breathed in deeply. He could smell her arousal and perfume still in the air.

This fucking woman. He prided himself on his control, but when it came to Zia, it didn"t exist. She shredded it to pieces and smiled while she did it. Ares had fucked up the previous night, and he wasn"t going to do it again. "No, not letting it go."

Ares pushed the door open and stalked his way into the showers. He pulled the curtain back, and Zia yelped in surprise, her hands still shampooing her hair.

"What now?" she demanded, and whatever he'd planned to say to her vanished.

"This is my shower too," he growled.

Zia threw the soap bar at him, and he caught it as it bounced off his chest. "Wash my back or get the fuck out. I"m done with your attitude, Volso."

Ares gestured for her to turn around, and she did with a huff of annoyance. He ran the soap over her shoulders and looked smugly at the bite bruise on her neck. He washed her scars and tried not to feel murderous.

He needed to concentrate. It was hopeless because Zia was built for sin. He slid the soap down her spine and up over her shoulders again.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice softer.

"I want us to make a deal and stop fighting with each other."

"Why?"

"Because everyone else is fighting with us too," he said, massaging her shoulders. "Please, Zia. I can"t work, try and keep you alive, and be sparring with you all at the same time."

"What do you mean to keep me alive? I"ve been doing just fine, thanks," Zia replied.

"Really? I stopped you from being poisoned, blown up, and shot at, and that was only one afternoon," Ares said.

Zia whipped around. "What the fuck do you mean blown up and shot at? I think I would know?—"

"The bomb was put under your car when your chauffeur was on a smoke break at the auction, and the sniper tried to take you out when you were talking to Erik at the party last night." He pushed his wet hair out of his face. "I wouldn"t lie to you about that."

"The bug…" she whispered and put her hand to her ear. "The fucker tried to shoot me at his party? Is he fucking out of his mind?"

Ares had been wondering the same thing. "Erik"s not smart enough to even hire a sniper."

"Really? Because he"s smart enough to be stealing money from under your nose," Zia snapped.

Ares went cold. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh? Didn"t you know? Your dumb shit brother is up to his eyeballs in debt to Galen Murphey," she replied smugly. Her smile slipped off her face. "Shit, you really didn"t know."

"No. I knew someone had been stealing from the company, but I have been looking in all the wrong places," Ares admitted. He was going to murder Erik.

"Yeah, he bragged about how easy it is. I suppose it would be if you had access to everything." Zia hesitated, but Ares caught it.

"What? What else do you know?"

Zia huffed out a breath. "I"m only telling you this because I like Corven. Understand?"

"Yes, now spill," Ares pressed, dreading the answer. What else had he been so fucking blind to? He had been doing everything he could to run the company and help it grow, and he felt like he had been cut off at the knees at every turn.

"I found Erik"s notebook that keeps track of his debts. I have photos to prove what I"m going to tell you."

Ares swore. "Because Galen isn"t the worst of it?"

"Yeah. It"s not just the sorcerer he"s screwed up with. He owes half a million to Thor," Zia said, and Ares swayed.

"Of all the fucking vampires…" He covered his face with his hands and tried not to scream. "Please tell me there"s no more."

Zia"s fingers ran over his chest, and he moved his hands from his face. She was soaping him up and calming him down at the same time. "Don"t lose your temper, Ares. We need to be smart about what we do with this information. Are you calm?"

"Yes?" he said. He wasn"t calm, but she distracted him from driving his fist into the tiles.

"Okay, so Camille is fucking Clark from her charity board."

"Everyone knows that," Ares replied.

Zia began washing him again. "Yes, but I doubt everyone knows Clark is also using the charity to launder money with Regina for a werewolf cartel."

"Fucking gods," Ares groaned.

"Yeah, that one is pretty bad," Zia admitted, running her soapy hands over him again.

Ares tried to focus on the sensation and her scent and not the murderous rage that was coursing through him. "So what"s your angle? Why are you here, Zia? You"re a Volso, but you"re not? You"re not here because you want to run the family."

"Corven thought someone outside the family could figure out what"s happening inside it without suspicion."

Ares"s brain tried to think through the rage and figure out what she could be getting at. "This is about Kristofer being killed?"

"Partly. Corven thinks someone in the family did it, and he wants to know who," Zia said with a small smile. "I"m good at discovering secrets, especially because everyone who looks at me sees a dumb blonde from a little village."

Ares looked down into her big eyes. "No, you are far from that. Do you have any theories on who could have killed Kris? We had the news say it was sirens because he was found by the water, but no one could confirm it. It was the investigator"s best guess."

"It"s someone in the family, but no one in this building. I thought you might be the killer for a bit," she admitted.

Ares"s brows shot up. "Why me?"

"Because Camille, Erik, and Emilia aren"t smart enough to know how to murder someone and then make it look like sirens had attacked him. You are. Don"t even try and lie to me and say you aren"t capable of killing someone."

"I"m more than capable. I killed that fucking hitman trying to snipe you last night," he admitted.

Zia"s eyes went wide. "You"re telling me the truth."

"I am. I killed him, and I would do it again in a heartbeat," he replied and lifted her chin. "You might not be blood, but no one else knows that. He thought he was killing a Volso, and that has consequences. I protect my family, especially from themselves. I will need all your evidence on Erik"s dealings."

Zia nodded. "Okay, I"ll get it for you."

"Good. I"ll also look into the money laundering in Camille"s charity." Ares brushed his thumb over her cheek. "Fucking hell, you"ve been here a few days, and you"ve already turned my whole life upside down."

Zia beamed at him like he had just given her the best compliment in the world. "Sure have! But better me than Galen or Thor, right?"

Ares didn"t know about that. He knew how to handle the sorcerer and the Viking. The woman in front of him? No fucking idea. He wanted to lock her up or pin her down or both so she would be still long enough for him to figure her out. The thought didn"t sit well with him. He barely noticed other people; she was suddenly all he could see.

"You need to keep your head down tomorrow," Ares said, turning off the shower. She opened her mouth, but he put his hand over it. "Please, Zia. Don"t argue with me about this. Whoever hired that hitman wasn"t fucking around. Until I know who it's targeting you, I need you to stay in the building."

Zia pulled his hand away from her mouth. "Okay, but only because I like my head where it is and not because you told me to."

Ares sighed. "Good enough."