CHAPTER SIX

I had an early meeting the next morning, but all I could think about was Circe. In the main hall of the training center, I set up the meeting table before anyone else was there. Everything was ready, the projector was set up, but I was still in a haze when eight rolled around.

The little details stuck to my brain. The way her ass nestled in her thong. The little diamond on her clit. Her long, oval nails and the feeling of them in my hair.

The more innocent details were even harder to get out of my mind. How she licked her lip gloss with the tip of her tongue, like she was checking if it needed touched up. The little crease that appeared by her right brow when she was mad.

The door swung open, and Merrick entered, Daphne at his heels. I hadn’t seen Daphne, his aunt by marriage, or Ophelia, her wife, in a while—by choice. A few years ago, I’d allowed Merrick to tell them I was his son. Now, they spent all their time tiptoeing around me or staring longingly when they thought I wasn’t looking.

I understood why. I was their one chance for a grandchild, and I’d pushed them away.

“Hey, Caden,” Daphne said, giving me a warm smile. She was short with dark hair and wore a linen shirt, shorts, and boating shoes. Her eyes were kind, and her face was lightly lined. I wasn’t sure how old she or her wife were, but I guessed they were nearing their late sixties.

“What brings you to the training center?” I asked.

“Merrick thought I should take a look at Maelon,” she said. “And I’ll sit in on the meeting.”

She had every right to be here. Before the arena and Merrick’s formal training, Daphne had trained him from an early age. She was the first to see his raw talent as his adoptive parent, and she nurtured it.

It was her training that had produced the greatest Brenin in our history. It didn’t bother me that she was sitting in on the meeting, but I did sometimes feel like Merrick pushed Daphne and I together on purpose, like he was trying to get me to follow in her footsteps somehow.

I admired Daphne; she was a titan of the last generation, but I wasn’t sure being a kingmaker was up my alley.

My father poked me in the side, handing me a folder. “Can you do a rundown of the deal with the Johansens? Just for Daphne and anyone else who isn’t up to speed?”

“Sure,” I said, moving to my spot at the head of the table.

Daphne sank down beside my father. I glanced at them from the corner of my eye as Daphne said something in his ear, and they both laughed. She gave him a side hug, squeezing his shoulders.

My chest hurt, just a little. I didn’t have any room to complain when Daphne would have lavished all her affection on me if I just knew how to receive it.

I laid my paperwork out, trying to pretend I didn’t care. Merrick fixed his attention on me, and I felt it burn, like he could read my thoughts. He had his arms crossed and his legs tucked under the table, the same way I sat. Sometimes, I thought he was just a better version of me. We both shared blue eyes and dark hair, our facial structure, our height, but he was a kinder, softer, more noble man.

Deep down, I knew he was a better man too.

“You ready?”

I turned to find Yale loitering behind me and nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got to go over the Wyoming base for Daphne and a couple of the others first. Then, we can hit the rest.”

He nodded, sinking down into the chair at my left. Almost every chair was full with Merrick’s soldiers, so I rapped on the table to let everyone know we were starting. They fell silent.

“First, I’m starting with a rundown of the Wyoming base so far,” I said, clearing my throat. “We lost funding from the Cardiff family a few years back. I was assigned securing new funding.”

What I didn’t add was that it was my father’s fault we’d lost the funding. The Cardiff’s son, Osian, was engaged to Clara, my father’s wife, up until the point he put his hands on her. Merrick had lost his shit and beat Osian to death.

Needless to say, the deal was off.

“What’s the funding for?” Daphne asked. “Like, what specifically?”

“Infrastructure,” I said. “It’s a huge base that takes up a lot of space. It’s expensive to train private security, so we need a benefactor to foot the building costs.”

“Makes sense,” Daphne said, giving me a grandmotherly smile.

I composed myself. She and Merrick were making me feel like I was doing a school presentation. I shifted, keeping my back to him, and started pacing.

“The total costs are in the multimillions,” I said. “I struggled to find anyone willing to invest, but Lukas Johansen agreed, so long as his board signs off on it, because he is our direct competitor, and he benefits if he can also train his private security with ours.”

“Risky,” said Merrick, “but brilliant. We’ve tied our success together.”

“Thanks,” I said. “That’s the general idea. Questions?”

I glanced around, waiting. Everyone was quiet.

“Alright, we’re in phase two now that we have a deal signed,” I said. “Lukas Johansen needs three of his predominant board members to sign off on this deal. He’s so confident that we both already have men out at the Wyoming base, training together. Because he stands to lose just as much if he can’t convince the board, I feel confident this next phase will be simple.”

“We’re working alongside one of Lukas’ people to secure the funding,” Merrick said.

Daphne leaned close to my father. “Is she pretty?” she whispered.

Merrick glanced to the side. “What?”

“I just thought, because Caden is single, it could be like a meet cute.”

Yale snorted.

I cleared my throat. “I know you’re both whispering, but we can all still hear you. Please.”

Internally, I made a note to never, ever run a meeting with my father and great aunt present again. Daphne mouthed an apology and folded her hands, looking down as Merrick tried not to smirk.

On autopilot, I moved on, working through everything on the list until I reached the end. We had a short discussion about the day’s training between the commanders. Then, everyone split up and dispersed to their offices and classrooms.

My father lingered while I sorted my papers.

“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked.

“I have training in a minute, but yes,” I said. “Alone?”

He nodded. “Daphne will be here for the rest of the day. I have to be in the city for a meeting with the hotel architect.”

I left my folder on the table and followed him through the hall and out the front door. It was sticky out today, the humidity making Merrick’s wavy hair tighten into curls and sweat trickle down my back.

“Sorry if Daphne made you uncomfortable,” he said.

I shook my head, remembering that I was a brand-new version of myself, a more patient, more professional version.

“She’s fine. I get it,” I said.

Merrick slipped on his aviators. “Clara and I are going out to dinner if you’d like to join us.”

He used to have a note of hopefulness in his tone when he asked me to spend time together outside of work. Now, he said it like he already knew the answer.

“Sorry, I need to work,” I said. “Maybe another time. Was that what you wanted to talk about?”

He shook his head. “No, I just wanted to caution you about this mission. I trust your judgement, and I think Lukas will hold up his end of the deal. But just…be careful about getting too involved.”

I stared at him for a long time.

“You can just say ‘don’t fuck the daughter’,” I said.

“Okay,” Merrick said, shrugging. “Don’t fuck his daughter.”

I put my own sunglasses on, and we looked at each other from behind the protection of tinted lenses.

“I know what I’m doing,” I said. “I got this deal, and I can close it. I promise.”

He nodded. “I believe it.”

I jerked my head back at the building. “I need to get going.”

He hesitated, like he wanted to say something else. Instead, he nodded, reaching down to pull open the door to his Audi. “Let me know when you leave for the first leg of the assignment.”

I nodded. “I will, but I’ve got this under control.”

His engine revved and whined into silence as I moved back to the front door. Instead of going inside, I decided to sit on the curb and have a rare cigarette.

I was shaken, but not by anything Merrick or Daphne had said.

No, I’d just gone through a meeting that should have bothered me. It would have bothered the old Caden, but all I could think about was last night, in her kitchen, the soft skin of her thighs touching my face.

The little snap as I released her thong.

The faint scent of her lotion.

And the realization that I’d never told anyone in the world about the temple of Aphrodite.

Yet, I’d told her, like she was someone I could trust to hold all my deepest secrets.