Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
I’m not sure I care, though.
“There is no one in my apartment. The security in this building is top-notch.” And if Pandora beat me here, I don’t want Achilles’s people to scare the shit out of her. I reach for the door. “Thank you for today, but I’m leaving now.”
“Aphrodite.” He waits for me to look at him. “If you don’t want us to sweep the place first, then I’m going up with you now.”
“But—”
“Those are your only options. If you don’t pick, I’m going to pick for you.” He speaks just as reasonably as I do, which is why it takes my tired brain a few seconds to catch up.
I narrow my eyes. I know exactly what he’ll pick, and I don’t like it one bit. “I don’t know why my sister puts up with you,” I snarl.
“My charm and good looks,” he fires right back. “Plus, I’m tall enough to reach the high shelf without her having to climb up onto the counter.”
Helen is not that short. “And here I thought it was because you’re so good in bed.”
He grins. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”
Gods, but I like him even when he’s being stubborn. I do see what my sister likes about him. I prefer my partners with a little less…everything…but Achilles does have a certain charm about him. When he’s not being a pain in the ass. “You may accompany me up to my apartment to assure yourself that there are no boogeymen hiding under my bed.”
He glances at the other two guards in the car. “Stay here.” He doesn’t speak again until we’re in the elevator heading up, but then he turns to me with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. “We’re being overprotective, but it’s for a good reason. You can’t trust anyone, Aphrodite. Not when anyone and everyone could be an enemy.”
My stomach drops out. “I’m aware of the risk.”
“Then stop fighting and let me do my job.” A weighted pause. “For your sister’s sake.”
Damn it, but he’s got a trump card with that and he knows it. No matter how little I like the extra security, I would have agreed to it because Helen insisted. I would have agreed regardless—I’m not a fool, and I was just attacked yesterday—but I would have put up more of a fight if someone else suggested their security team.
I sigh. “You’re in the elevator, aren’t you? I’m not going to wait for you to leave and then take off on my own.”
“You know, I wasn’t worried about you doing exactly that until you said something.” He grins. “But Patroclus was worried about it, so he suggested I leave two of my team watching the exits.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I roll my eyes, even as my chest gives a little pang. Achilles and Patroclus are nothing like my actual brothers—they’re not cold and reserved like Perseus or naive and idealistic like Hercules—but in the last two months they’ve both fallen into a strange sort of fraternal role that I enjoy despite myself.
It doesn’t hurt that they look at my sister like the sun rises and sets with her.
It takes Achilles a few minutes to do a thorough sweep of the place and even as he walks to the door, he’s got a look on his face like he’s not happy. “I’d feel better if you had someone in here with you.”
“No.” I smile as I say it, though. “I promise to let your people know if plans change and I need to leave.”
He shakes his head. “I guess that’s what they call compromise.”
“Never heard of her.”
He grins. “Me either. But we’ll make it work.” He opens the door. “See you tomorrow, Aphrodite.”
“See you tomorrow.” I don’t bother to point out that he has much more important things to do than play babysitter for me. He’s not my personal detail because there’s no one else capable of doing it; he’s here because it makes Helen feel better. I can’t fault him for that.
I’ve only had time enough to pick a bottle of wine and pull down two glasses when my door opens and Pandora walks through. I pause, drinking in the sight of her. “Did you dress up for me?”
She looks down at herself, dressed in another body-con dress similar to the one from the other night. It’s black, cut low on her breasts and high on her thighs, and it hugs her generous body like a second skin.
I want to peel it off with my teeth.
Pandora gives me a pretty smile. “I might have.”
“Thank you for lunch.” I set the wine bottle down and cross the room to her. “It was really thoughtful of you to do that.”
“You don’t take care of yourself,” she says softly. She slides her hands up my arms as I take her hips. “I figured even if one of the guys got the same idea, better two lunches than none. And let’s not pretend you were going to remember to eat on your own.”