Being the most wanted man in a room full of masked strangers is a specific kind of pressure that I will never complain about because I know exactly how I got here and I know exactly what my life looked like before. I will simply experience it and be grateful and also slightly overwhelmed and not tell ARIA that last part.
"Free time,"she said. Her voice was low. Even. Calibrated. The voice of someone who'd decided what they were going to say before they said it. "You have any?"
"Depends," I said. "On what we're talking about. And where we're having it."
She tilted her head slightly. The gold trim at her mask caught the amber light. "Both answers to be determined. The second one especially."
Behind me, Charlotte was holding her ground. Madison was being charming at a safe distance. Eziel was doing whatever Eziel does when no one is watching, which is probably something that would concern me if I knew what it was.
My women — being themselves, capable, needing nothing from me.
