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If only the Fates were that kind.... “She’s not the Ivanovich girl.”

With lightning speed, the apple was snatched away. Rough hands gripped my shoulders, and Atlas spun me around. My back slammed against the windows.

“You disobeyed. We decided to find another way to access the East Coast markets since Ivanovich won’t deal with us.”

“What can I say, I thought my idea was good,” I drawled.

“Good?Good! You got the wrong girl.” Wrath clouded his face. “Un-fucking-believable.”

I fisted my hands, submitting to his anger only out of respect to his position in our organization. The sooner he took his pound of flesh, the sooner I could leave.

“With everything else we have going on, you did this? Tell me why you shouldn’t leave here in a body bag?” the underworld king growled.

“One, it’s a business day,” I bit out. “While Becca has probably seen shit, the rest of your pretty birds haven’t.”

“I can be discreet,” he snapped.

“Then who will clean up my mess?” I countered.

“Literally anyone else.” Atlas shook me.

A deep breath filled my lungs as I fought the instinct to stay down.

“I’ll fix it,” I promised. “I only paid you the courtesy of telling you in person, like a man. But I’ve got it under control.”

“No!” Atlas pushed me and took a calculated step back. He ran a hand down his tie and straightened his Brioni suit. “No, you’ve done enough.”

“I don’t think you heard me.” I took a step forward. “This is my mess, and I’ll be the one to fix it.”

His fist flew out. I saw it but didn’t side-step. Pain exploded across my face, and my neck snapped back from the contact.

That was the only hit he was allowed.

When he moved to strike again, I caught his arm, using forward momentum to force him back.

“You can’t punish me without the blessing of the Twelve,” I snarled. Atlas might be the voice-piece, holding more authority and respect, and therefore responsibility, but he was still subject to the co-rulership of our collective.

His voice dripped with venom. “Trust me, they won’t mind.”

“Then call a meeting, and we can continue this later. Right now, I have a civilian to deal with.”

Cursing, Atlas untangled himself. Re-straightening his suit, he marched to his desk and plucked his phone from the charging pad. “She’s seen too much. She’ll have to become one of us.”

I grabbed the apple from the floor and went to drop it in the basket. It cracked against the other two apples, causing the CEO to hiss in warning.

“How do you propose to do that?” I grumped, stretching and yawning my jaw. Fuck, he packed a heavy punch. It had been some time since I last squared off with him in the ring for fun. The way my cheek ached was a visceral reminder of why that was generally a bad idea.

“She’ll marry one of us,” Atlas said dismissively.

“You volunteering, celibate?” I sneered.

Atlas let out a dark laugh. “No—I don’t have time for a wife. But...it should be one ofus.Iosif is looking rather peaked. He needs a woman.”

The muscles in my chest constricted at his quick, effective solution. I pushed the strange reaction away. It made sense. And I had bigger fish to catch.

My phone buzzed. I didn’t need to look to see the summons in the group text. The meeting would be tonight, and it would be on the beach, the only suitable place to deal with these kinds of matters.

I moved to the door, but Atlas’s voice stopped me.