Page 42 of Broken Obsession

It wasn’t even a real kiss, but would it count?

He searched his expression, but as usual, Ares gave nothing away. Eden’s fingers flexed on the back of his neck, but he didn’t release him. “And for killing him?” He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “What do you want for that?”

Ares glanced at his mouth. “How about a night?”

“What?”

“One night, in exchange for taking the trash out for you. Seems fair.”

“…To do…what?”

“You, babe,” Ares snorted, finding that hilarious. “I told you I would earn it first, didn’t I?”

And this was how he planned on doing it. By carrying out Eden’s revenge for him. He wasn’t just going to help him flush out those involved, he was willing to punish them on his behalf as well.

Was willing to do what Eden was so far unable to do with his own two hands.

“And…” that inner voice fought against him again, pleading with him not to do it, to just shut up and let things be, but it was easy enough to snuff any semblance of a conscience out when he glanced down at the trembling lump of weeping flesh responsible for all the heartache he’d experienced these past three years, “…what if killing him isn’t enough? What if I want him to suffer more than that?”

“Torture? Youwereupset about Galen getting a single bullet. Don’t worry. I can do that for you. No extra charge.”

“What if I wanted you to help me get the rest of them? What if I wanted you to make it hurt?”

“It sounds like you plan on drawing this out. It would be more efficient to kill them quick.”

“I don’t want that,” he insisted, voicing a truth he’d never admitted to anyone out loud. One he sometimes even managed to lie to himself about. “This isn’t justice. That’s not what I’m seeking. I don’t care about getting their names in the paper, tied back to what happened, or socially shaming them for what they did. If I trusted the law to do its job, we wouldn’t be standing here. I wantrevenge, Ares. I want them to suffer as much as my family did—No, I want them to suffermore. You said you’d give me what I wanted. That’s what I want.”

Did Ares find him inhumane? Most people would. If he’d told this to anyone else, they’d probably have him committed. They’d report him at the very least.

But the Black Hart was different. Everyone on the planet knew about them, about the power they wielded and the things whispered about that they got away with. Eden didn’t know why this particular man was so obsessed with him—obsessed with Ransom—but he wasn’t above using that to his advantage.

At this point, Eden was willing to do anything to avenge his family, once and for all.

Anything to soothe this anger he’d been carrying. The fury that’d been slowly but surely eating him alive.

“The final boss is a big fish, babe. Making an enemy like that? It’ll cost you,” Ares’ tone shifted, but Eden was too distracted by the sound of blood rushing to his head to place it or recognize the possessiveness in it.

“I don’t care.”

“You sure about that? I can ask for anything?”

“Ask. It’s yours.” Eden was nothing more than a partial celebrity in this world. He didn’t have the kind of force behind him that Ares did. Being a Black Hart made Ares an Imperial, and on a planet that didn’t have a typical emperor, there was nothing stronger than that.

“A lifetime,” Ares said, as if that were some great thing. “That’s what it’ll cost you.”

Eden grunted. “Is that all?”

“Most would consider that a lot.”

“My life stopped mattering a long time ago.”

“Not to me.” Ares’ free hand pinched Eden’s chin and forced his face back so their eyes met again. “Those are the rules. This is the game. So, are we playing or not, Starling?”

It was obvious that he really was the one calling the shots here. That Ares would let him leave right now if Eden insisted on it. He controlled whether or not he chose to exit the game early, or continued playing, so to speak. That should have made his decision easier.

Eden couldn’t save his family.

There was still a chance for him to save himself.