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“Youneedto stop,” she continued, not even looking up at me. I bit my bottom lip as I braced myself for her next words. “It’s fine to be sensitive, I can roll with that. But youhaveto stop apologizing all the time. You cannot blame yourself for other people’s actions. You do it with Finn, and you do it with me. You’re stressing yourself out for no reason. Good leaders know when to take ownership of something.”

I straightened in my seat. We might not be friends, and my dreams might be shattered, but I couldn’t let this misinformation continue unopposed.

“Actually.” I pressed my finger to my chin, my thoughts racing to put my conviction into words. “A good leader is responsible for their subjects—that includes any mistakes they make or if they turn evil. ‘The buck stops here’ and all that. Itisa leader’s responsibility when there is a failure. So if you get hurt while doing something with me, that’s my fault.”

She looked up, forehead wrinkling as her mouth remained hidden behind her arm. “That’s completely different. I’m not your subject, I’m your friend.” My heart skipped at her words, but she wasn’t finished yet. “I’mnotgoing to blindly follow your orders, which means I’m going to tell you flat out if something is stupid. If it’s something I disagree with, I won’t do it. That means that if I mess up, it’s on me, not you.”

A lot of what she was saying made sense, but there was only one thing my thoughts could focus on…

“My… friend?”

Maria pushed herself off the table, crossing her arms in front of her as she answered. “Well, duh.” She leaned closer. “Do you think I’d skip work for any other reason?”

“But…” That didn’t make sense. She’d been so annoyed with Titus for bringing me here. “You yelled at Titus and called him a butt.”

“Oh,him.” She leaned back in her seat. “That’s because he could have justtoldme that he was going to be with you, and I never would have gotten angry. There’s usually only one reason he’d disappear in the middle of the day.” She stroked her chin. “Then again, I could have just guessed. Outside of being abducted,you’rethe only other thing that’s been able to get him out of this office.”

“But…” I bit my lip. “He always seems to be skipping…”

“He hates meetings.” Maria waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Hatesthem. The only sort he’s interested in are those that require finesse, which is not something that most of these day-to-day operations involve.”

I bunched my skirt in my fist, feeling both pleased and nervous at her statement. On one hand, it made sense. I really couldn’t see him being happy discussing budgets all day. If there were other aspects to his work that he enjoyed first, I could definitely see him being a workaholic. However, there was also something else she’d said that was concerning.

“Titus has been abducted?”

Maria looked up, having just dropped napkins on the floor to clean the drink. “Sure,” she answered. “Loads of times, though never against his will.” Her grin faltered, and she let out a low breath at my questioning stare. “Bianca, his work is dangerous. He consults with law enforcement to track down drug mules, bust black markets, and takes down human trafficking rings. This company also specialized as hired muscle for certain industries. Titus’s skills are well known across many locations, and even those who havezeroconnection to our world just because of the work he does, and the fact that he’ll work for almost anyone. That’s how he’s gotten so successful; his biggest competitors will only focus within the supernatural realm.”

“How can you be abducted on purpose?” My pulse raced and palms sweat.

All her statements had been very loaded, but that would have to wait. He’d always been so indiscernible in my eyes, and—as a supernatural Mafia leader—always the one in charge. Placing yourself as a prisoner was the opposite of being in charge.

It meant that on a regular basis, he was the one in danger—not everyone else.

“Undercover work mostly,” Maria mused. “He won’t tell me when he plans on doing something like that, which is why I get upset.”

“Because he might die?” My voice was smaller than I wanted, but it was a difficult question to ask.

She barked out a laugh, not even pausing when the waitress returned to drop off another coffee. But she did wait until the woman left before answering. “No.” She clarified, even though I’d already gotten that from her reaction. “What most people fail to understand is that Titus is only a prisoner when he wants to be. Sometimes I think he likes it. It gives him a chance to cut loose and really rip people to pieces. He’ll only do it on investigations where he wants to inflict maximum damage.”

“And it’s dangerous?” Obviously, it was. I found myself leaning on the table as I waited for her response anyway. Finally, I was getting some answers. “That’s why you get worried?”

“I don’t get worried.” Maria suddenly slammed her fist on the table, and I jumped back in my seat as my coffee splashed over the edge of my mug. “How dare he not ask me to go with him? The only thing I get is a trip to the weight room. How come he does all the fun stuff without me? It’s been ages since I’ve killed some degenerates.”

Oh.

That made sense too. Maria was a lioness, and very energetic. And I, too, understood the feeling of just wanting to punch something. It could be very gratifying.

“Should we do something together?” I asked, trying to come up with a solution. After all, video games were beginning to grow rather boring. I’d hoped that Brayden, at least, might offer up a strategic challenge, but I’d beaten him as easily as Bryce.

I might be able to study strategy. I really preferred not to get sweaty, if possible. But then again, Maria was a lioness, and she would enjoy such physical activities. In the wild, it was the lioness who hunted and killed, while the male lion remained useless in the background.

She could be a fighter, and I, her manager. That might be fun.

We could make so much money. Probably.

She lowered her head, glancing around the room to make sure no one was listening, and leaned across the table.

“What do you mean?” She was whispering. “What are you thinking?”