Page 9

Chapter Six

Niko stared at the massive, plate-size burger aptly coined ‘The Monster’. He’d been to this chain restaurant hundreds of times and had never even heard of them before.

The fact that Jade was already tearing into her gigantic burger should’ve inspired the competitive side of him. Instead, he couldn’t get over his astonishment at the sheer size of what they’d been served.

“How do they even cook these things?”

“I’m fairly certain they’ve somehow utilized material magic,” Jade replied between bites, “but I don’t ask questions. I just enjoy the result.”

Staring at the mess of patty, bread, cheese, and lettuce, he snickered, “Mortal creativity is truly without frontiers.”

He abandoned any hope of sophistication. From the first gargantuan bite of savory, delicious chaos, Niko was hooked. Sharing a meal with Jade—especially one as low-key as this one—made a part of him blithely happy.

When he glanced up, he caught sight of the ‘carnivore’ across from him. He was spellbound with her obvious enjoyment. She gifted him an icy glare when she noticed, but would have no idea how adorable her signature look was becoming to him.

“Don’t stop on my account,” she urged. “You’ll never win the challenge if you don’t put a real effort in.”

“Oh, I’m in it to win it, dove.”

He doubled down on his bid to beat the big cat at her own game. Due to the sheer size of the burgers, they sat in relative silence until they finished, the ambient conversation swelling around them.

Unsurprisingly, Jade finished first.

As he downed the last few bites, she folded up the aluminum foil into a perfect square and collected their garbage. He savored the last swallow of his burger and looked at her expectantly.

“Did it live up to your expectations, Burger Connoisseur?”

Jade smirked. “You’ve—you’ve got a bit of ketchup on your cheek. Just there.”

Niko studiously dabbed a napkin at the spot. “Did I get it?”

“Nope.”

“You get it then.”

She leaned closer, across the barrier of the table between them, and gently pressed her napkin against his cheek. The sweet scent of lilac encouraged him to draw in a deeper breath as her mouth curved in a slow smile. When her eyes flitted to his lips, she hesitated.

A clear undercurrent of lust electrified the air they shared. By Jade’s own admission, there would never be anything between them. It was outlawed, frowned upon. Above anything, she was one of Julian’s kinsmen .

And yet their chemistry seemed like the most natural thing in the world. It felt as though Niko was rushing water, and Jade, the quickest way downhill.

She jerked away. “Got it.”

You’re right, dove.

Her sudden absence left him feeling bereft, but he shook off the oddity of the sentiment. Niko balled up his wrapper and threw it in the waste bin from across the aisle, giving a whoop when it sailed through the opening.

They strode out into the parking lot, and slid behind the wheel of his McLaren moments later. He started the engine but was stopped from backing out when he saw her fierce look.

“What is your plan for downsizing?”

It wasn’t a question he’d been anticipating. “I was unaware I needed to have one by the end of this date.”

“Not a date,” she reminded him. “Will you be eliminating my employees because they once worked for me? As a punishment for Julian?”

His jaw ticked. “Do you think so poorly of me because I’m Second Legion?”

“I think poorly of you because you engaged in a hostile takeover of my company and forced me out.” Then, she threw his own words back in his face. “I was unaware I needed additional supporting reasons.”

The drive back to the office was five minutes tops, and they needed more time. Jade seemed to be of the same mind. “Pull into traffic and take Michigan Avenue north. We need to talk.”

It took them thirty minutes to weave through traffic before they finally got above fifty.

Given the traffic, his attention had been focused on the road—not on the conversation Jade still seemed primed to have.

Her frosty Ice Queen attitude was an exciting challenge, and the way he could never predict her next move left him eager for their next encounter.

Behind the wheel of his favorite vehicle, Niko relaxed. The meal had been delicious. His engine purred, and the occasional bout of one hundred plus miles per hour never hurt anyone. For the length of the drive, he could imagine he was a mortal man, out on a normal date with the woman he desired.

Many of his immortal peers saw cars as a primitive way to travel, but Niko had seen them as a way to escape and let off steam.

Over the years, he’d taken to collecting them.

With cars, everything was straightforward: if there was a problem, there was a fix.

If a part wore out, he replaced it. While his life was mired in uncertainty, cars were the only things that felt safe and reliable.

The underground garage in his legion territory brimmed with cars he’d collected since they were first on the market. The McLaren was his prized possession, but he’d happily take his 1956 Jaguar XK for a spin any day.

When Jade’s directions took him out of the bustle of downtown and into the countryside, Niko said, “Where are you taking us?”

“You’ll see. I think we need more time to speak this through. I was intending on talking about it over dinner, but—”

“But the Burger Connoisseur in you took over?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Her lips thinned. “Are you planning on cutting my people unfairly?”

He sighed, hating that she believed him to be so poisoned against Julian’s legion that he’d take it out on innocent people. He’d never let his drive for revenge hurt bystanders. The day that happened, he would become no better than Julian.

“That wasn’t in my plans, no. I believe in keeping and promoting talent based on merit.”

“As you should.” She straightened in her seat, apparently preparing to make her pitch. “The people I’ve hired do their jobs well. They’re good people. I screened everyone myself. I know they have the company’s best interests at heart because I asked them, and my abilities did the rest.”

Niko was pleasantly surprised. “That’s brilliant. Can I hire you to screen all of mine, too?”

“You’ve already fired me, Niko.” She shrugged. “I know you plan on moving the company back to Second Legion territory, and that’s understandable, but I need your word you won’t cut McArthur Vegas employees without cause.”

“You have my word, Jade.”

The truth of it rang out like a clanging bell in the night.