Marcus laughs hard. “Aww fuck, you’re feisty when you’re jealous, huh?”
Crossing my arms over my chest and bringing my legs up on the couch, I focus my hard stare across the room, doing my best to ignore him before I get the stupid idea to throw myself at him and strangle the life out of him. After all, I’m a cold-blooded killer now.
The wolves begin to stir on the floor beneath me and as I drop my attention to them, Jasmine awkwardly appears in the entryway of the huge living room with Roman’s replacement phone in her hands. She glances at him just briefly before dropping her gaze, not having the strength to hold onto it. “Ummm, your phone was buzzing with a new text,” she mutters, still hovering in the doorway despite clearly wanting to hand the phone back.
She waits right where she is as Roman looks back at her, raising his brow impatiently, though she still doesn’t make a move until he lets out a sigh and holds out his hand, wordlessly welcoming her into the living room to hand over the goods.
Jasmine scurries in and quickly hands the phone over. “Did you work out a plan with your husband?” Marcus questions before she gets a chance to bolt.
Jasmine nods. “I did,” she says, her eyes slightly bugging out as she takes in the snoring wolves on the ground. She swallows hard and tries to turn her attention back to Marcus. “He’s packing our things right now and I’ll meet him tomorrow with our son and take off.”
“Just because you take off,” Marcus says, “doesn’t mean that bastard isn’t looking for you. Be smart about it. You have a baby to protect and assholes like that will use that against you.”
“Ahh, fuck,” Roman growls, the fury wafting off him in waves. All eyes turn toward Roman and the small distraction gives Jasmine the chance to bolt out of here like her ass is on fire. She races back out to the big staircase and falls back down on the third step, hugging the side and watching her surroundings as though something could jump out at her at any moment.
Roman stands and paces across the big living room, his lips pressed into a hard line as his gaze continuously shoots toward mine only to drop away again. His hand pulses at his side as his other looks like it could crush his phone with one easy blow.
“The fuck is going on?” Levi questions, getting frustrated with Roman’s endless pacing.
He stops just in front of the coffee table as Doe stretches up and walks toward him, sensing his frustration and demanding a scratch. Roman tosses the phone to Levi and does everything he can to avoid my hard stare. “She was fucking right,” he mutters between a clenched jaw, struggling to contain his rage as the words coming out of his mouth sound like the hardest words he’s ever had to say. “Ariana is a fucking snake.”
My back stiffens as Roman’s stare finally comes back to mine, a glimmer of guilt glistening in his dark eyes, though the concern keeps me from shitting all over this sweet turn of events. “What did she do?” I demand as a chill sweeps through my bones and my stomach tightens, not liking the look on his face.
Roman swivels his gaze back toward Levi, watching as he takes in whatever is on the screen and I find myself standing, desperate to know what the hell is going on. Levi’s jaw clenches, and as his stare snaps up to mine, Marcus steals the phone right out of his hand.
“What is it?” I demand, sick of not having an answer.
Indecision, concern, and unease filter through Levi’s gaze as he looks back at Roman, the two of them having some kind of silent conversation. I can’t help but feel that whatever is on the phone, not only has something to do with me but is about to change the game.
Marcus’ eyes widen as he looks down, and when he doesn’t tell me what I need to know, I race in and snatch the phone right out of his hands. I back up a few steps, giving myself a moment to take it in before the boys can take it off me, but they hold back, letting me see it for myself.
My stare locks onto the small screen to see a video sent by a private number, and as I open the video, nerves rush through me. The video is dark and looks like some kind of security footage from an old dive bar. There’s a timestamp at the top dated a few weeks ago, but that’s not what’s got my attention.
Ariana sits at the bar, a drink in hand as she faces a man I never thought I’d ever see again. Lucas Miller. They’re deep in discussion, and it’s clear by their reactions to one another that there’s certainly no friendship between them. This right here is business, and the only kind of business that Lucas Miller has anything to do with is me and bathtubs.