He doubted he’d react all that well if he found out a coven member had been fucking someone from the Vampire Liaison & Crimes Division.
Fucking hell.
Jones and Harper turned to leave, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Lys dumped her book on the table, marched over to shut the door, then spun around to face him. “What the fuck, Jesse?”
“I know!” he hissed, one hand covering his eyes for a moment as if he could make this all go away.
She walked back over and slumped into the chair. “Is Ian VLCD too? Did you know?”
“Of course I didn’t fucking know.” He glared at her. It wasn’t remotely her fault, but he was starting to panic. “And I don’t know if Ian’s police or not. He told me he worked for some delivery firm, but that could’ve been a load of bollocks for my benefit.”
She stood and began to pace. Jesse didn’t know whether to shove her back into her seat or join her.
“We didn’t discuss our jobs in detail when we were together.”
She snorted. “No. I’m sure you didn’t.”
He swallowed, forcing the words out. “It might be as simple as he’s fucking Jones now. The scent was strong. Jones hasn’t showered since he saw him.” Which probably meant Jones saw him earlier that day. Maybe.
“It might,” she said, voice soft. Her pity made his jaw clench. “But we need to consider the possibility that it’s not that simple. It seems too much of a coincidence that your ex-boyfriend’s scent just happens to turn up on the VLCD’s newest recruit.”
“I know.” Fuck. “But does it matter?” He crouched next to her chair, meeting her gaze. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know that, and you know that.” She gave him a pointed look. TheWhat about everyone else?left unsaid. “Who else smelt his scent on you?”
Jesse ran a hand through his hair, trying to think. “You, Raph...” He winced. “And Peter.”
“Arse.”
“Maybe a couple of the others. I just... I don’t know. I didn’t try to hide it because I didn’t think I had anythingtohide.”
Lys stood and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “I think it’s safe to assume that Raph knows by now. I doubt he’d let on to the VLCD members, so either they don’t know or they’re good at hiding it.”
“Maybe Peter hasn’t run into Jones?”
“Maybe.” She looked doubtful, and yeah, it was a long shot.
If Harper was showing Jones all the vamps, then there was little chance Peter wouldn’t have picked up on the scent.
“Or maybe Peter won’t remember why it’s familiar.”
Lys laughed loudly at that. “Dream on. You know he never forgets anything. Especially when it comes to you.”
Jesse grunted. It was true.
Fucking Peter.
“Well, the one thing you have in your favour is that you only fucked him. And you’ve stopped seeing him now, so...”
They lapsed into silence for a moment, and Jesse sat on the floor and thought of all the possible repercussions.
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Technically, no.”
“So they can’t punish me.”
Leaning over the side of the chair, Lys peered down at him. “No. You didn’t break any of the terms of our agreement with the VLCD. But Raph’s going to want to know more about Ian. And possibly some other coven members might be interested. If the VLCD are using members of their unit to try and catch us out or force us into making a mistake, then that’s something to worry about. Especially now we have that meeting to discuss our agreement with them. Fuck.” She gripped the leather so hard, it started to tear. Jesse quickly reached for her hand and peeled her fingers off. “Peter’s going to have a field day with this. He’s going to use it as evidence that the VLCD have gone behind our backs.”
