“Promise you’re not going to yell?”
I stiffen, already searching the empty suite for where I put my jacket. “What happened, Evie?”
“Crap. Okay, I know you’re always reminding me to lock my car doors, but I swear I thought I did this time!”
With my leather jacket bunched in my fist, I spin out to face the arena and exhale an angry breath. The bar table digs into my side when I search the crowd below me, finding Brielle instantly. A thicker, more volatile frustration bleeds through me when I realize I’m going to be leaving without knowing what happens with her and Beckett.
Not that it matters.
Her wide eyes fly up to where I’m standing as if feeling the weight of my annoyance. She slows her dancing and twists her mouth before mouthing something to Beckett. I look away then, not wanting to see anything else.
“Did somebody hurt you?” I bite into the phone.
“No! No. It’s just . . . my car is gone. I can take a rideshare home, of course, but you know how I feel about those.”
“Where are you?”
“Mmm, you know that bar that’s always got the pink lights? It actually turns into a club at night! Did you know that?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose while sucking in a breath. “Pretty Little Pour?”
“That’s the one!”
“Just go back inside. I’m on my way there now.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. See you soon.”
I hang up and shrug my jacket on. The tight material still smells as strongly of leather as the day I bought it three years ago. With a longer inhale this time, I take the scent into my lungs before tucking my phone into the right pocket.
“I know that bar. I’ll come with and give you directions.”
Whipping around, I stumble a bit in surprise. Brielle’s already got her purse in her hand and an expectant gaze laser-pointed on me as she stands a few feet away, one hip cocked.
“I know how to use Google Maps.”
“Don’t argue. That was Evie, right? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“So, you’re going to my favourite bar for a different reason, then? Do you hate this music that much?”
“Brielle,” I warn lowly.
“Roman,” she echoes, voice ultra-sweet. “I happen to like Evie and would appreciate seeing for myself that she’s alright. If that’s not too much to ask of you.”
“You’ve only met her once.”
“That’s not entirely true. I’ve only spent one-on-one time with her once, but I’ve met her before then. You must have let her out of her gilded cage a few times that you don’t remember. It’s okay to forget things, given your old age.”
It takes everything in me not to growl like an animal. This woman is begging to be thrown over my knee, but somehow, I hold myself back. With both hands sliding deep into the pockets of my slacks, I pull my shoulders back.
“Let’s go.”
I don’t want to make sure she’s following before leaving the suite. My pace is quick, with each footfall pounding against the floor. Her heels click the floor behind me as she tries to keep up with me before I hear a low, angry grunt.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re actually an ass?”
