Page 311

Two desks with computers sit on opposite sides of the large room. There are shelves filled with books. More books and some packages are stacked on a table. A ring light is in one corner.

Alibi is sprawled on a dog bed beside one of the desks, looking like his life has ended.

A redheaded woman looks up from her computer. She freezes.

I recognize her.

Her violet eyes move over me, then narrow. “That's him?”

Callie beams. “That's him.”

I look at Callie. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Violet stands. “So you're Roman.”

I look at her. “Apparently.”

Her eyebrows lift.

Callie sighs. “Don't mind him. He's emotionally constipated.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

Alibi's head shoots up. His entire body comes alive.

“Oh, for fuck's sake.”

He launches off the bed.

I barely have time to brace before twenty-some pounds of fur slams into my legs. His tail goes insane.

Violet's eyebrows climb higher.

Callie clasps her hands under her chin. “Look how happy he is to see his daddy.”

“No.”

Alibi jumps against my leg.

I look down at him. “Your mother is insane.”

“Excuse me?”

I hand Callie the iPad. Alibi immediately turns toward it.

Her eyes are soft. “He loves you.”

I look at Violet. She smirks. “I'm going to need significantly more information.”

“You're not getting it,” I say.

Callie points at me. “See? Emotionally constipated.”

I rub a hand over my face. I don't have time for this.

Mercer knows her face. I don't know how much else he knows. And Callie is standing here arguing about my relationship with her dog like a man who kills people for money didn't just watch her leave a coffee shop.