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I roll my eyes. "You forget how many belongings I have."
Less after getting rid of almost all my old clothes, for fear of surveillance cameras being stuck where I can't detect them. And also because the dresses Marius bought me are superior in every way to my old fare.
"I'd prefer to do it immediately; I don't like to leave a task unticked. It makes me restless. Just let me know where I should move."
"You can have my guest room," Rom offers. "It's on the third floor; it's the quietest, and you get a bit of cardio going up and down those stairs."
"Are you saying I need exercise?" I quip, narrowing my eyes.
"God, no. that ass better stay exactly like it is, or I'm moving you down next to these two psychos." He waves toward the lovebirds kissing at the other end of the table.
"Right answer."
51
MARIUS
Iwork at the house all morning, and then my mother catches me on my way out, demanding I stay for lunch.
There’s nothing worse than unscheduled meals at the Goltz house. Ma’s a mama bear, demanding our attention as soon as she can get her hands on us, but in truth, she has her own very active life, with a full social calendar that doesn’t account for her sons’s nausea.
I eat lunch with her and Pa, as well as Beaufort and Keller Senior. Our cook made a delicious Greek salad, and the whole time I can barely stop myself from throwing up, fully aware that if I wasn’t here, they’d likely eat it off her.
Like, I get it, my mother’s hot, my father and his friends were top models and certainly stayed in shape. It doesn’t mean I want that kind of visual in my head.
I finish as fast as I can and rush out of doors.
I don’t have a training session scheduled, but I head to the Dome anyway. I could just swim at the Shark House, but it’s Saturday afternoon on a day approaching a hundred degrees, although it’s not even May yet. The pool’s going to be busy. There’s always a couple of lanes reserved for us in the Olympic pool in the basement of the newest building in Rothford U.
In truth, I was never serious about swimming—not the way Magnus loved fencing from the moment he got a wooden toy sword in his hand, age two. I specialized in that sport because I’m great at it, faster than most, and it doesn’t require much exertion on my part. By now, it’s a habit. My body doesn’t feel right until I’ve used up a certain amount of calories each day.
There are other ways of working it out, but as Sarah’s being lame, I settle for three miles.
In the locker room, still wet from my shower, I’m grabbing my clothes when the back of my neck prickles. I can tell I’m going to be annoyed even before I turn to see Rhys Voss’s smug grin.
“Voss.”
“Goltz,” he counters, full-on grinning.
The fox only looks that satisfied at the expense of someone else’s misery.
“What do you want?” I grunt.
“As a general rule, or right this second?”
I decide I’m better off ignoring him, so I start to get dressed.
“Peace on Earth, unlimited fossil fuels, your mom naked in my bed…there are so many options.”
Jesus, why has no one killed this guy yet? “You do realize I know people who can make you disappear, right?” I clear up.
“Likewise.” He stuffs his hands in his pocket. “And if you wondered what I wanted right this second, the answer is payback.”
Payback? I haven’t done anything to him. Right?
Wait, it can’t be because of that date. That was in November. Surely if he was going to take revenge because I took his then-nothing, now-wife on a date, he would have done it already. “You can’tstillbe pissy about me having a couple of drinks with Vi. Right?” I ask.
That would be insane.
