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His brother wasn’t as controlled. “Take this herb. Guaranteed to work.”
“No, the pills are better,” Clay put in. “FDA approved.”
“Christ,” Julius muttered.
Avalynn caught his eye, her cheeks bright red. “At this time I say no comment!”
He couldn’t help but smile, but everyone was staring at them. He could almost feel their speculation pressing down on them.
“That’s enough about my impressive endowment,” he said.
Avalynn snorted out a laugh. His teammates were all grinning, and her team exchanged raised brows.
“We need to think about what’s coming.” Julius squeezed Avalynn’s hand, a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by pretty much anyone in the room. “Next stop, Vegas. We’ll be facing lots of security issues. The whole city is erupting.”
She swung her head toward him. She probably had no clue about what was really happening.
“It’s true,” Lark added. “People think you’re getting married there.”
Avalynn stiffened. “Absolutely not! Not Vegas.”
Before he could stop her, she yanked her hand out of his grasp and popped up to her feet. He didn’t get a chance to stop her before she rushed out of the room. The bedroom door slammed.
Her manager stared after her for a long minute, her expression tormented. As much as he disliked Heidi, and the feeling was mutual, the woman really did care about Avalynn. That was enough reason for Julius to keep the peace between them.
The team clustered together, speaking in hushed whispers. He got up and joined his team.
Jennings met his gaze. “You look good together.”
He’d tell him to shove it, but it would only make his kid brother break into a laugh, and he wasn’t giving the jerk the satisfaction.
Clay directed their attention from each other as if he saw a sibling argument about to break out. “We’ve had no new threats. Push for a quick wedding. It could draw out the stalker. This case has been open long enough.”
“I wouldn’t think you’d be so eager to end things already, Julius. I see the way you’re looking at each other,” Lark jumped in.
Clay’s brows pinched when he looked at his significant other. “The sooner they get married, the sooner we get that stalker. Then they can hurry up and end this fake relationship. It can’t go on forever.”
Lark’s brows shot up. “You don’t think so?”
“I don’t mean you and me, Lark.”
“We looked at each other exactly the same way.”
Julius’s head bounced with what they were saying. Comparing them to him and Avalynn? Clay and Lark were a real couple. Their love was real.
They planned to stay together for the rest of their lives. Avalynn was waiting for the day she could be free of their arrangement.
A vision of her loomed in his mind, her eyes wide and filled with emotion when he slid that ring onto her finger.
That wasn’t at all the same.
Was it?
ChapterEight
Avalynn paced along the wall filled with tall windows. The view from these hotels were different and yet always the same. Buildings, a city stretching across the landscape. It might be raining or baking hot. People were always tiny specks on the ground below.
And Avalynn never truly felt a part of it.
