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BAS

Hurry up. You won’t like this, but Max Roberts has been talking Loni’s ear off the last couple of minutes.

Fuck, no.

Max Roberts. He barely got inducted into the Order a year after we graduated. His legacy was questionable, and when hedidget in, he wasn’t of a rank to get his own Offering.

Hell if I’ll let him get anywhere near mine.

I swear, it’s like everything from our high school days just keep coming back around. Max was on the football team, plowing cheerleaders left and right because they were just regular townie girls, but I caught him eyeballing Loni once or twice. She never seemed to notice. I didn’t care. I couldn’t have him doing that anyway.

Not when Loni wasmine.

So I spiked his sports drink with vodka, sent an anonymous message to the principal that a couple of players were drinking before big games, and he got booted.

Nowadays, he works down at the Harmony Heights car dealership. He married one of the cheerleaders, but even though she wasn’t an Offering, just being a member of the Order means he can have his fun with his Used.

Is that why he’s trolling the Court instead of being home with his wife? Because he’s hitting on mine?

When I think of Max Roberts, I inevitably think of vodka. It might be fitting to grab a bottle of the high-end shit from behind the bar and smash him over the head with it…

Stalking into the club, ignoring the neon lights and the loud music on this side of the Court, I scan the crowd. I see Bas first, and he waves, then points at the bar. I nod and, seeing mybeautiful bride leaning forward, listening to something Max is saying to her, I zero in on her like a great white shark going after its prey.

It doesn’t help my possessive jealousy that Loni… my wife is the most beautiful creature in the world. Whether she’s naked or lounging on the couch, wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, I’m constantly fiending for her… but to see her wearing a little black dress with a low-cut top and fuck-me black pumps?

Max just might be a dead man, but right now, I could fuck through a wall to get to Loni’s heat.

Palming my growing erection, I keep moving.

To hide the insane gleam in my eyes, I force a smile to my lips right as I reach them. Then, when they don’t sense my present, I raise my voice. “What do you think you’re doing, Avalon?”

Her head whips around. I see surprise, then guilt, then anger and I know that, whatever I interrupted, she’s not happy about it.

Too bad.

I give the other man a pointed look. “Max.”

“Adrian.” His gaze immediately slides to the side. “Oh. Wow. Benny is waving at me. I, uh, think he needs me for something.” He raises his voice, holding up a single finger. “One second, Ben!” An apologetic shrug follows. “Sorry, Adrian. It’s so good to see you. You, too, Loni. But… yeah. Gotta go.”

Smart Owed. Like the rest of Harmony Heights, he knows that I’m Loni’s husband. What I did to Claim her and make her mind. Since he clearly doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as Desmond, he makes an excuse and bolts, leaving Loni alone with me.

Very smart Owed.

Getting up from her stool, my wife crosses her arms over her chest, concealing that delicious cleavage, glaring daggers up atme when she notices my eyes had dropped to her tits. “Was that necessary?”

Yes. “If you weren’t here, chatting with him, that wouldn’t have happened.”

Her back goes stiff. “I’m celebrating my birthday. Even ifyoudidn’t remember it, that doesn’t meanIshouldn’t have some fun on my own. A girl doesn’t turn twenty-eight every day, you know.”

Hang on. “You think I forgot your birthday?”

She unfolds her arms, waving her hand, dismissing it. Dismissingme. “It doesn’t matter. If I hadn’t come down to the Court, I never would’ve heard that something is up with Haven. That’s what I was talking about with Max. She was my best friend. She got hurt, Adrian? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Fuck.

I knew this would come back to bite me in the ass.

I couldn’t, though. Ican’t.