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They’re all lost in conversation, and I’m more than happy to sit back and let her run the show. I take her empty cocktail glassand pass it off to one of the servers milling about the floor. I use the opportunity to do a quick scan of the event, checking to see if Clifton has shown up yet.

While I am having a good time, I can’t forget the main reason why I came here.

“Verity?”

The foreign voice calling out to my girlfriend snags my attention back. I land on a young guy in a dark gray suit, who had been chatting with the two agents from Vanguard. His focus on Verity brings their gaze to our group, and they instantly clock me.

Great.

The Chad-looking bro pushes over to us, and I reflexively take half a step forward, positioning myself slightly in front of Verity. It’s then that I notice how still she has gone, the widening of her eyes bordering on the verge of pure horror. It raises my hackles, telling me that something is wrong with this situation.

The guy gives me a dismissive glance, his focus solely on my girlfriend.

“Verity, what are you doing here?” His tone is light, friendly even, but his gaze lingers on her breasts in a way I don’t fucking like. It’s like the asshole can see through the fabric, and it makes me want to punch him.

Instead, I slip my hand into Verity’s giving her a reassuring squeeze. It seems to reboot her system.

“Mike.” His name sounds like torture on her tongue, and the smile she attempts to give him is full of cracks.

Mike.

Why does that sound familiar?

I give him another rundown, trying to figure out if I’ve met him before. Vanguard has many agents, but this guy seems too young to have been around when I was last in the city, and I know he isn’t someone I’ve met since coming back.

His very presence annoys me, but I don’t know why.

“Long time no see. How’ve you been?”

There is something off about his words. On the surface, they seem harmless, but my senses tell me otherwise.

His question sets Verity off like a firecracker. Any pretense of niceties falls away as her upper lip twitches with irritation, her eyes narrowing with ire.

“Long time no—” She cuts herself off with a light scoff. “I’ve just been peachy. Thanks for asking. How about you? Busy, I assume.”

He ignores the clear anger in her voice, giving her a relaxed shrug. “Of course. You know the real estate market is always a grind; my schedule is always packed.”

“I bet.”

“Still, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“My boyfriend invited me.” She punctuates the wordboyfriendwith purpose, a tight, sugary smile on her face as she uses our clasped hands to pull me against her body. Her free hand crosses over to clutch my bicep, making it so she is practically hanging onto my arm.

“Boyfriend.” Mike squares up with me, finally deciding that I’m worth his attention. “I didn’t realize you were into older men.”

“I’m into men who can communicate their emotions and show up to dates.”

“That sounds like a pretty low bar.”

“And yet, you couldn’t reach it.”

Verity’s venom is surprising. The entire time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her get truly mad. Yes, we’d had our fight when she first found out I am Celine’s ex, but even then, she wasn’t angry, just hurt and upset.

There have been plenty of scenarios she has been in where she’s had the right to get mad and yell but didn’t. Like thetime we’d been crossing the street and a taxi turned the corner, almost taking us out. Or when she’d gone downstairs to collect her laundry and found that someone had taken her stuff out of the washing machine and just dumped it in the corner. She’d come back upstairs, lips pursed tightly and crawled into my arms with a grumbled curse. Even on the night I first met her and she’d been stood up, she didn’t have this level of heat pouring from her.

It’s then that it finally clicks.

Shitty Mike.