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“Your fake accent isn’t very convincing either.”

The man frowned and then yanked his fake facial hair down. “It’s the fucking beard, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Something like that. What’s up?”

“People want to talk to you.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Too bad,” I said and then bolted down the block.

“Hey, wait!” he called out.

My military training took over as I dodged traffic and crossed the street, disappearing into an alley. Five minutes later, I had climbed the fire escape to the top of the building.

I took a moment to catch my breath, occasionally peering over the edge of the building to the street below. Fifteen minutes later, I was convinced that I’d lost them.

Fuck the bad guys, I thought with a smile as I climbed back down to the alley. Proud of myself, I resumed my path to Rose’s apartment building.

My mood, however, plummeted instantly when I got close enough and spotted Melvin outside talking to her. She was laughing.

I kept walking, my blood boiling.

How dare she accuse me of

hiding something when she was obviously the one sneaking around?

And Melvin…

Fuck them both, I thought savagely.

CHAPTER 25

Rose

As I reached my building, I felt someone approaching me. The moment I turned around, a frown fell over my face.

Melvin walked toward me, smiling cockily.

“Are you stalking me?”

“Nah, not really,” he said, his bulky body shaking as he laughed. “I was in the neighborhood and I thought we could talk about that story on me.”

“I’m busy right now.”

“Come on. It will only take a little while. The story’s gonna be a hit.”

“We’ll see. But you have to promise me no stories with lurid details of you and Kim, okay?”

He smiled. “She got a bit too drunk last night and sang something she called Karachi.”

I laughed and put my hand on his arm for a quick second without realizing it. “Yeah, that’s her word for karaoke when she’s too drunk.” My laughter died down and my thoughts sobered. I knew all too well how friendly Kim could get when she got drunk, just like I knew all too well how demanding Melvin could be when he was riled up. “Kim is a good friend of mine though. So just tell me—you didn’t take advantage of her, did you?”

“Me? Hell no. I didn’t need to. Not that I would have to begin with,” he said. “Emotions were running high over in Afghanistan. There was a lot going on back there. I think you got the wrong impression of me that day when…you know.”

I nodded, remembering that day all too well. It was the source of all my conflicted feelings towards him to begin with. He hadn’t tried anything like that on me since though, so maybe military-life stress really had been to blame.