Chapter 104: Possesive jealousy

Roman’s pov

"You mean to tell me he ran into a wall and became like this?"

Detective Nate had a perpetually tired expression. He was always looking tired whenever we met up with him. Which had been quite a few times these past month.

He gestured a thumb towards the back of the black sedan, his gaze flickering from Kai’s nonchalant shrug to my thunderous face, and then to the bloodied, battered clump that was Milo Cunningham, slumped unconscious in the back seat.

We were parked right in front of the Wisteria Police Department, the flashing lights painting the wet asphalt in strokes of red and blue.

I was vibrating with a rage so profound it was a wonder I didn’t crack the pavement beneath my feet. Every time I blinked, I saw Ivy’s terrified face, the delicate purple bruises on her neck. It felt like it was tattooed on my brain.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe it or not, that’s what happened," Kai replied with a lazy, disarming grin, retying his red skull bandana. He was toying with the police officer.

"He got clumsy and walked straight into the wall. Also, we sent you the digital files proving he was the mole all along, so you’re welcome."

Nate sighed, a long, weary sound. "Taking the law into your own hands is against the law, Mr. Knight."

"I should have killed him," I snarled. "Then the law would have no idea."

Kai chuckled, clapping me on the back a little too hard. "What my dear, eloquent brother means to say is, just think of us as your Batman, okay? A bit of vigilante justice here and there. And don’t worry," he leaned in, "he deserved every single blow."

The detective just sighed again, rubbing his temples. "The higher-ups are not going to be happy about this."

"That’s why we pay you, Nate," Kai jabbed him in the chest. "To make the higher-ups happy. Now, get him off our hands, will you? Before he accidentally walks into another wall."

As Nate and his partner hauled a groaning Milo out of the car, I kept replaying that moment in the guest room.

The sheer terror on Ivy’s face as I beat Milo. Did she hate me now? Was she scared of me? I should not have lost my mind like that. The thought was like ice water in my veins. I would never, ever hurt her.

I would die before I hurt her.

But she had seen the monster, and that knowledge put me in an even fouler mood. ℯ

Fuck Milo. The one person we had let into our inner circle, the one person we trusted above all others, had been a venomous snake the entire time.

The moment the police station doors closed behind Milo, Kai immediately slid into the driver’s seat.

"I’m driving," he shot me a look, eyeing me warily.. "I don’t trust you behind the wheel right now."

I just grunted and climbed into the shotgun seat, staring out the window as the city lights blurred past while he drove us home.

The silence was thick enough to choke on. I hadn’t seen the estate in two days, torturing the shit out of Milo for those past two days.

G said he gave Ivy the week off but that only made me even more fucking nervous. What if all that time apart made her even more terrified of me and she resigned?

My teeth grinded hard against each other.

"Why are you still in such a pissy mood?" Kai finally asked, glancing over at me. "You pretty much tortured Milo to an inch of his life. I thought you’d be celebrating."

"He tried to rape Vivi!" I bellowed, the words tearing from my throat. "Or have you forgotten? That was happening right under our fucking noses, and she didn’t trust me enough to tell me."

Kai’s playful demeanor instantly vanished. "I’m mad about that too, Ro. You know I am."

"That’s not what it looks like to me!" I shot back, my voice cracking with frustration. "Milo could have hurt her so much worse.

If she hadn’t been so brave, so fucking reckless, to pull that stunt to expose him, she would have just kept enduring it until something much, much worse happened! All because she didn’t feel safe enough with us to share what was happening!"

"Then what the fuck are we supposed to do?" Kai demanded, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

"I’m making her mine," I hissed, not caring how it sounded. Kai and G could keep playing these push and pull games but I was done.

Kai slammed on the brakes so hard the tires screeched. The car swerved violently, horns blaring around us as he drove off to the side of the road. He turned to me, his eyes wide with disbelief, grabbing my shoulder. "Stop spewing nonsense."

I slapped his hand off my shoulder. "I’m not spewing nonsense. Vivi’s going to be my girlfriend. For two whole days, I’ve been having nightmares, living on fucking edge, worrying that she’s going through god knows what else and not telling us because she doesn’t feel safe. I can’t live like that."

"You need to think about this with a clear head, Ro," Kai’s voice strained. "Ivy’s... she’s great. She’s fucking amazing. And I want her just as much as you do. But she isn’t exactly an open book. She’s got more secrets than the Vatican."

"That’s because we didn’t give her a chance to be!" I snapped.

"We were too busy suspecting her, too wrapped up in our own revenge and who says we can’t have both. Why can’t we have our revenge and Ivy? No be honest, Kai, Do you," I leaned in closer, "do you really want to see her walk off with another man? Do you want to watch some other bastard get to call her his?"

The frustrated, conflicted look on Kai’s face was all the answer I needed. "Exactly," I nodded grimly. "She’s mine. I’m not letting her go through shit like almost getting raped again,"

"She could already have a man!" Kai blurted out and my head snapped back, stunned.

"What the hell are you saying?"