Chapter 81: Miss Harpley is a suspect

Roman’s pov

"Where is she going?"

The yellow cab was like a speck in the distance, with about fifteen vehicles between us on the highway. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel of the Maserati, the leather creaking under the pressure of my grip.

Every cell in my body screamed at me to catch up, to see where she was going, who she was meeting.

The thought of her with another man was like a sickness or poison eating away at my gut, turning my blood to ice. Was she going to some guy’s apartment? Laughing at his jokes, letting him touch her, touch our Vivi?

"This is insane," I told myself, my jaw clenched so tight it ached. "I should not be stalking her- and I am not."

Yet I could not bring myself to turn the car around. Every joint in my hands screamed. I could just picture it.

Some faceless prick opening a door to an apartment, taking her in. My head told me Ivy wasn’t that kind of person; she wouldn’t be letting Kai and me touch her if she had a boyfriend.

But she was such a kind soul that some jerk could take her for granted and try to touch her. The thought sent a hot spike of jealousy so pure and violent it made me want to slam my own fist against the window.

My phone made an irritating, insistent vibration against the center console. I ignored it, my eyes fixed on the distant taillights of the yellow cab ahead. The phone buzzed again and again. With a snarl, I snatched it, my eyes leaving the road for a split second.

That was all it took.

I looked up to see the cab was gone; it had blended with several yellow cabs on the road, and I couldn’t tell which one had Ivy in it.

"Fuck!" I wrenched the wheel, the tires screaming as I swerved into a vacant parking spot, killing the engine with a violent twist of the key. The phone was still buzzing in my hand. I jabbed the screen angrily.

"What?!"

"Whoa, calm your tits. What crawled up your ass and died?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, my forehead throbbing. I was acting like a lunatic. I swallowed hard, trying to breathe easy.

Vivi could literally be going anywhere else. Dinner with her friends, going to see a grandmother, maybe, or even the hospital for the supposed rash on her neck. It may not be to see a man; I was getting worked up.

"Ro?" Kai’s voice drifted through the receiver. "You there?"

"What if we ask her?" I rushed out, breathing harshly. "What if we ask Vivi to be our woman?"

There was a long silence that stretched until I thought the line had gone dead. Then, Kai’s voice, laced with very thick skepticism.

"Are you drunk? Please, for the love of God, tell me you at least dropped Ivy off safely before you got wasted."

"I’m not drunk," I snapped, frustration coiling back in my gut. "I’m serious. I dropped her off, but..." I couldn’t finish.

I couldn’t stomach the thought of Kai’s smug laughter if he knew I had just been speeding down the road chasing after our housekeeper like a creepy madman.

"Why can’t we?" I asked instead. "We want her. You know we do. G does too. I saw the way he was looking at her today, when he was putting that medicine on her neck- "

"I most certainly do not," Gideon replied in his quiet, deep, and colder-than-a-morgue voice.

"Oooops," Kai chirped, his voice dripping with false innocence. "My bad. Did I forget to mention? You’re on speakerphone."

A hot flush of shame burned my face. I was going to strangle him. "Seriously? Why would you do that?"

"Why? You don’t want G to know you’re down bad for the housekeeper?"

"Kai!"

"Your domestic squabbles can wait," Gideon’s voice sliced through. "Roman, Get home, now. There’s been a development."

"What development?"

"Just get home... and pick up a pack of beer if you can." The line went dead.

I sat there for a moment, the engine of my car ticking as it cooled. Then I dialed another number.

"Ken, I need eyes downtown. I’m sending coordinates. Find me a yellow cab in front of that building that just picked up a lady ten minutes ago. I want to know where it goes."

"Yes, sir."

I ended the call, turned on the engine, and drove back to Winslow.

The house was silent when I walked in. Harry was probably in his cottage on the property, while Donna must have closed for the day. I found my brothers in the conference room where we had held a meeting just this morning.

And where Kai and I had fucked Vivi.

The room still smelled like her. Her mouthwatering scent cast flashes of her in my arms, whimpering and moaning as I played with her cunt.

Gideon stood ramrod straight at the head of the table, his hands clasped behind his back, his blue eyes twitching with relief when I walked in.

Milo was slumped in a chair against the far wall, shaking his head with a sad look on his face. A twitchy guy in glasses, Zack, our tech specialist, was practically vibrating next to Gideon, his eyes darting around the room like a trapped mouse.

On the surface of the table were some devices tossed on it, and my twin brother was rifling through them, a cigar between his lips. If Kai had to smoke for this, then shit had hit the fan.

"What’s going on?"

Gideon gave a slight nod to Zack. "I had Mr. Morris here conduct a full sweep of the premises. He found these."

I moved closer to see a miniature camera that was no bigger than a shirt button, a few paper-thin chips,

"And this one," Kai held up a small device between his thumb and forefinger. "A listening device right under the table here."

"I can’t pinpoint exactly how long they’ve been active yet, Boss," Zack mumbled, pushing up his glasses. "I can get that to you in two days."

"Good, that would make us know how long we’ve had a mole all along," G continued.

"I think the listening device might be recent, though," Milo piped up. "It could be anyone who was here today."

"And what makes you think that?" Kai frowned, narrowing his eyes at him.

"It would make sense, right?" Milo replied, rising to his feet. "There were a lot of people in your home today for the conference; it would be the perfect excuse and cover to try anything."

That made sense. I rubbed my forehead, going through the methods of torture I could use in my head.

"So, everyone who attended the conference is a suspect?"

"There is one other person to add to that list," G added, causing all of us to look at him. His gaze swept over all of us before landing on me.

"Miss Harpley."