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“Yes, sir.”
Hanging up, I threw the phone on the kitchen table. The kettle screamed on the stove behind me, but instead of making a cup of tea, I threw the whole thing in the sink and stormed outside for some fresh air.
* * *
Ivan practically tiptoedinto the house, clutching a brown paper bag with Chinese characters on it and approached me like you’d approach a wild animal. He held it out with one hand, but I shoved it back at him.
“You take it to him,” I snapped.
“Why?”
“Because I fucking said so.”
Ivan swallowed and headed for the basement stairs. I trailed after him, but instead of descending all the way, I stopped at the edge of the drywall, out of sight, to eavesdrop.
“I brought you Chinese. I hope that’s ok,” Ivan said over the bag crinkling.
“Yeah, thank you,” Roan replied in a completely normal voice.
“You didn’t eat breakfast?” Ivan asked. Anger twisted through me at the news. Not that I expected him to after the stunt with dinner.
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“Oh, ok.”
“Hey, you want some? It looks like you got enough to feed an army.” Was he fucking serious? He wanted to have a goddamn picnic with Ivan in the basement?
“Uh…” Ivan switched back to Russian. “What am I supposed to say?”
I was fuming, but Roan chuckled. “I have no idea what you just said, but here.” The chain clinked and scraped over the ground.
Enough was enough already.
Storming down the rest of the stairs, I watched Ivan take a carton of food from Roan and nearly drop it at my sudden arrival.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I snapped in Russian.
“What did I do?” Ivan shrank back, his eyes wide.
“Go!”
I stared him down until he walked away and returned upstairs. As soon as he was gone, my gaze slid to Roan. He retreated to the cot and sat, stabbing at the fried rice with his plastic fork. So once again, he would eat whatIvanbrought but not me.
He talked with Ivan. Laughed with Ivan.
Roan hadn’t picked his head up once since I appeared. He kept his gaze turned down, like before, chewing in silence.
“Look at me,” I growled.
He refused.
I closed the distance in a few long strides and seized his jaw, forcing his head backward until he had no choice but to look up. “Did you fuck around with him?”
He smirked but didn’t say a goddamn word.
Knocking the white carton out of his hand, I dropped my hold to his throat and slammed him backward into the mattress. “Answer me,” I snarled through gritted teeth.
“No,” he spat back with a glare, the muscles in his neck flexing under my hand.
