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"Guess we'll both find out, won't we?" I mutter, earning laughter from him.

"Well, like I said, it's your funeral." He pauses. "Just…be good to her, Hux. She deserves that."

"You know I will be."

"Yeah, I know." He exhales a breath. "Doesn't mean I'm not going to say it anyway, though. She's my sister, man. If shit goes badly between the two of you or you break her heart, obviously, I'm on her side. I'll help her dig a grave and bury your body, then search for your stupid ass like I had nothing to do with it. I'm an actor now. Don't think my big ass won't cry on the fucking news and beg for answers, then go home and burn the evidence."

"I'd expect nothing less."

"Good, just so long as we're on the same page. Is she good? I mean, after last night?"

"Yeah, she's fine." My lips quirk into a grin. "She was more pissed than anything."

"Sounds about right," he says, chuckling. "You handling the roommate, too?"

"Fuck yeah, I am. Already called the landlord first thing this morning. He's removing Nova from the lease and returning her security deposit." If Larissa wants to stay, she'll have to fork over the rent, plus another two thousand to cover the security deposit. She works the window at a bank. We both know she doesn't have the extra two thousand to hand over. But that's a her problem. If she wanted to remain in the apartment, she shouldn't have fucked with my girl.

Nova can actually afford to live there on her own. Larissa can't. I hope her rude awakening stings like a motherfucker. She deserves to be humbled after the shit she pulled last night. God only knows how much else Nova has dealt with. It's not like she's one to ask for help. I doubt she would have last night if she hadn't been scared and tipsy.

"Good deal," Nate says. "I'll be home in a few days…I mean, if Nova hasn't killed you by then."

"Man, fuck you."

He laughs and then hangs up on me. I just shake my head, shoving my phone into my pocket. Nate is an asshole, but he means well. It's not his goddamn fault I'm an idiot.

Had I known this was why she's been running, I would have handled it a long damn time ago. But she never said anything. She just turned me down flat, again and again and again. I tried to drag the truth out of her. I tried to taunt it out of her. I tried to beg it out of her. Until this morning, she was a fucking vault. I was seriously beginning to think she just didn't like me, regardless of how she looked at me.

Well, I can't do anything about that now. But I can prove to her that this isn't a game. She isn't a game, and she never has been.

She's going to be my wife. I refuse to accept anything less.

Chapter Five

Nova

"You finally moved out?" Emelia asks, shock in her voice. "Holy shit. Nova."

"I didn't move out," I grumble, scowling at my desktop. "Hux moved me out without my permission. I mean, seriously. Who does that?"

"Normally, I'd be on your side," Emelia says with a soft laugh, "but not this time. There was a stranger in your bed. That's terrifying. Hux did the right thing."

I know she's right, but still…

"He didn't pack my underwear, Emelia," I hiss into the phone, darting a glance around to make sure no one is listening in. My coworkers do not need to know that I'm not wearing panties under this skirt.

Thankfully, they're all engrossed in something on Talia's screen across the room.

"What?" Emelia says with a shocked laugh.

"He didn't pack my underwear," I growl. "The man stole all of Larissa's shit from the bathroom but failed to pack a single pair of panties! I know he did it on purpose. Any other day, he would have prowled through my drawer like a damn creep. Probably would have stolen my vibrator, too, just to watch me squirm when I had to beg him to give it back."

Emelia cracks up.

"It's not that funny," I sniff. "If someone sees my ass today, I'm going to die of embarrassment, then come back to murder him."

"When are you going to admit to yourself that he only gets under your skin because you like him?"

"Do not."