Song - Bad Romance, Lady Gaga

Ignoring Roman's curious gaze wasn't easy. He wanted to know what I was planning. Full of questions at the next stop, I told him that I couldn't answer them when we were in public. Now that we were back at the warehouse, he waited. When he got nothing, the impatient one sat down and began his terrible attempt to hide his desperation.

When I couldn't take his little frustrated huffs any longer, I chuckled and put the laptop on the coffee table. Crawling over the lounge, I pouted at the petulant creature who was now trying to ignore me.

Climbing onto his lap, I opened his arms, but Roman refused to turn his head to me. So, I went with what always worked. A few popped buttons, and I had him.

"You are so easily coerced."

Roman grinned as he pawed me with warm hands, teasing the peaks between his fingers.

"What are you up to?"

"Love bombing her."

"Why?"

"Because she won't know who it is, and no matter how much she says that, Noah won't believe her."

"You think he'll care?"

"I looked through the folders, and I took note of how many weekends he spent with her. He has picked Marnie. I'm positive of it."

"And his reasons for trying to get into the retreats or why she hasn't stepped down from working or being a guild girl?"

"Maybe it's too much fun," I said, shrugging. "Don't know, don't care. I'm just going on what I saw in the photos. Every single weekend for the past year, they've been together. Bella, though, that was on and off. There was no consistency. I hope that when Marnie gets the cake and the baked goods, it will be enough to start the nightmare. The flowers and balloons will hopefully be the end."

"Causing a fight?"

"One can only hope."

Roman chuckled, flipping me onto the cushions. I shrieked and giggled. On his knees, Roman crawled between my legs, snaking kisses over my stomach. Vibrant blue eyes looked at me as he ran his tongue over a hardened peak.

"You want to know something crazy?"

He lay on the lounge beside me, resting his head on his upturned hand. Not so surprisingly, the free hand found his favourite place.

"What's that?"

"He was never like this. Never playful, never interested in the fun side of sex. Just get in and do the job. I don't understand why he wanted to be with me when he wasn't interested."

"From what I've heard, Noah has always been a spoiled brat. You probably never saw the alter ego. The grapevine whispers a lot of things. I'm sure he took great joy in giving his father the proverbial middle finger when he married you. Imagine that, the regional director's son marrying a civilian."

Roman watched his fingers as they traced over my jaw, his gaze lifting to mine.

"He's an idiot and clearly doesn't know how to bring out the goddess in a woman. Don't worry about the guild girls. They won't marry him because they love him. They're just after the status of being his wife. Guaranteed that neither will be faithful to the other beyond their vows. For a lot of them, it's not about love. It's about the chase. The thrill of being with someone different, all while the wife is at home, completely clueless. As for your time with him, maybe you could use it as a guide to what a terrible lover is like. Measure it against the incredible lovers who aim for your constant pleasure."

"It's like an obsession,"

"For a vampire, it's closer to being like the air we breathe. We hunger for it almost as equally as we do for blood. A worthy lover keeps us sated, but one that can create a storm within us is intoxicating. They breathe life into us and create a fire that cannot be extinguished. You can see it, right? It started with Jasper. He struggled to keep it subdued. His morality stopped him from saying anything, which made it worse. Now that he's got the object of his desire, he'd burn this city to the ground if something happened to you."

"And what about you?"

Roman grinned, a wicked brow raised with his amusement.

"Ah, now, this vampire, he's a little late to the party, thanks to Jasper's refusal to invite you here for a private party. I could have had you turned over to the dark side a year ago if he'd let me. But as for me, I find that my fascination has grown exponentially. I might be the one with the empty jerry cans at my feet while Jasper strikes the match."

His lips caressed mine with a soft kiss. Rolling onto my side, I pulled Roman to me. The kiss was potent, wrapped up in each other, delving deep into the darkness of what could be forbidden.

"You make us weak," he whispered.

Laying me on the cushions, Roman raised onto his knees as he kissed over my jaw.

"Vulnerable. Unable to resist. Desperate for more."

I gasped as he kissed my neck, moving to my torso.

"We crave the extraordinary."

Reaching my pants, Roman pulled them away. Dipping his head between my legs, Roman pushed them apart. I gasped as a tingle zipped through my body. The softest of spikes to kick off the incredible orgasm. The tongue trailed, and the distant sound of the garage door opening echoed softly. Roman picked up the pace as my orgasm began to build. I gripped the fabric as my body writhed. As it broke, my body arched, and two hands smoothed over my body. The sensations added to the sensitivity and my mind became a scattered mess.

I hummed with a grin, and in the garage, the door rattled its way to the ground. Even though my mind was still floating in the delicious delirium, I sat up and pulled my pants on.

Jasper walked to the lounge, dumped his bag, and picked up the remote. He flicked through the television stations until he found whatever had his mood spiralling. When I saw my face on the screen, I understood why.

Jasper sat beside me, and Roman had nestled himself on my other side. The news report said that I was listed as missing and that my husband was working with police, but he was not a suspect. Noah came on the screen, standing next to a police officer. In his shaky hands was a piece of paper that he read from, begging the public for information about his beloved wife. The bloodshot eyes made it seem like he truly was upset.

"I look at this, and I see a broken man, but it's a lie. I know what Noah looks like when he's truly upset and that's not it. I hate that I have to sit here and watch him act like he's a saint when he's nothing but a sinner. Turn it off, Jas."

A heavy sigh escaped as Jasper turned the television off. He shifted to sit on the coffee table to face us.

"So, from what we've officially been told is that you've been missing for a week."

"What happened?"

"Well, Harry rang again and spoke with Noah, who said that you needed a couple more days to rest. He was a little annoyed that Noah was blocking all attempts to talk to you, and I guess he smelled a rat. So, he called the cops to do a welfare check. Because of that and obviously because you weren't there, the cops came to the museum and spoke to Harry. They told him Noah said he took you to dinner for your birthday, the story about the cake and the argument and that he left you at the house after the argument. Noah said he was covering for you because he didn't want you to lose your job. Apparently, he provided a receipt that said the cake was not to have any jam and whatever the preservative is."

"That could be a second cake."

Jas nodded.

"Trust me, I don't think the cops were fooled. So, Noah told them that after the fight, he went to cool off at his friend's place for the weekend. You told him to not come back until Sunday night when he'd obviously have to get ready for work the next day. When he came back, he found a note that said you had an infection and were going to a hotel so that you didn't infect him. And yes, he gave them the note as well. Nothing was said about the state of the house."

"So, what he first told Harry checks out?"

"Well, not really. Noah told him that you had a contagious virus, which, if true, you wouldn't go to a hotel."

"I'd send Noah to the hotel or his parents."

Jasper nodded.

"The problem is that because Harry called them for a welfare check, they started asking questions. Harry told them straight out that it wasn't like you to be so flippant with your work. He showed them the exhibit we'd been working on and said you were eagerly waiting for opening day."

Which I was.

"But obviously, you can't help it if you get sick. Harry told them that for you to miss a day of work, you'd have to be highly contagious or in the hospital and unable to leave. He believed that you would have called or, at the very least, demanded to talk to him just to make sure that everything went as you planned. They took statements from me, Lucy, and Tatum, as well as a few of the others who were working on this exhibit and knew you on a more personal level. You will be pleased to know that I didn't say anything incriminating. Lucy went before me, but I could see her, and I gave a similar view to what she gave. I wanted it to be obvious that I was worried but not be overly dramatic to rouse their suspicion. I mentioned your insurance policy and said that we discussed it, but I also said it seemed standard because you had a mortgage. It seemed to arouse their interest."

"If Noah is smart, he won't claim it for a while. It's not like he needs the money." Roman frowned as he shifted to face me. "Why did he have an insurance policy?"

I shrugged.

"Like Jas said, the mortgage. It's large enough to pay it off if something happens. He's got one too."

Roman seemed to find that acceptable and turned back to Jasper.

"They asked about the birthday dinner, and I said that you told me that Noah had booked a table for the two of you at some new seafood place. Everything that you told me with no extras. We were talking about it after the cops left. Lucy and Tatum were asked the same questions and gave the same answers. I think it was a broad view of the same thing across all of our co-workers."

"So if they think Noah was involved, why did the news say he's not a suspect?"

"Because the cops don't want him to do a runner, they want to make sure he remains cooperative, and remember, he's a lawyer. One wrong word, and he could sue for slander. He will do everything to protect his image."

Jasper nodded, agreeing with Roman.

"You know how your marriage appeared on the exterior. There has never been a time where you've come in with bruises. You've repeated some things he said that were dubious but nothing that would raise flags. Noah has never stopped you from seeing your friends and I get it that he didn't invite us to the dinner but could easily give an excuse. He's given you a credit card with a pretty big figure on it and green-lit you to purchase whatever you wanted. No one could say that they were concerned for your welfare. If I had been oblivious to everything, I wouldn't know about the cake incident. I wouldn't know about how he invited almost strangers to your dinner. To my knowledge, it was just an intimate dinner for the two of you. Sounds almost romantic."

"But it's all for show. The view of the perfect young couple enjoying the first few years of their marriage before the kids arrive. No one would expect what happened. As for the cops, they've got their eyes firmly pinned on him as the primary suspect. Which causes problems for your plan."

Yeah, it sure did. I couldn't kill Noah with the cops watching.

"Do you think that they suspect the others?"

"They never said anything about other suspects."

Letting out a frustrated huff, I flopped back into the seat. This was not how I expected the day to turn out.