Page 25 of Roman

And there it was. Despite his tendency toward debauchery, Soren was incredibly loyal to those he decided deserved it. It was a loyalty he’d proven more than once over the decades since Roman had met him.

“Besides,” Soren went on, pushing his chair back from the table, “with Luc’s whereabouts unknown, you really shouldn’t be letting the boy out of your sight.”

Roman knew he was right. And as they rose to leave, he was disturbed by just how much he liked the idea of always having eyes on Danny, of never letting the boy leave his side.

His demon purred its agreement at that image.

We’re fucked, Roman thought.

The bar they entered was just a step above a dive, with a long L-shaped bar, some scattered high tables, and a small dance floor where a surprisingly lively group was dancing together to some pop princess or another. Roman thought he spotted some of the staff he had seen when he was lurking around Danny at the hospital. Was this a work gathering, then?

Roman’s gaze left the dance floor and immediately landed on Danny, as if Roman had an internal homing beacon just for the boy. He was sitting at the bar and chatting with his friend from the night before, the short brunette, cocktails in front of each of them. He was laughing at something she was saying, but the smile wasn’t quite reaching his eyes.

Merde.

His mate was upset about something. The thought disturbed Roman, and he racked his brain to think of what it could be—nothing had seemed to come up in the time that Roman had been watching him. Had something happened tonight while Roman had been distracted at the coffee shop?

He approached the bar with long strides, Soren two steps behind him, settling in to stand at Danny’s left, where there was an empty space. Danny’s gaze left the woman at his side and landed on Roman, eyes going wide at his unexpected appearance at the bar.

Looking to see what had grabbed Danny’s attention, the petite woman eyed Roman, muttering quietly to Danny—but not quietly enough for Roman’s vampire hearing to miss it—”You weren’t exaggerating in the looks department.”

Roman suppressed a satisfied smirk as Danny blushed. So his lovely mate had been talking about him.

“Danny,” Roman purred, leaning closer to catch a whiff of his mate’s delicious scent.

Danny leaned back stiffly. “How’d you know I was here?” he asked, tone flat. It was only then that Roman noticed the look in the boy’s dark eyes was less than welcoming.

Before Roman could answer, Danny glanced behind him, eyes landing on Soren, golden-haired and chic and no doubt grinning like a loon. His mate’s face fell immediately. “Oh. You…youdidn’tknow I was here. I shouldn’t have assumed.” The muscle in Danny’s cheek jumped as he clenched his jaw. “Well, don’t let me interrupt,” he finished, turning back to his friend.

The friend who was now shooting daggers at Roman with her eyes.

Was Danny jealous? Roman was almost pleased at the thought, but it was tempered by his displeasure at having Danny ignore him.

Oh no. This would not do.

Roman tapped Danny’s shoulder, and the boy turned back to him, a look of such haughty disdain on his face that Roman would have been delighted at his pluck had that disdain not been directed at himself.

“Danny, this is an oldfriendof mine, Soren Iversen,” he explained, tone pointed.

Danny’s expression didn’t change.

“An old,oldfriend,” Roman hinted. “We used to…hunt together. Back in the day.”

Danny’s eyes widened slightly as the message seemed to sink in. A light blush stole over his cheeks, and the haughty expression dropped. He sent a small, apologetic smile to Soren. “Oh. Hello.”

Sweet boy.

“Adorable,” Soren whispered, softly enough that only Roman could hear him. To Danny, he said, “Nice to meet you. Roman’s told meso muchabout you.” Roman could only imagine the manic grin Soren must be directing at Danny, but Roman kept his eyes firmly on his mate.

Danny ducked his head in embarrassment, and his nurse friend gave him a small pat on the back, her death glare at Roman finally dropping.

“And I’m Chloe,” she chimed in. “Nice to meet both of you.” She gave Danny’s cheek a kiss and stood up from the bar. “I’m gonna join the birthday boy on the dance floor.”

“And I’m going to grab a drink. Let you two chat,” Soren added. At Roman’s raised eyebrow, he gave a wink and murmured, “What? We don’t need to leave immediately. We’re both here. Nothing’s going to get to him. Handle your business. I myself have spotted several promising specimens.” With that, he turned and strutted over to the other end of the bar, where a tall blue-haired bartender with a nose ring started to take his order.

Roman moved closer to Danny, who was frowning at his drink. Was the boy still feeling unsure about Soren’s presence?

“I meant what I said,” Roman reassured him. “He’s just a friend. He’s…like me.”

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