Page 77 of Mystique of the Fallen
Samson’s expression was hardly friendly, but he rose and grabbed his coffee cup.
Arvandus, on the other hand, lifted a blond brow. “What? Why?”
“Can’t you do something without twenty questions?” Roman asked.
Although Arvandus rolled his blue eyes, he got up, but unlike Samson, he made no move toward the conference room.
“Arvandus, let’s go,” Roman said, grabbing his best friend’s arm and hustling him closer to the door.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Arvandus protested as he slapped at Roman’s hand to free himself. “Why do we need to go in there? If you want to talk to Sam and me, we literally share an office.”
“Some things require privacy,” Roman retorted as he continued to pull Arvandus closer to their destination.
“Honestly, the only reason I’m even entertaining this is because Grant was strangely quiet yesterday. I’m not leaving until I know what you did to him,” Samson said.
Roman wanted to protest that he’d never hurt Grant, but he had, so he didn’t bother to respond to Samson’s statement. At least not yet. It took a few moments, but eventually, Roman shoved Arvandus into the conference room where Samson was already seated and nearly slammed the door behind him.
“Have a seat,” Roman ordered.
Grumbling, Arvandus trudged to the chair next to Samson and dropped heavily into it. Roman opened his mouth to speak but snapped it close when the door whipped open.
A shocked Reverent Knight froze in the doorway.
“What do we have here?” Conley asked.
“Aren’t you supposed to be downstairs getting ready for your morning in the Main Assembly Hall?” Roman barked.
“Someone is in a mood,” Conley replied. He strode to the end of the table where a stack of folders sat and grabbed a cellphone off the top. “I forgot my phone. But now I’m curious, and this will probably prove way more exciting than watching people find their seats downstairs.”
Conley made himself at home by sitting on the edge of the table, so Roman didn’t bother trying to nudge him out of the room. Besides, Conley could probably help with his problem. The man had a love so legendary Roman watched people stare and sigh at the loving couple regularly.
“Did you have a fight with Grant?” Samson asked. “Is that why he was weird yesterday? Because if you did, you need to apologize. Don’t be like a sentinel and hold a grudge for fifteen million years.”
“Little trouble in paradise?” Arvandus asked.
Samson’s bisque gaze widened. “Are you kidding? Fuck no. I adore B. Sure, we have disagreements. All couples do, but we work our shit out like grown-ups because the last thing I want to do is have any distance between me and B.”
“Are you insinuating that Apple and I don’t work our shit out like grown-ups?” Arvandus asked.
“Wow, I guess Roman isn’t the only one in a mood,” Conley chirped. “What happened, Arvandus?”
“Nothing!” Arvandus exclaimed. “Apple and I are awesome. I swear I don’t know how it’s possible, but the longer we’re together, the better it fucking gets.”
Conley nodded. “Yeah, I know how that works.”
“Which is exactly why you’re all here this morning,” Roman stated. “Yes, Grant was upset yesterday, but we didn’t fight.” It pained him to admit it, but Roman shared the entire story about what Grant was confronted with in DC. “I waited too long to tell him about his past. He asked me if I had any more secrets. I did. It’s impossible for me to hide things from him. Even if I say nothing is wrong, he knows I’m being untruthful. So, I had to tell him I love him. He has all this shit in his head including running into his ex-boyfriend Reginald yesterday, and here I am, ruining what could’ve been a beautiful, romantic moment by confessing everything. I need to make it up to him.”
“By asking him to be your bonded mate?” Arvandus asked, his gaze lighting up with anticipation.
“Well, I don’t know if the time is right for that,” Roman muttered. “He’s dealing with this past shit right now. I don’t want to overwhelm him or make him think I’m trying to brush my dishonesty under the rug by putting together some grand gesture.”
“Don’t let any circumstance prevent you and Grant from fulfilling your matebond,” Conley warned. “Everything is secondary to what you’ve built between you. By asking him to complete what Fate gave you, you’re letting him know that he’s what you want for eternity. That’s a bold statement. If you want to make it romantic, then by all means, go for it. But it’s about love and the connecting of your souls. Nothing else matters. Absolutely nothing else matters, Roman.”
There was no question in Roman’s mind that he wanted Grant forever. His soul yearned to be twisted fully with Grant’s. But he hadn’t wanted to rush Grant into it. “How do I know Grant is ready?”
“If he loves you, he’s ready,” Samson replied.
Arvandus’s blue gaze darkened. “The world will do what it wills, like Grant running into this Reginald person yesterday. You can’t account for it. Follow your heart. You won’t regret it.”
