Page 83 of Wicked Prince

To be fair, she's right. Something is going on between me and her sister, or at least, it was.

"Well?" he presses. "Am I wrong?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, you are," I answer. "You're also pissing me off."

"What else is new?" He pauses, squinting at me, and I can tell he's rubbing his two brain cells together, trying to figure it out. "Is it that Romero dude? Cuz he's on our turf?"

"I don't give a shit about Romero," I snap.

He holds his hands up in defense. "Okay, sheesh. It was just a question."

Before I can reply, the door opens and Anthony walks in, which immediately gets Jeff's attention. I don't know what the hell is going on between those two, but he gets weird every time Anthony is around. He wouldn't be the only one who was freaked out by a gay guy being a member of the frat, but the others have gotten over it, or at least learned to shut their fucking mouths. Jeff has always been a little slow on the uptake, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if he still has some latent issues to work out with it.

Anthony pauses in the landing, eyeing both of us warily, but lately, I think he actually despises me a little more than he does Jeff. The look he's giving me is proof enough of that.

"Carry on, gentlemen," he says flatly, brushing past Jeff on his way to the stairs.

"Wait," I call after him.

Anthony stops and pauses a moment before turning back. "Yeah?" he asks in a guarded tone.

"There's something I need to talk to you about," I say, standing from the couch.

Anthony frowns, and he doesn't seem to know what to make of that. "Okay…"

I look over at Jeff, clearing my throat. He blinks like he's coming out of a trance and looks over at me. "What? Oh… Right. I'll just go, then," he mumbles, walking through the kitchen door.

"Now I'm curious," Anthony says, folding his arms as he leans against the banister. "What do you have to say to me that you can't say in front of your minion?"

I snort. "He's got a big mouth."

Anthony seems like he's about to respond, but instead, he purses his mouth into a thin line and waits expectantly for me to go on.

"Anyway, it's about Amelia," I admit. "But you probably already figured that."

"No shit," he says. "But if you expect me to pass along a message or something, you can save your breath. I can guarantee you she doesn't want to hear it."

"It's not that. Not exactly," I say, raking a hand through my hair. "You guys have been hanging out with Stefan Romero, right?"

He hesitates. "It was a busy day. I only met him briefly, but I know Amelia is showing him around, yeah. What about it?"

"He's dangerous, that's what," I answer, deciding to cut straight to the chase since he clearly doesn't feel like small talk. "He acts like he's Mr. Personality, but that's all it is. An act."

Anthony raises an eyebrow. "Are you really one to talk about that?"

I can see why he and Amelia are friends. "Maybe not. But I care about Amelia."

He gives a derisive snort. "Yeah, sure."

"You don't have to believe me," I say with a shrug. "But it's the truth. I tried to warn her, but she won't hear it, and fair enough. I know she'll listen to you, though."

"And I'm supposed to believe this is just you being concerned for her wellbeing?" he challenges. "That it has nothing to do with you being jealous some other guy is paying attention to her, even though you already made your choice?"

"Sure it does," I admit, which seems to surprise him. "But it doesn't change the facts about Stefan, and if you care about her the way I think you do, you'll listen."

He sets his jaw and I can tell he's trying to decide whether to tell me to fuck off. I'm pretty sure that's still an option, but he grudgingly says, "Fine. I'll bite. What is it that's so dangerous about this guy?"

"He's a Romero, for one thing," I answer. He's already rolling his eyes, so I add, "And he killed his girlfriend, for another."

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