Page 35 of For the Love of the Gods

Whatever thefuckhappened with Lukas—mybest friend—the other night to have her running into the bathroom at half past midnight, sounding breathless and tired while jumping into the shower.

Her walking around a marketplace with her head held high, either consciously or unconsciously ignoring the looks people gave her.

It was those secrets that kept me motivated, kept me invested in observing her.

And soon, I’d know where to start planning.

After she left me standing in that field like a fool, my blood hammering in my veins from the chaos at the market place and Rose’s suggestive tone.

She was such a little minx, looking up at me with her bright green eyes and suggesting thatoutside is the perfect place for some disrespecting.Rose had no idea how close I was to grabbing her right there and showing her exactly what I wanted to do when she pissed me off like that.

There was a very effective way to shut her up, and the thought sent a shiver down my spine. And not in disgust. I had to physically shake off the thought, redirecting the energy building in my chest to something useful.

Instead of heading back to the house, I turned back to the marketplace and walked right back to Laurel’s shop. I intentionally avoided the stand with the peppers, seeing as I had the strangest urge to clock the man who’d let a spider into Rose’s vicinity in the face.

Spiders would be a good addition to my own list for revenge. But that wasmylist.

He didn’t get to do that to Rose.

I did.

The moment Laurel saw me approaching her door again, she straightened and walked around the counter, her color deepening.

I pushed through the door and she immediately sprang into action, asking me if I wanted to try a new batch of the bread she’d made earlier. I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest. Laurel was being far too animated, especially when she had been so short with Rose.

“I’m here to buy this,” I said, picking up the jar of jam Rose had stopped over earlier. A good excuse for being back that didn’t give Laurel the wrong idea.

“Oh, for your wife?” Laurel sneered.

My head jerked back slightly at her boldness. I knew Rose wasn’t popular, obviously, but Laurel was crossing a line. Rose was still a god.

“Yes, for my wife,” I said, shoving the glass container towards her. I didn’t make it a habit to be explicitly rude, but it was coming too easily today.

“So, when did you two get married?” Laurel tried to ask casually as she moved behind the counter to grab some other supplies, but she tripped over the last word.

“A week ago.”

“I was speaking to my friend who runs the shop next door after the announcement. Neither of us knew you were engaged,” Laurel said. Damn, she was bold.

“It was a short engagement.” Yeah, barely a day.

“Don’t tell me you two are in love?” Laurel asked a second later.

“Is that a problem?” I asked roughly.

Laurel paled a little, but answered honestly. “It’s just an unexpected pairing.”

“Care to explain?” This was potentially good territory. Give me a better view of how Rose interacted with her patrons. I’d never quite been able to figure that out when our realms were somewhat separate, but now, I could.

“She is a killer,” Laurel said, nose scrunching with disgust. “And you are very honorable.”

“It is not a secret that I killed my uncle, Laurel,” I returned before I could stop myself. It almost sounded like I was defending Rose. And I didn’t do that.

Laurel raised a rounded shoulder. “I figured you’d view it differently.”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have married her,” I bit out. A lie, but Laurel was pissing me off. I’d told Rose she was on thin ice with me, but this was a different type of irritation.

“Oh,” Laurel said, her small mouth opening. “I didn’t know.”

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