Chapter 31
Zeus
Yas’ scream made Zeus step back as he immediately realized she hadn’t noticed him coming up to her car.
“Yas! It’s me!” He yelled the words, bending down so she could more easily see his face. “It’s Zeus!”
She stared back at him with wide, unseeing eyes for a long moment, then recognition clicked.
A moment later, she was throwing open the door and launching herself at him.
Zeus opened his arms, catching her easily, his gaze tracking everywhere to make sure they weren’t caught unawares while he comforted her.
All his senses were on high alert and had been since the first notification from her security system had hit his phone. The police were already on the way—or should be—but he’d beaten them there.
Yas clung to him tightly enough that his movement was going to be hindered if the intruder came out of the house right now.
He might have already come out, which was why Zeus wasn’t letting his guard down.
Any sign of movement… but the street was overall quiet.
Most people either hadn’t gotten home from work yet or were inside their homes and not paying attention to what was going on outside.
He felt her breath hitch, heard her little sob, and it was all he could do not to go hunt down the person who had made her feel this way and make them pay. But being here with her, for her, was more important.
Besides, if he left her out here, he’d have to worry that the asshole would make his way back to where she was and hurt her while Zeus was looking for him. Better to keep her close and safe.
“I thought you were him.” Her words were muffled with her face pressed against his shoulder, but he managed to decipher them because he’d already known what she’d thought.
“I’m not.” Scanning the street, ears alert, he didn’t see anything, but he also didn’t let his guard down. “I got the alert from the security company and came rushing over. The police should be here soon.”
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Yas seemed to retract all her fear and emotions back inside her before she lifted her head. While her eye makeup was a little smeared, her dark eyes a little watery, she looked more in control of herself than she had a few moments before.
“Is he still in there?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances.” Now that she appeared calmer, Zeus shifted her, turning them slightly so he could put her behind him, but he kept his hand in hers. Thankfully, she didn’t seem eager to let his hand go, and she didn’t protest at being tucked behind him.
That gave him the opportunity to give the outside of the house a good once-over. Other than the open door, there was no indication of an intruder. He didn’t see movement in any of the windows, though that was hardly definitive.
Movement along the street did catch his eye as a familiar car came tearing up it, going far faster than it should in a residential neighborhood.
Claudia screeched to a halt along the side of the road in front of Yas’s house, the back end hanging out into the street.
She didn’t bother trying to parallel park correctly, leaving it there, as she jumped out of the car, head swiveling back and forth.
“Claudia!” Yas let go of his hand and went running to his team member.
Zeus couldn’t stop the frown from forming on his face.
Yes, Yas had said she knew Naomi. They’d met because of The Outlands. She’d volunteered at the shelter. None of which had made him think there was a close friendship there, but she’d just run from him to the stoic sniper… and Claudia opened her arms to hug Yas close.
Claudia didn’t hug people.
She definitely didn’t hug people she didn’t know.
And what the hell was she doing here, looking so relieved as she rubbed one hand up and down Yas’ back?
Suspicion coiled tighter and tighter inside Zeus’ chest, making it feel hard for him to breathe. He tried to take a deep breath through the tension, fisting his hands at his sides, trying to not to jump to conclusions. It was really fucking hard, though.
Stalking toward Claudia and Yas, as Yas stepped back from the other woman, he could see Claudia’s gaze doing the same thing his had—looking over the house. She didn’t spare Zeus a second glance. Nor did she seem surprised to see him.
The ugly feeling of suspicion was growing stronger.
Claudia was friends with Yasmine.
And she knew that he and Yasmine knew each other.
Which meant that Yasmine had to know he worked with Claudia.
She hadn’t said a thing about it.
Hot anger burst inside him, and Zeus clenched his jaw, feeling his nostrils flare as he sucked in a long breath, trying to wrestle his emotions back into place.
The sound of police sirens gave him more time as both women turned to look toward the cop cars coming up the street.
Pressing his lips together, Zeus closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to shake off the sense of betrayal that had swiftly followed his anger.
There was no way Yasmine could have predicted or set in motion the entirely random series of events that had led to their meeting.
She couldn’t have given Sarah a heart attack or Hope a heart issue.
She couldn’t have known when Zeus was bringing Hope back and forth between the houses.
Sarah did have a very real friend named Grace who was coming to stay with her.
In other words, Marshall could not have set this up.
Yasmine wasn’t another Noelle.
Some of the tension slipped from him, but not all of it. He still didn’t have an explanation for Yasmine and Claudia’s connection and why she’d kept that from him. He could understand why Claudia hadn’t said anything, but he didn’t know why Yasmine hadn’t.
And he didn’t know whether he wanted to spank her ass or wash his hands of her entirely.
Yasmine
Pulling away from Claudia’s embrace, Yasmine dashed the tears from her eyes as she looked up to see the incoming cop cars, sirens blaring as they came down the street.
If there was someone still inside her house, they now knew the cops were here.
Several of their neighbors were already looking out their windows or even opening their doors to see what was going on.
It was the night Pete James had been banging on her door all over again, except it was still light out.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Claudia. As happy as she was to see her friend, she had no idea why she was there.
Claudia shrugged one shoulder, actually looking a little sheepish.
“I might have been listening to the police scanner.”
“You have weird taste in entertainment.” It was a weak attempt to make light of the situation, but Claudia obligingly laughed.
The cop cars came to a halt in front of Yasmine’s house, and several of them got out.
She recognized Officer Zucker, the officer who had done most of the talking the night Pete James had first come to her house.
He raised his hand in acknowledgment as he got out of the car, serious-faced, then said something to his partner before heading over to her.
“Miss Jafari.” His gaze slid to Claudia, then behind them both, where Zeus was standing. Yasmine felt Zeus coming up behind her, the hairs on the back of her neck tingling in response to his nearness.
“Hello again, officer,” she said, the moment of levity she’d managed with Claudia quickly slipping away. “These are my friends, Claudia Delgado and Zeus Apuzzio.”
“And are either of them the reason the alarm is going off?” Officer Zucker asked, raising one eyebrow.
Yasmine felt Claudia bristle beside her at his dismissive attitude. His partner was already headed up to her front door while he talked to her.
“No,” Yasmine told him, trying to focus on him and not what his partner was doing. “They both arrived afterward.”
“I’m the one who installed the security system,” Zeus said.
His voice was cold. Hard. Yasmine twisted slightly to look back at him, but he wasn’t paying attention to her.
He was completely focused on Officer Zucker.
Maybe he was also displeased by the officer’s attitude, but for some reason, it felt like his coldness was also directed at her.
Or maybe she was projecting because she really wanted him to hold her again and take her hand and shield her behind him… but she knew he wasn’t going to do that in front of Claudia and the cops.
Oh, shit.
Claudia.
Who also worked for Black Fox Security. Who Zeus hadn’t known she knew.
Yasmine tensed as she realized what the problem might be.
“Hey, Jason,” the officer peering into her door said, half turning to look at them.
He looked a little younger than Officer Zucker, and the deep frown on his face was not reassuring.
He ran a hand through his medium brown hair, stealing a quick glance at her before looking at Officer Zucker again. “Come look at this.”
“Look at what?” Yasmine asked immediately.
“Stay here, Miss Jafari,” Officer Zucker said with an admonishing frown before turning to jog to her front door to see whatever it was his partner wanted to show him inside her house.
Yasmine had half a mind to follow him… and not just because she wanted to get away from the extremely awkward situation Claudia’s appearance had caused.
“Hello, Parsley,” Claudia said to Zeus.
“Claudia.” His tone was short. Clipped.
She should say something. But what?
It felt like her brain had gone completely to mush, and she was dying inside.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
She couldn’t even do fuck buddies correctly, it seemed.
Sometimes, it felt as if the curse was going to blow up every good thing that ever happened to her. Maybe it wasn’t just her chance at marriage and kids; maybe every kind of romantic relationship she tried to have was cursed.
“Miss Jafari, can you come here, please?” Officer Zucker’s tone was a lot more polite and a lot more concerned now, which Yasmine did not take as a good sign. Her heart felt as if it was climbing up her chest into her throat as she started walking toward him.
Yes, it was postponing having to face Zeus and telling him the full truth, after which he would probably dump her ass—deservedly so—which made her want to cry a lot more than losing a fuck buddy should, but she was also now terrified of what was inside her house.
She could hear Zeus and Claudia coming behind her and wished he would put his hand on the small of her back as he so often did. Reassure her that everything was okay. But it wasn’t okay, and that was her fault. She’d fucked it all up.
All of that went flying out of her head when she reached the two police officers. Officer Zucker pushed her front door fully open and stepped back so she could see into the house.
Letting out a little cry, her hands flew up to cover her mouth as tears immediately filled her eyes.
The inside of her house had been trashed. From the doorway, she could see her belongings scattered across the floor. Her brain froze, glitched.
“I assume you didn’t leave your house in this condition?” Officer Zucker asked gently. Yasmine shook her head, her hands still over her mouth. “Okay, stay here. We’re going to search the house and make sure whoever did this is gone. If you could step back a little?”
Yasmine stepped back, nearly stepping right off her stoop, and both Zeus’ and Claudia’s hands caught her. A sob caught in her throat as the police went through the front door, and the reality of what she’d just seen hit home.
Someone had broken into her house and thrown her things around.
“Oh God…” She turned, seeking comfort, and found herself wrapped up in Zeus’ arms.
Which was when she realized she’d turned towards him and not Claudia.
But he wasn’t shoving her away.
Pity would do that.
But she’d take pity-comfort right now.
Claudia’s hand rubbed her back soothingly while Zeus held her, and Yasmine cried into his shoulder. She could hear the distant sound of the officers talking to each other from inside her house, shouting the word “clear” multiple times. Which was both reassuring and frustrating.
She didn’t know if she should be glad the person wasn’t there anymore.
On one hand, that could be so dangerous, especially if they were violent.
On the other hand, she really wanted them caught.
Especially if it was Pete James. Not that she could think of anyone else it could be.
Unless another abusive husband of one of Naomi’s clients had found her. But what were the odds of that?
In Zeus’ arms, fear was starting to fade, and anger was starting to rise.
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Claudia murmured. “We’ll find whoever did this, and then I’ll cut his balls off.”
Yasmine choked on a watery laugh, although she wasn’t entirely sure Claudia was joking.
“And here I thought we were never going to get our bonding time,” Zeus said dryly. Which made absolutely no sense to Yasmine, but it must have to Claudia because she burst out laughing.
“You’re all right, Basil.”
“Mmm.” Zeus’ response seemed noncommittal, but he didn’t let go of Yasmine, either.
Not then. Not when the officers came back out to tell her that she could come inside and see the damage. He kept one arm wrapped around her while Claudia held her free hand, both of them supporting her through the walkthrough.
Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Officer Zucker theorized that the perpetrator had broken in, realized the alarm was going off and that they couldn’t turn it off, and had opted to do the most damage possible in the shortest amount of time.
Which meant the front room was a wreck, but the guest room was untouched. Her bedroom wasn’t wrecked, but he had peed on her bed and swept everything on her dresser onto the floor. Yasmine gagged.
There was no way she was going to be able to sleep on that bed tonight.
The back door was open, which indicated he must have escaped that way, although the ‘when’ was debatable. He’d definitely had enough time to do a lot of damage, especially to her front room. It was like he’d forgotten her bedroom and had just opted for maximum effectiveness and minimum effort.
At least, that was how Claudia put it when the officers had gone through it with them.
Finally, the officers had Zeus pull up the security footage. The jerk had done his best to cover up with a black hoodie, but he must not have realized that she had a camera on the doorbell now, because they got several good frames of his face.
More than enough to identify him as Pete James.