“I dated my best friend’s brother and then was engaged to a psycho who stalked me, all within the span of a year before Roman and I got together,” she says, no shame, all ridiculous shock factor. She even wears a smile.
I can’t help but laugh. There’s something… easy feeling about Juliet. But easy isn’t the right word, necessarily. I can tell, Juliet is a woman who’s made mistakes in the past. She doesn’t hide them. Doesn’t pretend they aren’t there. But it makes her relatable.
“Well, you obviously figured it out,” I say as I watch Roman and Ares ahead of us. “Roman is constantly watching you like you’re the center of his whole universe.”
“That’s funny, I could say the same thing about you and Ares,” she says with a smirk as she meets my eye. “How long have you two been married?”
“Engaged,” I correct her, even as I hold my hand up, taking in the gorgeous ring on my finger. I’ve still never taken it off since Ares placed it on my finger. “Six weeks. Though we’ve been pretending to be engaged since the first day we met.”
“Lana,” Juliet remarks, looking up at me from beneath her eyelashes with a smile. “A fake engagement. Color me intrigued. Were youthiswhen it happened, or still human?”
To anyone else in the vampiric world, this would be a big fucking deal. My changed species status would shift most vampires’ perspective of reality. This would be dangerous. But to Juliet, this doesn’t even phase her.
What the hell is really going on in Chicago?
“Human,” I chuckle. “I walked into a vampire party, looking for Ophelia. She’d been missing for three weeks. Ares saw how stubborn I was being and offered to team up since his path somewhat aligned with mine. And, well, a few weeks later, I knew I couldn’t live life without him.”
“Aw,” Juliet says, part sarcastic, part genuine. “I love every bit of it. Except that you went in to save Ophelia? The one who jinxed Ares? Wow.”
“I know,” I say with a sigh. Just then, Ares pulls open the door to his office. Roman turns back, placing a hand at the small of Juliet’s back, ushering her through first. I cast a look at Ares as I step inside. He doesn’t seem stressed or on edge or angry, so I’m guessing his conversation with Roman has gone well.
We all step up to the elevator, and Ares presses the up button. Despite the fact that I’ve come to this building plenty of times since it’s Ares’ main office, I’ve never stepped foot on any floor other than 39. It’s never even crossed my mind to consider what else is in this building.
The elevator slides open, and the four of us shuffle inside. A few moments later, after rocketing skyward, we step out onto floor 38. I blink four times. There is a small space, black walls, dark gray carpet, and one singular door ahead. Ares steps forward and punches a series of numbers into the keypad.
We step into a space that looks like it’s straight out of a science fiction movie.
It’s dark, but we’re surrounded by a thousand little green, blue, and red lights. There is a woman sitting at a desk facing a wall of monitors. The rest of the walls are lined with high-tech looking equipment.
“Shauna,” Ares greets her. “Would you mind giving us the room for a while? You can go grab some coffee or something.”
He takes a one-hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and hands it to Shauna.
“Thanks, Ares,” she says, a grin taking over her face. She keys in a few commands, logging off duty, and rises from her chair. She exits without saying anything further.
“What the hell is this place?” I ask, looking around like I’ve stepped into another dimension.
Ares looks back at me, his brows knitting slightly. “My security center. I… I have a few properties in this city. There are a few security cameras set up for them.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re monitoring all of Manhattan with this setup,” I gape as I turn around, taking it all in. “I thought Harry was high-tech.”
“Harry’s operation was at least three times this,” Roman remarks.
Juliet smacks him in the chest, rolling her eyes.
I simply shake my head, my brows rising. Ares gives a little smirk, clearly enjoying that he’s surprised me.
“I hope you’re tech savvy, because there’s a reason I employ Shauna,” Ares says as they turn to the computers.
“One of the perks of being immortal,” Roman says as he takes the seat Shauna vacated. “We have forever to learn new tricks.”
I’d never thought about it from that angle before, but Born vampiresareimmortal. The world is going to change around them. Technology is going to change. Adaptation is kind of a must.
“How long has Roman been a vampire?” I ask quietly as I lean into Juliet, even though I know Roman is going to hear me asking. He’s busy at the moment, tapping away at the computer.
“Thirty-five years,” Juliet answers.
I make a slight sound of disappointment. “And you?”
