Chapter 67 To Vouch Or Not To Vouch

Chapter 67 To Vouch Or Not To Vouch
Sable POV

The private elevator dings, signaling a visitor in the lobby.

I dry my hands on a dish towel and point a warning finger at Drazen. He is standing on the opposite side of the kitchen wearing a dark
button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looks like a man preparing for a hostile corporate takeover, not a casual double date.

"You are going to be polite," I say. "You are going to say thank you for the food. You will not interrogate my partner, and you will not glare at his girlfriend."

"I do not glare."

"Of course you don't." If I wasn't so in love with him right now, I would have dragged this conversation further.

The elevator doors slide open and Jonah steps out first, holding a bottle of red wine. Chloe follows him, carrying a glass baking dish covered in aluminum foil.

I walk forward to meet them. "Hey. Come on in."

Jonah hands me the wine, his eyes scanning the massive, glass-walled living room. "I know I’ve been up here before, but the view is still ridiculous. You guys live like comic book villains."

"Thank Drazen," I say, gesturing to the kitchen. "He owns the building."

Chloe stops a few feet away, clutching the casserole dish. She looks genuinely intimidated even as her eyes land on Drazen.

Drazen stands perfectly still and doesn't step forward to greet them.

The moment Chloe crossed the threshold, that distinct scent of hers flooded the apartment’s filtered air. I recognize the perfume immediately from the coffee shop as a violent crackle of static shoots up my spine.

The bond transmits a wave of hostility so absolute it makes my teeth ache. I look at Drazen whose jaw is locked and fist clenched.

"Drazen," I say sharply, forcing a polite smile. "This is Chloe. Jonah's girlfriend."

He doesn't extend his hand. He just gives a slow, deliberate nod. "Welcome."

The single word sounds like a threat. Because chloe swallows hard, holding the glass dish out toward me. "I made lasagna. Jonah said you haven't had much time to cook with the new training."

"That’s incredibly sweet of you," I say, taking the dish. I shoot Drazen a dark look, silently ordering him to stand down. A look that he ignores entirely.

We move to the dining table. Sera is asleep in the guest bedroom down the hall, exhausted from another night terror. I deliberately keep the conversation focused on Jonah’s shifts at the hospital to maintain the illusion of a normal
evening.

Drazen on the other hand just sits there, not touching his food, not contributing to the conversation. He just sits there watching her every move.

"So, Drazen," Chole says, taking a sip of her wine. She offers a hesitant, polite smile, trying to bridge the awkward silence. "Sable mentioned you run the Ashfall Group. What exactly does your company do? Real estate?"

"Asset management," he replies without hesitation. "We acquire properties and ensure
they remain undisturbed."

"That sounds fascinating," she says. "It must be stressful, keeping everything so secure. Especially in a city this big. Do you ever feel trapped, living so high up?"

It is a perfectly normal question right? A standard attempt at making small talk with
a wealthy host.

But Drazen's doesn't take it that way. His hand drops beneath the table, his fingers clamping down on my knee.

My heart rate kicks up, reacting to the biological alarm pouring through the bond.

"I am perfectly comfortable," he says, his golden eyes fixed on Chloe. "I find that elevation provides excellent visibility. It is very easy to see when someone is trespassing."

Jonah clears his throat, sensing the drop in temperature. "Sable, how are the new rigs? I heard the trauma unit got the upgraded cardiac monitors."

"They did," I say, desperately changing the topic. "The interface is a lot faster. Saves us about ten seconds on the setup."

I spend the rest of the meal carrying the conversation entirely on my back. Drazen doesn't say another word. He just sits there, his hand remaining clamped on my knee tracking Chloe’s every movement. When she reaches for
her water glass, he watches her hands. When she shifts in her chair, he tracks the shift in her posture.

By the time the dinner ends, the air in the dining room is suffocating.

Jonah stands up, grabbing Chloe’s coat from the chair. "We should get going. I have an early shift tomorrow."

"Thank you for having us," Chloe adds, offering me a warm, genuine smile. "And thank you for the wine, Drazen. Your home is beautiful."

"The elevator will take you directly to the lobby," he says to their goodbyes.

As I walk them to the hall, Jonah gives me a quick hug, whispering, "Sorry if that was weird. Your billionaire is intense tonight."

"He's just stressed about work," I lie, not knowing what else to say. All excuses for his behaviour have already been exhausted. "Thanks for the food, Jonah."

Once the doors slide shut, I turn around and Drazen is already standing directly behind me.

"What is your problem?" I demand, my temper finally snapping. "She made us dinner. She sat there trying to be nice while you stared at her like you wanted to snap her neck. Jonah is my partner and yet you always want to find a way to humiliated him."

"She is not a bank teller," he states.

"She is a nice lady for heaven sake! She doesn't know anything about the Undercourt, or Carvek, or the hunters."

"She was checking out the exits," Drazen says, his voice a low, lethal hum. He crowds me against the wall, placing a hand on either side of my head. "When she walked in, she didn't look at the view. She checked the structural reinforcement of the glass. When she sat at the table, she kept her dominant hand free at all
times. I have spent my entire life identifying assassins, Sable. That woman is trained."

"She was nervous because you were intimidating her!"

"It isn't a perfume," he continues, his face inches from mine. "I smelled the chemical breakdown. That scent is synthetic and a grade-A masking agent designed to block..."

I push against his chest but he doesn't budge. "You know what?" I breathe. "I'm not doing this with you this night. You are so paranoid about losing this penthouse that you are inventing threats."

"If she comes back to this floor, I will kill her."

The absolute certainty in his voice makes my blood run cold.

"If you touch her," I say, my voice shaking with anger, "you lose Jonah. And if you lose Jonah, you lose the only connection we have to the defectors. You'll ruin the rebellion before it even starts."

He stares down at me, the dark, territorial fury warring with the logic of my statement. He knows I'm right because he drops his arms, stepping back from the wall.

"I will not touch her," he says quietly. "But you are going to learn how dangerous human deception is. And when she finally drops the act, I expect you to remember this conversation."