Page 84 of Unleashed By Eden

I see the penny drop. Her eyes go wide.

“And the woman?” Vi gestures toward her. “What’s up with her?”

“Think that’s his wife.”

“Really?” Violet snorts. “They look like such a happy couple.”

I laugh under my breath. “From what Dameon has said, their love story didn’t exactly start with flowers and chocolates.”

“No shit.”

Our start isn’t exactly a fairytale, either. But at least Vi’s not the type to stab me in my sleep to get away. She’d wait till I was awake, look me dead in the eye, and then do it just to make a point.

Weirdly . . . that’s comforting.

“Well,” she murmurs, eyes still on them, “if he wants a life with her and not a war zone, he’s gonna have to do something. And something big. Otherwise, that marriage is on a countdown.”

“Sometimes it just takes . . . something out of left field,” I admit slowly.

An idea clicks in the back of my skull.

“I need Chris,” I add. “You good here for a second?”

She nods. “Yeah. I’m getting another drink anyway.”

I thread through the crowd and find Chris in a shadowy corner, chatting up some pretty boy in a fitted suit. The eye-fucking is almost tangible.

Perfect.

“Chris,” I cut in. “Need you.”

He doesn’t even look at me at first. “Not now, I’m busy.” He finally drags his gaze over, eyes wide in a very clear get lost.

“It can’t wait.”

The guy turns, sees me, and lights up. “Carter, right? I’m a huge fan. That soundtrack tonight was insane.”

We shake hands.

“I’m sure it can wait till tomorrow,” Chris says pointedly.

“You said you had a heat rash,” I whine, making a show of grabbing my crotch with my free hand. “But my junk is weeping.”

The guy’s face goes through about four stages of horror. His gaze ping-pongs between us.

“Uh. I’ll, uh—let you guys talk. Privately.”

He drops my hand like it’s radioactive and basically sprints away.

Chris glares. “Real mature, dickhead.”

“Payback.” I shrug, fishing out a smoke. “You left me with blue balls in Lisbon. Now you get to take yours home.”

He sighs like a disappointed dad. “What do you want?”

I light up, inhale, and exhale the smoke slow. “I need you to find someone for me.”

“Who?”