"Get out," I growled, glaring at Lucas.

"No," he refused, shaking his head. He was being petulant. Somehow, the night before I had managed to make my way to bed around one in the morning. However, when I had gone to bed Arkin, Lucas, and Brandon were still there – Vincent had left not too long after separating the little spat over the pizza. The boys were absorbed into some documentary on the history channel, and I had decided to let them stay and watch it as long as they promised to lock the door behind them when they left. So, when I woke up that morning to find Lucas sprawled out across my couch it was safe to say I was less than pleased.

"You were supposed to leave last night," I reminded him, running a hand through my hair. I was vaguely aware of the fact that my over-sized t-shirt rode up when I lifted my arms, showing off my black underwear, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

"And miss this?" he asked, his eyes zeroing in on the flash of abdomen he got to see before I dropped my arms. I picked up the closest thing to me on the coffee table – the remote – and chucked it at his head. He grinned from behind the pillow he used to block my assault. "Not a chance, sugar."

"I'll call Vinnie," I threatened, narrowing my eyes at him.

"You wouldn't," he scoffed, but I could see the trepidation in his gaze.

"Try me."

And try me he did. He flopped back down onto the couch, whistling for Dexter to jump up with him. The dog didn't even hesitate. He jumped right into Lucas's lap and snuggled into him, loving the attention. Feeling betrayed, I marched back into my room and scooped my phone up off the nightstand. Biting my lip, I scrolled through my text messages until I found the one Vincent had sent me the very first night we had met. Did I really want to open this can of worms? Would it get Lucas into trouble? Probably not, but I was hoping Vincent would make him leave. I knew that if I really wanted to, I could beg Lucas until he listened. Right now he was just trying to push my buttons. However, I also wanted to see his face when he realized Vincent was on his way.

A smile was on my face after I hit the call button and waltzed back out into the living room. Leaning one shoulder against the doorframe separating the living room from the hall, I gave Lucas an evil grin as I placed the phone against my ear.

Ring, ring, ring.

"Vincent," was his curt greeting. His voice sounded rough and I wondered if I had woken him up.

"Good morning, Vinnie!" I chirped. Lucas's head whipped up, and for a moment he looked shocked.

"Princess?" the confusion in Vincent's voice was amusing. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," I said, slightly put off by the fact that he sounded concerned. "Lucas won't leave my apartment."

A heavy sigh sounded down the line. "Give him the phone."

Lucas vehemently shook his head as I sauntered over to him. He stared at the phone in my hand when I offered it to him. "It's for you," I teased, waving the device in front of his face.

"Hello?" he muttered after taking it from me. A myriad of emotions played across Lucas's face as he listened to Vincent. Finally Lucas muttered something incoherent and then mashed the end call button before tossing me my phone. I barely caught it.

I shot him a glare. "Don't be a baby," I told him.

"Don't be a baby," he mocked, his voice irritatingly high.

"I don't sound like that!" I stomped my foot to punctuate my sentence, but that just sent him into a fit of laughter. Grinding my teeth together, I turned and made my way back into the hall. After grabbing his shirt out of the dryer, I walked back into the living room to find him still doubled over. Pursing my lips, I dropped the shirt onto his head. That sobered him up. He grinned at me after he pulled it on.

"What?" he asked, batting his eyelashes at me.

"Out," I ordered, pointing stiff-armed to the door.

"Aw, Jules."

"Out."

He sighed, but heaved himself off the couch. "You're no fun."

"Out."

"Alright," he finally agreed. Laughter bubbled out of his mouth as he reached for me. I skipped out of his reach, narrowing my eyes. He rolled his eyes at me and this time when he tried, he was able to hook an arm around my neck. He pulled me into him and ruffled my hair. "Later, sugar," and with that he walked out the door.

"Twenty-one ways to kill you!" I yelled after him. His laughter echoed back to me even through the shut door. "Idiot," I grumbled. Dexter nudged the back of my legs. When I looked down at him, he just sauntered off back to the bedroom. A knowing smile cured my lips as I followed him. He jumped up onto the bed and just stared at me. "Are you wanting me to come back to bed?" I asked. His nub wagged. Taking that as a yes, I crawled back into bed.

* * * * *

The pounding on my door later that afternoon really shouldn't have surprised me. Dexter and I glanced at the door from our seats on the couch. His ears perked up in anticipation and I paused with my spoonful of cereal halfway to my mouth. It was Devyn. I had a sixth sense about these things and I could feel her displeasure radiating through the door. For the briefest second I considered ignoring it. Would she leave? Probably not. She would probably just start yelling until the neighbors called the cops. Groaning, I set my bowl down on the coffee table and trudged to the door.

When I opened it, Devyn arched her pierced eyebrow at me. "So you're sick, huh?"

Glancing down at my current attire – I had never bothered to put pants on – I nodded at her. "I think I might die."

"Shut up," she muttered, shouldering her way past me.

"Come on in, Dev."

"Thanks."

Rolling my eyes, I shut the door and returned to my spot on the couch. Devyn stared down at me, tapping her foot. Once again, I paused with my spoon midway to my mouth. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"We have to be at work in an hour and a half. You realize that right?"

"Fuck."

Kicking myself into high gear, I scrambled to place my dishes in the sink before dashing towards my bedroom. I threw on my uniform faster than I ever had, and managed to do a full face of makeup in under twenty minutes. I was damn proud of myself.

When I finally emerged into the living room dressed and ready, I noticed that Devyn was just walking in the door. She unclipped Dexter from his leash and he meandered into the kitchen. She saw the look of gratitude on my face and smiled. "You're welcome."

"Let's go," I rushed out, waving my keys at her. I hollered a goodbye to my dog and promised myself I would take him out for a nice long walk the next day. Devyn and I locked up and began our lengthy walk to work.

The silence around us was so heavy I could taste it. Normally, silence wasn't something I feared with Devyn. In fact I relished it most of the time. However, I could feel the questions she wanted to ask hanging in the air. It was written all over her face. Finally, when we were about twenty minutes from work I couldn't take it anymore.

"Spit it out," I snapped.

"What?" she asked, blinking at me as if coming out of a daze.

"What do you want to ask me?"

"I don't know what –"

"Don't play dumb with me, woman."

"Alright," she sighed before reaching up to twist her ponytail around her hand. It was a nervous habit of hers. "Why didn't you come to work last night?"

"I was sick."

"Juliette."

"Fine," I grumbled. For a moment I wondered why I had been so grouchy all day, but I pushed the thought away. "I went to see a self-defense trainer yesterday. He wore me out. I was so sore I knew I would be useless at work. So I called Anthony to cover my shift."

"What else?"

"What do you mean what else?"

"Nothing else happened?" she asked, her voice dripping with accusations.

"No."

"Jules, your apartment reeked of cologne."

"Oh, that." I felt the color drain from my face. Busted.

"Yes, that."

"I ran into the guys afterward," I admitted. "Then they came over and watched a few movies."

"The guys?"

"Yes?"

"As in the gang?

"Yes."

"As in the gang that kidnapped you?"

"Yes."

"As in the gang that is still following you around?"

"Yes."

"Juliette –"

"No, Dev," I snapped, cutting her off. "You don't get to play Mom on this one. It was fine. They're harmless."

"Was Vincent there?"

"Yes, but I don't see what –"

"Juliette!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air as she came to a full stop. "What are you thinking? He threatened to kill you."

"And he hasn't." I kept the part about the sneaking suspicion I had that Lucas was only watching me for my own protection out of the conversation. That would be a whole new argument.

She pointed a scarlet-painted nail at me. "Juliette Gracen, I swear to God, or whoever is running this shit, if you go and get yourself killed for trusting a bunch of gang members, I will personally kill you myself." I opened my mouth. "And don't you dare tell me that that's redundant." I shut my mouth.

We were frozen, caught in a glaring match. We were so focused on each other that I didn't even realize a car had pulled to a stop beside us. I didn't recognize the black sedan, but I sure as hell recognized the brunette that stuck his head out of it. "Jules!"

"Not the best time right now, Brandon!" I hollered back.

"Want a ride?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Ex-fucking-scuse me?" I asked Devyn, my eyes bugging out of my head. "After you literally just gave me a lecture about trusting them?"

She smirked at me. "If you're going down, I'm going down with you. And it beats walking in these damn heels."

I stared after her, dumbfounded. Shaking my head, I made my way to the car and slid into the backseat with Devyn. Arkin turned around in his seat and gave me a sweet smile. "Hey, Jules."

"Hi, Arkin," I greeted, trying my best to return his smile. However, I was so irritated I was sure whatever he saw was a sad attempt. He chuckled and faced forward.

Devyn and Brandon fell into an easy conversation like they had been friends for years. My eyes rolled of their own accord as I stared out the window. Arkin was watching me in the rearview mirror, I could see him glance at it every now and then. Before long, we arrived at Tuxedo and I all but dashed from the car. I was through the back door before Devyn even got out of the car. My purse hit the floor with a bang and I sighed when Dante jumped and turned to look at me.

"You okay, Jules?" he asked, his eyebrows raising.

"Just peachy."

"So I take it you're not feeling any better?"

"In a manner of speaking," I grumbled as I clocked in.

Devyn breezed through the door at that moment. "Alright," she started, placing her hands on her hips as she narrowed her eyes at me. "What's your problem? Your bitch levels are through the roof."

Sighing, I ran my hand down my face. Racking my brain for what could have caused my irritability the past day and a half, I wanted to face-palm when it finally clicked. "My period," I muttered.

"My cue to leave," Dante said, lightly laughing as he made his way out onto the floor.

"That does explain it," Devyn mused, coming over to wrap me in a tight hug. "You're always like this at that time of the month. I can't believe I didn't figure it out."

"It's annoying. God, I feel so bad," I grumbled, returning her hug. "I'm sorry, Dev."

"No worries. I'll be twice as bad in another week or two."

I grimaced. Truer words had never been spoken.

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