Page 16 of Born Wicked

“I’ve got bad news,” Roman says as he starts the vehicle, flips a U, and heads back the way we drove. “There’s one more purification plant. It mostly serves the South side, but there is another.”

“Goodie,” I groan.

It’s a thirty-minute drive south. This one is also located right on the water.

But after an hour-long inspection of the place, neither of us can find anything like what we did at the Navy Pier plant.

Thank the dark.

So, finally, at noon, the two of us head back north.

“You hungry?” Roman asks.

Almost instantly, my stomach growls in response. Roman chuckles, and it’s possibly one of the best sounds I’ve ever heard.

“Okay, I may not have gone out for groceries more than once since I moved into my apartment eleven days ago,” I admit. “And things have been so slammed, I might only be remembering to eat one meal a day, you know, at best.”

“Well, good thing I’ve got bacon back at the church,” he says with a smile, turning down a street, pointing us in that direction.

“Fine, twist my arm,” I say with a roll of my eyes. But I can’t hold it for that long, the chuckle comes from my lips just moments later.

CHAPTERFIVE

It shouldn’t be comforting,coming back to Roman’s secret church base. My time here followed the worst day of my life. The day everything with Sebastian came to a head, and I realized he was paying his bodyguard to follow me at all times. The day I confronted him. The day I realized just how much was wrong with our relationship.

But as we walk up to the front doors, I steal one glance at Roman.

I’d gone into a panic attack. I’d dismissed myself from my own engagement party and fled to the bathroom, where I proceeded to fall apart. Roman had walked right in, the only person at that party unafraid to make things uncomfortable and dangerous by following after me. There’d been death in his eyes. He’d asked me if he needed to kill Sebastian.

We hated each other before that night.

So, why? Why during that moment was he willing to kill one of the most powerful men in the city, for me, without even knowing what had happened?

I step inside, and I’m not surprised when Jay is sitting on a desk, talking to a man I’ve never seen before. It’s the real base of Roman’s operation.

“Welcome back, Helen of Troy,” Jay says with a not-so-subtle once over of me from head to toe.

That draws a sneer from me. “Ew. Don’t call me that.”

“Am I wrong?” he asks, arching a white eyebrow.

“Shut your mouth, Jay,” Roman says as we both walk past him, headed to the back of the church.

“You’re only proving me right,” Jay calls after us, his accent thick, raising his voice. As if we couldn’t hear him from outside and across the street.

I make sure to flip him the bird as I walk through the door.

Roman is the second largest employer of vampires in the city, but you’d never know it. He runs a tight operation. There is never a surplus of employees hanging around. Besides the two out in the old chapel, there aren’t any others in the building. We find the kitchen empty. And just moments later, I hear the front door open and close, and then we’re alone in the building.

I wonder where Jon is. He’s still staying here at the church.

“How’s your apartment at the club coming along?” I ask as I lean back against the counter.

Roman opens the fridge, digging around inside. “Honestly? I haven’t been back since Sebastian killed me. Been a bit busy.”

“Shit,” I let out a breath as Roman straightens and closes the fridge before going to the stove. “Honestly, I kind of forgot about that.”

“Glad to know you’re so concerned,” Roman teases with a dark look, his eyebrow cocked. Still, he doesn’t contain the smile creeping onto his lips. “It’s just death, right?”