HIS JEALOUSY

CHAPTER 15

"I don't answer to you about who I talk to."

Roman's eyes darkened the second the words left my mouth.

"Thorne is not someone you should trust."

"That's your excuse?"

"It's not an excuse."

"Then what is it?"

I crossed my arms.

"You nearly frightened him off that terrace."

"He needed to understand where the boundaries were."

"Whose boundaries, Roman?"

He didn't answer.

His jaw tightened, the muscle working once beneath his skin.

I pushed harder.

"You didn't behave like that with Lord Halden. Or with half the room asking me invasive questions all night."

I held his gaze.

"Why him?"

"Thorne is different."

"Different how?"

"He has motives you don't understand."

"So does everyone in that room."

I shook my head.

"That's not what set you off."

Roman's expression hardened.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Then tell me what I'm talking about."

Silence.

He had no answer.

And we both knew it.

"You weren't watching Thorne all night," I said, quieter now.

Roman's eyes narrowed.

"You were watching me."

He went completely still.

I felt something shift between us.

"I keep hearing about duty," I continued. "Protection. Politics."

My voice softened.

"Every time something gets too personal, you reach for one of those words like a shield."

Roman looked away.

"I want to know what's actually underneath it."

"Mira"

"Tell me."

He stepped closer instead of retreating.

Close enough that I had to tilt my head to hold his gaze.

"You should have walked away from him."

"I'm not required to walk away from anyone."

My voice remained steady, even though my pulse had begun to race.

"This arrangement doesn't give you ownership over who I speak to."

"I'm aware of what the arrangement does and doesn't give me."

"Then why does it feel like you think it gives you this?"

I gestured between us.

His breathing changed.

Shorter.

Tighter.

Like something was fighting to get out from under all that careful control.

"It isn't about politics," he said finally.

My chest tightened.

"Then what is it about?"

He looked at me for a long moment.

For once, there was no immediate answer.

No carefully chosen excuse.

No reference to duty.

Then something in his expression cracked open.

Raw.

Unplanned.

"You."

The word landed like a blow.

"Roman..."

"When I saw him standing that close to you..."

He stopped.

His jaw tightened.

I waited.

He looked away for half a second before meeting my eyes again.

"It bothered me."

"Because he's dangerous?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Roman seemed to realize his mistake.

His expression hardened, but he didn't take the words back.

"Because I didn't like it."

My heart stumbled.

"Why?"

He didn't answer.

His hand rose slowly, almost without permission from the rest of him.

It stopped beside my face.

He was close enough that I could feel the warmth of his palm without actually being touched.

My breath caught.

His eyes searched mine.

Then, in a voice so quiet it almost disappeared between us, he said,

"Because I wanted him away from you."

I stared at him.

"That's jealousy."

Roman's hand remained suspended for one heartbeat longer.

Then his fingers curled.

He lowered it.

"I know."

The admission stole the air from my lungs.

"You've been jealous of him?"

"I didn't say that."

"You just did."

His jaw tightened again.

I almost smiled.

"You're terrible at this."

"At what?"

"Admitting what you feel."

His eyes sharpened.

"I don't make a habit of discussing my feelings."

"I noticed."

For the briefest moment, something almost like amusement flickered across his face.

Then it vanished.

His gaze dropped to my mouth.

The air between us changed.

Suddenly, the gathering felt impossibly far away.

The council.

The other Alphas.

Kase.

Everything disappeared beneath the awareness of how close Roman was standing.

"Then what am I to you?"

The question felt dangerous the moment it left my lips.

His eyes searched mine.

For one long, suspended moment, I thought he might actually answer.

His hand lifted again.

This time, his fingers came close enough to brush a loose strand of hair near my cheek.

He stopped himself before touching me.

Then he stepped back.

The retreat felt like losing something I hadn't known I wanted until it was gone.

"This isn't part of the arrangement," he said, his voice rough.

"What isn't?"

He looked at me.

Something unreadable moved behind his eyes.

"Whatever this is."

My heart tightened.

"Then what is it?"

He was silent.

For several seconds, I thought he would leave without answering.

Instead, he said quietly,

"I don't know."

It was the first completely honest answer he'd given me all night.

And somehow, it frightened me more than anything else.

Roman looked away.

Then he turned and walked down the corridor.

I didn't chase him.

I stood there in the empty hallway, listening to his footsteps fade into silence.

My heart was still hammering against my ribs.

I pressed one hand against my chest as though I could somehow quiet it.

I'd expected relief.

I'd expected to be grateful he'd stopped himself.

Grateful the line hadn't been crossed.

Instead, all I felt was the ache of watching him walk away.

Roman had been jealous.

Not because of pack politics.

Not because of appearances.

Not simply because Kase was dangerous.

Because of me.

And I wasn't afraid of Roman's jealousy anymore.

I was afraid of how badly I'd wanted it to mean something.