“And why would he think you’d care?”
“He doesn’t. But he didn’t understand why Julius would have sprayed ‘For T’ on her headstone, so he called to see if I could clear up the confusion.”
Aspen’s nose wrinkled. “For tea? As in the drink?”
“No, the letter. Julius called my mother ‘Tink’ when they were kids, so I consider the mystery solved.” Camden gave an indifferent shrug. “It’s the pride’s problem, not mine.”
“Unless Julius decides to pull you into it.”
“My only concern right now is you. We need to find out who’s been targeting you,” he said, anger deepening his voice. “The whole thing was annoying when we thought it was just Randy behaving like an average internet troll. But I agree with what you said—he’s a prick at times, but he’s not that callous as to have you assaulted. Whoever sent Jerome your way isn’t a typical keyboard warrior, and he means fucking business.”
She sighed. “I know. You don’t think …”
“What?”
“You don’t think it could be Julius, do you?”
Camden frowned. “No, it would be completely out of character for him. He hates women, yes, and he has no problem with assaulting them. But he likes to get up close and personal. He wouldn’t send someone after you, he’d do his dirty work himself. And he wouldn’t get a kick out of online harassment or have the patience to send messages to Jerome and set that whole thing up.”
“From the things you’ve told me about him, I’d have to agree. I just can’t think of anyone who’d hate me enough to do all this. Julius doesn’t hate me either, I know. But he does loathe you. People have mistaken us for a couple in the past. He could have done the same; could have targeted me to hurt you.”
“It doesn’t have to be about hate. Cruel people don’t need to hate others in order to hurt them.”
“True. Tate isn’t so confident that they’re not a member of our pride. In any case, he’s changed the security code for the complex.” She held up her phone. “I just got a text with the new code. You’ll no doubt receive one too.”
“Personally, I don’t think you’ve been part of the pride long enough to make such a substantial enemy here.”
“Yeah, I’m thinking it’s unlikely that someone from our pride is behind it.” Moving closer, she added, her voice low, “Getting access to a secure building isn’t always so difficult, depending on what kind of training a person has.”
Picking up on her insinuation, he asked just as quietly, “You think it could be someone we used to work with?”
She lifted her shoulders. “It’s possible, although I can’t think who it might be. I didn’t make any enemies of our co-workers.”
“Have you run this theory by Havana and Bailey?”
“Not yet.” She slipped her phone back in her pocket. “But I will later when Bailey and I escort Havana home. Tate knows about our old job, so we can talk of it in front of him.”
Camden gave a curt nod. “Text me when you’re heading back to our complex. I’ll wait for you outside your apartment.”
“I doubt anyone will be lying in wait for me, but all right.”
“By the time we’ve moved your things to my place, it’ll be time for me to meet Grant in the communal yard.” His tiger flexed his claws, eager to swipe at the fucker. But Camden doubted the pallas cat would want them to shift into their animal forms. His beef was with Camden, not the tiger. Grant would probably want to deal with it man to man.
Aspen rubbed her nape. “I know you couldn’t have turned down the duel without looking weak, but I wish it didn’t have to happen.”
“I can’t say I share that wish. I’ve wanted to pummel him into the ground for months now. I was expecting the challenge.”
She studied him closely. “Is that why you marked me?” she asked, her tone carefully even. “You were goading him into challenging you?”
Camden took a step closer to her, pinning her gaze with his own. “Like I told him, I marked you because it fucking pleased me. No other reason.” And Camden knew that if given the chance, he’d do it again. Not out of a loss of control, but because he was quite simply incredibly possessive when it came to her.
Seeing his marks on her skin gave him a strange kind of peace—one he didn’t know how to describe. One he knew would fade when his brands faded.
“You’re staring at them again,” she said.
Yes, he was. He lifted his eyes to hers. “I like to look at them.” He lowered his face to hers. “I think you do too.”
Her eyes flickered.
Before she could deny it, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and then walked away.
CHAPTER TEN
The communal yard was pretty big, by Aspen’s estimations. But now, while so many Olympus Pride members stood around the two men in the center, it seemed so damn compact. Other members were hanging out of the rear windows of the apartment building, eager to watch.