"What do you mean?" His face pales.
"Don't play dumb." I cross my arms, leaning back in my chair.
"Jenn might have mentioned something," Ethan replies, subdued.
"Definesomething." Is this why George changed schedules and reassigned additional personnel to the vineyard?
"Jenn's heard rumors of his handle popping up inThanatos3. You know Corbin is in charge of—" Ethan cuts himself off.
Thanatos3is a dark web chatroom Marshall Davis uses for his ventures. The man is obsessed with Greek mythology, hence he named his preferred communication platform after the personification of death.
"All the more reason to keep Lilly out of it." If there is something else going on that George has kept me in the dark from, I will make sure Lilly and Rhys are safe from it—especially if it involves Lilly's brother and the Davis clan. Together.
"Whatever you say, B."
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
DENIELLE
After Marcus gotoff work Wednesday evening, we extensivelydiscussedmy theft of his favorite sweats. Somehow, I doubted they were really his favorites.
We're lying next to each other in the tangled sheets when he orders me to wait for him here. He throws on a pair of running shorts that have materialized from somewhere on the floor and disappears into the living room. The sound of the front door causes me to sit up in his bed.
What the—?
According to the alarm clock, ten minutes pass before I hear footsteps again.
I picked on a frayed thread on the corner of the comforter and slipped my feet out several times but then decided against it. Whatever he was doing seemed important to him.
Marcus appears in the doorway, leaning with his shoulder against the frame. "Get up."
"Excuse me?" I arch my brows. "It's one in the morning."
"So? What's your point?Baby." He's been using the endearment at every possible chance, with the occasionalKellerthrown in between. But even using my last name has morphed into something more. The way he enunciates it, it is like a challenge, and a swarm of butterflies explodes in my belly—challenges I happily accept every single time.
Before I can protest, he turns and walks back out. I clench my jaw, a jab on my tongue, but move to follow. As my feet hit the carpet, another demand stops me in my tracks.
"Oh, and don't bother putting clothes on." His call comes from somewhere in the house.
Has he lost his mind?
My pulse speeds up, and I pull the sheet from the bed with me. I don't mind being naked in front of him, but having no idea what his plans are…
I find Marcus in the living room, his shorts replaced with one of the pool towels from the hall closet. He holds a matching one in my direction. "Let's go."
I bristle as my gaze jumps between the offering and his face. "Where?"
"You'll see." His smirk tethers between mischievous and…like something momentous is about to happen. There is a gleam in the depths of his eyes I can't decipher.
Putting my trust in him, I cross the room, drop the sheet, and cover myself with the towel.
Marcus opens the door and gestures to go ahead.We're leaving?My heart thunders in my ears. My ass peeks out of the bottom of the towel, and I peer toward the camera under the pool house's roofline. It's one of God knows how many monitoring the property's exterior.
The moonlight reflects on the surface of the pool. A small camping lamp sits on a low table between two lounge chairs, providing the only illumination. None of the other lights on the patio are on.
Marcus turns me to face him, wrapping his arms around my waist. I clutch the towel over my chest, and my stomach churns watching him chew on the inside of his cheek. His eyes flip between mine, and with every passing second, the nervous swarm of butterflies morphs into an angry murder of crows flapping ferociously.
My confident man never acts unsure of his actions.