Chapter 158 The Grapevine

Number Nine, Southridge Estates.

Lila was mid-story, selling it to Mrs. Jones like she’d just had the best afternoon of her life.

"You should’ve seen what Isabella did to Serena. Ten bucks says she’s black and blue under that outfit. Solid work too, her aim just needed a little tuning. Two inches to the left and Serena’s picking teeth up off the floor." She looked genuinely bummed about the teeth.

Eira’s disappointment ran the other way. "I just want to know how it went down once Sebastian showed up."

"Relax, I’m on it." Lila’s grin turned wicked. She waved her phone. "I had Sebastian’s whole circus followed. My guy’s been texting me updates all afternoon, and he’s about to swing by with the rest."

The doorbell rang right on cue.

Mrs. Jones had it open before the second ring. Alpha Killian’s driver stood on the step.

Lila lit up like it was her birthday. "Okay, sit, sit. What happened? And please tell me you got video."

"Alpha Sebastian hauled all three of them to the ER first," the driver said. "Then it kicked off again. Except this round it wasn’t Isabella and Serena. It was Sebastian and Serena."

Lila’s jaw dropped. "Get out."

Eira turned, thrown too. "Sebastian and Serena? Not Sebastian and Isabella?"

"Nope." The driver held up his phone. "They went at it right there in the hallway. Not screaming, but not exactly keeping it down either. I grabbed a stretch that sounded like it mattered. Figured you’d want it, Miss Crawford. Already AirDropped a copy to myself so it’s backed up."

"Thank you." Eira took the phone. "Did either of them say anything that actually lands as cheating?"

"Not in so many words," he admitted. "But Alpha Killian always says enough small stuff adds up. Sooner or later one piece does the job."

Eira looked up, caught off guard. "Killian told you to record this?"

The driver nodded. "A while back. Anything with Sebastian or Serena in it, if I can get it on camera, get it. Said one of these days a clip would come in handy for you."

Something in Lila’s chest went soft. "God. My brother is so gone on you it’s honestly a little sad to watch."

"Alpha Killian double-checks anything that touches Miss Crawford. More than he does his own deals." Mrs. Jones set a bowl of chips and salsa on the coffee table and settled into the armchair.

Eira sighed. "Mrs. Jones."

Mrs. Jones raised a hand, solemn. "I swear this one isn’t a line out of a book. If it were, I’d have gone with something like, it’s the first time in his life the man’s ever put a woman ahead of himself."

There it was.

Eira bit back a laugh, grabbed a soda off the table, and slid it across to her. "Drink your Coke, Mrs. Jones."

Lila’s hand shot out. "Hey. Where’s mine?"

"Baby," Eira said, but she cracked open another can and slid it over anyway.

Eira’s smile widened, enough that her teeth showed.

Mrs. Jones gasped. "She smiled. She actually smiled."

Eira put a hand over her face.

"Mrs. Jones, how many of those romance audiobooks have you got going, seriously?" Lila asked.

"I just leave them running while I work." Her eyes crinkled into happy slits. "And it landed, didn’t it? Got the girl to smile."

Eira waved them both off and pulled up the video.

Lila leaned in close to the speaker. "She keeps saying something about being wasted, some party, saving herself? The hell’s that supposed to mean?"

Eira knew exactly what it meant.

"Sebastian and Serena slept together. Drunk, after some party."

"They slept together?" Lila shot upright. "That’s a smoking gun. Whatever hotel it was, we pull the booking, grab the security cams—"

"It wasn’t a hotel." Eira shook her head. "It was at the house."

Lila’s fists curled. "Isabella went way too easy today. Should’ve saved a couple swings for her own brother."

Mrs. Jones’s eyes went glassy, but she kept it together and said nothing.

"It’s over now." Eira said it light, like it was nothing. She left out the part where she’d thrown up for hours that day, dry-heaving till there was nothing left but bile.

On screen, the two of them finally split off and walked opposite directions.

Lila frowned. "Why’d they split up? Sebastian’s actually giving up on his precious first love?"

"He’s not." Four years, and Sebastian had never so much as looked at anyone but Serena. A man like that didn’t just flip a switch overnight. Eira wasn’t buying it. She had the driver AirDrop her the file.

"Sebastian drove back to Southridge too," the driver added.

Mrs. Jones snorted. "So that’s why my phone won’t quit. Speak of the devil."

Lila blinked. "Devil?"

"Sebastian," Eira said.

"Sure enough, he went straight to Number Twenty and he’s been leaning on the doorbell ever since." Mrs. Jones pulled up the door cam. There he was, same clothes as the video.

"Eira? You in there? I know you’re home. Open up. Five minutes, that’s all. Just look at me."

His voice crackled through the speaker. Eira’s brow had barely started to knit before Mrs. Jones, quick as anything, cut the feed.

They figured killing the door cam would shut it down.

Nope. Alpha Sebastian had made up his mind. Until Eira opened that door and looked him in the eye, he wasn’t going anywhere. He just kept leaning on the bell and calling her name, dead set on being a pain in the ass to the bitter end.

The houses in Southridge sat far apart, walled off by enough landscaping to eat any noise, so he wasn’t bugging the neighbors.

But the estate ran patrols, and a quiet property was the whole point.

Every time a guard rolled past, Alpha Sebastian went still as a lawn statue. The second they left, he started right back up.

Word got to Alpha Killian on his way in. He told the driver to swing by Number Twenty.

In the dark, under a streetlamp, Alpha Sebastian was still out there.

"Guy’s been at it since four," the driver said. "Three hours, easy."

Alpha Killian’s eyes went flat. "Tell the guards to let him stand there. The longer, the better. They don’t have to touch him."

The driver nodded and the car rolled on toward Number Nine.

The headlights hadn’t even died before Mrs. Jones came out the front door, all smiles. "Alpha Killian! Wasn’t expecting you."

The driver gave an innocent shrug. "Wrong turn, Alpha. Long as we’re here, though, you might as well grab dinner. I’ll have Mrs. Jones see if Miss Crawford’s up for company."

Alpha Killian still didn’t say a word.

But he got out of the car.

Mrs. Jones ducked back inside. "Miss Crawford, the driver made a wrong turn and dropped Alpha Killian here. Want me to set him a place, or send him back to Number One?"

The man was already on the doorstep. You didn’t send a guest packing, and Eira had manners. So she went out herself. "Killian. Come on in."

He climbed out and gave the driver a flat look.

The driver just grinned. "I’ll be at Number One. Text me when you need a ride."