My head ticked to the side. “Because the five of us signed up for this gig to do good in this fucked-up world, Jake. That includes helping the people who’ve hurt us if they need it,” I reminded him, my voice laced with warning.
When he didn’t give an answer, Dominic chimed in. “Did she ask for Hayes specifically?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?” I pressed, taking a step closer to him.
Dominic’s hand shot out, hitting my chest. “Easy, Mitchell.”
Jake studied me for a moment. “She is asking about your apartment in Charlotte.”
My brows came together. Then I turned, stalked toward my desk, eyes on the phone. She was on line three—the personal line.
For fuck’s sake. This day couldn’t get any worse. “I should’ve gone home,” I muttered under my breath as I picked up the phone. “Mitchell,” I answered sternly.
Her voice filled my ears then, smooth, light, and downright perfect. Veronica was the perfect southern belle, down to the way she spoke. “Hello, Hayes. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Wish I could say the same, but you and I both know lying isn’t really my thing.”
Lying was all I knew how to do most days.
“There’s no need to be rude,” she scoffed. “I’m not calling about that.”
“Then stop wasting my time and tell me why I’m on the phone with you,” I ordered, feeling Jake’s and Dominic’s eyes on my back.
“You have something of mine at your apartment.”
That was a lie. I’d cleared all her shit out the day she broke me. “There’s nothing of yours in my apartment, Veronica. You know that.”
“Really?” she quipped. “Because there is a Dior sweater that my father bought me two Christmases ago that is missing from my closet, and the last time I remember wearing it, I was at your place.”
“You’ve decided to interrupt my workday, my life, over a fucking sweater?” I pushed out through clenched teeth.
Had she always been this self-centered and shallow?
“It’s cashmere.”
I tipped my head back, staring at the ceiling as an unexpected wave of disbelief washed over me. “After everything, that’s all you have to say to me?”
“Well—”
A harsh laugh resonated from deep in my chest. “You took another man’s cock in my bed, V.”
Her voice changed then, getting softer—weaker. When we were together, this voice was my weakness. I would’ve gone to the ends of the earth for her. “Hayes, please.”
“Please what?” I shot back, walking to the window. “Please give you your fuckin’ sweater back? I don’t have it. I’ll take this time to remind you that I put all your shit out on the damn curb.”
“Yes, I remember,” she muttered, huffing. “You left me standing out in the rain.”
“You came on a cock that wasn’t mine when I had a ring intended for your finger sitting in a safe three feet away.”
“Easy,” Dominic urged from behind me.
I looked at him over my shoulder. “Seriously?” I quipped, pulling the phone away from my face.
His dark blue eyes flashed with caution. “Don’t piss her off.”
“I wasn’t fond of her when you two were together, but if you piss her off and she shows up like a crazy-ass ex…” Jake trailed off, rolling his eyes. “I don’t think any one of us has the energy to put up with that bullshit.”