In other words, Marshall could not have set this up.
Yasmine wasn’t another Noelle.
Some of the tension slipped from him, but not all of it. He still didn’t have an explanation for Yasmine and Claudia’s connection and why she’d kept that from him. He could understand why Claudia hadn’t said anything, but he didn’t know why Yasmine hadn’t.
And he didn’t know whether he wanted to spank her ass or wash his hands of her entirely.
Yasmine
Pulling away from Claudia’s embrace, Yasmine dashed the tears from her eyes as she looked up to see the incoming cop cars, sirens blaring as they came down the street. If there was someone still inside her house, they now knew the cops were here. Several of their neighbors were already looking out their windows or even opening their doors to see what was going on. It was the night Pete James had been banging on her door all over again, except it was still light out.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Claudia. As happy as she was to see her friend, she had no idea why she was there.
Claudia shrugged one shoulder, actually looking a little sheepish.
“I might have been listening to the police scanner.”
“You have weird taste in entertainment.” It was a weak attempt to make light of the situation, but Claudia obligingly laughed.
The cop cars came to a halt in front of Yasmine’s house, and several of them got out. She recognized Officer Zucker, the officer who had done most of the talking the night Pete James had first come to her house. He raised his hand in acknowledgment as he got out of the car, serious-faced, then said something to his partner before heading over to her.
“Miss Jafari.” His gaze slid to Claudia, then behind them both, where Zeus was standing. Yasmine felt Zeus coming up behind her, the hairs on the back of her neck tingling in response to his nearness.
“Hello again, officer,” she said, the moment of levity she’d managed with Claudia quickly slipping away. “These are my friends, Claudia Delgado and Zeus Apuzzio.”
“And are either of them the reason the alarm is going off?” Officer Zucker asked, raising one eyebrow.
Yasmine felt Claudia bristle beside her at his dismissive attitude. His partner was already headed up to her front door while he talked to her.
“No,” Yasmine told him, trying to focus on him and not what his partner was doing. “They both arrived afterward.”
“I’m the one who installed the security system,” Zeus said. His voice was cold. Hard. Yasmine twisted slightly to look back at him, but he wasn’t paying attention to her. He was completely focused on Officer Zucker. Maybe he was also displeased by the officer’s attitude, but for some reason, it felt like his coldness was also directed at her.
Or maybe she was projecting because she really wanted him to hold her again and take her hand and shield her behind him… but she knew he wasn’t going to do that in front of Claudia and the cops.
Oh, shit.
Claudia.
Who also worked for Black Fox Security. Who Zeus hadn’t known she knew.
Yasmine tensed as she realized what the problem might be.
“Hey, Jason,” the officer peering into her door said, half turning to look at them. He looked a little younger than Officer Zucker, and the deep frown on his face was not reassuring. He ran a hand through his medium brown hair, stealing a quick glance at her before looking at Officer Zucker again. “Come look at this.”
“Look at what?” Yasmine asked immediately.
“Stay here, Miss Jafari,” Officer Zucker said with an admonishing frown before turning to jog to her front door to see whatever it was his partner wanted to show him inside her house.
Yasmine had half a mind to follow him… and not just because she wanted to get away from the extremely awkward situation Claudia’s appearance had caused.
“Hello, Parsley,” Claudia said to Zeus.
“Claudia.” His tone was short. Clipped.
She should say something. But what?
It felt like her brain had gone completely to mush, and she was dying inside.