Chapter 505

Rex's Adam's apple bobbed. He stared at her for a long moment before his anger finally deflated a bit. "Do you really have to keep doing this with Asher?"

Seeing his front door close, Rowan glanced down at his watch.

It was still early.

After a brief thought, he pulled out his phone, tapped on WeChat, and sent a message to the girl across the hall. [Are you busy?]

The reply came quickly.

Mrs. Murphy: [Just finished. Getting ready to shower.]

Rowan stared at the new nickname he'd set with deep amusement. Finding it utterly delightful, he decided not to reply just yet. Phone in hand, he stood up and walked toward the entryway.

To his surprise, the moment he opened his door, he came face-to-face with Rex, who was just about to ring the bell.

Across the hall, a door slammed shut with a heavy thud.

Rex looked visibly annoyed.

But the one most annoyed was Rowan, whose plan to see his future wife had just been derailed. He glared at Rex. "What are you doing here?"

"Drinking."

Rex was still drowning in his own frustration, completely oblivious to Rowan's thinly veiled disgust.

Still, Tanya was home now. It wouldn't be appropriate for Rowan to barge in on Elissa this late at night.

Rowan stopped in his tracks and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is there to drink about?"

Rex let himself in, swapped his shoes for slippers, and scanned the apartment.

Elissa was nowhere to be seen, and there were no signs of a meal on the dining table.

Rex glanced back at him, feeling a sudden wave of solidarity. "We're two miserable men adrift in the same boat. What do you think we're drinking about?"

...

Seeing the man wallowing in his sorrow, Rowan mercifully spared him from any further insults. He grabbed a bottle of Macallan and two tumbler glasses. "Didn't you have dinner with Lawyer Foster?"

Rex slumped onto the sofa, drained. "I did."

Ah.

They ate, but it clearly hadn't ended well.

Understanding the situation, Rowan poured the drinks while replying to Elissa's text.

[Go ahead. Take your time, and be careful not to slip in the bathroom.]

She was pregnant; a fall could be disastrous.

Mrs. Murphy: [I know!]

She followed it up with a sticker of a little character saluting "Yes, sir!"

Rowan's lips curled up, a smile reaching his eyes. [Such a good girl, my little Nine.]

He set the phone down, only to see Rex staring at him suspiciously.

"What's going on? Elissa is ignoring you, so why are you looking so utterly lovesick?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Rex realized something was very wrong. Elissa had been avoiding Rowan for ages. Even tonight at the alley, she hadn't looked particularly thrilled to see him.

There was no way those two had made that much progress so fast.

Rex's eyes widened in horror. "Don't tell me you found someone else?"

Otherwise, why would this perpetually cold-faced bastard be grinning at his phone like a lovesick fool?

Rowan hadn't wanted to rub it in, but since he asked, he didn't hide it. "I didn't find anyone else."

"What do you mean?"

Rex's eyes bugged out. "The person you were texting... was Elissa?"

Rowan merely smiled in response.

"

It was a devastating blow. Rex's frustration plummeted into pure despair.

'Two miserable men adrift in the same boat', his ass.

This bastard had already left him in the dust!

Rowan picked up his glass and clinked it against Rex's, offering some shockingly earnest advice "Proximity is key. You live toofar away; it's just not convenient."

"Who wants proximity? Who even cares?"

Rex shot back irritably.

He'd be damned if he kept groveling to her.

Back in the parking garage, when he had asked that question, Tanya had

immediately smiled and hit him with a simple: "Yes, I have to."

Fine.

Let her do whatever she wanted.

He was over it.

Rowan nodded thoughtfully and dropped the bomb. "I heard Asher has been trying to rent a place in

Vistapeak Gardens. If you're not Sublet this

interested mat

place to him."

"Rowan!"

set

Rex scowled, looking deeply betrayed. "Who was the brother stood outside your operating room

for

ty-four hours straight when

you took that bullet?"conten

Rowan smiled faintly. "So you want to rent it?"