Her brows furrowed in disapproval. The hallway might have been quiet save for their bickering, but she didn't need near silence to know what he had told himself, what he probably had been telling himself for some time. Was it pride that made him deny the truth? It had to be, for even if she despised him at this moment, she knew he was more than intelligent enough to comprehend who had kicked who out of their apartment. She certainly hadn't been the one packing up all her belongings and leaving as soon as possible. Ariana loosened the grip she had on her purse's strap, watching the less than subtle changes on Julian's face. It was unsurprising, as was the way he reacted. CASKET was everything to Julian. Any slight offensive remark made about the club would send him into a hissy fit, as was clearly happening now.
In theory, there was nothing wrong with him being protective about the club. It was, after all, his life's work. But she'd been there next to him since it had been nothing but a pipe dream (thusly making it their life's work), and she'd keep reminding him of this lest he forget, as he seemed wont to do in their later years together. Was it merely him spending more time at the club than with her which drove her thoughts down this path, as it had driven her to feel hostile towards the dream she'd help make a reality?
Julian's words might as well have been a knife in her back. Her expression hardened and she was glad of it, because what he said stung like hell, and she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her appear weak. Ariana's hand curled tightly around her purse strap again, as if to use the mistreated strap like an anchor, keeping her grounded so she didn't lose control. He would never fail to wield that particular ammo against her, would he? Julian was forever the charming socialite, even when she first met him. What had she been when she moved to California but a plain Montana ranch girl, trying her damnedest to make it in the big city? It was true that she didn't have a huge network of friends in the beginning, even after becoming properly situated. Still, she was content.
And then she'd met Julian, and she'd known what it felt like to let herself fall in love--love, an expression that had no place in this current debacle. It was no exaggeration to say that everything in her life had changed. Everything except her unwillingness to take Julian's insults laying down.
"You're dead wrong if you think I need you around to meet people. Don't pat yourself on the back too much, Julian. Unlike everyone else, I don't think you're the be all and end all when it comes to networking." She forced herself not to snarl like a cornered tigress. Some form of composure was necessary. Ariana refused to move, refused to budge in more ways than one. Her feet remained planted firmly in place. The hand not holding onto her purse strap for dear sanity dropped to her side, clenched in a fist that betrayed her true feelings. "But don't let me stand in the way of the masses who believe such a lie. Sooner or later maybe some of them will get a clue and realize you're only using them to do your dirty work."
Maybe that last bit was a little much, but it was too late now.