My stomach plummets at the thought of Lex, and I immediately start to shake my head. “She’s not my assistant anymore, you know that.”
“Yeah, but you haven’t accepted another assistant, either. Besides, I’m sure she could help,” Sylred tells me gently.
I sip on some spiced buttermilk that Okot made for me, watching as the five of them devour a huge stack of pancakes.
“I know,” I say, looking down at my mug and picking at grains in the wooden table. “I just…I know it hurts her to come here. She tries to put on a good front, but I can tell. Plus, I can feel it. Her heartbreak. It makes me feel so bad, because it was my f—”
“Don’t say it was your fault. The Horned Hook’s death was not your fault,” Evert glares at me. “The prince attacked, and Belren chose to take the hit.”
It most decidedly was my fault, but this is an argument I’ll never win. We’ve had it for years.
I sigh. “I don’t want to make her keep reliving it.”
Ronak leans back, placing his arm over the back of my chair and toys with the ends of my pink hair. “It’s been three years,” he points out.
“Yeah, and she’s still not okay,” I remind him. “She changed after Belren took the blast that would’ve hit her. I thought things would get better with time, but now I’m thinking that she’ll never be the same.”
Amorette’s eyes bounce between us from her wooden highchair. “Whatcha talkin’ about?” she asks around a mouthful of food.
“Don’t talk and chew,” Sylred reprimands, directing her attention away from our conversation by launching into the importance of keeping her wings clean.
Ronak’s attention moves back to me. “Then maybe she doesn’t need time. Maybe she needs something else to keep her mind off it.”
I shake my head. “Not yet. I’ll let her be for a while longer.”
“Well, you’ve got to do something, because you’re working too much. That mark is gonna keep glowing at all hours of the day and night unless you get a better handle on things,” Evert says.
Damn meddling mates. I’d argue more…if they weren’t right.
Not that I’ll tell them that.
Chapter 4
Just thinking of all the crap I’ll probably be bombarded with is enough to make me want to crawl back into bed. I also don’t want to tell the cupids that I need a break, but the pointed looks from my mates lets me know that they aren’t going to let me put this off.
“Fine, I’ll tell them I can work this one last time, but then I’m gonna take a week off after the baby is born.”
“Twelve weeks,” Evert counters.
“Are you insane? I can’t take twelve weeks off. I’m the freaking boss!”
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“Ten,” Ronak says.
“Three,” I retaliate.
“Nine,” Sylred offers.
These guys are freaking relentless. “Four. I’ll do a whole month. That’s a lot,” I say, trying to convince them.
The guys all exchange a look, and then Okot leans forward and picks up my hand. The gesture is sweet and makes me relax a bit from being ganged-up on. He strokes the pad of his finger over my palm, softening me immediately. “Take eight weeks, my beloved.”
I smile dreamily at him. “Okay.”
My genfins blink in surprise, but Okot just smiles and leans back, looking proud.
“What the fuck? Why did you agree to him so fast?” Evert demands.