She smiled and then looked around the room, taking in the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room. “Is this where you guys normally live? When you aren’t having to babysit me out in the country?”
“Normally, yes.”
“It’s kind of cold. I think I prefer the manor.”
“Normally we take turns going out there,” Sebastian said. “If one of us needs a break or wants a vacation for a few days, we go out there and chill. Elliot and I can’t stand the incessant pounding Tristan does on his drums when he’s pissy, so Tristan tends to go there more often than we do.”
“You boys are more temperamental than teenage girls,” Melody mumbled as she took a long sip of wine.
“I’ve noticed that,” Scarlet said through a smile.
“They better be minding their manners.”
Scarlet snorted at that and then stood. She looked around at all three of us. I saw Melody smile behind her drink as she watched Scarlet hold all the power over us. All three of us watched and waited, like her little lapdogs. Even Elliot, who was trying not to be as obvious about it, was a little more on edge waiting to see who she was about to call on.
“Elliot,” she said, locking her eyes onto him. I watched his gaze slide onto her out of the corner of my eye. Jealousy tried to take root in my gut, but I pushed it down. If I was going to make her stay, we needed to make this work. She wanted all of us, and I was happy to see my friends happy. So I needed to get over my mental hang-ups and let this run its course. “Take me for a tour?”
Elliot sat there for a moment, staring at her. I could’ve cut the tension with a knife. We were all watching him, waiting to see what he would say. I honestly figured he would give her a snarky comment or tell her to go fuck herself.
“Alright,” he said and stood up, throwing his hair into a bun. “I’ll take a turn being your little bitch boy.” He walked around the table, and as he passed her, she grabbed his arm and sprang up onto his back like a fucking monkey. He tilted to the side and swore before helping her hop the rest of the way up onto his back.
We all watched them go, Elliot telling her this and that about the loft before disappearing down the hallway. I stared after them for a minute, and when I turned around, both Melody and Sebastian were looking at me.
“What?”
“We are well and truly fucked,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, you are,” Melody agreed. “What do you intend to do with her? Her family isn’t going to just give up trying to take hold of this city—your city.”
“I know,” I said, running my hand over the scruff that had started to form. “Whatever we do…”
“We can’t lose her,” Sebastian finished for me.
“We can’t lose her,” I agreed.
“Then don’t,” Mel said.