“No, Naomi. Cal will never forgive me if I let anything happen to you. Please go unpack and see if Iris needs any help with dinner. You can take the room at the end of the hall.”
“I’m not a little kid, you know. I’m almost twenty!” she snapped, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“It’s not about being a little kid, Naomi.” I sighed, thinking about the way Cal had looked at me when I asked him what his key tattoo represented.
‘It’s Naomi’s key.’
Naomi’s well-being will always be one of Cal’s top priorities. He had spent his entire life doing everything he could to keep her safe. I wasn’t about to let her get involved with something that might jeopardize that.
“What’s going on?” I turned to find Theo sauntering down the hall, her dark eyes flickering back and forth between meand Vox, before finally landing on Cass. The second she took in Cass’s irritated stance, a mischievous look twinkled in her dark eyes.
Cass stiffened, looking like she was literally preparing to battle my sister, but Theo completely ignored her and turned to Vox.
“Who’s this guy?” Theo asked me, a sly smirk perched on her lips.
“This is Vox. He’s friends with Cal.”
“Oh. Hey, man. I’m Theo,” my sister said, holding out a hand to Vox, who still looked annoyed and impatient but shook her hand anyway.
“What’s the twerp doing here? You moving in?” Theo asked, taking in Naomi’s large pink suitcase.
“Temporarily. Cal’s in trouble. I think Vox wants us all in the same place while he investigates,” I explained, feeling impatient myself. I wanted to go get Calnow.I could barely keep still.
He needed me. I could feel it in my fucking bones.
Theo’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline.
“Is that so? Is that why Princess Cassandra is here, too?” Theo turned those taunting dark eyes on Cal’s sister. “Is the damsel in distress?”
“You want to see distress? I’ll putyou in fucking distress!”Cass snarled, taking a step closer to Theo, who just smirked and leaned against the wall, looking Cass up and down like she might eat her alive.
“Now, now, is that any way to threaten your future bunkmate?”
“What are you talking about!?” Cass rounded on me. “What is she talking about?”
I took an unintentional step back. Fuck, she was scary…
Theo barked out a laugh. “I’mtalkingabout the fact that if Naomi is taking the spare room upstairs, then the onlyother room is in the guest house… withme.”Theo smirked at Cassandra, clearly living for the lawyer’s inevitable explosion.
“Fuck this, I’m getting a hotel,” Cass snapped, turning on her heel. Vox grabbed her arm and tossed her back down the hall, right into Theo’s chest.
Theo steadied Cass as she teetered on her heels with a chuckle, and I thought for a minute that Cass was going to slap her right across the face. The only problem was Theo looked like she wanted her to do it.
Fuck having all of us under the same roof was going to be a shit show.
“That defeats the purpose, Cass. If it was safe to separate, you could have just stayed in your condo. Vox thinks we need to stick together. Apparently, we’re in danger,” Naomi pointed out, and I had to agree.
“Not to interrupt,” I snapped, “but can someone explainwhywe’re in danger? Where the fuck is Cal?” I couldn’t even pretend to be keeping my cool. “I’m freaking the fuck out. I need to know where he is, please,” I said, turning to Vox.
Vox gave me a sympathetic look and sighed. He made a writing motion on his palm and glanced at my desk expectantly. I rushed to get him a pen and paper.
Vox scribbled out a few words and passed the note back to me.
‘Damian is pissed that Cal has been distracted lately.’
Vox gave me a pointed look, and I felt my face go white. I knew what he was implying.I was what had been distracting Cal lately. My fingers began to shake.
“So he’s in trouble? Is he going to be ok?” I rasped, and Vox nodded, though his expression was grave. He snatched the paper back from me and wrote another note.
