Page 34 of Silk and Sirens

Sebastian’s lips opened, but his words were muffled beneath the music. Reluctantly I tugged at my headphones, letting them fall around my neck.

“I see the physiotherapy’s working,” my cousin commented.

I rolled my shoulder, barely containing my wince as my once damaged muscles protested. “The lift was locked down for the night.”

Sebastian folded his arms, and Raven didn’t so much as flinch. “It’s called an override.”

“It’s called, fuck off and let me sleep.”

“Yes, because you look like you’re sleeping.”

I flipped him my middle finger.

Sebastian had designed the entire building himself, turning it into an impenetrable stronghold disguised as luxury flats. Every wall was reinforced, every entry point monitored, and every possible weakness eliminated so it could withstand far more than the average threat. It had to, given the industry we operated in.

Sebastian occupied the two-story penthouse at the very top. Then Langdon’s floor sat beneath his, and mine below that.

Everything under us was hollowed out, gutted to the bones of the structure and rebuilt with the strongest materials money could buy. There were no other tenants, no witnesses or potential hazards, just layers of security stacked beneath us like armour, connected to a specialised lift that operated on its own server. One that Langdon had created along with a few trusted security experts. Technology and surveillance were his thing, while I, on the other hand, had no idea how the lift actually worked.

All I knew was that it ran on three private access codes, one for each of us, and mine had been locked down for privacy. Meaning no one was supposed to be able to come to my floor, and yet Sebastian continued to scowl at me from the doorway.

“Next time you lock down your lift, I’m going to make sure I come up anyway and catch you and Ara in a compromising position,” I said.

Sebastian’s eyes turned lethal, even though we both knew it was an empty threat. He was not rational when it came to his wife, and I was more than aware that despite me being his blood, he’d easily shoot me in the face if I ever looked at Arabella wrong. And I couldn’t deny the irony. This man, known throughout the Underworld as the Beast, utterly undone by a woman half his size.

It was pathetic, but she also saved him from himself.

“What do you want, Bas?” I asked, my tone not so friendly. More so because I ached like fuck and wanted to spend the next few hours either playing music through the pain or attempting to sleep. My shoulder didn’t always hurt, but recently it had been playing up with the colder weather. “Was it another nightmare?”

I eyed him carefully, looking for any signs he may be in an episode that I’d need to drag him back from. He’d been better since his wife, but even finding your person sometimes isn’t enough to eliminate your past. His complex trauma and insomnia weren’t just going to disappear entirely because he had something warm to cuddle at night.

“Your dad won’t stop harassing me,” he said, ignoring my second question. “Apparently you’re not answering his calls.”

“Bloody hell, he must be desperate if he’s contacting you.” It had only been a week since his mixer and the somewhat dramatic demise of his partner. For some reason, I didn’t think Dad had lost any sleep over Kent Grant.

“I’m taking great pleasure in hanging up on him,” Sebastian chuckled. “He says he’s worried about you. And you do look worked up. Which is concerning, because you don’t get worked up.”

The scent of smoke curled through the air as Langdon appeared behind him like a dark-blond grim reaper. “That’s because he’s got a hard-on for a certain redhead,” he signed with a crooked grin. He was dressed entirely in black, the fabric streaked with soot and dust. “You told him how you’ve been stalking her yet?”

“Fucking hell, what’s the point in being able to lock down the lift if you can both override it?” I dragged a hand down my face, my shoulder continuing to hate me. “Lang, you stink. Go take a shower.”

Langdon wrinkled his nose, and then with a wink turned towards my master bathroom rather than returning to his own fucking flat.

“Should I be worried, Cade?” Sebastian asked.

I arched a brow. “Global warming is definitely something to be concerned about.”

“You’re such a cunt.”

“And you should really start recycling. Think of your children.”

“I don’t have children,” he muttered.

“Yet.”

A slow smile spread across Sebastian’s face. “At the rate your father’s pushing, you’ll be the one having kids first.”

Fuck. That.