I frowned tightly, suddenly unsure how I was going to answer that. Had Silas hurt me? There had been pain involved, but I wouldn’t say that I had disliked it. I was sure that I would have disliked it if anyone else had done it…
“Seph?” Cabe prodded gently. “If he did, you can tell me. We’ll never leave you alone with him again and me and Noah can restrain him while you beat him up for a while.”
I huffed out an amused sigh, turning to face Cabe. I pulled off my scarf and pointed to the purplish bite mark on my neck. Cabe’s frown twitched into a smile and when his eyes slid back to my face, there was a knowing spark in the honeyed-brown depths.
“So he bit you?” Cabe asked, his voice suddenly casual. Too casual. “Anything else?”
I squinted, trying to figure out why he sounded so neutral and why he hadn’t been shocked even in the slightest. I dropped my scarf and bag on the floor, pulling down the neckline of my shirt to bare the mark on the inside curve of my breast. It was bigger than the one on my neck, and little red indentations from Silas’s teeth were inlaid in the center of the mottled bruise.
“You haven’t healed yourself at all,” Cabe remarked, reaching up to brush the pad of his thumb over the mark.
“It never even occurred to me,” I lied.
Cabe smirked, shaking his head a little. He knew that I was lying. “I think it’s time to establish rules again,” he said. “You got pissed at us last time, so do you want to be in the room this time?”
I gaped, snatching my bag back up and winding the scarf around my neck again. Did I want to be present while they discussed the limits of their shared relationship with me? Ugh, hell no. I shook my head violently and pushed open the door, Cabe’s laugh floating after me as I strode out into the hallway and collided with Noah.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, steadying me.
“Nothing,” I snapped, still inwardly cringing. “But when you guys have this discussion, keep poor Miro in mind. You might just force him to jump out of a window.”
“What discussion?” Noah asked, allowing me to lead him toward the elevator.
“I have a feeling that Silas broke the rules in a big way last night,” Cabe whispered to Noah, catching up to us.
I scowled at Cabe, switching to Noah’s other side so that Cabe wasn’t able to whisper to him anymore. Noah blinked, pressing the down button.
“Interesting…” he murmured. “How big of a way?”
A curse catching in my throat, I shoved Noah through the now-open doors of the elevator and strode in after him.
“Stop talking about me like I’m an errant pet,” I demanded.
“Actually, I think this is more about Silas being an errant beast,” Cabe corrected me. “If those marks are anything to judge by.”
“What marks?” Noah asked, his voice a little deeper than usual, his eyes flashing.
Nobody said that having four sort-of boyfriends was going to be easy.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I announced, squaring my shoulders. “I want to be in the room when you have this discussion. I have a few rules of my own.”
“Can we ban her from having rules of her own?” Noah asked Cabe.
“I’m not sure. We can try. Seph, bad news, you aren’t allowed to have rules of your own.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, and he held his hands up in surrender, taking a step back from me.
“I tried,” he told Noah. “She shot me down.”
Noah rolled his eyes, pulling me out of the elevator and into the limousine. Hans and Andrei were already inside and waiting.
Hans cleared his throat.
“Good morning to you too,” I said, wiggling my fingers at him.
Andrei’s mouth twitched into an almost-smile, and they both turned to stare stoically out of their respective windows.
I spotted Tariq running toward the limo as though we might drive off without him, and I jumped out and met him in a hug.
“I’m so happy to see you,” he told me, patting my hair.
“I saw you yesterday morning,” I countered, trying to make light of the situation. “I’m sorry I was so out of it last night. I don’t even remember the drive back.”
“It’s okay.” He pulled the door open and motioned for me to get in, flashing a smile that sparked in his eyes. “I mostly chatted with Dre and Hamburger.”
“Dre and Hamburger?”
“Yeah,” Tariq replied, settling himself between the silent giants and punching each of them on the arm. “Those are their hood names. Dre,” he pointed to Andrei, “and Hamburger.” He pointed to Hans.
“Um.” I was at a complete loss for words as Hans and Andrei turned to do some kind of a handshake with my brother, both of them smiling. I looked to Noah, but his face was completely stoic. Cabe was smiling, but when I silently widened my eyes at him, asking for an explanation, he only shook his head.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Noah said, pulling my phone out of his pocket and dropping it into my lap. “You probably want this back.”
“Thanks,” I said, switching it on and quickly sending off a message to Poison and Clarin.
Poison’s reply came through first, reading: Find me as soon as you get here.