Chapter 23
We’re watching Eris. Of course, we are. I mean, I’m trying to work on some code for a new project, but I can’t commit when she’s in view. She’s our favorite celebrity, and this is the best show on TV… Except, it’s real. And I don’t want her autograph.
I want her here. In my lap. In my bed… Just around in general.
I’m tired of waiting for the right moment.
“She’s smiling.” Kieran’s voice is soft, almost reverent, like he isn’t sure he’s allowed to say it with more volume.
His fingers fly across the keyboard, messaging Eris in the app. And suddenly, she drops her towel.
I lean over his shoulder to watch the feed more closely as I pointlessly say, “You’re supposed to look away while she’s changing.”
But there she is… Naked… Then clothed.
Eris walks out of her bedroom in a black dress that hugs her like a second skin. The combat-style boots make her appear a little less delicate than normal. Her red lips make me want to crawl through the monitor and into her apartment.
Her expression, though?
Yeah. That’s new.
She isn’t faking confidence. Not that I ever suspected she was. This is just a new level.
She looks… Happy?
“Is that what it takes to make her smile?” I ask, glancing at the open chat and smirking at Kieran. “Dirty morning sexting from the ghost in her phone?”
Kieran doesn’t answer, but his jaw twitches like he’s suppressing his amusement, and that’s all I need.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I mutter, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Getting bold, Hollow. You should tell her you’ll make coffee when you really mean to bend her over the table. I’m proud of you.”
“She likes it,” he says, quirking a brow at me. “She could have changed in her bathroom, where she knows there isn’t a camera, but she didn’t. I’m not turning away if she’s going to drop her towel for us to watch.”
I tilt my head. “You sure this is you and not Cipher? I’m positive she’s still got Silas running laps in her head after the hotel night. When are you going to make your move?”
“Just because I’m not racing to jump into bed with her, doesn’t mean I haven’t been making moves.
” Kieran watches Eris leave her building before giving me some of his attention again.
“She’ll dream about me. You and Silas are going to have to put more work in because you’ve both treated her like a hook-up. ”
I grin. “You shady motherfucker. How long have you been planning this? Or did you just figure out what moves to make?”
“I’m not being shady; I’m being smart. Why don’t you tell me why she hasn’t asked either of you for a repeat performance?” He points at the screen and hums, “Hmmm?”
I narrow my eyes on him.
“Tell me when you figure that out.” He smirks. “I’m putting in the work to keep her. Because once I get her, I’m not letting her go like you two did. Honestly, Silas has surprised me more than you. He slept with her… What does that tell you?”
“That she’s already ours,” I say, studying Kieran more than I was a few moments ago. “Even if she doesn’t know it yet. None of us will walk away, so what are you playing at?”
He spins in his chair to face me, though he doesn’t stand. “That’s just it, Jace. I’m not playing. I’m going to make sure she likes me, so when this blows up, she doesn’t hate me. I’m getting my foot so far in the door that even if she hates us, she’ll miss me enough to answer my call.”
The sound of footsteps breaks through the hum of the monitors, and Kieran’s words hit me like an atomic bomb. Silas walks in with coffee in one hand, his phone in the other. He looks like he hasn’t slept in a week, but he’s too composed to admit it.
“She left ten minutes earlier than usual,” he says, frowning at the monitors.
Kieran clicks into another feed. “Means she didn’t sleep well either.”
“Or…” I counter, holding my hands up. “She wanted extra time to talk to us before she had to pretend to be normal.”
Silas glances up from his phone. “Which one of you was in the chat log?”
“I started slow.” Kieran shrugs. “Got flirty. She asked what would happen if she said yes.”
“She’s getting closer,” I say softly, nodding as I think through the change in her messages. “You feel it, right?”
“She’s testing us,” Silas states, rubbing at his jaw. “Comparing our tones. Watching how we shift. She wants to know who is who, but do we tell her? I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway.”
“She’s smart,” Kieran murmurs.
“Too smart,” Silas agrees. “She’ll figure it out soon. For now, she seems to enjoy poking at us as she tries to figure us out.”
I drop into a chair, leaning back with my hands laced behind my head. I attempt to relax even though my heart is rioting in my chest.
“Then we better make her fall in love with the whole package before she can pick us apart.” I suggest, scrubbing a hand down my face as Kieran suddenly makes so much more sense.
No one argues.
We just sit there in the glow of the monitors, the hum of the servers filling the silence. The world outside her apartment continues without her knowing three men are building a brand new universe around her.
The next camera feed flickers with motion that shouldn’t be near her empty apartment.
A hooded figure trying to use a fob to open her door.
Daniel can’t hide from us much longer, though.
It’s just a matter of time before everything falls into place.
Including his disappearance.
And Eris being safe in our arms.