Chapter 26 Eris
Breakfast turns out to be absurdly domestic, considering one of these men bloodied his knuckles for me less than forty-eight hours ago and another fucked me into forgetting my name last night.
Yet… here we are.
Scrambled eggs. Thick toast. A skillet of potatoes. And three men moving through the kitchen like I’m their center of gravity.
I sit at the counter with one leg tucked under me, a perfect coffee in my hand, watching them like I’m studying a system that shouldn’t work and somehow does.
It’s not me who makes them work, though. This rhythm belongs to them.
I’m the variable they haven’t optimized for… yet.
But they’re trying to push the update through.
Kieran slides hot sauce toward me without asking.
Jace butters my toast with the type of precise control that says this isn’t about being helpful; it’s about doing it right.
Silas grabs a bottle of water, cracking the lid open before setting it in front of me.
Then he retreats, leaning against the fridge, eyes tracking me like I might evaporate if he looks away too long.
Now, it settles in my bones… the evidence of how closely they’ve been watching me. I’ve never had anyone anticipate my needs the way they do.
Other than Roo. And maybe Hardy. But we’ve been friends since we were children.
This isn’t the same.
It’s apples and oranges.
“Do you guys always cook like this?” I ask, wiping my mouth with a napkin that appeared next to my plate. “Or am I reaping the benefits of a full-blown codependent throuple?”
Jace huffs at me, though I see him fighting a grin. “We eat like grown men who know how to use a pan.”
“Don’t let him lie to you,” Kieran says, hopping onto the stool beside me. “For the first six months of the company, he lived on boxed rice and shame.”
“Hey,” Jace protests, wrinkling his nose. “Shame tastes better than your protein pancakes.”
“They were banana pancakes.”
“They were betrayal in batter form.”
Silas finally looks up. “Can we not scare her off before noon?”
“I’m not scared,” I state, standing to empty the remains of my breakfast. “If I were going to run, it would’ve been after the hallway camera incident. Or when an AI app sent a one-man surveillance team into my apartment. Or the illegal hacking of my digital trail. Or—”
“You done?” Silas asks calmly.
I smile. “Not even close.”
He smirks into his mug, and the air warms just a fraction as Kieran and Jace chuckle at the two of us. I rinse my dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher as the guys spread out across the open space, settling in to… whatever it is they do when they’re not stalking me.
Kind of difficult to stalk me when I’m in the same room.
My phone buzzes on the counter. I glance at the text from Roo; she’s included a profile and picture, one of which I delete immediately. I also delete the notification banners stacked up on my home screen, and then set my phone facedown.
“I need to go to my apartment today,” I inform the room and pick up my water to take a sip.
Three heads turn as if they think with a hive mind, three brains and one thought.
“No,” Jace says, shaking his head.
“You won’t go alone,” Kieran adds.
“I didn’t ask for permission,” I clarify lightly, but my fingers tighten around the bottle of water.
Silas tilts his head, the corner of his lips tugging up like he’s ready to argue. “Then consider it a statement of fact.”
I grin sweetly at him, all poison and warning signs as I open the HimLock app…
Eris:
You’re being possessive.
Three phones ping at once, and a dancing demonic paperclip pops up on the monitor in front of Silas.
Jace lifts a brow. “You could have told him that out loud.”
I shrug. “Group chat seems appropriate for shared obsession and possession.”
Kieran meets my eyes from across the room, spinning his finger to encompass all of us. “This is the group chat.”
“You know, there are cults that are more subtle than the three of you.” I laugh at the bored looks I get. “This is the literal definition of a cult. If we get a few more followers and—”
“You can go.” Silas’s voice stays calm though he gives me a very pointed look, as if he can’t believe I was getting ready to define cult for them. “But you’re not going alone.”
“Fine. Who’s coming?”
They don’t answer immediately. There’s a silent conversation that passes between them, unsettling in how quickly it resolves.
“I’ll take you,” Jace relents.
Kieran doesn’t argue. Silas just nods once. No jealousy. No tension. It’s like this was predetermined, and I’m just now catching on to the rules they’ve set. Honestly, I’m not sure their rules actually apply to me… I think I have my own.
“Don’t break anything while you’re gone.” Kieran leans forward, grinning at me and Jace.
“Just hearts,” I reply, rolling my eyes.
I follow Jace through the garage door, my mind echoing with the sound of three phones vibrating from my HimLock message. It feels like a promise I haven’t decided whether to accept or exploit.
The truth rattles my bones as Jace opens the door to his SUV. I glance to the left and see my car sitting in their garage… among all their toys. Bikes and tools and shit I will never touch. I can change a tire, but if anything else happens, I will pay someone else to fix it.
The thing is… I don’t love the idea of chaperones. I’ve lived too long answering only to myself. But I know Daniel hasn’t finished escalating, and pretending otherwise would be sloppy. Temporary oversight isn’t a cage. It’s leverage.
I’ll deal with Daniel soon. Just not today. Today is for watching patterns. Timing. Choosing the right moment…
And the bigger question—the one I keep circling and not touching—is what I say to the guys when I tell them I need to go to work and they ask what I do.
Because “I kill people for a living” isn’t a week-one confession, even when said men are already orbiting me like I’m the center of a private universe.
Not yet.
For now, I’ll let the fantasy breathe and allow the attention to feel good. I’ll let myself revel in the way they move around me like I matter.
Nothing is ever this simple…
But I’m going to enjoy it before it stops being easy.