Then he disconnects the call, looking out the window for a while, before he lets out a deep sigh. “I hope we’re doing the right thing. I really hope we’re doing the right thing here because we can all get into a lot of trouble.”
“I know.” I focus on the road and Zack is about to turn the interview back on when I reach out and stop him. “Just... Can we not? We’ll watch reruns of it back at the house, but I’m...”
“Yeah.” He nods. “I don’t think we need to listen to those lies.”
The drive back isn’t too long, maybe fifteen minutes, and as we walk into the house, our arms filled with bags, Cyra is nowhere to be found. Max is doing something on Cyra’s laptop as Liam is still working from his, the interview on in the background.
I quickly put the pizzas and other frozen things away before going over to the other two men. “Where’s Cyra?”
It takes a moment for Liam to answer, his fingers flying over the keys as he’s typing in some code, his voice flat. “In her room. She didn’t want to listen to the lies with everyone around.”
I nod. Sounds like something she’d do. “Any luck with finding anything we can use?”
Liam and Max both shrug but don’t reply. No luck there then. I quickly help Zack unload the car, putting everything away, until we’re just left with the laptops and printer and anything that isn’t edible. Or, at least, shouldn’t be eaten... I’ve seen my niece put things in her mouth, anything is edible if you look at it the right way.
Before I even realise it, I find myself in front of Cyra’s door and I quietly knock. I don’t think she’s heard it and am about to try again, but then she opens the door, her eyes red. She’s been crying and my heart hurts at the sight. I reach out, taking her in my arms carefully. I hear voices from her room, voices very similar to the handful of minutes I heard in the car. Not too far away, the TV is showing the interview with her parents.
“Why do you even watch it?” I whisper, rubbing my hands over her back. “You know they’re just trying to spin the story into their favour, nothing else. They’re trying to make you feel bad.”
She nods a little. “I know. But they’re still... They’re still my parents and...” She sighs. “I don’t know. I felt like I should watch it. That I had to. Does that make sense?”
“If you don’t know, then I don’t know either.” I try to get her to smile and when she looks up, it almost seems like I managed it. I reach out and pull a bar of chocolate from my pocket. “I got you something. I hope you like chocolate?”
Her smile grows as she takes the bar, licking her lips. “Fancy chocolate. These are like... crazy expensive, for how much you get.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Why?”
I like it when she looks at me like that, when she doesn’t just accept what I say. I hope she’ll never stop doing that, no matter if it’ll drive me insane. “My sister says that it’s worth it. That the price is worth the quality of the chocolate. I tend to accept her as a specialist with these types of things.”
She steps back a little, out of the way. I walk into the room, having to control myself now I’m surrounded by more of her scent, plunging me in visions of summer afternoons at the beach. Fucking hell. It keeps surprising me how animalistic I get when I catch her scent and I’m not prepared for it.
Behind me, Cyra opens the bar and then I hear the distinct ‘snap’ as she breaks off a piece. “You have a sister?” Her voice is careful and she sits at the foot of the bed, putting the piece in her mouth and holding the bar out to me. “I didn’t know that. When people talk about your family, they talk about you, the Alpha kid, but I don’t remember hearing about another kid.”
I nod, sitting next to her, taking a piece too. “That makes sense. She’s not one to get in the spotlight like I am. And she won’t be the one inheriting a massive company in a few years, so people don’t tend to notice her. She likes it that way, though, so it’s all good.” I give Cyra a quick smile, which she returns. “Phoebe’s a few years older than me, an Omega. I think you might have met her kid, Star, at the party last weekend. Phoebe is friends with Max’ cousin, they’re about the same age. I had no idea that Julie and Max were related though.”
Cyra lets out a slight laugh. “I met a lot of kids last weekend. It was a pretty big party.”
I laugh too. “Yeah, they tend to be like that in those circles.” I let myself fall on my back on the bed, tugging on her shoulder so she’ll follow me.
With all the crazy going on, I like just having her at my side, even though the stupid interview is still on in the background... I glance around, finding the remote control next to me and I quickly turn it off, the quiet welcome.
Cyra snuggles against my side and then holds a piece of chocolate out for me, her eyes soft as she watches me take not just the piece, but also her fingers into my mouth, sucking softly. Her mouth opens on a gasp as her eyes grow, her cheeks pinkening.
I let her
