Page 29 of Reign of Psychos

“Um, how much are the fees?” School fees didn’t fit into my budget, but maybe if he agreed to a payment plan, I could do some jobs for him?

But to my surprise, he shook his head dismissively. “Don’t worry about the fees. The principal owes me some favors.”

“We don’t need charity, Declan,” I gritted out, not liking the idea of owing him more than I already did. “I’m more than happy to pay you back once I can start working again.”

“Don’t worry, Thea,” he replied smoothly. “I can always use someone with your skills, so the minute youareready to work for me, let me know.”

Cassian sat at the kitchen counter when I re-entered the apartment. This was the first time I’d seen him since I got back.Milo was still AWOL. Hopefully not because he was avoiding me, but if he was, I wouldn’t blame him.

“Hey.”

Cassian looked up, but instead of the warm smile I expected, he seemed deeply uncomfortable. Hurt hit me hard. I thought we’d settled our differences at the beach house, but maybe it had been nothing more than a quick fuck for him.

“Hey, you’re back,” he said, scrubbing his jaw and looking anywhere but at me. Not even a comment about my short hair.

“Yeah.” Fine. If he wanted to pretend we were strangers, that was OK. I was a big girl. And besides, it wasn’t as if I didn’t have other men in my life. Men who actually wanted to be with me. Cassian could go fuck himself.

Deciding to ignore his blatant attempt at pushing me back into the ‘friend zone’, as Eden liked to call it when a hookup pretended you were casual acquaintances, I moved around him and headed straight to the coffee machine.

Thanks to Kyril fucking the life out of me earlier, I was seriously low on energy. A nap would have done me good, but it was too close to dinner time. If I slept now, I’d miss another meal, and I’d already missed way too many of those lately.

As my mug filled with black gold, I remembered Eden’s warning about drinking too much coffee. But this was only my second cup, so whatever. The tadpole would be fine.

“I heard your father is in prison.”

“Yeah,” I replied, not knowing what else to say about that.

My jaw ticked when he turned his attention back to his phone. What the fuck was wrong with him? Was I that forgettable?

Irritation swept through me. Yes, I could have walked away, but I wanted answers.

“Was it something I said? Are you mad because I left after New Year’s Eve?” He was fine that night. We’d danced. Kissed at midnight. So what had changed?

“No, I’m not mad at you.” He still refused to look at me, so I stepped closer.

“Then what?” He was hiding something. I could tell. Acting on instinct, I reached out to touch him, but he reacted like I was toxic. His chair scraped on the tile floor as he pushed away from me so fast it was a wonder he didn’t get whiplash.

I sure as hell had whiplash.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I snapped. “Have you decided I’m the whore everyone else thinks I am? Is Daddy Lucian giving you too much shit about me?”

“Thea, I…” Tension filled the room. Something had clearly happened, but seeing him act like I had a nasty disease crystallized my feelings.

“You know what? Never mind.” If he didn’t want to fight for me, then he wasn’t worth my time or effort.

I took my coffee and left the kitchen. There was enough time for a power nap before Kyril, Landon, and Dar got back from wherever they’d disappeared to. If I napped now, the coffee would revive me soon.

My bed had freshly laundered sheets. I didn’t bother undressing. The soft cotton pants and long-sleeved tee I wore were comfortable enough to sleep in. As soon as I finished my coffee, I lay down, closed my eyes, and fell asleep in seconds.

The feel of a warm body curling around me woke me. I stirred, groggy from my nap. The room had fallen into deep shadow, but it wasn’t nighttime. Not quite, anyway. Hopefully I hadn’t missed dinner.

“You’re awake.”

Milo.

“No. Still asleep.” He chuckled.

“You’re touching me,” I observed. “Doesn’t it make you uncomfortable?” I’d woken to find him in my bed many times, but I knew he still found physical contact difficult, so I’d always tried not to touch him unless he touched me first.

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