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At least that was what he thought—until now.
Until Aldric so blatantly turned his back on Seth.
Wasn’t it obvious that Clary was important to him? How could Aldric so casually state Seth’s worst fear as an eventuality?
“You know how averse to touch you are,” Aldric continued. “Can you even—”
“Get out.”
It took Seth a moment to realize he hadn’t said that, then another to realize that it had come from Clary.
He’d seen her when she was afraid, exasperated, and angry. But this seething rage that deepened her voice and seized up her body so tightly? This was a first.
“Ooh.” Aldric shifted to rest on his chin. “Did I break your little bubble?”
Seth shifted uncomfortably next to her.
Was that why she was so angry?
“Has he given you a budget yet?” Aldric laughed. “He’s given up on us, so—”
“Did you think a fairy godmother gave you guys this building and everything in it with a wave of her wand?” Clary leaned forward. “No. Seth did it. Maybe he stopped giving you guys a budget because he didn’t have to anymore, but at one time he had to. He sold his first invention to buy this place. The silly little toys that he worked and works on—toys that you so despise—gave all of you a roof over your heads. Tell me, what did you contribute to this place? He had to—” She stopped when Seth grabbed her hand.
Her head snapped toward him, and he tightened his grip.
It took all of his discipline to stop at that, to not pull her to him and kiss her.
How he wished he really did have a magic wand, just so he could wave everyone away.
She opened her mouth, and her chest rose sharply before she swallowed hard and turned back to Aldric. “I’m sorry.”
Seth frowned.
“I think I drank too much.” She slipped her hand from his and stood. “I’ll go back to my room,” she said as she headed for the stairs.
Seth stood to follow, but Aldric grabbed Clary’s wrist as she passed him.
Latching his other hand onto Clary, Aldric used her as an anchor to pull himself up. His weight caused her to bend forward.
Seth strode over, worried that Aldric would drag Clary down instead.
But his brother managed to scramble to his feet. “You’ll do.” He threw his arms around Clary and gave her two pats on the back.
Seth blinked.
“I quite like you after all,” his brother said.
Seth was about to yank his brother away from Clary when Aldric released her and sank back to the floor. “Goodnight.” He sprawled out on the floor, his hand slapping Elton’s head.
“Well, I don’t quite like you,” she said, and Seth couldn’t help but grin. She gave everyone on the floor a glance. “Is it okay to leave them on the floor like this?” She took a deep breath and stepped toward Andrea. “Maybe I should put her on the couch.”
Seth supposed he could do that, but he really didn’t want to.
He should, though. Clary cared about him enough to be nice to his brothers. And she clearly cared about Andrea.
“I got it,” Aldric mumbled and gave a casual wave, smacking Elton on the head again. “I’ll watch over Oliver too. Get lost, you two.” His brother turned on his side, then crawled over to Zane and whacked him on the arm. “Lift Andrea onto the couch.”
Clary laughed once. “That’s what he means by ‘he’ll handle it’?”
