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Seth stood. “I’ll—”
“I’ll drive her there,” Zane interjected. He gave Seth a good-luck look.
“No. I’d prefer my own ride.”
Clary simply watched the scene unfold, because it felt exactly as if she was watching TV.
Grandma Moretti waved Zane away as he moved over. “I know the way out.” She strolled toward the door. “Edward might feel bad about the brothers, and in some way, he did let them down.” She stopped at the door. “But Clary, I owe them nothing. My priority is you.”
CHAPTER 16
Seth stared at the door that had just swung closed behind Grandma Moretti. He didn’t know what to say or how to react. Judging from how everyone in the apartment had come to a standstill, he assumed none of his brothers knew what to do either.
Clary broke the silence with a laugh. “She’s … lost her mind.”
Seth turned back to her. “Are you okay?”
Her tongue darted across her lips. “I need to call Mr. E.” She blew out a breath. “I’m not sure if he’ll listen, but …” She got up. “I’ll find a way.”
Seth tightened his grip on her hand. “Clary.”
She locked eyes with him.
Seth glanced at his brothers, and they cleared out of the apartment in seconds. “Did you hear what she said? If you were to call Edward Eolenfeld, it would mean …” He didn’t even bother to say it, because how could she choose him over her Grandma Moretti?
He would never force her to make that choice.
Clary rolled her eyes. “She’s not going to disown me.” She cracked a smile. “I’ll talk her round when she’s in a better mood.”
Seth refused to let go, though. “I don’t think she’s joking.”
Clary sat back down. “Seth, she loves me too much to ignore me for the rest of my life. She might stop talking to me for a few days or weeks—a month at most.”
“You don’t know that.”
Her lips curled. “I do. She’ll definitely relent if I grovel a little.” She cupped her hand over his. “So for now, let me fix this for you with Mr. E. He and Grandma Moretti had a deal. Since she’s officially my foster mother, she gets to make the final decisions regarding me. And I’m thankful for that, because Mr. E can very much be an indulgent grandfather who cares about nothing but spoiling me.” She pursed her lips. “But I think if I were to ask really nicely, then—”
“No.”
Her brows drew together.
“You don’t like asking him for favors.”
“I won’t be the reason why you lose the robotics arm of Movement.”
He sighed heavily. He didn’t care about the robotics arm—or the whole—of Movement.
“I understand, Seth,” Clary said.
“If Grandma Moretti had asked me to give up every single dollar I have, I would’ve given it without a thought. But Oliver’s research …”
“I know. I figured that out a while ago.”
He blinked.
“I know you don’t want to weaponize any of the things Movement is working on. I know you believe in what you’re building, but you could build it in your garage. You could easily start over. You would never have gone to Mr. E if it was just about you.” She looked around the apartment. “But for your brothers, I think you’d do anything.”
“There’s no big money involved in sleep research, especially night terrors. Oliver tried to get funding for his studies, but he kept facing obstacle after obstacle.”
