Chapter 100: Propriety
"Damn right it is a mistake," Cassian spat. "Tell us something we don’t know! In fact, that’s what I’ve been saying this whole time."
He whirled back on his heel and shot Rowan the nastiest glare.
"And it’s not a mistake that just one of you made," Cassian hissed. "How is it that out of the three of us, I seem to be the only one who―"
"Cassian," Rowan said warningly.
"―seems to remember that this woman is a vile, cruel, crooked, selfish little―"
"Cassian!" Rowan roared.
"What!" Cassian snapped back. His face was slowly but surely turning into the color of a ripe tomato, red and vibrant with his anger. His veins pulsed against the skin of his neck, and the gold of his eyes had turned slightly brighter due to his upset.
"That’s enough," Soren said, his voice cracking.
Soren’s eyes, however, were trained entirely on me. Yet I refused to look him in the eye, wrapping my arms around myself to protect what little pathetic modesty I still had. Soren had left me in the nude, metaphorical and literal, with his words. He might not have wanted me to hear his words, but he certainly meant them.
That realization allowed me to regain my much-needed sense of clarity. His declaration that our interlude was nothing but a mistake in front of his brothers was as good as dunking me into a vat of icy cold water, completely washing away whatever dubious desire I had of him, leaving me with nothing but bitter disappointment, in both Soren and myself.
Of course Soren would call whatever he did to me a mistake in a bid to shirk responsibility.
I snorted coldly and took a step back.
I could only thank my lucky stars that I had fought him off long enough for Cassian to punch him. If I had to bear the mark of a man who merely marked me because he was jealous of his older brother’s actions, I would go crazy.
Despite looking the most like Lucien, he wasn’t even half the man he was. I had to remind myself of that.
"Briar, I..." Soren began to speak, trying to reach for me, but I flinched away from his touch and sneered at him.
"Don’t touch me," I hissed, blinking back the tears that were forming without my permission. "I’m going back to my room alone. I’m done with all of you."
Soren looked stricken at my words. The nerve.
What right did he have to look so miserable when he couldn’t even support me when I needed him the most?
Before he could reply, Cassian’s voice came out loud and clear.
"I should be saying that line!" He exclaimed, pulling himself to his full height and waving a hand irritably, as though he was chasing away an annoying fly. "Now get lost before I make you!"
"Gladly―" I couldn’t believe Cassian and I were on the same page, but at least I knew he hated me with every fiber of his being. I could work with that.
I whirled around, fully intending to storm back into my little cell where I could process what happened by screaming into my hands and hopefully be free of their infernal presence.
"Briar, stop," Rowan ordered, his voice halting me in my tracks. I hated how my body instinctively obeyed his order, wanting to please him as the mark on my shoulder throbbed at his words.
I turned back to glare at him, trying to infuse every bit of vitriol in my eyes.
"What do you want?"
"You cannot walk out naked," Rowan said. I saw how his pupils darkened when his eyes roved over my nude body, and his throat bobbed with a heady swallow. His voice was hoarse. "There are other people here."
"Who gives a shit?" Cassian interjected, throwing his arms up in the air. "If she wants to walk around naked like a slut for all our trusted guards, that’s none of our business. Maybe she wants to sleep with them after dealing with Soren―"
Two simultaneous growls echoed through the room. Rowan and Soren had matching looks of furious anger on their faces, and I blinked in surprise. Surely they were not upset on my behalf because of Cassian’s words. They had accused me of way worse things before.
I recalled how they were pretty willing to strip me naked in public just to find their missing wedding ring.
My lips curled in derision. Who were they putting on an act for?
Perhaps it was simply an alpha’s possessiveness at play, rather than any real concern for my well-being. All of the triplet Alphas were highly prideful men, and I doubted they would be willing to let even a trusted guard get an eyeful of my naked body, now that I had been marked by Rowan himself.
Cassian’s face also purpled with anger as he snarled back at his brothers. "You’re getting upset with me? Because of her? What the fuck did she feed you? Is her pussy really that life-changing? You bastards, I shared a goddamn womb with you, and you’re growling at me, because I said something you guys had been thinking for years?" He demanded, incensed at their behavior.
Soren cast a panicked glance before turning back to Cassian. "Circumstances change. No matter what, it is also inappropriate for Briar to be wandering around naked."
"Because you care so much about being appropriate," Cassian retorted with a snort. "It definitely wasn’t appropriate for you to fuck her in our living room, but you didn’t care about that! Were you just waiting by Rowan’s bedroom door for her to come out like some pathetic dog when we have Violet here with us? If you did, that’s fucked up!"
Soren’s eyes flashed gold, and I could sense his temper rising. He stormed closer to Cassian, grabbing him by the neck of his T-shirt. Cassian also let out a growl of his own, his hands gripping Soren’s own shirt.
A fight was imminent, and I wanted no part of this nonsense. I took a few hurried steps back, only to feel a soft fabric hit my face, along with a noseful of Rowan’s scent.
He had taken off his T-shirt and thrown it at my face.
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