The water hit like a punch to the face.
"Holy shit!" I slamd my palm against the marble shower wall, fighting the urge to leap out of the arctic blast. But I forced myself to stay under the freezing spray, letting it shock my system back to reality.
Exactly what I needed after a night of four Valentine sisters taking turns ssing with my head. And other parts.
I cranked the cold water higher until my teeth chattered. My body finally got the ssage—no more thinking about purple eyes and wine-red hair, no matter which sister they belonged to.
"Get it together, Angelo," I muttered, forehead pressed against the tile. "You’re here to work. Not to fuck your way through a quadruplet checklist."
The mory of Sabrina’s fingers dipping below my waistband flashed through my mind, followed imdiately by Vivienne’s kisses in the museum bathroom, then Cassidy on my lap in her bedroom, and finally Harlow’s sunshine smile as she told Iris I looked "hot" in a suit.
I cranked the cold water so high that pain replaced every other sensation.
Better.
By the ti I stepped out, my lips were blue and my skin covered in goosebumps, but my mind was clear. Sort of. I wrapped a towel around my waist and stared at my reflection in the stead-up mirror.
"You’re a tutor. An assistant. A driver. Not a harem protagonist."
I wiped the mirror with my hand, revealing my two-toned hair sticking up at odd angles, dark circles under my eyes, and a jawline tense enough to snap steel.
I looked like shit. Felt worse.
A text lit up my phone on the counter.
Iris: Are you drowning in there? Breakfast is happening. The fancy kind with things I can’t pronounce. HURRY UP.
Great. Breakfast with the Valentines. Just what I needed—sitting across from four girls who all apparently wanted to climb like a tree while their mother plotted my murder.
I threw on jeans and a t-shirt—casual, deliberate, nothing fancy. Not playing dress-up for anyone today. The borrowed suit from last night hung in the closet like a costu from soone else’s life. The silver cufflinks caught the morning light, reminding just how far out of my depth I’d waded.
Ti to set so boundaries before I drowned.
I could hear the Valentine sisters before I even entered the dining room.
"You don’t get dibs just because you saw him first." Cassidy’s voice, sharp and defensive.
"I never claid dibs. I simply stated facts." Vivienne, cool as glacier water.
"Facts? Like the fact that you sucked face with him at the museum?" Cassidy again.
"That’s a vulgar characterization."
"But accurate."
"Can we please not fight at breakfast?" Harlow, the perpetual peacemaker.
"We’re not fighting. We’re discussing." Sabrina’s quiet voice sohow carried more weight than the others.
I stopped just outside the doorway, taking a deep breath. Walking into that room felt like willingly stepping into a minefield.
But I’d been in worse situations. Probably. At so point. Maybe.
I squared my shoulders and strolled in like I didn’t have a care in the world.
"Morning," I said, casual as could be, ignoring the imdiate silence that fell over the table. "Sothing slls good."
Four pairs of identical purple eyes snapped to . Four different expressions.
Cassidy: narrowed eyes, jaw tight, like she couldn’t decide whether to kiss or stab with her fork.
Vivienne: perfect posture, slight flush on her cheeks, fingers tightening almost imperceptibly around her teacup.
Harlow: bright smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, nervous energy as she fidgeted with her napkin.
Sabrina: calm, observant, a slight quirk to her lips as if she found the entire situation amusing.
And then there was Iris, my actual sister, sitting next to Harlow with her phone out, obviously recording everything. Great.
"Isaiah!" Harlow broke the silence, bouncing up from her seat. "I saved you crepes! With strawberries and that chocolate stuff you liked last ti."
"Thanks." I ruffled her hair as I passed, a casual gesture I imdiately regretted when Cassidy’s eyes narrowed further and Vivienne’s teacup clicked loudly against its saucer.
I took the empty chair between Iris and Sabrina, directly across from Vivienne. The worst possible seating arrangent.
"Sleep well?" Sabrina asked quietly, her leg brushing against mine under the table.
"Like a baby," I lied, shoveling a forkful of crepe into my mouth to avoid elaborating. The food was delicious, but I barely tasted it.
"Liar," Iris whispered, nudging with her elbow. "Your eye does that twitchy thing when you lie."
"Shut up and eat your fancy French pancakes," I muttered back.
Cassidy stabbed her crepe like it had personally offended her. "So. Are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room, or just keep pretending everything’s normal?"
Harlow winced. Vivienne straighted her silverware. Sabrina took a sip of tea.
"Which elephant?" I asked, deciding to face this head-on. "There’s a whole herd at this point."
Cassidy’s mouth twitched, almost a smile despite herself.
"The one where you’re playing all four of us against each other," she said bluntly.
"Cassidy!" Harlow gasped.
"What? It’s true." Cassidy pointed her fork at . "He kissed Vivienne at the museum. He was in my room yesterday. And who knows what he and Sabrina were up to last night—"
"Nothing happened," I cut in.
"That’s not what I heard through the wall," Cassidy snapped.
Iris’s eyes widened as she looked between us. She was enjoying this way too much.
I set down my fork, suddenly not hungry. "We need to talk. All of us."
"That’s what we’re doing," Vivienne said.
"No, we’re dancing around it." I looked at each sister in turn, then at Iris. "Iris, maybe you should—"
"If you’re about to suggest I leave, don’t bother," Iris crossed her arms. "I’m getting quite the education on how not to handle relationships."
"Ouch," Harlow said with a small laugh.
I sighed. "Fine. Here’s the deal." I looked directly at each Valentine sister. "I work for your family. I’m Cassidy’s tutor, Vivienne’s assistant, Harlow’s driver, and whatever the hell Sabrina needs to be. That’s it."
"That’s not all you are, and you know it," Cassidy challenged, her voice lower than usual.
"What I am is a scholarship kid from Philly with a sister to take care of and bills to pay," I replied, harder than I intended. "What I’m not is soone who can afford to get caught up in... whatever this is becoming."
The silence that followed felt heavy.
"So last night ant nothing?" Vivienne asked, her corporate mask firmly in place but her voice slightly unsteady.
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