Heartbreak hotel

Chapter 25

Despite the Romans’ home having been completed and them having officially moved out of their home, Soren still found Ravi to be loitering around the house. It somehow seemed as if he was seeing the man more now than he had previously, and though this seemed impossible because Rick and Roman had had him on some mission or whatever, he swore he was constantly seeing Ravi.

And if Soren was being honest, he was getting sick of the man. He always appeared to want to say something, but he would chicken out at the last second, or maybe it was Silas interfering, but he would always get his fill of whatever and then quietly leave. Before, he would have said something to either of them, but now? Nothing, just radio silence.

After finishing his shift at work today, he told Olivia he would walk home today and hoped she would pass the message on to Scar, too. While he had tried to get a little more comfortable around the man, he could now look him in the eye. He still found getting too close to him a little too intimidating. For now, their awkward eye contact would have to do.

But Soren was exhausted, and all he wanted was to go home, change into some comfy clothing, and watch one of his shows on the big television with some peace. The sun was still in the sky, slowly making its downward descent. When Soren finally arrived home, he heard Ash.

He sighed. Of course, asking for some quiet in this house was asking for too much. Ash had been home early, too, for once, and he was screaming at Seth in the main lounge room with the big TV. Ash paused his screaming as Seth turned to look at Soren blankly.

“How was work?” Ash asked gently, smiling at his son.

“It was fine,” Soren replied slowly.

Lillian had been silently watching this entire scene in the background, holding a mug of what could only be coffee, casually sipping as Ash nodded, smiling at his son before returning to scream at the man. Soren sighed, running his hands through his hair. He assumed they were still struggling to determine why The Cleaners were after them. And why exactly Seth and Lillian decided to join them, and why they had come out of hiding to warn them.

Well, there were his plans for the rest of the night. He went to his bedroom, where he could change and watch his show in peace on the TV in his room. However, when he opened his door, Soren was sitting on his bed, legs crossed, and he glared at Ravi, who was sitting on the couch, blankly staring at the man.

The two turned to stare at him, and Silas got off the bed in a heartbeat, staring at Soren with worry. Once he was sure he was okay, the taller man let him go with a sigh. And, of course, he doubted he would be getting any peace and quiet if both of them were there, so he slouched onto his couch, pushing Ravi to the side with a groan.

He rubbed the bridge of his eyes, stifling his yawn as he stared at the two men. “Does anyone want to tell me why Ash is screaming at Seth downstairs?”

“They’ve been at it for ages,” Silas deadpanned, returning to his seat on the bed, with a frown as he stared at Soren. “Ash even called my mothers in for backup. They should be here soon, so prepare yourself for more screaming.”

Soren groaned as he took off his sweater. Ravi quickly looked away as his shirt had crept up, revealing his pale skin. Soren noticed and scowled at the man before turning his attention back to Silas. “Where have they gotten to? Because all of this screaming will eventually give me a f*****g headache.”

“Not a clue.”

Ravi cleared his throat a little, and Soren and Silas turned slowly to stare at him. “What?” Soren asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

“Ash called in a favour he owed Rick and then called in a favour he owed Roman. Both uncles were pissed off. But then they had to call in a lot of favours they owed, which they weren’t too happy about. But Roman said to give him some time, he hasn’t heard much about The Cleaners, and with time zones and everything, he’s going to need a couple of days at the least.”

Soren sighed. “So, this screaming will be going nonstop?”

“Surely not,” Silas muttered. “He must get tired eventually.”

“Do you not remember the incident?” Soren muttered. He warned everyone it was a bad idea, but they, mainly the stoners, told him to live a little, so he had to relax as they pulled off their scheme. Of course, when Ash saw it, he was at a loss for words. The other parents found it hilarious, but Ash yelled at them all for two hours straight despite having been at a loss for words.

“Okay,” Soren muttered, “so maybe he will be yelling for a lot longer. But do we know why he’s so pissed off?”

“He’s infuriated,” Ravi replied before Silas could speak. “He worked so hard on getting his husband out of this mess before you and Thea came into the picture. And now, even though they haven’t had any outright dealings with the underworld community for nearly five years, they, you all, are a target for some group that is canon to be a f*****g nightmare.”

Soren couldn’t handle being in his work clothes anymore, even if they were reasonably comfortable. He needed to be in his pyjamas, so he went to his closet and pulled out a fresh set of pyjamas before he began stripping. Silas was unfazed as he ran a hand through his hair while Ravi looked away again.

“How was work?” Silas asked, frowning a little. “You didn’t text at lunch.”

“We were f*****g swamped. I think there was a party or something last night, and a lot of men must have done something because they all decided to come in at lunch to buy flowers for their wives.”

“Scar?”

Soren hesitated. He was getting there. That’s what had to count, right? “Better,” he replied.

Once Soren was in a fresh set of silky pyjamas, he sighed in contentment as he took a seat on the couch and turned the TV on. He turned to stare at Ravi. “You can stay, but if I hear a word out of you while I’m watching my show, I’m siccing Silas on you,” he deadpanned.

Soren ignored how Ravi practically lit up at that and nodded a little before turning his attention to the TV. He went out of his way to turn his phone off before slipping it back into his pocket. Soren bit the inside of his cheek, soon. Soon, he would find Thea and ask her what he had overheard because he was missing something, and he would need to get to the bottom of it.

~*~