CHAPTER SIX: More Cookies
1431 Words
Silas’ POV
Zara jolted as if I’d shocked her. I stepped back immediately, jaw locked, forcing down the heat that had flared too fast, too recklessly. She fixed her dress and pushed past me, muttering something about “getting the door.”
I let out a slow breath, dragging a hand through my hair. I shouldn’t have leaned in like that. Not with her. Not when her father trusted me with everything he had left that mattered.
Another knock echoed. It was sharp, impatient.
Zara reached the door and pulled it open.
“Finally,” a high, excited voice rushed in. “I thought you were ignoring me!”
Eldorra Caldwell swept into the foyer like she owned the entire place. Tight white crop top, low-rise jeans, shiny hair, glossy lips, and zero self-control. She scanned the room, then found me leaning against the wall.
If there was one thing I hated more than pointless noise, it was pointless people.
Eldorra was both.
She strutted into the living room like she owned the place, heels clicking, perfume too sweet, eyes scanning me like I was something she planned on unwrapping.
“Ohhh,” she purred. “The hot grumpy one is here. Perfect.”
I stared at her. “Eldorra.”
“Silas,” she shot back with a wink. “Looking as murderously handsome as ever.”
Zara snorted under her breath.
I didn’t answer. I just crossed my arms, my automatic posture whenever Eldorra became… Eldorra.
She flopped onto the couch dramatically. “Your dad texted me he’s traveling for a while, so I came straight here. We can have fun without him, right?” She nudged Zara. “I brought news. And chaos.”
“Of course you did,” Zara muttered.
Eldorra raised a brow. “Is that the attitude of someone who abandoned me at the party?”
Zara’s cheeks warmed. “I didn’t abandon you. I just… left early.”
“With mister tall-dark-and-pissed?” Eldorra jerked her thumb at me.
“That was not with him,” Zara shot back.
I ignored them both and headed into the kitchen, needing distance so I didn’t do something stupid again, like get close to her, or breathe in the way she smelled when she got nervous, or remember how her pulse felt against my breath seconds ago.
They followed me anyway.
Eldorra perched on the island counter, swinging her legs. “Anyway, you’ll never guess who I left the party with.”
Zara blinked. “That guy? The one you were flirting with by the bar?”
“That’s the one. We hooked up, knocked boots, whatever you wanna call it,” Eldorra said shamelessly. “Then I went home. End of story.”
Zara shook her head, laughing quietly. “You’re impossible.”
“Thank you,” Eldorra said with a small bow.
She paused then, eyes glinting like she was warming up to her real mission.
“Oh! Speaking of fun…” she sing-songed. “Another party’s happening next weekend.”
Zara groaned. “El, ”
“It’s an all-white party! Bernard is throwing it for his birthday. It’s going to be wild.”
Zara froze.
Bernard.
I knew that name. He was the son of Malachi Petrov, my business associate.
I wondered where they knew eachother from but since Eldorra knew him more, it calmed me.
Bernard Petrov was a brat. And I didn’t trust the bastard.
“A lot of parties aren’t good for her,” I cut in before I could stop myself.
Both girls slowly turned my way.
Eldorra’s lips curved. “Here we go again. Daddy’s lieutenant raising his flags.”
My jaw ticked.
Zara folded her arms. “Why? What’s wrong with a party?”
“You almost got assaulted a couple of days ago,” I reminded her flatly.
Her eyes flickered. The memory clearly hit. But she straightened her shoulders.
“I’ll be with Eldorra,” she argued. “And her friends.”
“Her friends,” I repeated with a grim edge. “Half of whom don’t remember their names at the end of the night.”
Eldorra gasped. “Insult. I should sue.”
“You should slow down,” I said to Zara instead. “Take a break.”
“She needs to loosen up,” Eldorra countered, tapping Zara’s shoulder. “She also needs to find a boyfriend. Unless, of course…” Eldorra smirked at me, “Silas wants to volunteer.”
Zara inhaled sharply. “No. Stop. That’s ridiculous I can’t be with him.”
My chest tightened unexpectedly.
Eldorra shrugged. “Then if you don’t take him, girl… I will.”
“Over my dead body,” I muttered before I realized it.
They both stared.
I turned away, grabbing a bottle of water just to have something to do. Eldorra burst into laughter. Zara simply looked… confused. And a little pink.
Great.
Just great.
Eldorra hopped off the counter. “Anyway, all-white party. Bernard. Big house. Loud music. Bad decisions. Next weekend. We’re going.”
“No,” I said immediately.
“Yes,” she sang.
Zara watched me carefully. “Why are you so against it?”
Because those kinds of parties didn’t end well.
Because I didn’t trust Bernard or the crowd he attracted.
Because Zara had already had a close call a few days ago. I wasn’t going to let the same thing happen again for the sake of her father.
Because.
“Because some things don’t look good,” I said simply.
Eldorra rolled her eyes. “Oh please. She’s grown.”
Zara stayed quiet, searching my face like she was trying to read something I wasn’t showing.
Eldorra stretched her arms. “Anyway, I’m starving. Zara, please tell me you have snacks. Or Silas can cook for us. He looks like he could.”
“I’m not cooking,” I said.
She winked. “Didn’t ask if you wanted to. Asked if you could.”
Zara stepped around me and reached into a cabinet. “You can hang around, I’ll bake cookies. You know? The ones you love so much.”
“Oh, perfect! The poisonous choco chip cookies” Eldorra rolled her eyes. “I’m joking, let me inhale all of them.”
Zara laughed, but then her gaze drifted to me, hesitant now.
“Should I pack some for you too?” she asked quietly.
Her voice was softer. Careful. As if she remembered the moment before the knock and didn’t know what to do with it.
“No,” I said instinctively. “I’m leaving soon. I’ve got business to handle.”
Eldorra snorted. “Boring.”
“And anyway,” Zara added before I could leave, “you refusing cookies? Again? Didn’t you like them?”
I stopped mid-step.
Zara grinned triumphantly.
Eldorra gasped. “Oh damn. She played the reverse psychology card..”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “It was good. At least it didn’t turn my stomach inside out.”
She shot back at me with her eyes until it softened into something warm. Too warm.
She slipped the cookies into a small box and held it out to me. “Still a compliment. Here.”
I didn’t let our fingers touch.
Couldn’t.
Not again.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Eldorra leaned close to Zara. “He’s so grumpy. It’s hot.”
I ignored her.
Zara looked down at the counter, brushing crumbs into her palm. “You should head out then. You said you had business.”
“Yeah,” I said, turning toward the doorway. “I should.”
Truth was, I didn’t want to leave her with Eldorra’s chaos. But I didn’t trust myself to stay either, not with whatever almost happened at the counter.
I was halfway to the front door when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
One look at the screen, and every muscle in my body tightened.
A text message.
From a name I didn’t want to see.
We need to talk. Now. It’s urgent.
My teeth clenched so hard pain shot up my jaw.
Eldorra shouted something playful from the kitchen. Zara laughed faintly behind her. Normal. Safe. Unaware.
I looked back once.
No.
I didn’t like the feeling crawling up my spine.
I didn’t like the name on my screen.
And I really didn’t like the fact that whatever this was, was not bothering my mind as much as she is.
I pocketed my phone, expression darkening.
It’s about to be a long night.
- Writer
