Four Of A Kind - Chapter 184: [4.2] Collateral Damage

Chapter 184: [4.2] Collateral Damage

“No,” Vivienne said immediately.

“Yes,” Cassidy contradicted. “They went to the gala together. As a couple.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re dating,” Vivienne argued.

“So you just randomly kiss guys you’re not dating?” Cassidy snapped.

“Guys?” Harlow’s voice rose. “There are others?”

“No!” Vivienne sounded exasperated. “There’s no one else. And Isaiah and I aren’t dating. It was just… it just happened.”

“Things don’t ’just happen’ with you, Vivi,” Cassidy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Everything you do is planned out to the minute. Color-coded and scheduled.”

“Not this,” Vivienne said softly. “I didn’t plan this.”

Another set of footsteps approached, these ones almost silent. I wouldn’t have heard them if I wasn’t pressed against the door like a creep.

“What didn’t you plan?” Sabrina’s voice joined the mix, quiet but clear.

Great. Now all four sisters were in the hallway outside my door. This situation couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“Vivi kissed Isaiah,” Harlow explained, her voice still small.

Silence from Sabrina. Then: “I see.”

“Did you know about this?” Cassidy demanded.

“No,” Sabrina replied. “But I suspected something might happen tonight.”

“And you didn’t warn me?” Cassidy sounded betrayed.

“Warn you about what?” Sabrina’s voice remained level. “That the boy you’ve been flirting with might be interested in someone else? That seemed like his information to share, not mine.”

“Flirting?” Harlow asked. “Cassidy, you like Isaiah too?”

Too? Did Harlow just admit she liked me?

My brain short-circuited. How did I end up in this situation?

“This is ridiculous,” Vivienne cut in. “We’re standing in a hallway at midnight arguing about a kiss. We should all go to bed and discuss this tomorrow.”

“Easy for you to say,” Cassidy snapped. “You got what you wanted.”

“And what exactly did I want?” My voice took on that dangerous edge I couldn’t control when I was cornered.

“Him.” Cassidy’s voice broke, the pain in it slicing through me. “You saw that I wanted him and you took him anyway. Just like you take everything.”

“That’s not fair,” I protested, though something cold and guilty twisted in my stomach. “I didn’t know—”

“Bullshit! You’ve always known. Ever since we were kids, if I wanted something, you had to have it first. My toys. My friends. My sports. Now Isaiah.”

Through the door, I heard a muffled mutter from his room that I couldn’t make out.

“Isaiah isn’t property,” Sabrina said, her voice carrying that infuriating calm she always maintained. “He can make his own choices.”

“So I never had a chance?” Cassidy’s voice wavered, and I hated myself for putting that vulnerability there. “Because perfect Vivienne wanted him?”

“Cass…” Harlow sounded like she might be crying, which made everything worse.

“I’m going for a walk,” Cassidy announced abruptly. “Don’t follow me.”

Her footsteps stormed away, heavy with hurt that I caused.

“Cassidy, wait!” Harlow called, her own footsteps hurrying after our sister.

Silence fell in the hallway. I stood frozen, unable to move or think clearly.

“You should have told us,” Sabrina said finally, her voice so quiet I barely caught it.

“I know,” I replied, matching her volume. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” I sighed, my carefully constructed composure crumbling. “I didn’t plan it. It just… happened.”

“Things don’t just happen,” Sabrina said, echoing Cassidy’s earlier point.

“What does that mean?”

“You know what it means.” Her footsteps moved away, fading into silence.

I stood alone in the hallway, wondering what to do next.

A soft knock on my door answered that question.

“Isaiah?” Her voice was barely audible.

I unlocked the door and opened it a crack. Vivienne stood in the hallway, still wearing her burgundy dress from the gala, though her hair had started to come loose from its elegant updo. Her makeup remained flawless, but her eyes were tired.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“No.” She glanced down the empty hallway. “Can I come in?”

Every logical part of my brain screamed that this was a terrible idea. If Cassidy came back and found Vivienne in my room, World War III would erupt.

But Vivienne looked lost, something I’d never seen before. So I stepped aside.

She slipped into the room, and I closed the door behind her, locking it again. Just in case.

“I’m sorry,” she said immediately, standing awkwardly in the center of the room, her perfect posture faltering. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“Which part?” I leaned against the door, keeping a safe distance between us. “The kiss or your sisters finding out?”

“Both. Neither.” She ran a hand through her hair, dislodging another pin that fell silently to the carpet. “I don’t know. I didn’t think. I just… acted.”

“That’s a first.” I couldn’t help the small smile that formed. “Vivienne Valentine, not thinking. Should I mark this day on the calendar?”

She didn’t return the smile. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself, something I’d never seen her do. “I hurt them. All of them.”

“Yeah.” No point denying it. “But they’ll be okay. Eventually.”

“Will they?” She looked up, her purple eyes shining with unshed tears in the dim light. “You didn’t see their faces when they realized what happened. Cassidy looked… completely broken. And Harlow couldn’t even look at me. Sabrina just went cold, colder than usual.”

“They’re tough. All of you are.”

“Not about this.” She sank onto the edge of my bed, suddenly looking much younger than normal, the weight of her Valentine legacy momentarily lifted. “Not about you.”

I stayed by the door, not trusting myself to get any closer. “What does that mean?”

“It means they care about you.” She met my gaze directly, her voice barely above a whisper. “We all do. In different ways, but… more intensely than any of us expected.”

“Vivienne—”

“No, let me finish.” She took a deep breath, smoothing an invisible wrinkle from her dress. “Tonight, when I kissed you, I wasn’t thinking about them. For once in my life, I was being completely selfish. Taking something I wanted without calculating the consequences or planning three steps ahead.”

“And now?”

“Now I feel like the worst sister in the world.” She looked down at her perfectly manicured hands, which trembled slightly. “But despite everything, despite hurting them, I still don’t regret kissing you. What does that make me?”

“Human.” I finally pushed away from the door and moved toward her, stopping a few feet away. “Look, this situation is… complicated.”

She laughed, a small, sad sound. “That might be the understatement of the century.”

“Yeah, well, I’m known for my subtlety.” I ran a hand through my damp hair.

“So what do we do?” Vivienne looked lost again, something I never thought I’d see on her typically confident face.

Good question. What did we do? I was stuck between four sisters who all apparently had feelings for me, their terrifying mother who could destroy my future with a phone call, and my own confusing mess of emotions.

“We figure it out,” I said finally, because what else was there to say? “One day at a time.”

“That’s not a plan.”

“Not everything needs a color-coded spreadsheet, Vivienne.”

She almost smiled at that. Almost.

“You should go,” I said gently. “Before someone notices you’re here.”

She nodded, standing slowly. “I am sorry. About putting you in this position.”

“Hey.” I reached out and touched her cheek lightly. “I was a willing participant, remember? That kiss was definitely a two-person operation.”

This time she did smile, small but real. “It was rather exceptional.”

“Exceptional, huh? That’s going on my resume.”

She rolled her eyes, looking more like herself. “Insufferable.”

“You like it.”

Her smile faded, expression turning serious. “Yes. I do.”

We stood there for a moment, too close and not close enough. The air between us felt electric, charged with possibilities and consequences.

“Goodnight, Isaiah,” she said finally, stepping toward the door.

“Goodnight, Vivienne.”

She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “For what it’s worth, I meant what I said in the car. I’m playing for keeps.”

Before I could respond, she slipped out the door and into the hallway, closing it silently behind her.

I fell back onto my bed with a groan. What a fucking day.

This whole situation was a disaster in progress. Four sisters. One me. A mother who could end my career and my sister’s future with a single phone call.

And somewhere in this house, Cassidy was plotting my murder, Harlow was probably crying, and Sabrina was… well, who knew what Sabrina was doing. Watching. Waiting. Planning.

The Valentine sisters were going to war. Over me.

And I was caught in the middle with no escape route.

My phone buzzed one more time. I picked it up, expecting another text from Vivienne with detailed instructions for surviving the night.

Instead, it was from Sabrina.

Your room. 1 AM. We need to talk about which sister really kissed you on the steps.

I stared at the screen, heart pounding.

What the hell did that mean?