Four Of A Kind - Chapter 190: [4.8] The Illusion of Control

Chapter 190: [4.8] The Illusion of Control

Shit. That hurt.

“That’s not what I said,” I answered carefully. “Everything happened, but none of it should have happened.”

“Because we’re Valentines?” Harlow asked quietly.

“Because your mother could destroy my future and my sister’s with a single phone call,” I corrected. “And because I don’t play games where people get hurt.”

“Who’s getting hurt?” Sabrina asked, her eyes never leaving my face.

I gestured around the table. “Look at yourselves. Cassidy’s ready to stab someone. Harlow’s pretending to be okay when she’s not. Vivienne’s planning how to manage the situation. And you—” I turned to Sabrina. “You’re watching everything like it’s an experiment.”

Cassidy’s grip on her fork tightened. Harlow looked down at her plate. Vivienne’s face remained impassive, but her knuckles went white around her teacup.

“That’s not fair,” Harlow said softly.

“Maybe not. But it’s true.” I ran a hand through my still-damp hair. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t… feel things. I do. But I can’t be what any of you want me to be right now.”

“And what do we want you to be?” Sabrina asked.

“More than I can afford to be,” I said simply.

Cassidy pushed away from the table abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. “So that’s it? You’re just going to pretend nothing happened because it’s convenient?”

“It’s not about convenience,” I said, maintaining eye contact despite her glare. “It’s about responsibility. I have a job to do. I have Iris to take care of. I can’t afford distractions.”

“Is that what I am?” Cassidy demanded. “A distraction?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Do I?” She crossed her arms. “Because it sounds like you’re pulling the ’it’s not you, it’s me’ card, except you’re using your sister as the excuse.”

“Cassidy,” Vivienne warned.

“Don’t ’Cassidy’ me,” she snapped. “He had his hands all over me and now he’s sitting here talking about responsibility?”

Iris choked on her orange juice.

“I wasn’t the one who climbed into your lap,” I pointed out.

“And you weren’t complaining at the time either,” Cassidy shot back.

“Enough.” Vivienne’s voice cut through the tension. “This is accomplishing nothing.”

She turned to me, all business now. “What exactly are you proposing, Isaiah? That we pretend nothing happened and continue our professional relationship as if last night never occurred?”

Put that way, it sounded ridiculous. But what other choice did I have?

“For now? Yes.”

“And if we don’t agree to those terms?” Sabrina asked quietly.

“Then I’ll hand in my resignation and be gone by lunch,” I said, the words tasting bitter. “I’m not trying to hurt any of you. But I need this job, and you need a tutor who isn’t complicating things.”

A heavy silence fell over the table.

Harlow was the first to break it. “Can I still hug you though? Because that’s kind of my thing, and I’d be really sad if I couldn’t.”

Despite everything, I smiled. “Yes, Harlow. You can still hug me.”

“What about our bet?” Cassidy asked, arms still crossed but some of the fight gone from her voice.

“That’s still happening.”

Vivienne set down her napkin with the precision of a surgeon. “Very well. If these are your terms, we’ll respect them.” She looked at her sisters. “All of us.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

Harlow nodded, though she looked like someone had taken away her favorite toy.

Sabrina simply inclined her head, that small almost-smile still playing at her lips.

“Good,” I said, not believing for a second that any of them would actually back off. But at least I’d tried to establish some boundaries. “Now, can we please talk about the actual work I’m supposed to be doing here?”

“Yes,” Vivienne said, immediately switching to professional mode. “I have your schedule for the day. We need to—”

She was interrupted by the sound of a phone buzzing. My phone.

I checked the screen and felt my stomach drop.

“What is it?” Iris asked, leaning over to see.

“Felix,” I said, reading the text message. “Reminding me about the chemistry project due Monday.”

“You should go back today then,” Iris said, not sounding thrilled about it. “I can stay here with Harlow. She’s teaching me about wig styling.”

“Nice try,” I said. “Where I go, you go.”

“But—”

“What you see I see.”

Harlow pouted. “But we were going to make cookies!”

“And I was going to teach her how to play at Fortnite,” Cassidy added.

“She already knows how to play Fortnite,” I said. “She beats me every time.”

Iris grinned proudly.

“How about a compromise?” Vivienne suggested, ever the negotiator. “Stay until after lunch. You can work on your project here—our library has everything you might need. Then you can both return to Philadelphia this evening.”

It was a reasonable solution. Too reasonable. I immediately felt suspicious.

“Fine,” I agreed cautiously. “But we leave by four.”

“Perfect.” Vivienne smiled, and for a second, I forgot all about boundaries and responsibilities and the mess we were in.

Then Cassidy kicked me under the table, and reality came crashing back.

“I need to talk to you,” she said. “Alone. About my math test.”

Right. The test. The actual reason I was employed.

“After breakfast,” I agreed.

“I need time with you too,” Vivienne said. “To discuss the launch follow-up.”

“And I want to show you what Iris and I have been working on!” Harlow chimed in.

Sabrina said nothing, just watched me over the rim of her teacup, violet eyes filled with amusement.

I caught her gaze. “And you? What do you need from me today?”

Her smile widened slightly. “I’m content to wait my turn.”

The way she said it sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with my cold shower.

Iris looked between us all and burst out laughing. “You are so screwed,” she whispered, nudging me again.

She wasn’t wrong.

I’d come to breakfast intending to set boundaries and regain control of the situation. Instead, I’d somehow agreed to spend the day being passed between the Valentine sisters like a toy they all wanted to play with.

So much for my cold shower reality check.

I shoveled the last bite of crepe into my mouth, wondering if I could fake a sudden illness and escape back to Philadelphia immediately.

“Oh, and Isaiah?” Vivienne’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Hm?”

“My mother will be calling to discuss the gala. She specifically asked that you be present.”

And there it was. The final nail in my coffin.

“Perfect,” I said with a smile that felt more like a grimace. “Looking forward to it.”

Cassidy snorted. Harlow winced sympathetically. Sabrina’s eyes gleamed with interest.

I caught Iris’s gaze across the table, silently communicating in the way only siblings can: We are so getting out of here at the first opportunity.

She nodded imperceptibly: No shit, Sherlock.

“Well then,” I said, pushing back from the table and standing up. “Let’s get this day started, shall we?”