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Me: What do you mean? I reply, but he isn’t online.

The message sent was from not long after Eli got home. Did the council really find him that quickly, and what was it that they organized with the council?

Cyrus gets up from his chair at the table, and I quickly log out, placing my phone on the counter.

“What is wrong? Why the shift in emotions?” he asks before picking up my phone and unlocking the screen. He flicks through my phone for a few seconds.

“Log in, now,” he says.

My heart rate picks up when I see the Facebook app on the screen. “No!”

“No?” he says, his eyes flickering dangerously. “Log in, Addie. If you have nothing to hide, you have no reason to worry. Now log in,” Cyrus says, gripping my wrist and tugging me to him.

Eli walks in, assessing the current situation before glancing at my phone in Cyrus’s hand.

“What’s going on?” he asks, looking at Cyrus.

I rip my hand from his grip, turning back to peeling potatoes.

“She was messaging someone and won’t log back in,” Cyrus tells him.

“Let it go. It won’t matter soon anyway,” Eli tells him.

Cyrus isn’t happy but hands me my phone back.

“What are you making?” Eli asks, coming over, tugging on my hips, and pulling me against him.

Eli’s sudden complete shift in his usual asshole behavior shocks me.

“Beef stroganoff and mash,” I tell him.

“Want some help?” he asks, kissing my shoulder.

I turn in his arms looking up at him. “What’s going on?”

“Why would anything be going on?” he asks, pecking my lips and pulling me closer.

“You’re being nice,” I tell him, deciding to play along with whatever game he is playing.

“I’m just in a good mood.”

“And why is that?” I ask, suddenly curious as to what he has to be excited about.

“Everything is just coming together.”

My brows furrow in confusion. I can also feel Cyrus suddenly become nervous, making me glance at him.

“I’ll finish cooking. Go find a movie to watch or something,” Cyrus says.

Eli tugs me out of the kitchen before moving toward the stairs. I am about to walk past and into the living room when he suddenly pulls me to him, tossing me over his shoulder and marching me up the stairs.

“Put me down! We are meant to be finding a movie to watch,” I tell him as I dangle upside down on his shoulder.

“I would rather watch you writhe beneath me,” he says, slapping my ass.

I dig my elbows into his back, propping myself up on them. He wriggles, trying to move them from between his shoulder blades. When that doesn’t work, he bites the side of my ass through my pants, making me hiss and turn on his shoulder. I smack the side of his head when I am suddenly tossed on the bed, knocking the air out of me.

Eli smiles at me before gripping my ankles and yanking me to the edge of the bed.