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It didn’t sway Ashe though, who was still trembling with rage and fighting against Theo’s resistance.

“I think we should speak alone, Toni.” It was Prince’s calm voice that cut through the rest, and he and Toni shared a silent moment of something that I must have missed.

My brother nodded once, gesturing with his chin for the rest of his men to leave.

“Henny, enough,” Prince urged quietly, which still didn’t snap him out of it.

Freddie let out a frustrated sort of huff, before stepping forward and dragging Ashe off of Theo by the scruff of his shirt. Ashe didn’t do much to resist, but still watched Theo with a violent scowl until he was moving towards the door.

Theo shot me one curious frown, and that was all he was allowed before it was Prince’s turn to snap.

“Out!”

Everyone shuffled out except for Toni and also Sammy, who stayed stubbornly planted in place, looming behind Antoni with crossed arms and worry in his eyes. He had always been the softy. Had always been the one to worry more than he would ever admit.

And I didn’t want him here to hear what I was about to say.

“I want Rome, too,” I choked out.

She paused at the door when she heard her name, eyebrows creasing. Her eyes slid over to Prince, silently asking permission to stay as well, and he nodded.

The weight of it all was too much.

The guilt. That lingering feeling that maybe I just overreacted. That feeling that maybe if I had just kept my mouth shut none of this had to happen. That feeling that all these people were now fighting because of me.

Really, was the incident bad enough that it was worth all this drama? WasIworth all this drama?

I wasn’t sure anymore. And I wished I had just kept it to myself and moved on.

Prince gestured to an empty table with a tilt of his head, and Toni moved towards it after a beat of hesitation.

“Come on, Zar,” Freddie ushered me towards the seat as well. His hand lingered behind my back, but he never touched me.

Prince, Freddie, Toni, Rome, and myself sat in the booth that I sat in that first night I came here.

Ashe paced a little while longer before sliding in next to me and giving me a quick, reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Toni didn’t miss the action, eyes flickering towards Ashe’s hand and then back to my face.

“What’s going on with you, Zar?” Antoni breathed the question out quickly, like he was desperate for an answer. “Please talk to me.”

I blew out a breath, because I didn’t really want to explain myself. It was awkward enough to talk about, let alone to my brothers. And after all the chaos, I was left feeling a little bit silly.

“It’s not that serious,” I shrugged.

“Don’t do that,” Ashe scolded, cutting me off. “Itisserious. Tell him what happened.”

I looked up at Ashe, his eyes so full of patience, warmth, and care, that I had to pull myself together a little afterwards. All I wanted was for this situation to go away, to rewind and pretend it never happened.

But I turned back to Toni, crossing my arms over myself.

“Yesterday,” I spoke slowly, not wanting to speak at all. “Yesterday, when Theo was driving me home, he… he told me that helikedme.”

Toni’s jaw flexed, but he only nodded, urging me to go on. I was half expecting an eye roll from him. I was half expecting him to tell me that I should expect that for being such a flirt.

But he didn’t.

“I told him I wasn’t really interested, you know? And then he, uh…”

I tipped my head from side to side, delaying the words I knew I had to say. Ashe’s big, warm hand landed on my knee, giving it a small squeeze.