"Do we have to watch it?" Eli settled onto the couch beside her, stretching his arms along the back.

Soph nodded. Though the thought of Marco giving an interview about her to the media made her feel sick, she had to know what he was going to say. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin atop them. Chase plonked himself down on her other side, grinning from ear to ear. In his lap was a bowl of popcorn.

"Really?" Soph said dryly as he shovelled a handful into his mouth.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world, Soph," he teased. "Salty exes airing their dirty laundry? That's my favourite type of entertainment."

"Right," she muttered as the program started. The host, Lee Jenner, turned to the camera, supported by dramatic music.

"The collapse of the Sinister building has been in the headlines for weeks, and the dramatic showdown between two witch covens that caused this tragedy has been the subject of much debate with law enforcement, policy makers and in homes across the country. Supernatural powers aren't currently governed by human laws, but those who lost loved ones in the collapse are demanding justice. The witch at the center of the debacle, Sophia Giannopoulos, has become the face of this tragedy for more reasons than one. You of course know her from the battle footage, but she also has ties to both Chase Rickon, who was outed as a vampire, and Eli Damiani, who is the CEO of SinCorp, the parent company of Sinister."

Lee shifted her gaze to another camera. "Tonight, we speak exclusively to Marco Bianche, the former boyfriend of Sophia, who will spill all about the Sinister Sweetheart and how she ticks. Marco, thanks for joining me tonight."

"My pleasure, Lee." the camera switched to Marco. His hair was combed back in a way that Soph had never seen it before, and his tie looked too tight. She couldn't believe she'd once considered spending her life with this man just to appease her traitorous grandmother.

"Now Marco," Lee shuffled her papers importantly. "You and Sophia dated for a number of months. In fact, you even lived together for most of that time. Why did your relationship end?"

"It ended when she told me she loved Eli Damiani." Marco shrugged, lips down-turned.

"So she is dating Mr Damiani now?"

Once more his shoulders twitched upwards. "Well, she's never confirmed it, but I'd assume so with the way he's been stuck to her like glue since the building collapsed."

"Do you think Sophia was cheating on you with Mr Damiani?"

Marco nodded. "Yes. I don't know to what extent, or how often they saw each other, but I know she attended that club opening with him right after leaving a date with me."

Soph scowled. "It was hardly a date. We went out for Luie's birthday."

"And he left you in the street for anyone to have a crack at you." Eli had a slight crease in his brow as he stared at the TV, but his lips curved in a smirk. He obviously considered that first night a victory over Marco.

"I met you that night too," Chase said. He'd set his bowl of popcorn aside and was tapping on his phone.

"What are you doing?" Soph tried to peer over at his screen, but he turned it away, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Just telling my followers on Twitter that I met you that night too."

"What!" she exploded, trying to grab the phone from him. He held it out of reach, laughing. "I even started a hashtag. #SinisterSweetheart will be trending momentarily."

"Are you going to stop him?" she demanded of Eli, who shot them both an exasperated look.

"I'm not his mother. What do you want me to do?"

She frowned at him. "You don't think there'll be backlash?"

He shrugged, returning his attention to the TV. "Can't be any worse than what we're already getting."

"Don't worry, Soph," Chase was grinning at his phone, still tapping away. "Soon, my die-hard fans will be your die-hard fans and before you know it, they'll be hunting Marco down in the street."

"It was revealed early on that Sophia has a vampire blood addiction," Lee continued in the interview. "Did you know about this while you were together? And do you believe Chase Rickon has a part to play in this?"

"Well, I only found out about the addiction at the same time we broke up," Marco explained. "She claimed to be clean, but she was failing drug tests so who knows. How Chase Rickon fits into that, I don't know. She'd never mentioned him before, but I imagine she was introduced to him by Damiani. And if I'm honest, I think he's enabled her."

Soph grasped a handful of popcorn and flung it at the TV. "Get your mother to take you back to therapy, asshat!"

Chase snorted. "Mummy issues. Classic." he started another tweet. Eli didn't react at all to being called an enabler and Soph decided that he must have built a tolerance for bullshit media. Her own phone buzzed, and she picked it up to read a text from Luie.

-Are you watching this interview? What a douche.

-I know. How desperate does he look? Soph replied. Luie wrote back quickly.

-Chase Rickon is live tweeting, by the way. He's saying stuff about you.

"My son, Jacob, was devastated when Soph left." Marco was saying on the TV and Soph glanced up. "I try not to introduce him to women I date unless things are serious. He's had a hard time adjusting to his mother's revolving door of men."

"Ouch," Chase said, still tapping away. "Throws his other ex under the bus too. Bet he didn't tell you about the kid until it was too late to back out graciously?"

"How did you know?" she tried to see what he was posting again, but once more he tilted his phone away.

"I can read the guy like a book. Say 'Cheese!'" and before Soph could do more than raise an eyebrow, Chase lifted his phone and took a selfie.

"You're not posting that, are you?"

"Already done."

Soph glanced back at the TV, but the interview was over and Lee had moved on to talk about something else related to the Sinister collapse. She lifted her own phone and opened the Twitter app. She had an account, but mostly used it for browsing. Nonetheless, #SinisterSweetheart was trending. She found Chase's account and read through his thread.

Fancy that. I also met Soph at the Sincere opening #SmallWorld #SinisterSweetheart

Wonder how much M is being paid for this interview. Find out, Chasers, and I'll donate the same amount to the Sinister victim fund. #SinisterSweetheart

You didn't hear it from me, but M goes to therapy with his mum. #SinisterSweetheart

For the record, Soph has never asked for blood, and I've never offered #VampLife #SinisterSweetheart

The final tweet had the selfie attached, showing the three of them sitting together on the couch. Chase grinned charmingly at the camera, While Soph seemed bemused with one eyebrow arched and knees still drawn to her chest. Even Eli had glanced at the camera, grey eyes smouldering, that knowing smirk still playing on his lips. His arm was along the back of the couch behind Soph, a lock of her hair twisting around his finger. The photo was a lot of things, but it showed unity in the face of a divisive interview.

"That's... actually a pretty good photo," she admitted finally. Chase snorted, standing and tucking his popcorn bowl under his arm.

"Of course it is. I wouldn't post a bad one."

She stared at the photo a moment longer, then hit reply on it, ready to type her own tweet. Eli's hand closed over her phone.

"If you want to respond, you do it through a press release."

"What?" she looked between the two men. "So Chase can say it was bullshit, but I can't? I don't understand how this works."

Chase pressed his hand to his chest. "Celebrity," he then pointed at Eli. "Business man. I'm allowed to stoop - it's endearing. But a press release is a much more sophisticated way of saying fuck you." He stretched upwards then sighed. "Well, at least we'll have something nice to look at on the news tomorrow morning instead of that penthouse footage again. Goodnight, you two."

"Night," Soph and Eli said together, and Chase left for the pool house. Eli yawned, curling his arm around Soph's shoulder and pulling her closer. She snuggled against him, still looking at the photo. Comments on it were flying in by the hundreds, most of them positive. Some complimented her eyebrows, others her hair. There was a lot of commentary on the two gorgeous men either side of her and she noticed, more than once, the use of the hashtag #thruplegoals.

"Do you think I should do a press release?" she asked eventually. Eli shrugged.

"Up to you. Remember, this will be your first response since the collapse. Do you want it to focus on Marco?"

"Probably not." she saved the photo to her camera roll, then set her phone aside. "I guess we'll see what the media says about Chase's posts tomorrow."

***

Soph propped her phone against the milk jug and settled in with her cereal, waiting for the morning news to live stream. Zita was already up, sitting by the door on a deckchair with her cigarette and a coffee. Beyond her, the day was grey, a drizzling rain disturbing the smooth surface of the pool. She glanced at Soph's phone, smoke rising in tendrils from the corners of her lips.

"The way you're consuming this garbage is getting frightful, Baby."

"This one will mostly be about Chase, I hope," Eli answered before Soph could as he entered the kitchen. His hand brushed over her arm and up to her shoulder as he passed, and he paused to kiss the top of her head, lingering as he inhaled. Soph watched him as he rounded the bench to the coffee machine. He had that softness about him, one he got when the weather changed. She wondered if it had anything to do with his witch side.

"Why don't you ever use your gaian powers?" she asked as he set his mug under the machine.

"They're dormant under the other magics." he shifted her phone to take the milk, instead propping it against the juice bottle. "Maybe once I have the witch powers it will balance and I'll be able to access them again."

Soph slowed in her eating, a familiar hollowing sensation filling her; one she got whenever the witch powers were mentioned. Eli glanced her way as he poured milk into his coffee.

"Sorry."

Over by the door, Zita scoffed, oblivious to the conversation in the kitchen. She swiped on her phone, then began tapping angrily.

"What's wrong, Mum?"

"Oh nothing, Baby, just my useless brother flying into town today. He wants me to have dinner with me and Nona. Honestly, I know this family doesn't breed male witches, and it just makes them even dumber."

"Why is that?" Soph checked her phone to see if the news had started. Zita shrugged. "Don't know. Nona's brother was a witch, but there are no male witches in her line."

"It's because women are stronger vessels," Eli informed them, leaning on the bench with his coffee. Both Soph and Zita looked at him.

"Explain," Zita demanded.

"Well, women just make stronger witches. Eventually it will dilute into the men of the family, but not this close to a Founder. They wouldn't allow the magic to taint so close to the roots."

"Selective breeding?" Soph said, recalling how Eli could turn his fertility on and off. He tipped his mug in her direction.

"Exactly."

Chase's name flashed across Soph's screen, and she turned the volume up.

"And in Sinister news, following an interview with Marco Bianche, the ex-boyfriend of Sophia Giannopoulos, Chase Rickon was the first to speak out, commentating the interview in a series of tweets last night. This is the first time Rickon has been heard from since being outed as a vampire, and a photo shared with the tweet showing him watching the interview with both Giannopoulos and Damiani lays to rest suggestions that there's tension between the three, or that he's on the run. Eli Damiani is the only one of the three to speak publically prior to this, when he made a statement to the media earlier in the week, offering condolences to the families of the Sinister collapse victims and pledging five million dollars to the victim's fund. At the time he refused to comment on Giannopoulos and her well being after she was discharged from hospital last week. From the photo shared, she seems happy and well."

Soph turned the news off and sighed with relief.

"Listen to this," Eli said, reading from his phone with a smirk. "Sophia, or Soph as referred to by Chase Rickon, looked effortlessly stylish in the photo. Going for a natural look with no makeup, nonetheless she rocked the oversized grey sweater and just-out-of-bed hair, making it super obvious how she got the attention of the two hot men sitting either side of her."

Soph burst out laughing. "Effortlessly stylish? Who wrote that?"

Eli set his phone down and raised his coffee to his lip. "It was on a Chase Rickon fan page."

She let out a low breath, pressing her hands to the stone counter. "I must admit, as bizarre as the fashion stuff sounds, I actually feel relieved by the objectification."

"Mmm." Eli smiled. "It's nice to have a win."