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23
G.S
Kai tookme back to his place.
For a man who had taken a sick day to aid and abet a fugitive, he was doing rather well, but I guessed being an undercover agent for the purposes of a highly dangerous mafia sting would do that to a guy.
I also understood that my time as a free woman was severely limited. Kai had kept Chenko and his agents at bay for as long as he could, but now that I was back in the US (and with no Theo or Trace to show for it), if Chenko got wind of my presence, there would be no questions asked. I’d be immediately taken into an interrogation room, squeezed for information, booked, then put in a holding cell.
And I would be no good to Theo in jail.
We took the stairs to Kai’s second-floor walkup, the thin, stained maroon carpeting doing nothing to buffer the creak of the wood as we ascended.
“Is Marcus here?” I asked.
My love for Kai’s boyfriend spoke volumes. I was often the third wheel during their dinner dates, yet Kai’s Trinidadian soul mate never once made me feel unwanted. He was funny, upbeat, sweet to Kai during rough days and stern during days of rest. Always wanting to travel, explore, catch elevators to secret floors in the city known only to those that were “in.” They met through a dating app, yet to see them together, you would have thought they were childhood sweethearts. But, the thought of seeing Marcus right now, of putting on a face, had me dreaming of going back to Kai’s car and sleeping the rest of my dire situation off in his backseat.
Avoidance was my instinct, I’d come to learn. But having consequences smacked into my face, that was my fate.
“He’s not,” Kai said. He plodded up the stairs in front, my duffel so light it bounced against his hip.
I zeroed in on his lower back with suspicion. “Why did you say that in such a clipped tone?”
“No reason.”
“Why aren’t you talking to me directly?”
“Because we’re climbing stairs.”
“But your neck is so stiff, your footsteps really abrupt...” It clicked. “Kai,whodo you have in your apartment?”
Kai sprinted the last two steps like they were taped with the finishing ribbon of a marathon, careening around the corner and flinging open his apartment door before I had my hand off the railing.
“She’s here!” Kai yelled to someone inside. “Talk some sense into the woman.”
Kai couldn’t have called Chenko already, could he? Frozen, I clung to the railing, sensing its ability to assist me in increasing my velocity when I pushed off and back down the stairs. In fact, that was a good idea. There were only so many cat lives left. If I were detained now—
“Scar?”
A soft outline of hair appeared in the doorway, flashing copper-red from the sunlit windows behind her. Kai chose his apartments based on natural light. He boasted it was because he was a millennial increasingly concerned with environmental conservation, including energy, but we all knew it was so he could save on his electric bills. To which he replied,two birds, one stone, Scar. Quit mouthing off.
A lean body with toned legs in coral shorts and a plain white tee came next. The exposed skin was slightly freckled, pale to the eye and warm to the touch, nails painted in chipped pink because she couldn’t kick her nervous habit of picking her cuticles. The long neck was bordered by a clavicle I was always jealous of, because it made strapless dresses look stunning on her.
She carried one difference, though, an addition I hadn’t been witness to, since I’d been in the underground so long. A sparkle of white on her ring finger.
“Verily,” I whispered. Inexplicably, my vision went wet.
“Oh my God, Scarlet.”
Footsteps sounded, heavy and rushed, and before I drew breath she had her arms around me, squeezing, my neck dampening with her tears.
“You’re okay,” she said, her breath hot on my skin. “You made it back.”
“I…” I lifted my hands, placed them lightly on her back. Over her shoulder, I tried to find Kai. He wasn’t anywhere I could see.
Delicately, I pushed back from Verily. “It’s not safe for you to be here. I can’t believe Kai called you.”
It was only a second, but I caught the burn of hurt in her eyes. “What isn’t safe for me is also dangerous for you.”
