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"Oh, those. Yeah, and I look hot, don’t I? A little grainy, I look better in 4K, but still hot."
His jokes comfort me in a way I didn’t expect them to. He can't be too mad at me if he's joking. But his face sobers and I know the question is coming, the question I thought I could avoid until now.
"You keep saying 'he' like you know who did this. Do you? Do you know, Kiara?"
And I know I owe him the truth. "Yes. At least I think I do... he, um, he's done this before. Not the pictures, but the breaking in. He... he's done this before..” I stop when my voice cracks, and take a breath before I speak again. “I just didn't think that he'd find me here. Why is he here?"
"Oh, angel. I wish you’d told me. I could’ve been out looking this whole time. And I don't know why he’s here, Kiki. But we're going to find out, okay?” He blinks, like he’s running a question over in his head, trying to ask it in a sensitive way.
That’s not fair on him, always having to ask the question when I know what he wants, deserves to know. So I tell him what I probably should’ve told him from the beginning. "He... is my ex-boyfriend. I... dated him for about four years in New York.
"Four years?" his eyes swing back and forth, doing the math.
"Yeah."
"So, um, after London?”
“Yes. We met in college, he had been asking me out for awhile. So, when I got back, I agreed to go out with him."
He looks at me like I betrayed us. When we both know that he betrayed us first.
“What happened?”
“How it always happens. It was okay until it wasn’t. And I couldn’t even tell you how and when it happened.” I swallow. I’ve never talked about this. Never. “And then one day it went from bad to unbearable, so I left. He didn’t like that. So, I went into hiding. I was moving from place to place. I didn't want to go home and bring all this with me. My mother didn't need it in her last days."
“How did you finally… end it?”
"Nathan came one day. I hadn’t answered his calls in a few days. He flew over from Hong Kong and tracked me down at a hotel. Whisked me back to Hong Kong and never spoke about it again."
"He never told me."
"Good." It's the only good thing that's come out of all this. Even if Kylian has to know about it now, at least it's coming from me. And I can give him the whole story.
“You said he used to break into your house?”
"Yes. When we started dating, he was thoughtful and sweet. But, just like it happens all the time, he just slowly chipped away at me. I didn't have a lot of friends in New York, not close ones anyway."
He winces. "I wish I'd known. Matthias would've taken care of him. Did he hurt you?"
“In a word, yes.” Then I brace for impact.
Kylian’s nostrils flare, jaw flexes, hands ball into white knuckled fists. Then he takes a deep breath, visibly shoving the anger down, so I continue.
"Once. But...i t was bad. That's when I left. He apologized over and over. But I never believed him."
Kylian nods. A small gesture of approval of my decision to leave and it helps.
"So, then he started stalking me. Little things at first, showing up at the coffee place when I was there, acting like it was a coincidence. But then he would wait outside my apartment in the mornings and be there at night, under the pretense that he was watching out for me. And when I’d get to my apartment, it would be trashed.”
I shiver at the memory of seeing him every time I left my apartment, wondering if he'd follow me inside and that would be the last anyone would hear of me.
"Did your family know about any of this?"
"I think they suspected after a while. They only met him once. When they came over to visit me. They didn't like him." I let out a hollow laugh. "I was a stupid girl. Always trying to rebel for no reason. I did it all to myself. I should've known better." The admittance is only deathly bitter and I smack my lips trying to get rid of the sensation drying out my mouth.
"But... it was all for nothing. He's been watching me for who knows how long. I had no idea. I thought I was safe here in Hong Kong."
He squeezes my hand. "You're safe now. I won't let him get to you again."
