My mind spun out of control as the memory continued to replay. The fire was in the house I shared with five other students during my second year of university. It was deemed an accident, faulty wiring in an old house. We all got out in time, except I should’ve been dead. I’d passed out from all the smoke in my bedroom upstairs. All I remember was waking up on the neighbor’s grass with a man on his knees beside me. It was pitch dark and I couldn’t see his face, but I remembered the scent of his cologne mixed with smoke. And then his words when he said, “I’ll always come for you, braveheart.”
I thought I’d imagined him. The smell. Those words.
I’d dreamed about those words for months. I’d dreamed about this man—Kai. Holy Jesus.
I stared at him, my heart racing, emotions sparking off in every direction. He terrified me, threatened my father, was not a good man and yet… he was. He’d saved my life. Why would he do that? Why had he been watching me? “I don’t understand.”
“There is nothing to understand. Go home, London.” The air around him was dangerous, as if the moment you stepped close enough there was no escape from him and what he wanted.
He strode back to the driver’s door and opened it, his form elegant and at ease again. Casually, he took off his suit jacket and tossed it inside his car. “I’d advise keeping our little meeting from your father and the police. I’ll be in touch.”
“Our… our deal?”
He didn’t turn around as he said, “Anything for you, braveheart.” He bent his tall frame into the luxury car and shut the door and then, while I stood to the side of the path, he drove away.
I watched until the car turned onto the road and disappeared before I dove into my car and found my cell between the console and the seat. I tapped my code then dialed the police, his license plate embedded in my mind.
“Nine one one. What’s your emergency? … Hello?”
Shit.
“Sorry, I hit the emergency button by mistake.”
I hung up.
I JERKED UPRIGHT, the pale green sheet slipping from my shoulders and pooling at my waist. My heart raced and my skin was flushed from the vivid dream—of him. Kai.
Three nights.
Three nights haunted by dreams of him. Sometimes he’d be holding me, gentle and sweet, and other times, he was terrifying as he held a knife to my throat. There were parts of me that believed Kai saved me from the fire because there was good in him. That he wouldn’t hurt my father or me. That maybe Kai wasn’t as bad as I thought.
“Jesus. I’ve lost it.” What was I thinking? He had a knife. He held it to my throat. He worked for people who were obviously dangerous.
And he hadn’t been in contact in three days. I was worried he’d decided to forgo the deal. What then? What would happen to my father?
I’d called my dad numerous times a day, trying to sound normal while inside I freaked out. Kai had given him a week, that was if he decided not to take my deal. That meant my dad was safe for four more days. But it didn’t stop my anxiety. Everywhere I went, I constantly looked over my shoulder, wondering if Kai was behind me or around the next corner; if he was watching me.
God, I was driving myself crazy.
Outside was dark, but the moonlight filtered through the sheer white curtains into my loft. It was an open-concept apartment with fifteen-foot ceilings, exposed ducts, brick walls and no partitions except for the bathroom. My father had insisted I live in a secure, newer building after the fire, so he bought the loft, which was within walking distance to school. An investment, he’d said. I’d argued that it was too much even though he had the money. He’d pointed out the fact that I was on scholarship from all my hard work in high school and he hadn’t paid for my university.
And I loved my loft. It was close to school in a small, six-story, quaint building with security guards, and was quiet so I could study.
Not wanting to go back to sleep and slip into another Kai dream, I slid my legs over the side of the bed to get up and that was when it hit me. His cologne. The scent I’d never forget. Never. It lived inside me, whether I wanted it to or not. Now that it was connected to Kai, it made it that much more powerful.
And it lingered in the air.
I quickly flicked on the bedside light then stood, letting the sheet drop. I wore my usual boxer shorts and a spaghetti-strap pink nightshirt, but suddenly I felt… exposed.
Numerous emotions flooded me all at once. Fear took the lead, but a close second was the fact that my body was hyperaware of him. After three nights of dreaming about him, thinking about him, the heightened awareness amplified.
I stepped off the platform my bed was perched on and the hardwood creaked beneath my bare feet. The sound echoed in the silence and I shivered as my eyes scanned my loft.
Had he been here and left? But how could he get into my place?
I listened for movement, while my gaze searched the shadows. My pulse throbbed beneath the thin layers of skin on my wrists and throat as I waited for the moment I saw him.
But there was no sign of him and the only sound was the streetcar squealing on the tracks outside my open window.
I walked into the kitchen, my heart finally settling back to a quiet rhythm. I reached into the cupboard and took out a glass then set it on the counter. Maybe the stress was making me imagine things. I was on the sixth floor, and we had security. There was no chance he could get into my loft without me knowing.
I laughed to myself as I opened the fridge and the blaring light flickered once before it turned on. I leaned over and shuffled containers around until I found the orange juice. I pulled it out, stepped back and went to close the fridge with my foot when hands settled on my hips.