“Kai. Felix.”
Kai spins on me as I shut the door. “What the fuck, man?!” he growls. His fists are clenched, and I can see the effort it’s taking to keep his anger in check.
My gaze moves to Felix. He looks equal parts pissed and disappointed.
I take a deep breath, then rub my temples in an attempt to relieve the throbbing. “Look, it wasn’t what she thought.”
“You were kissing another woman, meeting her behind Salena’s back. Looks pretty obvious to me!” Kai snaps.
“It was work. I didn't expect that woman to kiss me.”
Kai scoffs and spins, putting his back to me. I look over to Felix and he seems more hurt than angry now.
“I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Salena. I was caught off guard, and no, not by Salena. Something else. And the woman took advantage of my distraction.”
“Why were you distracted?” Felix asks, finally speaking.
I furrow my brow, thinking back on the night before. “It was weird, and you’ll probably think I’m crazy, but one minute I was trying to get information from her, the next my heart began almost fluttering. It was weird, and it only seems to happen . . . ” I trail off, not wanting to sound ridiculous.
“Around Salena?” Felix guesses.
I notice the look Kai sends Felix, a silent understanding passing between them.
“Yeah. But I didn’t think it could be her. I had started scanning the dance floor looking for her when the woman straddled me. I barely had time to react when she kissed me. I pushed her away immediately, but it was too late.”
Kai slumps against the wall, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Look, man, Salena is hurt, angry, and just . . . ” He blows out a breath. “You need to make this right.”
“I know,” I reply, my heart beating faster with a sense of foreboding.
The possibility of her not forgiving me hangs heavy in the air, and I can almost feel it pressing down on me. If the situation were reversed, I'm confident I'd be behind bars right now. I need to explain what happened, if she will just take a moment to hear me out. I tried calling her last night, and even stopped by her apartment, but she wasn’t home. Even Ghost wouldn’t come over to me. She just perched above the door, her eyes never leaving mine as I paced around the small porch at the top of the stairs.
“I’ll go to see her after work,” I say.
“Just stay away from her. Give her some time,” Kai says in warning.
I bristle, feeling anger take root in my stomach, making my skin prickle.
“Why were you meeting this woman?” Felix asks, drawing my attention.
“Reaper called–”
“Fucking Reaper. If this is his fault, I’ll kill him!” Kai snaps angrily.
“No. Reaper called me a few days ago, saying there was a woman asking around about me. I went there and he pointed her out. She obviously knew by asking around that Reaper would call me. How, I have no idea. I’ve never been to that place in my life. She told me she had important information regarding the murders. But kept stalling. I think she was setting me up. Maybe setting Reaper up, too. I don’t know.”
“You need to fix this. You fucked up.” Kai pushes off the wall and heads for the door.
“I know.”
Felix hesitates as he goes to pass me, his brother a few steps ahead. My heart pangs as I stare into his eyes that are identical to Salena’s.
“Just be honest with her. It’s not cool you kept any of this a secret.”
I dip my head in acknowledgment.
“Bad night, Sinclair?” Mack asks as I push through the doors of the station later that morning. I didn't get any sleep last night. I grit my teeth, wondering if it’s worth mentioning. I’ve never been one to share anything about my personal life, but it seems I’m way out of my depth here. I decide against it and go straight to my desk. My stomach is twisted in knots over how things went with Salena last night. The look of pure devastation that reflected back at me in her gorgeous eyes almost broke me. I hate that she saw what she did and that I had hurt her. I never wanted that. I want to protect her.
“Detective,” a woman purrs, the sound causing a shiver of revulsion to run over me.
