His arm slides around my shoulder, and it's so comforting I want to cry. "Sure thing, we can table it for now." He looks up at the night sky, where the stars have started to appear despite the city's insanely bright skyline. "Thanks, by the way, for coming with me tonight."
I look down at my lap, blushing. "I enjoyed myself. Thanks for inviting me." Imostlyenjoyed myself, and I can't let Theo overshadow the fun I had with Kai. Iwon't.
"More like forced you," he says with a smile and a little laugh, so very at odds with the usual stoic workaholic that I'm used to. "But either way, I'm happy it was you on my arm instead of someone else."
I don't want to read too much into that, so I just nod and pretend I'm not secretly looking for another meaning to his words. A meaning that could very well lose me my job.
We sit there for a few more minutes before he clears his throat and takes my hand, leading me back to the car. We sit side by side in silence the whole way to my house, and when I go toget out, he's quicker than a flash, leaning over me to open the door before I can do it myself.
"You're off tomorrow," he starts, but I know where this is going, and it's not a good idea for me to let him continue. If I do, my resolve will crumble, and while he wants to drink as friends, I don't think I'll be able to keep things professional if we keep hanging out on the down-low.
"I have some errands to run, housework to catch up on, and I've gotta prune my plants." I glance up at my apartment window, where Taco usually waits for me, but the windowsill is unusually empty. "Taco must be mad that I've been spending so much time away from home. He's not even waiting for me."
"Maybe he's just sleeping," Kai offers, but I smile softly and slip from the car.
"Thank you for tonight," I say softly, and then I pick up my skirts and start the slow climb to the apartment.
The hallway on the first floor to the stairwell is darker than usual, but there's always a burnt out bulb somewhere in need of being replaced. And my landlord nowhere in sight to fix or replace it. This is nothing new.
Whatisnew, however, is the cat sittingoutsidemy apartment door when I reach my floor.
"Awww," I coo as I get closer, hoping not to spook the poor thing, "what apartment did you slip out of?" When I get close enough to see his distinctive markings, though, a chill runs through me."Taco?"
Why is Taco not inside my apartment?
His meow tells me he's not hurt, nor has he been out here long, because I just left earlier today, and he was securely inside the damn place. I have no idea how he got out, but I'll worry about that later. I scoop him up and put my key in the door?—
Or I try to. When it touches the lock, the damn thing creaks open, like the fucking climactic moment in some B-list horror movie from the nineties, and suddenly I'm firing on all cylinders.
Ineverleave my door unlocked when I leave. Taco shouldn't be outside, just like this door shouldn't be open already.
Words fail me, and I'm not sure what I'd say to the emptiness of my apartment, anyhow. I step inside, set Taco on the counter, uncaring that he's not supposed to be up there, for now, and flip on the lights.
A scream climbs up my throat, jams itself there. Thank god, too, because the last thing I need is the building super to come up here and make a scene.
I already have one to contend with.
My apartment's beentossed.Someone was in here and ripped it to shreds, every inch, like they were looking for something.
The couch is upended, the dishes ripped out of the cabinets and shattered on the floor. The coffee machine sits on its side, crushed. Half of my plants are tossed around the room like someone hurled them at a wall in a fury. There's dirt everywhere. From somewhere behind me, Taco meows, but I'm not paying any attention to him right now.
I inch down the hall, careful not to disturb the dirt, and shove open my bedroom door.
In the center of the bed is a bouquet of those same fucking flowers that Theo's been leaving me at work, those flowers he thinks I like, or maybe he knows I hate them, I'm not sure. They sit there in a heart shape, though below it, the words written in red lipstick on my white duvet send a much more sinister message.
You're mine. You'll always be mine. And I always get what I want.
I'm so messed up about it, I don't even notice I'm no longer alone until a hand comes down on my shoulder, and that scream rips free of my throat as I turn around and swing on whoever it is with all the strength in my body.
"Kara, wait!"
Kai.
chapter twenty-four
Kai
Denali walks awayfrom the car without a glance back. And I realize that I didn't bother to tell her how I felt tonight.
