“Can I ask you something?” Kai says.
“You can ask.”
“Why did you break up?”
I could give him the easy answer. It wasn't working. We wanted different things. The kind of vague explanation that doesn't invite follow-up questions, but he just offered to have his mysterious friends deal with my stalker ex. That earns him some honesty.
“Because I was disappearing,” I say, the honesty of the evening making me raw. “He had opinions about everything,what I wore, who I talked to. He isolated me from my friends so skillfully that I didn't realize I was alone until I tried to reach out. It was easier to just agree than to fight for my own identity until I didn't recognize myself in the mirror.”
Kai doesn't say anything. His hands are tight on the wheel.
“He wasn't always like that,” I add, though I'm not sure why I'm defending him. “In the beginning, he was charming. Attentive. Made me feel special.”
“They usually are.” There is a depth of knowledge in his voice that feels personal.
He pulls onto my street and brakes in front of my building. He is out of the car and opening my door before I can blink. I climb out, the cold air hitting my face, and he stands close, too close. I can smell the sandalwood on his skin.
“If you need anything,” he says, “call me. Anytime.”
The way he's looking at me, like I need saving, makes me want to hide. My spine locks. “I appreciate it. But you caught me in a bad moment. I'm fine. I don't need help.”
His breath changes. Something behind his eyes hardens into a thing I recognize from a different man, a different life. It has nothing to do with me. My body doesn't care. “Goodnight, Emma,” he says quietly, but I'm already retreating behind every wall I own.
There is no mention of next week. Just a polite, final goodbye. I watch him walk back to his car before slipping inside the building, sinking onto my bed once I’m behind my locked door.
I finally opened up to someone, and he couldn't get away fast enough. Maybe James was right. Maybe I'm too much.
CHAPTER 9
THE MIDNIGHT CIRCUS
KAIDEN
This is dangerous.
I have spent years keeping people at arm’s length. My life is a series of controlled interactions, clear boundaries, and women who understand the score. Emma doesn't know the score. She has no idea who I am, where I come from, or what I am capable of doing to protect what is mine.
After I am certain she is safe behind her locked door, I get back in the car and drive. I pull over near the docks and cut the engine. The water laps against the pier, dark and endless, mirroring the restlessness in my gut. My phone is in my hand before I consciously decide to call him.
Maddox answers on the third ring. “It’s past office hours, Rhodes. This better be good.”
“I need info on someone. His name is James. He is using a burner phone to harass Emma. I am sending you the number now.”
Silence stretches between us. Then, in that dry, clinical tone he has perfected over the years, he asks, “Is that the ex?”
Of course, he put it together. Maddox likely started digging the second I gave him Emma’s name. I'm grateful. And annoyedthat he's already three steps ahead of me. “How soon for a deep check on the number?”
“Tomorrow, maybe the day after. It depends on how many layers he’s using.” Maddox pauses. “Did you read the file I sent you on Ms. Sinclair?”
“Not yet.” I don't know which outcome I am hoping for, proof that she is too good to be true or confirmation that she is exactly what she seems. “You said she was above board, right?”
“She is clean,” Maddox hesitates. That pause sets off every alarm bell in my head.
“What are you not telling me, Maddox?”
“It is best you read it for yourself. Or get to know her and have her tell you.”
I scoff, the sound harsh in the quiet of the car. “Same as you did with Vivien? Or was that before you hacked her private life?”
