Page 131 of Kaine

Chapter Fifty

HER

My home doesn’t feellike my home anymore. It feels like a giant storage space that’s holding all my kitchenware, my clothes, my old life. There’s nothing here that reminds me of the life I’ve been living for the last month. Well, except for the glass paperweight I have standing on the coffee table in the middle of my tiny living room.

Thatreminds me of Kaine.

Probably because I swiped it off his desk when I left his office with Xavier barely an hour ago.

Has it just been an hour? It feels like I’ve aged decades sitting here waiting for Xavier to call me with an update. We agreed that I would come back to my apartment and wait while he goes and tells Kaine what we found out about Jemima.

My face scrunches up into a tight ball at the thought of her. Of the damage she’s caused. To my beautiful library, to Kaine’s company, to Kaine. I wonder where she’s hiding and if we’ll ever find her and make her pay for everything she’s done.

My heart twists at the thought of Kaine lying there in that hospital bed. But maybe that’s the best place for him. Someplace he’s being watched over, with people there to help him rest and recover.

And maybe one day, ready to accept me back into his life again.

I cringe at the thought that I ever even remotely suspected anything going on between him and Jemima. But I didn’t know. And he didn’t know that this was what she wanted all along.

My head drops into my hands. I miss him so much. All the things he’s done for me, and not just me, but Gabriel, my grandparents. All the meaning he’s brought into our lives. And what have I done for him except put him in one bad situation after another?

When all I want is to be a part of his life.

We’ll get through this, Kaine. We’ll get through it together.

There’s a ding on my phone and I snatch it off the coffee table, tapping the message to open it. It’s from Xavier.

“Kaine knows about J (Jem). Is on his way to your apartment now. Good Luck xx”

Tears immediately spring to my eyes. My whole body floods with relief. He’s okay, and he still wants me. I jump up and unlock the door, ready for him.

I look down, and I’m still wearing clothes from yesterday, and I run back into my bedroom, flinging my T-shirt and jeans off as I count the seconds until he’ll be here. Pulling a cotton dress over my body, I hear his footsteps down the hallway and rush out into the living room to greet him. My Kaine. My love.

The door flings open and I run to him, my heart pounding with joy.

And then I freeze.

It’s not Kaine.

It’s Emerald Earring Man.

“Hello, Jade,” he sneers and he’s uglier than I remember. Because now I see all the evil in him.

I suddenly feel cold, I’ve broken into an instant sweat and the breeze from the open door is making me shiver.

“What do you want?” I ask, taking a step backward but my apartment is so small, it doesn’t put that much distance between us.

He senses my fear and the sneer widens into a psychotic smile. No wonder Jemima was able to get him to do her dirty work, he probably enjoys it. Sick fuck.

“Aw, come now, you were so nice to me while I was working at the library, installing your precious smoke detectors. I was your hero then. Where’s the love now?”

“It burnt in that fire you started.”

“Oh, love, no. I didn’t start that fire and there’s nothing to prove I did.”

“I’ll find something. You can bet your life on it,” I challenge him, some of my fear transforming to hate and fury, the image of that beautiful building up in flames, of Kaine passed out in the ambulance.

“No, my dear. You won’t,” he says as he shakes his head. “I’m here to make sure of it.” He takes two long steps from the door into my apartment and instinct has me spinning around and running into my bedroom.