CHAPTER EIGHT
Ares
Having systems in place is how I function, but the issue is that I know the instant something is off. I woke up at five a.m., and while that isn’t unusual, I have this unsettled feeling, which is absurd because I don’t do emotions.
I went over the logs this morning and erased all traces of Luca working here, looping any footage with him in it to cover ourselves in case it comes back to bite us in the ass.
Then I close out of the logs and pull up the island’s resident files, as it’s where I go when I need to understand someone better.
There is so much information held within these pages.
I enter Kayla’s name into the search bar, and her file appears on my screen.
It’s not extensive like some people’s—only her background check, the NDA, the logs of her wristband activity, and notes that have been added from the forms she filled in.
I hover the cursor over the background check, then quickly click out of her file and sit back in my office chair.
I have held off on this moment, wanting to see if I could figure her out for myself, saving reading her history for if I couldn’t.
Kayla told me something yesterday, and I grow closer to her every day. Reading her file now would be cheating. I tell myself that this is a tactic. It must be because the alternative would throw everything out of whack, and I don’t know how to process that reality.
I push back from my chair and go make myself a coffee, because if I sit and stare at the screen, I might jeopardize my relationship with Kayla, and for the first time in my life I want to do this the right way. If I need to know something, she said I could ask her, and that is what I plan to do.
No one is downstairs, but I hear movement above me. Given the lack of stealth and loud thumps, my guess is Vero is awake. So I hurry to make my coffee and leave before chaos descends.
As I pour, I think about the time I made the mistake of telling Brawley about how I operate, how he just looked at me and said, “The issue with your system is that one day someone is going to walk in who doesn’t fit and you won’t know what to do.”
At the time, I thought that was absurd. That is not how my systems operate; they are made for new variables, to accommodate them. He had simply muttered, “Sure,” and left it at that. But maybe he was right.
Kayla doesn’t fit, and not because she is complicated.
I have managed those people my entire life without even breaking a sweat.
But she walked in, saw my system, and understood it.
Kayla stayed and adjusted her own behavior to accommodate it.
She was matter-of-fact about it, figuring out my needs and leaning into them, and that has me stumped.
I have never had someone willingly give me what I need. The others know and accept it for what it is, but they never leaned into it like she is determined to do.
Hustling back into my office on the ground level, I take a seat on the sofa where it overlooks the back of the property out toward the water. It’s nice here, a place to sit and think.
Footsteps descend the staircase, and a minute later Kayla appears in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee and wearing one of Brawley’s shirts. She walks in and sits down beside me.
“Thanks for putting the coffee on.”
“You don’t need to thank me; I have been up for a few hours and needed a break.”
“It’s still nice to wake up to liquid goodness.”
“How are you feeling today?”
A question programmed into me, a way to judge someone, how I can use it to my advantage. I shake the thought away as she smiles into her cup.
“Old habits, huh?” she murmurs, and I nod.
“I have been thinking about Aaron, not the exact details, but that he can’t come back.” She wraps both her hands around the cup and looks down. “I was na?ve and thought I was safe once before, even though in the back of my mind I was afraid he would find me.”
“You never have to worry about him again. You won’t have to waste any more energy on him.”
“That was almost comforting,” she says with a chuckle.
“Almost?” I ask.
“The way you said it was like you were reading it from an instruction manual.”
“I was improvising, trying to be a good boyfriend.”
She laughs. “Can we not mention the boyfriend thing to the others yet? They will all try to one-up you, and I’m not ready for that chaos.”
We both laugh, and the sound of Vero’s voice carries down the hallway, asking what’s for breakfast. Kayla yells out to him to pick something and make it himself.
She stands and looks down at me. “Are you coming?”
“In a minute.”
She nods and leaves the room while I stay and think about how I navigate this without losing her in the process. It’s the moment I realize I care if I lose her, and it hits me hard. I have felt nothing like this before.
I sit and process this for a while, trying to figure it out. Maybe I’ve convinced myself that I care because it is something she wants, but I know that is a huge fucking lie because Kayla accepts me for who I am.
Refusing to think about it anymore, I get up and stride into the kitchen.
Like clockwork, Brawley is at the stove cooking, and Vero is supervising, like he always does.
Clay is drinking his coffee, but the change is he is now staring at Kayla, who is seated at the table laughing.
At Vero trying to steal food from the pan, and at Brawley, who keeps whacking his hand away.
I move to make myself another coffee, and Kayla glances over at me with a smile. This all feels very domestic and not how I pictured my life.
“Ares,” she says, placing her mug down. “Can I ask you something?”
I nod and walk to take a seat across from her. There is no way I plan to fight Vero and Clay, knowing they will take the chairs on either side of her.
“Can you drive me into town today? I need to go see Rogue.”
“I can take you whenever you need me to.”
Vero jumps down off the counter, and Kayla shakes her head before he speaks. “You can’t come, Vero, you know Rogue is not your biggest fan.”
That makes Vero pout, and Kayla laughs. “But we can hang out when I get back. You should be off shift by then.”
“Can we go after breakfast?” I ask. “It’s easier to get someone to cover my shift in the morning.”
Kayla nods, and we all sit around and eat breakfast. I watch her eat and wonder more about these feelings and how alien they are, but nevertheless, they persist. I don’t have an issue with them per se; it’s more that maybe I have always been capable and my entire life has been a lie.
I don’t know how I feel about that fact.
Was I taught to believe I was like this and acted accordingly when I could have had meaningful connections all this time?
The bar is closed to the public when we arrive, but Kayla knows Rogue will be here already. She is nervous when we pull in and rubs her sweaty hands on her jeans.
“You don’t have to quit if you don’t want to,” I assure her.
“I want to . . . but it’s just this job was my saving grace for so long, so it feels like it’s the end of an era. Yet I can’t work here when all I want is to be near you guys, and if you tell Clay I said that I will kick you.”
I laugh. “I will keep my lips sealed. Not sure I’m into the physical violence like he is.”
She throws her leg off my bike and removes her helmet, handing it to me. “This is it,” she whispers to herself.
Once I’m off, I slip my hand into hers. She gives it a light squeeze, and we both walk toward the bar together.
I know how hard this must be for her. After everything with Aaron, this job was her independence, and I know a small part of her feels like she is giving that up.
While I wonder if she might regret it and can’t tell her she won’t, Kayla will still earn a wage at the bar on the island and have her independence, so I hope that helps calm her nerves a little.
When we step inside, she looks around the room and her eyes water a little. Kayla doesn’t like to show any sign of weakness and will hate that she is feeling emotional right now.
Rogue comes out from the back, and her face falls when she sees Kayla.
“I knew it,” she says, pointing at Kayla. “You’re not coming back, are you?”
Kayla shakes her head. “I’m not. I can’t.”
Rogue’s eyes tear up. “I won’t lie, I’ll miss you. Just tell me, are you okay?”
Kayla called after everything went down and explained what happened. I don’t know what was said, but enough that she was told not to come back in until she was good.
“I will be, but I didn’t expect things to hit me as hard as they have.”
Rogue steps forward and pulls Kayla into her arms. “Everyone will miss you, and I will be furious I have lost you for a few days, but I’ll get over it. I also know where you are, so I plan to come and visit on my days off.”
They both laugh, and I have no idea why—it must be some weird girl thing.
Rogue glances over at me. “You’d better look after her. I question if you’re even able to after what happened, but since you were not told about her douchebag ex, I will give you a free pass this time.”
“We will protect her with our lives—that I can promise you.”
Rogue makes a sound that suggests she is reserving judgment and turns back to Kayla. “There’s something I need to tell you, and I want you to stay calm.”
“Two men came in yesterday, cops in plain clothes, and they were asking about you. If you had been in this week, when I last saw you, and whether you had mentioned anything about Aaron.” She watches Kayla’s face as she talks.
“I told them you called in sick and that I hadn’t seen you since last week.
I didn’t mention the island or anything else. ”
“Thank you,” Kayla says, and I can hear the slight wobble in her voice.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on? I know there’s more than what you said over the phone.”
“No, the less you know, the better.”
Rogue nods. “All right, well, I guess you’re fired.”
Kayla chuckles. “Actually, I quit.”
Rogue shrugs. “Tomayto, tomahto. Just be safe.”
Once they finish their goodbyes, Kayla and I leave. She speed-walks back to my bike, and as I catch up, I grab her by the arm.
“Hey, don’t shut down, talk to me.”
She turns to face me. “The cops are looking for him,” she hisses. “I turned a blind eye, while deep down knowing what Clay and Brawley did to him, but this is a lot to take in and it’s all hitting me at once. I need to process.”
Reaching up, I take her face between my hands and look into her eyes.
“You have not seen Aaron since you left him. You have not spoken to him, nor do you know where he is. If they come sniffing around, we will lawyer up. Someone was bound to report him missing eventually. Just remember . . . you know nothing.”
“You’re very calm about this.”
I smile at her. “Someone has to be. Just please trust me on this, it will all go away.”
She exhales and nods. “Let’s go.”
I hand Kayla the helmet and put mine on, then her arms wrap around me a little tighter before I take off.
We need to get back to the island; that is where we shine.
Aaron is not the first from the island to vanish, and he won’t be the last. Our kind has a habit of screwing up, but the one good thing is, we all band together.
In a few short hours, every trace of Aaron will be wiped from our system, but thankfully he was there under an alias, so it will be even easier.
I should have done it sooner, and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t, but there is no way in hell Kayla will take the fall for any of this.