Chapter 31 Devon
DEVON
Husband.
The word slices through me with the sharpness of a real blade and I beg the ground to just open me up and swallow me.
How is he here?
How did he find me?
How does he always manage to find me?
Sitting here with Kairo in front of me being every bit as sweet and as kind as he’s always been, it was painful to lie to his face.
But cutting him off is saving him.
That was my plan.
End things and run until Axel lost me again, and then I would think about the next step.
But he’s here.
Breathing in, the stench of smoke, peppermint gum, and leather invades my lungs and inflates the nausea in my gut.
I’m going to be sick.
I can’t breathe. I can’t move.
Hearing his voice over the phone was enough to unlock every nightmare I had buried in the depths of my mind, but now he’s here with Kairo and it’s like I’m still asleep.
My heart races and my skin burns with the memory of every agony he’s ever brought down on me.
And now Kairo is in his crosshairs.
The thought of Axel harming him in any way turns my blood to ice and as Axel holds out his hand, I lunge forward and grab his wrist so that Kairo can’t make contact.
There’s no telling what Axel has up his sleeve.
“Aw, I knew you missed me.” Axel’s cold, bony fingers seal painfully around my wrist the moment I make contact and a visceral roll of repulsion jolts through my body.
As I flinch back, there’s nowhere to go to escape Axel’s grip and then Kairo’s voice reaches my ears.
“Devon, is he telling the truth?”
Our eyes meet. Kairo’s fighting to keep the pain out of his eyes, but I see it there, rising in the depths, and the guilt swelling inside me is smothering my ability to breathe.
“Yes,” I choke out. “But he—”
“She’s been visiting family all this time,” Axel cuts in. “But it’s time for us to go home.”
“But I—”
“Enough!” Axel’s grip tightens to the point of agony and tears spring into my eyes. “You’ve put me through enough humiliation and it ends now.”
The venom in his tone makes me recoil, but before Axel can move, Kairo stands.
He’s a few inches taller than Axel and slowly buttons his suit jacket. “Take your hand off her.”
Never have I heard such quiet coldness in Kairo’s voice. He steps around the table until he’s face-to-face with Axel. “I won’t ask you again.”
“Oh yeah?” Axel sneers. “And what exactly are you gonna do, huh? Getting between a man and his wife is a recipe for disaster, you overgrown fuck—”
His words falter as a hand lands on Axel’s shoulder from behind. Martin stands just behind him, his eyes narrowed and his brows so low that they almost merge into one.
Kairo remains silent as he leans a few inches closer.
He places his hand over the top of Axel’s around my wrist and speaks in a low, dangerous voice that would be all sorts of attractive if I weren’t stuck with alarm bells ringing in my mind.
“One more word. Just one more, and Martin will escort you out of here in pieces, understand?”
Despite his arrogance, Axel’s smart enough to know when he’s outnumbered, so he wrenches his hand away from me.
My wrist remains in Kairo’s gentle grasp while Axel shoves Martin’s hand off his shoulder and stomps away.
“Motherfucking rich cunts think they can fucking do whatever the fuck they want,” he spits, lunging at a nearby waiter. “This isn’t over, you rotten bitch!”
He’s gone, stumbling out into the frozen streets with Martin following him and taking up a position at the doorway.
Kairo gently releases my wrist and steps away from me, covering his chest with one hand.
“I–I can explain,” I gasp softly. “It’s not what you think!”
Forty minutes later, I sit on Kairo’s couch with a half-drunk mug of tea in my hands.
Drinking any more makes me feel sick and the only reason I had a few sips was to stop the drink from spilling over the edge and onto the floor.
Kairo and Martin stand in the kitchen talking quietly, but Kairo’s gaze never wanders away from me.
How is this happening?
I can’t wrap my head around how I’ve ended up here.
A few days ago, I was in bliss, enjoying Kairo’s company and daring to think of the future.
Now I’m back at square one with Axel hanging over me once more and a baby inside me.
A baby that feels like an afterthought with everything else going on, because how can I consider bringing a child into this world with Axel threatening me and Kairo surely about to tell me he never wants to see me again?
That would make leaving all the easier, though.
After clasping Martin’s shoulder, Kairo walks closer to me and stops about a foot away.
He’s giving me space, but it also feels like he doesn’t want to be near me.
The pain clashes with the anxiety in my chest and the cup between my hands trembles.
“Devon?” Kairo’s voice is steady. “I need you to tell me the truth.”
“About what?” As if I don’t know.
“That man, Axel.”
I close my eyes at the sound of his name. “What about him?”
“Is he really your husband? Why didn’t you tell me you were married? Is he…”
Kairo pauses and lifts one hand to his jaw, rubbing his chin. “You lied to me.”
My eyes snap open. “Kairo, no, it’s not what you think!”
“Then tell me.” His eyes lock onto mine. “Because right now, I’m struggling and fighting not to see this how it feels.”
“How does it feel?” I ask weakly.
“It feels like you pretended to be interested in me to secure the land rights for your bakery and now that’s all in the past, you want nothing more to do with me and your real husband is back to collect you.”
The pain in Kairo’s voice breaks my heart and I grip his mug so tightly that my fingertips throb.
“I can see why you would think that,” I reply, my voice hoarse. “But it’s really not—”
“Kairo!”
A sudden screech from the hallway makes everyone jump.
Martin flies forward from the kitchen, but he’s not fast enough to stop the utter whirlwind of Kairo’s mother charging into the lounge and slapping Kairo so hard that his head snaps to the side like the lick of a whip.
A stunned silence falls and I gape at Kairo, frozen.
He briefly closes his eyes and when she raises her hand again, Martin thrusts himself between the two and catches Clarice’s wrist.
“Do that again,” Martin snarls, “and he won’t be able to stop me from having you arrested this time.”
This time?
My attention is torn between all three of them as Clarice roars in anger and throws a paper at Kairo.
“Look!” She yells. “Look at tomorrow’s headline!”
Opening his eyes, Kairo catches the paper before it falls and looks down.
Color drains from his face. “What is this?”
Clarice drags her wrist from Martin’s grip and points at me with one thin finger. “Was this part of your plan, huh? You’ve already got my son to throw away his career and now I suppose you want his money too, you little wretch?”
Tension in my legs forces me to stand and my heart beats faster and faster. “What? What are you talking about?”
Kairo moves between me and his mother, then he turns to face me and hands me the paper.
Displayed on the front page with tomorrow’s date is a picture of Kairo and me at dinner, but the headline makes my stomach churn.
Silver Canopy CEO has Sordid Affair with Married Bakery Owner. Conflict of Interest Between the Sheets?
“Do you have any idea what this means?” Clarice yells, fighting to get past Martin.
“You’ve made it look like we secure all of our deals by fucking the clients and that the only reason our biggest deal of the decade fell through is because you fell in love!
They know everything, Kairo, and so does the board!
How could you keep this from me? How could you introduce me to that bitch while hiding the fact that her bakery is the very reason Bernard’s last deal fell through?
Do you ever think with that stupid head of yours?
Our entire reputation has gone up in flames because you’re engaged to the owner of a business prospect we were trying to buy! ”
“Wait…” The pieces start to click in my mind. “People can’t think he’s dating me to secure the deal, do they?”
“Of course that’s what they think,” Clarice snarls.
“And now they think we sleep with every single prospective purchase to get our way! And if that isn’t bad enough, now the board thinks Kairo has sabotaged our most important deal and your father is spinning in his grave, Kairo.
How could you do this to me? To the company?
To everything your father left behind? Don’t you care about anyone except yourself? ”
Kairo is silent.
He doesn’t move.
He doesn’t even seem to blink.
Then he turns to his mother. “Let them think that.”
“What?” She flies at him in a rage, halted only by Martin.
“Let them think I was having an affair. Let them think I sleep around to secure deals. Let them think that. I don’t care.”
“How can you not care? Don’t you see what this will do to me and my reputation?
I look like I can’t even control my own son!
And the company, don’t you see? Every deal since you took over will be called into question, and I bet some bitches will crawl out of the woodwork looking for their five minutes of fame to accuse your father of the same thing! ”
“I don’t care.”
“You should care!” For an older woman, her voice reaches painful pitches as she yells.
“And you, you bitch! You’re married yet you’re engaged to my son!
What kind of sick, twisted ploy is this, huh?
Taking advantage of my son for your moment in the spotlight?
Did you plan this, you whore? You’re not content with destroying that deal so you want to destroy my son’s life with your lies too?
Do you know he can go to prison for fucking you while the company was dealing with you? ”
She dislodges herself from Martin’s grasp and flies at me with both hands outstretched.
The rage twisting her face is unlike anything I’ve seen before, and Axel flashes into my mind.
“Yes, I lied!” I yell as I stumble back away from her, and the cup slips from my grasp.
“I lied, but only about Axel, okay? I never planned any of this. I never wanted to fall in love with Kairo, but it happened! I never meant for any of this to blow up. I was just hiding, okay? I was hiding and scared from Axel because he abused me. I let him believe I ran away to Europe and I thought I would be safe! I never meant for any of this. I don’t want to destroy a company or Kairo’s life!
I just wanted to be safe, but this is what he does, this is what Axel does! He takes the truth and he twists it—”
Just as Clarice reaches me, Kairo scoops her up and drags her away.
“Enough, Mom,” he barks. “Enough!”
Clarice is like a wildcat and I watch, horrified, as Kairo drags her away while she curses my name and my very existence.
Only Martin and I remain and our eyes meet.
“Is she telling the truth?” I whisper. “Is Kairo in trouble because of me?”
Martin’s lips press together and my gut twists as he slowly, painfully, nods.