Chapter 15
SUMMER
We've showered and changed, and I'm back on the lounger in a sundress, my hair still damp, and the afternoon light golden on the pool.
Kairo is beside me, one hand sliding under the hem of my dress, fingers hooking my underwear to the side.
He finds me and starts slow, lazy circles, dipping inside, his thumb brushing my clit like it's an afterthought.
I close my eyes and lean into it. My hips roll against his hand, the warmth is building, and I'm right there …
Then he stops.
His whole body goes rigid, his fingers are still inside me but frozen. His head turns toward the tree line, jaw locked, eyes sharp.
"Kairo?"
His phone rings. He pulls his fingers out and answers in one motion. "Talk." His voice is flat and cold.
I watch the warmth drain from his face. The man who was touching me ten seconds ago vanishes, and the one from the first day is back, the mafia boss, his dangerous one.
He hangs up and stands. "Get behind me."
"What's ...?"
"Summer, now," he yells, his tone makes me jump.
I stand, pulling my dress down, heart slamming as I hear heavy booted footsteps on the path.
Then voices, clipped and low as if his security team is coming for us.
What is happening? Suddenly, his security burst through the garden.
Four men, rifles raised, and in the middle of them is a man with his hands up, and a gun pressed to the back of his head.
My brother, Storm.
What the hell? He looks out of place on this island, standing there in an expensive suit with sweat patches pooling under his arms. His hair is slicked back, the skin under his eyes dark like he hasn't been sleeping. I never noticed that before, but standing here in the garden with guns pointed at his head, he looks like our father, exactly like Mario Rayne. Same jaw, the same calculating eyes, as he scans the area trying to figure out his next move and who he can use in the process. His eyes find me instantly, and a look flickers across his face. I’m hoping it’s relief or concern, but I’m not sure.
"Summer." He exhales like he's been holding his breath for days. "Thank God. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
I don't answer him, I'm too busy trying to figure out why the hell he is here.
This is my brother, the boy who used to steal cereal from the pantry and hide it under his bed.
The teenager who taught me to ride a bike in the driveway because our father couldn't be bothered.
But also, the man who has my phone number since I disappeared and never called.
Not once. Not in all the days I've been on this island.
He knew where I was, and he didn't come until now.
"What the fuck are you doing on my island?" Kairo's voice is quiet. That's worse than if he shouted.
"I came for my sister." Storm's eyes don't leave mine. "I came to take her home."
I stare at him. “What?”
“No,” Kairo adds, and the tone makes the guard push the gun harder into the back of Storm’s head.
I panic. "Get the gun off him," I yell at Kairo’s security. I don’t want them to shoot him.
Kairo looks at me and surprise flickers behind his eyes, and maybe hurt that I am defending my asshole of a brother, but he nods to his men, and they lower their weapons, but they don't step back from him.
Storm straightens his jacket and steps toward me. "Summer, you don't have to stay here. I had no idea what Dad was planning. As soon as I found out, I went looking for you. You’re a hard man to track down,” Storm says to Kairo.
“No shit.” He glares at my brother.
“Summer, I’m here to save you. Kairo is not a good man. He’s dangerous, and this world is not for you,” my brother pleads with me, his voice cracking like he actually means it.
"I don't need saving, Storm." The words come out steady and sure, and I watch them land on my brother's face like a slap. His mouth opens and closes, then his eyes flick to Kairo and back to me.
"What did you do? Are you blackmailing her?” my brother asks, voice rising.
“He’s not blackmailing me,” I say, grabbing Kairo’s hand and entwining my fingers with his. “I want to be here with my husband."
Storm stares at me like I've lost my mind. "Summer, he bought you. He took you from your family. He's kept you prisoner on an island. You can't seriously …"
"I'm not a prisoner anymore, things have changed," I explain.
Storm's face shifts. “In a week?”
My brows pull together. Yes, it’s only been a week, but it feels like a lifetime.
I don’t think I can ever explain to my brother or to anyone how things have changed between Kairo and me, they wouldn’t understand.
If you told me a week ago that I would stand beside Kairo and defend him, I would have said you’ve lost your mind.
“Yes.” My brother shakes his head, disbelief written all over his face. “Storm, I appreciate you coming to try to save me, but I am where I want to be.”
He turns his attention to my husband. “What have you done to her? This is not my sister,” he yells at Kairo.
“I’ve done nothing she didn’t want me to do,” Kairo says, his eyes narrowing as the innuendo hits.
“You motherfucking …” My brother goes to launch himself at my husband, but his guards grab him. It turns into a scuffle, and he loses his suit jacket. Punches in ribs land with an oof and a thud.
“Don’t hurt him,” I scream.
The guards stop but keep holding him tight.
“Summer, please … this man isn’t good for you.”
“Storm, I know it sounds crazy, but I love this man.”
Kairo stills.
It’s not how I wanted to declare my love for him, but in the moment, it feels right.
“You love me?” Kairo turns his back on my brother and stands in front of me, eyes wide.
“I do,” I whisper.
“Fuck, baby.” He cups my face and kisses me tenderly. “I fucking love you too.”
“Nooo …” my brother screams. “Summer, no. Don’t choose him. Please, don’t.” He keeps begging, voice breaking.
“No, Storm, our father sold me. You don’t get to question my decision now. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Kairo, but I have. This man is my husband, and I am excited to plan a future with him.”
My brother shakes his head as a sneer falls across his lips. "Did he tell you about Landon?"
Landon? Who the hell is Landon? The name means nothing to me. "Who?"
"Landon Marin. He worked for your husband. He was one of his men." Storm's voice has changed, it’s colder. The loving brother has disappeared. "He was assigned to watch you, to follow you and report back to Kairo.”
“Kairo told me he’s been watching me for years. That isn’t new news,” I tell him.
Storm seems surprised by this, but it doesn’t stop him from saying what he’s about to say. “Did you know he killed him because of you.” His words land with pinpoint accuracy.
“What did you say?”
“Storm.” Kairo says his name in warning, low and dangerous.
“Ahh, I see, your husband didn’t tell you about the part where he killed one of his own men because you lost your virginity,” my brother states.
What is he talking about? I turn and look up at Kairo, and he can’t meet my eyes. No. That can’t be true. He would never.
"A man is dead, Summer, because of you. Your husband killed him.
" My brother is smiling now, knowing he has delivered a bomb right into my marriage.
"Ask him." Storm points at Kairo. "Ask him what happened to the man who was supposed to be watching you the night you went to that party. The night you fucked some random dude because you wanted to lose your virginity.”
How does my brother know this? Of course, I remember that night.
I was twenty-one, and my friend dragged me out.
I drank too much that night and got angry that no one wanted me, that I was the last person in college who hadn’t lost their virginity.
I didn’t understand what was wrong with me, why no one wanted me.
I now know why. But back then, I didn’t.
The first boy who showed me attention that night …
I let it happen with. It was sloppy and disappointing, and I wondered what all the fuss was about.
I turn to Kairo. "Is that true?" I ask quietly, hoping it’s just my brother’s elaborate plan to get me to go home with him.
He looks at me, those amber eyes, steady, dark, and unflinching. "Yes," he confesses.
I want to throw up. This can’t be true. I can’t be the reason someone lost their life. No. No. No.
"You killed him."
Kairo turns and shoots my brother a lethal look. “He had one job, Summer. And that was to protect you. He was supposed to have watched over you and kept you safe. He got lazy and careless, and because of that, someone else touched you. So yes, I killed him."
My eyes widen as I can’t believe what I am hearing. "He didn't let anything happen." My voice is rising. "I made a choice, and I went to a party to sleep with someone. That was my decision. Mine," I say, hitting myself in the chest.
"And his job was to make sure that decision never happened." His tone is murderous.
"So, you murdered someone because I had sex." Am I hearing this correctly?
“It wasn’t the only reason, he had a long list of other felonies that I couldn’t tolerate any longer, and this was the last one,” he explains. "I killed someone because they failed to do their job. In my world, failure has consequences, you know that."
Tears start to fall down my cheeks. “I’ve assumed you’ve killed people, bad people, but hearing you actually have …”
“See, I told you, Summer, he’s a monster,” Storm adds.
Kairo loses it at my brother. He rushes over and punches him hard in the face. “Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit.”
Storm's head snaps to the side, and blood sprays from his mouth onto the stone path. He staggers but doesn't go down, then spits a mouthful of blood onto the tiles and laughs.
"There he is," Storm says, wiping his mouth. "There's the real Kairo Saint. Not the honorable husband act. This. A man who solves every problem with his fists."
"Kairo, stop." I grab his arm before he can swing again. His muscles are rigid under my grip, his whole body vibrating with rage. I can feel the violence coiled in him, waiting.
"He's trying to take you from me," Kairo says through his teeth, eyes still locked on Storm. "Everything he's saying is designed to …"
"A man is dead because of me!" I scream it loud enough that the security team shifts on their feet. "You can't punch that away. You can't fuck that away. Someone had a life, and you ended it because he didn't stop me from making my own choices. I need you to hear how insane that sounds."
Kairo’s dark brows pull together. "It's not insane in my world."
"Then maybe I don't belong in your world," I snap back.
The words come out before I can stop them.
They hang in the air between us, and I watch them gut him.
His face doesn't crumble, it empties. Like someone reached inside him and scooped out everything warm and left the shell standing there in linen pants with bloody knuckles.
Storm straightens, pressing a hand to his split lip. "Summer, come home with me. Just for a few days, clear your head. If you still want to come back to him after that, I won't stop you."
"Don't listen to him," Kairo says quietly. "He doesn't care about you. He never has."
Tears fall down my cheeks. "Unlike you, who cares about me so much you killed someone to control who I slept with?
You care about me so much, you watched me cry, feeling unlovable for seven years, and never once dared to say hello?
" My voice breaks. "You had seven years, Kairo.
Seven years where you could have just talked to me.
Instead, you built a cage and waited for my father to put me in it. "
He doesn't answer, and I watch as his jaw tenses at the same time his fists do.
“Nothing, you have nothing to say?” I scream at him through my tears.
He stands there like a fucking statue.
"I need to go," I say, looking over at my bloodied brother.
"Summer, please don't," Kairo says.
"I need to think. I can't think here,” I tell him as tears stream down my face.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Storm says as he walks forward and slides his arm over my shoulder.
Kairo looks devastated. "If you walk off this island with him, I can't guarantee your safety."
“And that would be a first.” My eyes narrow on him.
“Summer, I did this, all of this for you,” he declares.
And I hate how he looks at me. "I need space."
"Space?" He repeats the word like it's in a language he doesn't speak.
"Yes, space. I need room to breathe without you." My hands are shaking.
“I love you, Summer,” he states loudly in front of my brother and his security team.
“I know, but loving you doesn't mean I can swallow everything you've done without choking on it."
He stares at me, and the silence is unbearable. I can hear Storm breathing behind me, can hear the waves crashing somewhere beyond the trees, can hear my own heartbeat loud and uneven.
"Take my plane," Kairo says finally, his voice is dead, flat, devoid of emotion. "It will take you wherever you need to go.”