Chapter 45
DIANA
Every part of me stands on edge, warning me that this is a bad idea.
But having bad ideas is better than having none.
Stella arcs around a curb, driving down the street toward Kai’s apartment. The moving car aggravates the nausea swelling in my gut. It clashes with the hope and fear of possibly pulling off this absurd plan.
“And you’re sure I’m allowed to go to the party even though I’m not a DHU student?” Stella asks.
“They’ll let in anyone with a valid ticket,” I assure. “The good thing is, the boys bought our tickets, which means our names won’t be seen on the Eventbrite list and we can slip in without Sophia or anyone else knowing we’re there.”
“Right.” Stella drums her manicured nails against the steering wheel of her silver BMW. “So, out of curiosity…how exactly do you know the guys we’re meeting up with? Because no offense, you don’t look like a hockey girlie to me.”
I hesitate. Stella had promised to keep our conversations confidential, but she’s not legally bound to keep quiet about my other secrets. I don’t trust her enough to tell her about Kai and me being friends with benefits.
I slouch back into my seat with a fake smile. “We were partners on a group project. We just naturally became friends after that.”
Friends.
The fake smile on my face weakens at the memory of our stifled laughter and panicked whispers down dark tunnels, ranting about awful people, and swapping childhood stories on the phone.
Heat flares between my legs as it recalls all the moments Kai’s fingers roved inside of them, his lips ravaging mine, while he breathlessly moaned my name.
My heart flutters, every part of me jolting awake at the thought of Kai.
‘Friends’ is too little of a word for what he feels like to me.
But Kai is not supposed to feel like anything else. We’re friends with benefits. That’s what we’ve always been since the start.
Kai wants the sex. Not me.
My racing heart pounds up to my ears when Stella pulls into the parkade and moves into a parking spot.
It’s easy to pretend nothing is going on between Kai and me when we’re in public. But now we’re going into his apartment where we had our first kiss and had sex there one too many times. How do you act normal in a place like that?
Although I don’t think I’m the only one who’s nervous.
“I told you that’s too much cologne, Luke!”
“I’m trying to help you, bro!”
Aggressive whispering bursts behind Kai’s apartment door the moment we knock on it.
“He smells like my obachan’s herb garden.”
“Can they hear us?”
“Just open the damn door.”
Stella and I flinch as the door whips open.
Scowling and looking utterly annoyed, Rowan wedges it open with his forearm. Standing behind him are Luke and Wallace. They grin mischievously as they flank Kai.
The warm ceiling lamp washes over him in his navy-blue sweater and sweats.
Kai comes forward, his dark green eyes softening on me. He cracks a small smile. “Hey.”
My breath catches in my throat, my pulse slowing. He looks so cozy and cuddly. I just want to curl up against his chest and—
“Hi.” I stick out my hand and smile a little too brightly. “It’s nice to see you…pal.”
“Oh, uh…” Kai awkwardly grins and shakes my hand. “You, too, buddy!”
I glance over at Stella, but she’s not paying attention because her eyes are locked on Rowan. They widen in wonder while Rowan pales in horror.
“It’s you!” Stella gasps. “You’re my delivery guy!”
“Are you stalking me?” Rowan demands.
Stella scoffs and shakes her head. “Of course not, silly. That would be crazy. I’m simply here to help Diana take down her brothers and save her sister by hijacking her phone. Everything else is purely coincidence.” She squeals and waves the brown paper bag in her hands. “I brought tacos!”
Stella slips off her heels and patters into the apartment, leaving Rowan and the boys bewildered in her wake.
“Is that Stella from Alberni Street?” Wallace asks.
A muscle in Rowan’s jaw ticks, as his dark eyes trail Stella’s every step. “In the flesh.”
I swallow hard and huddle towards them, keeping my voice down. “Okay, here’s what you need to know…”
As Stella lays out the tacos on the living room table, I tell Kai and the boys everything that happened in my meeting with Stella, the evidence CatchCo’s authenticators dug up, and my argument with Sophia.
Luke is flabbergasted beyond belief. “So all three of them were in on it from the start?”
“Basically.”
Rowan curses under his breath just as Wallace and Luke hiss out, “Those little bitches.”
Kai doesn’t flinch. Instead, quiet anger brews through his voice. “So, why are we protecting Sophia?”
“Because I’m tired of watching her endure so much pain and abuse for simply wanting to walk her own path.
” My hand curls tighter around Kai’s, as I rustle through the complicated thoughts swarming my mind.
“And I’m not only doing this because of Sophia.
I want this cycle of lies and betrayal to end with me before I take over the HMG.
That all starts with Halloween night. Stella and I need you guys to help us steal Sophia’s phone at the party, so Stella can erase all evidence that Sophia was plotting with my brothers. ”
“Say no more,” Luke staunchly declares. “We got your back.”
I smile in gratitude, yet it falters when I glance back at Stella. “Except you guys can’t make any comments about Kai and me being friends with benefits. I don’t want to tell Stella about that until I feel like I can fully trust her.”
“Got it,” Wallace nods. He presses a hand to his chest. “Your secret is safe with us.”
“Absolutely no one will be the wiser,” Luke vows.
Rowan sighs and rolls his eyes. “If that’s the case, Diana and Kai might want to stop holding hands. Might seem a little suspicious.”
Kai and I glance down at our hands. They’re still intertwined from when we greeted each other at the door earlier.
“Oh, shit—”
“—Sorry.”
Our hands spring apart. My skin tingles from his touch, and I can still smell his cologne despite the careful distance we keep between us.
Enough of that. You have a plan to put into action.
The plan is simple.
We separate Sophia from her friends long enough for her to have her back turned. I’ll grab her phone, answer the security questions on DXMessenger, and pass it to Stella, who will then delete the data that ties her to Gregory and Jonathan’s plans.
But finding ways to take Sophia’s phone is proving harder than we thought.
“Wallace and Shelby are gonna be checking people as they come in,” Luke mentions, “Why can’t they just pretend there’s something wrong with Sophia’s ticket, take it to the back, and have Stella do her thing?”
Wallace winces. “We wouldn’t be able to single her out.
Shelby and I are simply crossing off the names of the ticket holders.
The bouncers at Levels are the ones scanning tickets and searching people.
” Wallace groans something in Korean before he rises onto his feet.
“Maybe if I showed Levels’ layout, we can visualize the plan better. ”
He connects his iPad to the TV. The night club’s floor plan flashes onto the screen.
“Here is the entrance.” Wallace gestures to the square at the bottom right of the screen. “That’s where Shelby and I will be standing with the bouncers.” His shoulders tuck in as he smiles giddily. “The two of us are going as Ren and Sumire from Persona 5.”
“That was my idea,” Luke boasts.
“How does it feel to finally have a good one?” Rowan asks.
Luke chuckles. “That’s so funny, bro.”
He slaps a glob of guacamole onto Rowan’s taco. Rowan glares at him, while Luke grins back.
“Anyways—” Wallace drawls. “The club has three floors: there’s the lounge, the dance floor, and all the way down the stairs are the bathrooms.”
Wallace taps on a loft space. “This is the lounge. There will be a bar and a few tables. You can try to get Sophia to sit up there since she can put her phone down while she has her drinks.”
“Alright.” Kai nods. “But how are we going to get her up there?”
“One of you can go up to her and offer to buy her a drink?” I suggest. “Sophia rarely has money on her since men usually buy things for her.”
Rowan leans in and looks around the room. “So, which one of us is going to seduce the backstabber?”
“It can’t be Kai because she saw him at the partnership dinner,” I point out. “Sophia knows what he looks like.”
“Well, actually we’re going to be going as the Big Three from Greek mythology,” Kai brings up. He draws back and splays his arm across the back of the couch. “Rowan is Zeus, Luke is Poseidon, and I’m going to be Hades. I’ll be wearing face paint, so Sophia won’t recognize me at all.”
Jealousy prickles under my skin at the thought of Kai having to flirt with Sophia. I don’t care if it’s pretend or not. I don’t want any other girl to know what it’s like to be looked at by him.
I cross my arms and try to look as unruffled and unbothered as I can. “It still can’t be you.”
Kai cocks his head. Subtle challenge edges his voice. “Why not, Di?”
“Because you need to be good at talking to girls,” I reason.
“That’s not something I happen to struggle with.”
“I’d beg to differ.”
“That’s funny,” he drawls. “I’ve made a few girls beg, too.”
Please fuck me, Kai. My airy moans echo through my head. My pussy pulses at the memory of having him inside me just days ago. My face flushes red as mischief shadows Kai’s face.
I rip my gaze away from him.
“Luke will be the one seducing Sophia,” I assert. “It makes more sense since he’s exactly her type.”
“I can feel the fucking spice scorching my throat!” Luke gags.
Rowan curses under his breath as he scowls at Luke like a disappointed father. “You shouldn’t have put that much hot sauce on your taco.”
“I thought I could handle it!” he croaks. With a panicked whimper, Luke sticks his tongue out and fans it.
Kai arches his brow at me. Are you sure about him?
I roll my eyes. “Luke is physically her type. Sophia usually goes for the pretty boys.”