Chapter 16 – Kaz
The ride to the holding facility is steeped in silence. Violet doesn’t speak. Neither does Arina. The only sound is the roar of the SUV’s engine and the occasional hiss of the brakes when I drive too hard into a corner.
By the time we get there, dusk is settling over the city like a slow bruise. The warehouse-like building looms ahead—plain and heavily guarded. I pull through the reinforced gates, roll to a stop, and kill the engine.
“Inside,” I say quietly.
I lead them through the back entrance, up a short flight of stairs, and into my private wing. This place isn’t as polished as the estate, but it’s secure. Armored windows. Panic tunnels. State-of-the-art surveillance.
Violet looks around, clearly taking it all in.
“In here,” I say, pushing open the door to my office and ushering her inside, leaving Arina in the main hall.
“Lie down for a while,” I tell her gently. “You’ve been through too much today.”
But she doesn’t move toward the couch. Instead, she turns to me, arms folded, fire already sparking in her eyes.
“No,” she says firmly. “Kaz, I need you to tell me what the hell is going on. I know someone is out to get me. I know there was a breach. I know Milo betrayed you. But what happens now? What are we going to do? Why am I being hunted?”
I take a breath. Her voice is steady, but her hands are trembling. She’s scared. Exhausted. But she’s not backing down.
“I don’t know yet,” I admit, rubbing a hand down my jaw. “Maxim’s tracking the leak. Arina’s gathering names. I just need time—”
But I stop speaking when I see her gaze shift. She’s not looking at me anymore. She’s staring at the far wall of my office. The wall filled with photos.
And I know exactly what caught her eye.
Her. Or more accurately—photos of her. Dozens of them.
Some grainy. Some taken from far away. Others close up. Different angles. Different days. All of Violet. Some taken during Jennie and Adrian’s wedding. Some taken while she was in class….
She takes a step closer, her eyes wide.
“Kaz…” she whispers. “What…what is this?”
I don’t answer. Because I know what this looks like. She turns to me, slowly, her voice shaking now.
“Kaz, you said you saw me before I knew your name….” She approaches me slowly. “Is this what you meant? Did you—were you watching me before I even knew you?”
The words sound louder in the silence that follows.
And I have no choice but to tell her the truth.
“Yes.”
“You knew I was Jennie’s friend? You saw me at the wedding?”
“Yes.”
Violet stares at me, unmoving, her breath coming faster now.
“You’re a freak,” she finally says, voice sharp and broken all at once. “A fucking psycho. You stalked me—and then kidnapped me—and now you act like some savior? You were watching me this whole time and still had the audacity to accuse me of being a spy?”
Her words hit like knives. She isn’t wrong.
I step forward, cautiously. “I knew off the bat you were innocent,” I say quietly. “But I didn’t care. I didn’t want to let you go.”
Her eyes glisten, fury and betrayal warring in them. “You’re the reason this is happening to me,” she hisses. “You’re the reason I’m being hunted like an animal. You made me a target. You dragged me into your sick little war. All of this…it’s because of you.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
“I should have never trusted you,” she says, backing away. “You’re not protecting me, Kaz. You’re keeping me trapped for your own obsession.”
The door creaks open.
Arina steps in, halts the second they hear Violet’s words, and steps right back out, muttering something under their breath as they shut the door behind them. Even they know not to get involved in this moment.
Violet’s voice breaks now. “Was any of it real? Or was I just…entertainment to you? Something you could watch and want and then take?”
I move closer, slowly. “Everything I feel for you is real. I just didn’t know how to handle it. I still don’t. But I’ve never lied to you about what I am.”
She turns away, tears streaking down her face now. “That’s the problem,” she says, almost to herself. “You didn’t lie. You just…destroyed everything anyway.”
“Violet, please….”
“No!” Violet’s voice cracks open the silence like a gunshot. She whirls to face me. “I’m sad you’re hurt. I’m sad you’re bleeding all over. I’m sad, Kaz. But I shouldn’t even be here!”
She shoves at my chest, her fists weak but trembling with emotion.
“I was fine before you! I was living. Breathing. Peaceful. And then you showed up and you ruined everything!”
Her scream ricochets through the room, loud and sharp, and I just stand there, frozen, taking it like a punishment I know I deserve.
“I hate you!” she sobs. “I hate you, Kaz!” She storms toward the exit.
I move then—fast. I cross the distance between us in one step, grabbing her by the waist, spinning her around, and pinning her against the wall. My body cages hers, and my forehead crashes against hers.
“No,” I growl. “You can scream. You can slap me. Say I’ve ruined your life—but don’t you ever say you hate me.”
Her breath hitches, lips parting.
“You can’t kiss me like that,” I whisper roughly, “or touch me like you do—be scared for me like you are—and claim you hate me. That’s not fucking fair, Violet.”
She blinks at me, fury colliding with confusion and unbearable hurt.
“I don’t care if it’s fair!” she cries, fists pounding against my chest. “I’m not supposed to care! I’m not supposed to feel this much!”
I catch her wrists mid-punch and press them over her head, pinning them against the wall. My mouth finds her jaw, her throat—desperate, demanding, a man completely undone.
“I feel you, Violet. In my fucking bones. And I know you feel me too.”
She shakes her head, but her body betrays her. She’s breathing hard, melting into me, and I can feel her pulse pounding under my lips.
“I hate you,” she whispers again—but it’s broken now, not real.
“No,” I say again, fiercely. “You want to hate me, I get it. But you don’t.”
I release her wrists and pull her into me, hands in her hair, tugging gently until her mouth is tilted toward mine.
“Tell me again,” I whisper, brushing my lips across hers, “and look me in the eyes when you do.”
But she can’t. Her eyes well again, and a sob cracks through her throat.
And then she’s kissing me—like she’s punishing me and saving herself at the same time. It’s wild. Furious. Tongues and teeth. Fingernails in skin. I hoist her up, and her legs wrap around me instinctively, like she’s trying to climb inside me just to hide from how much she feels.
“I hate you,” she whispers again between kisses.
“Then hate me harder,” I growl. “But don’t stop touching me.”
She gasps, but I don’t let her go. I can’t.
“You want to hate me?” I growl, eyes locked on hers. “Fine. But don’t stand there and pretend like you didn’t want this.”
She twists, tries to pull free, but I hold her tighter.
“Don’t lie to me, Violet. Don’t lie to yourself.”
Her breath hitches. Her lips part. “I didn’t ask for any of this—”
“No,” I snap, “but you didn’t run either. Not when I kissed you. Not when I touched you. And not when you kissed me back so hard I thought I’d lose my fucking mind.”
Her eyes flash, but her body’s trembling. I see it. I feel it. She’s burning the same way I am.
“You say I ruined your life?” I snarl. “Maybe I did. Maybe I came in like a fucking storm. But don’t stand here and tell me you haven’t been riding that wave right beside me.”
Her silence is all the confirmation I need. I drop one of her wrists and slide my hand up to her jaw, fingers gripping the sides of her face.
“Yes, I’m obsessed,” I whisper. “You’re right. I am. But what the fuck do you call this, Violet? The way you look at me? The way you cling to me like you’re just as lost?”
She tries to speak, but no words come out. Just this wild, helpless look in her eyes—one I know all too well.
I kiss her again like I’m punishing her for every word she just screamed, like I’m trying to rewrite the way she says she hates me. I don’t believe her. Not when she kisses me like this. Not when her hands are pulling me closer, not pushing me away.
She tastes like fire, with something sweeter underneath.
I slide my hand into her hair, the other gripping her waist as I pin her back against the wall. She gasps into my mouth, and it only makes me more reckless.
Her breath is warm, unsteady, but I know the rhythm of her now. She melts into me—until suddenly, she doesn’t.
She stiffens. Pulls back. Something flickers in her eyes.
“Violet?” I murmur, voice low.
She blinks like she’s coming out of a trance. “Oh God.”
I freeze. “What?”
She presses a hand to her stomach, and her face goes pale in a way that makes my blood chill.
“I don’t feel good,” she whispers, backing away from me.
Then she turns. Bolts.
“Violet!”
She disappears into the bathroom. The door slams. The lock clicks. I’m at the door in an instant, knocking hard. “Violet, what’s wrong?”
Nothing.
“Open the door.” I slam my palm against it now. “Talk to me. Violet—”
Then I hear it. Her retching. Harsh, violent, raw. It slices through me. I flatten my hand on the door, jaw clenched. “Please, let me in, Violet”
Still nothing. Just that sick sound, echoing in my head like a curse.
I don’t know what’s happening, and I don’t fucking like not knowing.