Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
KIARA
The incessant ringing of my phone wakes me up the next morning. I groan and roll over to bury my head in Zyran’s neck, but I only feel the cool sheets.
“Zyran?” I mumble, opening my eyes.
He’s not here, but the glorious smell of sizzling bacon wafting into the room lets me know where he is.
Grabbing my phone off my nightstand, I rub my eyes and give them a minute to adjust to the darkness of the room before looking at the screen.
Yolanda’s been blowing up my phone for the past hour.
Uh oh—I’m in trouble. I should have called, or at least texted, her last night to let her know I was okay. She’s probably worried sick.
I quickly get out of bed and call her back as I walk downstairs. She picks up on the first ring, and, just as I suspected, she’s worried.
“Kiara!” she’s screaming into the phone before I even have a chance to answer. “Kiara, are you okay?!”
I chuckle as I walk into the kitchen and wrap an arm around Zyran’s waist from the side. He kisses me softly on the top of my head. “I’m fine, Yo. I’m really sorry I didn’t call you last night?—”
“Anthony Banks is dead.”
I immediately drop my arm from around Zyran and take a few steps back to put as much distance between us as possible. He turns to look at me with a smile, but when he sees my face, his smile drops.
“Say that again?” I put the phone on speaker so Zyran can hear everything Yolanda says.
“Who is that?” Zyran asks, but I ignore him.
“Anthony, Zayden, and Marco are all dead,” Yolanda says. “Their bodies were found in Lake James this morning.”
My heart races at the macabre irony of her words.
“Kiara, listen to me—” Yolanda starts.
“Baby, talk to me,” Zyran says quietly, taking a step closer. I shake my head and back away.
“I know that Zyran fulfills some strange fantasy for you, but he’s dangerous . You can’t stay with him.”
“ Kiara ,” Zyran says my name through gritted teeth; I can tell he’s mad, but I’m fucking livid .
Holding eye contact with him, I say to my friend, “I’ll call you back, Yolanda.”
“If you don’t leave him, I’m going to the police. And you know I mean that,” she snaps before she hangs up the phone. I do know that, which is why I have to think fast about what to do next.
“You promised,” I say heatedly. “How could you do that? They were innocent.”
“They had to die, Kiara,” he says calmly, like he’s talking to a wild animal. “They would have gone to the police.”
I let out a harsh laugh, but it’s devoid of any emotion. “How do you know that? What do you think I want to do right now?”
“Kiara—”
“I’m done making excuses for you, Zyran. You’ve crossed the line this time. I could look past what you did to Malcolm and his brother because they were awful, but Anthony and his friends didn’t deserve that.”
“Please don’t be mad at me,” he begs softly, his eyes soft and pleading.
Fuck. As much as I want to be mad at him, I just can’t. He’s invaded his way into my life and I can’t seem to rid myself of him, no matter how much I try.
Even if I don’t go to the police, if I walk away from him and decide not to take him back, he won’t stop chasing me. It’s what he wants.
What he craves .
And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t crave it, too.
“Butterfly.”
He’s closer now, just an arm’s length away. The desperate need to reach out and touch him nearly takes over, but I keep my hands to myself.
“I have to tell Yolanda something,” I say quietly.
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to. I know exactly what he’s thinking, and I’m not having that.
I take a step forward and close the gap between us. He’s so tall that I have to tilt my head almost all the way back to look him in the eye. “If you so much as breathe in her direction, I’ll kill you.”
I expect him to laugh at my attempt to appear threatening, but his face remains stoic.
“I won’t hurt her,” he promises.
We stare at each other for a moment, neither one of us daring to speak or move.
“You hungry, baby?” he finally asks just as my stomach growls obnoxiously.
He chuckles, and the corner of my mouth lifts despite my efforts to keep a straight face. “Maybe a little.”
Lifting myself to my toes, I press a soft kiss to his lips. He grips my hips firmly, the tips of his fingers digging into me slightly as he pulls me against him.
“Then let’s get you some breakfast,” he murmurs against my mouth.