Chapter 3
Welcome To My World
Kai to Nate: She’s in my space. [delivered]
Tess
I stretch my arms above me like a cat and crack my back.
I fell asleep within five minutes of my head hitting the pillow once I crawled into bed.
In search of my mysterious host I pad down the stairs in the direction of where he’d said the kitchen was earlier.
I stop dead in my tracks.
So much skin.
Kai is standing in the kitchen with nothing but low strung gym shorts.
There’s a smattering of dark curls on his chest—not too much, but enough to tell me he’s all man.
I trace the sight with my eyes, imagining kissing a path from his collarbone all the way down to that tempting V, and the darker curls that dip into his shorts.
Like a roadmap pointing the direction to what I bet is a very impressive destination.
There’s a tattoo above his chest of some kind of abstract circuit board pattern that extends over his shoulder and down his right arm. Please let me lick it.
When my gaze finally moves up to his face there’s a raised eyebrow waiting for me alongside his signature frown. He’s leaning casually against the kitchen counter like he has all the time in the world.
“Can you blame me?” I ask, not even pretending I was doing anything other than checking out the masterpiece that is Kai’s body.
“Yes.”
That’s it. That’s all he says. Completely monotone.
I sputter, once again taken aback by his gruffness. “I… Well… Fuck you.”
So eloquent.
He laughs, a real genuine chuckle, and it feels like I just won the lottery. The sound is rich and deep, and so very sensual.
I get the feeling that Kai doesn’t let many people in, but I bet if I crack his walls he’d not be quite as detached as his outward persona seems.
“Coffee?” He hands me a cup before I can even answer. The gesture warms me as much as the first sip of the delicious nectar does.
Kai watches me and having his eyes on me is so intense I have to look away.
“So… are you going to ask me about what happened last night?” I ask, trying to break the tension.
Kai scoffs. “I wasn’t.”
“I don’t really know what happened,” I tell him anyway, needing to explain. “We were watching TV, nothing out of the ordinary. And then… he was strangling me.” I spare a glance in his direction, finding Kai’s expression darkening at my words, but I keep going.
“I genuinely thought he was going to kill me. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t, I don’t know. But I wasn’t waiting around to find out. So, I whacked him over the head with my lamp and then just kept hitting until I was sure he wasn’t getting back up.”
“You probably could have stopped a couple hits earlier.”
I laugh—my shoulders shake, my breath comes out in gasps, tears spring to my eyes. Then I’m no longer laughing. I’m crying.
Because I just murdered a man. Killed the bastard. Unsubscribed him from existence. Gave him an express ticket to the afterlife.
Oh fuck.
I can’t breathe.
There’s no fucking air.
Warmth cradles my face, and blue-green eyes stare into mine. His lips move but I can’t make out the words past the ringing in my ears.
“Breathe for me. Just breathe.” Kai’s deep rumble helps me claw back some footing on reality. “Come on, deep breath in,” he waits for me to do as I’m told, “and out again.
“There you go. You’re fine.”
Finally, I can pull enough air through my lungs and the fog over my mind lifts. Only once my breathing has calmed does Kai pull back and I immediately miss his touch.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my eyes trained on the floor.
My heart is still hammering in my chest, my hands shaking. I swallow hard, inhaling deeply as the panic inside me begins to calm.
“Not my first experience with panic attacks.”
My head snap up in time to see him shrug casually. My mouth parts but then his expression hardens once again.
“Guessing this was your first kill?”
His casual question helps to cut through my racing mind even more. I scoff. “You say that like it’s something everyone does.”
He huffs out a laugh. “It’s not as uncommon as you might think.”
“Have you ever…?”
“No.”
I pick my coffee cup up—I don’t even remember putting it back down—and let its warmth seep into me.
“I just don’t understand why he snapped,” I say, thinking back to my relationship with Jake.
Kai looks like he’d rather be anywhere than having this conversation but thankfully he indulges me. Maybe he’s curious. “He never showed any signs before?”
“No. He was… really nice. He pursued me, seemed really interested. We’d only been dating for less than a month though, so I guess I didn’t really know him.”
“People often hide their true colours.”
My phone buzzes before I can think of a reply, and Kai shuffles out of the room, taking the view with him.
“Hello?” I answer, pressing the phone to my ear without checking the caller ID.
“Tess!” Carina’s voice screeches through the line.
I wince and pull the phone back an inch. “Hey, Cari.”
“How are you? I’ve been calling all day!”
“I’m… okay, I think. Kai’s actually been really helpful.”
“That’s good. Do you want me to come over?”
“Nah, it’s fine. Kai’s been good(ish) company so far.”
She snorts. “And how are you holding up after your first kill?”
I let out a small laugh. “Had a mini freak-out just now, but honestly, I’m not as stressed about it as I thought I’d be. But that’s kind of freaking me out more. I shouldn’t be so okay, should I?”
She’s quiet for a moment. “I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask for advice on that. But I think it’s good that you’re not freaking out too much. It’s not like he didn’t deserve it, trying to kill you first.”
I sigh. “It’ll probably all catch up with me later.”
“Probably.”
“Okay, but hold on. How come you know so much about this, huh? Don’t think you’re getting away without an explanation.”
Carina groans. “I know, I know. I’ll tell you. But… not over the phone. Tomorrow, okay? Have Kai swing by my place.”
“Fine. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Hanging up the call, I practically leap into the air when Kai’s voice comes from behind me. “You should eat something,” he says flatly.
I clutch at my chest, trying calm my thudding heart. “Jesus, don’t sneak up on a girl like that.” I turn to face him and have to force myself not to pout that he’s covered up with a t-shirt.
Kai stares at me, his expression unreadable. “It’s my house.”
With a roll of my eyes, I shift the conversation. “What’s this about food?” I ask, flashing him a wide smile.
“I ordered pizza,” he replies. “We’ll eat, and then we need to deal with the body.”
The clock on the oven tells me it’s almost six in the evening, and my stomach growls loudly, reminding me that I slept the entire day away after last night's shenanigans.
“Oh god. I’d almost forgotten that he’s still in your car.” I wince at the thought.
“Yep. And the sooner he’s not the better.”
Kai disappears again and I take the time to study his house. It’s clean—but like, freakishly so. I open his kitchen cupboards. His mugs are all sitting at exactly the same angle with all the handles at the same point. Sure, it could be a coincidence, but I think it’s purposeful.
I check the fridge. Everything is in a clear order with labels describing where everything's home is; ‘fruit’, ‘fizzy drinks’, ‘juices’, ‘sweet snacks’, the list goes on.
Moving into the living room I note that the sofa cushions are perfectly fluffed, and the coasters are all aligned on the coffee tables. It’s like a show home, not somewhere anyone lives.
The food arrives, and Kai appears holding the boxes.
Instead of bringing them into the living room and eating them straight from the box like a normal person would, he carries them to the kitchen and deposits them onto plates then carefully dismantles the boxes and places them into the bin before he grabs the plates and carries them to the dining table.
I try to stop my gaping mouth before he sees me staring at the strangeness. What an odd man. It’s kind of endearing though.
Taking a seat opposite him, I wolf down slices like eating is going out of date. Thank God he bought two pizzas.
“So,” I mumble around bites. “How are we getting rid of the body?”
“Feeding it to pigs.” The way he says the words is so casual you’d think he was talking about the weather.
I pause mid-bite. “Pigs?”
“Yep. Clean. Efficient. No evidence. They eat everything.”
I stare at him, trying to decide if he’s joking or if I’ve just stumbled into an episode of Criminal Minds. “Do you happen to have pigs on hand for this job?”
“Not me personally.”
“You know someone?”
“I take them to a farm that’s always abandoned at night.”
I choke on my pizza. “What the fuck?”
Kai’s lips twitch. “Welcome to my world.”