Chapter Five
Mara
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I sit on the couch in the office, the cracked leather cold against the backs of my legs, my mind still trying to catch up with the last hour.
My clothes are clean. My skin is clean. My hair is damp.
I don’t remember doing any of it. I don’t remember moving.
I don’t remember agreeing. I don’t remember anything except the moment everything went black around the edges.
And now he is here.
He sits across the room in the old armchair, slouched back as if this is his space, his studio, his office, his world.
His phone glows in his hand, his thumb scrolling lazily, completely at ease.
Completely unbothered. Completely aware of the fact that I am staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and rising panic.
He doesn’t even pretend to hide the fact that he is watching me. He glances up every few seconds, eyes tracking me with a calm that feels wrong. Too calm. Too steady. Too certain.
How did I let it get this far. How did I let him get this far.
My stomach twists. My hands tremble. My throat tightens around the truth I have been avoiding.
I fucked up.
He shifts in the chair, not much, just enough to remind me he is still here, still watching, still waiting for something he hasn’t said out loud yet.
The office feels smaller than it ever has.
The walls feel closer. The air feels heavier.
Every sound feels amplified. The hum of the mini fridge.
The ticking of the cheap wall clock. The faint buzz of a tattoo machine from the main room.
And him. Always him.
He doesn’t look guilty. He doesn’t look conflicted. He doesn’t even look curious.
He looks satisfied.
As if this is exactly where he expected me to be. Exactly where he wanted me. Exactly where he planned for me to end up.
A cold realization slides through me.
He didn’t cross a line.
He erased it, and I let him.
My breath stutters. I try to swallow but my throat refuses to work. I grip the edge of the couch cushion to keep my hands from shaking. He watches that too. He watches everything. He absorbs every twitch, every breath, every flicker of fear.
I stand with legs that resemble a baby deer, taking a steadying breath as I stride past him, the same dull ache between my legs, every step a reminder of how far I just let things go. I hold my head up and stride back out into the studio.
He locked the door just before he came into the office, made sure we wouldn’t be disturbed and Jace let it happen, he got up, grabbed his shit and strolled out of the studio like my shadow and I were having a normal conversation, little does he know he left me to the big bad wolf that has been circling me for as long as I can recall.
I head into the kitchenette and grab a can of monster, glancing back at the office door as I open it, the sharp hiss making me acutely aware of Jace’s eyes on me, I glance over at him.
“You good?” He asks, entirely unsure of my current mental state.
“I’m fine.” I snap, feeling slightly guilty at projecting onto him, he waves his free hand in the air in the way of an apology.
“I’m sorry, okay? That motherfucker was scary and wanted to talk to you, I thought all the tension was… Look I fucked up okay?”
I notice the studio door swing open, Shae walks inside, giving me a friendly wave “Hi gorgeous.” She coos at me, pulling me into a hug.
My body stiffens momentarily before I wrap my arms around her, the scent of her perfume steadying my nerves.
“Missed you.” I mumble into her hair placing my can down onto the table.
“If I’d have known you were working today I would have bought extra for you.” She shoots me an apologetic look which I wave off instantly.
I don’t need to be able to see him to feel his presence behind me, Shae’s gaze falls onto the office door where he’s waiting, her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
“Kade!” She calls out.
Kade. That’s his name. She knows him.
I wonder how well.
She crosses the room and pulls him into an overly friendly hug, he stiffens and doesn’t reach back for her, I raise an eyebrow as I watch the exchange.
“You two know each other?” I say, a teasing tone in my voice meant only for him.
“know each other? we’re practically family.” Shae starts rambling on and on about how close they are, how their parents were best friends, her eyes glassing over when she talks about their childhoods.
Kade’s eyes are fully on me the entire time as his past is given to me by someone that isn’t him, his jaw clenching slightly as Shae explains memories that very clearly had a different meaning, a different effect on him.
“That’s it, we’re going out tonight, no excuses.” Shae demands, glancing at me “You can change at my place, we’re the same size I think.” She looks my attire up and down with a disapproving look.
“Do I have to?” I groan, sitting down on the couch beside Kade, his hand reaching out for me, running his finger along my bare shoulder. I tug up the sleeve of my shirt, putting a little distance between the two of us.
“Yes! Now, I’m gonna eat with Jace and then we’ll head back to mine, are you on your bike today?” She leaves no room for refusal, I nod sharply.
“That’s fine, move it out back and we’ll get a cab, have pre-drinks and I’ll enact my fairy godmother dreams on you.” her face lights up with careful planning, probably debating on how she can fix me up.
I stand and grab my bike keys, as I get to the door a familiar strong arm grabs the handle, opening it for me. “Please Bunny, after you.” Shae coos in the background about the cute nickname as I duck beneath his bicep and breath in the fresh air.
I walk over to my bike and kick the stand back, slinging my leg over the seat.
“I’m surprised you haven’t killed yourself on that thing.” Kade says deadpan, but I can see the way his eyes light up taking the vintage beauty in up close, his eyes dancing around the custom bodywork and decals that I painted on myself.
Roses and vines climb along the fuel tank, coiling up around the handlebars, hues of red and black stare back at him as he inspects my work.
“It’s beautiful, beautiful and deadly.” He says with an undertone of wonder in his voice, stepping close enough that I can smell the scent of him again.
I start the bike with shaky hands and pull it into the side street, tucking it away safely behind the studio, he lazily follows behind on foot, hands tucked into his pockets.
I switch off the ignition and lock the steering, kicking out the side stand.
Once I finish putting the rain cover over I turn to face Kade.
“So, your name is Kade.” His eyebrow raises.
“It’s funny, I know nothing about you, and one slip in that persona you try to hide, and I know more than you ever wanted me to.” I quip, a smirk on my face.
“I wonder what else Shae knows.”
His eyes level in warning, locking onto me.
“Be careful Bunny. You might not want to know the depths of me.” He warns me, I loose a chuckle, completely ignoring what he just said.
“Sure, I’m terrified.” I try to make it sound light, humorous, but the actual fear is there, the fear of finding out more, of him becoming someone real to me.
I stand in the doorway of the Studio waiting for Shae to stop trying to eat Jace alive for five minutes, I glare over at them, spotting Kade from the corner of my eye, my gaze shifts to him.
He’s sitting in the armchair with his legs slung over the side, his eyes on me, as they always are, a playful smirk at his lips, as if he’s challenging me.
I flip him off and call out to Shae “Dude come on!”
She jogs over and slings an arm around my shoulder leading me out of the shop.
It doesn’t take long to hail a cab and climb in, her house is only a short trip away.
She shifts in the back seat, so she can face me “So you and Kade. And don’t bullshit me, I’m not blind.” She crosses her arms, demanding answers.
“There is no me and Kade, Shae. I don’t even know the guy.
” “Between you and me, he’d be good for you.
Yeah his methods are a little… diverse from what you’d be used to, but he protects those that he cares about, he’d do anything for the woman he eventually falls in love with.
” She says with a sad smile “He’s been through a lot, just give him a chance. ”
I nod, taking in her words, whether I chose to actually take her advice, well, only time can tell.
We pull up outside of her house and my eyes take in the sight.Shae’s house doesn’t look real at first glance.
It rises behind the iron gates with the kind of confidence only old money can afford, a sprawling estate framed by manicured hedges and stone pillars that probably cost more than my entire flat.
The driveway curves through a garden that feels curated rather than grown, every tree placed with intention, every flowerbed arranged to impress.
The house itself is enormous. Pale stone walls, tall windows framed in black steel, a roofline that stretches wide rather than high, giving it the quiet arrogance of something that knows it does not need to shout to be noticed.
The front doors are carved wood, heavy and polished, the kind that require two hands to pull open.
The kind that tell you exactly what kind of family lives here.
Inside, the air changes. It smells faintly of citrus and something expensive I cannot name.
The foyer opens into a space so large it makes me feel small.
Marble floors. A staircase that sweeps upward in a slow curve.
Art on the walls that I am almost certain is original.
Everything gleams. Everything is intentional. Everything whispers wealth.
The living room is worse. High ceilings.
Floor to ceiling windows that flood the space with light.
Furniture that looks soft enough to sink into but structured enough to remind you not to get too comfortable.
Neutral colors. Clean lines. A fireplace framed in stone that probably came from a quarry halfway across the world.
It is beautiful.
Extravagant.
Intimidating.