Chapter 48
CHAPTER
FORTY-EIGHT
ISLA
I walked into the bathroom, my mind spinning with the increasing pressure in my chest. Everything was unraveling, thread by thread. I couldn’t breathe, and it only got worse as I tried to slowly inhale and exhale.
Am I having a panic attack?
I didn’t have a chance to contemplate the thought, stopping dead in my tracks as soon as I stepped into the restroom. I was immediately slapped in the face with the familiar stench of booze, weed, cigarettes, and a shitty-ass perfume that lingered in the air.
My blood instantly ran cold while the hair on my arms stood at attention. It was like I was seeing a ghost, yet nothing was in front of me. Her smell was enough to make me want to vomit.
Mrs. Bates…
I gasped but then slapped my hands over my mouth, not wanting to make a sound.
“Goddammit!” she roared, making me back away slowly. “I forgot my cigarettes!”
When she flushed the toilet, I didn’t hesitate to run for my life. With one foot in front of the other, I got the hell out of there.
Once Kraven saw me, he shouted, “Isl—”
“Shhhhh!” I begged with my hands on my mouth, unable to stop my feet from moving.
“What’s going o—”
I didn’t stop.
I hauled ass out of that restaurant, seeking safety. Like a lion after his prey, Kraven chased me. Hunting me down, he was ready to destroy anyone who got in his path. His loud footsteps echoed behind me, yet I still didn’t stop for a second.
She couldn’t get me.
I wouldn’t let her.
Never again.
No. Matter. What.
“Isla!”
“No!” I yelled, sprinting down the uneven street as if my life depended on it, and it did.
“Isla, you’re going to hurt yourself!”
“No!”
“Christ, slow the fuck down!”
“No!”
“For fuck’s sake, just talk to me!”
“I can’t!”
And he was right. I ate shit, falling face-first onto the jagged road.
“Fuck!” he called out, darting to get to me. Sliding on his knees, he ignored the sting on his torn skin, pleading, “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,” as he carefully sat me up.
The blood on my hands and knees only reminded me of that day.
The day I killed Mr. Bates.
“Damn, are you okay?”
“Hmm…” I managed to get out.
I felt dizzy.
Faint.
Tired of running.
Tired of fighting.
Just fucking tired.
“It’s alright. I got you,” he coaxed, holding me up to his chest to stand. “I got you, Kitty,” he reassured. “I got you.”
That was when everything went black…
Except this time, I wasn’t in Julius’s arms.
I was in his brother’s.
I wasn’t sure how long I was out for. It could’ve been minutes or hours. Time stood still.
Groaning, I came to with my eyes fluttering open.
“You’re okay,” Kraven soothed, holding a cold, wet rag on my forehead.
Little by little, I woke up in the bed I least expected. This was the first time I’d been in his bed with him hovering above me. I was suddenly in some sort of déjà vu with the other Knightly.
“You scared the shit out of me,” he confessed.
“I’m sorry.” Sluggishly, I tried to sit up, and he helped me.
“I’m alright,” I reassured, leaning against the wall behind me. “How long have I been out?”
“Not long.”
He waited until I found my bearings, stating, “You know you can trust me, yeah?”
Our gazes connected.
I had to tell him. There was no way out of this.
Contemplating where to begin, I cut to the chase. “I saw the foster I was running from the day we met. Well, not technically him, but his wife.”
His gaze widened. “You saw her in the bathroom? Were we near where you used to live? Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have—”
“I didn’t see her, but I know it was her. She was in the bathroom stall, and it was definitely her.”
“Did she see you?”
“I wouldn’t be here right now if she did.” Finding the words, I admitted, “Because I killed her husband.”
If he was surprised, he didn’t show it in the least.
“What do you mean, you killed him?”
“I mean… he was chasing me and then fell down the basement stairs behind me.”
“You’re sure he’s dea—”
“His neck snapped.”
His jaw clenched as his intense stare remained on me.
I reaffirmed for I don’t know who. “I didn’t mean to, though… It was an accident. I swear it.”
With the back of his fingers, he reached over and lightly caressed my cheek.
“I’m not a murderer,” I added, needing to hear it out loud.
He didn’t stop his gentle touch. “Not in my book.”
“Then why do I feel like I am?”
He simply replied, “Mind over matter, Kitty. But you’re safe now. You were safe the second we laid eyes on you.”
Sighing deeply, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Despite Julius knowing the truth, it was different telling Kraven.
This wasn’t a confession.
It was trust.
Almost like he was stripping away my last bit of armor.
With my chest tightening at the thought, he spoke with conviction, “But for the record…” He allowed the silence to beat between us for a second, then out of nowhere, he acknowledged, “Through the chaos, our eyes still managed to find each other first, and they haven’t stopped since.”
I swallowed hard, letting him see every piece of me.
“Your piano saved my life, Kraven.”
It was true.
There was no reason to deny it anymore.
“It’s why I’m here with you right now. If I hadn’t heard you playing, I probably wouldn’t have come near you.”
“You would’ve heard Julius’s violin.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re right.” He firmly nodded. “Maybe doesn’t change the fact that you gravitated toward me first.”
“Kraven…”
His gaze trailed down my face as if he was trying to remember it before he stood, ordering, “Be ready by nine.”
“What?” I asked, confused by the turn of events.
He leaned down, close to my mouth, and I sucked in a breath as he murmured, “It’s time for me to do what I do best for you, Kitty…”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
He smiled. “Make you forget.”
KRAVEN
As she stepped off the last stair, wearing tight jeans and one of those tops that showed off her stomach, my eyes were on her.
Fuck me…
“Is this okay?” she asked when she caught me staring.
“No,” I told her the truth. “It’s definitely going to be a problem for me.”
“Thanks.” She smirked.
“Don’t thank me yet.” I grinned. “I haven’t earned it.”
“So…” She glanced around the room. “Where are we going?”
Grabbing her hand, I spun her in a slow circle. “To show off my black Kitty.”
The underground rave was downtown in a shady-ass neighborhood, but it was fine.
She wouldn’t leave my sight. The Uber arrived a little past ten, and we met Brian inside.
The warehouse was packed, and I managed to find him in the back, where the music wasn’t as loud.
And somewhat away from the sweaty bodies.
I wasn’t much for being in the center of the crowd.
I preferred staying in the shadows and watching from afar.
“Well, looky, looky what we have here…” Brian sarcastically remarked, “I guess Julius hasn’t found his way back home yet?”
I snatched the blunt from his fingers. “You let me worry about Julius.”
He laughed, nodding to Isla. “Hello, Red.”
“Hi, Brian,” she greeted. “How are you?”
“Not as good as you, apparently.”
“Brian,” I snapped. “Shut the fuck up.” Inhaling a deep drag off the blunt, I held it in for a minute. Through a cloud of smoke, I exhaled, offering Isla, “Want some? First time is always the best. Besides…” I tried to convince her. “It’s legal now.”
She giggled. “We’re not twenty-one.”
“Technicality.”
“Okay.” She chuckled. “But I don’t know how to—”
I didn’t give it a second thought before I tugged her toward me.