Chapter 8 Scarlett
Scarlett
My heart slams against my ribs when he sits down beside me, shoulder brushing mine, eyes burning through me like he’s been here all along.
‘Did you follow me?’ I snap, the words spilling out before I can stop them.
Kai smirks, tilting his head, his voice a dark purr. ‘Don’t look so surprised, baby sister. You knew I would.’
I swallow hard, fingers tightening around my coffee cup, but my voice is sharp when it comes. ‘Now what did I tell you about his hands?’
His grin sharpens, dangerous. ‘And what did I tell you about mine?’
My jaw clenches, heat crawling up my neck, fury laced with something else I don’t want to name. ‘You had your hands all over her this morning,’ I bite, spitting the words like poison.
Kai leans closer, his breath brushing my ear, his voice so low it makes my stomach twist. ‘This isn’t about me.’
‘This isn’t about you?’ I laugh, sharp, brittle, setting my cup down too hard on the table. ‘Everything is about you, Kai. You don’t get to show up here, act like I owe you explanations, when you had Ava’s lipstick all over your mouth this morning.’
His eyes glint, bright and cold, like I’ve just walked straight into a trap he’s been holding open for me.
‘You watched,’ he says softly, almost like a fact, not an accusation. ‘You hated every second, didn’t you?’
My throat closes, but I lift my chin. ‘Maybe I was disgusted.’
He leans closer, his shoulder brushing mine, his scent wrapping around me, and murmurs, ‘You were jealous, little sister. I could see it in your eyes.’
I force a laugh, shaking my head. ‘You think everything revolves around you. Tyler actually treats me like a person, not some—’
Kai cuts me off, his voice slicing through me. ‘Tyler doesn’t know you. He doesn’t see you. He wants a sweet little girl he can show off — not the real you. Not the girl who looks at me like she wants to set me on fire.’
Heat floods my chest, my face, and I hate how it steals my breath. ‘You’re insane.’
His smirk deepens, his eyes locking on mine like a chain snapping shut. ‘No, Scarlett. I’m right. And you know it.’
I push back from the table, my chair screeching against the floor. ‘You don’t get to follow me. You don’t get to decide who I see or what I do. You’re not—’ My voice cracks, splinters. ‘You’re not anything.’
He stands too, slow and deliberate, towering over me, blue eyes burning like they want to swallow me whole. ‘Then why are you shaking?’
I shove past him before he can say another word, heat scorching my skin, fury and humiliation tangling in my chest like barbed wire. The café is too small, too loud, every pair of eyes suddenly watching me — but I don’t care. I want out. I want air.
I push through the door, the bell above it chiming, sunlight slamming into me like a spotlight. My heels crack against the pavement as I storm down the pavement, my breaths coming too fast, too jagged.
I don’t make it far.
A hand closes around my wrist, hard, dragging me back before I can scream. My body slams into the brick wall of the alley beside the café, my bag tumbling to the ground.
Kai.
His chest presses against mine, his hand grips my arm tight enough to bruise, his other braced by my head, caging me in. His eyes burn down into me, wild and endless, blue so sharp it hurts to look at.
‘Don’t walk away from me,’ he snarls, voice low, lethal.
My pulse is a roar in my ears, my blood boiling, and before I can stop myself I spit straight into his face.
The world stills.
His jaw locks, his cheek flexes, spit sliding down his skin. For a heartbeat, I think he’s going to snap — shatter me right here against the bricks — but instead he drags in a slow breath, tilts his head, and when his eyes meet mine again, they’re darker than I’ve ever seen.
‘You really shouldn’t have done that, little sister.’
My whole body trembles, my nails biting into my palms, but I lift my chin anyway. ‘Then make me regret it.’
His breath hitches, his body trembling with the force of what he doesn’t do. For a moment his fingers tighten on my wrist, enough to make the bones protest, and I swear he’s about to crush me into the wall until I break.
He doesn’t.
Kai’s jaw works, spit still sliding down his cheek, his eyes locked on mine with a hunger that feels like it could swallow me whole.
He leans in so close that our mouths almost brush, and his voice is low, ragged, and controlled — like someone who knows exactly how deep to cut with a knife in their hand.
‘You think I won’t touch you,’ he whispers. ‘You think I can’t. But you have no idea how hard it is to hold back right now.’
The words pour over me, heat sinking deep, leaving my skin flushed and my chest heaving. I want to shove him again, I want to scream, I want to claw his face until he bleeds — but my body betrays me, a shiver tearing through me that I know he feels.
His smirk curves slow, cruel. He drags his thumb across his cheek, wiping away the spit, then smears it against the wall beside my head, leaving the mark there like proof. ‘That’s all you’ve got?’
I bare my teeth, forcing my voice steady even as it cracks. ‘Let me go.’
For a long, suffocating second, he doesn’t. His gaze burns, his breath hot against my lips, the weight of him pinning me so tight I can’t think.
Then, just as suddenly as he caught me, he steps back.
The air rushes in, cold and too thin. My body stays pressed against the wall like it doesn’t trust freedom.
Kai wipes his hand on his jeans, blue eyes glinting like he knows every thought in my head. ‘Run home, Scarlett. Before I change my mind.’
The way he says it — steady, quiet, dangerous — makes my knees weak in a way violence never could.