He looks at the bottle, then back to her. “I understand you’re a bitter old lady,” he says in a calm voice, then places the bottle back on the bench. He looks back up. “But if you do that again, I won’t be so nice about it.”
Kai grabs my waist and ushers me out of there, straight into the room in which I grew up. I open the door and notice not one thing has changed. My double bed still has the old pale pink covers on it and the photographs of my parents sit next to the bed unmoved, but cleaned. Actually, this is probably the cleanest room in the house.
Kai starts undressing. I watch as he does and I don’t speak a word. I don’t know where I expected him to sleep. The bed is a double, but to someone the size of him, it would be like a single. His biceps flex when he undoes his pants and pulls them down, only leaving on a pair of boxers. He walks across to me and hands me my bag. I take it without question and walk straight out of that room into the bathroom to change.
I change into my yoga pants and a university T-shirt that once belonged to my mother. It’s the only thing I have of theirs, apart from their photos which Grandma had kept and given to me. Once I enter my old bedroom, I notice Kai is on my bed. He turns to look at me and moves over to make room.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to share a bed.”
“We’ve shared a bed before, Kristy. Now, don’t be silly and get in. I’m fucking tired from that drive and just want to sleep.”
I didn’t even know we shared the same bed; that’s news to me. I look around searching for options, but there aren’t any in my tiny room.
Kai is lying on the covers, so I grab them and wrap them around myself like a cocoon thinking that just maybe they will protect me. Kai doesn’t touch me. He doesn’t even face me. I listen as his breathing evens out to constant, slow breaths and I know he’s asleep. It doesn’t take me long to follow, curled up on the opposite side of the bed.
Your brain keeps developing until you are in your late forties.
I wake up alone in my bed. I look over at my clock and can’t believe the time. I’ve never felt so good and so well rested. I sit up and look around for Kai; he’s obviously up and isn’t in my room. I listen more carefully and hear whispers coming from the kitchen. I open my door slowly, making sure it doesn’t squeak, and walk out. I stop just outside of the kitchen, listening to what they are talking about.
“You have to tell her,” Kai says in a hushed tone.
“Bullshit! How do you think she’ll cope? She can’t handle it. Last time proved that. So don’t you come here, boy, and tell me what I should be telling her. Have you told her yet? Have you told her what you really do for work? It’s not going to be breaking her heart this time. I see the way she looks at you. How does she look at you at night? That’s what I wanna know.”
“That’s none of your concern,” he snaps.
What the hell are they talking about?
Who is Kai and what does he do for work?
He was open to me earlier, but it was short and snipped. And why are they talking to each other like they’ve met before?
“How much did you hear?” Kai’s voice looms above me.
I look up at him and say the first thing that comes to me. “What do you do for work?”
He looks down at the floor, then looks back up and his eyes reach mine. “I’m a detective.”
Wow, I wasn’t expecting that! Does that mean he and Detective Black both know me? And why do they both know so much about me?
“What kind of detective?”
His piercing dark eyes don’t leave mine when he answers, “I specialize in undercover operations.”
“Why aren’t you working now? Why are you with me?”
He turns his head and looks directly at my grandmother sitting at the table watching us. His gaze locks back onto mine and I’m suddenly afraid of what he might say.
“I am working. And I’m with you because I choose to be.”
“How can you be working if you’re here with me? And you aren’t working, because you’re here where you aren’t needed.”
He steps closer to me now and his arms pin me to the wall. His breath is hot on my skin, scorching it.
“You will always need me, Kristy, and I’m greatly needed here.” His breath smothers me. It smells of coffee and him. I hear my grandmother mutter and watch as he releases me and looks at her.
“You aren’t needed, boy, head home before things get worse.”
“I’m not leaving her side. So now, old lady, what do you want for breakfast?” My grandmother doesn’t answer him. Instead, she gets up and walks back to her bedroom. I take a seat at the table, trying to get my brain to function after everything that has been said, but none of it making any sense.