Page 15 of Devious Knight

The students have access to their work twenty-four/seven. So even though I tend to work on my projects in the early hours of the morning when it’s less likely to be busy, anyone could walk in at any time.

Here, though, I can let my guard down without feeling like everyone is watching me. And I can regroup.

I go to the living room and drop my bag on the sofa, then I head to the ensuite and strip off. I need a nice hot shower.

Once I do that and change into my PJs, I head to my desk and switch on my computer. There are a few emails I need to check.

While they load I allow my gaze to drift to the photo next to the computer of my parents and me when I was eleven.

We’d gone to Russia for Christmas and it was beautiful with all the snow. That was months before Mom died, so that holiday was one of our last happy moments together.

Things changed after we returned. Mom changed. She became secretive and cautious. Fearful. I remember Dad trying to ask her what was wrong and her telling him she was fine.

My father knew my mother like the back of his hand. They’d known each other since they were kids. So it was always clear to him that she wasn’t okay.

Things got worse, and neither of us knew why. Then everything went to hell that horrible night in a warehouse at the docks. A place where neither Mom nor I should have been.

I still remember her screaming as the bullets pierced her body.

It’s a sound I’ll never forget. It continues to haunt me in my sleep and in my waking moments.

In my heart I know I’ll never forget it as long as I feel that justice hasn’t been truly served.

I kept my promise to my father from all those years ago. I’ve stayed away from Parker Federov but I never stopped thinking about what part he played in my mother’s death.

I also never forgot the mysterious nameless man I met at the gallery.

I never saw him again—no surprise there. And no one was able to identify him or locate him on the camera recording at the gallery—no surprise there either. It was clear he’d been very strategic.

He was a mind-boggling mystery, but the little information he gave me on Parker stayed on my mind.

Lightning crackles in the sky then thunder rumbles, making me jump out of my reverie.

I look through the window as another flash of lightning strikes, illuminating the night like a spotlight on stage. The almost ethereal light captures the distinct figure of a man standing by the grove of trees, watching me. He’s looking right at me and the light is just bright enough for me to know that it’s Kade.

My heart seizes in my chest just like it did the other week. My breath slows like a car rolling to a stop and goosebumps rush over my already clammy skin.

Fear steals my senses, swells within my throat, then, like a noose around my neck, it suffocates me.

How long has he been watching me?

The brightness from the lighting fades, leaving behind a sliver of moonlight, but I can still see the wealth of malice on his face. He looks just the same as he did the other week. Like he wants me dead.

What the hell is this, Kade?

Why are you fucking with me?

In the rain, he lights up a cigarette. He keeps his focus on me for a few seconds that feel like eons then he turns and walks away, blending into the shroud of darkness like some kind of hell god.

It’s like he just wanted to make sure I saw him.

I did. And I didn’t miss the unspoken threat he left behind. Along with a promise that felt like he wasn’t done with me yet.

Six more weeks, then I’m gone.

But what will I do about Kade in the meantime?

Chapter Four

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