Page 177 of Deceit

Looking over my shoulder, he’s down, blood soaking his fur, and all my concentration on the intruder is gone.

All my attention is now on him, giving the stranger his lucky day of me not chasing after him.

Another one to the list.

“Why didn’t you have me shoot him again?” I give Kai a side-eye as he sits at my kitchen table, waiting for me to clean the rest of his wounds. “Dude is kind of a dick.”

“I didn’t tell you to have a conversation with him,” I retort, bringing over my First Aid kit. “Just to make sure he didn’t kill my friend.”

“Which included being the decoy.”

He isn’t wrong, but then again, he could’ve stayed out of sight too.

I called him up, knowing he’d make it to Mills quicker than I would and that he was capable of taking care of himself and what I needed.

Kai’s hand reaches up to my hair, playing with the medium-brown strands for a quick second while I hold gauze to his wound. “You don’t make a bad brunette. Makes you look darker.”

I sniff, “Darker?”

“Yeah.” His dark green eyes stare down at me, soaking me in as I continue to ignore him. His intense gawking makes me squirm a little, and I’m blaming it on the limited human interaction I’ve had recently. “You’re beautiful either way, but…you’d make averygood bad girl, Emmy.”

“Shush.” I place a piece of gauze down and it immediately soaks up the blood. “You need stitches.”

“Eh. I’ve had worse.” And if he’s even close to the line of work that I’m in, I’m not surprised.

“Can you hold this?” He does and I grab the clear bottle of alcohol. “This is going to hurt like a bitch.”

“Go ahead,” he urges, and I don’t hesitate, seeing him flinch a little as I pour it over his leg. I’ll clean up the mess I’m making later. “Why did you dye your hair?”

“If you keep jabbering, you might bleed to death.”

He chuckles. “Then will you finally kiss me, Ems?” I deliver a glare which only makes him laugh harder.

Kai and I met a few years back on one of my missions. Apparently, we were going after the same guy, ran into each other, and he told me he’d blow my entire cover (which was already fucked since he screwed me up) if I didn’t go grab coffee with him.

I have no clue who he works for and vice versa. We spoke about normal things and, if the situation calls for it, a solid from the other.

Now I owe him again, even though the one I did for him four years ago was just getting an ex-girlfriend off his ass. Kai doesn’t pry, and I didn’t ask what his ex had done and why he couldn’t get her off his tail.

The bare minimum is what we both are comfortable with and it works. The less he knows about how much of a shit show I am and that he might deserve being stalked for giving the wrong message is lost on the both of us.

We just enjoy each others’ company, and we’ll hear from the other in a few months to a year unless something comes up.

“You need to put me out of my misery, doll.” I press harder on his wound, but he doesn’t recoil. “You single?”

“Nope.”

His broad back hits my chair. “I think about you from time to time, and you’re like a fleeting ship in the wind for me. A lost cause or moment that I could’ve caught but—“

“Shut up. No one asked you to expose your feelings like we’re lost lovers in the night.”

“Just facts.”

I don’t answer him because I’ll never date again. Shit is too much hassle and not worth it in the end.

“You know what’s annoying—” He leans toward me. “—being shot and not getting a sorry.”

“I said sorry.” Kai’s hand wraps around my forearm and tugs, plopping me in his lap. “Kai! Your leg!”

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