Page 99 of Our Blood, Our Pain

After I’ve dressed, I walk out into the kitchen to hear laughter between Simon and Kai. Call me stupid but I still get irked at anyone who makes him laugh.

“What are you guys laughing about?”

“Ivan. You should see what he’s putting that Tyler guy through.”

“Tyler?”

“The architect,” Kai says.

“Ivan is going all out for a piece of that guy,” Simon laughs, and I smile. Ivan will not let that guy escape.

“I gotta get over to Lev. See ya later,” I say, before giving Kai a kiss and leaving to head over to the main house.

When I locate Lev in the hallway of the mansion, he’s typing a message on his phone with a frown on his face.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Fucking Aaron, being a pain. Why the hell did I get involved with the fucker?”

“Because you’re a psycho who loves the challenge.”

“That must be it. Anyway, told Kai the news?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you getting married? It’s all so fucking cringe.”

“I want him as mine in all ways, this is the final step. Why? Don’t you want to get married?”

Lev looks at me like I’m mentally unwell and a stranger to him.

“What the fuck do you think? Can you imagine?”

“Yeah. I can imagine some satanic ritual with blood swapping knowing you two,” I say, not totally joking.

“Please don’t give him any ideas or you won’t make it to your own wedding. Can’t believe I have to go to another wedding this year,” he says, walking out of the front door as I follow.

“I called Jenny.”

“Why the fuck you do that?”

“For Kai. Just to give her a chance to make it up to him.”

“Better you than me, she’s a fucking headache.”

I laugh at his dramatics, but he ain’t wrong.

It’s late in the afternoon and we’re finally back home after a long day of shipment issues that me and Lev had to deal with. I part ways with him as soon as we get back, and go straight back to the guards’s house. I cannot wait until we get our own homes. I need some privacy with Kai.

As I walk inside, I see Kai sitting slumped on the sofa in the living room.

“Kai? What’s wrong?”

He looks up at me, his baby blues glassy and bright.

“Mom called.”

Oh shit. I wasn’t expecting her to respond.

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