Page 50 of Come Inside

I was safe. Everything was going to be okay. He spared me a quick glance before stomping into the room. Kazi was behind him, my lunch hanging from his hand.

“Get her out of here, and get her some fucking clothes,” Mateo barked over his shoulder as he reached out, grabbing Daniel.

Kazi tried to tug on my wrist, but I dug my feet into the ground. “I’m not going anywhere,” I argued.

Mateo looked at me as Daniel thrashed in his hold. If I wasn’t staring directly into his eyes, I might have missed the moment they turned pitch black. “Suit yourself.”

I watched in shock as Mateo secured Daniel’s head in his bulky hands.

He moved so fast I almost didn’t see him break his neck.

Almost didn’t realize Daniel was dead.

Lifeless.

Almost didn’t register the immediatereliefI felt to know that mystalkerwas wiped away in less than a moment.

For a few moments we all stood in silence, a light breeze coming in through the broken window along with slivers of light.

“Thank you,” I whispered the words before falling back into the comfort ofKazi’s arms.

Using his strength as my own.

“Thank you?” Mateo dropped Daniel’s corpse to the ground. “You’re thanking me?” He took long strides until he stood directly in front of me.

Kazi set my food down. A jacket was wrapped around my shoulders. Kazi’s arms encircled my waist from behind, his head going into the crook of my neck, his breath caressing my ear.

“You shouldn’t be thanking me! I made a mistake! I followed the wrong trail. Yara, my little bee. We were almost too late.” His hand reached up, fingers stroking along my mouth.

“I escaped him. I didn’t need your help. I had it handled!” I was suddenly angry, outraged. How dare he?

“You did. You know he’s dead don’t you? You understand that I just killed him?”

I swallowed around the lump that formed in my throat. “I do.”

“It’s time we told her,” Kazi murmured into my ear.

Mateo eyed me. “Yara, you’re going back home for your reunion?”

I didn’t bother to ask how he knew. “I…” I paused, I really didn’t want to, but it was a month away, and I needed to talk to Izzy. “I am.”

“That’s where we will tell you all our secrets. Can you wait till then, mi pequeña abeja?”

I eyed Mateo, focused on Daniel, and then turned in Kazi’s arms. “Kazi?” I asked, needing his reassurance.

I had noticed how he hadn’t reacted to Mateo. How he almost seemed to know what was going to happen. “Yara, we’ll tell you everything there. But please remember after all is said and done, I love you. And I have, for a very long time.”

My heart beat painfully in my chest. Anxiety swirling with foreboding.

My eyes whipped to the broken window.

I thought I saw something move, but when I blinked, it was gone.

“Can I eat my shrimp now, please?” I asked, tugging out of Kazi’s arms, reaching down for the bag, and leaving the room.

I paid no mind to Daniel.

Ignored the creeping unease that was racing through my veins.

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