Page 95 of Kiss the Villain

An hour later,I punch in the code to his apartment.

Snooping around here is pointless—I’ve done it before. No matter how hard I look, everything is annoyingly in order. Just a typical professor’s place.

He doesn’t even have a TV, the weirdo. Just a record player and some vinyl records.

The scent of something delicious cooking hits me as soon as I step inside, flooding my senses.

Then, the cold press of a gun clicks against my shoulder.

I freeze, my hands lifting slowly as a petite woman with East Asian features, shoulder-length hair, and piercing dark-brown eyes steps into view.

“Who the fuck are you?” she asks in a no-nonsense tone.

I narrow my eyes on her. This is the owner of the scarf? So his type is middle-aged Asian women? What thefuck?

If I can reach into my calf holster and get my knife?—

“Jina!” a slender woman with shiny blonde hair calls in a soft voice. She walks into the living area, the red scarf wrapped around her neck, supporting Kayden.

He’s leaning on her, his face pale and complexion different.

So heissick?

And who the hell are these women?

His gaze locks onto mine, emotions flickering through his gray eyes, shifting between light and dark. His jaw tics, but his face quickly smooths out as he detaches from the blonde and strides toward us.

“Honey, be careful,” she calls after him, extending her arms like she expects him to collapse, as if she could catch someone twice her size.

Wait a damn minute. Did she just call himhoney?

“It’s fine, Mom,” he says with a gentle smile, placing a hand on Jina’s arm.

Mom?

I’m getting whiplash. Since when is he this soft? And wait—does that mean he’s half Asian?

“He’s an intruder who just walked in,” Jina says, not lowering the gun.

“Put the gun down, sweetie. What the hell?” Blondie says, throwing Kayden a distracted glance before gently pulling Jina’s shoulder.

“He might hurt Kayden, Rachel. You never know.”

“He’s just my student, Mom. You can let go,” Kayden says, calm but firm, removing the gun from Jina’s hand and clicking the safety back on with practiced ease.

That was smooth. Does he shoot targets or something? Most people aren’t that comfortable around guns.

The more I learn about him, the less, I realize, I know.

“Why doesn’t your student ring the bell like a normal human being?” Jina narrows her eyes at me like a stern teacher. “Where are your manners, boy?”

“Sweetie,” Rachel scolds.

“Ma Jina is right, Mom.” Kayden’s eyes stay on me, though he’s speaking to them. “He has no manners.”

I glance between the three of them. Two moms. Married, judging by their matching wedding bands that I didn’t see in my red haze earlier.

Rachel must be his biological mother—he’s got a faint resemblance to her. She must’ve married Jina after separating from Kayden’s dad.

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