Page 119 of Faithful

“Fuck you! Fuck you!” My throat catches and the string of expletives that comes out of my mouth next is an ugly, upset rasp.

Kai heads for the door and the sight of him leaving makes me go nuts. I rush over to stand in his way, a shivering naked body on the threshold.

“What about all this then?” I fling my arms at the air and gesture at the bed, still covered by the evidence of our pleasure. “What happens to all this?”

“I warned you off me. More than once, but you’re a dumbass.” His features crumble at last, and he’s crying now in earnest, tears streaking his skin. “You dive first and ask questions later.”

“I don’t know what I am without you.”

“Not yet.”

“Don’t start with this shit again. Don’t talk in goddamn riddles.”

“I can’t think right now with this hanging over my head.” Kai waves his phone at me. “And you’re making it even harder.” He wipes his cheek with a swipe of his hand and tries to push past me.

I block him again and grab at his coat. “Is this because of the photos?”

Kai shakes his head. “It’s not about the photos… Not those ones. I don’t care if there are photos of me with you out there because I love you. I do. I really do, baby, but there are things… there are other photos of me that can’t get exposed.”

Everyone has secrets if you dig deep enough. And that boy has a stellar career to be ruined.

Oh hell… oh hell… oh hell… It’s all starting to make sense now.

“It was my father, wasn’t it?”

Kai sucks in a lungful of air through his teeth.

“Please tell me,” I plead. “I need to know how he’s involved so I can undo it, please.”

“You can’t undo it, Dylan.”

“There’s gotta be a way, Kai. There’s gotta be…”

“You never did hear what I said. The past is not something you’re able to erase with a load of cash and some connections. It’s a fucking noose around your neck. And one wrong movement will have that chair tipping and you’re dead.”

“Why don’t you trust me for once?”

“All I know is that my mom wasn’t involved in his before tonight and now she is and I need to do what I’m instructed before I do something else, something very reckless. I don’t want to drag you into my hell.”

“I’m already in hell. Have been all my life until you showed up. And now? You’re just gonna leave without a proper explanation?” I brave to brush my fingers against his cheeks to remove the tearstains and he doesn’t push me away this time. Simply stares at me long and hard.

“It wasn’t your father who came,” Kai says eventually as I continue gently removing moisture from his face. “Another man. Middle-aged, in a designer suit. He wore glasses.”

My heart, already on the verge of bursting into pieces, lurches. “When?”

“Two days ago.”

“What did he threaten you with exactly?”

“He has something he was going to show you.”

“Unless you leave me?”

“Yes, unless I leave you.”

“Why didn’t you? Why did you agree to come with me to the party?”

“Because I wasn’t going to fucking leave you, Dylan!”

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