Page 90 of Until We Burn
“There’s a man in the corner!” Hans shouts.
Helen gasps. “How did he get in here? I didn’t even see him!”
“I can explain!” Diana insists. Desperation flashes on her face as she shakes Hans’ arm.“Please.Put down your gun and don’t hurt him.”
Hans softens. My breath unhitches when he slowly lowers his gun. Still, he keeps an unflinching eye on me while he tucks the gun back into his coat pocket.
“You know who he is, Miss Diana?”
“Yes.”
Then, with a defeated look my way, Diana takes a deep breath and tells Hans and Helen everything.
“It’s truly nothing worth reporting about, I swear,” she promises. “This isn’t real. We’re just casual acquaintances. Right, Kai?”
The words cut my throat like wires. But I force them out anyway because she’s right. At the end of the day, this is nothing more than a transactional relationship no matter how I feel about her.
“Yeah.” I nod and fake a smile. “That's right.”
Helen and Hans’ tensed shoulders fall slightly in relief. They don’t say much, but they make their point pretty damn clear with just a few words.
Hans jabs a finger at my chest.
“Treat her well,” he warns. “If you don’t, I have a gun.”
“And I know how to use it, too,” Helen chimes in.
I level their hard stare with my own. “I will. You have my word.”
They eventually leave to give Diana and me some privacy. I blow out a breath, bracing my forearm against the door. The thought that Hans and Helen now know about us makes me feel naked and exposed that I can feel the fear slowly creep in.
“Well, we managed to keep this a secret up to now.”
Diana snorts. A tired, bitter smile drags across her lips as sheslumps against the door. “We’re just lucky it was Helen and Hans who figured it out. If anyone else did…”
We’d risk getting caught by the wrong people and ruining whatever’s left of our reputations.
The unspoken threat hangs heavy over our heads. It should make any sane person back out of this, but neither of us make a move. We’re in too deep now. We know we’d drown without the other. The relief is the only thing we’re clinging onto in this disastrous shit storm we’re both trapped in.
My phone buzzes. A text from Rowan flashes on my screen, reminding me of where I need to be right now.
I shut my phone off with a groan. “I gotta go.”
Diana’s face falls, yet she nods in understanding. Maybe it’s the trick of the light, but she almost looks sad. “I’ll see you later then?”
“Yeah.” I offer her a small smile. “Have a good night, Di.”
I’m about to leave before her hand reaches for my arm.
“Wait!”
I turn around. My brow arches up. Diana undoes her hair and hands me her glittery clip. “A platonic token. For luck on your presentation.”
She looks up at me with a gentle hope that makes her dark eyes glitter like night skies.
This time, a real smile breaks across my face. Our fingers brush together as I reach out to take the hair clip.
“In that case…”
