Page 8 of Jaded Princess

“You’re not hearing me. I’m ending this. We’ve relied too much on you and in return you’ve become…”

He didn’t have to say it. Cold. Unfeeling.Simply imitating humanity. A sociopath.

“Theo did it to you first,” he continued. “But I’m part of this creation, too.”

“I’m not a monster.”

Kai sighed while keeping me, unblinkingly, in his sights. “Not yet.”

I lifted out of my seat, massaging my neck as I padded to the bathroom. “You should leave. I don’t know what kind of surveillance Neri’s guys have put me under.”

“I made sure I wasn’t followed.”

“Doesn’t matter. We have to be safe.”

“Scarlet…”

“What?” I swung around. “This discussion is over. We’re continuing the play—actually, no,I’mcontinuing, whether or not I have you or Chenko behind me.”

Kai stood. “If this is your version of a last stand—”

“Theo’s come for nothing else.”

I blurted it out. Unthinking, the words uncurled and arced out of my throat like a viper darting at a threat. I’d inadvertently exposed a weakness and instantly hated myself for it.

Kai waited a beat, while I got my breaths under control, until he said, “Theo is not a bear you can draw out of hibernation. The only person you’re trapping is you.”

“I have it under control,” I said and entered the bathroom.

“That’s what worries me,” I heard him mutter before I twisted on the tap.

Kai wouldn’t be there when I got out of the shower. If these past two years had taught Kai anything, it was that I did what I wanted. And because it got results, he let me. But I was responsible for those new lines in his forehead, the fading tint to his brown eyes. He met me, and his world began losing color.

I scrubbed any lingering guilt away by using the complimentary brown sugar scented soap. The included lemon shampoo helped massage some hope into my scalp. I’d carefully planned my moves last night. I’d been practicing, honing, ever since receiving news that Trace had been spotted at one of Neri’s games. Or maybe Theo. They looked so much alike, it was hard to tell sometimes.

The FBI wanted Trace, but there was no question who I was aiming for. The police could continue to focus their efforts on the older brother, and by all accounts I’d been helping them do so, but in the shadows, I searched for my own escape. Despite what it was doing to Kai—and I hated carving a wedge between the only friend who remained—I had to find Theo.

As I combed my wet hair, I realized this was the most danger I’d ever put myself in.

And the closest I’d ever come.

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