Page 107 of Collide

Kai was right.

I was foolish.

Foolish for believing Toby. Foolish for believing I could try to help him.

Foolish for letting myself get involved with someone as brutal as Kai fucking Wolfe.

My heart wasn’t just hurting, it had been cut out and stomped all over,not just at Toby’s betrayal but at the way Kai had taken glee in telling me. The way he was proud of himself for manipulating me into thinking he wasn’t the devil.

I needed to get out of this room. I needed air so I could breatheagain.

And yet, when all was said and done, I still couldn’t let him hurt Toby.

“I don’t care,” I whispered, battling against the tears threatening tofall. “If you kill him, then he’ll never have the chance to make things right with his daughter. Please, Kai, I’ll do anything.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Riley. It was over for The Stag thesecond he agreed to set you up.”

“If you kill him, I’ll never forgive you.” Tears streaked my cheek, but Iheld my gaze firm on Kai, letting him know how damn serious I was being.

“That’s a consequence I’m willing to accept, Star.” There was noemotion to Kai when he spoke, he was the stone-cold killer that had one objective in mind. He nodded his head at Danny. “Get her out of here.”

I was about to protest when Danny grabbed me and flung me over hisshoulder.

I was beginning to get a bit fucking sick of people doing that.

Danny marched out of the room, the door slamming closed behindhim. As he walked towards the elevator, a gunshot echoed from the room we had just left.

And then my heart completely shattered.

Chapter 28

Kai

Rileyrefusedtospeakto me for the next three days. She lockedherself in her bedroom and refused to come out, barricading the door with a chest of drawers to stop me from coming in, and only moving them when Jacqueline brought her food.

She didn’t even want to see Angel.

I didn’t push her. I knew some of the things I had said to her in thebasement had been cruel, particularly the bit about manipulating her.It wasn’t fucking true, I had been nothing but open and honest withRiley. I had shown her every part of me. The murderous, controlling asshole side, but also the different person I was when I was around her.She made me softer, more caring. She brought out a side of mewhere my heart wasn’t quite so black. So I don’t know why I had implied that the only reason she had fallen for me was because I had manipulated her when it couldn’t have been farther from the truth. I had a long way to go to make it up to her when she finally stopped sulking.

She needed time to understand why I killed The Stag. I couldn’t lethim go back, he’d earned his death sentence when he agreed to set Riley up. No one would get away with hurting my girl and she was still my girl despite the fact she hated me right now.

Besides, if it wasn’t my bullet that killed Toby, Carlos would havedone the deed himself. If I had sent him on his merry way, Carlos would have tortured Toby in order to get him to spill all the things he had told me. Frankly, I had done Toby a favor by making his death quick, andthat, I did for her. I could have drawn out his death, skinned him alive like I had intended to, but putting a bullet through his brain and making it quick was a death he did not deserve, but it was the least I could do for her.

Despite wanting to force Riley out of her room and back to my sidewhere she belonged, I let her stew.

The first night, she didn’t sleep a wink. I watched her on cameracrying into her pillow, and fuck, did it kill me not to go and comfort her. By the second evening, I instructed Jacqueline to sprinkle some crushed-up sleeping pills into Riley’s water, which she did against her better judgment.

Riley fell into a deep sleep, and once I was sure she was asleep, Isnuck into her room using the secret doorway between my room and hers. She hadn’t discovered it yet and I had almost told her about it when we were laying in bed together the morning before I killed The Stag, but I was fucking glad I had kept that bit of information to myself.

The secret door in her room was in the alcove next to her dressingtable, to the naked eye it looked like just a bare alcove, when really the wall slid across, revealing a small passageway that led to another door hidden at the back of my closet.Even if Riley had discovered it, she wouldn’t have been able to openit, it could only be opened from my room.

I’d climbed onto the bed next to her and pulled her into my arms,holding her against me and breathing in her scent like the fucking addict I was. Although she was fast asleep, she rolled willingly into my arms and settled her head in the crook of my arm, and stayed there all night, cuddling into me as if her subconscious knew I was there.

It was only when the sun started to rise that I moved her back to herside of the bed and snuck out. From the camera feed, I watched her wake up with confusion etched across her pretty features as she reached out to touch the bed sheets where I had lay.But the confusion quickly turned to anger, and she stormed off to herbathroom.

It didn’t stop me from repeating my actions the following night.

If getting to touch her meant I had to drug her and sneak in at night,then so be it.

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