Page 113 of Collide

“And Kai couldn’t tell me this himself?” I huffed, pissed that the manhadn’t made any effort to talk to me these last few days and was now ordering me to go fuck knows where.

“He’s out doing some stuff, but he wants to get you moved as soonas possible. He’ll come and see you in a few days.”

“Fuck that, I’m not going anywhere without speaking to him!” I madeto slam the door, but Danny stopped it with his giant hand, reminding me how strong he was. A frustrated look crossed his face as he took a deep breath.

“Look, I don’t like it either. But Kai is doing this to keep your ass safe,you know that man fucking cares about you, so stop being a stubborn little cow and let him protect you,” he snapped, surprising me. I’d never heard Danny be anything but funny and kind toward me, and it caught me off guard. I glared at him, sending daggers in his direction. “I’m sorry, I’m worried about you, okay. Some cunt is out there making it clear you’re their number one target, and I don’t think I could live with myself if we failed to protect you. You’re a good person, Riles,” he said, softer this time.

For fuck sake.

How could I protest when the pain was so clear in Danny’s voice? Hewas genuinely worried and I didn’t want to worry him anymore.

At least Angel would be coming, that was one positive, I’d barelythought about her over these last few days thanks to all the shit that was hogging my brain space, so maybe some time with my sister and away from the penthouse and Kai was exactly what I needed. I huffed loudly but didn’t argue anymore.

A short time later, after being hurried along to pack my bag byDanny, I found myself in Angel’s room, explaining to her we were going to stay in a different house for a few days as I shoved her clothes into another bag. I didn’t tell Angel the reason we were being moved, she’d only worry when there was no need, in fact, this whole ‘moving to a safe house’ thing felt a bit overkill to me, and the first opportunity I’d get, I’d tell Kai what I thought about his ridiculous plan.

The only question Angel asked was if she’d be able to take hergames console with us. I rolled my eyes and told her we’d get it delivered in a few days, hoping Kai would come good for her like he did the last time the little brat wanted her games.

We were soon ushered into the elevator by Danny who had both ofour bags slung over his shoulder as we made our way down to the parking level.

“Isn’t Jane coming?” I asked Danny when I realized she was nowhereto be seen.

“She went to visit her mom, she’ll meet you at the safe house later,”Danny answered.

It briefly crossed my mind whether Jane needed a guard with herwhen she went out but I didn’t voice the question, from the minute Danny had knocked on my door, he had been tense, and there was no sign of that easing up. His whole demeanor was making me feel downright anxious with his hunched up shoulders and his eyes constantly darting around as if a threat was going to jump out on us at any moment.

I took Angel’s hand, feeling the need to have some comfort but tryingmy hardest to disguise my growing anxiety. I didn’t like the idea that Kai was sending me away without coming to explain it personally. But the perceptive little bugger knew something was wrong if the reassuring squeeze to my hand was anything to go by.

We reached the parking level and I followed Danny towards the rowof cars, towing Angel behind me. Frank appeared out of an office I had never seen before, normally he was always waiting by the car, but he looked like he’d been caught off guard, not expecting to chauffeur us anywhere.

“Everything okay?” he asked Danny with a hint of suspicion in hisvoice.

“All good, Franky boy, we’re headed out,” Danny replied with a hint oftension in his voice. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a car key, aiming it at a black Audi I’d never been in before. He pressed a button and the car bleeped as the doors unlocked.

“Where are you going?” Frank said looking between the bags Dannywas dropping into the trunk of the car, and me clutching Angel’s hand. He wore a strange look on his face, one of....concern, maybe?

“Riley’s being moved to a safe house. Kai’s orders.”

I was glad Danny had his back to Angel, I didn’t want her lip readingand realizing we were going to a safe house rather than just a different house.

“Kai said that?” Frank continued.

Danny opened the rear door of the car and waved his hand for Angeland me to get in, she ducked in first and as I was about to get in next to her, Danny answered Frank.

“Yeah, man, what’s the problem? I got a call from Hendrix like twentyminutes ago saying Kai wanted Riley moved to the safe house pronto. Give him a call if you don’t fucking believe me,” he snapped. And with that, Danny got in the car and slammed the door, muttering under his breath about Frank being a nosy cunt.

It occurred to me that it was strange Frank hadn’t been toldwhere we were going, but then Kai still hadn’t figured out if one of his staff had been spilling his secrets, so maybe he was just being cautious about sharing information with the wider team.

Danny pulled out of the underground car park and into the light traffic.The sun beamed down on the car, instantly warming it up. I spun around in my seat to look out of the rear window to find there were no vehicles following us from the apartment block.It was strange, whenever I’d been out with Kai previously, we’dalways been followed by at least one vehicle which had men armed to the nines.

An uneasy feeling spread through me, and my stomach startedchurning with worry. If Kai was so worried about my safety, surely he would have had more than just Danny taking me to wherever we were going. Or, was it another way to keep my location as secret as possible?

I twisted back in my seat, looking at Danny through the rear-viewmirror. His eyes were fixed firmly on the road ahead and appeared unfazed by this whole situation.

Angel, who was sitting in the seat behind Danny, was staring out ofthe window, engrossed in the scenery passing us by, her little nose pressed against the window and completely oblivious to the anxiety coursing through my body. I tried to relax, but I couldn’t switch off the feeling that something felt off.

Very, very off.

As the car made its way through the city and Danny turned off themain street, his phone started ringing. He clicked a button on the steering wheel, connecting his phone to the in-car speaker system.

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