Page 50 of Collide

His words registered that Miles was Theo’s cousin, meaning he wasKai’s too.

“Oh,” I replied, still avoiding his gaze.

“The thing with Miles is, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He wasnever very good at hiding his emotions so it seems like he is hurting more than anyone, Kai included. The truth is, losing Theo almost killed Kai, he just doesn’t show it as much. He knows the life we live could end up with any of us getting a bullet to the brain, we just never thought it would be Theo.”

There was a tinge of emotion in Danny’s voice, and I thought back to how Kai had reacted in the car when he had told me of Theo’s death, he’d become so angry that it had scared me. It was evident losing Theo had affected them all in different ways.

Learning all of this about Theo made me feel even worse for what Ihad said to Kai, and a little voice in the back of my head kept saying I needed to apologize. But the stubborn part of me, the part I tended to listen to said,‘fuck Kai Wolfe.’

I didn’t know what to say back to Danny so I offered him asympathetic smile and remained silent.

“These past few months, Kai has been so consumed with findingTheo’s murderer, I thought we would lose him in the process. But this last week, there has been a change in him, Riles. Since he met you, he’s had a new lease of life, he’s had something else to focus on.”

“Don’t, Danny.” I held up my hand and tried to keep my voice firm.“Please don’t put that on me. Kai is nothing but a controlling, self-centered asshole who doesn’t care about anything but getting what he wants.”

“That’s not true, Riley. Yeah, he may be controlling and self-centeredbut he does care about more than just getting his own way. He cares deeply about his family, he’d do anything to keep them safe and protected. And he’d do the same for you,” Danny replied softly.

I opened my mouth to refute everything he had said, but this timehe held his hand up to stop me from speaking.

“Just give him a chance, you’ll see he isn’t the monster you think heis. He wears his bravado like a shield of armor but underneath it, he is a scared man who has already lost the one person he loved more than anything in this world. He sometimes doesn’t know how to handle his feelings and yeah, he acts out because of that. But in the end, he just wants to make sure that those he loves are safe.”

Huh.

What the heck could I say back to that?

Danny had stumped me, he had been nothing but jovial the entiretime he had been showing me around, but now, sitting here talking about his boss, there was no joking, no inoffensive insults, just cold, raw truth.

And didn’t that leave me feeling all confused.

Silence once again filled the room as Danny and I stared at eachother.

After several awkward beats passed, Danny rose from his stool. “Ibest get back to it, I’ve got work to do if I don’t want to get my ass fired.”

I nodded my head to acknowledge him but all I could do was stareback as his words echoed around my head.

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Riles. It’s been good to get to know you.”With that Danny took several large strides out of the kitchen, holleringwhen he was halfway down the hallway, “And stay away from Angel’s room!”

It took me a few more minutes to gather myself and head back to myroom where I spent the rest of the afternoon churning over Danny’s words.

Was Kai really the monster I had come to believe? Or was he justliving a life he had no choice in being part of and was doing what it took to survive and protect his loved ones?

Hell, I knew what it meant to make difficult choices to look aftersomeone I loved. Maybe Kai and I weren’t too dissimilar after all, and didn’t that just scare the ever living shit out of me.

The questions kept circling my head as night fell outside my bedroomwindow. I eventually fell asleep but it was anything but peaceful.

Instead, my dreams were haunted by a faceless man who had darkeyes with flecks of gold in them.

Chapter 15

Riley

Iwokethefollowingday feeling a little different.

Lighter.

Danny’s words had plagued me for the entire night but I couldn’t helpbut resonate with them, and it led me to making a decision.

To give Kai a chance.

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