Page 24 of Severance

“Hello?” her groggy voice comes through the speaker.

“Tierney, it’s Dahlia, but I can’t talk long.”

She gasps through the phone and I hear her rustling, probably sitting up in bed. “Dali, where the hell have you been? I saw Kai last night and he was freaking out.”

“Look, it’s a long ass story, I’ll tell you when I see you. For now, I need you to cover for me with Vin… make up some believable bullshit excuse for me.”

“Are you in trouble?” Her voice is louder and worrisome. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t talk about it right now, okay? Just please cover for me. I don’t need anyone looking for me or knowing where I am right now.”

Tierney sighs. “I’ll cover for you, but for the record, I’m not cool with this shit.”

The door suddenly opens and Kai pauses in the doorway as I freeze.

“Is Kai with you?” Tierney asks, breaking through the silence.

“Yes,” I admit, staring back at Kai.

“Did he hurt you?”

Kai slowly moves closer to me, dropping his bag on the bed beside me.

“No.”

“Okay,” she says hesitantly. “Just check in, okay? And be fucking safe.”

“I will.”

Dropping the phone back onto the receiver, the call disconnects before Tierney has a chance to keep asking questions.

“Did you at least block the number first?” Kai asks as he continues to bore holes into me with his hardened brown eyes.

“I’m not that stupid,” I scoff. “I needed to have all of my bases covered… make sure no one comes looking for me.”

Kai stares for another moment before giving me a curt nod, but his eyes are understanding. “You really shouldn’t have called her, but let’s hope for the best and that it works out for us.”

Reaching into the bag, Kai pulls out a pair of boxer briefs and throws them at me, followed by a pair of black basketball shorts and a black t-shirt.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a spare bra for you, but the rest of that will have to do for now,” he declares with a ghost of a smile.

“I feel like I need a ski mask and a pair of gloves and my look will be complete,” I tell him, looking at my all-black outfit.

Kai shrugs indifferently. “I like black. Is that a problem?”

“Nah.” I smirk. “You’re all black everything.”

“And you are high maintenance as fuck,” he quips.

It’s my turn to shrug. “Comes with the territory.”

Kai rolls his eyes and walks to the head of the bed, dropping down beside the nightstand. He rests his hand next to the phone and stares at it. Scooting across the bed, I move closer to him and stop as my thigh brushes against his.

“What are you doing?” I ask him hesitantly as his hand creeps onto the phone receiver.

Wrapping his hand around it, his body stills and his face is pained as he squeezes his eyes shut. Kai inhales deeply, slowly exhaling as he opens his eyes.

Turning to look at me, Kai’s chocolate eyes are tormented and dangerous.

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