Page 25 of Severance

“I need to make the call.”

“Anthony?” I question him as my eyes search his, looking for an explanation for the curveball full of emotion that he just threw at me.

Kai nods, turning his attention back to the phone and picks it up. Pressing the receiver to his ear, he takes another deep breath and dials Anthony’s number with a heavy touch.

He hesitated.

What isn’t he telling me?

I watch as Kai’s knuckles grow white from his tight grip. His body grows stiff when muffled sounds come through the speaker of the phone. There’s a shift in the air and in his demeanor as soon as Anthony begins to talk.

“Anthony.” Kai’s voice is distant and cold. He pauses for a fraction of a second as he turns to face me, staring at me with his brown eyes as cold as his voice.

“We can’t meet to talk… not now.”

He stares at me harder as he listens to Anthony on the other end of the phone.

“It had to be done. We both knew it would come to this in the end.”

Is he talking about Stan?

With the way he stares at me, I feel like I should be included in this conversation. I don’t even know who this Anthony guy is, yet Kai’s going to spill all our secrets to him. I know he trusts him, that Anthony protected me for him and did more than I know, but that’s just it… there’s too much that I don’t know.

I can’t trust any of the men that Luca had his claws in.

“Yes, I realize that Luca is going to retaliate.”

Kai’s unwavering gaze remains trained on mine, and I struggle to keep eye contact. He stares so intensely, but I can’t be the weak one. I won’t be intimidated by him, even if that’s not what he’s trying to do.

“Where can I find Dexter?”

Kai’s brow furrows and he clenches his jaw as Anthony speaks into the phone to him. His knuckles grow white as he makes a fist, digging his cut nails into his palms.

“I don’t fucking care, Anthony!” Kai barks as he hammers his fist onto the nightstand. “What happens to him doesn’t concern you. You’ve been anticipating this for the past ten years, so cut the bullshit, acting like you really care.”

The room falls silent and Kai continues to assault me with his desolate eyes. Time slows down to a halt as neither of us talk and Anthony doesn’t respond.

“Anthony,” Kai demands in a low voice and his tongue is as sharp as a razor blade. “Give me Dexter.”

Another moment of silence hangs in the air as I watch him and search his eyes for any hint of the other side of him. The cold, hardened Kai was lost in our past and now he’s lost in our present, with an insatiable need for blood.

This isn’t only my revenge… it’s Kai’s too.

These men stole everything from him and it was time for them to pay up.

Kai’s body relaxes slightly as Anthony’s voice comes through the speaker. Closing his eyes, he slams the phone down, abruptly ending the call.

Leaning forward, I gently grab Kai’s hand from the phone and pull it onto my lap. His eyes open and meet mine instantly before he glances down at his hand in mine. He laces his fingers with mine and squeezes them lightly as he looks back up at me.

He’s back.

His chocolate-colored irises aren’t warm, but they are softer as they urgently search mine.

“I’m sorry,bambolina,” he whispers, his voice cracking around his words. His façade is slowly crumbling, showing the young boy with a heart of gold that he harbors inside. The one who’s light they shut out long ago.

The one who’s newfound light shines brighter and only for me.

“Stop,” I tell him, reaching up to cup the side of his face with my free hand. He owes me no apology or explanation for slipping into his mask of desolation. It’s a necessary evil when it comes to dealing with our past… our past that still lingers in our present.

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