Page 35 of Severance

Glaring at him, I shake my head. “Fuck that. This is clearly a setup and I don’t need you to protect me.”

Kai grabs both sides of my face and dips his head down to mine. “A king always protects his queen,” he whispers as his lips just barely graze mine.

My eyelids instinctively flutter closed as I anticipate his lips on mine, but he pulls back within an instant. I sigh in frustration as a sly grin plays on his lips and he winks at me.

Ignoring my annoyance, he grabs my hand and pulls me through the door that leads into a hallway. We walk the short distance to the single door at the end of the hall and Kai pushes through it, revealing Anthony’s personal office.

It’s massive and screams money. Anthony is a well sought after lawyer, despite how expensive he is and the appearance of his office alone shows just how well he’s doing for himself.

“Kai, what the fuck?” I question him as he leaves me by the door and rounds the desk. Pulling open all the desk drawers and cabinets, he flips through the numerous files in them.

Looking up at me, his expression falls and the color slowly drains from his face. “They’re gone,” he scoffs and slams his fists onto the solid mahogany desk. “Every fucking one of them.”

“What’s gone?”

Kai closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose as he clenches his jaw. “Stan. Dex. My father. Me. You.” His eyes flash open and a fire builds inside of them; a wildfire ready to begin its path of mass destruction. “Every fucking file is gone.”

Dahlia

Anthony’s house isn’t far from his office and Kai has us there in a matter of minutes. Driving like a madman, he swerved in and out of traffic and somehow managed to get us there in one piece.

Wasting no time, Kai jumps out of the car, leaving me behind and marches up to the front door. He’s here on his own mission, with his own agenda, and I’m in the fucking dark right now.

Quickly climbing out of the car, I jog after him and follow him into the house as he lets himself in. The house is dark, except for one room. Light from inside spills out into the main hallway and it leads us right to Anthony.

Kai shoves the door open, letting it smack the wall as he enters the room with me on his heels. Anthony sits in a massive chair, his hair a mess and clothing disheveled, as he spins a crystal tumbler filled with amber liquid on the top of his desk.

“Ah., there he is.” Anthony smiles as he tips his glass to Kai. “Rage looks good on you, Kai. You should learn how to channel it properly.”

“Fuck you, Anthony,” he seethes as he enters the room. “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Hmm,” Anthony murmurs as he takes a sip of his drink. “I’m guessing you already went to my office.”

Peering around Kai, Anthony spots me and smiles. “Dahlia. Please, come in too.”

Kai glances over his shoulder at me and gives me a small nod as I walk up beside him. Turning back to Anthony, his face turns to stone. “What’s your angle here, Anthony? Every file is gone. Every file that is filled with information that cannot get leaked.”

Anthony rolls his eyes and motions for the two of us to sit.

“I’ll stand,” I chime in curtly and Kai stands completely still.

“Very well,” Anthony sighs. “I may be an old man, Kai, but I’m not a foolish one. The files were burned, to cover your ass.”

“I don’t need anything from you.” Kai’s voice is as sharp as a shard of glass. “They fucking got to her, thanks to you.”

“You know, I can’t argue with why you’d think that but you’re wrong,” Anthony says, leaning forward on his desk. “You fucked me and I don’t doubt that you’re the reason why Aliana’s dead.”

“Fuck,” Kai mutters under his breath as I glance between the two of them.

“Yeah.” Anthony’s eyes grow dark. “Fuck is right.” He takes another sip of his drink as Kai drops down onto one of the chairs across from him. “I could have exposed every single secret, but I didn’t. Luca is a shit father and you deserve to have someone in your corner. Every child does.”

“I’m not a child,” Kai mutters between his clenched teeth as I sit down next to him.

Anthony smiles and glances between the two of us. “No, no, you’re not.”

Kai ignores what Anthony says and cuts right to why we’re here. “So, if you didn’t tell them where to find her, who did?”

“They always knew where she was,” Anthony admits. “Luca told them to go after her when you broke things off with Aliana.”

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