Page 53 of Severance

“Don’t take it personally,” Nikolai replies indifferently. “No one ever will.”

I don’t have the brainpower to decipher his cryptic shit, especially with my mother’s judgy eyes on me.

“When will Alek be here?”

Tires screech out front and my mother jumps to her feet and runs to the front window.

“He’s not there already?” Nik’s voice is filled with concern as he questions me.

The murdered out Rolls Royce is still running as it sits in the driveway and its driver leans on the horn twice.

“He’s here,” I sigh into the phone.

“See ya soon, babe.” You can hear the smile in Nik’s voice as he ends the call.

Handing my mother her phone, I head over to the front door, leaving her by the window.

“I’ll be in touch,” I tell her curtly as I pull the door open.

“Please be careful.” She tells me with a troubled look on her face.

I laugh lightly and shake my head. “Like you ever cared before,” I mutter as I slip outside into the night and run down the steps to Alek’s car.

He’ll take me where I belong… I never belonged here.

Kai

Apeaceful silence fills my ears and my eyelids slowly part as I open my eyes. They’re met by a blinding light and I wince as it blurs my vision and I quickly shut them.

“Fuck,” I mutter to myself in frustration. Trying again, I reopen my eyes and squint immediately as I let them adjust to the light. My vision becomes clearer and I’m able to take in my surroundings again.

Nik slowly comes into my field of vision. “Jesus Christ,” I scoff. “You again?”

He chuckles as he walks closer to the bed. “Yep. Me again.” But he isn’t alone.

The sweet sound of her voice touches me before she does. “Oh please,” she snarls at him as she steps in front of me, but her demeanor changes when her eyes reach mine. “I’m here, Kai. I’m not going anywhere.” Her voice is tender with her promise as she sits down on the bed beside me. Leaning closer, she cups the side of my face and gently strokes my cheeks with the pads of her thumbs.

Resting my head against her hand, I lean into her and close my eyes as she comforts me. I look back up at her with a cold stare and she freezes as she assesses my expression. “So, where did you go,bambolina? You had no problem leaving me then.”

Dahlia’s face pales and her eyes quickly flash to Nik’s as she drops her hands from my face. He gives her a small smile and shrugs. “I’ll give you guys a minute,” he says as he quickly slips out of the room.

What the fuck is it about this guy? What does he know that I don’t?

“After Nikolai removed the bullet and made sure you were good, you were resting and healing, so I went to my parents’ house and met with my mother,” she admits quietly.

She catches me off guard and I wince slightly from the pain that hits me deep in my chest, but it isn’t from where the bullet hit me.

“I know that I was reluctant to go see them and we didn’t fully discuss it, but I felt like it was something that I needed to do.” She pauses and her eyes are a mix of indistinguishable emotion. “Alone.”

Her words don’t soften the blow, knowing that she left me out on purpose.

“Why would you go to them without me?” My tone is harsher than I intend as I question her. “This affects both of us, Dahlia. We’re supposed to be in this shit together.”

Dahlia laces her fingers together and casts her gaze down to her hands on her lap. “I know that, Kai…”

“So, why the fuck am I just hearing about this now?” I scoff with a scowl on my face. “You didn’t think that I would maybe want to go too?”

Her eyes flash to mine and they burn with an intimidating intensity that would shake any man to his core. She’s pissed, I’m pissed, and my cock still reacts to the fire that burns inside of her.

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