Page 20 of The Colour of Revenge
5
I’m Not A Princess, I’m A Queen
Hypothetical Question: If you could control one small, insignificant thing in the world (like making all pigeons wear tiny hats), what would it be?
Carina
Nate'smusclesripplebeneathhis suit, the black fabric clinging to every shift and flex of his body.
It's an absurd outfit for a crime scene cleanup, but I can't seem to focus on that. Not when seeing him makes my thoughts stray to places they shouldn't go.
"Why the suit?" I ask, watching as he tosses another blood-soaked towel into a black bag with infuriating ease.
His movements are too smooth—casual, practised, precise like he's done this a thousand times.
The methodical process of erasing evidence should feel cold. Clinical. Distant.
But instead, it feels… intimate.
We move around each other with an unsettling familiarity, our bodies slipping into an effortless rhythm. He passes me supplies before I can ask, as if he already knows what I need. Like a dance, well-rehearsed.
I don't know why this doesn't scare me.
It should.
Working alongside a professional killer should terrify me.
But… it doesn't.
Kai works mechanically, efficiently, scrubbing every surface with chemicals, erasing the carnage like it never existed. The body, now wrapped in thick black bags, is ready for disposal.
At one point, he even ran out to buy matching bedding to replace what had been ruined. Thank God this room wasn't carpeted. I need to start thinking these things through more.
"I was at a party," Nate says suddenly, answering my earlier question.
I blink. "A party?"
"A charity dinner, to be precise."
I stare at him. "You… go to charity dinners?"
He grins, utterly unbothered by my scepticism. "Don't look so shocked, Princess. I'm actually quite affluent."
He steps toward me and hands me a clean towel. The brush of his fingers against mine sends a shiver of awareness up my spine.
"But… you're a murderer?" I murmur.
Nate tilts his head. "So are you."
I hesitate.
"What's your point?" he adds smoothly.
Damn him. He has me there.
I frown, grasping for logic. "I don't know. I just assumed you were part of some underground criminal network or something.”
His lips quirk. "Who says I'm not?"
