Page 25 of Come Alive
“You don’t know what you’re doing?” Yara huffed. “Fine. Now explain yourself before I lose my patience and decide to run back to California. You said Izzy is safe?”
Kazi mulled the words over. “She is safe.”
“Okay, start from the beginning. The comedy club, why were you there?”
“My boss.”
“Your boss. You mean Emil? Or does he go by Johnson Hall?”
Kazi cringed.
Distracting them both, his fingers brushed up and down her skin soothingly. It was a comfort for him, and he could feel as Yara pressed further into his touch if only subconsciously.
“Emilio Castillo.” Kazi tugged her ankles apart, settling between her thighs on his knees. He watched as her eyes narrowed and her lips flattened. He wasn’t opposed to begging for her forgiveness.
“I know that name.”
“You do,” Kazi confirmed, resting his head on her thigh. “He went to school with you and Izzy. He and Izzy have history.”
“History?” She shut her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows.
“Yes, they became close after graduation.”
“After graduation…” Yara breathed out, her eyes snapped open. “Izzy did go MIA the summer of graduation and then she just decided to up and move to New York in the middle of that. But I was too busy with my own shit to question it.” She looked down at Kazi offering a cantankerous glare that Kazi had seen before but never been on the receiving end of. He didn’t expecttoenjoy it.“All of that is nice, but what does that have to do withyou?”
“Iworkfor Emilio, and he wanted to make sure Izzy’s best friend was protected too. He sent me to watch over you. I was supposed to return home, but then I convinced him to let me stay and that is how we ended up together for the last ten years. Our meeting may not have been by chance, but apart from that, everything between us is real. My love is real. My devotion to you is real.”
“Emilio is your boss, yourbig bad bossthat is up to nefarious activities, and he is with MY IZZY?” Yara snarled. “Does she know? Is she aware of his background?”
Kazi nodded. “She knows, I promise.”
“Why am I not angry with you? Why do I feelgratitude? You found me at my very lowest, Kazi. When I was about to give up on Darkest Desires, when I was attempting to drink myself into oblivion every night. Izzy was my only tether, but she was hundreds of miles away dealing with her own life and her own business. How could I tell her I was going to quit when she was doing so well for herself? And then there you were. At the end of my set, laughing your ass off at all my dark jokes nobody else found funny. There you were, not pressuring me to fuck you or making innuendos. You just genuinely seemed to care.” Yara bent over, grabbing hold of Kazi’s chin, forcing him to look directly into her eyes. “Was that real, Kazi? Is that who you truly are? You told me that night you were an orphan with no path and no ambition. That your brother, Min-ho, sacrificed himself to offer you a chance. You told me that I was the first spark of light in your life. Was that true or was that you trying to burrow your way into my life?”
“Min-ho is—was—my brother. He went away on my behalf, he took the fall and then he was killed in prison.” Kazi screwed his eyes shut, breathing out shakily. His brother was an old woundthat he had allowed to fester for too long. Min-ho was the reason he had ended up with Emilio. “Can’t it be both, Miss Yara? I had watched you for months before I gained the confidence to approach you. I didn’thave to,but I chose to. I meant everything I said. I knew you were struggling. You needed help, and even if it wasn’t whatEmiliodirected of me, I decided I would come to your aid. I would be whatever you needed me to be, if only to earn a place by your side.”
Yara cocked her head. “And did you earn it, Kazi? Do you think you deserve to be here?”
Kazi’s eyes watered at the thought of his failures. At the stalker who had nearly done irreparable damage. At the man still out there, who had his eyes on Yara. “No.”
Yara released his chin. Bringing a foot up, she pressed the bottom of her shoe to Kazi’s chest, careful to avoid his wound. She forced him away from the couch and onto his back, until he was lying flat.
He didn’t fight her, accepting whatever punishment she deemed fit.
“Take out your cock. Or are you too injured?”
Kazi tried to lift up, to look at Yara, but her foot held him in place.
“You want to apologize to me? You want to prove that this is real?” She moved her foot, getting up off the couch.
This time, Kazi did as instructed. It wasn’t fully hard yet, but it was more than half-way there, and the longer he watched Yara, the closer he was.
She shifted until she stood over him, watching him expectantly. “Kazi.”
“Miss Yara.” Even though she was younger, it was hard for him to dropMiss. It was his sign of respect to her, but her lips flattened at the word, and he knew instantly his mistake.
“Take your pants off,” she bit out.
This time he didn’t hesitate, kicking off his pants and even doing away with his shirt for good measure, before lying back down on the scratchy rug beneath him.
