Page 118 of Until We Burn
Rowan turns towards me, grounded and steady like the earth beneath our feet. “Even if the Vipers pull something, it can’t be toocatastrophic considering all the factors Mikhalkov mentioned. It’s going to be okay, Kai.”
Worry twists in my gut. My lungs draw in tight, and my breath grows shallower when I remember Matthias’ threat.
I will do everything in my power to make sure you never take Simon’s place.
“Are you gonna tell Diana about this?” Wallace asks.
I rub my hand over my face. Diana is already so nervous about exposing her brothers and saving Sophia. Adding Simon on top of it will tip her over the edge. Besides, if nothing actually happens at the party, then I would’ve just made her worry for nothing.
“No. I’m not gonna tell Diana anything,” I decide. “She has too much going on right now.”
It’s one thing for me to have Simon and Matthias at my back. It’s another for Diana to get involved in my bullshit.
I don’t know what the hell is going to go down at that Halloween party, but I know one thing for sure: Simon Valdis is going to fucking suffer if he goes even an inch near Diana.
CHAPTER 47
DIANA
“I’m sorry—youdid it in atreehouse?”
I blush behind my hand. The pomegranate margarita Stella had made for me wobbles between my fingers, as I rehash everything with a half-addled brain and a loose, unabashed tongue.
Every detail I share has Stella wide-eyed and gasping, while her tuxedo cat, Rufus, stares at me with such disapproval that my dignity is suffering.
“It was a treehousesuite,”I clarify, “The Wing and Flame happened at a venue that also hosts weddings.”
“Still! That’s way more interesting compared to my first time.” Stella narrows her eyes and points to herself. “Do you know where I lost it? In the backseat of Michael Soutthiphanh’s car at a Denny’s parking lot while my parents were at the temple.”
I giggle into my margarita glass.
“It’s not funny!” Stella whines. “Not everyone can have their first time in a rustic suite with a sexy hockey player.”
I was stressing so much about keeping my arrangement with Kai a secret that I didn’t realize just how freeing it is to finally talk about it without needing to whisper or watch my back. I knew from the moment Stella asked about me and Kai, there was no other way I couldhide the truth. But I’m so relieved that I didn’t because in so little time, she’s become a friend I’ve always wanted. One who you can gossip with and cry in front of.
That’s why I’m sitting on a cozy couch in her apartment, drinking pomegranate margaritas and talking about boys instead of doing classwork and fussing about what the headlines are making up about me.
A little twinge of shame nips at me.
You should be working so much harder to get your life back together, except you’re here, wasting your time.
When I called her to check in, Helen had scoffed and told me to ignore that voice.
You deserve to live your life instead of moving through it deadline by deadline,she said.It’s about time you know what it’s like to be happy without consequences or restraints, Miss Diana.
“As envious as I am about you and Kai—” Stella’s smile drops into a frown, as she runs her hands through Rufus’ fur. “It can’t be easy to be friends with benefits and still have feelings for him, right?”
The sweet margarita grows sour in my mouth.
“No, it’s not easy,” I confess.
“Well, why can’t you tell him how you feel and date in secret until the CEO vote is sorted out? Once you take over the HMG, your dadhasto loosen up the noose around your neck.”
Sometimes, I let myself dream about Kai feeling the same way about me. He’ll hug me close and tell me that everything is going to be okay. We’ll keep our relationship a secret until I have the courage to tell bàba about it. My toes curl, hope bursts in my heart at knowing I can talk to Kai and see him whenever I want without hiding.
Suddenly, my phone lights up with a text from Kai.
Kai
