Page 93 of Until We Burn
You’ve been an embarrassment and a blight on this family.
I thought I raised you to be more competent than this.
My hands graze down my side only to realize I forgot to take my coat.
I’ve left it behind with Kai’s coin.
CHAPTER 39
KAI
“You look handsome as fuck, bro.”
Luke flattens the collar of my dress shirt, while Wallace meticulously runs a lint roller over my slacks.
“Uh-huh. I’m sure that’s going to be the first thing that crosses their minds when I go in there.”
I know it won’t. Nothing remotely positive about me will cross the business team’s minds after the rumors they’ve heard about me. It’s been a little over a month and I still feel their judgment narrowing on my every move whenever I come into the office to meet with the interns.
I check the time again and groan. We’re ten minutes down until I have to walk in there.
The door creaks open as the other interns walk in.
Sanjay waves at me first. “Hey, Kai.”
“Hey, Sanjay.” I force a smile and nod at the rest of the interns. “Hey, guys.”
They come in, dressed in their carefully pressed suits and expensive cologne. They all look so at ease. Why wouldn’t they? For them, this is a shiny opportunity to slap onto their résumé. For me? This is a test to see if I’m really as reckless as the rumors make me out to be. Stressbears down on me. I swear the walls are shrinking in, crushing all the air out in a room that’s part of a world I don’t want to be a part of.
Rowan claps his hands on my shoulders, shifting my focus back onto him. “I know this feels like hell right now. Just remember that it’s only temporary. The presentation will be over before you know it.”
“Yeah, bro!” Hope sparks in Luke’s voice, yet the energy in his eyes flickers weirdly. Still, he slaps his hands against his chest with pride. “We’ll be out here sending good vibes, I got my lucky tartan suit on, and Wallace brought his bible.”
Wallace brandishes a hefty maroon book with Korean letters. “I got it for fifty percent off!”
I laugh, shaking my head just as Rowan scowls.
“Kai!”
I dart around. My heart paces faster, my hands growing clammier as Nirah Desai walks through the doors with an older man in tow.
I plaster a fake smile onto my face. “Hey, Nirah.”
Even in her blazer and her slacks, Nirah’s vibe is nothing but genuine. She smiles, patting her notepad against my arm. “I’m looking forward to your presentation. Are you ready?”
“I think—” I clear my throat. “I mean,yes.I am. I did my research, ran over my parts, and I’m ready to go.”
“Well,” a prideful voice drawls, “those are relieving words to hear from a member of the future generation.”
My eyes slide over to focus more on the man standing beside her. The air in my lungs suddenly thins out. The boys stiffen behind me.
“Is that who I think it is?” Luke whispers.
Rowan nudges him into silence as the man in the navy suit narrows his shrewd green eyes at him.
We all know who he is. He’s recognizable by the familiar sweep of graying blonde hair, and the faint scar nicking his jaw, running the same length of a hockey skate blade.
Matthias Valdis.
