Page 7 of You Were Always Mine
The words hang there, sweet and sharp, and the smirk vanishes from his mouth. For the first time this morning, his expression hardens — cold, deadly. His hand pulls back from her thigh as if she’s nothing.
‘You’ll see me later,’ he says flatly — final, no room for argument.
Ava blinks, caught off guard, then recovers with a coy smile. She slides off the counter, smoothing her dress down over her thighs, and when she stands, she leansright into him. Her body presses full against his, her perfume spilling through the kitchen as she tilts her face up and kisses him slow, deep, like she’s leaving a mark for me to choke on.
I don’t move. I can’t. My nails dig into my palm hard enough to draw blood, but I don’t look away.
When she finally pulls back, her lipstick smeared, she grins, breathless. ‘Later, Kai.’
He doesn’t even answer.
She sways out of the kitchen, heels clicking against the tile, and the silence she leaves behind is so loud it makes my ears ring.
And then it’s just us.
The door clicks shut behind her, and for a second the whole kitchen feels too big, too empty, the smell of her perfume clinging to the air like smoke after a fire. I stab my fork into the eggs again though I’ve got no appetite left, chewing just to keep from spitting the taste of bile onto the floor.
‘She was charming,’ I say finally, my voice flat but my smile razor-edged. ‘Lipstick on your mug, perfume all over the house. Real subtle, Kai.’
His mouth curves, slow, cruel. ‘Jealous?’
I bark a laugh sharp enough to cut. ‘Of her? Please. She’s all teeth and no bite. I’ve seen chihuahuas with more substance.’
Kai chuckles low, leaning forward, elbows on the table, eyes pinned to me like I’m the only thing in the room worth watching. ‘Funny. Didn’t sound like you hated watching her kiss me.’
Heat shoots up my neck, traitorous, and I drop my gaze to my plate, stabbing at the eggs until they’re nothing but shredded yellow mess. ‘She’s desperate. Itwas embarrassing, honestly. Throwing herself at you like that.’
He hums, tilting his head. ‘And yet you couldn’t look away.’
My jaw locks. ‘Maybe I was trying to figure out what you see in her. You usually go for—’ I pause, let my eyes flick up to his, then down again, voice dropping to a blade. ‘Never mind. Guess your standards slipped last night.’
His grin is sharp, dangerous, teeth flashing like a predator who knows the trap has already sprung. ‘Careful, little sister. Sounds a lot like you care.’
I shove my chair back — the scrape loud, biting. ‘What I care about is finishing breakfast without choking on someone else’s perfume.’
Even as I stand, even as I slam my plate into the sink harder than I need to, I feel his eyes on me — that same weight, heavy, hungry, daring me to admit what we both already know.
I turn too fast, my plate clattering into the sink, water splashing my wrist, and I make for the doorway before the heat crawling under my skin eats me alive. But I don’t make it two steps before his chair scrapes back hard and his hand catches my arm.
The grip isn’t rough, not really, but it might as well be a shackle.
‘Who are you fucking meeting, Scarlett?’ His voice is low, sharp, like he’s biting off each word before it can cut him.
I twist my wrist, glare up at him. ‘I told you — it’s just a friend.’
‘Bullshit.’ He steps closer, his body blocking mine from the exit, heat rolling off him, jaw tight. ‘You don’t sneak out at dawn for “just a friend”.’
The laugh that slips out of me is bitter, brittle. ‘What do you care? Go back to your little bar queen. She’ll keep your bed warm enough.’
His fingers tighten fractionally, his eyes narrowing, that dangerous blue flashing like a warning light. ‘Answer me.’
I yank my arm free, the skin hot where his hand leaves it. ‘It’s none of your business, Kai.’
For a second, neither of us moves. The hum of the fridge, the tick of the clock on the wall, the faint echo of Ava’s perfume still clinging to him — it all presses in, thick and suffocating.
He leans down, so close his breath brushes my cheek, but his voice is almost a whisper. ‘Everything you do is my business.’
The words hang between us, heavy, damning.
