by Tabatha Kiss
I can’t fucking watch this.
I tear the mask off my head. Rage boils just beneath the surface. I see others in the chairs around them, their hungry eyes staring at them through their blue masks. The urge to blind each and every one of them courses through me. I force myself to look at the floor instead, but I can’t fight the need to look at Piper again.
When I do, I see her stunned eyes locked on my face.
Chapter 13
Piper
Kai.
Every time I look up, I see his face. I’m lost in a sea of strangers, their faces constantly cloaked in shadows, and still, he’s all I can see. I thought it was just a mirage in Munich, a one-time surge of psychosis brought on by shame and guilt, but I was wrong.
Pleasure aches through my body. I raise my left knee and rest my toes on the man’s back as his tongue burrows between my folds. His face looked like Kai’s as well when I first set eyes on him. Now, I see that he shares no real resemblance with my stepbrother. I’m not sure if I’m happy or disappointed with that.
I open my eyes and look about the dark and warm room of the Fire and Ice club. It’s exactly how I imagined it’d be — and plenty more. I can’t wait to get back and tell Mandy all about what she missed in the morning. I’m sure she’ll be pissed she skipped it, even with Shawn Monty rocking her against various motel beds all week.
I catch sight of a man several feet away, his eyes locked on mine behind dark shadows. He shifts into the light and I’m once again met with Kai Casablancas’ face. I blink once. Then again. This usually makes the mental trickery go away, but as he drifts closer to me, the mirage refuses to disappear. This man, whoever he is, looks exactly like Kai.
Oh, fuck.
Kai reaches down to the man in front of me and grabs the back of his jacket’s collar. With one quick jerk, he brings him up and tosses him away. The man stumbles back and lands on the lap of a lonely man at the far end of the sofa.
“Kai?!” I gasp.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Piper?!” he shouts above the music rattling the walls. His face, red with anger, gives a sour expression. The vein in his forehead looks ready to explode. I open my mouth to speak, but he grabs my arm before I ever get the chance. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“Kai — stop!”
He squeezes me harder as I try to pull away. We plow through the crowd, bumping shoulder after shoulder as he drags me towards the exit.
I give my arm a sudden jerk and it slips from his grasp. “I said — stop!”
He whips around and bends over to pick me up.
“Kai!” I shout in frustration as he throws me over his shoulder. I try to wiggle free of him, but that just makes him hold me tighter. “Let me go!”
My shrieks catch the attentions of most nearby, but no one budges as he takes me away. My cheeks turns red from embarrassment, but mostly rage, as he we ascend the stairs to the front entryway.
“Let me go!” I shout again as we reach the entrance. I see the bouncer immediately stand up from his stool by the door, but he’s not fast enough to stop Kai from kicking the door down and walking outside in the alleyway. “Put me down, asshole!”
Kai finally bends down and I slip off his shoulder to the ground, barely able to keep myself upright. I take in a large breath, preparing to rip into him with very unkind words, but I fall silent as the bouncer suddenly hovers over Kai’s shoulder. He grabs Kai and knocks the wind out of him with one, firm punch to his stomach. Kai doubles over and the bouncer strikes him again, this time in the face with a perfectly closed fist.
“Stop!” I shout to the bouncer. I step in front of him as Kai topples to the ground below. “Mio fratello.”
The bouncer pauses above me and slowly relaxes his fist. He reaches into his front suit pocket, withdraws a white handkerchief, and tosses it at Kai’s crumpled form.
“Grazie,” I spit. I bend over and grab the handkerchief as he bounds back into the club.
Kai rolls over onto his back and stares up into the night sky. Warm, red blood pools out of his nose, dripping down his face onto the concrete below him.
“Well…” I say to him as I cross my arms. “Are you pleased with yourself?”
“Yeah…” he chokes. “Very.”
“Come on…” I hold a hand out to him, but he ignores it as he sits up on his own. “Just take my freakin’ hand, Kai. Come on. Please.”
Kai begrudgingly grips my fingers and I help him to his feet. I flinch as he immediately yanks it back and stumbles away, walking slowly towards the street. I follow him closely until we find a bench on the deserted street corner.
“Sit down,” I tell him. He does as he’s told and I raise the handkerchief to his face.
After a few moments of avoiding my gaze, he finally looks down at me. “You don’t seem nearly as pissed off as I imagined you’d be,” he mutters as I wipe the blood off his cheek.
“Oh, don’t let my calmness deceive you, Kai,” I say. “I’m actually quite pissed off right now.”
“You and me both,” he says.
I sigh and fold the handkerchief to a new angle not covered in blood. “You told me I wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder for you.” I put the handkerchief against his upper lip to stop the blood still seeping out of his nose.
He snatches it from me and holds it steady against his lip. “Yeah, well. I lied.”
“Obviously.” I shake my head. “How did you even know I was here?”
He lets out a quick sigh, then leans forward to pull something from his back pocket. “Here,” he says as he holds the folded paper out for me.
I take it from him and unfold it. I seethe on the inside. The email from my itinerary. “Of course…” I crunch it up in my palm and toss it to the ground.
“Piper, what the hell are you doing in a place like this?” he attacks.
“I’m having fun,” I shrug. “Letting loose. Like I told you I was here to do.”
“When you told me you came here to let loose, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, Piper…”
“That’s not my problem, Kai.” I scoff at him. “What the hell were you thinking in there?”
“Well…” he says. “I reacted to some very mixed emotions about seeing you like that.”
“Well, why didn’t you join in?” I spit. “You could have won your stupid bet and I probably wouldn’t have known the difference.”
He scoffs once, but winces at the slight pain it brings him. “It never occurred to me once, Pipes…”
“Why not?”
He looks at me. “Because nein means nein. Or, you know, whatever no is in Italian.”
“It’s no,” I tell him.
“Oh, goody.” He holds his head back a little.
“So, what’s the deal here, Kai?” I ask. “If you can’t have me, no one can?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Yeah, maybe.” He lowers the handkerchief. His nose has stopped bleeding, but there’s still a good amount drying on his upper lip. “But honestly,” he says, “I’m not even sure I’d be enough for you anyway.” He wipes his face one last time before standing up and tossing the cloth to the ground.
“Well, we agree on something then.” I push myself up to face him. “You definitely couldn’t handle me.” I spin on my heels and start walking down the street in the direction of the hotel.
He follows closely behind. “I couldn’t handle you?”
I scoff quietly, but keep walking.
“Oh, no no no,” he says. “I’m fairly certain my ability to handle you isn’t the issue here. I could handle you anytime.”
I spin around. “Oh, really? Then what’s your problem?”
“I’m not the problem, Pipes,” he says. “I just think girls like you need a little extra something to get it done, that’s all.”
I blink. “Girls like me?” I repeat.
He nods. “Yeah, girls like you.”
“What the hell does
that mean?”
Amusement dances behind his eyelashes. “Oh, you know exactly what that means.”
I grit my teeth. “Well, let’s not dance around it. You want to call me a slut again, Kai, go right ahead and say it. I don’t have all night.”
“What? You got a few more strangers lined up I don’t know about?”
“Fuck you.” I turn back around in disgust and continue walking. His heels click behind me, matching my stride as I cross the street. I glance over my shoulder and he meets my eyes before I turn back around. “What the hell are you even following me for?” I ask. “Fuck off.”
“Because you obviously can’t be left alone for five minutes, Piper,” he says.
“I can take care of myself.”
He laughs. “You really can’t.”
My skin burns so badly, it feels on the verge of melting off. Kai fucking Casablancas. Who the hell does he think he is? “You’re not my protector, Kai. You never have been and there’s no reason why you should start now.”
“I think Philip Lynch would disagree if he saw you getting fucked against a wall in some underground orgy club, Piper.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what Philip Lynch thinks.” I dig my nails in my palms. “He’s not my problem anymore.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
I whip my head around. “It means fuck off, Kai. We’re done! I don’t want to see your face ever again.”
He chuckles lightly to himself. “I would just love to know how you plan on pulling that one off,” he mutters.
I stop in my tracks. “It’s easy, actually. Once we reach Paris, we’ll go our separate ways.” He looks at me with confusion, but I don’t bother explaining myself. I turn back around. I usually get a burst of warmth from a battle of wits with Kai, but not this time. I just want to get away from him. I stomp down the sidewalk and feel thankful that he’s finally chosen to keep his mouth shut.
Chapter 14
Kai
I hold the door open and let Piper enter the hotel room first. You know, because I’m such a fucking gentleman and all.
Judging by Mandy’s token giggle echoing through the wall, she and Shawn are right on target for the perfect night. The anger inside of me makes the perfect armor for the stabbing jealously I’m sure I’d feel otherwise.
I close the door behind me and watch as Piper begins stuffing her clothing back inside her suitcase. Her eyes fall on the itinerary and she shoves that inside with a quick stab of the eyes at me.
“Look, Piper—”
“Shut the fuck up.”
I recoil and sigh against the door. She zips her suitcase closed and pulls her phone from her purse. “Who are you calling?” I ask her as she brings it to her ear.
She doesn’t answer. Instead, she turns around and stares at the opposite wall while the other line rings. Even now, I can’t help but admire the curve of her back. Her tight, black skirt hugs her ass in just the right way. Her toned legs look even more glorious with high heels pushing them up — fuck me. How can she drive me this wild? I’m pissed off and ready to punch a giant hole in the wall and still, all I can think about is bending her over the bathroom sink.
“Piper…”
“Hey, it’s me,” she says into the phone. “I had a change in plans.”
I step off the door. “Piper…”
“Yeah. Sorry.” She hangs up and tosses the phone onto the bedside table before beelining for the bathroom.
“Piper!”
Her eyes catch mine for a brief second as she returns to the room with her make-up bag. She keeps her lips tightly sealed with cement. Not that she needs words to convey how she feels anyway. I can read it all in her eyes. Those beautiful, expressive blue balls locked inside her fucking skull tell me everything.
She despises me.
More than usual.
I honestly thought that was impossible.
She reaches down and grips the handle of her suitcase. I take a quick step in front of it. “Piper, will you please talk to me?” I ask slowly, trying very hard to keep my cool. She lowers her head down, ignoring me. I’m not sure why I expected otherwise. “Pipes, come on…”
Air explodes out of her nose and her boiling blue eyes lock on mine before she twists around me and marches to the door. I stay put and flinch when she slams it closed behind her.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
I kick the bedside table and wince as pain radiates through my toes. A minute later, Shawn stumbles into the room with his duffel bag hanging off his shoulder and his shirt and pants gripped in his fist. He stares at me with angry eyes, standing in the doorway wearing nothing but his boxer shorts.
“What the hell did you do?” he growls.
I shake my head. “Don’t ask.”
He kicks the door closed behind him. “Are you bleeding?” he asks as he throws his bag to the floor.
I reach up and feel the dry blood on my nose crack beneath my fingers. I grit my teeth in pain. “Yeah…” I say. “I was.” The memory of that brute’s fist knocking me out rings through my head. Pain pierces my nose as I touch it and it travels all the way to my ears and back.
“Did Piper hit you?” he asks.
I walk into the bathroom and hold a wash cloth under the tap. “Not exactly,” I answer. I move the wet towel under my nose, being careful not to push it back even an inch or else feel the continued wrath of Piper fucking Lynch up through my olfactory nerve. It takes forever, but I manage to clean the blood off my skin and inner nostrils. I throw the towel in the trash can before returning to the room.
Shawn, now fully clothed, lies on Piper’s empty bed with the television remote grasped between his fingers. “You know, I used to think you were good at the whole seduction thing,” he says.
I glare at him before falling onto the free bed. I want to argue and defend myself, but there’s no sense in trying at this point. Piper’s out of my league. Always has been — and probably always will be. It’s not like I give a shit anymore anyway. I wasn’t trying to seduce her tonight. I wanted to keep her safe, but I guess that just makes me an asshole. Oh, well.
I stare at the ceiling and close my eyes while I listen to the foreign voices coming from the television in the corner.
***
Buzz buzz.
Buzz buzz.
My head throbs with pain. I feel it long before I open my eyes. Even in my dreams, I could feel it pounding away, that phantom pain my dream-self couldn’t figure out. I glance around the dark room and sit up. Shawn’s lost to the world, trapped beneath a mountain of pillows and blankets. Snores fill the air around him.
I yawn and immediately regret it as I move my nose muscles and flinch with great pain. I slink off the bed and enter the bathroom to search for some kind of painkiller. Thankfully, this dank and cheap Italian hotel has a cabinet partially stocked with sample-sized pills. I’m not sure what it is, honestly, but I don’t give a crap. I just want the pounding in my head to stop.
I fill my mouth with sink water and swallow them down. My face sports a fresh purple bruise along the bridge of my nose. I turn away almost immediately. Fuck this place, man. Piper’s completely right. When we reach Paris, it’s time for a separation of ways.
I step back into the room and plop back onto the bed.
Buzz buzz.
The vibrations pull my attention towards the bedside table between the beds. A phone shines brightly into the dark room, then quickly dims itself. It’s not mine, and I’m pretty sure it’s not Shawn’s either. Which means…
It’s Piper’s. She must have left it behind.
I reach for it without thinking and flick the screen on to find a series of unread text messages on the lock screen, all sent within the last ten minutes. It’s nearly five in the morning — who is sending her messages at five in the morning? I suppose it could be someone in America, different time zones and all that. I search the screen for a name, but the number is labeled only as M.
I can’t believe you
’re actually here.
Here’s my address in Paris.
See you soon. ;)
I lower the phone, fighting the extreme urge to react to this. Obviously, Piper has arranged to meet up with someone in Paris. I remember that email I found in her itinerary. The one from some fucker named Dante. Is M just a French Dante? Some guy she met over the internet? Who else would use a stupid fucking winky face in a text message like that? I know what that means. It’s douche bag talk for “Come here so I can fuck your brains out.” I wish I had scanned through more of her itinerary before charging out to that fucking club. I could have solved this mystery already. M. Who the fuck are you? There’s probably more messages from him, but I can’t open her phone or else she’ll know I saw these.
I take out my own phone and snap a photo of the messages on the lock screen, complete with this bastard’s address.
Sure, Pipes. We can go our separate ways once we get to Paris.
But I won’t be too far behind you.
***
“Well, you’ve certainly dug quite the hole for yourself, Kai.” Mandy slides the compartment door closed behind her and sits down in the empty seat across from me.
I sigh and stare out the window to avoid her judgmental gaze. “Mandy… please. I don’t need this right now.” My face still aches from the night before and talking only makes the pain so much more intense. A French sunset hangs on the horizon in front of me. I stare at it instead.
“A swift kick in the ass is what you need,” she says, “but someone already took care of that for me.” She leans forward to get a closer look at my nose. “You should get that checked out.”
“I’m fine,” I mutter. “And what do you care anyway?”
She sits back. “Don’t be a jerk, Kai. I’m waving a white flag here.”
I see the concern on her face. “Sorry,” I tell her. “Where’s Shawn?”
“Diner car. Again.” She rolls her eyes. “Apparently, they’ve got some great pastries or whatever.”
I hesitate a moment. “And Pipes?”
