Alexis sat curled on Ivy's couch with a glass of wine she hadn't touched, and a migraine she'd earned.
The air was quiet except for the distant sound of traffic outside and the occasional hum of the fridge. Ivy wouldn't be home for another few hours, and thank God for that.
Because Alexis didn't want to talk.
Didn't want to explain.
Didn't want to say the words she'd been dodging in her own head since that slap.
She missed him.
She hated it.
Hated herself a little, too.
Kai wasn't the kind of man you missed.
He was the kind of man you ran from.
But she hadn't run, she'd exploded.
She'd overreacted. She could admit that.
But at the time… it felt necessary. It felt like survival.
Because if she didn't end it there, sharp, dramatic, ugly, she wouldn't have ended it at all.
She would've stayed. Let him kiss the breath out of her lungs again. Let him say one possessive thing in that voice that made her knees weak, and then fuck her into forgetting how dangerous this whole thing was.
And that was the problem.
She couldn't afford to forget.
She was supposed to be leaving.
Supposed to be getting out, starting over.
Germany. A new life. No drama. No obsession. No Kai.
She took a long breath and let it out slowly.
She wasn't crying.
She was just… decompressing. That was all.
Her phone buzzed again. Third time in two hours.
She knew who it was.
She hadn't blocked him.
That would've made it too real.
Instead, she ignored it.
Again.
Her gaze slid toward her duffel bag on the floor.
She should pack properly. Go somewhere quiet. Somewhere he couldn't follow.
Because deep down, she knew what he was.
The inhuman stillness.
The eyes that burned too long in the dark.
The way he moved or didn't like he had no use for time or space the way regular men did.
She wasn't dumb. She knew.
But when he finally said it, when he would eventually, because a man like Kai couldn't pretend forever, she wouldn't scream. She wouldn't run.
That was the problem.
She didn't fear him.
And she should.
Because she wasn't built for men like him.
And monsters like Kai didn't know how to let things go once they sank their teeth in.
He hadn't bitten her...yet.
But she felt it every time he looked at her like she was something he already owned.
Her phone buzzed again.
She sighed and turned it over.
Kai:
"If you're scared, say it."
Her chest tightened.
Kai:
"If you're angry, be angry. But don't pretend I don't exist."
God. He was so good at this.
Just enough control. Just enough intensity.
It didn't sound like obsession, but it was dripping with it.
And worst of all?
It made her want to text back.
She tossed the phone onto the couch beside her, stood up, and grabbed her duffel bag.
She needed to get out of the apartment for a bit.
Fresh air. Noise. Distraction.
Anything but him.
Anything but the ache in her chest that wasn't fear… but was definitely something.
Something dangerous.
Something sharp.
Something like longing.
Because the truth was, yes, she overreacted.
But it was easier that way.
Better to scorch the bridge than to stand there wondering if he'd ever come chasing across it.
Better to burn than to belong.