Chapter 25: That night..

The silence in the living room was thick, broken only by Kai’s unsteady breaths as she came back to herself. Her last thoughts from the hypnotherapy left her feeling unraveled, her heart raw and trembling in her chest.

James’s hands were still gently cupping her face, steadying her the same way they had six years ago. She didn’t flinch—her body had always recognized the touch as safe before her mind caught up. Gripping his forearms with her hands, Kai blinked slowly trying to calm her breathing, her mind still processing the truth.

“You…” Her voice was hoarse, the single word barely forming past her lips. “You’re him.”

James’s expression softened, pain flickering in his eyes. “Yes.”

He waited until she slowly, carefully, pushed herself upright on the couch, his hands steadying her the entire time. Only once he was certain she was stable again did he let go and draw back, moving to the far end of the couch with a quiet breath, giving her space.

Kai stared at him, dazed. “You were there.”

“I was. Front row,” he said softly. “At Lux. I saw everything unfold on that stage. It wasn’t a scene it was a public beating, that everyone who watched accepted. I wanted to stop it… but I didn’t know if jumping in would’ve made it worse for you. You were gagged, bleeding. It was brutal.”

Her hands trembled as she brushed them down her arms, like she could still feel the phantom sting of leather against skin. “I remember trying not to pass-out. It would have made him madder. I remember your eyes… just one pair, in all the noise and lights. They grounded me.”

James nodded once, his jaw tightening. “I couldn’t let him take you home after that. Not in the state you were in. I think you were trying to run from him on your own anyways. I got you out of there. You were having a panic attack. Couldn’t breathe. Could barely stand upright. I wrapped you in my jacket, got you into my car, and took you somewhere you trusted.”

He glanced at Sara.

Kai turned to look at her friend and former therapist, confusion flickering across her face. “He brought me to you?”

Sara gave a small nod, arms crossed but her gaze gentle. “He showed up on my doorstep with you. I had no idea James was Duke. But I remember that night vividly. I remember seeing you in the passenger seat, wrapped in a stranger’s coat, bruised and shaking.” She exhaled, as if the weight of it still sat on her chest. “He refused to leave your side until I promised I’d take care of you.”

Kai’s brows furrowed. “I don’t remember that part.”

“You were half-conscious. Shocked. You’d taken so much already that your mind did what it needed to do—shut down. To protect you.” Sara’s voice softened. “You stayed with me for weeks. We got you into a shelter first, then into your own apartment. You never said his name. I never knew who he was. Just that he had gotten you out. With everything that was going on, i even forgot he brought you to my apartment.”

James added quietly, “I tried to find you after that. I checked every shelter in the city. Every club. I had your scene name, but nothing else. You’d disappeared.”

Kai’s voice broke. “I had to disappear.”

“I know.” His voice was low. No anger. Just understanding.

“I went through a dark time for years,” she admitted. “I hide from anything that he could use to find me. No clubs. No scene. I rebuilt everything from scratch. When i got the cafes, i focused on my businesses. And Sara… she wasn’t just my therapist back then. She helped me survive.”

Sara nodded. “We ended our professional relationship after two years. But we stayed close. And when her parents moved four months ago, and didn’t want to leave the city because of work, we moved in together.”

Kai looked down at her hands. Her voice was barely audible. “And all this time… you’ve been there.”

James hesitated, then said, “I started seeing you perform at Midnight about a year ago. You were supposed to perform with Preston a few weeks ago, which i now know is the night you got stabbed, but at the time it only seemed like you vanished. No show. Then I saw you at the dojo.”

“You recognized my tattoos.”

“I always recognized you. With or without the mask. But at the dojo… I saw the injury. Saw you struggling. That’s when it all snapped into place.”

Silence.

Her jaw clenched, and she slowly looked up at him again. Her voice was quieter now. “Now i know why you make me feel safe. Even the first time i actually met you, my mind knew you wouldn’t hurt me. But-” Her voice caught. “Why didn’t you just tell me from the beginning? Why the mystery, the games?”

“I didn’t want to take the choice from you,” James said gently. “I didn’t want you to feel forced into remembering me… or into anything at all. I wanted you to come to it on your own. And when I realized who you were, I… I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t want to push you. You’d already been hurt enough.”

Kai didn’t respond right away. She simply looked at him. Seeing Duke and James in the same light for the first time. The man who had seen her at her most broken, and the man who’d held her in the dark without asking anything in return.

Her thoughts were a blur—confusion and gratitude, safety and betrayal. She wasn’t sure which voice to listen to. But she didn’t pull away. Didn’t run.

She looked down at her hands as she whispered, “I don’t know how to feel now.”

And James, voice quiet and honest, replied, “I understand.”