Chapter 106 DREAD

Chapter 106 DREAD
Kayden's POV

I glanced at the dashboard clock for what had to be the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes.

She should have been back by now.

My fingers tapped absently against the steering wheel before stopping altogether.

But I wasn't going to call her.

She had insisted she needed to see her mother alone. I did not want to be a distraction.

Maybe she decided to spend the evening there. Being with her mother now might make her feel better. She needed it.

I forced myself to accept it.

After she left, I called Louisa and ended everything over the phone.

I had wanted to do it face-to-face. That should be the decent thing to do.

But after learning that Sean's father was the man who had assaulted Alyssa years ago...

After watching her crumble in my arms...

After hearing her beg me not to chase justice because she wanted peace instead...

I wasn't in the right headspace to look Louisa in the eyes and pretend there was anything left between us.

There wasn't.

Not anymore.

My grip tightened around the steering wheel. This was Killian’s sport car. I borrowed it a couple of weeks ago after my car broke down. He had another. That boy was stinkingly richer than me. I only had one and Alyssa had borrowed it out earlier.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around that revelation. Sean’s father…

I wished he wasn’t friends with my father. But then, mine also was just as fucked up-maybe in a different way. 

Alyssa was the only reason those men were still breathing. I didn’t think any pedophile deserved to live. I was not capable enough of killing someone, but I could take actions against them that would make death feel like mercy.

But Alyssa… she didn’t want justice.

If she hadn't looked at me with those terrified eyes...

If she hadn't asked me for peace...

I didn't know what I would've done.

I exhaled heavily.

Maybe that was why I found myself driving toward Killian's apartment instead of sitting alone with my thoughts. 

Killian had been distant ever since he visited me after my suspension.

He barely answered my texts or returned my calls. The Kiliian I knew wouldn’t be so distant without me knowing why. He was the reason our friendship grew to be solid.

I was a grumpy motherfucker, but Killian’s ways influenced my personality. Even on days when I told him to fuck off, he always came back.

And I couldn’t help but value the friendship the way he did too. Not after he had made so much sacrifices to see me heal. He was my best friend. Forever.

Which was why me getting so worked up about him now was natural.

I didn’t pick him as the type to dwell on a problem or let it get to him to the extent that he would isolate himself. But then, I couldn’t tell. So I was going to find out.

My gaze shifted to Killian’s wristwatch resting on the passenger seat.

The same one I had picked up from the Jackman farm weeks ago. 

I had meant to return it earlier.

Today seemed as good a day as any.

Roughly twenty minutes later, I pulled into his compound.

A building of four flats sitting side by side with cream walls leading through a narrow corridor.

Killian stayed in the last flat.

I climbed out, pocketed his watch, slammed the door shut and walked toward his apartment.

As I walked through the silent corridor, I hoped he was around. Even if he wasn’t. I would wait.

I reached his door and raised my hand to knock but paused. 

A familiar perfume floated through the slightly opened window.

Jasmine with hints of vanilla. Something like that. 

I knew that scent.

My brows slowly knitted together. Since I had known that scent, I had never smelled it anywhere else.

Elena was- or is here?

My heartbeat slowed.

Why...

...was Elena here?

I stood motionless outside the door until voices drifted from the inside.

I couldn’t help it. I leaned forward, bared my ears, eavesdropping against my will. I was too curious not to.

"I can’t keep the pregnancy, Killian. It’s too risky." Elena murmured.

My hand froze inches from the door. Why was she here telling Killian about a pregnancy she had for Ryan?

"I can’t face the consequences." She added.

Killian’s low voice followed. "I already told you, Lena. I can’t risk your health.”

I swallowed.

His voice sounded exhausted, but I was silently losing it here.

"I want this baby. I promise I'll be there through every second of it. You're the only one who's still unsure."

Every muscle in my body locked.

No.

No.

No...

Elena sighed. "I wish I could keep the baby too, but…”

Her voice broke. "Look at us, Killian." 

“And what’s wrong with us?”

"You are my younger brother's best friend. No one would ever expect... this."

My chest caved in. I didn’t realize my hands were folding into tight fists. My mind was leaving my body.

Killian spoke again. “You care too much, Lena. But what actually matters is what we have between us.”

Silence.

“We make each other happy. You’re my own safe place, and I want to believe it's the same with you, Lena.”

“Killian…”

"So tell me one thing." A long silence followed. "Do you love me?"

I found myself holding my breath.

“That shouldn’t be a question. You know I do." Elena answered without hesitation. "It's the only reason Ryan is still my cover."

I made the mistake of peeping through the window and saw how they were. Elena was palming the side of his face and he was crouched on the floor, facing her sitting position on his very large bed— Bed where things had undoubtedly taken place between them.

My jaw clenched so hard I thought it would break. There was no proper word that could explain what I was feeling inside. 

"I don't want what we have to end. If Kayden finds out..." Her voice trembled. "...nothing will ever be the same again."

Killian chuckled. "Kayden will adjust.”

His voice carried the certainty of a man who had already made peace with the consequences.

"I love you more than breathing itself, Lena.”

I couldn’t wait here any longer. My restraint was hanging by a very loose thread.

Elena laughed through her tears. "Just kiss me."

Shit. No.

I kicked the door open so hard it slammed against the wall.

Both of them sprang apart.

Killian's hands were still on Elena's waist.

Neither had enough time to react before I hurled his wristwatch at him. The metal struck him squarely on the forehead.

He stumbled backward, grabbing his head.

Shock spread across both their faces as I faced Killian, “You’re wrong about one thing, Killian. I will never adjust.” 

“No…Kayden,” Elena panicked but I ignored her. I couldn’t look at her right now.

"I don't think I'll ever adjust to the fact that my best friend has been fucking my sister."

My fist connected with Killian's jaw before the last word finished leaving my mouth.

His head snapped violently to the side. He crashed into his dining table.

"Kayden!" Elena screamed, but red was all I saw.

I didn't hear her.

I grabbed Killian by the shirt before he could regain balance and drove another punch into his face.

Blood burst from his lip as he staggered. Perfect.

"Kayden!"

I delivered another punch, loaded with fury. This couldn’t be true. My elder sister and my best friend…

His nose exploded with blood.

"Listen to me—"

I hit him again.

"You son of a bitch!" I roared. "How long?"

Another punch. "How fucking long?"

Killian barely remained standing.

"Kayden..."

He spat blood onto the floor. "Calm down." I hated the fact that he didn’t sound angry like me. I wanted him to fucking fight. 

His calmness only enraged me further.

I grabbed his collar.

"No wonder."

My voice shook violently. "No fucking wonder."

I shoved him hard against the wall and things clattered to the floor around him.

"I found your watch on our farm."

I jabbed my finger into his chest.

"The same farm Elena kept disappearing to."

"I should've known."

I laughed bitterly.

"I should've fucking known you two were hiding something.”

I shook my head.

"I just…refused to believe my best friend could do this to me." My chest was rising and falling heavily now, my voice bearing the weight of it all.

Killian wiped blood from his mouth.

"I was going to tell you. I swear.”

"When?"

I barked. "After the baby starts walking?"

He remained silent, barely keeping himself upright.

Exactly.

I lunged again.

But Elena suddenly threw herself between us.

She spread both arms, her face already covered with tears. "Don't, Kayden.”

I stared at her, feeling disappointed. "Move."

She didn't.

"I said move."

More tears streamed down her face.

"No."

I looked at her like I had never seen her before.

"You'd stand in front of him?"

She nodded.

"If you want to hit him again...You'll have to go through me first."

The room became impossibly still.

I searched her face. 

I swallowed hard for what seemed like the…how many times again?

"You really want to be with him?" I asked.

She broke into sobs but she nodded.

"I love him, Kayden."

The words landed like bullets in my guts.

Something inside me simply… Stopped.

I looked at Killian. Then Elena.

Then back again.

I shook my head slowly.

"I don't even know either of you anymore." 

Without another word, I turned and stormed out.

By the time I flagged a cab, my breathing had become ragged.

I left the bastard’s car in his compound.

Elena…pregnant for Killian. Fucking fucked up.

"Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. How would I get out of this? How was I supposed to make sense of it?

Elena, Killian, and I…we were very close. We went to the karaoke together and she watched us sing…called us her little brothers. But it turned out I was the only little one.

At what point had Killian started to look grown enough in her eyes? When he started gyming? Winning matches along my side for Calderon? Or when he became the face of Jelkins clothing brand?

When?

How did I miss it? I must have been so ignorant that I didn’t see signs till the extent that they f…ked a baby out of each other.

I couldn't even process which betrayal hurt more.

My sister. Or my best friend.

Or the fact that both of them believed I would simply...Adjust.

My phone rang.

I didn't even check the caller.

"Alyssa?" I answered immediately, hoping it was her. I needed to hear her voice right now like I needed air.

Instead, an older man's anxious voice replied.

"Kayden?" I quickly glanced at the caller ID. Mr. Bennett. Louisa's father. "I was hoping you knew where Louisa is." He said.

My brows furrowed.

"I don’t.” I answered curtly, ready to end the call, but a heavy sigh echoed through the speaker.

"She called me earlier and I picked. But it was her screams I heard.” He revealed.

As much as I couldn't find it in me to want to pay attention, it was impossible not to.

His voice, though audible, had fear written all over it.

"I kept shouting her name, but then the line went dead. I've gone to the house and she's not there." 

I sighed.  "I don't know where she is. I’m Sorry, Mr Bennett.” 

I rubbed my forehead.

"I honestly don't know where she is. If I hear anything...I'll let you know."

He thanked me before ending the call.

I heard the driver asking if I was okay but I couldn’t answer him.

An uneasy feeling crawled beneath my skin. I didn’t know where the sharp instinct came from, but I started to dial Alyssa's contact.

‘Switched off.’

My pulse quickened as I dialed again, but the feedback was the same thing.

She said she was going to her mother. I searched for Miranda’s contact and dialed.

She answered on the first ring. "Kayden?"

“Is Alyssa there with you?” I asked immediately.

She paused before she answered. "I was just about to call her again. She was coming to me but it’s been more than two hours since she called and haven’t gotten here yet.”

My grip tightened around the phone. 

I hated the feeling that just crept through my skin.