Chapter 75 77

Chapter 75 77
KILLIAN WILDE.

I stared at the screen for a long moment following the first realization of what I had read, then read it for the second time just to make sure I had read it right the first time. 

I could not help the scoff that followed afterwards.

The audacity she has. The sheer nerve of her to do this though deep down, it really is not that surprising. I know Savannah. I know the things she is capable of and so far, all that she has done tonight so far very much sounded like what she would do.

There is no mistaking it. 

But for her to show  up at a club to meet Lara then say whatever she did to her, and now this, texting me like nothing had happened, like we were still something, like I would actually want to see her and she somehow believes it would make me fall for her crap…

I clenched my jaw so hard it ached.

I glanced over at Lara’s direction again. She had not moved, still curled up peacefully, completely unaware of any of this, clearly had not once stirred since my tetun. The last thing and I mean  the very last thing I wanted was for Savanna to show up here. At my building. In the middle of the night. And for Lara to wake up to that. Or worse, to come downstairs and walk straight into it.

I was not about to let that happen. I will not subject Lara to that.

I dropped my phone down on the table, then dragged a hand down my face, and pushed myself up off the bed. My body protested every movement, every muscle screaming at me to just lie back down and deal with this in the morning. But there was no version of "in the morning" that ended well if Savanna actually showed up here tonight. What I would encounter in the morning would be far worse than this.

I grabbed a random hoodie from the closet, the first I had set my sights on and then pulled it on over my head. Then I glanced back at Lara one more time before quietly slipping out of the room after picking up my phone and taking it along with me. I pulled the door shut gently behind me, leaving it open just a crack so I would hear if she woke up.

The elevator ride down felt like it took forever. I kept checking my phone, half expecting another message, half hoping she had changed her mind though I knew otherwise. Neither happened. The numbers on the display ticked down slowly as the elevator went down 12, 11, 10, and with each floor, the irritation in my chest grew even more than before, more focused.

I had not seen Savanna since that day at my parent’s house on Christmas Eve, and even before that, we hadn’t had a single thing ongoing in months. I had made it clear, the last time, that whatever we had and even calling it that was generous  was done. Completely. 

There was nothing left to revisit, nothing left to discuss. She knows  how this works, finding one’s mate and all and what it means for the pack as well.   I thought that had been clear enough. Apparently not.

This is what I get for being involved with her in the first place.

The elevator doors slid open onto the lobby, and I stepped out, my eyes immediately scanning the space. The night doorman was at his desk, looking slightly tense, like he had been dealing with something he was not quite sure how to handle.

And there she was.

Savanna stood near the entrance, already past the front desk, already moving toward the elevators like she had every right to be there. She was dressed like she had come straight from the club,  a tight black dress, hair styled perfectly, lips painted a deep red. The moment she saw me, her face lit up, like she had been waiting all night just for this.

"Killian!" She called out in a high pitched tone, her voice carrying easily across the quiet lobby. "I was just coming up to find you."

"You need to leave." I said, keeping my voice low and even, though every word came out sharper than I intended. I crossed the distance between us quickly, putting myself between her and the elevators. "Now."

"That is not a very nice greeting." She tilted her head, completely unfazed, her eyes moving over me slowly, taking in the hoodie, the sweats, my obviously tired and irritated expression. "I came all this way to see you."

"I do not care how far you came." I said. "You should not have come at all. And what the hell were you doing tonight, going up to Lara like that? What did you say to her?"

Something flickered across her face at that, a flash of satisfaction, but that disappeared as quick as it came. "Oh, did she tell you about that?" She said it lightly, like it was nothing, like it did not matter at all. "We just talked. Girl talk."

"Savanna—"

"I missed you." She cut me off, stepping closer, her voice dropping into something softer, something that used to work on me once and clearly still thought it could. "I know it has been a while. I know things ended not in the best foot. But I have been thinking about you, Killian. About us."

"There is no us." I said flatly. "There never really was, not the way you think. And whatever this is, whatever you think you are doing tonight, it ends right now. You do not come here again. You do not approach Lara again. Are we clear?"

She did not answer.

Instead, before I could react, before I could even step back, she closed the remaining distance between us, threw her arms around my neck, and pressed her lips against mine.