Obsession (Dangerous Love #1)

CHAPTER 20

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THE TRAITOROUS ALLY

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It was the first time Harris had driven slowly, but the moment demanded it. The car moved lazily along the empty road, the engine was barely audible, and I felt like I was floating on a fluffy cloud.

I was fully immersed in Harris’ arms, this time in a more comfortable position. I was still lying on his lap, but my back was leaning against the window of his door and my feet were resting on the passenger seat.

I wasn’t really sleepy, but Harris’ slow and steady breathing put me in a dreamy state.

I leaned forward, letting my head fall onto his bare chest and glued my ear to his beating heart. It was so warm in the car, so pleasant, even though we had put our clothes back on before we left and they were still damp.

We’d lost track of time while we’d been together, hours had become minutes, and it was easy to see that as I watched the sun slowly rise.

We had both explored, touched and kissed until there were no secrets left about our bodies, nothing he didn’t know about me and I about him.

I touched his chest with my fingertips, his skin still hot to the touch as, luckily for me, he had kept his T-shirt. My touch traveled over the hawk’s perfectly drawn wings, then I moved lower, where the two wolf pups I knew nothing about rested.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked, touching my fingertip to the paw of the one on the right.

Harris lowered his eyes to me and noticed what I was concentrating on. He had both hands on the steering wheel while one arm rested on my lap and the other cradled my back.

“It’s… difficult to explain,” he said with a small frown and looked straight ahead again.

I looked at him confused, because so far he had no problem telling me what his tattoos meant.

“Does each tattoo have a specific meaning to you?” I bit my lip and tried not to push him.

It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about it, and I knew better than anyone how unpleasant it was to explain things that you didn’t like remembering. And that was exactly what I saw on Harris face when I had opened the subject of that particular tattoo.

“Almost,” he replied dryly, frowning as his eyes remained fixed on the road.

I bit my lip, then pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. I wasn’t going to stress him out about it, even if he had been open about his tattoos up until now. I knew that those wolf pups, who seemed to be suffering and trying to reach each other, had an important meaning to Harris.

He wore a necklace that I’d seen every time he wasn’t wearing a T-shirt, but when he was fully clothed, he kept it under.

Reluctantly, I took it between my fingers. It was some kind of old silver coin pendant hanging from a thin black leather strap. The edges of the coin consisted of a snake biting its tail, with impressive detail. On one side was the letter H, which did not appear to be part of the design but scratched in with a sharp object and I assumed it was Harris’ initial, while the other side read ‘Everything had a beginning and an end ’ in small lettering.

I thought about it for a few moments, then realized that was the meaning of the snake biting its own tail.

Ouroboros.

The cycle of life.

The beginning and the end.

I bit my lip and became more and more confused. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but even though Harris allowed me to study him, he didn’t seem eager to explain anything to me. I was sure this had an important meaning to him too, or maybe it was just a simple necklace, but simple things didn’t seem to be part of Harris’ life.

When I sensed him growing agitated, I released the pendant from my grip and rested my head on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, he parked in front of the garage. I couldn’t go home without my shoes and in only my bra. After everything I’d done, I had to at least have the decency to enter my house dressed. As I moved to sit back in my seat, Harris took my chin between his fingers.

“I promise I’ll tell you one day, but I can’t right now. There’s far too long a story behind it.”

His mind had stayed on what had happened earlier, on the tattoo and the pendant.

I smiled and kissed him, because a promise like that was just as important as the story itself. After a tender kiss, he helped me sit back down in my seat – the one my butt hadn’t touched all night.

Damp jeans felt awful. Goosebumps covered my skin, and I rubbed my arms a little before opening the door and getting out of the car.

The cold, wet sidewalk felt extraordinary against my cold bare feet. I immediately started to shiver. The rain had stopped, but the cold was still very much present. The light outside was barely visible, and it should have been stronger because the sun was rising, but the thick clouds that still crowded the sky kept the sun hidden.

Harris appeared beside me, and I expected him to hold my hand, but he picked me up “bridal style.”

“What are you doing?” I flinched in surprise.

“I am carrying you in,” he replied smiling slightly and hugged me closer to his chest as he felt my body tremble.

He didn’t put me down until we reached his room.

His simple, spontaneous gestures were the most surprising and amazing.

Fifteen minutes later, Harris parked in front of my house.

My father’s car was parked in the alley.

I rubbed my temples, which threatened a headache, and mentally prepared myself for what was to follow. Harris took my chin between his fingers and leaned closer. We were both decent now. I’d borrowed some dry clothes from V, but we didn’t have time to shower.

“Do you want me to go in with you?”

I blinked a few times, shocked.

“And what will you say?”

“That we’re together now and I’m to blame for your disappearance last night.” His bravery still surprised me sometimes, and I giggled.

“Thank you, babe, but I plan on my dad liking you in the near future.”

He smiled.

“I plan on that, too.”

“Which is why you shouldn’t take the blame now.”

He looked at my house and weighed his options. I knew he wasn’t afraid to meet my father, he hadn’t been afraid when he’d snuck into my room either, and there had not been anything between us then.

“It’s your choice,” he finally said.

I smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

“When do you want me to pick you up?”

I grabbed his hand and looked at the smartwatch on his wrist. It was just over five in the morning.

“In an hour and a half.”

“Okay.”

This time he was the one kissing me, much deeper as he massaged my neck and grabbed my damp hair in his fist.

“Go,” he moaned over my lips, then gritted his teeth.

His obvious struggle made me smile. After last night and everything that had happened between us in his car, his resistance was wearing thin. That pleased me a little too much as I waited with devilish satisfaction for him to give in.

His mouth collided with mine again.

“I can’t really leave if you won’t let me,” I laughed against his lips, and he smiled and pulled back.

“I’ll never let you go,” he said after I got out of the car and turned to face him.

Everything inside me started to burn.

I forced myself to smile without melting, closed the door and stumbled to the house.

Any hint of arousal inside me evaporated when I entered the kitchen and saw my dad.

Oh, damn it, this wasn’t going to be easy.

He was sitting on a stool, one arm propped up on the table while his eyes looked out the window. I knew exactly where he was looking because Harris hadn’t left yet, but the most shocking detail about my dad was his clothing.

He was wearing a firefighter uniform, dirty with ash, as were his hands and face. He had had a rough night.

I hadn’t seen my father like that for a long time, and painful needles pierced my heart as the memories resurfaced. Every time a strong fire broke out somewhere, my mother wouldn’t sleep a wink, especially at night. She would walk around, lost in thought, until he came back, and then the relief on her face would light up the whole house when she saw him come into the house, exhausted, dirty, but safe.

Now he was exhausted, dirty and safe… too… but no one had been waiting for him.

I swallowed my tears and went to the fridge to turn my back on him. At that moment, I heard Harris’ car drive away. He’d probably waited to make sure all hell didn’t break loose immediately.

I took out a water bottle, even though a cup of coffee would have helped more.

When I turned back to my father, he was already looking at me.

Completely creepy.

I sat down next to him.

“You didn’t tell me you had a new job,” I started the conversation, pointing at his uniform.

I’d known since I’d found it in the laundry bin.

He frowned at me.

“I’m having a hell of a time keeping my cool right now, Katherine, especially after the night I’ve had. We are not talking about my job right now.”

I sighed and opened the bottle.

“That was Harris, I was with him last night.”

The fist on the table clenched. He didn’t need to ask what we’d done, the bite marks on my neck told a pretty clear story.

“And why did you turn off your cell phone?”

“My battery died.”

He held out his hand.

“I want to see it.”

Fuck!

I took it out of my pocket and handed it to him, and he quickly turned it on, but it seemed like my guardian angel had finally woken up from his slumber and decided to help me at least once, because my battery was really dead and wouldn’t turn on.

My dad handed it back to me and rubbed his palms over his face.

“You’re eighteen, I’ll try to keep that in mind before I lock you in your room. I’m not saying you should not go out or have a relationship, but if you go out and I call, I want you to answer. You could have asked for a charger, so stop looking for excuses.

I swallowed my words and nodded.

“And him?” He jerked his head toward the window as if Harris was still there. “Out of everyone in this town, you had to pick the worst of them?”

That made me frown.

“You don’t know him, Dad. Don’t judge him by his car. He’s not some conceited kid born with money.”

“No, he’s worse than that, from what Josh told me. You think I didn’t ask around after you defended him?”

I struggled not to swallow because I was starting to hate his family again, that family that always had something to say about everyone.

“And what exactly did Josh say?” I asked mockingly, taking a sip of water.

His face was serious as he looked at me, then he sighed and stood up.

“It doesn’t matter, I know you well enough to know that you won’t listen to me no matter what I say.”

I pressed my lips together to stifle a smile, my father’s capitulation was funny because he was probably too exhausted to fight me.

He went to the sink to wash his hands.

“I was hoping this town would be a fresh start for us, that it would be quiet.”

I didn’t answer, just looked down at my knee, which I kept moving left and right.

“What did you skip school for yesterday? And why did three boys get into a fight because of you?”

Of course that bitch of a principal had called him.

“They weren’t fighting because of me, Dad. One of them… came on to me the first week and I turned him down, and now he hates me. Yesterday he messed with me and Harris beat him up. The third guy saw us and helped get him away from me.”

Well, they had clearly been fighting because of me, but it sent shivers down my spine thinking about the incident and that psychopath Joshua.

My father turned to me.

“What do you mean he messed with you? What did he do?”

The protective father returned, and I smiled.

“He didn’t have the opportunity to do anything, he’s a maniac. I think he’s still being detained.”

He muttered a curse.

“I’ll talk to the principal about it next time she calls. She didn’t mention any of this to me.”

I smiled cheerfully again because he believed me.

He pointed to the window.

“And you trust him?”

Harris had asked me the same question a few times last night.

“Yes, Dad.”

I knew there were a lot of things he wanted to tell me, but he didn’t.

“Are you doing drugs again?”

Ugh!

“I’m trying… not to. Actually, Harris is the only one who takes my mind off it completely. I’m happy when I’m with him, and I don’t feel the … Need for drugs.”

It was weird talking to my dad about it because we’d never talked about boys before, not even when I was with Roger. My mother knew everything, but he acted like Roger was some kind of seasonal flu that would soon pass, and he was really glad when it did.

Now he knew it was different, and he tried to be understanding.

Eventually, he just nodded.

“Just promise me again that you’re being smart about this, that you won’t let him influence you and that you won’t break your heart over him.”

Since that was also my biggest fear, I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded.

Even though he was dirty and smelled like smoke, I stood up and walked towards him, then hugged him.

“I promise,” I whispered into his shoulder, because he wanted to hear it.

He held me tightly and sighed into my hair.

“Did you have a hard night?”

“You have no idea, this city is nothing like I remembered it. There used to be no races here, at least not this many.”

My eyes widened, thank God he hadn’t seen me.

“Races?” I asked, and pulled back. “What’s your job got to do with it?”

“A lot, when cars burst into flames,” my heart skipped a beat, “There were two accidents and one car exploded. Fortunately, the driver was able to get out beforehand.”

Oh God!

“Then there was a restaurant fire, the storm helped contain the flames, but it was still a terrible night.”

I kept thinking about the accidents and the burning car.

Those were the effects of those races, and I had gotten so caught up in the madness that I didn’t realize what was happening behind the show. Harris and the others hadn’t had accidents, but normal people had because of them.

I was still shaking when I walked out of the kitchen.

“Katherine!” he called my name as my foot touched the first step of the stairs.

He looked back at the window.

“One of the victims described a lightning-fast car, blacker than anything he’s ever seen.”

He turned and looked at me, and I froze.

“There are a lot of black sports cars in Seattle.” I found the strength to say calmly.

“There are a lot of nice guys, too, with no criminal records, but we’re not talking about them right now.”

His perspicacity was sometimes as sharp as a dagger, but I just nodded and went back up the stairs, having no idea what to say, how much my father suspected about Harris and how much he knew for sure. I didn’t even want to think about how he knew about his record, even I didn’t know about it.

When I got to my room, I threw myself on the bed and stared at the ceiling for about ten minutes, because my life had become more interesting and more complicated at the same time.

I nearly crawled to the bathroom and took a shower, then swallowed some cold medicine as a precaution after last night.

The sun seemed to be making an appearance, so I dressed accordingly, in a black, short and sleeveless bodycon dress, over which I threw a leather jacket and a pair of combat boots.

As I passed in front of the mirror, I stopped and stared at myself, then started to laugh.

I had straightened my hair and applied my makeup with the utmost care, unlike the last few days when I had walked out of the house looking like a depressed, unkempt woman.

What an effect a boyfriend had on me. Or a demon…

Still amused, I shoved the books and notebooks for today into my backpack and silently prayed that I wouldn’t get one or more F’s today.

Feeling utterly evil, I rummaged through my makeup bag for the red lipstick.

That red lipstick.

It had probably been created with female spells, because it was just as resistant as it said on the packaging and was a pain to remove, but it was perfect for lips that were going to be kissed a lot. I had never seen myself blonde and with red lipstick.

Today was going to be interesting.

I heard the engine before he parked in front of my house.

Pleasant warmth spread through my body and I left my room, realizing my father was in his bedroom, probably already asleep.

I walked down the stairs as quietly as I could and locked the door behind me.

Harris had gotten out of the car and was waiting for me in his usual spot, leaning against the side of his car, and I noticed his expression change as I approached him.

He was handsome, as always. He had showered, his hair was still a little damp and pushed back, and his green eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. He was wearing his usual black clothes, and I could have sworn his muscles were tighter than before. He had been working out.

His massive arms were folded in front of his chest as I stopped in front of him and gave him an innocent smile.

“Fucking hell,” was all he said, his breathing heavy as he looked me up and down repeatedly.

“Hello to you too, baby,” I whispered over his lips, then opened the door and got inside the car.

He seemed frozen for a few seconds, ran his fingers through his hair a few times, then crossed in front of the car and sat behind the wheel.

In my head, I was grinning like a devil while on the outside, I was feigning innocence.

He looked directly at me, at my lips to be exact.

He pushed his chair back and grinned in the most devilish way, and I knew exactly what that gesture meant, so I didn’t wait for him to ask; I grabbed his shoulders and straddled him like I had last night. Both of his palms grabbed my ass, and he squeezed.

“Do you have any idea what I’m going to do to you today?” he said over my lips, and I just grinned, then he attacked me with a wild kiss, just as I had expected.

He sped up at the same time and I laughed against his lips, but only until his fingers snuck under my dress and reached the right spot.

During French class, I couldn’t control my body because of the feelings Harris evoked in me with his eyes alone.

We were sitting in the same places as the first week when he had entered the class after beating Joshua.

It seemed like months had passed since then.

So much had changed, especially his eyes, which no longer carried any confusion, curiosity, or frustration. He now knew exactly who I was, what I was and what I meant to him.

While the teacher wrote something on the blackboard and spoke in French, I struggled to understand her, but it was almost impossible. I turned my gaze to him and smiled, silently asking him to let me concentrate. The smile he gave me let me know that he had no intention of doing so.

I could still feel his touch on me…. inside me. Everything he had done to me before we had arrived at school. My lips were still burning, even though more than an hour had passed since then.

He was sitting leisurely behind his desk as always, and all I wanted to do was sit on his lap and kiss him until he lost his mind.

Just when I thought it was too much, he’d finished me off completely by catching his tongue between his teeth and looking at me seductively, the way a decadent demon would.

I leaned against the back of my chair and clenched my fists on my thighs because it was getting unbearable.

While he pretended to read something in the book, he placed a hand on the desk and subtly lifted his fingers.

Those fingers.

Slowly, and maddeningly, he began to move them, just as he had moved them in me.

Devil take me!

I squeezed my thighs together and pushed my head into my notebook. I could feel their effect on me, even though they weren’t inside me.

When I looked at him, he was grinning like a devil, still pretending to read from that damn book, then he touched his fingers to his lips and I moaned in my head until I went crazy.

The rest of the hour passed like a year in hell. Hot air blew past my lips as the bell rang and the teacher left the classroom. I had finished another class without a bad grade.

I stood up before he did.

“You’re diabolical,” I whispered in his ear as I leaned down towards him.

He looked at me with a smile of untainted innocence. Hypocritical devil. He stood up and leaned down to whisper back:

“I just wanted to show you what you’re in for before lunch.”

He bit my earlobe, grabbed my hand and led me out of the classroom. I went after him like a cat in heat because I was no longer able to think logically.

I didn’t even pay attention to the stares directed at us because I was focusing all my energy on Harris.

He didn’t even try to hide it as he pulled me with him into an empty room, closed the door behind us and then pushed me to the back.

We were in the chemistry lab; I realized that when a series of glass tubes fell to the floor after Harris lifted me up and sat me on a desk.

The glass shattered and dozens of shards scattered, just like the sensations inside me.

His kiss exploded the pressure bomb, and I groaned without struggling to suppress it. His palms slid under my dress, over my thighs and up my hips. He lifted me a little, just enough to grab my underwear and pull it down my legs, then he bent down.

I whimpered and held my palm over my mouth to stifle a cry of pleasure.

I felt his mouth and fingers at the same time after he lifted my legs over his shoulders.

“Have you been this wet during class?” he moaned against my skin, but I wasn’t able to answer, so I just pulled his hair.

My head fell back and the first thing I saw was the security cameras.

“Harris… Cameras,” I mumbled, biting my lip to stifle my moan.

“I took care of it, baby. Relax.”

And, fuck, that’s exactly what I did.

***

When Harris parked in front of my house, all I wanted to do was sleep or gulp a gallon of coffee.

In the last few hours, the lack of sleep from the previous night had taken its toll on me; cheer practice had exhausted me physically and mentally, especially considering Amber’s raging temper tantrums, who had really gone crazy today, yelling at anyone unlucky enough to be in her way.

I had heroically held back because I didn’t want to fight fire with fire, even if I had found it hard not to punch her in the face a few times.

Harris was with me now, and she had to accept it. I hadn’t broken up a marriage, I hadn’t ruined a serious relationship, so I was done feeling guilty about it.

And because that wasn’t enough, I also had detention, which passed frighteningly slow because we had a nasty supervisor who wouldn’t let us talk at all. It was the two of us, Ken and another boy.

Joshua hadn’t come today, at least a good sign.

“Want to come in?” I asked when I noticed Dad’s car wasn’t in the alley.

“We could go to my place, the others want to have a barbecue later.”

That sounded really good, but I had to at least do my math homework because I’d only gotten away with a warning today.

“Okay, but…” I didn’t have time to finish because a car drove past and stopped right in front of us.

It was a black BMW SUV, which I’d never seen before, and Harris and I frowned at the same time.

Dozens of people came to mind, but not him.

Shit! Fucking fuck!

Adam got out of the car and looked at the house, then at his phone, probably to make sure he was in the right place. I’d given him my address last week, but I’d completely forgotten about him.

He looked at our car but couldn’t see inside.

“Who is he?” Harris asked, his eyes narrowing in a dangerous way.

“A friend from New York.”

That was all I said, then opened the door and got out of the car. I didn’t see his reaction, and it was for the best.

Adam smiled as soon as he saw me and marched towards me. I couldn’t help but smile back, as I had missed the giant and was glad to see him, especially as I hadn’t heard from him in the last few days.

“Finally! I thought you wanted to get rid of me.”

He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly, then lifted me up.

He used to do that all the time, but now I was sure a certain someone wouldn’t approve of the gesture.

I heard a door slam behind us.

“Me? I have been calling you all last week. I thought something had happened to you. Nicky was very worried.”

“Sorry I didn’t answer, I’ve been busy with the project.”

He was talking to me, but looking behind me.

His arms were still around me and I pulled back slowly, then turned to Harris.

Oh, that criminal look on his face was one hundred percent there. Just peachy!

“Harris, this is a very good friend from New York, Adam. Adam, this is my boyfriend, Harris.”

I hoped the introduction would help. I looked at Harris.

It didn’t.

“Boyfriend?” Adam repeated, raising an eyebrow.

I looked at him like I was scolding him not to make it worse.

“Nice to meet you!”

Adam extended a friendly hand to Harris, and I almost sighed in relief, but then I noticed that Harris didn’t return the gesture, instead scanning my friend as if he was considering which part of his body to hit first.

“It might not be so nice to meet me anytime soon.”

I didn’t know how to react, I just looked at the two of them, because I had expected their meeting to be bad, but not this bad.

“Hmm, so you’re that kind of boyfriend,” Adam concluded, his expression changing as well.

Harris took a step forward and immediately put his arm around my waist.

As unobtrusive as a bulldozer.

“No, I’m worse than that kind of boyfriend .”

“Okay,” I stepped in before they could get into a fight outside the house. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the old lady across the street pretending to take care of her flowers, but she was watching us as if we were some children ruining the future of the planet.

I closed my eyes and let out a short sigh.

“Let’s go inside.”

I didn’t add anything more, and neither did they, so I signaled Adam to go ahead, and I used the few seconds to give Harris a scowl. He pretended not to notice.

Harris was as tense as an alpha male whose territory was under attack as I unlocked the door and stepped in first, barely suppressing the instinct to roll my eyes.

“Nice house, Sif,” Adam said, looking around.

I tried to relax and smiled at him.

“Thanks.”

“Sif?”

Adam gave Harris a mischievous grin, and I was sure he’d called me that on purpose.

“It’s a nickname,” I explained quickly.

Adam just smirked, because he was sure Harris was going to ask questions later, and I really wasn’t in the mood to answer them.

“Adam, sit down. I’ll get you a drink. Harris, you come with me.”

I gave the orders and the one who didn’t follow them would get a thrashing from me, then I walked into the kitchen and my asshole of a boyfriend followed me.

I thought about attacking him once we were alone, even wanted to punch him in the shoulder, but he attacked me first as he grabbed my hips and pushed me against the wall, his breath reaching my lips.

“You have five seconds to tell me who this fucker is before I snap his neck.”

I looked at him in shock, but it was hard to stay angry when the asshole knew exactly how to touch me. The anger was evident on his face, but he was gently massaging my hips, and my brain couldn’t process that combination.

“He’s a friend,” I whispered. “Calm down, for Christ’s sake.”

“Were you two together?”

I rolled my eyes.

“No, not even for a second, so please, calm down.”

He tried, but he couldn’t. I frowned and slowly pushed him away to go to the fridge.

“It’s okay to be jealous, but please don’t overdo it,” I warned him, walking out of the kitchen with a bottle of Coke and three glasses.

Harris followed me, his body vibrating behind me as the anger inside him became static.

Adam was aware of the tension between us and stopped trying to be friendly with Harris. Judging by his face, I understood immediately that he didn’t like him.

“Did you just get here?” I asked as I busied myself with the soda.

Harris offered to open the bottle and pour it while I held glass after glass.

I wanted to kiss him and punch him at the same time. He was probably muttering curses in his head as he poured into Adam’s glass.

“This morning, but I’ve taken care of the space and everything we need for the shoot. Everything’s in place.”

Adam smiled tensely, but not because of Harris. He knew I could refuse him, since he hadn’t said anything in days.

Harris looked at him, frowning.

“What kind of shoot?”

“Photos. I’m a photographer,” Adam smiled as he made himself comfortable on the couch.

“No shit,” Harris commented.

I downed half a glass of Coke and Harris turned to me.

“Are you that passionate about photography, baby?”

I took another sip while I searched for my words, because that sweet tone of his didn’t fool me. He was referring to last night and the photos we had taken together.

“She’s the model,” Adam replied before I did, even though it was completely unnecessary.

Oh, for fuck’s sake ! Now I was sure Harris wanted to throw the glass at his head as he growled through his teeth.

“I didn’t ask you! Shut the fuck up when she’s supposed to speak.” I let out a deep sigh, and the way he had spoken had also… turned me on? Yes. Damn it!

I shook my head.

“It’s for college. Adam got accepted to NYU, and he has a project, um…what was it called?” I turned to him,

“Colored Dust Artists.”

“Right. He asked me for help and … since I was a so-called artist a while back, I decided to help him out.”

Harris liked the idea less and less. He downed the glass in one gulp and held back from doing God knows what.

“It won’t take long, Kath, I promise. I just need two or three good photos.”

“Now?” I replied, shocked.

Adam just nodded, seemingly embarrassed.

“Hmm, looks like I’ve found something to do for the rest of the afternoon,” Harris grinned devilishly and poured himself another glass.

What was I supposed to say?

Don’t come with us because it’s very possible you and Adam will get into a fight and I don’t want to ruin what’s just started between us?

Adam scowled and clearly did not want Harris there.

I was about to scold them both to stop frowning when the doorbell rang.

I thanked the gods in my head, I had never been so happy to hear that sound.

“Calm down,” I raised my index finger at both of them.

Adam nodded, Harris frowned at him, and I sighed again.

I walked to the door and rubbed my forehead with my fingertips. Harris growled something, but I didn’t understand him as I opened the door and thought of a strategy to get the two of them to get along, but all strategies fell flat when I saw the tall silhouette in front of me.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered through my teeth.

As if I didn’t have enough problems already.

Shane raised an eyebrow and looked at me from above. I saw him in full gear for the first time, bulletproof vest over his T-shirt and his gun holstered. Combat boots, gloves, and his badge pinned to his belt.

This wasn’t good.

“Has something happened?”

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. It wasn’t that shocking that he’d called, but I hadn’t expected him to show up at my door because of it, especially not in his deadly soldier outfit.

I ran my fingers through my hair, remembering that my phone had been dead since last night. I’d forgotten to charge it in the morning.

“My phone is dead.”

“I’ve been calling you since this morning, Katherine.”

“Yeah, it’s been dead since last night.”

“You don’t say,” he narrowed his eyes at me as if he already knew that.

I exhaled through my nose and turned my head towards the hallway, Harris was still talking to Adam, too distracted to figure out what was going on at the door.

“Now’s really not a good time, Shane,” I whispered, and he pulled a paper out of his vest pocket and showed it to me.

“I’d say it’s a fantastic time.”

My eyes widened as I looked at the photo. It was of me, last night. A surveillance camera had captured my face clearly. I was in the place where the race had ended, in Harris’ arms. His face was clearly visible too, but my damn features were perfectly recognizable.

Shane walked past me before I could stop him and entered the house, just like that.

I stood frozen for a second, wondering if it wouldn’t be better to just run away because I didn’t want to be a part of what was about to happen in my living room.

Running was definitely out of the question, not when I heard Harris going berserk.

I immediately shut the door and sprinted into the living room.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

I managed to jump in front of Harris before he could attack Shane, who casually pulled out his gun and showed it to Harris.

“Don’t be stupid, Stone. I’m in no mood to put a bullet in you that I’ll have to report later.”

Harris hadn’t been angry at Adam’s appearance, I could see that now. Adam had frustrated him at best. Shane, on the other hand, had activated that criminal, dangerous side of him.

As if Shane was a danger to me, Harris grabbed me and pulled me behind him.

“What are you doing in her house?”

I could feel his vibrating anger running down his spine. Adam stood up and eyed them both warily.

Shane didn’t answer, just showed Harris the picture, and I felt my boyfriend tense up as Shane smirked.

“You guys are always changing the damn location, but I got you this time. And look how beautiful Katherine looks in this photo.”

I walked past Harris and looked at him, while anger began to burn inside me as well. I had been so stupid to trust that asshole.

“What do you want?” I asked.

He looked at me, the anger on my face wiping away his smirk.

“Nothing from you, Katherine. Actually, I just saved your ass. My lieutenant wanted to get a warrant out for your arrest, but I convinced him not to.” He immediately turned his gaze to Harris, and I knew he hadn’t done it for me.

“Warrants don’t work on you, but they do on her…”

Harris stepped toward him, but I grabbed his hand.

“If you believe that, you’re even dumber than I thought, Walker. You’ll never touch her.”

Shane just smiled and pulled out a walkie-talkie.

“You want to see it? I have a team nearby, ready to pick her up. You’re alone, you don’t even have a gun on you.”

Harris gritted his teeth, every muscle in his body tensing, a vein pumping at his temple.

“You made a mess last night, four accidents, one of which involved a burning car and a hospitalized driver. Katherine would have been in deep shit if that man had died. We have already picked up about ten vandals that we caught on camera last night. You didn’t know about them, did you? You’re a lot harder to catch because my superiors want you for something else, so they won’t even bother arresting you for those street races, but they can arrest her,” he jerked his head in my direction, “they’ll have so much fun accusing her of a lot of things, and considering she was in your car, it’s possible she’ll even get a few years in prison.”

I turned to stone.

The situation had gotten out of hand far too quickly, and I felt my stomach turn.

Harris didn’t allow himself to be manipulated.

“Katherine wasn’t behind the wheel for a second. She had nothing to do with this, you can’t arrest her.”

Shane smiled in frustration.

“Legally, I can’t, but considering the disaster you left behind, she’ll be interviewed as a witness, and from then on I won’t have to explain what’s going to happen. They’ll question her and bombard her with really uncomfortable questions, put her on the spot for hours, for as long as it takes, until they get something out of her.”

Harris looked at me with blazing eyes, guilt written all over his face like an open wound. He had brought me there, he knew that, and he was filled with rage and pain.

“What the fuck do you want?” he finally growled, glaring at Shane.

I could feel him giving in, and I didn’t like it.

“A statement. A real one this time, about Gunn.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Shane exhaled through his nose. Harris’s answer had been very brutal.

“Are you sure you want this, Stone?”

“Fuck you! You’re asking that under the guise of protecting Katherine? You’re not so stupid that you don’t know what will happen after, are you?”

I didn’t understand what Harris was talking about, but Shane seemed to, because he looked at me.

That’s when I figured it out.

Gunn.

I finally had a name. His boss, the man for whom he did whatever the fuck he did. If he betrayed him to protect me, he would take revenge on me.

Horror spread through me and I felt the need to sit down. Somehow Adam had gotten to me and was apparently trying to get me away from them.

“Fine! Then information about the convoy that attacked Belltown last month.”

“I have no idea who it was.”

Shane’s jaw clenched.

“This is the last chance I’m going to give you, Stone. Don’t think I’m going to beg. Either you tell me everything you know about the attack, or I’ll call my team to pick up Katherine. You have five seconds to decide.”

He held the walkie-talkie in one hand and his gun in the other. I looked at him with anger and pain because I wanted to rip the gun out of his hand and put a bullet in his forehead.

I had trusted him. What an idiot I had been.

“Fine!” Harris relented.

I looked at him, startled. I had no idea what attack they were talking about, or what people, but I knew that wasn’t the sort of thing you told the police.

For the second time, Shane used me to catch him, and this time he succeeded. I couldn’t stop myself from walking up to him.

I slapped him without thinking about it, it was purely instinctive, even though I knew it was stupid.

“I trusted you!” I growled through my teeth as he turned his head slightly and then looked at me.

I’d hugged the asshole, he’d told me I was strong. Anger throbbed in my veins, just like Harris.

“Believe what you want, Kath, but I didn’t plan anything this time. You got yourself into trouble by going there and not listening to what I told you. I didn’t lie about convincing them to leave you alone, I knew Stone would talk to protect you.”

I felt Harris next to me before he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me away from Shane, who was watching me with curious eyes, a frown on his face again.

“What do you mean you trusted him?”

Shit !

Before I could find my words, Shane grabbed him by the arm.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Your friend Wallard is still detained. I’m trying to get him to confess to what he did in this house last week.”

Great, I didn’t even want to get angry anymore, because it was clear that the situation couldn’t get any worse.

Harris seemed to snap next to me.

“In this house? What the fuck does that mean?” He looked at us both with blazing eyes, then his eyebrows came together in an expression that expressed horror and shock. “Last week… when you were avoiding me and you were scared …”

It seemed unreal, but he was shaking.

“What did he do? Baby, what happened?”

I pressed my lips together as he began to tremble. Shane tugged on his arm again, but he didn’t move, he just looked at me, desperation in his eyes.

“You can ask him yourself, leave her alone now, don’t make her tell you what she saw.”

Harris looked at him the same way he looked at me. I had a feeling he wanted to kill him for the tension, but when he read the fear in my eyes, he just nodded.

He made an effort to calm down as he hugged me.

“You’re going to be fine. Nothing will ever happen to you again, I swear, baby.”

I could feel the sincerity in his words, their weight and how much he believed them, and I held him tightly as Shane cleared his throat impatiently.

Harris looked at Adam, then at Shane.

“I’ll come with you and tell you whatever you want if you guarantee me that the informant will remain anonymous. You won’t put me on the stand. It’s up to you what you do with the information I give you.”

Shane nodded.

“And if you ever use Katherine to get to me, the next testimony I give will be about your death, and it will be a fucking long and detailed one.”

Shane clenched his jaw.

“You’re in no position to threaten me, Stone.”

“I’ll more than threaten you if you ever come close to her again, Walker.”

Shane looked at both of us, a muscle in his jaw ticking again, but he made no comment. Seeing the two of them so close together, I could tell their statures were frighteningly similar, which would have meant a very long, bloody fight. Shane looked a bit bigger now, which was due to his equipment.

“You have two minutes to get out. I’m giving you this time for her, to calm her down. If you try to run, you’ll regret it.”

He looked at me again, then turned, and I heard his heavy footsteps in the hallway before the front door opened and closed.

Harris sighed, then looked at Adam. I half expected him to throw him out as well, but he just took my hand and led me up the stairs. I looked over my shoulder at my friend, who hadn’t said a word since Shane had come in. He looked like he regretted asking me for help.

Harris stopped in the hallway, turned to me, took my face in his palms and pressed me against the wall. The anger was gone from his face, but he was still tense.

“Tell me! Tell me what he did to you.”

There was no point beating around the bush any more.

“It happened after the night you slept here. I went for a run and my dad was gone, and when I came back, my bed was covered in blood. Someone had spilled about a gallon of blood on it.”

He shivered beside me as his face changed. It was a while before he could speak again.

“I remember that day. I called you. You were scared, your voice was shaking. Why… why didn’t you tell me? You called him.”

I didn’t let the pain and disappointment written all over his face distract me.

“I knew nothing about you, Harris. I don’t know anything now either, since we’re talking about it, but I was terrified back then, and not for myself, but for my father. A psychopath had been in my house and left a clear message. I dealt with the problem while trying to protect my father.”

He shocked me when he stopped commenting, seeming to really understand.

“I think the two minutes are up, I don’t want him coming in here with his gun again.”

His jaw clenched, and he moved closer to me until I was completely pinned between the wall and his body.

“I’ll take care of this. Of Walker. Of Joshua. Of everything, but right now I don’t want you to be alone with that jerk from New York you call a friend.”

I blinked in shock.

“Are you serious? That’s your problem now?”

“Yeah, one of them.”

“He’s just a friend, Harris.”

“Maybe to you, but I assure you, he has other thoughts.”

Breathe in, breathe out. That was the advice I gave myself to stay calm.

“I’ve known him for more than a year, he’s never tried anything and I’ve always been single. It sounds pathetic, but he’s like a brother to me.”

“Why does he call you Sif?”

I got the impression that he hadn’t heard a word I said. I sighed again.

“It’s a character from a comic book series.”

He frowned.

“What comic book?”

“Thor.”

He made the connection, and he didn’t like it at all.

“Oh, and let me guess, he’s Thor.”

“They’re just some stupid nicknames the others have given us. Harris!” I put my hands around his neck when he tried to say something else about Adam. “We have other problems now. Serious problems. Go and solve this mess.”

He didn’t like that, but he had no other choice.

“Don’t go away with him today.”

“Go!”

I wanted to push him away, but I couldn’t move him. He leaned down until his lips touched mine.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry for everything.”

The anger and jealousy in his tone were gone, replaced by this horrible guilt that changed his expression.

I didn’t answer, I just kissed him.

He returned the kiss with the same fierce possessiveness I was beginning to know well, holding me close as his mouth completely captured mine.

When he pulled back, I felt drowsy with pleasure and relief. It was incredible how he could destroy the tension and fear inside me like that.

“Please stay home today. I’ll ask V to come over, talk to her, tell her everything, she had problems with Joshua too. I want to know you’re safe until I get out of there. Please.”

He repeated his request, and I didn’t protest anymore, because I really didn’t feel like doing a photo shoot, and V was probably the only one I wanted to talk to.

“Okay,” I finally replied, and he smiled with relief before kissing me again.

By the time we descended the stairs, Shane was already back inside and ready to call in the cavalry. Harris glanced at Adam, but didn’t get a chance to say anything because Shane had lost his patience.

They both walked out of the house, and I watched Harris get into Shane’s police car.

The image left an emptiness in my soul, an unbearable pain.

It was our first day together, the first few hours of being everything to each other… and here we were already. Would it always be like this? Was I already a tactic to manipulate Harris?

I’d forgotten about Adam’s presence because I’d been looking out the window long after Shane’s car had left my street.

“Kath.”

I turned to face him, since he was standing right behind me.

“Adam, I know…”

I didn’t finish what I wanted to say because he pulled me into a hug. His hug was so familiar, so warm, that I couldn’t resist it, and I gritted my teeth to stifle the tears.

“My God, Kath, what have you gotten yourself into?”

I closed my eyes, not knowing what to say.

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know either?”

“I don’t like the guy at all. How come you have a boyfriend here so quickly? You always rejected everyone back home.”

I smiled and took a step back. At home. It sounded strange, because I was finding it harder and harder to think of New York as my home.

“He’s… something else.”

“No shit. I really hadn’t noticed.” I smiled. “Why didn’t you tell us about him?”

“You talk like you have not answered your phone in the last few days,” I scolded, punching his shoulder.

The guilt on his face surprised me, and I took a moment to look at him properly. He was… exhausted, that’s the only word I could think of as I noticed the bags under his eyes, his pale skin and obvious weight loss.

“Adam, are you okay?” I touched his cheek, and he leaned against my touch, closing his eyes.

I blinked in shock as tears formed in his eyes.

“No, Kath, I’m not fine at all. And it wouldn’t… be … God, what am I doing?”

His head fell back as a deep breath escaped him. He was starting to scare me.

“What does that guy do?”

“I don’t know the details yet.”

He didn’t seem to believe me.

“Does he have enemies? Have you been threatened before?”

I ran my fingers through my hair and went into the kitchen.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Adam, please.”

He followed me without saying anything else.

“Can we do the photo shoot tomorrow, please? I’m not up to it at the moment.”

He bit his lip, then closed his eyes again.

“I’m leaving tonight, I have already bought a plane ticket.”

I didn’t understand why his own words seemed to hurt him.

“So soon?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to bother you too much…”

I took a sip of my Coke, then caved.

“Okay, let’s go. Maybe this way I can take my mind off … everything that’s happened.”

He seemed surprised, shocked even, at my reaction. I looked for my phone, which was still in my backpack, in Harris’ car. Thank God it was still outside my house.

I got it out and took my charger with me. I didn’t want to waste any more time. I just wanted everything done as soon as possible so he could get out of my life drama, because he didn’t seem to be able to carry other people’s problems too.

Even though I had promised Harris I’d stay home, he would be happy to know Adam would soon leave.

We walked out of the house together and I wanted to ask him again what was wrong, but I couldn’t find the strength. Adam was someone who was important to me, I owed him a lot, and not just because of his friendship. He had saved me from death twice, literally, because I had overdosed. Harris’ jealousy was justified, I understood it, because he didn’t know Adam.

I got into his car and we drove off immediately without him saying another word. I didn’t understand whether he was behaving like that because of what he had witnessed in my living room or because he was thinking about his own problems.

“Should I have taken any makeup with me?” I suddenly remembered, because I had left without thinking, with only a charger in my pocket.

He shook his head.

“Clothes…”

He raised his index finger to his mouth, almost as if to tell me to shut up. I blinked in shock.

Then he stepped on the gas pedal. A little too hard.

“Adam,” I whispered, startled, as he drove out of my neighborhood and continued to look in the rearview mirror.

What happened next was hard to process after what I had just been through. Adam slid his hand under his t-shirt and pulled out a thin wire that appeared to have a small microphone attached to it, then ripped it off, opened the window and threw it out as he sped off down the highway.

“Adam, what are you doing?”

He looked at me with unaccustomed seriousness, but also fear.

“You’re in danger, Kath. I need to get you out of this town as soon as possible.”