Chapter 7: Bomb
PRESENT
Claudette Deveraux
I stare daggers into Kai, hoping he'll spontaneously combust into flames and maybe then my anger towards him will dissipate.
"Where the fuck have you been?" I'm tempted to slap him again, but I hold back. He's unbothered by my initial act of aggression and still in a seemingly good mood. I know better than to take Kai at face value, his mask of indifference rivals the deceit of my own.
"Where I've been isn't quite as important as where your mother has been." This man can't even breathe without looking perpetually patronising. There's a storm brewing underneath his surface and like me, he's only keeping a lid on it until he can unleash hell in all its glory. It's all about timing with him and I.
To say that I'm pissed he won't let me in on what's going on would be the understatement of the century. He's treating me how he did when we first met, like I'm of no importance beyond my association with Celeste, like I'm frivolous and lacking substance.
"Now is not the time to test me, my love. I'm this close to shooting your ass." The space between my thumb and index can fit little more than an ant's anus.
"I'm not sure if you understand the gravity of your situation, Claw. Her people are watching you because she suspects you and if she finds out the truth, she will bury you, daughter or not. She's proven that she's capable." Kai, if nothing else, was blunt and factual. But the reminder hurt.
I had put in a lot of effort into not thinking about all the things my mother had done. It wasn't that I didn't have the guts to accept responsibility for my naivety, it was that I knew I couldn't afford the mental breakdown I felt I so deserved.
Some people, like Kai, grow bolder when they suffer loss and undeserved pain. I am not one of those people. I don't fight for what I've lost, I fight for what I could have. Under everything, I still want to feel the warmth I felt on our first getaway as a couple. I still want us to have two beautiful children and raise them in a house that feels like a home. I'm a lover, not a fighter. Everything that I've done was out of necessity. And so, remembering what Kai was referring to brought me more than just sorrow, it took energy out of me and I knew that if I didn't get my mind back under control, I wasn't going to be very productive for a while. All I wanted to do now was curl up in a ball and fade away somewhere. I had to push it back. Down somewhere so deep that I couldn't reach it until this was all over. Afterwards, I could have all the therapy in the world. Hell, I'd check myself into rehab.
"What can I do? I don't want to sit in that clubhouse waiting for you to break me out like a damsel in distress. I trust you but I'm not willing to rely on you. I have more to protect." Knight in shining armour my boyfriend was not, and I'll be damned if I go from being at my mother's mercy to his. His eyes squint and he tilts his head like he's looking at me in a different light.
"Why are you suddenly so impatient? What are you not telling me?", his tone is laced with suspicion and I decide to dangle what he doesn't know as bate.
"Information doesn't come for free, darling. You spill first. You've kept things tighter than a nun and I want in." My pulse rises and I realise that despite opposing him I am, for the first time in weeks, feeling alive and tied to the here and now. He pushes me like no one else has before and keeps up with my games. That's what made me fall in love with him in the first place.
He brushes the hair off my shoulder and traces my neck with one finger while following the movement with his eyes.
"Celeste has been travelling a lot. Milan, Boston, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, London. On each trip she has met up with important figures of society. Your mother is the new Ghislaine Maxwell of the world's highest rolling elites. She's not operating in one region anymore, she's going global. The MC is the muscle and they're handsomely paid, yes, but they are not her partners in this crime. They may think they are, but they get a fraction of the money she makes. I need to know who her hit man is. We've heard her call him Wilder but we're not sure who he is. If we can get him to testify against her, she can be brought in. We can't simply shoot her, Claw. We need the resources only law enforcement can provide if we want to find the girls that she's trafficked throughout her career. Please, for my sake, be careful what you do. I can't afford any missteps that might make capturing her even more difficult." He ends with a plea and his eyes shine with sadness. Kai isn't law enforcement, he got brought in as a consultant after he went out looking for his sister. So, I know what this means to him personally. I would never jeopardise his reunion with her for anything.
"If Wilder is a part of the Knights I'll identify him for you."
"Your turn." He whispers, still tracing my neck. It's such a familiar act of affection that I instinctively lean into his touch. Searching for comfort.
"I'm pregnant." He freezes, eyes wide like saucers, mouth agape. If I wasn't mentally preparing myself for the fight we were about to have, I'd laugh at how comical he looked.
A second later, he has me enveloped in a hug, burying his face in my neck.
"When did you find out?" He breathes in my scent and peppers me with kisses. I think he needs the comfort more than I do at this point. I've been standing on this for a while now.
"Two weeks ago, I missed my period and you get the picture."
"You're leaving with me. Now. Is there anything you need to grab?" he was already bending down to take my bag for me.
"No, I'm staying. You don't know who Wilder is. On top of that, I'm not keeping the baby."
He straightens up immediately.
"Excuse me?"
The bomb has detonated. And we're in for one hell of a fight. Lets hope makeup sex is in the cards for me.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone