Halston
Dawn crept through the curtains of the master suite in pale streaks of gold, cutting through the lingering shadows of the room.
I sat on the leather couch opposite the double king-sized bed, with a thick asset file open across my lap, reviewing supply chain reports from three different ports, my eyes staying anchored to the financial columns.
For the most part, I ignored the woman sleeping across the room till a soft sound made me look up.
Kaira shifted beneath the heavy blankets, her dark hair tangled across the pillows.
I forced my attention back to the page but within seconds, she moved again.
Her breathing had shifted, turning uneven and restless.
I lowered the document slightly, watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
She twisted against the sheets, one hand clenched tightly into the blanket, a crease forming between her brows.
Whatever memory or ghost was chasing her through her sleep, it wasn’t a pleasant one.
I stared longer than necessary.
With a heavy exhale, I set the file on the couch and stood up, sitting on the edge of the mattress as my weight dipped beneath.
I sat simply watching her, there was something unsettling about seeing someone like Kaira look frightened.
My hand moved before I thought about it.
I pressed my palm lightly against her forehead.
The second my skin touched hers, her eyes flew open.
Confusion crossed her face briefly before being replaced by suspicion.
Her gaze shifted to me, then to the thick fur robe wrapped around her shoulders and back to me.
“What were you dreaming about?” I asked, keeping my voice level and unbothered.
Her expression hardened, the vulnerability evaporating so fast it might have been an illusion.”None of your business.”
“You were screaming in your sleep, Kaira,” I lied.
“Or at least attempting to.
It distorts the quiet in my room.”
“Then leave the room,” she shot back, her voice raspy from sleep but dripping with venom.
She yanked the blanket higher, deliberately shifting so my hand was forced away from her space.
“Nobody asked you to sit there and watch me breathe.
It’s creepy, even for you.”
“It’s my bed.
I’ll sit where I please.” I stood up, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt and straightening my sleeves.
“And from what I just witnessed, your mind is doing a spectacular job of torturing you without any assistance from me.”
She frowned, her eyes tracking me with deep distrust as I walked back to the couch and picked up the abandoned file, leaving the room.
“I have actual problems to deal with, Kaira.
Whatever nightmare you’re having isn’t one of them.”
It was a blatant lie, but she didn’t need to know the depth of my curiosity.
***********
Breakfast was surprisingly peaceful for approximately thirty seconds till Kaira arrived.
She entered the dining room wearing black trousers and a dark blouse, her hair still damp from her shower.
She walked straight to the head of the table, stopped, and looked directly into my eyes.
“I want to leave.”
I didn’t lift my gaze from the morning paper, casually raising my cup to take a slow sip of coffee.
“No.”
She inhaled slowly, her shoulders squaring as she clearly attempted to force her temper into something resembling patience.
“I had a life before you.”
I glanced up.
She took a step closer.
“I had friends.
A home.” Her voice remained steady.
“You took all of it.”
The word lingered.
Beside my chair, Oliver lowered his eyes and focused entirely on his plate.
“I refuse to spend the rest of my life inside this estate,” Kaira continued, stepping up to the table and planting both hands flat on the polished wood.
“I’m not a pet.
I’m not a prisoner.
And I’m certainly not going to spend every day waiting for permission to breathe.”
Silence settled over the room.
The two maids stationed nearby suddenly became intensely interested in the moldings on the wall, holding their breath.
I leaned back slightly, and said the last thing she expected.
“Fine.”
Kaira blinked, her lips parting slightly.
Oliver’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth.
Her eyes narrowed, shifting back as she looked at me to know if it was a trap.
“You mean that?”
“Today,” I said, standing up and buttoning my jacket.
“For one day with my trusted men.”
“I don’t need your trusted men” Her expression grew even darker.
“I do not want to pull unnecessary attention.”
“Fine.” The acceptance made her stunned.
I stepped out from behind the table, walking directly into her space until only a few inches of cold air separated us.
I held out my right hand, palm up.
“Your phone.”
She hesitated, her gaze darting between my hand and my face before she slowly reached into her pocket, unlocked the phone and slid the device into my palm.
I typed my personal number and saved it.
“If something goes wrong, call me.”
She stared at the screen, then at me.
I watched the subtle shift in her expression, she genuinely believed she had managed to win.
My expression darkened.
“If you use this opportunity to run…” The smile vanished from her face.
“I’ll find you.” I stepped closer.
“And I will hunt down every single person you spoke to, every person you spent time with and every person who thought helping you is a good idea.”
My gaze never left hers.
“I’ll peel the flesh from their bones right before your eyes.”
The room had gone completely.
Her fingers tightened around the edges of her phone until her knuckles turned white.
Kaira swallowed, but she refused to drop her gaze.
She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing with that familiar, lethal spark.
“You’re insane.”
“As you have always known.” I reached past her, picking up my coffee cup from the table to take one last sip.
“Enjoy your freedom.”
************
I stood by the study window, watching my black sedan car winding driveway.
Even then she looked surprised I’d given her a car.
Oliver stood beside me, watching the dust settle on the gravel before he turned his head to look at me.
“You’re being unusually generous today.
You let her leave the estate alone.”
“I need some moment of peace, Oliver.
She wanted freedom.
I guess we both got what we wanted.” I opened the file on my table and settled into my work chair.
Oliver stared at me, definitely judging, but I didn’t care.
I shouldn’t care.
By noon, the quiet felt less like peace and more like a vacuum.
I wasn’t missing her, I definitely was not.
The thought was absurd.
I had simply grown accustomed to the estate functioning with some form of property damage, a death threat, or a sharp object being hurled at my head.
My eyes darted to the clock at the corner of the room, tracking the time.
“Are we expecting someone?” Oliver asked, his voice breaking through the silence of the study.
“No.” I kept my eyes fixed on the ledger in front of me, flipping a page with unnecessary force.
“Then why do you keep checking the time?”
“I don’t.”
Oliver looked directly at the clock, my wristwatch and the phone I held in my hand.
“Right.” He muttered, turning his attention back to his papers with a knowing glint.
I adjusted my grip on my pen.
If she ran, I would know within a fraction of a second, but somehow it wasn’t her running I was worried about.
Whatever this usual feeling was, I didn’t know where exactly to place it.
Yet, as the hands on my watch crept forward, the ink on the pages began to blur together.
I found myself listening tick-tok of the clock, my thumb tracing the smooth screen of my phone as I waited for a notification that hadn’t come.
************
1:07 AM.
My phone buzzed.
I answered before the first ring finished.
“Are you okay?” The question escaped before I could stop it.
Across from me, Oliver’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, his pen freezing over his ledger.
A long, crackling pause stretched through the line.
Then, a loose, slurred voice rolled through the speaker.
“Halstoooon…”
Drunk.
Very drunk.
I closed my eyes, a muscle leaping in my jaw as I rubbed the bridge of my nose.
“Where are you?”
“The car hates me,” she informed me, her pronunciation trailing off into a careless laugh.
I opened my eyes, the focus of my mind resetting.
“…What?”
“The stupid car won’t start.” A small hiccup punctuated the sentence.
Then, her tone turned dismissive.
“I’m stranded.”
“Kaira—”
The line went completely dead.
She had hung up on me.
Oliver stared at me from across the desk, his expression was a mixture of shock and curiosity.
I stood up, shoving the phone into my pocket as I grabbed my keys.
“You actually know where she is?” Oliver asked, rising from his chair.
“Yes,” I said, throwing the study door open.
I couldn’t leave her unmonitored, regardless of what promises I made to her face.