He set the pizza and two paper plates at the center of the table before taking his seat. He then tore off a slice, dripping grease and cheese on the plate in front of me, then pointed and grunted, “Eat.”
I looked from the pizza to him and felt my stomach rumble. Turns out I was completely famished? but even hunger couldn’t fight the apprehension.
“It’s not poisoned,” he assured with impatience. I continued to hesitate until my stomach growled again. We fell into a natural silence while we ate. I took unsure bites while he wolfed down slice after slice.
“So what did you give me?” he asked after finishing off his fourth slice. He sat back and rubbed his stomach which I was sure had not an ounce of fat. He probably burned hundreds of calories by just sitting there.
“Death’s Kiss.”
“You wanted to kill me.”
“I was supposed to kill you.”
“But you wanted me dead.”
“I didn’t—” I stopped short at the hard look in his eyes that warned me not to lie. I thought I wanted him dead until I believed he was. It’s amazing how reality could put things into perspective.
“It’s okay, Low. I deserved it.”
“Low?”
He looked as surprised as I felt before shrugging. “I think it fits you.”
“I’ve had enough of nicknames.”
I would have expected Keiran to have some insult, but he simply studied me as if genuinely curious. Maybe he was looking for an advantage. He was, after all, a cold piece of work. “What does Death’s Kiss do? Why am I not dead?”
“It’s a drug that mimics death but nothing like the stuff everyone’s heard of before. It’s used by junkies to calm the speed of a high and housewives that have trouble sleeping at night. All the symptoms of death but nothing more than a deep sleep.”
“I’ve heard about that on the news. How the fuck did you get your hands on that?”
“I bought it from a dealer at the university. Apparently, Esmerelda is the mystery supplier.”
“This is becoming too fucked up to be real.”
“Tell me about. A one-day routine visit with my mother turned out to be a fight for my life.”
“You were supposed to let me take care of it.”
“Believe me—no part of me wanted anything to do with this. I had been fully ready to let you deal with your own issues until Esmerelda paid me a third surprise visit.”
“When?”
“After we had returned from California after we’d warned you. She showed up at Dash’s apartment and just let herself in.”
His frown deepened at that. “How?”
“The new security guard Dash has been combing the streets for was her inside man.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Anyway, after she was able to get that close by infiltrating the very team meant to keep him safe, I realized no one could keep me safe. She threatened Buddy if I didn’t kill you within one week.”
“How were you supposed to do it?”
“She gave me a vial of poison the day of the wedding. When she kidnapped me a second time, she told me she wanted proof the deed was done.”
“Proof?”
“A piece of you.”
I expected more of a reaction, but he simply shook his head and bit into his pizza. “So you got the idea to drug me and butcher me against my will to fool her rather than confide in me?”
“Precisely.”
“You know that’s fucked up, right?”
“I—”
“But I would have done the same thing. You could have just killed me, but you didn’t. I guess I owe you thanks.”
“I think we’re even,” I replied in a dry tone.
“You came after me, too. You didn’t have to.”
“It was my fault you were taken.”
He nodded and stated, “True.”
I rolled my eyes and then asked a question of my own. “Why did you come tonight?”
“I was guarding you. I followed you to the school and back.”
“So you knew about the drug?”
He shook his head and took another bite. “I thought you were on drugs. I was going to ignore it and told myself I didn’t care, but I found myself coming to stop you anyway.”
“I can’t believe you thought I was on drugs.”
“I can’t believe you were going to chop me up.”