❝ So calm before the storm,

so dark before the dawn ❞

❦

Kadie completely loses it.

I have to wrap my arm around her waist and pull her towards me because she was ready to attack him right here in the bar.

"You fucker!" she screams. "How dare you ever show your face in front of me again? You fucking psycho."

Stefan gives Kadie a dirty look. "Maybe you should control your little bitch, Mills. You have your leash on way too long."

Kadie bounces forward so fast and hard that I have to get off the stool I'm sitting on and pull her back even tighter. "Don't cause a scene," I say into her ear while I keep my eyes on the bastard in front of me.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," Kadie says, thrashing against me.

"Kadie," I warn.

"And I'm going to kill you, too if you don't let me go right now," she says with venom in her voice.

I just let out a sigh and keep holding onto her so she doesn't latch out. "You have some nerve showing your face here Stefan," I say with a low voice, giving him a seriously angry look. My whole body is ready to fight him at any given second. Just pull the gun out and shoot him.

Stefan smiles and leisurely and slowly – like he has all the time in the world – takes a swig of his drink. He puts it down and moves it with his hand until it's where he wants it. "Just like the old times, wouldn't you say?" Stefan grins. He's baiting me.

I clench my jaw, but I don't grab the bait. "Just get the fuck out of here," I say through gritted teeth.

"Why? I have as much right to be here as you do."

"I'm going to kill him," Kadie mutters again, trying to get out of my hold again, but I don't let her.

Stefan slowly moves his gaze to Harper and I see how she flinches when their eyes connect. She quickly looks away, trying to look busy by wiping the surface. I see she's shaking a little.

"Bill, please," Stefan says, still looking at her.

I see how Jon goes into a bear-mode, ready to attack at any given second. Just one wrong move and all hell will break loose.

Fuck, it's killing me that I have him so close to me and I can't do anything. I want to blow his little brains out, but I can't. Not here, at least.

Harper quickly gets him the bill and Stefan pays. We all watch as his hand lingers a little when Harper wants to grab the money. He doesn't let go and their hands touch. Jon stands up, going up to Stefan.

"No," I say sternly, not letting him ruin this.

Harper quickly pulls her hand away and goes to the register, away from us.

Stefan slowly gets off the chair, nodding at us. "Always a pleasure to see you."

Before we could see what's coming, Stefan extends his arm and touches Kadie's cheek. Before any of us could interact, she quickly slaps his arm away and spits in his face.

Stefan's eyes widen, his smile vanishing, clearly not expecting that. "We'll meet again, you little bitch," he says.

"Yeah, in hell after I'll be done with you," Kadie shoots and I have to tighten my hold so much that I'm sure she probably has trouble breathing because I'm squeezing her stomach so tight.

Stefan just gives her an ugly grin, wiping his face off and leaves. We all watch him in silence, all of our bodies tense.

When I feel Kadie sag a little against me, I slowly release my hold. "You okay?"

She looks at me and then looks at Harper and at Jon. And then at me again. "Harper is in danger, isn't she?"

Jon and I catch each other's looks. I don't have to give Kadie any verbal answer.

"Fuck," she says. "Fuck!" comes again, more fiercely this time.

"I'm keeping an eye on her 24/7. She's safe with me," Jon reassures her. Harper doesn't say anything.

"This shouldn't have happened," Kadie says.

"It shouldn't have," I agree. "But we're handling the situation now. You're both safe as long as you cooperate," I put the emphasis on the word cooperate because Kadie can be strong-minded sometimes and has her own ideas. And what she forgets sometimes is that I have the best intentions for her because it's my mess and I know how to deal with it more than she does. I don't particularly like it when I have to cut her freedom short, but it's what I have to do.

Kadie gives me an accusing look. I don't know what for. "We have things we'll talk about when we get home. Right now, I'm spending some quality time with my cousin."

Her tone isn't implying she's looking for any answer from me or, God forbid, reluctance. But I give it to her anyway. "Do we really? I didn't know anything about that."

Kadie just gives me a look. She doesn't need to say that she wants me to shut the hell up. And I grin at her because I understand it all too well, but I also love taunting her. When she gets pissed? Yeah, she's a sight to see. A hot sight.

I put my arm around her shoulders and bring her to my side. "If you wanna fight, bee, you're going to fight with yourself," I say into her ear.

Kadie slightly turns her head. "It depends on what your answers will be, Fai," she says back.

That earns her a surprised and amused look from me, but I drop it and leave the subject for later. I place a kiss on her temple and in that moment, I spot Jon staring at me as if he's never seen me before. I release Kadie and give him a questioning look.

He just shakes his head and looks down, but I catch his smile before he can hide it. Ah, hell.

I look away, my jaw clenching. I know what he thinks. I've never been like that with any girl before. But there has never been a girl like Kadie before. She's ... I can't compare her to anyone because she's her own person completely. Fearless, smart as hell and hot-headed. And completely fucking gorgeous, of course. So, she's a threat to everyone. Because I know that everyone that'll meet her, they won't ever forget her.

Neither will I. But our time together is limited, although I've already started thinking about some other options. Do we really have to end? I could go with her for the time when she'll be away at college. Long-distance is neither of our thing, I'm sure, but if everything goes right, I'll be done with the last mission soon enough and it'll be behind me. Nothing else will tie me to this place anymore.

I look at Kadie. She's talking to Harper. Smiling. Laughing, even. That's quite a rare sight. She really loves her cousin.

And looking at her, being this happy ... it hits me that she's going to forever stay with me. Parts of her, at least. That I'll never be able to forget her. And I probably won't be able to let her go when the time comes, either.

When I come out of the bathroom, fresh out of the shower, I catch Kadie drawing by the window with a cigarette in her hand. "What are you working on?"

She inhales. And exhales. Looking at me. Not answering.

I flick my eyes to the paper, not knowing what I'm looking at first. It's a caterpillar, I quickly discover.

"Caterpillars don't know they're going to become a butterfly one day. They don't know they'll get wings to fly anywhere they'll want to. That they'll be able to explore the world freely."

"That's ... nice?" I'm not really sure how to answer her.

She puts her sketchbook aside and gives me a serious look. It makes me shift a little on my feet. "Harper wasn't just wandering around with her phone turned-off, did she? Something happened. And none of you wanted to tell me."

Fuck. I close my eyes briefly. I should've known she'd figure it out. She's too smart for bullshit. "Look –" I start, but I get nowhere.

"No, you look." She stands up, puts the cigarette out and slowly walks towards me, standing so close that only a few inches are between us. She's smaller than me and she has to look up at my face, but she's no less intimidating than some of the men I've dealt with in my life. "If you ever lie to me – not just about something this big and not just when it comes to Harper – but, in general, Fai, if you ever tell me a lie, no matter how small, we're done. Do you understand what I'm saying? I'll walk away so quietly you won't even know. And you'll never see me again. Yeah?"

I swallow thickly. "Yeah," I say with a gruff voice.

She smiles, lovingly putting her hand on my cheek then. "Now, babe. Why don't you start by telling me why you decided to lie to me and then tell me exactly what happened, yes?"

Her hand on my cheek is not a loving gesture. It's a threat. "Nothing happened. We were at the right place at the right time."

Kadie shakes her head, clicking her tongue. "No. I said you start with why you decided to lie to me. Not with excuses. Keep those to yourself."

I place my hand on top of her on my cheek, but her expression stays unchanged. She's waiting for me to speak. To tell her. To tell her what she already knows, but she still wants to hear it because she's punishing me.

"Because it was safer you didn't know," I say with an exhale.

"Safer for who, exactly?"

"You, of course." Always you. "It was Harper's idea, by the way. She said you might do something stupid if you knew something happened to her and that it's better you don't know because it might be a trap to get to you. And she had a point, but I didn't agree with her."

"Yet you still got along with her plan." Her hand presses harder against my cheek.

"Yeah, because she had a great point, Kadie. You're like a mama bear when it comes to her, but you're not safe, either. And my concern is, primarily, you. So, I'm sorry I lied, but it was for your own good."

She softly shakes her head. "No. It was for your own good, Fai. You were scared. Scared that I'll cause a riot and cause trouble, but you're forgetting that, before you came into my life, I was doing just fine and I ate assholes like Stefan for dinner if I needed to."

I step away from her. "You still don't understand, Kadie. This is not something to fuck around in your free time. These guys are murderers and damn good ones. Just fucking trust me and work with me, can you?"

"I am working with you. I was, at least, until you started working against me. You see how it goes?"

"Don't. Just don't start. I lied, yes, and I'm damn sorry I did it because I know I shouldn't."

Kadie nods. "And why shouldn't you?" she prompts.

I wait for a few heartbeats. One. Two. Three. Four. "Because if someone lied to me like that about you, I'd cut their throats without thinking twice about it," I admit.

Kadie grins, nodding. "Exactly. Now we're getting somewhere." She speaks with a softer, gentler voice now. I don't even know what she's going to do next and that makes me nervous. She crosses her arms over the chest, inspecting me closely. I only arch my eyebrows in return because I don't know what she's planning on doing.

"When you think you're doing me any favors – don't. Because you most likely aren't. And I don't like being a charity case." I want to protest, but she doesn't let me say anything, shushing me. I blink at her in disbelief. "I'm talking now," she says. "And do not keep things from me. Especially things that concern me. Just because you're involved in my life now, doesn't mean you can make decisions for me."

"I already said I'm sorry. What else do you want me to say?"

Kadie cocks her head to the side, but I don't get an answer because someone rings the bell.

My head snaps in the direction of the front door. It's really late and I'm not expecting anyone. I take the gun out of the waist of my pants and turn to Kadie. "Stay here and don't even move an inch."

I go to the door, pressing my ear against it, but I don't hear anything, of course. I have my gun ready when I open it just an inch. And then another.

And I frown. "Who are you?" I ask through the small crack.

"Oh. Fai. It's really you. Hi. Hello." The stranger that turns out isn't really a stranger stumbles on her words.

All the color disappears from my face and I feel my body went completely limp. "Mom. What the hell are you doing here?!"

I briefly hear Kadie walking out of the bedroom, coming towards me. She fully opens the door with a big smile on her face. "Laila, come on in. I'm so happy I get to finally meet you!"

I look at her with a confused look and before she lets my mom in, she turns to me and whispers, "You're not the only one going behind people's backs, babe." 

*

He-he.