004

Kai's Point Of View.

I watched her struggle, as the guards carried her back to the room. There was fire in her, I had to give her that. Most people in her position would’ve broken down by now, resigned to their fate, but not her. Katherine was different, and that made her dangerous.

Lex stood beside me, his usual stoic expression intact, but I could sense his hesitation. He'd been dubious of my decision to put her upstairs ever since.

“She’s becoming a problem, boss," he said, his voice low, careful. “If she escapes—”

“She won’t, I cut him off, my tone sharp enough to make him flinch. “You’re underestimating me, Lex. Or worse, overestimating her.”

Lex nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced. But it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t in the mood to explain myself or my decisions to anyone. Not to him, not to anyone.

“Double the guards outside her room,” I said curtly. “And install surveillance in her quarters. I want to know about every single thing she does, what time she wakes up, what she eats down to the number of times she uses the restroom."

He paused for a moment and then answered, "Ok, boss." 

I turned away, heading back to my office. The sound of her scream earlier still lingering in my mind, raw and full of desperation. She had called out for someone to let her go, but it wasn’t just fear in her voice—it was something else. Determination, maybe.

Back in my office, I poured myself a glass of whiskey and leaned back in my chair. The files on my desk were stacked high, but none of them held the answers I was looking for.

Who the hell was she?

When my men had found her, she’d been unconscious in one of my warehouses. No ID, no phone, no explanation. Just there, sprawled out like she'd landed out of the sky. And now, conveniently, she claimed to have no memory of how she got there.

The doctors said her amnesia was real, but that didn’t mean I trusted her. Memory loss or not, she was still a liability. The wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time—or maybe she was exactly where she intended to be.

Katherine was either a naive victim, swept up into something larger than life of the moment or was a sleeper, there to watch me. Either way, I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Boss,” Lex’s voice crackled over the intercom. “We’ve installed the cameras and doubled the guards, as per your instructions.

“Good,” I replied, taking a sip of the whiskey. “Keep me updated.”

The intercom went silent, and I leaned back, closing my eyes for a moment. But even in the quiet, her voice lingered in my mind.

I ought not have taken down to the basement to talk with her myself. That had been a mistake. Seeing her up close, watching her defiance even in the face of fear—it stirred something in me I couldn’t quite name.

It was not love, but she was attractive in a crude, unsophisticated manner. It was something else. Something deeper, curiosity.

The next morning, I found myself reviewing the security footage from her room. She hadn’t tried anything overnight, but her restlessness was evident. She paced the room like a caged animal, occasionally glancing toward the window.

“What’s on your mind, Katherine?” I murmured to the empty room.

A knock and Lex came through the door. 

“The Italians have taken the bait,” he said. They are panicking and trying to clean up their mess after the raid by the police. It’ll take weeks for them to recover.”

“Good," I said, though my mind was only half on the conversation. The Italians were bothersome, but not my biggest problem. Not anymore.

“Anything else?” I asked, motioning for him to continue.

“Yes. There’s been movement from the Russians. They’re sniffing around, asking questions about the warehouse incident.”

Of course, they were. The Russians didn’t miss a thing. If Katherine was connected to them in any way, I’d find out soon enough.

“Keep them occupied,” I said. “Feed them enough to keep them curious but not enough to make them dangerous. And make sure our men stay on high alert. I don’t want any surprises.”

Lex nodded. “Understood, boss.”

Once he left, I returned my attention to the screen. Katherine was sitting on the edge of the bed now, her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. She looked…defeated.

It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did.

I tapped my fingers against the desk, debating my next move. She was clearly hiding something—whether she knew it or not—and I needed to find out what it was.

Standing there, I went for her jacket and got ready to go to her room.

As soon as I crossed the threshold she sprang off the floor, her gaze wide and suspicious. For a brief second we simply looked at each other, the air in the room so charged up that it could be cut with a knife.

“You’re not very good at escaping, I said, breaking the silence.

Her jaw tensed and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Maybe next time I’ll get lucky.”

At the same time, my perioral corner of mouth moved, yet I did not smile. “Luck won’t help you, Katherine. Not here.”

She didn’t respond, her gaze defiant.

I stepped closer, closing the distance between us. “Do you know why you’re still alive?”

She did not flinch, but I caught the flash of fear in the stare of her eyes. “Because you’re too arrogant to admit you don’t have all the answers.”

That earned a low chuckle from me. “You think you know me, don’t you? You think that because of our interactions you know my character or what you're capable of doing. Let me give you a piece of advice, Katherine. Arrogance doesn’t keep a man alive in my world. Strategy does.”

“And what’s your plan for me?” She asked, more a cutting remark than expected.

I leaned in, and moved forward to the point that I could view the tiny flecks of gold in her brown eyes. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then I straightened, stepping back toward the door. “Enjoy your accommodations while they last. They could change at any moment.”

I left her standing there, her defiance tempered by uncertainty. She was a riddle, one I was set upon solving. And I always got what I wanted.

—