chapter six

Chapter six

Gabriella's pov 

“I came to steal your beautiful wife away.”

The silence that dropped immediately was sharp enough to cut me in half.

Jacob blinked once before letting out a short laugh while I nearly lost my mind standing between the two of them.

A low chuckle left Killian’s throat as he leaned back lazily like he wasn’t currently destroying my peace of mind inside my own house.

“You two seriously need to calm down,” he said, shaking his head with amusement. “I came to deliver a message, not start a war.” His golden eyes flickered toward Jacob. 

“First of all though, won’t you offer your handsome brother-in-law slash best friend breakfast?”

Jacob laughed instantly. “I knew you came here for something.”

“I came here for many things,” Killian replied smoothly, and the way his eyes slid toward me made my stomach twist annoyingly. “Breakfast just happens to be one of them.”

God, why did every sentence out of this man’s mouth sound illegal?

“I don’t know about that,” I cut in quickly before Jacob could agree to anything. “I haven’t even prepared anything yet since, as we’ve all established, we literally just woke up.”

Killian’s lips curved slowly, he must really be enjoying playing this sick game.

“Mm.” He nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense.” His eyes dragged over me again. “You do look freshly dragged out of bed.”

Heat crawled into my face so fast it annoyed me.

Jacob, thankfully too innocent to catch the hidden meaning, laughed under his breath.

“Well,” Killian continued casually, “we can help you in the kitchen.” His grin widened slightly. “Besides, it’ll give me more time to bond with my favorite hot-headed Alpha. It’s been too long since I trashed him in anything.”

Jacob scoffed immediately, unable to sense the tension within us, as it kept growing and matching my racing heartbeat.

“You beat me once.”

“I humiliated you once.”

“You cheated.”

“You’re still emotional about it years later. That’s adorable.”

I stared at both of them like they had personally been sent to ruin my life.

This had to be some kind of punishment from the universe.

Apart from sleeping in the same bed every night while acting like polite strangers, Jacob and I had never actually done anything domestic together.

We never cooked together; no teasing in the kitchen, or married-couple moments, and now my psychotic stepbrother wanted to join us?

Heavens help me not commit murder before breakfast.

Jacob shook his head with a grin, I pray he stays this innocent. I can't and won't let him know about my betrayal, even if it decides to show up by six am in the morning.

“Fine. Stay for breakfast.” Killian smirked slowly.

“I knew you loved me.”

“Don’t push it.” 

“Oh?” Killian placed a hand over his chest dramatically. “So cold.”

“You literally broke my nose the last time we sparred.”

“And you still lived.” Killian smiled proudly. “Look at me making dreams come true.”

Jacob burst out laughing. But I didn’t, mostly because Killian had started walking toward the kitchen already like he belonged there, and somehow that terrified me more than him showing up uninvited in the first place.

There was a ticking time bomb in the form of my step brother and that was bad.

Worst of all? A sick part of me was already wondering what he would look like standing beside me in that kitchen while pretending none of this was completely insane.

The house phone suddenly rang from the living room, the sharp sound cutting through the kitchen before I could think of another excuse to avoid being alone with the devil standing beside me.

Jacob glanced toward the hallway immediately. “Probably dad again,” he muttered before looking at us. “Don’t burn the kitchen down while I’m gone.”

Killian smirked lazily. “No promises.”

Jacob laughed as he walked out. The second he disappeared, the entire kitchen felt different… filled with awkwardness.

I grabbed the vegetables from the counter quickly, pretending to focus on breakfast while trying very hard to ignore the fact that Killian kept getting closer every few seconds like personal space meant nothing to him.

“You know,” he murmured casually from behind me, “normal people usually breathe when they’re nervous.”

“I am breathing.”

“Barely.” I shot him a glare over my shoulder.

“You enjoy irritating me way too much.”

His lips curved slowly. “You make it very fun.”

God, this man was impossible.

I reached for the pot beside the sink while trying to keep my attention anywhere except the way his voice kept sliding under my skin. Meanwhile Killian leaned against the counter comfortably like this was his kitchen and I was the one invading his peace.

“You’ve been staring at me since I got here,” he said smoothly.

I scoffed instantly. “Please, the only thing I’ve been staring at is the nearest possible weapon.”

“That’s still attention, little fox.”

“You’re actually insane.”

“And you keep blushing every time I talk.” 

My face heated immediately… even though I kept chanting ‘no, I am not’ in my head… my body was my worst enemy.

Annoying psychopath.

I turned too fast while carrying the pot of water and bumped straight into him, causing the water to splash all over his shirt and jacket.

Silence stretched for half a second before Killian looked down at himself slowly, water dripping from the black fabric clinging to his chest.

Surprisingly, the idiot chuckled.

“You know,” he murmured while pulling off his soaked jacket carelessly, “if you wanted to see me half naked, you could’ve just asked.”

“It was an accident, you psychopath.”

“Mm.” His smirk deepened as he grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it completely off his body. “That sounded very defensive.”

“You’re unbelievable.” I couldn't keep my eyes off him… I hate to say it, but he was beautiful.

“And yet you can’t stop looking at me.”

Heat rushed into my face again because unfortunately my traitorous eyes couldn't obey instructions, they kept drifting towards the solid lines of his stomach before I could stop myself.

Killian noticed immediately. A low amused sound left his throat as he stepped closer while running his hand through his brown hair.

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying very hard to sound angry while my brain completely short-circuited for one embarrassing second.

His golden eyes locked onto mine.

“You are a terrible liar, has anyone ever told you that? You keep saying one thing,” he murmured softly, stalking closer, “but your body keeps saying something else.”

I took another step back automatically, but he just takes longer steps towards me.

“You say I am your annoying asshole of a step brother,” he continued smoothly, “yet your eyes keep wandering back to me every five seconds like you’re trying to memorize something.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Am I?”

My back touched the counter before I realized there was nowhere else to go.

Great… just great.

Killian leaned in slowly, one hand settling against the counter beside me while the other brushed lightly against my waist. His face stopped dangerously close to mine, warm enough that my stupid heartbeat instantly lost all coordination.

“Tell me something, little fox,” he murmured, his voice dropping lower as his eyes settled on my lips for one dangerous second. “Why does it look like you’re fighting yourself harder than you’re fighting me?”

Heaven, I promise if you save me from this devil… I will stay celibate for a year.

“What’s going on in here?”