Does he like me?

KAI

The rest of the week went by in a blur. By the time Friday knocked on my door, I was drained. I'd stayed awake two nights, thinking of the bloody truce marriage and how to get the fuck out of it. I wasn't like Dad, who thought we needed this. We don't. We have been surviving all these years without them. Why include them now? 

My suits felt like armour I hadn’t chosen. I picked black because this didn't feel like a joyous occasion at all. It was nothing but hell, one I didn't want to partake in, but was forced to.

The drive to the estate took twenty minutes, but it seemed like twenty years. Security opened the gates without a word, and I drove in, straight to the outdoor garage. 

I stayed in the car for some minutes, preparing myself for the night before I exited the car and walked straight into the house. My legs led me to the sitting room, knowing that was where he was, and I wasn't wrong.

“Kai.” Dad's voice cut across the room the second I stepped inside, as if he were an announcer at a red carpet gala, welcoming celebrities. 

He was by the fireplace, with a drink in hand, and slightly leaning on his stick. He had changed the normal black walker to the golden one, which he only used for special occasions. This must be one for him. 

And there they were, Jonas Schmidt. He looked older and fatter, but with the same pig eyes I remembered from the trial days. His mistress stood next to him, thin and brittle, clutching a glass like a shield. 

And him. 

Stein Schmidt. He was unlike his father, tall and broad-shouldered. Just like me, he was putting on a black suit with no tie, as if he also thought this was a funeral. But his eyes — 

His eyes were soft. They were a kind, warm brown, and they landed on me like he was actually glad I was there. 

My stomach turned at the thoughts as Jonas stepped forward first, hand extended.

 

“Kai, it's good to see you honouring your father’s word.”

I stared at his hand, then at his face, before I opened my mouth to tell him just what I thought about this. 

Dad’s hand landed on my shoulder before I could do that. He glanced at Jonas' hand and back at me, letting me know what he wanted me to do.

Trying not to cause a scene, I had to force myself to do that. The contact only lasted for a few seconds before I took my hand back, disgusted. 

Dad wasn't done, though. “Kai, greet your future husband," he said, gesturing to Stein, who hurried over to our side, hand stretched. 

“Hi, I'm Stein, and you must be Kai,” he said with a smile. Up close, I noticed how young he was. He didn't look a day older than 20, and I wondered if Dad was marrying me off to a minor. I might be thirty-five, but that didn't mean I would be comfortable marrying an 18-year-old even though his body didn't match his face. 

My hands stayed at my sides. Instead of taking his outstretched hand, my eyes narrowed. “Let’s get one thing straight,” I said, holding his gaze. “I’m here because they ordered me to be. Not because I agreed. I'll never forgive your family.”

Dad’s fingers dug into my shoulder, hard enough to bruise, but that didn't make me take that hand.

Stein didn’t flinch. His eyes didn’t go cold like I thought they would. If anything, his gaze got softer. Almost… apologetic, like he understood and even pitied me?

“Okay,” he whispered, his voice so gentle it fucking grated on my nerves. “I understand. I would have felt the same if I were in your shoes.”

Fuck. 

That was worse. 

Hate I could work with. Hate meant we were both prisoners in this. But kind eyes? Soft voice? That meant he wanted this. It meant he’d already accepted it and would play house with the son of the man his father destroyed. 

….

They served dinner in the formal dining room. 

Dad took the head of the table and Jonas took the other, with his wife next to him. 

They sat me across from Stein, which was a very big mistake. I couldn’t eat, not with his eyes fixed on me. 

The salmon could’ve been cardboard. I pushed it around my plate while Dad and Jonas talked about shipping lanes and quarterly projections like they hadn’t spent twenty years trying to bankrupt each other. 

“Remember that Italian deal?” Jonas chuckled, swirling his wine. “You outbid me by two million. I was furious for months.”

“And you poached my head of logistics three weeks later,” Dad shot back, grinning. “Touché, old friend.”

Old friend?

When the fuck did they become friends?? 

Was I the only one hung up on in the past? Were all Dad's threats just because he wanted to feed into my anger, just so it would be that he cared?

My fork hit the plate too hard, and the sound rang, cutting through their conversations. 

Stein didn’t touch his food either. He was just watching me, like he had been doing since I stepped into the living room. Those damn soft eyes hadn’t left me since we sat down. He looked like he could see the panic crawling up my throat and wanted to reach across the table. 

“Your father told me you run Schwarz Holdings day-to-day now,” Jonas said, turning to me with a fake smile on his lips. “Impressive. Stein, here is still learning the ropes at Schmidt Global. Maybe you two can—”

“Maybe we can what?” I cut in. “Play happy family? Merge our companies and our bedrooms and pretend his father didn’t bury my mother?”

Silence. 

 

Dad’s face turned stony and Jonas' smile froze, then smoothed out. And then… and then they laughed. Like actually laughed. Those two fuckers thought this was funny?

“That fire,” Jonas said to Dad, delighted. “He’s got your temper.” 

“God help his husband,” Dad replied, and they clinked glasses. 

My vision tunnelled. 

Across the table, Stein had gone pale. His mouth parted like he wanted to say something.  And his eyes… Christ. They had lost that softness in them and gone cold. However, when he noticed I was looking, they returned to that disgusting soft lovey-dovey eye, making me realise I must have likely imagined the hard gaze. 

I shoved my chair back, and it screeched against the marble. 

“Kai,” Dad snapped. 

“Enjoy your dinner,” I said, letting my anger out. There was no use hiding it anymore. “Enjoy your merger and your fucking truce.”

I didn’t look at Stein again. I couldn’t. If I saw those eyes one more time, I’d either hit him or break. 

No one stopped me as I walked out of the house and straight to my car. I had just reached out to open it when I heard a voice behind me, hesitant as he called out, “Kai, wait.”

Oh, God! 

Not the fucking bastard with love-struck eyes!