CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 57
BRENDA'S POV
The cold seeping into my skin dragged me out of unconsciousness.
A sharp citrus scent invaded my nose, enough to pull me fully back to reality.
And instantly, my thoughts went to Saint.
Then Christian.
A sob clawed its way up my throat as the image of his lifeless body replayed in my head.
How could he die just like that?
We had only just found our way back to each other. We had barely begun rebuilding what was broken. We were supposed to raise our daughter together.
And now this?
My chest tightened painfully.
I sniffled, trying desperately to gather myself, but grief was swallowing me whole.
The pain was indescribable.
A door creaked open.
My head snapped toward the sound.
Light flooded the room, stabbing violently at my eyes.
I groaned and turned my face away.
Then it hit me.
Rose water.
Vanilla.
My stomach twisted instantly.
Kai.
"Saint?" My voice cracked.
A tiny coo echoed from the far end of the room.
My eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness.
Relief hit me so hard I almost cried again—until confusion settled in.
Her clothes.
Those weren't the clothes she had been wearing.
My breathing hitched.
How long had I been unconscious?
"Finally," Kai said, settling casually into a chair beside the bed. "I was starting to worry."
His tone was disturbingly gentle.
"Pardon my men for roughing you up," he continued. "We had no choice."
His eyes swept over the room.
"And forgive this ungodly place."
He glanced at Saint and smiled.
"Right, baby girl?"
Then he kissed her cheek.
Something feral rose inside me.
I growled.
He had no right.
No right to hold her like that.
That was Christian's place.
Not his.
"Why?" I asked, exhaustion bleeding into my voice. "Why are you doing this, Kai?"
He leaned back, amusement dancing across his face.
"I don't think that's the important question right now, Belair."
That smile.
God.
It was wrong.
Twisted.
The kind of smile that made your skin crawl.
"Instead of asking why…" he tilted his head, eyes gleaming, "…wouldn't you rather know who I really am?"
He snapped his fingers.
A woman stepped into the room.
Before I could react, she carefully lifted Saint from his arms.
Panic exploded inside me.
"Where are you taking her?" I shouted, straining against the restraints digging into my wrists.
If my hands were free, I would've slapped that disgusting smirk clean off Kai's face.
"She's just getting fresh air," he said smoothly.
He nodded toward the maid.
The woman disappeared through the door.
I hesitated.
Saint was too young to understand words—but somehow, I still felt relief knowing she wasn't here to witness whatever madness he was about to spill.
Kai sighed dramatically.
"Tell me something…" he paced slowly around the room. "Did you know what business your beloved husband was in?"
He paused.
Then fake-gasped.
"Oh. Sorry."
His hand flew dramatically to his mouth.
"You weren't even married."
He clicked his tongue.
"Not even engaged. Tragic."
My jaw tightened.
Truthfully?
I didn't know.
Not fully.
Pieces never made sense.
Things he avoided.
People who disappeared.
Secrets that lingered between conversations.
I had questions, but I'd never pushed.
Until now.
"Don't hurt that pretty little head trying to figure it out," Kai said. "I'll tell you."
He stopped pacing.
"Ever heard of the mafia?"
I almost rolled my eyes.
Who hadn't?
But I stayed silent.
Instead, I studied him.
Studied the man I once loved.
Or thought I loved.
His face darkened.
"Christian controls more than eighty percent of America under his organization."
He counted on his fingers.
"Politicians. Judges. Police officers. District attorneys. Ministers."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he had the president on payroll."
His expression hardened.
"Despite being white, that bastard outgrew everyone."
He stepped closer.
"Italians. Sicilians."
His chest rose with pride.
"We wrote the damn meaning of mafia."
Suddenly, pieces started clicking into place.
The black convoy.
Elijah disappearing.
Christian's silence.
The things that never added up.
My stomach twisted violently.
Kai smirked.
"I won't lie. Being compared to him pissed me off."
He shrugged.
"But I didn't plan on crossing paths with him."
His gaze sharpened.
"I thought an alliance with him and the Sicilians could work."
Then something ugly crossed his face.
"But all that ended…"
He pointed at me.
"…when I realized he had my woman."
My woman?
I nearly laughed.
The audacity.
But I stayed quiet.
"Watching you with him made me lose my damn mind," he admitted, voice low and dangerous.
"It made me feral."
His eyes darkened.
"That's why I attacked him in Italy."
He laughed under his breath.
"Or tried to."
He shook his head.
"That motherfucker is slippery."
His voice dipped darker.
"Like trying to catch a catfish coated in slime."
He moved closer.
Too close.
"I've been planning this for a very long time, Belair."
My pulse spiked.
"When I found out you were pregnant with his child…"
His jaw ticked.
"I lost it."
The softness vanished.
"I searched for you everywhere."
His voice cracked with obsession.
"Everywhere."
"I wanted to rip that thing he put inside you out."
My fists clenched.
Thing?
He was talking about my daughter.
My child.
But I held still.
Held my anger.
Barely.
"Then," he continued, voice softening disturbingly, "after I put a bullet in that dickless bastard…"
He smiled.
"…I looked at her."
His expression shifted.
Something almost human crossed his face.
"And I felt something."
He crouched in front of me.
"She looks like you."
Before I could move, he leaned in and buried his face in my dreads.
I froze.
Revulsion crawled over my skin.
He inhaled deeply.
Like he was savoring me.
When he finally pulled back, his fingers brushed stray locks from my face.
"What do you want, Kai?" I asked quietly.
Oddly enough, some of the fear had faded.
Because somewhere inside me, I knew one dangerous truth:
Daemonikai loved me.
Or at least, whatever warped version of love lived inside him.
But obsession?
Obsession was terrifying.
"You," he said simply.
His expression softened.
"Be with me."
His eyes flickered.
"I'll adopt your daughter as my own."
His voice dropped into something painfully sincere.
"Let us finish our story."
For one terrible second—
I saw him.
The Kai I once loved.
The one before all of this madness.
I swallowed hard.
Careful.
I had to be careful.
One wrong answer could ruin everything.
Or save me.
My lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Then—
BOOOOOM!
The walls shook.
And everything went DARK!