Page 36 of Kael

He looked at me. "Don't argue with me again today, Bunny."

I shut my mouth.

We stopped at the food court. There were only twenty to thirty people left; the mall would be closing soon. Kael handed me his black card. A black card to a drug addict? What was he thinking?

"Go get us Chinese chicken. I'll wait in line for the smoothie place."

I stared at the card in my hand. "Kael—"

I could see in his eyes he understood why I was hesitating.

"Go. I'll be right here."

I hesitated, then nodded. He trusted me. He trusted me with his card, with his money. I wasn't going to let him down.

I walked toward the Chinese place, my heart pounding a little. I was doing something normal. Something human. I was buying food like a regular person. I felt proud of myself.

And then I saw him.

Darius. Everybody called him Cedrick in the streets.

He was standing near the Chinese place, his arm around some girl with a long braid down her back.

And then I saw who was with him.

Brook.

She was older than us, in her mid-thirties. Started fucking with him when he was in his teens. She was always there, always interfering in our relationship, always whispering in Darius's ear—telling him I wasn't good enough, wasn't loyal enough, wasn't worth his time. She was fucking him. She'd been the one who introduced him to other girls, the one who covered for him when he cheated, the one who made sure I always felt like I was the problem. She co-signed his abuse. She was the reason I stayed so long, because she made me believe I deserved everything he did to me.

My blood turned to ice.

I turned to walk away, but it was too late. He saw me.

"Bria?"

His voice cut through the noise of the food court like a knife.

I froze.

A few people nearby turned to look. A woman with a stroller slowed down, her eyes flickering between us. A teenager at the smoothie place glanced over, curious. The energy shifted, like people could feel something about to happen.

He let go of Brook and started walking toward me, a slow grin spreading across his face. He looked the same, even though he had gained weight. He was still handsome, though I wasn't attracted to him anymore. He beat that out of me.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Look what the cat dragged in. I heard you got clean. I didn't believe it."

"Leave me alone, Darius."

"Leave you alone?" He laughed. "I just got out of prison. I've been thinking about you the whole time, and you're going to tell me to leave you alone?" His face started to shift.

A family at a nearby table stopped eating, the mother pulling her children closer. An older man in a security uniform started walking in our direction. People were watching now, judging.

Brook appeared beside him, her eyes narrowing as she looked me up and down. She was tall—5'9", 150 pounds—with skin light enough to pass, but she wasn't white. She was wearing a bodycon dress and heels like it was time for the club.

"She's still a junkie," Brook sneered. "Once you sucked dick for a hit, ain't no coming back from that."

"Brook, shut—"

"She stole from you, Darius. She stole thousands from you before you went in. And now she's walking around in designer clothes like she's somebody."