Crisis Of War

{ IV }

Kai jumps out of the car and looks at me, fear clear in his eyes. 

I get that he's afraid, so am I if I'm being honest, but we got into this mess because of his mistakes. Because of his betrayal. 

So I straighten my back and turn towards the compound. The parking lot is filled with cars, so I guess there must be a lot of people already. 

'Does this mean you forgive me?' Kai mumbles as he moves to my side of the car. I look at him and blink. Once. Twice. No. 

We make our way inside, through the bright halls, towards the meeting room where there's a lot of talking. 

Vincenzo, Marco, Brandon, Julius, Bernardo, Samuel, Carmen, Leyla, Naomi, Hugo. They're all here. 

And a few faces that I've never seen before. 

At the head of the table sits Rio, listening to something Vincenzo is saying. And Neveah. 

She's seated on the other side of the table, far away from Rio, which is obviously bothering her since no one is listening to a thing she has to say. 

She looks tired and worse than when I last saw her, with Hunter, but she's determined to get her friend back. 

And that's the only reason why I'm here. 

To help get Cataleya back. 

But Neveah needs medical care. I might have some pills that will help with her pain and maybe I should do a check-up? 

'Took you long enough.' Rio sneers, not even looking at us as we walk further into the room. 

My heart is racing like crazy, but I nod and smile at Neveah, before looking back at Rio. 

He's still not looking at me and glares at Neveah instead. 

'Everyone out.' And they do. Most of them. 

Marco, Brandon, and Neveah stay put, leaving a few open seats closer to Rio. 

I take a seat next to Neveah and watch when Kai moves closer to Rio. They need to talk anyways and I don't think Rio will kill him in here. 

'Celine I need you to run a check on Neveah.' Rio commands. Kai's eyes shoot to mine and I pray that he keeps his mouth shut. 

But of course, he doesn't. 

'No apology first?' Shut up... 

Kai knows what happened. Because I told him. But I also told him to stay away from me. 

And he couldn't. He kept coming by, knocking on my door every damn day. But I never let him in. 

Until today. 

Because Rio needed to talk to him. Because we need to get Cataleya back. 

Rio's lips slowly curl up and he turns his glare towards Kai. 'You should watch your tone.'