CASSIA
The helicopter descended through a veil of mist, revealing the island below. It was small, isolated, and surrounded by nothing but dark water and jagged cliffs.
I jumped down, ignoring Kairos's hand reaching out for me.
I landed on my injured ankle instead of the good one. A hiss escaped my parted lips, and I wobbled away from Kairos, but he gripped my shoulder and pulled me back.
"Let me go," I snapped, glaring at him.
He didn't answer. His gaze lingered on my raised leg before lifting to my face. I blinked away the tears in my eyes, holding his questioning stare.
"Who hurt you?" he grunted, dark eyes narrowing. "Did that bastard at the ring touch you?"
"Did you kill my father?" I shot back.
"When will you stop asking me that damned question?" he murmured. Despite the anger in his voice, his expression remained calm.
"I'll stop when you tell me what you know about my father's death, since you're trying to take his position now. And why you're suddenly alive after five years," I answered.
"Okay," he said.
For a second, I thought he was finally going to tell me what I wanted to know. Instead, I found myself lifted into the air and in his arms.
I gasped as he began walking away from the helipad.
"Put me down!" I grunted, trying to shove his chest, but his grip only tightened.
"Kairos!" I hissed.
"Quit struggling," he murmured.
I didn't listen, even though I knew he wouldn't let go. Yes, he was different from the man I once knew, but he was still Kairos—the one who always did whatever he wanted.
He set me down on the loveseat in the middle of what appeared to be the living room.
It was a cozy, medium sized space overlooking a small pool outside.
My attention snapped to the sharp click of shoes against the floor.
About five women and five men, dressed in neatly ironed plain white uniforms, black aprons tied at their waists, black pants, and white shirts tucked in, hurried toward us from a large double door.
They lined up in a straight row and bowed low before Kairos as though he were some kind of king.
One woman, the oldest, with completely gray hair pulled into a neat bun, stepped forward. Her eyes darted to me before settling on Kairos.
"You didn't inform me you were bringing anyone with you," she said.
Though her tone sounded calm and free of open hostility, I caught the edge beneath it.
And the way she had looked at me. With disdain. I didn't know this woman, yet she already seemed to hate me.
Kairos clicked his tongue. "Don't worry about her. She is my long lost sister under my protection and will be staying here for as long as I say."
All eyes turned to me, and I saw the astonishment in them. Perhaps they never knew their boss had a so-called sister.
The woman parted her lips as if to argue, then thought better of it.
"Very well," she muttered. Her gaze returned to me, sliding down my frame. "I hope this one isn't trouble."
I looked at Kairos, wondering what she meant. But the stern look he shot her made her shift uncomfortably.
"I shall prepare a bath for her," she added quickly, turning away from us and heading back through the door she had come from. The others followed behind her.
After they left, I looked around. I couldn't tell whether it was shock or fear settling in my chest, or both.
It had only been five years since I last saw Kairos, yet he now commanded this kind of wealth and unsettling power.
My father had taken Kairos off the streets. According to him, Kairos had been wandering alone in a poverty stricken area, and since my father claimed to care deeply about children and despised seeing them suffer, he brought him into our home.
Just five years… No. I shook my head. There was no way he could have built something this vast in only five years.
"Who are you, and what have you done to Kairos?"
He smirked. Instead of answering, he pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and lifted it to his ear.
"I need you," he said simply before ending the call.
My stomach knotted as he turned back to me. His eyes narrowed, drifting once more to my injured leg.
"You should have told me who did that to you. Now someone is going to die, whether they're guilty or not."
I swallowed, shifting on the seat, my fingers gripping the leather.
"Why?"
He frowned slightly, tilting his head. "Because I don't like when people touch what is mine."
Mine?
I scoffed, but that wasn't even what I was asking him.
"What happened five years ago?" I asked. I didn't like the way he kept dodging my question.
Silence stretched between us before he finally broke it.
"Ask your father," Kairos replied.
My throat dried, and I blinked at him.
"Oh, wait. You can't. He's dead." He chuckled.
My chest tightened at the satisfaction in his eyes. He wasn't even pretending to be sympathetic. He liked that my father was dead. I didn't need anyone to tell me that.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, Cassy," he murmured, settling into the chair opposite mine. He crossed one leg over the other. "We both know he had that coming."
He did.
As the Don, he had committed countless atrocities against both the guilty and the innocent. But I wasn't about to admit that to the man sitting in front of me. He was the last person who should be criticizing my father.
The man who pulled him off the streets and took him in as his own son. The man who taught him everything he knew.
Kairos was watching me. I dropped my gaze to my chipped nails, refusing to meet his eyes.
I still had so many questions swirling in my head, and I couldn't understand why he had brought me here. I wondered if he would answer if I asked him.
"What?" His voice cut through my thoughts.
My head snapped up to look at him. My mouth opened to speak, but the woman from earlier returned. I closed my mouth again, breathing out quietly at the interruption.
"Your bath is ready, Miss," she said.
I nodded stiffly, rising to my feet and moving toward her. As I turned past Kairos's chair, he caught my hand.
My breath hitched at the contact. A sharp current shot through me, heat pooling low in my stomach.
I glanced down at our joined hands as he traced a slow circle over my skin, ignoring the fact that we weren't alone.
"Red," his voice softened.
Red.
I couldn't remember the last time he had called me that. The name dragged up memories I had buried the day I learned he was dead.
My lower lip trembled as he lifted my palm to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss against it. Butterflies erupted in my stomach.
The woman made a small choking sound, and I turned to see the horror on her face.
Maybe she was wondering why there was so much tension between siblings. A tension that, shamefully, I was fueling just as much.
I tried to pull my hand free, but Kairos tightened his grip.
"Don't do anything stupid, Red," he murmured in the same quiet tone. Our eyes locked.
And once again, I couldn't read him. His expression was blank. Cold. "I brought you here for your sake."
For my sake? Was he being serious right now?!
"No, Kairos." I shook my head, my voice trembling. "You brought me here to exert your authority over me because I'm powerless. Because my father is dead and you think you can do whatever you want. Because you suddenly have some higher position, God knows how you got it or who the devil you had to serve to get there…"
I exhaled sharply, trying to steady the storm inside me. "You brought me here because you're a fucking coward who would rather hide behind men and the wealth you've amassed to do your dirty work."
I yanked my hand again. This time, he let go.
"I wish you had stayed dead, Kairos. At least then I'd know there was one less piece of lying shit in this world."