where you or your brother need patching up. I don’t have it in me to play pretend anymore while waiting for one of you to shove a knife in my back. I know your secret. You already eliminated the original Gemini when he found out, why would I be any different? You go back to your division, I’ll stay in mine, and we can hate each other from afar until you’re ready to finish me off.”
“I don’t hate you,” he grunts without thinking, but he doesn’t say he won’t kill me.
“That’s okay, Kai, I hate me enough for the both of us,” I tell him softly, because it’s the truth.
The rest of the journey passes by in silence, thankfully, and when we pull up at the apartment a little while later, I wait for further instruction.
Kai turns the radio off, leaving us sitting in silence for a moment, the only sound is our breathing. He pulls the hood from my head, the sudden bright light making me blink rapidly as he smooths the hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear.
“Don’t hate me, Red,” he whispers, reaching over to unclip the seatbelt. “You have no idea what you stepped into,” he adds, a tiny hint of panic in his voice, but when I look up at him sharply all I see is his cool calm facade
“Maybe not, but that won’t stop you guys from using me as a scapegoat now, will it?” I mutter, before climbing out and slamming the door.
He’s at my side in an instant, leaning close.
“Remember to keep your mouth shut about Jude to Zodiac. Regardless of what you think, he doesn’t know about him.”
“And what makes you so damn sure?” I snap, wondering why he can’t see what’s right in front of his face.
“Because if he knew, we’d both be dead.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
I spot Zodiac walking toward us as if exiting the building, which of course, is bullshit.
“Viddy,” Zodiac greats me cordially as if I didn’t see him standing behind Kai when he tased me.
“Zodiac,” I reply before Kai steps up beside me. I hate being in close proximately to Zodiac, especially alone, and it’s not because he’s a bad guy, fuck at this point, all I know is bad guys. No, it’s because Zodiac sets off a warning bell in me of a different kind. The way he looks at me makes my skin crawl. I feel dirty, as if my skin is layered in a slick oily film whenever his eyes are on me.
“I’d apologize if my actions today seem…extreme, but I lost a man today. Although I must say, you look remarkably well given Reid’s usual brand of torture.” He quirks an eyebrow as Kai grows tenser and tenser beside me.
“Oh, don’t worry, Kai hasn’t lost his touch. Let’s just say his methods are a little…different when trying to get information out of a woman. Of course, it would have been so much easier on everyone if someone had simply just asked me what happened.”
“With the cameras not working, I needed to be sure,” Zodiac explains, looking at Kai before facing me again.
His voice turns icy. “Kai here tells me you’re innocent, but if I find out you planned this all, a taser will be the least of your worries.”
“Good job I didn’t do anything except protect myself,” I grit through my teeth, thankful for once I don’t have my gun on me as there are too many witnesses here for me to shoot him in broad daylight.
I turn and walk toward the building before entering and making my way over to the bank of elevators. I step inside and scan the floor, not a drop of blood in sight. Damn, my boys are good.
I wait for Zodiac and Kai to enter before pressing for the doors to close.
“My apartment or yours?” I ask Zodiac casually, not missing the way Kai’s head jerks around to face mine. I guess Jude didn’t pass on that tidbit of information.
“Yours is fine,” he replies calmly, but a tiny hint of an undefinable accent peeks through, letting me know he’s pissed.
I hit the button to my floor and stand silently, taking more pleasure than I should from the tick in Zodiac’s jaw. I know better than to poke the tiger, but today, I can’t find the energy to rein it in.
When the doors open, I step out into the hallway and see it’s free of corpses. The carpet has been ripped up and taken away, and