Page 118 of Celestial Combat

“Only if I’m allowed to babysit,” I said, leaning back and sighing dramatically. “I’ll teach her all my bad habits.”

“Absolutely not,” They said in unison.

“I meant how to fight!”I laughed again, pressing a hand over my heart in mocking hurt. But it was so full with love, I didn’t even know how it was still beating.

Natalia’s head fell back with laughter and Trevor winked at me. Still, I shook my head, a smirk on my lips.

I was glad we could talk about it, all these years later, and laugh about it.

It all felt so… Peaceful.

And for the first time in a long time, I was right in the center of it.

Chapter 31

Present

Brooklyn, New York City

A WEEK PASSED SINCE THAT night.

A week of Kali avoiding me and eye contact. When we were at my loft, she stayed hidden in my bedroom upstairs. When I drove her around, she hid in the backseat and kept her eyes glued to her phone. When we were both at the gym, she only asked Tony for help now.

That fucking guy.

I wasn’t as bothered by him anymore now that I knew Kali had a crush onme. Not him. Me. Though I still wasn’t his biggest fan when Kali gave him a hug or wished him a safe ride home on his motorcycle.

Tony DeMone still being alive was a miracle in itself.

Thinking back to that night, now, I was considering maybe I shouldn’t have whispered that thing in her ear. Since she wasn’t speaking to me anymore and all… But then again, it scared her off, meaning she understood the reality of our situation. Which was my goal from the start. I should’ve been happy.

I sat on the edge of the couch, elbows braced on my knees, suit pants creasing clean under the pressure of my forearms, as I stared out the window.

I hadn’t worn a suit in years.Not since that job in Prague.Not since the last time I needed to look like someone I wasn’t.

Kali was attending an art gallery opening for a friend from college – something minimal and painfully curated here in Brooklyn, which is why I agreed.

I didn’t like being the guy telling her what she could and couldn’t do, but that was currently my job.Keep her safe.

I was going because I had to. I’d already tightened her security firewall twice this week, because she refused to stop living the fast life.

And because she still wasn’t talking to me.

I’d found a reason to get her to say more than just a hum to me – her security.

She’d studied photography at NYU instead of coding at Columbia like her parents wanted. I respected that. Going her own way, despite the weight of a family like the Sus. It was a kind of rebellion that didn’t announce itself, but I saw it. In the way she lit her shots. In the way she kept that old camera, or lived in a house in Southside Jamaica Queens instead of the Upper East Side.

Upstairs, the sound of heels against the hardwood interrupted my thoughts.

“Okay,” She called down. “I’m ready.”

I stood automatically, fingers finding the front of my jacket, buttoning it with a smooth move. I turned toward the stairs, my jaw already set, expecting the usual polite coldness in her eyes.

But then I saw her.

And I forgot how to act.

The breath left my lungs in a slow, stunned drag.