Page 121 of The Chaos She Brings

Before I can reply, he’s already gone.

Carina turns to me, her gaze sharp. “Did you tell him?”

I shake my head, then my heart clenches painfully and I know that Carina sees the way my face twists.

“Out with it.”

I wrap my arms around myself. “I left him. He’s hurt.”

She purses her lips. “So… you’re just going to give up?”

“No!” I snap, then lower my voice. “He asked for space. I’m giving it to him.”

Carina studies me like she’s peeling back my layers. “I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“I already hurt him.” My throat tightens.

“So, show him you’re not going anywhere.”

I frown, and she sighs. “Kai is good at pushing people away. But once he lets you in, he’s all in. If you give him space now, you’re just proving to him that you’ll walk away.”

Her words don’t just settle—theyburn. Because she’s right. Kai let me in, and I left. If I walk away now, I’ll be proving to him that he was right to keep his walls up in the first place.

Carina keeps going. “You need to show up for him, Tess.”

I wipe at my eyes, letting her words sink in.

“How’d you get so smart?” I murmur.

She grins. “It’s all the trauma.”

41

Letting Her Go

Nate to Tess: He needs you. Don’t give up on him. [delivered]

Kai

Myhousefeelscold—empty,lifeless. I used to love that about it, but now I find myself missing Tess’s presence. Her laugh, her insistent chatter, the way she leaves behind a mess everywhere she goes like she’s letting you know she was there.

It’s too quiet. Too still. My house has always been this way, but for the first time, it reminds me of the silence after my father left. That heavy, suffocating kind of quiet. The kind that means someone should be here, but they’re not. That means I’ve been left behind—again.

The silence is thick, pressing in on me like a living thing. The air itself feels heavier, stagnant, like the house is holding its breath, waiting for something—or someone—to return.

Enzo’s people did a good job of putting the place backtogether. It’s not quite as pristine as I usually keep it, nothing has been put back in their exact spots, but I’m not sure I care.

I clunkily trudge up the stairs, exhaustion weighing heavily on me, but I know my mind is too wired to sleep.

Stepping into my office, I find a whole new computer set up. Begrudgingly, I can admit that Enzo has gotten me a better system than I had before. There are now four desktops sitting along the raiser, where I only had three. And it’s not lost on me that the brand is top of the line.

My desk chair hasn’t changed, thankfully, and the familiar comfort is grounding as I sink into it.

I power on the screens and take my time setting up my accounts on the new computer.

The first thing I do once everything’s set up?

I check the CCTV outside of Tess’s flat, rewinding it back to when I see Carina’s pink car pull up outside. One door opens and Nate gets out, then Tess follows, clambering out from the back awkwardly. Nate has to steady her, and a hot surge of jealousy ignites inside me. Now I understand why Nate would get so possessive with Carina. It’s not that he’d ever do anything—too obsessed with looking at Carina like her shit doesn’t stink—but I should be the only one touching her. I should be the one to help her.