Chapter 3 The Crime
"Now someone knows. Someone has proof. And they want to meet Friday." Her eyes found his again, and there was real fear there now, but something else too—a fragile kind of hope. "I don't know what they want. Money? To ruin me? To drag me back into something I spent three years running from?"
Kai stepped closer, his presence looming but steady, his voice dropping into a low, protective tone. "Don't let the fear cloud your judgment, Tati. Blackmail is a game played by cowards who hide behind screens. You don't have to tell me everything yet, but you need to understand one thing—I don't walk away when things get messy." He paused, his gaze unwavering. "Who else knew about your situation three years ago?"
The warmth of his presence so close caught Tati off guard. She was used to facing things alone, used to being the strong one, the one who figured it out. Having someone step into her chaos instead of away from it made her throat tight with emotions she wasn't ready to name.
"Not many people," she admitted, her mind racing through possibilities. "My ex, obviously. His business partner—they were involved in some... questionable dealings. Real estate fraud, I think, though I didn't know the full extent until it was too late." She shook her head, frustrated with herself. "I was young and stupid and thought I was in love. He had this way of making you feel special, like you were the only person who mattered to him. He groomed my trust so carefully I didn't see the manipulation until it was already too late. By the time I realized what was really going on, I was already in too deep."
She wrapped her arms around herself, a protective gesture.
"There was one other person. My best friend at the time, Maya. She helped me get out, helped me disappear. We haven't spoken since I left—I thought it was safer that way. To just... cut all ties to that life." Her voice cracks slightly. "But if someone found me, maybe they found her too. Maybe she's in danger because of me. She risked everything to help me escape—her job, her reputation, her relationship with her family. They never forgave her for choosing me over them."
The guilt in her eyes was palpable. Tati looked up at Kai, and for the first time, let him see past all her defenses.
"Why are you helping me? You don't even know me."
Kai tilted his head slightly, his expression softening just enough to show he was serious without losing his edge. "Maybe I just like the way you haven't backed down from me yet. Or maybe I know what it's like to have a past you'd rather keep buried." He paused, letting the weight of that admission settle between them. "Whatever the reason, you caught my attention, and I don't leave things unfinished. I'm here for the long haul, Tati. Right now, we need to focus on who sent that message. Give me a name—who was the ex?"
Tati's breath hitched at his words, at the unexpected admission that carried more weight than it should between two strangers. Something about the way he said it—you caught my attention—made her pulse quicken in a way that had nothing to do with fear.
She forced herself to focus on the question, even though part of her wanted to ask what he meant by that.
"Marcus Bennett," she said, the name tasting like poison. "Charming, successful, dangerous in ways I didn't see coming. He had this way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room, like everything he did was for you. He'd say things like, 'I'm building this empire for us,' or 'Everything I do is to give you the life you deserve.' He made me feel like I was part of something important, something special. Like I was the reason he was doing any of it." She laughed bitterly. "Classic manipulation. I fell for it completely. He'd isolate me from friends, tell me they didn't understand our vision, that they were jealous of what we had. By the time I realized it was all calculated, I was completely dependent on him."
She pulled out a chair and sat down, suddenly exhausted by the weight of everything. Her hands were still shaking slightly.
"His business partner was named David Chen. They ran a real estate development company together—at least, that's what it looked like on the surface. Underneath, they were running schemes. Fake properties, forged documents, redirected investor money that was supposed to fund legitimate developments. They were stealing millions while people lost their life savings. Money laundering on a scale that made them untouchable—or so they thought." She looked up at Kai. "I found out by accident. Walked in on a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear. Marcus tried to convince me it was nothing, that I misunderstood."
Her jaw tightened.
"I didn't misunderstand. And when I threatened to go to the police, things got... ugly. Marcus's face went cold in a way I'd never seen before—all that charm just evaporated like it had never existed. He grabbed my arm, his grip so tight it left bruises for weeks. His voice dropped to something I'd never heard from him, something that made my blood freeze. He told me I had no idea what I was threatening to expose. Said people had died for knowing less. That if I went to the police, I'd be signing my own death warrant and dragging anyone I cared about down with me." She swallowed hard, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. "The fear was suffocating—I realized I wasn't just dealing with fraud, I was dealing with something far more dangerous. Something with real consequences. Real violence. Maya got me out before it could get worse."
Kai's entire body went rigid. His jaw clenched, and something dark flickered across his features—a protective fury that was almost frightening in its intensity. "He threatened you. Physically threatened you."
"Yes," Tati whispered.
"And you've been running ever since," Kai said, not a question but a statement of fact. His hand moved to her shoulder, grounding her. "That ends Friday. You're not running anymore."
She looked down at her trembling hands, then back up at Kai, fear and exhaustion written across her face.
"Now someone's dragging it all back. And I don't know if I'm strong enough to survive it twice."
