HEART BOUND

KAI/LUCAS

(Season 1)

CHAPTER 25

Liora’s eyes snapped wide open.

All the color drained from her face.

"W-what...what are you...talking about," she whispered. Her voice trembled.

Her gaze betrayed her and dropped to his lips.

Perfect. Infuriating.

She jerked her eyes away.

_This can’t be true. Right?_

Kalen didn’t blink. His voice was flat. Blank.

"You don’t want me to repeat it, do you?"

He wasn’t joking. Kalen didn’t joke.

Liora’s brain started screaming.

_Oh no. Oh no._

She scrambled to her feet, frantic. Looking around the study like the walls would give her answers.

"I...I don’t remember...doing that!"

Her eyes kept flickering back to him despite herself.

To that stupid, annoying, handsome face.

"But I do," Kalen said simply.

And just like that, the image slammed into her.

Her. Drunk. Clinging to him.

Him. Carrying her.

Them. On her bed.

Her face twisted in pure horror.

She covered it with both hands.

"Oh God...this can’t be happening..."

Kalen watched her. Silent.

Why was she acting like kissing him was the end of the world?

Girls threw themselves at him daily. Some would pay for 10 seconds of his time.

But Liora Volar looked like she wanted to evaporate.

Without another word, she bolted.

The door slammed behind her.

The moment she was gone, something ghosted across Kalen’s face.

A small, almost invisible smile.

Her reaction was...amusing.

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KALEN'S STUDY | 30 MINUTES LATER

The door opened. Lucas walked in with a file.

Kalen was already dressed.

Black shirt. Sleeves rolled.

A cigarette between his fingers.

Eyes blank, staring at nothing.

something he always does when he is thinking.

Lucas sometimes finds it very creepy and scary, him sitting quietly and not doing anything was more dangerous than him in action.

"What did you find," Kalen asked. He didn’t turn.

"Hannah Valor," Lucas began. "Only child of Christian Anderson Valor. The Valor empire was inherited by her at age twelve, after her parents died. She married Ruben Browns right after college. Died nineteen years ago. A year after giving birth to her daughter."

Kalen swirled the wine in his glass. Then stopped.

"And Ruben Browns?"

"He mysteriously went missing a few years back," Lucas said. "No body. No trace. No records of where he went."

Kalen frowned. That wasn’t possible.

If Ruben was alive, someone knew something.

"So Ruben married Dorothy after Hannah died?"

"Yes. But he was already having an affair with Mrs. Dorothy while Hannah was alive. They had a daughter. Jae Brown."

Lucas flipped a page.

"I also found that Ruben only married Hannah for her wealth. He couldn’t touch it. Before she died, she locked everything in her daughter’s name."

Kalen’s lips curved. Just slightly.

Impressed.

He’d met Hannah Valor once. Never knew she was that clever.

"Dig more on Ruben," Kalen ordered, standing. "Find out where he’s been. What he’s been doing."

Authority. Final.

Lucas sighed the second Kalen left.

Why was Kalen suddenly digging into Liora’s family?

He couldn’t ask. Asking meant losing his head.

He was startled when arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"What are you thinking about?" Kai’s voice. Playful. Warm.

Lucas spun, panicked, and slammed the door shut.

"What are you doing?! What if someone sees us? You know we can’t risk this. Especially with Kalen."

Kai doesn't mind what others think about their relationship but Lucas does... It was too risky for anyone else to find out.

"No one’s here, Lucas," Kai said, smiling. Unbothered.

"What if someone walked in? Like Miss Liora did?"

Kai stared at him. Then grinned.

"You’re cute when you’re angry."

"Don’t," Lucas groaned. "Don't even start!"

"Okay fine you win, but you can't blame me... I didn't see you all day yesterday and today you look really busy... I felt left out" Kai said with a pouted.

Lucas rolled his eyes. But he was smiling.

Kai pushed him back against the desk slightly and kissed him.

"I want you" Kai whispered.

"Right here?" Lucas asked with a mischievous grin.

"Well I don't mind" Kai answered and kissed him again.

Lucas didn’t protest.

He missed him too.

What started as gentle turned desperate.

Lucas kiss his neck gently and slowly unbuttoned his shirt and sent more kisses all over his broad chest. Kai frustrated with Lucas slow pace, quickly ripped off his shirt too and kissed him with urgency.

Soon the room was filled with Moans. Heavy breath.

It was like the whole world has suddenly shut down leaving just them in each other arms. Their bodies connected with sweat dripping down and heavy breath as the evidence of their love making.

It was a dangerous.

And they didn’t care at that very moment.

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LIORA'S ROOM | AFTERNOON

Liora was pacing.

Rhine and Ellen sat on her bed, listening.

"This is so frustrating! Why him? Of all people?!" Liora whined.

Ellen bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"It’s not that bad. I mean, you didn’t even kiss him."

"Right," Rhine said, holding back a grin. "Maybe Kalen’s just messing with you."

Liora frowned. "Why would he do that?"

"To embarrass you," Ellen said. "So you’ll avoid him. So you’ll stop investigating him."

Liora stopped pacing.

That...made sense.

Kalen was a wall. He hated questions.

"You think so?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rhine said. "Don’t worry about it."

But they missed it.

The flicker in Liora’s eyes.

Miscalculated.

If he wanted her to drop it, he just made her 10x more determined.

The second the girls left, Liora slipped out.

Straight to Kalen’s study.

She tore through everything.

Files. Wine bottles. Cigarette packs. More files.

Nothing.

"Why is he such a mystery?!" she groaned, collapsing on the couch.

She picked up the wine bottle on his desk.

And then it hit her.

A flash.

Her. Drunk.

Hugging him.

Him carrying her.

Sleeping on her bed. Together.

"Oh. Good. Heavens," she whispered.

This was worse.

She shot up to run—

The door opened.

Kalen stood there.

Expression blank.

Eyes landing right on her.

On the wine bottle in her hand.

In his study.

Too late.

TBC