CHAPTER 12: ONE BULLET AWAY
1226 Words
CHAPTER TWELVE – One Bullet Away
“Sometimes fate warns you before disaster comes… but love is blind enough to ignore every warning.”
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The next few days passed strangely.
Too calm.
Too normal.
And in Kay’s world—
That usually meant something bad was coming.
---
Jessy noticed it immediately.
The guards became more alert.
Phones rang more often.
Meetings lasted longer.
And Kay—
Kay became colder again.
Not toward her.
Toward everyone else.
---
But even through the tension surrounding him—
He still checked on her constantly.
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“Did you eat?”
“Why are you awake this late?”
“Don’t walk outside alone.”
“Keep your phone with you.”
---
Jessy should’ve been annoyed.
Instead—
She was getting used to it.
And that scared her more every day.
---
One evening, Jessy sat alone in the library while rain tapped softly against the giant windows.
A book rested in her lap, but she hadn’t read a single page.
Her thoughts kept drifting back to Kay.
To his words.
To his touch.
To the dangerous softness hidden beneath all his darkness.
---
The library door opened quietly.
Jessy looked up.
And immediately felt her heartbeat change.
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Kay.
---
He looked exhausted again.
Black suit.
Loose tie.
Tired eyes.
But the moment he saw her—
Something in his expression softened.
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“There you are,” he murmured quietly.
Jessy raised a brow.
“You make it sound like I escaped.”
“You thought about it?”
She smiled slightly.
“Maybe.”
---
Kay walked deeper into the room slowly.
The dim lighting wrapped around him perfectly, making him look even more dangerous somehow.
And somehow—
Jessy was becoming addicted to his presence.
---
“That’s unhealthy,” she whispered to herself.
Kay frowned slightly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
---
He stopped beside the couch where she sat.
Then his eyes landed on the untouched book.
“You haven’t turned the page.”
Jessy sighed softly.
“You notice too much.”
“I notice you.”
---
Her breath caught immediately.
Again.
Always him saying things so casually that ruined her heartbeat.
---
Jessy looked away quickly.
“You really need to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Saying things that sound…”
She stopped herself.
Kay leaned slightly closer.
“Sound what?”
Jessy swallowed hard.
“Dangerous.”
---
A faint smile touched his lips.
“You think my words are the dangerous part of me?”
Jessy looked up at him slowly.
“No.”
A pause.
“I think it’s the fact that I like hearing them.”
---
Silence.
Heavy.
Intimate.
---
For a second—
Neither of them moved.
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Then suddenly—
Kay’s phone rang loudly.
The atmosphere shattered instantly.
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His expression hardened the moment he answered.
“Yes?”
Jessy watched the color slowly disappear from his face.
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“What happened?”
Silence.
Then—
“Where?”
Another silence.
---
Kay ended the call sharply.
Every trace of softness gone now.
---
Jessy stood immediately.
“What is it?”
Kay grabbed his g*n from the table beside him.
And Jessy’s stomach dropped instantly.
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“Kay?”
His eyes met hers.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerously calm.
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“They found Adrian’s men near the warehouse.”
Jessy’s chest tightened.
“And?”
“They had your picture.”
---
Fear slammed into her instantly.
Real fear.
Cold fear.
---
Kay walked toward the door quickly.
But Jessy grabbed his arm before he could leave.
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“Don’t go.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
---
Kay looked down at her hand wrapped around his arm.
Then at her face.
---
“I have to.”
“What if it’s a trap?”
“It probably is.”
Jessy’s breathing became uneven.
“Then don’t go alone.”
A small humorless smile touched his lips.
“I was never alone.”
---
Jessy hated how calm he sounded.
Like danger was normal to him.
Like bullets and blood were just another part of life.
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“Kay…” her voice softened slightly. “I have a bad feeling.”
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For the first time—
He hesitated.
Just slightly.
---
Then he reached up and gently touched her face.
That same soft touch that completely contradicted the darkness surrounding him.
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“I’ll come back.”
Jessy stared at him.
“You don’t know that.”
His thumb brushed lightly against her cheek.
“Yes,” he said quietly.
“I do.”
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Then he left.
And suddenly—
The mansion felt empty.
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Jessy stood frozen in the library long after he disappeared.
Her heart refusing to calm down.
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Hours passed slowly.
Painfully.
---
Rain grew heavier outside.
Thunder shook the windows.
And Jessy couldn’t breathe properly anymore.
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Something was wrong.
She could feel it.
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Nora eventually found her still sitting in the library.
“You should sleep.”
Jessy shook her head quickly.
“No.”
Nora frowned slightly.
“You’ve been waiting for three hours.”
“I know.”
---
Nora sat beside her carefully.
“He’ll be okay.”
Jessy laughed nervously.
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself too.”
Silence.
That silence terrified Jessy even more.
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Then suddenly—
The front doors burst open downstairs.
Voices echoed loudly through the mansion.
Fast footsteps.
Shouting.
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Jessy stood immediately.
Her heart stopped.
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She ran toward the hallway.
Nora right behind her.
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The moment Jessy reached the stairs—
Everything around her froze.
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Kay stood downstairs surrounded by guards.
Blood covered part of his white shirt beneath the open black jacket.
One of the guards was supporting him slightly.
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Jessy’s entire body went cold.
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“Kay.”
His eyes lifted instantly at the sound of her voice.
And somehow—
Even injured—
He still looked terrifying.
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Jessy rushed downstairs before anyone could stop her.
“What happened?!”
One of the guards answered quickly.
“There was an ambush.”
---
Jessy’s chest tightened painfully.
Her eyes moved back to Kay.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding!”
“It’s not mine.”
But even as he said it—
Jessy noticed the blood spreading near his side.
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“Liar.”
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Kay looked at her for a long moment.
Then suddenly—
His knees weakened slightly.
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Jessy caught him instinctively.
Her heart nearly shattered.
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“Kay!”
The guards immediately moved closer.
But Kay lifted one hand slightly.
Stopping them.
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His eyes never left Jessy’s face.
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And then he whispered something that broke her completely.
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“I told you I’d come back.”
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Jessy felt tears burn her eyes instantly.
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Because somehow—
Even injured.
Even bleeding.
Even standing one bullet away from death—
He still thought about keeping his promise to her.
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And in that moment—
Jessy realized there was no escape anymore.
Not from his world.
Not from his shadow.
And definitely not—
From loving him.
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“Love becomes real the moment someone’s pain starts hurting you more than your own.”
- Writer
