I decide I don’t want to find out.
And then something hot grabs my arm, itsicybreath crashing into the exposed part of my neck.
I scream, losing my footing as I trip over a bump in the ground, and send myself flying toward the bottom of the hill. It’s so steep and dark I can’t even see it, but I pretty much know what awaits me. The elevation on the way up was a lot bigger than I expected.
Everything kind of slows down like I’m in slow motion while I try to regain my footing and fail. Yep, I’m not getting out of this unscathed. At the very least, I’m looking at more than a few broken bones.And worst-case scenario—I think as I try to grab onto something so I can stop my fall before the sharp angle makes it impossible to do so—a hospital stay will be the least of my worries.
“Careful!”
Someone collides with me, knocking me off course. Arms wrap around me protectively as I crash sideways into a prickly bush. Gritting my teeth, I focus on keeping my head protected, panting and praying this won’t send me tumbling down the hill just like I was about to.
Chapter 15
The weight on topof me prevents me from rolling down the hill to my death. It pins me to the ground at the base of the shrub, and I clutch onto it for dear life, burying my nose in the crook of the neck of whoever saved me from a very painful experience.
Fuck, this was too close. I got distracted and spooked and almost died for it.
It takes me a few minutes to regulate my frantic heartbeat. All the while I try to do that, there is a second one, just as wild and hectic, but somehow, I find something soothing in it. I inhale deeply, smelling evergreen woods more so than rain. It’s a familiar scent, but my brain is too wired up to place it, so I just keep breathing it in until the shock of my near-possibly-death experience settles in my bones.
“Are you okay?” the person says after a while, shaking me off.
His voice reverberates through me, familiar and irritating.
I gape at Kwanchai, pushing him the rest of the way off me. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“It’s not what it looks like,” he rushes out, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed under him and his arms spread in a placating gesture. “I wasn’t following you or stalking you or anything like that.”
I lean against the bush’s trunk, still panting. His suit is rumpled and there are more than a few rips across it. It’s probably ruined. He has soil all over his face, and his eyes are a little wide and panicked.
“Why the hell were you running downhill like an idiot?” he snaps at me, nostrils flaring. “It’s a steep hill and the ground is uneven!”
I glare at him.Did he just scold me for trying to run away from him and almost breaking my neck for it?“You were chasing me.”
He blinks, scowling in confusion. “I was chasing you?”
I wave my arms around. “There was someone at the shrine? That’s why I ran!” When he just looks more confused, I narrow my eyes and rethink my accusation. “Wait… Thatwasn’tyou?”
He shakes his head, his features going a little taut. “No. I was headed up this side to… check on you, since only your friend came down.” He clears his throat and pulls his lower lip between his teeth. “I was going to take a quick peek, make sure everything was okay. You weren’t even supposed to know I was here…”
Wait a minute. The moment I saw it was Chai who prevented me from falling, I assumed he was the one chasing me, too. But now that I think about it, he collided with me from the side, kind of semi-frontal, so he couldn’t have been following me down.
Then who the hell came after me?
I wrap my arms around my torso, suppressing a shudder as I remember the icy cold sensation crashing into my neck when whoever was chasing me grabbed me.What just happened?Who was I running away from?This is kind of freaking me out. I’ve been here just for a couple of weeks, so I’m pretty sure I haven’t had time to piss off any vengeful neighbors. My only encounter with trouble sits across from me, his dark brown eyes looking as if they are entirely black in the scarce light. There is a hint of concern in them too, confusion, excitement, a flicker of relief—
I gulp down another wave of fear. Could it have been the goons we beat up that night? Were they the ones after me? But it’s been ages, and besides, they shouldn’t know who I am. They were too busy getting their asses kicked to even get a good look at me.
Digging my fingers into my damp shirt, I hold Chai’s gaze. “Okay. But someonewaschasing me. I saw them.” Or, well, I saw shadows moving among the trees, which is practically the same thing. “If it wasn’t you, then… Do you think it was those guys? The ones we beat up when we first met?”
Chai scratches the side of his jaw, pulling my attention to it. It’s angular and on the sharper side, though not extremely so. He smears soil all over it without realizing. Or maybe mud since my ass is starting to feel the dampness of the ground below me. Either way, I barely resist the itching need to reach out and wipe it off his face with my fingers.
Oh boy, here we go again with my impulsive urges to touch him.
“I don’t think it’s them. We’ve been,ah, monitoring the situation.”
“We, as in the Akiyama Group?” I shoot at him, letting my arms drop to the sides as my breathing finally evens out. Chai being here is doing wonders for my paranoia. I can’t tell if it’s just because there’s two of us now or because I know he can fight. “Which you work for, and which is a mafia—yakuza organization.”
He pouts and gives me a hard look. I think it’s meant to intimidate me, but the flicker of mirth I catch when he leans slightly forward and a beam of moonlight catches his profile kind of ruins the whole threatening act he’s going for. “Technically, I don’t work for the Group. My father owns it and I help run it.”
