Keifers POV 𖨆𖨆𖨆𖨆
The house was too quiet.
It always was when Keigan wasn't around.
No footsteps.
No voices.
No distractions.
Just silence.
I stood near the window of my room, staring out at the darkened grounds of the mansion, hands resting loosely at my sides.
From the outside, everything looked normal.
Still.
Untouched.
Like nothing had ever happened here.
Like that night had never existed.
My jaw tightened slightly.
If only it were that simple.
Something was wrong.
Not with the case.
Not directly.
But with him.
Yuri.
I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through my hair before turning away from the window.
The way he had been acting lately—
It wasn't subtle anymore.
Not entirely.
Too close.
Too comfortable.
Too… intentional.
The way he spoke.
The way he lingered.
The way his gaze stayed just a second longer than it should.
It wasn't normal.
And yesterday—
My expression hardened slightly.
Yesterday crossed a line.
He had backed me against the wall.
Close enough that I couldn't ignore it.
Close enough that it wasn't a mistake.
And the worst part?
He hadn't looked uncertain.
He hadn't looked like he was guessing.
He looked sure.
My fingers curled slightly.
"…What do you know?" I muttered under my breath.
Because that was the only explanation.
This wasn't random.
This wasn't meaningless.
Yuri didn't do things without reason.
A flicker of memory surfaced.
Unclear.
Blurry.
But there.
The alcohol burned going down.
Stronger than it should've been.
Or maybe there had just been too much of it.
Shot after shot.
Glass after glass.
I didn't keep count.
Didn't think I needed to.
Yuri had been the one pouring.
Always just a little faster than I could question.
Always just ahead of me.
"Another?" he had asked.
And I had said yes.
Again.
And again.
The room had started to blur.
Edges softening.
Thoughts slowing.
Control slipping.
And then—
His voice.
Closer.
Lower.
"Keifer…"
I remembered turning slightly.
Unsteady.
"What?" I had muttered.
And then the shift.
Sudden.
Sharp.
My back hit the wall.
Not hard.
But enough.
Enough to register.
Yuri was in front of me.
Too close.
"I know you did it."
My stomach twisted.
Even now, remembering it—
It didn't sit right.
"Did… did what?" I had asked.
The words had come out uneven.
Slower than they should've been.
"Zoren."
A pause.
"You killed him that night."
The memory sharpened just slightly.
Enough to feel it again.
That moment.
That realization.
My hand had moved without thinking—
pushing his away.
Creating space.
"Proof?" I had demanded. "How would you know that?"
A small smile.
Calm.
Unbothered.
"I have my ways."
My chest tightened.
Even now, standing in the present, the echo of those words lingered.
Because he hadn't sounded unsure.
He hadn't sounded like he was guessing.
He had sounded certain.
The memory fractured again.
Shifting.
Unstable.
His grip.
Firm.
Too firm.
At my neck.
Not enough to hurt—
But enough to control.
"If you don't want me to say anything…"
His voice had dropped.
Quieter.
Closer.
"Let's just.. do it." He whispered, his thumb slidding a bit across my neck.
"Do.. do what?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.
"You know."
And.. the rest of it was just a blur—
What was Yuri trying to do..
The broken that pieces I couldn't fully put together.
Only the feeling remained.
Of something wrong.
Something I hadn't agreed to.
Something I hadn't been in control of.
And then—
Nothing.
I inhaled slowly, forcing the memory back down.
My head ached faintly.
Whether from the past or the present—
I wasn't sure.
"…You planned that," I said quietly.
Not a question.
A realization.
The drinks.
The timing.
The conversation.
It wasn't coincidence.
It was deliberate.
Yuri knew.
Or at least—
He knew enough.
Enough to corner me.
Enough to test me.
Enough to—
My jaw tightened.
"Blackmail," I muttered.
The word sat heavy in the air.
But that wasn't the part that unsettled me the most.
No—
What unsettled me was how he was doing it.
Not direct.
Not loud.
Not reckless.
Controlled.
Careful.
Like he wasn't trying to destroy me.
Like he was trying to keep me exactly where I was.
My gaze drifted back toward the window.
Unfocused now.
Distant.
"And why?" I murmured.
Because none of this made sense otherwise.
If Yuri wanted me exposed—
He would've done it already.
If he wanted leverage—
He would've used it directly.
But instead—
He lingered.
Stayed close.
Watched.
Waited.
Like he wasn't just interested in the situation.
Like he was interested in me.
A quiet, humorless breath left me.
"…You're playing a dangerous game."
Because if Yuri thought he could control this—
Control me—
He was wrong.
But at the same time—
For the first time since that night—
The control didn't feel entirely mine anymore.
And that—
Was a problem.
However, I wasn't worried about myself as much as.
Jay. Detective Jay.
Because; I knew something Yuri had known as well.
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