Keifer POV✫✫✫
The mansion was quiet again.
Too quiet.
It always got worse at night.
During the day, the staff moved around enough to make the place feel occupied. Doors opened. Footsteps echoed somewhere in the distance. Phones rang. Cars came and went.
At night—
It turned hollow.
I sat in the living room, one arm stretched across the back of the couch, staring at nothing in particular while the lights from the city bled faintly through the far windows.
The same room.
The same expensive furniture.
The same silence.
None of it mattered.
Not when she wasn't here.
My thoughts had been circling the same things for days now. The case was over. The court had spoken. The world had moved on.
But I hadn't.
Because freedom meant nothing if I couldn't have what I actually wanted.
Footsteps approached from the hall.
Keigan stepped in, wearing a loose shirt and carrying a half-open bag of chips like he had wandered in by accident.
"Kuya, you okay?"
I didn't look at him right away.
"Yeah. It's nothing."
He studied me for a second like he didn't believe that answer.
Then he nodded once.
"Alright. You've been weird all week."
"I'm always weird."
"True."
He gave the smallest grin, then turned and headed back toward whatever room he had come from.
I watched him go.
There were too many rooms in this house to keep track of. Some nights I was sure even Keigan got lost in it.
The second he disappeared, my phone pinged.
My attention snapped down immediately.
Her location.
Jay.
I opened the tracker without thinking.
Little Tokyo.
Crowded area.
Busy streets.
Shops.
Restaurants.
An event marker was nearby too.
I zoomed in.
Then I saw the additional connections.
Two names.
Eman.
Ci-n.
Something sharp moved through my chest so suddenly I sat upright.
Jealousy.
Immediate.
Unpleasant.
Ridiculous.
I stared at the screen harder, like that would somehow change what I was seeing.
She was there.
With two men.
Talking.
Walking.
Laughing?
My jaw tightened.
Eman.
Ci-n.
The names nagged at me.
Familiar.
Then it clicked.
Her coworkers.
The ones from the station.
That should have made it better.
It didn't.
Somehow it made it worse.
Because they saw her every day.
Because they got hours with her I didn't.
Because right now—
They were with her.
And I wasn't.
I was already standing before I realized I had moved.
Keys in hand.
Phone in pocket.
No second thought.
I crossed the mansion in long strides, ignoring the staff who looked up as I passed, and headed straight for the garage.
The engine roared to life beneath me.
Good.
Something else should be loud tonight.
I drove faster than I should have.
Streetlights blurred past the windows as I checked my phone at every stop, then again while moving, then again at the next turn.
Still there.
Still in Little Tokyo.
Still with them.
The city was busy by the time I arrived. Lanterns hung overhead across the street. Music drifted from somewhere deeper in the crowd. Vendors called out to passing people. Laughter, chatter, footsteps, engines—everything blended into one restless current.
I hated it immediately.
Too many people.
Too many places for her to disappear.
I parked quickly and stepped out, scanning faces while checking the map again.
Thirty feet.
Twenty.
Ten.
Then—
There she was.
Jay.
Standing near a storefront, wearing that expression she always had when pretending not to be annoyed.
And beside her—
Two men.
Eman and Ci-n.
Talking too casually.
Standing too close.
I moved behind a decorative planter near the walkway, using the crowd as cover while I watched them.
Ci-n pointed excitedly toward another shop.
Eman said something that made Jay roll her eyes.
Then both of them jogged off into the crowd, leaving her standing outside alone with her arms folded.
Now.
I moved immediately, weaving through people, brushing shoulders, ignoring complaints tossed my way.
She looked down at her phone.
Didn't see me coming.
My hand closed around her wrist.
She screamed.
I covered her mouth instantly, leaning close enough for only her to hear me.
"You're mine," I whispered against her ear. "Only mine."
Her whole body went rigid.
Then she recognized me.
I felt it in the way she stopped fighting for one second.
That was all I needed.
I guided her through the crowd quickly, one hand firm around her wrist, the other at her back steering her forward.
Anyone watching would think we were just another couple in a hurry.
No one looked twice.
By the time we reached the car and I opened the passenger door, she had found her voice again.
"What is wrong with you?!"
"Get in."
"You literally kidnapped me!"
"Get in, Jay."
She glared at me.
Then got in.
Good.
I shut the door, rounded the front of the car, and slid into the driver's seat.
The second the doors locked, the space changed.
Smaller.
Warmer.
Charged.
"Jay."
I turned toward her fully.
She looked furious.
And beautiful.
"Y-yes?"
"Who are those people."
My voice stayed calm.
Controlled.
"Tell me. Now."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"My co-workers, Kei—"
I reached for her before she finished.
My hand held her jaw, guiding her face toward mine.
Not rough.
Not gentle.
Just enough.
Then I kissed her.
No hesitation.
No permission asked for.
Mine.
The thought burned through me as I deepened it, tasting the breath she lost against my mouth. She made a small sound—half protest, half surprise—and my grip tightened slightly.
Days without seeing her.
Days without touching her.
Days imagining other people near her.
I poured all of it into that kiss.
When she finally pulled back, she was breathing hard.
"K-Keifer…" she whispered shakily.
I looked at her for one beat longer, then faced forward and started the engine.
I needed to move before I did something reckless in a parking lot full of cameras.
Heated air filled the car as I pulled out into traffic.
She sank back into the seat, still catching her breath.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"My house."
Her head snapped toward me.
"No."
"Yes."
"You can't just decide that!"
"I already did."
"That's not how life works!"
"It is for me."
She groaned and threw her head back dramatically.
Even angry, she was impossible not to watch.
For a while neither of us spoke. The city lights passed across her face in moving bands—gold, white, red, shadow.
Then quietly—
"You tracked me, didn't you?"
I kept my eyes on the road.
"Yes."
"That is insane."
"It was effective."
"That is not the point!"
"It got me to you."
She stared at me like she wanted to say ten different things and hated all of them.
"You need help."
"Probably."
"And boundaries."
"No."
Despite herself, a laugh slipped out.
Small.
Quick.
But real.
I felt something ease in my chest at the sound.
"There it is," I said.
"There what is?"
"You laughing at me."
"I was not laughing at you."
"You were."
"I was laughing because you're ridiculous."
"Still counts."
She crossed her arms and looked out the window, trying to hide the smile tugging at her mouth.
I let her.
The drive continued in a softer silence.
Then she asked the question I knew would come eventually.
"Were you jealous?"
I didn't answer right away.
Because honesty with her had become a habit I didn't mean to form.
"Yes."
She turned slowly.
"Of Eman and Ci-n?"
"Yes."
"They're my coworkers."
"I know."
"That's embarrassing for you."
"Not enough to stop."
She bit back another smile.
I noticed.
Of course I noticed.
By the time we reached the mansion gates, she was staring upward at them like she always did—equal parts impressed and annoyed.
The gates opened.
The long driveway stretched ahead.
"You live like a supervillain," she muttered.
"I live comfortably."
"You kidnapped me from a festival."
"I retrieved you."
"You are impossible."
"And yet," I said, glancing at her, "you're still here."
She went quiet after that.
Not because she had no answer.
Because she knew I was right.
I parked near the front entrance and stepped out first, moving around to open her door.
She looked at my hand, then at me.
"This doesn't make you a gentleman."
"I know."
She took it anyway.
As I helped her out, the mansion lights glowed behind us, warm against the dark.
For the first time all week—
The place didn't feel empty anymore.
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No comment target for today, uploading another longer chapter today. ✨