MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Nine: The Chaos Arrives
---
The door burst open at seven in the morning.
Jay was on the sofa, still wrapped in Keifer's blanket, a cup of coffee growing cold in her hands. Keifer was in the kitchen, making breakfast, his back to the door. Lyra was in her corner, coffee in hand, watching the street below.
They all turned at the sound.
Ci N Perelta stood in the doorway.
He was nineteen years old, five foot seven, and vibrating with the kind of energy that could only come from someone who had not slept and had no intention of sleeping ever again. His hair was a mess. His shirt was inside out. He was wearing one shoe. In his hands, he was holding a bag of something that smelled like it had been fried sometime last week.
He looked at Jay. He looked at her bruises. He looked at her stitches. He looked at Keifer standing in the kitchen with a spatula in his hand.
Then he screamed.
"JAY!"
He crossed the room in four seconds flat. He dropped the bag of food. He dropped to his knees in front of the sofa. He grabbed her face in his hands, turned it side to side, examined her bruises like he was inspecting a car he was thinking of buying.
"Your face. Your beautiful face. Who did this? Where are they? Are they dead? Did you kill them? If you didn't kill them, I'm going to kill them. I'm going to find them and I'm going to—"
"Ci N." Jay grabbed his wrists. "Breathe."
"I don't want to breathe. I want to commit violence."
"Ci N."
"I want to commit so much violence. I want to—"
"Ci N." She pulled his hands away from her face. "I'm fine."
He stared at her. His eyes were wide. His face was pale. His hands were shaking.
"You're not fine," he said. His voice cracked. "You're not fine. You're covered in bruises. You have stitches in your face. You're at the Watson house. You're at his house, Jay. His house. Do you know what Freya told me? Do you know what she said? She said six men. Six men with guns and a van and they were going to take you and you were alone and he—" He pointed at Keifer. "He saved you."
Keifer had put down the spatula. He was watching Ci N with an expression that Jay had never seen on his face before. Something like recognition. Something like understanding.
"Yes," Keifer said. "I saved her."
Ci N stood up. He walked toward Keifer. His face had changed. The chaos was still there, but underneath it, something else was surfacing. Something cold. Something dangerous.
"You saved her," Ci N said.
"Yes."
"You killed the men who hurt her."
"Yes."
Ci N stopped in front of Keifer. He was six inches shorter. He weighed maybe half as much. He looked like a strong wind could knock him over.
"You're the one she's supposed to marry."
"Yes."
"You're a Watson."
"Yes."
Ci N stared at him for a long moment. Then he did something that surprised everyone in the room.
He hugged him.
He wrapped his arms around Keifer's waist and pressed his face against Keifer's chest and held on like he was never going to let go. Keifer stood there, frozen, spatula still in his hand, looking at Jay over Ci N's head.
"What—" Keifer started.
"Thank you," Ci N said. His voice was muffled against Keifer's shirt. "Thank you for saving her. Thank you for being there. Thank you for—" His voice cracked. "She's my sister. She's my family. She's all I have. And if something happened to her—"
Keifer looked at Jay. She nodded.
Keifer put his hand on Ci N's head. Awkward. Gentle. Like he had never comforted anyone in his life.
"She's okay," Keifer said. "She's okay. I've got her."
Ci N pulled back. His face was red. His eyes were wet. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and looked at Keifer with something like respect.
"You're okay," Ci N said. "For a Watson. You're okay."
Keifer almost smiled. "Thanks."
---
The door opened again.
Felix appeared in the doorway two minutes later, looking like he had been dragged through the city behind a car. He was holding a bag of coffee and a box of pastries and his face was the color of someone who had been awake for approximately forty-eight hours.
"Ci N," Felix said. "You left. You just left. You were in the car and then you were gone. You didn't even close the door. I had to park. Do you know how hard it is to park in this neighborhood? The guards looked at me like I was going to steal something. I almost got shot."
"Felix," Ci N said. "Look at her."
Felix looked at Jay. His face changed.
"Who do I need to kill?" he asked.
"That's what I said," Ci N said.
"I'll get the car."
"Get the van. We need more space for the bodies."
"I'll get the van."
"Boys," Jay said. Her voice was tired. "No one is killing anyone."
They both looked at her. Their faces were identical in their disappointment.
"Fine," Ci N said. "But we're not happy about it."
"Not happy at all," Felix agreed.
---
Percy arrived ten minutes later.
He came through the door like a hurricane, all limbs and chaos, his hair sticking up in twelve different directions, his shirt unbuttoned, his shoes mismatched. He took one look at Jay and stopped.
"Jay," he said.
"Percy."
"Your face."
"I know."
"Who?"
"Ci N will explain."
Percy looked at Ci N. Ci N pointed at Keifer. Percy looked at Keifer.
"You," Percy said.
"Me," Keifer said.
"You saved her."
"Yes."
Percy walked across the room. He stopped in front of Keifer. He looked at him for a long moment. Then he punched him in the arm. Hard.
"That's for not calling me," Percy said. Then he hugged him. "That's for saving my sister."
Keifer winced. But he hugged him back.
---
Aries arrived with Yuri.
They came in together, silent and deadly, the calm after the storm that was Percy and Ci N. Aries went straight to Jay, sat beside her, took her hand. They didn't say anything. They didn't have to.
Yuri stood in the corner. His red hair was bright in the morning light. His face was cold. His eyes were fixed on Jay's bruises.
"Who?" Yuri asked.
"Uncle's men," Jay said.
"They're dead?"
"Most of them."
Yuri nodded. He didn't say anything else. But something in his face had changed. Something had gone very still. Very quiet.
Jay had seen that look before. It was the look Yuri got before someone died.
"Yuri," she said.
"Yes?"
"Not yet."
He looked at her for a long moment. Then he nodded again.
"Not yet," he said.
---
Alex arrived with Cole.
They walked in together, two men who looked like they had stepped out of a magazine. Alex was tall, dark-haired, dressed in a suit that probably cost more than most people's rent. He was carrying a bag of pastries and a coffee that smelled like it had been imported from somewhere with mountains.
Cole was taller, broader, quieter. His face was calm, his eyes sharp, his presence the kind that filled a room without trying. He moved like someone who had never needed to announce himself because everyone already knew who he was.
They both stopped when they saw the room.
Alex looked at Keifer. "What happened to your kitchen?"
Keifer looked at the kitchen. Percy and Ci N had somehow managed to set a pan on fire, put it out, and then set it on fire again. There was flour on the ceiling. There was something dripping off the counter that no one wanted to identify.
"Percy happened," Keifer said.
Percy waved from the stove. "Morning, Alex! Morning, Cole! I'm making eggs!"
"Those are not eggs," Felix said.
"They're eggs-adjacent."
"They're charcoal."
"Charcoal-adjacent."
Alex looked at Cole. Cole looked at the kitchen. Cole looked at Jay on the sofa, her face bruised, her lip stitched, her hand in Aries's hand.
Cole walked to the sofa. He knelt in front of Jay. His face was serious.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm okay."
"Keifer got there in time?"
"Yes."
Cole nodded. He stood up. He walked to Keifer and put his hand on Keifer's shoulder. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.
Alex was still looking at the kitchen. Then his eyes moved to the corner.
Lyra was there.
She was standing by the window, coffee in hand, watching the street below. She hadn't moved when he walked in. She hadn't looked at him. She was wearing black, as always, her hair loose, her face blank, her presence more shadow than person.
Alex's smile flickered. Just for a moment.
"You," he said.
Lyra didn't turn. "Me."
"You're here."
"I was here yesterday. And the day before. I live here now."
"You live here?"
"I live in the corner."
"That's not—" Alex stopped. He set down the pastries. He set down the coffee. He walked toward her corner with the determination of a man who had decided he was going to solve a problem.
"You can't live in a corner," he said.
"I do."
"Corners are not living spaces."
"This one is."
"It's a corner."
"It's my corner."
Alex stared at her. His hands were on his hips. His face was the face of a man who had never met anything he couldn't charm, negotiate, or buy his way out of.
"Lyra," he said.
"Alex," she said.
"I found your last name."
Lyra turned. Just her head. Just her eyes.
"What?"
"I found it." He was smiling now. Triumphant. "I told you I would. I have resources. I have people. I'm very rich. I found it."
Lyra put down her coffee. She turned to face him fully. Her face was still blank, but her eyes—her eyes were sharp.
"What is it?" she asked.
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"I forgot," he said.
The room went very quiet.
"You forgot," Lyra said.
"I had it written down. I had it on a napkin. A very nice napkin. From a very nice restaurant. I wrote it down and then I—" He patted his pockets. His jacket. His pants. His other jacket. "I lost the napkin."
Lyra stared at him.
"You found my last name. You wrote it on a napkin. You lost the napkin."
"I didn't lose it. I misplaced it. There's a difference."
"No," Lyra said. "There isn't."
"I'll find it. I have people. I'll make some calls. I'll—"
"Alex."
"Yes?"
Lyra picked up her coffee. She turned back to the window.
"You're an idiot," she said.
---
Cole was watching this exchange with the expression of a man who had seen this happen before.
"He's been like this since yesterday," Cole said to Keifer. "He spent four hours on the phone with his research team. He called me at two in the morning to tell me he found it. He called me again at three to tell me he lost it."
Keifer sighed. "I know."
"He's going to be insufferable until he finds it again."
"He's always insufferable."
Cole almost smiled. "True."
Alex was still standing in front of Lyra, his face red, his hair falling out of its perfect shape. "I am not an idiot. I'm a genius. I have an IQ of—"
"I don't care."
"It's very high. It's in the top percentile. I'm a genius."
"You're an idiot with a high IQ. It's different."
Alex stared at her. "I'm going to find your last name," he said.
"You already found it. You lost it."
"I'll find it again."
"You'll lose it again."
"I won't."
"You will."
"I won't." He stepped closer. "And when I find it, I'm going to say it. Out loud. In front of everyone. And then you're going to have to admit that I'm not an idiot."
Lyra looked at him. Just for a second. Just long enough for something to pass between them.
"I'll never admit that," she said.
She turned back to the window.
---
Percy appeared beside Ci N. They were both holding plates of something that might have been eggs.
"Who's that?" Percy asked, nodding at Alex.
"Alex Choi," Ci N said. "Billionaire. Keifer's best friend. Currently losing a fight with a corner."
"That corner has a name."
"It's Lyra. She's Jay's. She lives in corners."
"She's beautiful," Percy said.
"She's terrifying," Ci N said.
"Is she single?"
"She will kill you."
"Worth it."
Felix appeared on Ci N's other side. "The betting pool is open. Odds on Alex finding her last name are seven to one. Odds on him losing it again are three to one. Odds on Lyra telling him herself are fifty to one."
Percy looked at Lyra. Looked at Alex. Looked at the space between them, which was getting smaller by the minute.
"Put me down for fifty to one," Percy said. "I like a long shot."
---
The house filled quickly after that.
Freya arrived with news she wouldn't share in front of everyone. Rakki arrived with more food and more questions. Mica arrived with her laptop and a look on her face that meant she had found something. Ella arrived with Care and Grace, and Care immediately started checking Jay's injuries while Grace stood guard.
Keifer's people started arriving too.
Erdix came first, silent and sharp, taking up position by the door. Rory came next, his eyes scanning the room, cataloging everyone, remembering everything. David came with Calix, and Calix immediately started asking Mica about her laptop while Mica ignored him.
Denzel arrived with Eman, and Eman set up in the corner with three screens and a keyboard that looked like it belonged on a spaceship. Mayo arrived with Kit, and Kit immediately found Care and started comparing medical supplies.
The house was full. It was loud. It was chaos.
---
Ci N appeared beside Jay.
He sat on the arm of the sofa, close enough to touch, close enough to protect. His face was serious now. The chaos was gone. Underneath it, he was still the boy who had been her brother since before she could remember, the boy who had followed her into every fight, the boy who loved her more than anyone in the world.
"You're really okay?" he asked.
"I'm really okay."
He looked at her bruises. Her stitches. The way she was holding her ribs.
"Freya said you killed one of them."
"Yes."
"With your knife?"
"Yes."
He nodded slowly. "Good."
She reached up and touched his face. He was so young. Nineteen years old, still a child in so many ways, still soft where she had gone hard. He was the only person in the world who made her remember what it felt like to be something other than a weapon.
"I'm okay," she said again. "I'm okay because he came for me."
Ci N looked at Keifer. Keifer was in the kitchen with Percy, cleaning up the disaster that Percy and Ci N had created. His hands were steady. His face was calm. But he looked tired. He looked like a man who had been fighting alone for a very long time.
"He's okay," Ci N said. "For a Watson. He's okay."
Jay smiled. It hurt her lip. She didn't care.
"He's okay," she said.
---
Cole was standing by the window, watching the street below. Aries was beside him. They weren't talking. They didn't need to.
Cole had known Keifer since they were children. Aries had known Jay their whole life. They had both been watching their families destroy each other for years. They had both been waiting for something to change.
"She's strong," Cole said. "Your sister."
Aries looked at Jay on the sofa, wrapped in Keifer's blanket, Ci N beside her like a guard dog.
"She's the strongest person I know," Aries said.
Cole nodded. "Keifer's been looking for someone like her his whole life."
Aries looked at Cole. "Someone like her?"
"Someone who isn't afraid of him. Someone who sees what he is and doesn't run." Cole paused. "Someone who's just as dangerous as he is."
Aries looked at Keifer. He was laughing at something Percy said, his head thrown back, his face open in a way Aries had never seen before.
"He's different with her," Aries said.
"Yes," Cole said. "He is."
---
The chaos continued for another hour.
Percy and Ci N discovered Keifer's sound system and decided that what the house really needed was music. Loud music. Music that made the windows shake. Felix joined them. Then Rakki. Then Mayo. Then, inexplicably, Calix.
Keifer stood in the middle of it all with the expression of a man who had accepted his fate.
Yuri stood in the corner, watching everything, saying nothing. But his eyes were on the door. His hands were loose at his sides. He was waiting.
Freya stood by the window, her arms crossed, her face unreadable. But Jay saw her watching. Saw her cataloging. Saw her making the same calculations Jay was making.
Mica and Calix were arguing about something on Mica's laptop. Their voices were rising. Their faces were close. It was not clear whether they were fighting or flirting.
Erdix and Grace were having a silent conversation by the door. Neither of them had moved in ten minutes. Neither of them had looked away from each other.
David was eating pastries. He had eaten seven. He was reaching for an eighth.
Care and Kit had set up a medical station in the corner and were discussing Jay's stitches with the intensity of surgeons planning a complicated operation.
And in the middle of it all, Jay sat on the sofa, wrapped in Keifer's blanket, and watched her people and his people become something new.
---
Alex had not moved from Lyra's corner.
He was standing three feet away from her, close enough to talk, far enough to pretend he wasn't trying to get closer. His hair was a mess now. His tie was loosened. His perfect suit was wrinkled from sitting on the floor when he thought no one was looking.
"You're still here," Lyra said.
"I live here now too."
"You don't live here. You have a penthouse. Three penthouses, if I remember correctly."
Alex looked at her. "You remembered how many penthouses I have?"
"I remember everything."
He stepped closer. "Then remember your last name."
Lyra's eyes flickered. Just for a moment. "I know my last name."
"Then tell me."
"No."
"Why not?"
She looked at him. Really looked. Her face was still blank, but her eyes—her eyes were not.
"Because you lost it," she said. "Find it again. Then we'll talk."
Alex stared at her. Then he smiled. It was different from his other smiles. Smaller. Realer.
"Deal," he said.
---
The sun was high now. The house was full. The noise was constant.
Jay sat on the sofa and watched the chaos unfold. Percy and Ci N were teaching Felix how to dance. It was not going well. Rakki was taking bets on who would fall first. Yuri was watching Alex try to find a seat that wasn't too close to Lyra and not too far from the pastries.
Freya was still by the window, still watching. But her shoulders had relaxed. Her arms had uncrossed.
Mica and Calix were still arguing. Their faces were inches apart. Calix was laughing. Mica was not. But she wasn't telling him to leave either.
Care and Kit had moved from stitches to discussing something that made Care laugh and Kit smile.
Erdix and Grace were still by the door. Still watching each other. Still not moving.
And in her corner, Lyra Kulkarni stood with her coffee, watching the street below. Alex Choi was three feet away, pretending he wasn't watching her.
Jay looked at Keifer. He was watching her too. Across the room, through the chaos, through the noise. His eyes were steady. His face was calm. But she saw something there that she hadn't seen before.
Something that looked like hope.
She smiled. He smiled back.
Ci N appeared beside her again. "You're staring at him."
"I'm not staring."
"You're staring. You've been staring for ten minutes. Felix owes me money."
Jay looked at him. "You bet on whether I would stare at Keifer?"
"I bet on whether you would admit you like him." Ci N grinned. "You haven't admitted it yet. But you're staring. That's the first step."
"I don't like him."
"Sure."
"I don't."
"Okay."
Ci N walked away, still grinning. Jay looked at Keifer again. He was laughing at something Percy said. His face was open. His eyes were bright. He looked younger than she had ever seen him.
She looked away.
But she was still smiling.
---
END OF CHAPTER NINE