Page 127 of Problematic

“What are you going to do, pastry me to death?”

I stared at him, unable to decide between hugging him, yelling, or throwing up. “What happened?”

Kalon’s gaze softened when it landed on me. “Can we talk for a second?”

“In the open,” he added quickly. “Near witnesses. Away from closets, freezers, shadows, masked men, and all the other things this week has introduced into my life.”

Mandi nodded. “Growth.”

I wiped my hands on my apron and stepped to the side of the counter. Not too close. I remembered the warning. No skin-to-skin. Protein. Sugar. Water. Avoid touching anyone until I see you.

My phone had been quiet all morning.

Which somehow felt louder.

Kalon rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m sorry about the other night. At your place. I shouldn’t have tried anything. You were scared, and I read the room wrong.”

I swallowed. “Kalon.”

“No, let me finish.” His smile bent at the edges. “I care about you. I got stupid about it. Can we go back to how things were? Friends. Coworkers. Me stealing the last blueberry muffin and you threatening my bloodline?”

I studied his face. “Did he threaten you?”

Kalon’s eyes flicked toward the front windows, then back to me. “No.”

“Kalon.”

“No direct threats.” He winced. “A few implied ones. A lot of very expensive silence. Some men with weapons. Dinner that cost more than my rent. Four days in a penthouse with no doorknobs on the inside, which I did not love.”

My mouth dropped open.

Kalon looked at me again. “I talked to Lux this morning.”

Lux. My masked problem’s boss. The demon lord whose tower kept swallowing pieces of my life and returning them polished, paid, and slightly more threatening.

“You met Lux Draven?” I asked.

Kalon nodded. “Yeah.”

My stomach flipped in a stupid, humiliating way. Why was I fangirling over Lux while sleeping with his assassin? That felt top-tier fucked up.

“He’s terrifying,” Kalon said. “Polite, though.”

“What did he say?”

“That I should stay away from you romantically.”

My pulse pounded in my ears.

“He said it like advice,” Kalon added. “The man beside the door with the knife made it feel like law.”

Sam looked ready to bite someone. “So, he kidnapped you for four days to give you a breakup memo?”

“Escorted,” Kalon corrected weakly.

Mandi pointed at him. “Do not defend the pretty criminals. That’s Liv’s job now.”

“It is not my job.”