My Kind Of Bad

Chapter 9

“She’s been getting hang-up calls?” Kurt was reeling. He began to pace. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Probably because you were never around.” Pete pointed out. His eyes narrowed. “Neera said you kept disappearing and wouldn’t explain where you’d been.”

Kurt knew he would have to explain himself. But explaining himself to his brother felt like an excuse rather than a reason. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face.

“Billy got a lead about the person who shot up the club a couple of months back. He asked me to help out with surveillance. We’re close to getting the guy.”

“You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”

Kurt shook his head.

“Not me. I said to Billy I was specifically there for surveillance, nothing more.”

Pete was silent, staring at him. Kurt felt like he was under inspection on roll call. Pete had this stare that made him feel like a little boy who had been caught nicking money from his mother’s purse.

“Okay.” Pete was accepting his explanation. For now. “Then why didn’t you say anything to Neera?”

“I didn’t want to upset her. That was a difficult night for her, the shooting. And usually I’m so tired all I want to do is sleep.” Kurt rubbed a hand over his face. “I come in when it’s late and I don’t want to bother her so I go to sleep on the couch.”

Their s*x life had dwindled in the last few weeks and Kurt knew it was his fault. With the surveillance work on top of his others jobs he didn’t seem to have time for Neera or energy to take her to bed. The few times he had managed to hold her had been fleeting and Neera seemed to be shying away.

She didn’t think she was getting enough affection. Kurt was planning on rectifying that.

Pete looked grim.

“I think after this phone call you might need to break things off.” He said.

“Break things off?” Kurt stared at him. That was the last thing he wanted to do. “Why would I break things off?”

“Because the person killing your ex-lovers is targeting her now.”

Kurt knew that Pete was right. The killer was going after Neera now and Kurt felt powerless. But he didn’t want to let Neera out of his sight.

“Would it be easier to have her close so she can’t get hurt? I won’t let her out of my sight.”

“I would’ve said that would be the better option but it’s not going to help.” Pete rubbed the back of his neck. “The killer is at a distance and they won’t come near if you’re around. You’re going to have to break it off with Neera. Leave her exposed.”

“You mean use her as bait.” Kurt felt sick. He couldn’t do that to Neera. He let out a frustrated growl. “I’m not doing that to her, Pete. I may not have been showing it lately but I love her. I love Neera. She’s the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I can’t use her as bait to draw this psycho out.”

“You may not have any choice. If you stay together it’s going to escalate.” Pete didn’t look happy about it, either. “But if it looks like you’ve broken up, it should pull the killer out of wherever they’re hiding.”

Kurt didn’t like this. He couldn’t use Neera as bait. She would never agree to it, anyway. He would die before putting Neera in harm’s way.

But from the expression on his brother’s face, Kurt had a feeling the choice wasn’t going to be up to him if he didn’t make a decision soon.

*****

Neera was just getting out the shower when she heard knocking at the door. Snatching up her robe and a spare towel, Neera slipped it on over the towel she had hugging her body and hurried into the hall, toweling her hair down. Kurt stood on the threshold when she opened the door. He looked a sight for sore eyes and Neera felt the butterflies in her stomach.

Even after two months together he still had the ability to make her feel like a giggling schoolgirl. Suddenly her mouth went dry as she saw the way his sweater hugged his torso and the jeans she had bought him gripping on to every contour of his legs. He was thinner and he looked exhausted but Neera still thought he looked gorgeous.

“Hey.”

Neera swallowed to find some saliva.

“Hey.” She croaked. She frowned and reached towards his face. “What’s wrong?”

Kurt pulled his head away before she touched his cheek. He looked exhausted.

“Can we talk?”

This sounded ominous. Neera felt her stomach drop. Then she mentally told herself to stop being so stupid. Just because Kurt had said they needed to talk, it didn’t mean that it was bad news. Nevertheless, the cold fingers of dread flexed inside her. Neera swallowed and stepped to the side.

“Sure. Come on in.”

Kurt entered and Neera shut the door behind him. Kurt moved to the center of the room and turned to face her. He was rubbing the palms of his hands on his jeans, the way he did when he was nervous.

“I can’t stay long. Billy’s got me at the club tonight.”

“That’s fine.” Neera grunted. She began toweling her hair again. “You never seem to have any time for me lately.”

“I know and I’m sorry about that.” Kurt looked genuinely apologetic. “But Billy got a lead on the shooter at the club. He’s been asking me and a few others to keep an eye on the guy.”

Neera stiffened. She had nearly forgotten about the incident in the club. To know they were close to getting the guy sounded promising.

“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” She demanded.

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Of course I worry.”

Neera reached out to slip into his arms but Kurt stepped away, his hands staying by his side. Neera dropped her arms. Something was wrong, really wrong.

“What’s wrong, Kurt? Talk to me.”

Kurt looked torn. He rubbed his hands over his face and let out a heavy sigh.

“This relationship and us.” He said finally. “I’m going to have to call time on what we’ve got going.”

For a moment Neera thought she hadn’t heard correctly. But the look on Kurt’s face said that she hadn’t misheard and that he was completely serious about it.

“I don’t understand.” Neera could feel herself shaking. “Why?”

They might have become distant lately but Neera was certain she had felt affection and love coming from Kurt even then. She knew there were always blips in relationships but Neera hadn’t thought they were that bad that Kurt wanted to end it.

She began to wonder what she had done to upset him. Neera always second-guessed herself in situations like this and she was doing that now. They hadn’t been affectionate in the last few weeks, yes, but they had to be with regards to Kurt’s current work and not her. But now Neera was wondering if she had done something wrong to make him stray away.