Chapter 564: The Meetup (4)

"You didn't tell me your friend carries a gun," Damien muttered under gritted teeth as he kept his glare at Adam while guarding Katherine behind him.

"I didn't know that either…" she responded, holding him by the arms. She appreciated that he was shielding her from the gun, but she didn't like the thought of letting him take a bullet. That just made her stomach feel upset. This was supposed to be an amicable lunch date, but it changed into gun threats in the span of seconds.

"Adam…" was all that Emma could say as she scanned the whole room. She looked as if she wanted to escape from this scene.

"It's okay, Karina…" Chris said as he kept an arm extended backward as though protecting Emma from Adam. "You're going to be fine."

"What did you just call me?" Emma's eyes widened upon hearing Chris's words.

Katherine and the rest heard what he said, and they deduced that Chris must have already come to the conclusion that Emma was indeed his sister.

She was just about to ask him for clarification when Adam suddenly spat, "How do you know her name? Who are you?" Glancing at Katherine, he asked, "Who is this guy, Kath? He needs to step away from Emma. Or I swear to God, I'll—"

"Adam, wait!" Katherine stepped away from Damien and held her hands in front of her to stop her friend. Damien tried to pull her back, but she reassured him that it was 'okay' and told him to trust her.

"Men, put your guns down," she ordered the men from Maverick Security.

The men looked at each other, looking unsure if they should follow Katherine's command. They knew that Damien told them to follow her orders like they were following his, but their big boss was also present in the room, so it confused them for a second. It was only until Damien nodded at them that they lowered their guns.

Seeing their response, Katherine turned back to her friend and called his attention, "Adam."

"I'll secure my weapon only if he releases her," Adam responded, referring to Chris and Emma.

"Let's not scare Emma. We'll talk it over." Katherine placed a hand on Chris's arm.

It took Chris a while to give in. He was already sure that she was his sister, so letting her go back to the man who had just pointed a gun at him made him unwilling. He felt Katherine's reassuring grip when she squeezed his arm. That's when he relaxed and stepped aside to let Emma go.

Emma hesitated for a while before hurrying back to Adam's side—the latter holstered his gun behind him.

"I swear, I forgot to breathe for a second," Styles spoke through the comms, pulling everyone back to earth.

The men from Maverick Security left the room as per Damien's instructions. Then they sat at the table to discuss what was happening. This wasn't supposed to go down like this, but they had no choice but to talk about it because of the unexpected situation.

At the square table, Katherine and Damien sat next to each other. To his right was Chris, across them was Adam, and to her left was Emma. This meant Chris sat across from Emma.

"Why'd you call me that?" Emma questioned while fixing her stare at Chris with furrowed brows.

"Because that's who you are… You're Karina," Chris spoke calmly with conviction. His gaze hadn't left Emma's face since earlier.

"But how do you know that? I don't know who you are…"

"Did you really forget about me, *Solnyshko*?" Chris said the last words with an accent, a term of endearment that he used to call his sister, which meant "little sun" in Russian.

Emma froze in her seat, and then her hands flew to her mouth when she gasped. Her eyes instantly became red. "Who… Who are you?" she questioned, despite already seeing the truth before her eyes.

"It's me… Kristof." He let out a small sigh as he contained the tears that were threatening to fall.

"You're lying!!!" she bit out, her heart pounding in her chest as if it was about to explode. "It's not a good joke. My brother's dead!"

Then she shot up from her seat and hurriedly left the room without looking back.

"Emma!" Katherine followed after her, stopping Chris from following them when he started to get up from his chair. "It's best if you wait. Or you'll scare her more."

Adam, who was just about to go after Emma, decided to sit back down.

Damien wanted to go after them too, but he thought it was best to give them some privacy to talk. But he didn't fail to order his men to follow them just to be safe. Now, he was left with Chris and Adam—two men he never wanted to be left in the room with. One who brought Katherine to Shadow and messed with her memories while the other was someone she spent five years with—who looked at her with a loving gaze. Damien felt as though he was being punished for being here with them.

There was nothing but silence in the room, causing the atmosphere to grow awkward—until Styles spoke through Damien's and Chris's comms, "So… It's a cold day today, am I right?"

"Shut up," Damien and Chris grunted in unison. They glanced at each other with a scowl on their faces.

On the other hand, Adam knitted his brows in bewilderment when he saw and heard the two. No one had spoken before they snapped. Were they perhaps communicating telepathically?

"Jeez. Take a chill pill," responded Styles.

He muted his line so that the others wouldn't hear him when he turned to Amelia and tell on them. "I know you love your son and your mentee, but they are very mean."

Amelia exhaled a sigh, thinking that Styles was pitiful. Patting his head while he pouted at her, she told him, "You'll understand why they're like that when you find a woman who will turn your world upside down."

Styles scoffed. His pout immediately changed into a 'yeah right' look. "No one can turn my world upside down. I'm Styles."