MIDNIGHT AT THE BAHAMAS
CHAPTER 4 – KIARA'S SECRET
Kiara woke before the others.
The sun hadn't fully risen yet — only a thin blue glow touched the edge of the ocean, turning the waves into soft shadows that breathed in and out. Everyone else was still asleep in their rooms, buried under blankets after the long travel day.
But not Kiara.
She slipped quietly out of the beach house, closing the sliding door gently behind her. Her heart was already restless — beating with a secret she had carried for months. A secret that didn't belong on this vacation… but followed her anyway.
She walked down the wooden steps to the sand, her feet sinking into the cold grains. The air smelled like salt, morning breeze, and something unfamiliar — something heavy. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the horizon.
He used to watch the sunrise with her.
Back home.
In absolute silence.
His presence always felt cold… but addictive.
Kiara closed her eyes, letting that memory settle like a storm cloud behind her ribs.
She told no one about him.
Not Aiden.
Not Zara.
Not anyone.
They would never understand why she fell for someone like Kairo Blackwood.
She barely understood it herself.
He wasn't the type her parents approved of.
He wasn't the type anyone approved of.
Mysterious. Quiet. Sharp around the edges.
But there was something intoxicating about him — something dangerous she mistook for depth.
A whisper of footsteps behind her made her eyes snap open.
"Kiara?"
Zara's tired morning voice drifted down the steps.
Kiara forced a smile. "Hey. Couldn't sleep."
Zara rubbed her eyes. "You okay? You look… I don't know. Somewhere else."
Kiara looked back at the ocean.
Somewhere else was accurate.
"Just thinking."
Zara yawned and flopped down beside her. "About life? About boys? About breakfast?"
Kiara laughed softly — but it was empty.
The waves crashed, hiding the lie in her voice.
"No boys," she whispered quickly.
Zara didn't notice the crack in her tone. "Good. From today, we relax. No drama, no stress, just ocean, food, and sleep."
Kiara nodded, but her mind drifted.
Drama followed her everywhere now.
In her messages.
In her memories.
In the way she still felt his hands on her skin sometimes — warm, heavy, claiming.
Zara got up to return inside.
"Come on, girl. You're freezing."
But when Kiara stood, she felt it — that strange sensation she had felt last night.
Eyes.
Watching her.
Hiding somewhere close.
She turned slowly, scanning the beach, scanning the bushes near the palm trees.
Nothing.
But her heartbeat wouldn't settle.
Zara was already halfway up the stairs.
"Kiara come on!"
Kiara forced herself to move.
Forced herself to ignore the tightness in her chest.
But right before she entered the house, she felt it again —
A cold, invisible pull.
A presence brushing her spine like a shadowed hand.
She looked back one last time.
And in the trees, between two thick bushes, something shifted.
Something black.
Something silent.
Something watching.
Her breath caught.
"No…" she whispered to herself.
"He wouldn't come here. He couldn't."
But deep down, Kiara knew:
Kairo Blackwood never let go of the things he considered his.
And she had belonged to him once.
Maybe she still did.
She stepped inside the beach house, her heart pounding, unaware that a pair of familiar dark eyes followed her until the door closed.