Present
I HAD NO INTENTION OF STAYING. I didn’t care what their story was or what they had to say. I wanted my life back.
And if I thought I was in danger at my apartment, Alex lived on the sixteenth floor, so I could crash on her couch for a night or two. I wasn’t safe here. I knew that.
But as I leaned down on the bathroom sink, feeling my chest shake with tears that weren’t falling, I raised my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror.
My tank top clung to my skin, wet and dirty with splotches of Damon’s blood, and my hair hung cold and stringy along my cheeks. My damp jeans hugged my thighs, chilling me to the bone, and I curled my fingers into the side of the sink, feeling Damon’s blood thicken under my nails, wedging deeper and deeper, until it was the only thing I noticed.
I closed my eyes, feeling my heart pick up pace again.
I’d fought back. I’d hurt him.
And I hadn’t run. Not like three years ago in the forest.
Being scared wasn’t a weakness. But letting it force my head down and my voice quiet was. Fear wasn’t the enemy. It was the teacher.
I hated Michael, and tomorrow, after I got everything back from him, I was leaving. No more Delcour, no more Meridian City, and no more Thunder Bay. I couldn’t wait to get away from everything that had hurt me.
Chilled and shaking, my muscles exhausted from everything that had happened tonight, I didn’t think. I stood up and slowly lifted the tank top over my head, peeling off the rest of my clothes and dropping everything to the floor before I turned to start the shower.
Just a few minutes.
I stepped in and sat down on the sandy-colored shower floor, right under the hot spray. Steam filled the small enclosure, and my hair was immediately drenched, falling down my back as I tipped my chin up and let the hot water cover my face.
Tingles spread over my body, and my heart began to calm as I hugged my legs to my body and felt everything grow warm again.
Michael.
He’d done all of this. He’d been in charge. He’d told me to come here, and out of love for my mother, I did.
He’d trapped me, blackmailed me, and put his friends on me.
I hate him.
I worked vigorously, washing my hair and body, and then I used a file to dig Damon’s blood out of my finger nails. Getting out of the shower, I dressed and checked my bedroom door again to make sure it was locked before going to dry my hair.
But as soon as I was done—and I’d turned off the hair dryer—I noticed a vibration under my feet.
And my ears perked, hearing an indiscernible beat coming from downstairs.
Was that music?
I set the dryer down and walked toward my door. Leaning my ear into it, I heard a short, fast rhythm and then a few howls.
What the fuck?
Tossing my brush on the dresser, I pulled the chair away from where it was lodged under the handle and cracked open the door.
Loud music immediately hit me, and I could hear voices and laughter.
A lot of voices and laughter.
Leaving the door open, I dashed over to my window and looked out at the driveway.
It was flooded with cars.
“I don’t believe this,” I said to myself.
Whipping around, I charged out of my room and down the stairs, taking a look around at all of the people.
I clenched my jaw. What the hell was going on?
Some of them I recognized from being a couple of years behind me and still in high school, some were college students home for the weekend, and others I had no idea. Maybe people from neighboring towns? Locals?
They walked around with Solo cups, talking and laughing, and some even tried to call out to me to say hi, but I just ignored them.
I stormed through the house, going in and out of rooms, trying to find Michael. The finished basement and media room were packed full of people I barely recognized, and I couldn’t find any of the guys in the kitchen or on the patio, either.
I spotted Alex chatting with a couple of guys by the pool, but I didn’t have time to wonder how she’d gotten here so fast.
Where the hell was Michael?
The court.
I charged for the other end of the house, already hearing the pounding of a basketball coming from Michael’s huge indoor basketball court.
Swinging open the large double doors, I heard the squeaks of tennis shoes running across the polished wooden court floor as the echo of a basketball drifted up to the rafters. Several guys raced on the court with their shirts off, and I recognized a few of them. They were seniors now at Thunder Bay Prep.
Looking to my left, I spotted the carpeted hangout area, complete with couches and a refrigerator. Michael and Will sat on the large sofa, a sea of bottles and cups on the table before them, while Kai sat in a cushioned chair, looking anything but relaxed. His elbows rested on his knees, and he held the rim of a red cup between his fingers.
Stalking over to them, I stared disbelieving at the sight before me.
A party? They were fucking drinking?
“This isn’t seriously happening right now, is it?” I snapped, stopping in front of the table and looking over at Michael.
He raised his eyes but kept quiet.
“You kidnap my mother,” I started, “burn down my house, steal my money, lure me here, and then attack me.”
“We’re really sorry,” Will spoke up right away, sounding sincere.
What?
I opened my mouth to retort, but I was too stunned. I almost wanted to laugh. They were sorry? That was supposed to fix everything?
Will leaned forward and poured some alcohol into a rocks glass and held it up to me.
“Do you want ice in your tequila?” he asked in a gentle voice.
But I darted forward, slapping the glass out of his grasp and sending it flying to the ground. The tequila splashed across the carpet, making a couple of the girls standing nearby scurry away.
Breathing hard, I tipped my chin down and glared at Michael. “Tomorrow you’re going to put me on the phone with my mother,” I ordered. “You’re going to give me back every cent and schedule a contractor to start restoration on my house, which you will pay for! Do you understand?”
“We were going to anyway,” he replied and then looked at me curiously. “But I’m curious. What happens if we don’t?”
I stood up straight, folding my arms over my chest and curling my lips.
“Did you ever find the phone?” I asked. “There are a lot more videos on there, huh?”
Michael’s face slowly fell at my insinuation, and he sat up, resting his forearms on his knees. “You’re lying.”
I held up my hand, inspecting my nails. “Maybe.” I shrugged. “Or maybe I know where Trevor hides everything important to him. And maybe I know what the combination is, and maybe I’m willing to bet that, if he hasn’t destroyed the phone, then it’s in his special hiding place.” I looked straight at him, unable to hide the amusement I felt. “And maybe if I don’t get what I want, I won’t be nice and open up the safe for you.”
Anger crossed his face, and I could tell he was thrown for a loop. They’d assumed the phone was gone. They’d assumed they were safe.
But from the look in his eyes, there was more on that phone that could hurt them.
Kai and Will sat frozen, their ease now apparently sucked away.
“You’re threatening us?” Michael menacing tone made my stomach flip.
“No,” I answered. “That’s what you did to me. I’m simply playing your game.”
He inhaled a long breath and sat back. “Fine,” he bit out. “Mom, house, money. Easy enough.”
Then he snapped his fingers to a group a group of girls to his left, calling one over. A blonde in a tight blue dress, falling just a few inches below her ass, sauntered over and bit her bottom lip, trying to hide a smile, as Michael pulled her into his lap.
My heart sunk.
His hand snaked around her waist and held her close to him as he looked at me the same way he did growing up. As if I were in the way.
“Now go to bed,” he ordered. “It’s late.”
I tensed, half-expecting to hear Will laugh at the remark, but both he and Kai sat silently, looking at the floor.
Refusing to let him see me falter, I raised my chin and turned, walking out of the court as the pain and anger dropped like an anchor into my stomach. It sat there like a brick, and the weight was too much. I couldn’t feel anything anymore.
Too much.
I’d been terrorized tonight for no reason, and not only had he not apologized, he was doing everything he could to hurt me more.
Did he feel anything?
I passed partiers and crossed into the foyer, racing up the stairs and into the solitude of my bedroom.
Keeping the lights off, I closed the door and locked it before walking over to my bed and sitting down. I dropped my head and closed my eyes.
I wanted to leave.
I didn’t care about the money or the house. They should be coming to me, begging to make it right.
A knock sounded on the door. “Rika?”
I popped my head up, hearing Kai’s voice and seeing a shadow in the light underneath the door.
“Rika,” he said, knocking again. “Open up.”
The pulse in my neck throbbed. I stood and walked over to the door, turning the handle to make sure it was locked.
“Stay away from me, Kai.”
“Rika, please,” he begged. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
I shook my head. Not going to hurt me. You mean any more than you already have?
Twisting the lock, I cracked open the door and saw Kai standing there, dark and tall, dressed in a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt. His eyebrows were pinched together, and there was a sea of pain in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, sounding timid.
“No.”
“I won’t touch you,” he promised. “I wanted to hurt you, because I thought you hurt me, and now I know that’s not true.”
“So does that make everything alright?” I glared at him, anger coursing through me. “The stress and the fear you put on me?”
“No,” he rushed out. “I just…”
He dropped his head, looking like he was struggling to find words.
He looked weary.
“I just don’t even know who I am anymore,” he nearly whispered.
I dropped my hand from the doorknob, surprised by what he’d said. It was the first real moment I’d had with any of them in years, and he wasn’t playing with me.
I turned and walked for the bed again, sitting down at the end.
Kai stepped into my room, filling the doorframe and blocking out the light from the hall.
“That night three years ago…” I began, speaking softly, “I felt so alive. I needed the chaos and the anger, and you guys seemed exactly the same. It was a really good feeling not to be alone anymore.”
My eyes watered, thinking back to how, even for a little while, I felt like I belonged somewhere.
“I’m so sorry, Rika. We should’ve made Michael confront you all those years go.” And then he exhaled a shaky breath and ran his hand through his hair. “Your house. Jesus Christ,” he said, as if just realizing the full measure of what they’d done.
I clutched the blankets at my sides and stared at the carpet.
Well, that was one apology, at least.
I shrugged, allowing him a little consolation. “With you in jail and unable to confirm that it wasn’t you in the mask instead of Trevor, we may never have realized what had actually happened anyway.”
I wasn’t sure why I wanted him to feel better, but even if Michael had confronted me, it was my word against Damon’s, and seeing as how I had the sweatshirt, it made sense that he would trust his friend.
But he still should’ve confronted me. What were they hoping to gain with revenge, other than pleasure in someone else’s torture? Would it accomplish anything, take away what happened, or move their lives forward? Had their worlds become so small in prison?
Kai pulled out my desk chair and sunk into the seat, leaning his elbows on his knees.
“I was angry with you,” he told me. “At first, I was so angry when I thought you’d outed us. But I wasn’t vengeful. I was never going to do something like this.”
He stopped and stared off, and for a moment, it was like he’d gone somewhere else.
“Things changed,” he said in a low, dark tone.
I narrowed my eyes, immediately drawn in by the faraway look in his eyes.
What had changed while he was away?
“I never knew people could be that ugly,” he told me. “I’ll die before I ever go back there.”
I sat frozen, wanting to ask him what he was talking about, but I knew I shouldn’t care. He was referring to prison, I was sure, and I knew it must’ve been hard. Hard enough to turn him from angry to vengeful.
I looked over at his tired eyes, once bright with life, and I didn’t want him to stop talking. Michael never told me anything—never opened up—and I was interested.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
But he didn’t answer, and I saw him drift farther and farther away.
Standing up, I walked over to him and knelt down in front of him.
“Kai?” I asked, trying to meet his eyes. “Are you okay?”
He blinked, and I hated how broken he looked. “No,” he whispered.
I couldn’t even get him to look at me. What the hell happened to him?
He hesitated, as if thinking, and then continued, “Damon lost what little heart he had,” he explained. “People, problems…they barely scratch the surface with him anymore. He doesn’t care about anything.” He ran a hand through his black hair, fisting it. “Will finds ways to cope with alcohol and other things, and as for me…I don’t want to be around anyone other than the guys. Not even my family. They won’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
His chest shook with a bitter laugh. “I wish I knew, Rika. I just can’t let anyone in. I haven’t touched a woman in three years.”
Three years? But he’d been out for months. No one in that entire time?
“Michael paid off guards to keep us safe, but he couldn’t shield us from everything,” Kai went on. “He watched as Will deteriorated, and I withdrew more and more. He was helpless to do anything, and he felt so guilty. Guilty, because he thought he’d incited you. Guilty, because he was free.” He took a deep breath and kept going. “He came up with the plan. Something to keep us hot and angry. Something to keep us fighting. And before we knew it, it consumed our every waking moment in there.”
And then he looked up, meeting my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
I let out a slow breath, seeing it in his eyes. I know.
Reaching out, he grazed his fingers down the side of my face, pushing my hair out of the way. “I haven’t been able to talk to anyone,” he admitted. “Why does it have to be the one person I hated only just this morning?”
I couldn’t help it. I gave a small smile and caught his hand on my face in both of mine and held it.
Kai use to be larger than life. Like Michael, only a straight arrow. Kai was the good one.
But now there was darkness there, too. His fight with me may be over, but there was still something brewing inside.
The light spilling across the floor from the hallway disappeared, and Kai and I turned our heads to see a figure in shadow filling the doorway.
“I told you to go to sleep.”
Michael.
I dropped Kai’s hands and stood, the corners of my lips turning up. “No, you told me to go to bed. And maybe I was just about to.”
I threw a pointed look, hoping he got my insinuation.
“Do you two ever stop?” Kai chuckled, standing up.
Michael remained silent as Kai gave me one last look before turning and walking for the door. He waited for his friend to move and then walked through, disappearing around the corner.
Michael turned back to me, filling the doorway with darkness again, and my stomach flipped and then tightened.
I hadn’t realized it, but I’d been relaxed with Kai here. Now I wasn’t again.
Michael hadn’t changed from before. He still wore jeans and no shirt, and I wondered where the girl was that had her hands all over him downstairs.
“Come here,” he told me.
And I did.
I walked over—going to him, just like he asked—and then I smirked as I grabbed the handle to the door and swung it closed.
He shoved out his hand, stopping it, like I’d known he probably would.
“I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you,” he stated. “I knew it the second you walked through the door tonight. I swear.”
“I don’t care,” I replied in a flat tone. “I don’t want you in here.”
And then I tried to push the door closed, but he planted a hand on it, stopping me. Forcing it open, he walked through and slammed it shut behind him before pulling me in and swinging us around, so my back was against the door.
“I stopped them.” His breath fell over my face. “I chose you over my friends.”
“Yeah, it looked like it downstairs,” I said sarcastically, referring to the girl in his lap earlier. “I’m tired of your games, Michael, and I’m tired of you. Get out.”
“What did he say to you?” he demanded, ignoring my order.
Kai? Was he bent out of shape because Kai had sought me out?
“More than he probably says to you,” I answered.
He breathed out a bitter laugh, and for the first time it looked like he was at a loss for words.
“Sick of my games, huh? You’ve learned to play them pretty well.”
“I’m not playing your games. You were wrong.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You want to know what I’ve learned? I don’t win by playing your games. I win by making you play mine.”
His eyes pierced me, darkening as his breathing grew shallow.
He was pissed.
I laughed, suddenly feeling ten feet high. “Look at yourself,” I joked, elation filling my veins. “You’re actually breaking a sweat trying to keep up with me, aren’t you?”
He bared his teeth and grabbed the backs of my thigh, hauling me up and slamming me against the door again. My heart jumped in my chest—the rush of fear filling my body—as the wind was knocked out of me.
And I couldn’t help it. I locked my ankles behind his back, holding him between my thighs.
“Goddamn,” he whispered against my lips. “I want you.”
“You’re not the only one.”
“Kai?” he gauged. “Don’t look to him, Rika.”
“Why not?”
He darted out, catching my bottom lip between his teeth, the heat of his mouth sending shivers down my spine.
“Because you get everything you need from me,” he argued, his hot tongue flicking my upper lip. “And you’d only be doing it to fade me out, anyway, and that will never happen.”
He dived in, taking my mouth, and I groaned, my head feeling dizzy. I met his powerful lips as I tilted my head to the right to deepen the kiss. His tongue brushed mine, and I could feel a fire building low in my belly.
I broke the kiss and tilted my head back, so he could trail kisses down my neck. “That sounds really good, actually,” I said, groaning at the feel of his lips over my scar. “A new man. A new mouth.”
His fist tightened in my hair, and his teeth brushed over my skin, warning me. “If you ever let that happen, I will make you sorry.”
And then he came in again, sucking and nibbling my skin as I gasped and dug my nails into his shoulders.
“Oh, God,” I moaned, grinding on him. “Oh, Kai. Yes.”
I felt his angry breath exhale across my skin, and his hand squeezed my ass painfully through my thin pajama shorts. His nibbling turned to biting, and his kisses became so hard they stung.
I pulled his hair, forcing his head back as I grazed my tongue along his bottom lip. “Trevor,” I whispered. “Touch me, Trevor.”
He growled and shoved away from me, backing up. I dropped to my feet and breathed hard, holding his glare.
“Fuck this,” he barked, and then he reached out and yanked me away from the door, pulling it open. I watched as he charged out of the room, and I couldn’t help but smile as he ran away.
I immediately followed.
“Does this mean you’re tapping out?” I inquired with fake concern.
“No,” he bit out, storming down the hallway, the muscles in his back flexing. “Game change. New Players. There are plenty of other girls here, Rika.”
“And there are lots of guys here, too,” I threw back, following him down the stairs.
He stopped in the foyer and turned around to look at me, a dare in his eyes. “Is that so?” And then he smiled and twisted his head around, speaking to the crowd. “Listen up!” he shouted to all the guests hanging out. “Rika Fane is Horsemen property. Any guy lays a hand on her has to deal with us!” And then he turned back to me, lowering his voice with a smirk. “Good luck.”
I clenched my teeth together. Dammit.
Play his game. Play my game. It ultimately didn’t matter when he had more people on his team.
Fuck.
He turned around, knowing he’d won, and walked toward the kitchen, leaving me standing in the middle of the foyer, surrounded by people eyeing me and thinking God-Knows-What.
Horsemen property? Christ.
But then his words came back to me, and I paused. Any guy lays a hand on her…
I fought to hold back my grin.
Walking into sitting room, I scanned the area and then moved into the kitchen, finally spotting Alex at the island fixing herself a drink. She wore a tight black dress held up by a strap on one shoulder, bare on the other.
I approached her, and she immediately looked up. “Hey. Can you believe Will flew me here in his dad’s helicopter for this?” she said, setting down one bottle and picking up another. “Like I’m going to find a lot of business with the high school set. I mean I’m controversial, but not a pedophile.”
I snorted.
Not everyone here was in high school, and Alex certainly wasn’t much older than them. But yes, I could guess she was used to more sophisticated men.
I took a deep breath before I lost my nerve.
“How much do you charge?” I asked.
She set down the vodka and pinched her eyebrows together. “For what exactly?”
“For women.”
