Present
I reached into the large bowl, snatching up a wad of soba noodles and refilling my dish.
“Fucking hell,” I bit out through my teeth, thinking about the mess I’d gotten myself into. How the hell did everything spiral out of control? What was I even after anymore? What was the end goal?
I wanted to find Damon. That was it. Determine if there was more danger to Rika, Michael, or Will, and find out what he did with the body, so I could handle it and either turn myself in or come to terms with the sick bitch getting exactly what she deserved. And if so, then making sure she was well hidden and dealing with it if she wasn’t.
I didn’t even know what to do in a situation like that. The idea of seeing it all again, even talking about it…I closed my eyes. I didn’t get rid of bodies. Jesus.
A moment. My life was a series of huge mistakes made in sheer moments when I lost control.
Except today. When I looked at her and said those lies—vows I didn’t intend on keeping—but in that moment, I did. How perfect my world would’ve been if I could’ve swallowed my pride and told her I loved her and she let me hold her. No matter what, everything would’ve been okay if I could’ve seen her smile on her wedding day.
Lifting the chopsticks, I closed my mouth around some noodles and vegetables, looking at my phone and noting no other texts rolling in as I chewed. Will had waited for Banks to come out of the church, so he could bring her here. She would’ve argued and fought, but the threat of the cell phone loomed, and she would’ve eventually agreed.
It had been over an hour, though. If she wasn’t here soon, I would go get her.
But just then I heard a click, and I looked up from the dining room table and watched her open the door, slowly stepping into her new home.
She looked around, and I relaxed back in my chair as she closed the door and squared her shoulders. I smiled to myself. What was I going to do with her?
Her head finally turned, and she locked eyes with me. I swallowed my food.
“Come in,” I told her, pushing the bowl back.
Hesitantly, she stepped toward me, entering the dining room. “Which bedroom is mine?”
“Mine.”
Her stubborn shoulders fell a little. “I’m tired, Kai.”
“You’re also my wife.” I picked up my glass, taking a drink of water. “Your precious, big brother must be crawling the walls right now.”
She shook her head, looking disgusted by me. “I’m not your pawn, so trust me when I say marrying me won’t make me any less difficult.”
Oh, I hope not.
I stared at her, taking in the gown she wore today and nothing else. She’d come completely empty-handed, unless she had her little knives tucked in a garter under that dress. Did she think she wasn’t staying long enough to move in?
I’d have to have her clothes brought here. Or she could wear mine.
“I’m not worried,” I said. “You’ll bend.”
She scoffed, and I took a clean bowl and a fork, loading some of the yakisoba into the dish. “Come and eat.” I set the food and utensil on the table, nodding at the chair across from me.
She just glared at me.
“Eat, and I will show you which room is yours?” I bargained.
But she didn’t sit down. Instead, she walked over to the buffet table and grabbed two more bowls. Coming back over to the table, she took the fork and loaded up both bowls with noodles, piling them high, and taking nearly everything that was left.
I usually made enough for leftovers to last three days.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
“My men are outside. They followed us here.” She stuck forks in both bowls and picked them up. “They need to eat, too.”
What—who?
“Your men?” I challenged. “Those pricks who work for Gabriel? Tell them to leave.”
I shot out of my chair and stalked toward the window, pulling back the curtain. And sure enough, that same black SUV sat in my driveway. I could see the bald one in the driver’s seat.
“You tell them,” she shot back. “They put themselves on the line for me tonight, and that’s how you reward loyalty?”
“Put themselves on the line? What do you mean? What happened?”
She looked away, shaking it off. “Nothing. Just…” she paused, searching for words. Then she looked straight at me. “They won’t leave. They work for me, and they can’t go back there. That’s it.”
She turned and walked for the front door, stacking one bowl on top of the other to open the door.
“They work for you?” I raised my voice. “How do you plan on paying them?”
“Easy,” she said, her eyes shooting around her to the house and everything around us. “Half of what’s yours is now mine.”
And she walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
I just stood there, strangling the air in front of me. Son of a—fucking—God—what the fuck?
Dammit, she’s such a little shit! What the hell did I want with two guys hanging around my house all the time? They were going to be in my way, and I don’t like people in my space and messing my stuff up. I was just getting used to having her around, dammit!
I swung back my leg to kick the buffet table, but I caught myself, stopping. It was, like, expensive, and an antique and shit, so…
Pulling the curtain back again, I kept an eagle-eye out, making sure she didn’t try to run off with them or something. The passenger side window rolled down, and I spotted the younger one with the black Mohawk in the seat.
She slipped the bowls in through the window, and the kid sniffed it, looking pleased. She spoke to them for a few minutes, sparing a few glances back at me, and I finally let the curtain go, leaving her to it.
I didn’t like how they looked at her. Like they had more of a right to her attention.
But I guess, who wouldn’t want her attention? Nikova Banks was a beautiful woman.
Seeing her in that dress today in the church was as close as I’d come to losing complete control. I was at war with myself the entire ceremony. She hid so much under her clothes, but that dress certainly brought it all out. The smooth skin and incredible curves…
Her hair, her make-up…. I didn’t know why she’d gotten herself done up—I didn’t for one moment think it was for me.
The front door opened, and she entered the dining room, seeming a little calmer.
We held each other’s eyes, and I felt a pang of need for her. For a chance to salvage what this day had turned into and treat her well.
But I didn’t deserve her. No matter what she’d done or how her choices had hurt me, I’d taken her hand today with as much force as I’d taken her innocence in that room in The Pope. She needed to be left alone.
I gestured to the table for her to sit and eat.
She sat down and placed her bowl in front of her, picking up the fork. But she stopped, noticing my bowl with a set of chopsticks laying across the top.
Finding a spare pair on the table, she put her fork down and picked up the sticks. Of course, she probably had no interest in using them. I’d just given her a fork, and it was her stubborn nature that you didn’t tell Banks what she could and couldn’t do. It was the problem of me assuming she’d want a fork.
She tried to fit them in her fingers, but they kept slipping.
I walked over to her right side and reached out. “Like this.”
I took them in my fingers, ignoring her scowl as I fit both between my forefinger and middle finger, using the latter to steady and the former to control movement. I bobbed my pointer finger up and down, showing her that was the one that moved. Opening it wide, I picked up a piece of cabbage and closed it, securing it between the sticks.
“I can do it,” she said, snatching them back.
And she did. Within a few more tries she had the hold right and was able to pick up her food and get it into her mouth, albeit shakily. The platinum band on her finger gleamed in the soft light of the chandelier, I felt a pang of guilt now that I’d calmed down. She should have a diamond on her hand.
“They’re called hashi,” I told her, gesturing to the chopsticks. “In Japanese.”
Rising, I picked up a small, ceramic chopstick rest and set it in front of her. “And this is called hashioki. When you’re not eating, you rest the ends of your chopsticks on here. Or,” I pointed out, gesturing to my bowl. “You can lay them across your dish. But not in the food and never crossed.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s…rude,” I told her. There was another reason having to do with deceased people and offerings and traditions, but I had a feeling that would only incite her rebellion.
I sat back down, letting her eat. My head was swimming. I’d be lucky if I got any sleep tonight.
I had to get the guys who were outside rooms in here and get them on payroll. As well as figure out what they hell they were going to be doing for me.
I had to get back down to Sensou and meet with the insurance adjuster. Figure out what the next step was. Would we reopen?
I needed to see my parents, too. I was surprised I wasn’t getting calls tonight, in fact. If they hadn’t heard yet, they would soon. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really sorry. I just didn’t like explaining myself. Probably because I couldn’t.
And tomorrow was Devil’s Night. We still hadn’t found where Damon was hiding out, so he might be on us before we were on him. Or maybe nothing would happen. Maybe Rika was right, and he was fucking with us.
I still needed to deal with him, though. I couldn’t keep going, having things hanging over my head. Maybe we’d just bring everyone here for the night. Put the place on lockdown.
She finished her bowl and looked into the larger one, seeing if there was any left. I smiled, liking that she clearly enjoyed my cooking. Steaks and all.
She tipped the bowl over, using the chopsticks to shove any lingering noodles into her smaller bowl, and I closed my eyes, laughing quietly.
She just broke about three rules of etiquette. My father would piss a brick if he saw it.
But watching her face and losing myself in those red lips, she really was incredible.
“It’s a pretty dress,” I told her. “Where’d you get it?”
She finished chewing quietly, not looking at me. “Marina,” she said, “Gabriel’s cook. She made it for me when I sixteen.”
The reminder that Gabriel was her father hit me again, and I had so many questions still.
“My father was having a party,” she explained, “and Marina thought he might let me come if…if I was pretty enough.”
Pretty enough?
“Did you go?”
She shook her head. “I got all dressed up. Hair and a little lipstick. But Damon wouldn’t allow it. He made me stay upstairs.”
She gave a little laugh, like she was trying to brush off his possessiveness, but…
Territorial is fine when it’s in the bedroom. It’s not fine when it keeps someone you’re supposed to love from living a life.
All the pieces began to fit together. Devil’s Night six years ago. How he wouldn’t let her even speak to me. How he had those guys take her away. How she always seemed to lurk like a mouse—in the confessional, at the cemetery—afraid of the cat coming out to snatch her up.
How they latched onto each other at The Pope. How she was the only woman I’ve ever seen him hang onto like a life preserver.
Given what I knew of their parents, it was no wonder they made their family just the two of them. It was the only place they were safe and loved.
“Come here,” I said, dropping my voice to a whisper.
She narrowed her eyes.
She had every reason to hate me after what I pulled today. After Gabriel and I tossed her back and forth like a possession. Has she ever been anywhere but Meridian City or Thunder Bay? Did she at least finish school? Did she have a single friend who wasn’t a guy in Gabriel’s crew?
I leaned in, suddenly wanting everything. I wanted to show her the world.
“Fuck him and your father,” I said gently. “Fuck me and the shit that comes out of my mouth.”
Her eyebrows dug in deeper, looking confused.
Snaking an arm around her, I pulled her onto my lap, and she immediately tried to push me away.
“I wanted this,” I told her, looking in her eyes.
She paused.
“For no other reason than I wanted you.” I threaded my fingers through hers, brushing against the band on her finger. I’d get her an engagement ring next week. Even though we were never engaged. Maybe she’d like to pick it out, actually. “Damon knew what a treasure you were, and he loves you. But he won’t keep me from you.” I tipped up her chin to meet my eyes. “This isn’t about him or the hotel or your father. I want you.”
“And if I don’t want you?”
My gaze faltered, but I decided to be direct. “Don’t you?”
I hadn’t misread signals. She liked me.
“I won’t hurt him,” I said, knowing what her worries were. “But I do need to protect myself, so I need to see him. Do you understand?”
“You promise?”
She looked so vulnerable. I couldn’t ask her to choose.
I nodded. “Promise.” I squeezed her, one hand on her waist, the other on her thigh. “I’m going to fix this, but I can’t account for him. If he pushes me too far, I’ll be forced to act. You know that.”
I saw her swallow as she stared at her lap.
“I want you,” I told her again. “And I don’t care what your name is, and I don’t care who your parents are or how much money you have or don’t have. I just want you, upstairs, and dressed in nothing but my sheets.”
A beautiful, small smile pulled at her lips. “I won’t be Banks tonight?”
I shook my head. “And I’m not Kai.”
“Just for tonight?”
I nodded, loving our little game. “Just for tonight.”
She stood up and slowly pulled all of her hair over her shoulder. “The dress is a corset.” She turned her back to me. “Will you help me unlace it before I go upstairs?”
My heart pumped harder.
I ran my hand down the criss-crossed lacing and pulled out the string tucked into the dress. Untying it, I pulled the long, black lace out of a few loops and then worked my fingers up her spine, loosening the laces. My body was wracked with pleasure. I loved undressing her.
The dress slowly began to fall down, more of her slender back coming into view, and I reached my hand inside, feeling her nakedness.
There was nothing. No bra, no panties, no slip, nothing but her, completely pure and beautiful and innocent underneath the dress.
The gown fell to the floor, and my cock throbbed and swelled. Her ass, her shoulders, her legs—golden skin that she sure as hell didn’t inherit from her father’s side glowing in the dim light.
She turned around, her eyes falling on my pants and the bulge growing there.
She started breathing faster, her gaze turning heated. “Fuck the sheets,” she whispered.
And she slid down, spread her legs, and straddled me. I groaned, unfastening and yanking open my jeans. I took out my cock and rubbed the tip up and down her length, finding her so wet already.
She lowered herself, hugging me close and moaning as I filled her.
Fuck. I grabbed her tits, covering the nipples with my mouth, one by one as she held the back of the chair and began moving in and out, rolling her hips faster and faster. She rode me, her moans and whimpers getting louder, and I leaned back, taking her ass in both hands and just fucking watched her.
God, I was lucky.
“So, do you still like me?” she asked, playing.
I laugh a little. I more than like you.
“I think I’ll keep you,” I told her instead. “And no one keeps me from you. Got it?”
I kissed her chin, trailing kisses along her jaw. “Not your father, not your brother, not your men.” I squeezed her ass again, pulling her in deep. “I want your smart-ass mouth.” I kissed her lips. “I want every memory you’re going to make from now on.” I kissed her forehead. “And I want this.” I gripped her, yanking her into me as I bit her neck. “In the car, on this table at breakfast tomorrow, everywhere…”
Her body grew tense, and she wrapped her arms around me, bouncing faster and faster. “So, you do like me then?”
I smiled at her joke. Little shit.
“Yeah,” I told her. “I like you a lot.”
A lot.
I unbuttoned the collar of one shirt and pulled it off the hanger, slipping my arms into it. It was just after six in the morning, and I could smell the rain in the air as soon I woke up. I buttoned my shirt and walked to the bedside table, grabbing my phone and pausing when I saw the leather gloves she always wore laying next to the lamp.
I shifted my gaze to her, seeing her hands, one resting on the pillow and the other over her stomach. A smile pulled at my lips. She took them off.
The scar looked almost like a red ink stamp across the back of her hand, and I squeezed my phone, anger building. Gabriel was going to pay for that. And for a lot more.
Her lips were slightly parted, and I noticed a chocolate-colored strand of hair that had fallen on her lip. Leaning down, I softly pulled it off before giving her a kiss, lingering just long enough for her scent to cast a trail of heat from my heart to my groin.
I groaned, reluctantly pulling back up. Not now. She needed sleep, and I wanted her to wake up to breakfast. She said she liked eggs.
No.
She just said she ate a lot of eggs. Maybe she didn’t like them all that much. They were cheap, low in fat, and sustaining. Perfect for a person of low income.
I looked down at my ring, finally feeling it sink in that she was mine now. Until she ran away again, anyway.
And she had a life to live if I had anything to say about it. No eggs. I was going to enjoy indulging her.
Opening my phone, I left the room, quietly closing the door behind me as I checked the weather for today. I should never have gone to sleep last night. I had no idea what today had in store, but I should’ve been ready earlier. The body’s need to waste one-third of its lifespan unconscious was an error of evolution. Look how much I could’ve gotten done.
Cloudy all day, high of sixty-eight. Evening thunderstorms. Great. I needed to get the house closed up, some supplies and food, and I had a flood of phone calls from friends back home wondering if we were going to be in town tonight and employees wondering if they should find new jobs. No and yes.
That fucking prick. I’d promised I wouldn’t hurt him, but after what he did, I might not be able to stop myself.
My phone rang as I walked down the staircase, and I checked the screen, seeing a number I didn’t recognize.
I slowed, staring at it.
Damon. I hadn’t heard from him since the day on the street in front of The Pope. He must’ve been getting a new burner phone every time he made his little calls.
I smiled to myself, fingering my wedding ring with my thumb. He wasn’t going to be in a good mood.
Answering the phone, I brought it to my ear.
“Where is she?” he said, not waiting for a greeting.
“Sleeping.”
“I will get her back,” he told me.
I took a deep breath and walked to the front door, looking out the little window on the side. Banks’s men were still out there.
Impressive.
“So, come on, then,” I told him. “Come to the house, and take her back.”
His chuckle filled my ear. “Oh, I will,” he said. “But I’m smarter than you. I’ll get my leverage first.”
What leverage?
I didn’t want him here. I didn’t want him near her. But I was ready to shut him up. He wouldn’t be getting her back.
“I’m the only one who’s taken care of her,” he argued. “The only one who’s loved her. You can’t ask her to give me up. You know why? Because it’s an impossible choice and you don’t want to know that she just might not choose you.”
I shook my head, opening the front door. I wouldn’t ask her to make that choice anymore. I would just keep fighting, because I loved—
I suddenly felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.
Because I loved her.
“You see me in her, don’t you?” he taunted, lowering his voice. “Do you really want to be faced with her every day? Could you really love her, knowing who she is and that I’ll always divide her attention?”
I ground my teeth together and stalked out into the driveway, pounding on the hood of the SUV twice. The guys inside jumped up, pulling their feet off the dash. I headed back for the house, knowing they would follow.
“Where are you?” I asked Damon.
“I wish I could tell you,” he nearly fucking chirped. “I really do, because it’s just too good. If only you’d done just a little more research, man.”
“Damon—”
“It’s really a miracle for me that you haven’t yet realized.”
“Damon!”
“Can’t talk,” he said. “But I’ll see you soon.”
“Tonight?”
And I heard a click.
“Damon!” I yelled into the phone. What did he mean ‘soon’?
“Yes.” I heard a voice behind me.
I turned around, looking at the dead call on my phone screen. I could call him back, but the phone would be off, no doubt. Plus, it was a waste of time.
I saw David and the kid, Lev, step into the foyer, the younger one yawning.
Walking over to the table in the hallway, I dug out a set of keys from a small chest on top.
I tossed the set to him. “The third floor is yours,” I said. “Banks will organize your tasks in this house and outside of it, and I’ll put you on payroll. She’s sleeping now.” I stepped up to them, weighting my instructions heavily, so they knew I was serious. “Don’t leave her alone here or let her leave, and when she wakes up, tell her I’ve gone to run an errand, and I’ll be back soon.”
“You.” I looked to Lev. “Go to Delcour. Bring Will and Rika here and keep them here. Tell them to pack an overnight bag.”
“They won’t come with me,” he argued.
“I’m texting them now to let them know you’re on your way. Go.”
He sighed and took the car keys from David, heading out the front door, and I got on my phone, shooting a text to Michael to meet me at The Pope and then another one to Will and Rika.
“Check every window and door,” I ordered David, grabbing my car keys and walking out. “Once everyone arrives, it’s lockdown. You got that?”
He nodded. “Got it.”
