Present
Kai Genato Mori, I read to myself. Born: September 28, Thunder Bay…no siblings.
Page after page detailed his life, his impeccable grades, and his basketball and swimming stats.
And his arrest and activity since he’d gotten out more than a year ago.
Aside from what got him arrested—assaulting a child-abuser who just happened to also be a cop—he had always been a model kid. He knew how to party but never went over the limit like Will.
He enjoyed women, but they never seemed to hate him for it like they did Damon.
And he could be tough and hard and scary, but it never came off as mean like it did with Michael.
Kai was the best of their whole little crew.
Until he got out of prison. Now he was different.
No women, at least not publicly. Never more than one drink, at least not publicly. And not only was he mean, he seemed almost cruel at times.
I stopped on the photo of him taken as he was walking to Hunter-Bailey one day. The PI caught him on the sidewalk, his black suit coat whipping in the wind, his white shirt collar open, a duffel bag hanging on his shoulder, and his black hair making his eyes stand out, looking stern. I stared at his crisp shirt, remembering the feel of the man underneath when it was a T-shirt and hoodie.
Warm. That’s what I remembered.
Really warm.
I shut the folder, inhaling a deep breath and shoving it under the seat with the others. I’d seen my brother play with countless girls, treating them like insignificant toys and then throwing them to the side like trash. I knew how horrible men could be to women they were fucking. And the women not only took it, but they came back for more. Begged for it, in fact.
That would never be me.
“Where the fuck is he?” David grumbled from the driver’s seat, flicking the ash off his cigarette through the crack in his window.
I turned my gaze out the rear passenger side, looking through the streams of rain pouring down the window, up to the black brick house. We arrived fifteen minutes ago, and I’d texted him to let him know we were here. He hadn’t texted back, but I knew he was home. His RS7 was in the driveway, under a tree, getting shit on by all the thistles above coming loose in the rain.
Checking my phone, I saw it was now eight-fifteen. If he didn’t get out here, I was going to leave. I had other things to do besides wait on him.
Lev yawned to my left, and I glanced over, seeing his seat reclined, and his eyes closed. He still wore the same black jeans and sleeveless white T-shirt from last night, and he smelled like a bar bathroom.
“When is Vanessa due to arrive?” David asked me.
I stared back out the window, my heart pumping hard despite itself. “A week or so.”
“How did she take the news?”
“Does it matter?”
I could feel his eyes through the rearview mirror but ignored him. Gabriel had made the call to London late last night and sent me instructions to handle her when she arrived. She wasn’t happy, but she knew this day was coming. Eventually she would’ve been sold off to someone, and as long as that someone kept her in the lifestyle to which she’d become accustomed, she’d do what she was told.
She was, Gabriel divulged, happy that Kai was at least young and good-looking.
I let my eyes drift closed for a moment. Kai won’t go through with it. That was one thing that I was confident hadn’t changed. His integrity. The Nikova princess, who pouts if she has to suffer a sneeze, would annoy him to no end.
I smiled to myself. There was no way he’d endure her.
“You know, if you need me,” David said, and I opened my eyes, meeting his in the mirror, “—anytime—I’ll be there.”
I wanted to give him a nod. I’d worked hard to get the notice and respect I now had in Gabriel’s house. I hated being sent off like I was expendable. But my shoulders relaxed a little, knowing I wasn’t really doing this alone. They were still there for me.
He blew out smoke, shaking his head as if thinking out loud. “I don’t like this guy.”
I kept my smirk to myself. “What kind of guys do you like?”
Lev started laughing under his breath, his eyes still closed, and I glanced up, seeing David shoot me a bemused middle finger in the rearview mirror.
I looked back up at the house. The shades on the windows were so cheap. I could tell from here. The outside paint was worn away, and the bricks were chipped in so many places. I hoped the inside was better. It would take a shit-ton of guys to get this place in shape in two weeks.
“Damon was fucked up,” David went on, “but he never hid it, either. This guy…” He looked over through the passenger side window to the house. “I don’t know.”
He laid his head back on the headrest, and while my heart warmed that he was actually worried about me being left with Kai, I didn’t want him to be. I wanted to keep the power I had and earn more. It didn’t help if the guys I worked with tried to help me traverse every damn puddle just so my petticoats didn’t get muddy. I could handle Kai Mori.
“He’s too controlled,” David said. “People who are wound that tight are unpredictable.”
I tucked my phone inside my ski vest and pulled down the sleeves of my sweatshirt.
“Don’t worry about her,” Lev said, eyes still closed. “In two weeks, he’ll have his pretty little bride to play with.”
And I couldn’t help it. My lips twisted in a little snarl before I quickly hid it away again.
Yeah, he’ll have her, won’t he? And an image of them came to me, alone in that house, looking at each other, bumping into each other, connecting and shit…I sat up and threw off my seatbelt.
“If Gabriel wanted you guys to think, he would’ve put you in charge,” I mumbled. “I’ll be back.”
Fat raindrops pummeled the cap on my head, and I squinted through the downpour, stuffing my gloved fingers in my pockets and running up the cement slab stairs.
I rang the doorbell.
This place was a dump. Dingy-looking, overgrown and neglected landscaping, and a filthy porch, strewn with newspapers, empty flower pots, and dead leaves. Why did he live here? I’m sure he could’ve moved into Delcour—Michael Crist’s high-rise, luxury apartment building on the other side of the river—for free. Erika Fane and Will Grayson lived there, so why did Kai choose to stay so far away, here, and without his friends?
Of course, I knew where he lived when he bought this place a year ago, but it didn’t occur to me to be bothered by it then.
Now, since I had to ready this pit for a wife, I was starting to realize how much work needed to be done.
I hit the doorbell again, growing aggravated. Where the hell was he?
I pounded on the screen door, the old wood hitting the frame with each knock. “Hello,” I called out, more like a demand than a question.
Peering through the window to my right, I could make out a dusty floor and a small, overturned table, the rest hidden from view by the yellowing plastic shade hanging by one corner over the window.
Suspicion crept in as I stood up straight again.
This didn’t feel right. No one lived here.
I never got the impression Kai Mori needed a palace to be content, but he was definitely the sort of man who took pride in himself and anything that belonged to him. He took care of his shit, and this place was not taken care of.
I glanced up to the top of the hill, to my right, seeing a big, gray stone house. A little small to be considered a mansion, but it was damn close. It was surrounded by a tall, black gate, and it was Kai’s only neighbor. I should’ve researched who lived there. Made sure they weren’t nosey.
Casting a quick glance back at the car, I couldn’t see Lev through the tinted windows in the back, but I could see David in the front, watching me.
Fuck it. Turning back around, I swung open the screen door and twisted the knob, finding it unlocked. I pushed the door open and hesitantly took a step inside, my gaze shifting left to right as I took in the inside of Kai Mori’s house.
Gray light hit the floors, streaming through filthy windows while shadows of raindrops danced across the dingy wood. Dust-covered sheets lay over objects which looked like chairs and tables and one couch.
Leaving the door open, I walked slowly into the living room, taking in the fireplace with its soot-stained brick and a pile of charcoaled kindling before heading to the kitchen and taking in the 50’s refrigerator and stove, as well as the ancient linoleum and retro-pink countertops.
I choked out a laugh. Jesus. Who was he kidding? This wasn’t his house. No fucking way.
Charging back through the foyer, I climbed the stairs, taking two at a time and walked into two bedrooms and a bathroom, none of which looked lived in. There was no food, no used dishes, no tooth brushes, no laundry, no TV, no lamps…
Until I walked down the hall, entering the last room, and looked around. I stopped, instantly seeing a bed. The only room with one.
There were sheets on the bed, and it was perfectly made. Was I supposed to believe he just slept here then?
“Hello!” I called out again.
But I heard nothing but the sound of rain outside.
Walking out of the room, I entered the hallway and threw open some closet doors, checking every nook and cranny. The shelves were empty, not even containing bath towels.
What’s with the mystery here, Kai? “Hello!” I bellowed.
I closed the last door and turned, suddenly seeing him standing right in front of me.
I gasped, my heart stopping so hard it hurt. “Shit!” I burst out, breathing fast as he just stood there. “Where the hell did you come from?”
He stood in the hallway, wearing jeans and an expensive-looking, black pullover, partially unzipped to reveal the white T-shirt underneath.
He jerked his head behind him, his perfectly styled hair not moving. “The bedroom.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “I was just in there,” I told him. “And you weren’t.”
There was a bed and candles and a dresser and nothing else. Where was he? Hiding in the closet?
I realized I was breathing hard, so I forced myself to calm down.
“I rang the doorbell and called out. It was like no one was here,” I said.
But he ignored me, looking bored as he asked, “Did you bring the blueprints, keys, and codes like I asked?”
His stern expression looked impatient. Okay, fine. I’ll have to get in here and dig around soon, anyway, so I could wait to be nosy.
“In the car,” I answered curtly.
He nodded and walked for the stairs, taking them down and knowing I would follow.
We stepped out onto the porch, and his gaze instantly found David and Lev sitting in the SUV, waiting.
Kai turned his dark eyes on me. “You’re with me now. Tell them to beat it.”
I hooded my eyes in aggravation. But I turned around and headed down the steps, toward the car, while he walked for the side of the house toward his.
David rolled down the passenger side window.
“Go back to Thunder Bay,” I told him, reaching in and gathering the files for The Pope and the roll of blueprints off the seat. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He thinned his eyes, looking uneasy.
“It’s fine,” I assured him, starting to walk away. “Finish the collections, don’t forget the inventories for Weisz’s and Brother’s, and make sure Ilia got the kennels done.” I glanced at the time on the dash. “And remember, De Soto’s coming in at three. Make sure a car picks him up.”
I turned around before he had a chance to respond and walked toward Kai’s Audi. He backed down the driveway, the heavy rain slowly washing away the thistles all over it, but he stopped when he saw me heading toward him.
Rounding the car, I climbed in the passenger seat, tossing everything in the back and wiping away the rain on my face. I could feel the water seeping through the fabric of my hat, and I wanted to take it off, but I’d have to wait until I was alone.
Without speaking, Kai let off the brake and backed the rest of the way out of the driveway, and I shifted my eyes anywhere but to him. He shifted the car into first, and my breath caught, feeling him move next to me as the smooth whir of the engine vibrated under my feet.
He hit the gas and raced down the avenue, pulling down into second and up into third as the car propelled us faster and faster.
“You don’t live in that house,” I said in a low, even voice.
He held the wheel, the top arm locked steel-rod straight as he stared ahead.
“You think I can’t rough-it?” he joked, reaching over and turning up Emotionless playing on the radio.
“Rough-it?” I hid my smirk. “I think Howard Hughes was less anal than you. You would never live in that dump.”
“I lived in one for two and half years,” he replied, his voice turning hard. “Things change.”
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, seeing his eyes drift off faraway, impassive. I swallowed through the sudden dryness in my throat, shutting up for the moment.
It was easy to forget, given his clean fingernails and expensive clothes. But not long ago he was in a three-dollar T-shirt and locked in a cage with people telling him what he would do with every minute of his day.
Still, though, he deserved it. He did the crime.
“You’re not staying at the Torrance’s anymore,” he told me, shifting into fourth and laying on the gas. “You work for me now. I want you in Meridian City.”
“I live in Meridian City.” I turned my eyes out the passenger side window. “And even if I didn’t, you don’t get to dictate where I sleep.”
When they got out of prison last year, I moved to the city to be close to Damon. My father started paying me—barely enough to keep a rat—but it was enough to find a place to sleep.
“And where do you sleep?” he asked.
“Not far.”
He adjusted his rearview mirror, giving it a lengthy glance. “With one of them?”
I slowly turned my eyes on him and then looked behind us, seeing the Escalade following. I couldn’t help but smile a little.
I should be angry they disobeyed an order, but…
If Gabriel had told them to go home, they would’ve. He only had their loyalty as long as he paid them. I didn’t pay them anything.
I let my head fall back on the head rest, the rare peace of contentment washing over. “It’s all I’m good for, right?”
His lips twisted up. “Damon must really have done a number on you to keep you so loyal,” he spat out. “I’ve seen him with women. Do you really like what he does to you?”
What he does to me…. I fixed my eyes out the rain-covered windshield, zoning out. I belonged to Damon, and whether or not Kai ever learned the real reason why, it didn’t change that I would always stand at his side.
“That night—”
“Don’t,” I said, interrupting him.
He stopped, and I could hear his heavy breathing pouring out of his nose.
“I love that he saw us that night,” he went on, his voice almost a growl. “Loved that furious look on his fucking face when he saw you all over me.”
I tightened the muscles in my legs, wincing at the memory. I was so awful that night. And the feeling of every inch of him on me was still so clear.
“There’s something about you, kid,” he said, still watching the road ahead. “I don’t know what it is, but most of the time, teaching those classes, meeting with contractors, talking to my friends, shit…” He shook his head. “I can barely stand it. I even have trouble chewing my goddamn food most of the time.” And then he looked over at me, shifting into fifth. “But not around you. Around you, I get hungry. Like I’m starving.”
I kept my gaze forward, the instinct to shrink into myself and try to be invisible nearly taking over.
“You’re wearing his belt.” His deep voice sounded dangerous and made the hair on my skin stand up.
Damon’s belt. I shifted in my seat, suddenly very aware of the tight, leather band around my hips.
He gestured down to the belt before turning his eyes back on the road. “I recognize the tally marks carved into the leather for every slam dunk he got in high school. On and off the court.”
On and off the court? Jesus, Damon. I held back my sigh.
I’d taken the belt when he went to prison, and he never asked for it back.
“Wear it every day, Banks,” Kai ordered. “Every damn day.”
“Oh, I do,” I whispered, but I knew he heard me.
I bet he wondered if there was a tally mark for me on the belt. Damon was right. It was strategically advantageous for no one to know who I was to him. If Kai thought I was a Torrance toy and tool, he wouldn’t know exactly what he had or what cards he could really play.
God help me if he ever found out, though.
Kai kept driving, descending into the Whitehall district, and I could see a cargo ship and a few tug boats drifting down the river in the rain. The city loomed in the distance, skyscrapers partially shrouded in cloud cover, and I could just make out the black and gold of Delcour, sitting in the center of the best shopping and the finest restaurants.
Kai slowed as we pulled up to The Pope, and I noticed Michael Crist’s new Rover parked along the curb. What was he doing here?
We turned, driving into the small alleyway on the side of the hotel, toward the back, and the car was suddenly seeped in darkness. The overhang blocked out any light, and I ran my hands slowly down my thighs, feeling a buzz all over my skin. The car seemed so much smaller now.
The darkness.
The confessional. The trunk. The Bell Tower. The grave. Small spaces with him. Always small, dark spaces.
Without giving me a glance or a word, Kai parked the car and opened his door, stepping out into the rain. I quickly followed and watched him reach in the back and grab the blueprints I’d brought.
He broke out in a jog, heading for one of the rear doors, and I noticed two dumpsters, some wooden pallets, and an overflow of cardboard boxes getting soaked nearby.
“What are you doing out here?” I heard Kai ask. I looked up to see him talking to Michael Crist and Will Grayson, who were waiting under an awning.
Will only wore a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, while Michael was dressed for the weather, looking eerily similar to what he looked like in high school in his hoodie. Splotches of water covered his jeans.
“Why aren’t you guys waiting in the car?” Kai asked them.
Michael’s eyes veered to me, narrowing, as Will pushed off the wall and took his gum out, tossing it out into the rain. “Didn’t want to miss you,” he said.
Kai held out his hand to me, and I handed him the hotel keys.
“Where’s Rika?” he asked the guys.
Michael turned as he approached, ready to follow him through the door. “Class.” And then he looked to me again. “It’s just us.”
A sense of foreboding swirled in my stomach, and I stood behind, letting them all enter before me.
We walked through a dark tunnel, and I couldn’t see clearly from behind the more than six-foot-tall men in front of me, but after a few moments, I saw some white. Bright walls came into view, and I noticed several freezers, refrigerators, and stoves. We’d entered through the kitchen. It was only visible, though, due to the poor light streaming in from the windows.
Each of the guys turned on their flashlights, and Will handed me one.
I took it, switching it on.
“So, Kai?” Will called out as all of us walked through the kitchen. “You wouldn’t need me to break in your virgin bride for you, would you?”
He started laughing and turned his head to me before Kai could answer. “Kai doesn’t like virgins. He likes women who know what they’re doing.”
And then he let his gaze move up and down my body.
I arched a brow. Yeah, I didn’t believe that. I was a virgin that night years ago, and it didn’t deter him from wanting quite a lot from me.
“But me?” Will went on. “I like ’em from scratch. I can teach them exactly what I like and how to do it the way I want.”
“You mean you like that they don’t have anyone to compare you to,” I said, “so they can’t tell how bad you are at it.”
Michael’s snort was small, but I caught it, and I could see the back of Kai’s shoulders, shaking with silent laughter.
Will turned back around, leaving me alone.
We all followed Kai, and I waited outside the control room as they flipped switches, trying to get the electricity on. After a few minutes, though, nothing.
“Good thing we brought flashlights,” Michael mumbled as he walked out of the control room.
Kai followed and stopped, all of us standing together.
“Well, at least the rooms will all be unlocked,” he told us. “Bad news is we’re taking the stairs.”
Up twelve flights. Excellent.
“Let’s split up,” he told us, starting to walk for the kitchen doors, which probably led into a dining room. “Take pictures of any rooms you go into and close-ups of any potential problems. Rodents, plumbing, leaks, any kind of damage…I’ll have contractors come in and get better estimates, but I want an idea of repairs and what we have to chalk up to losses.”
Michael and Will walked off, leaving the kitchen, and Kai turned to me. “See if you can find the generator,” he told me. “We can at least get a few lights working.”
Yeah, okay. I kept my vitriol to myself and headed for the stairwell access, turning on my flashlight as I descended to the basement. There were no windows down here in the stairwell, and my pulse started to race, remembering the stupid fucking horror flicks Damon watched when we were younger. I’d shine my flashlight, and all of a sudden a girl in a white dress and a mouthful of bloody fangs would jump out at me.
Opening the door at the bottom, I entered the basement and instantly let out a breath. It was a huge open boiler room with windows lining the wall at the top. I could just spot the feet of a few pedestrians walking by. A little natural light poured in, but I kept my flashlight on, since it was still pretty dim.
I strolled slowly down the aisle, shining my light on pipes and tanks, furnaces, and other machinery I didn’t recognize. Really, the hotel hadn’t been closed down that long. Most of this stuff probably worked fine still.
I spotted a generator near the wall and headed for it. I had no idea how these things worked, but I’d seen them, and I knew how to Google if I needed to.
Leaning down, I blew the dust off the switches, rubbing away the dirt. This thing wasn’t big enough to power much, and it definitely wouldn’t power the elevators, but maybe it would get the hallway lighting going. I flipped the Power button.
But nothing happened. Did it plug into something? Well, it wouldn’t plug into a wall, of course. If we had electricity, we wouldn’t need a generator.
Maybe it connected to a battery of some sort. I quickly took off my jacket, dropping it on the ground, and got on my hands and knees, shooting the flashlight underneath and around, searching for any wires or chords.
Something took hold of my ankles, though, and I yelped as they pulled them, my knees sliding out from under me and my body being dragged across the floor.
“What the hell?” I barked, flipping around to see who had grabbed me. My heart pounded. Michael and Will stood in front of me, and I kicked at them. “Get off me!”
Michael reached over, grabbing me by the shirt and hauling me up.
Asshole. I looked around, but Kai wasn’t here.
Michael gripped my collar and planted me against the wall, releasing me.
I glared at him. I expected to get in it with them soon enough—I knew what they did to Rika last year, so I knew how they liked to throw their weight around—but for some reason, I kept still. He was going to have a huge problem with me soon, but I’d make my move when I was ready.
“I have no idea what Kai is thinking right now,” he said with a bite to his tone, “but I will give you one warning and one warning only.”
I lifted my chin slowly, bracing myself for his threat.
“If you fuck with us, we will make you disappear,” he growled. “The moment I start to feel the slightest bit concerned that you might have something up your sleeve, I won’t hesitate. Do you understand?” He thinned his eyes. “You work for him, and you take care of him, and you do whatever it is he wants you to do, and you do it good, honey. Just don’t give me a reason to sink you to the bottom of the fucking river, because that is just how fast you can end. You got me?”
Oh, yeah. I got you.
I started breathing hard. I brought my fingers demurely to my lips and faked a look of fright. What did I do? Oh, no, please don’t hurt me. Please? I let out a little whimper and pinched my eyebrows together in confusion.
And then I stopped my fake sobbing and broke out in a smile, looking at him with a quiet laugh.
That shit may have worked on Erika Fane, but he had another think coming.
“I will do my job,” I told him, “and you don’t scare me.”
His glower grew deeper.
“What can you do?” I asked. “You’re an athlete, in the public eye, about to get married to the girl you’ve loved forever, with so much to lose. And this one”—I gestured to Will behind him—“is only sober from the time he drags his ass out of bed in the morning until the time he can make it to the beer cooler he keeps in his kitchen.”
Will scowled at me.
“The Horsemen are weak and dying,” I continued, feigning a concerned look. “Perfect time for enemies to strike.” I reached over and picked up my jacket, sliding my arms in. “Damon’s father would love to undo you, your father is trying to hinder a couple of your real estate deals, Damon is who-knows-where, Rika walks around every day, armed with only her little kung fu tricks.” I looked at Will. “And hasn’t that cop you went to prison for attacking been sniffing around you lately, itching for some payback?”
Michael’s eyes narrowed, and he shifted his gaze, looking taken aback. Yeah, you didn’t know about that, did you?
“You have so much going on, Michael, really,” I taunted him like he was five years old, putting my hands in my pockets. “And all the while you’re watching me, you’re not watching them.”
I pulled out both hands, and Michael caught the flash of silver in my right hand and grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
I laughed as he held the small blade away from his face and fixed me with a snarl.
But I let out my smirk and twisted the point of the blade in my other hand, the one he didn’t see, poking just above his groin.
He jerked back, a little snarl on his face.
“Not only are your ducks not in a row, Michael, but they’re shitting all over the place.” I stuck the blades back in my pockets. “You boys need a role model.”
Slipping to the side, I walked around them and headed out of the basement, hearing Michael’s angry whisper behind me. “What the fuck?”
“I was gonna tell you!” Will whisper-yelled back.
I shook my head.
What a waste of time.
After all the years of grunt work—cleaning, inventorying, drop-offs and pick-ups—I finally had a little respect. Now I was tasked with shadowing Kai and his little crew, watching them fumble to take five steps when they could get what they needed in one.
I pulled the front of my hat down farther, trying to resist the yawn that was pushing its way out.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out as I headed up the stairs.
Meet me on thirteen.
Kai. How did he get my number? And then I remembered I’d texted him that morning. Great. Thirteen, and I was in the basement. Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I
grabbed the railing and started vaulting up the stairs, jogging and skipping steps as I flew. Reaching each landing, I looked up and took note of the floor number, but on nine I stopped, my lungs now feeling tight and small. Looking upward, I saw the dim flights above me, lit only by the emergency lights.
Taking a deep breath, I jogged a little slower up the remaining flights, coming to thirteen and opening the stairwell door.
A stitch cramped my side, and I swallowed through the dryness in my throat. I thought I was in good shape, dammit.
I stepped into a dim hallway and looked left and right, the gray carpeting with a white filigree design slowly fading into the black voids down each dark hallway.
“Hello?” I called out.
I turned right, switching on my flashlight, but a draft hit my back, and I looked behind me. A subtle wind cooled my lips.
Turning left instead, I walked down the hallway, inspecting each door as I passed and finally noticing one that was wide open. I peered inside, seeing white sheer curtains on the other side of the room whipping in the wind.
The balcony doors must be open.
I walked into the room, looking both ways as I crossed, and finally noticed Kai’s form out on the balcony. Peeling back the curtain, I stepped outside.
“The twelfth floor balcony,” he said, leaning over the railing and turning his head to look at me.
I followed his lead, peering over the railing and looking down. Every floor had a balcony on it, and the one directly below us was no different. Intricate carvings in the stone, a thick bannister, everything wet from the rain…
I straightened, cocking my head at him. The twelfth floor.
Suspicion started to creep in.
“Did you really think I’d help you search The Pope if I thought Damon was hiding here?” I asked. “You’re not buying this hotel because of some story I told you when I was seventeen, are you?”
I saw the corner of his mouth lift in a smile. “A. Yes,” he stated. “I think you’d help me search it, if for no other reason than to point me in the wrong direction.” He pulled himself back up and looked at me. “And B, I’m not sure Damon told you where he was hiding.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I remember him being particularly possessive of you,” he said. “I think you know he’s in the city, but I think he might be watching you as much as he is us.”
I laughed to myself.
I’d heard about the twelfth floor after I moved in with Damon and my father. Gabriel fiercely protected his privacy and had built four hotels back in the day: one in Meridian City, San Francisco, St. Petersburg, and Bahrain—the places he traveled most. Privacy, security, and a need to be invisible were sometimes a necessity to someone who made at least some of his money outside the law.
But my brother wasn’t here. At least not the last time I checked. Kai was wasting his time.
“We already explored this place once, remember?” I told him.
He flashed his amused eyes to me, sounding cocky. “We didn’t get very far, remember?”
A blush instantly heated my cheeks, and I turned away.
Kai peered over the railing again, and I did the same, taking in the vast drop to the ground below. I looked back at him, studying the curiosity written all over his face. The way his dark eyebrows pinched together as if he were calculating his next move, and the way his neck stretched as far as it would take him for a better look. He seemed so young. Like a kid trying to find the courage to follow his friends off a cliff.
What was he doing?
Straightening, I unwound the scarf around my neck and pulled it off, out of the jacket. Kai watched me as I held it over the bannister.
Gauging the light wind, I lowered it as much as possible, finally letting it drift out of my fingers and float down to the twelfth-floor balcony. The fabric billowed as it sank and finally caught on the bannister spokes, the wind plastering it to the inside of the balcony.
Without looking at him, I headed back into the room. He had no choice but to follow.
Seriously, if he wanted to climb over the railing and kill himself, it was no skin off my nose, but…
He could be right. Damon wasn’t here when I looked for him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t changing hide-outs, either. He could be here, and I needed to buy some time.
Walking into the corridor, I turned right, heading toward the stairwell exit I came through.
Both of us quickly descended the stairs, but after taking two flights, we came to the next landing where a door should’ve been, marking the twelfth floor. The wall was bare, though. No door. No marking indicating what floor it was, nothing. Just a white wall.
I spared him a glance, an unspoken understanding passing between us. We continued down, both of us reaching for the knob of the eleventh-floor entrance at the same time. His hand brushed mine, and I quickly pulled away, an electric current flowing up my arm. He pulled the door open, and both of us raced through, heading straight for eleven-twenty-two, the room directly below thirteen twenty-two.
I twisted the knob and charged in, making my way for the balcony doors which I swung open, a gust of wind instantly hitting my face. Kai and I stepped over the threshold, looking around for the scarf.
It only took a quick survey, but there was nothing, as I knew there wouldn’t be. Nothing except a dead potted plant, a rusted, wrought iron table, and a leaf.
The scarf wasn’t here, of course, but…
I walked over to the right side of the balcony, hung my head over, and peered up.
And there it was. The black scarf whipped happily, a few inches hanging off the side of the balcony right above us.
“There.” I nodded upward.
Kai pinched his eyebrows together and stepped over, leaning over the side and turning his head up. He stared, either confused or annoyed, but I smiled a little all the same.
“What the hell?” he grumbled.
“We need to get up there,” he told me.
And how do you plan on doing that? The elevators weren’t working at the moment, and it’s not like we had rope.
I watched as he started to climb up on the railing, but I immediately reached out and pulled him down.
“It’s fine,” I said curtly. “It’s not valuable. Forget it.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You’re worried about me?”
“Yeah. Like the price of tea in China.”
He shook his head, smiling to himself. But again, he made a move to climb up.
I pulled him back. “I can’t spot you. You’re too big. You can spot me, so let me do it.”
Stepping around him, I hopped up on the railing, and he darted out, grabbing my arm to steady me. I knew if I looked right, I’d see the drop below that was only one mistake away, so I didn’t look.
My legs shook, but I curled my toes, gripping the thick bannister. Dammit. I didn’t need the fucking scarf back, but I didn’t want to find out if he was able to scale his way up there. Not yet.
Squeezing his arm with one hand, I held out the other arm for balance and slowly rose up to stand. My belly flipped.
“I’ve got you,” Kai told me. I glanced down, seeing his dark eyes holding mine as he wrapped his other arm around my legs. My hands went weak, and for some reason, that didn’t make me feel better.
I reached up with both hands and swiped for the frayed fabric, Kai’s embrace tightening. Unfortunately, though, I was still at least six-to-eight inches shy of touching it.
Placing my hand on Kai’s shoulder to keep steady, I slowly arched up on my tip-toes to raise myself higher. I extended my other arms, stretching my muscles and joints centimeter by centimeter until finally, I went as far as I could go. I winced, trying to catch the small thread that dangled. Shifting my body just slightly, I continued trying, but it was no use.
I let out a sigh. “I can’t reach it.”
Falling back to my feet, I looked down at Kai.
And stopped breathing.
He was just staring at me. Right there, looking up, with his arms wrapped around my thighs and his face damn near between them. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
An amused smile hit his eyes, and my heart started pumping wildly. I didn’t want to know what the hell was running through his head right now.
“You okay?” he asked. I could tell the fucker was holding a smirk back.
I jumped down, forcing him away, and straightened my clothes, pulling down my T-shirt and jacket. “I’m fine.”
He would only use you. I had to remember that his goal was Damon. Revenge. And he knew Damon cared about me, so that made me valuable.
I ignored the beat in my chest and shook off the look in his eyes.
Don’t make the same mistakes. Don’t let him touch you. Don’t want him. You can’t have him.
I forgot that six years ago, but I wouldn’t this time.
The silence crawled my skin, and the sound of the light rain droned on around us.
“Why do you wear that stuff?” Kai’s voice was quiet and soft.
Stuff. My clothes?
I averted my gaze, my armor thickening. I’d taken more than enough crap about my appearance over the years.
What, you don’t like my second-hand combat boots with broken laces and scuffed toes? Do they offend you? Was there some rule that my jeans were supposed to be tight, so men I didn’t know could take pleasure at looking at my ass like I was a car on the street?
“I wear what I want,” I snipped. “I don’t dress to please anyone else.”
“On the contrary…” I felt him approach, and I looked down, seeing his shoes stop a foot away from me. “I’m wondering if you do dress like this to, indeed, please someone else.”
I met his gaze, the long, exhausting practice of showing no emotion coming easier than it did when I was a kid.
Okay. Point taken. Maybe I did start dressing like this to please Damon. I was never allotted money for clothes, and even now my pay was too miniscule to afford much. But I was happy with what my brother gave me and would’ve gladly worn anything if it meant I could stay with him.
And growing up, these clothes kept me safe. There were too many men around, and I looked younger when I was wearing this stuff. It hid my shape and helped keep me invisible.
“Those are men’s clothes,” he pointed out, his voice growing hard. “Used men’s clothes. Whose are they? Are they all Damon’s?”
“What do you care?” I shot back. “I’ll do my job. Drive you around, fix your shithole of a house, clean your dojo, and I don’t need to wear a ball gown to do it.”
He broke out in a smile. “You’re a complete mystery, and I’m curious about you. That’s all. So, let’s start simple. What’s your name?”
“Banks.”
“What’s your name, Banks?”
I almost snorted.
Almost.
He was a little faster on the pick-up than his friends, wasn’t he?
Banks was my last name. I liked it, because I thought I’d get more respect sounding less like a woman, and my father preferred it, because he hated my first name.
And none of that was Kai Mori’s business.
Kai went on, “And where are you from? Where are your parents? Were you really home-schooled?” He began walking into me, and I tripped backward, stumbling. “Where do you live? Do you have any friends? How can you work for that disgusting piece of shit, huh? How do you sleep?”
I hit the glass door, and he closed the distance between us, hovering and dropping his voice to a whisper, “Or how about an even easier question?” His heat filtered through my jacket, and every inch of me hummed. “I’m going to confession today. Want to come…Banks?”
His eyes locked on my lips, and my breathing turned shallow. Oh, Christ. The wind carried in his smell, and I inhaled, the world in front of me starting to spin.
I blinked, turning away. The memory of our first encounter—the story he fed me that got under my skin that day in the confessional—God, I’d liked the way that felt. Talking like that with him.
I balled my fists and met his eyes again, forcing my tone to stay even. “Oh, Mr. Mori, have you forgotten?” I replied, faking innocence. “You always go to confession at the end of the month.”
I fixed him with a knowing smile, watching his amused expression fall and turn dark.
Yeah. Never forget I know all about you.
His eyes remained calm, but I could hear the acceptance of my challenge in his taunting words, “See you at work.”
And stepping around me without another word, he walked out of the room, leaving me by myself.
I stayed for a moment, staring up at the dangling threads of my scarf on the balcony above me.
I prided myself on always staying one step ahead. Information was power. It was more valuable than money.
But apprehension quietly crept in, anyway.
Kai wasn’t stupid.
Eventually, he’d catch up.
