Chapter 10: Hideaway: Chapter 10

Present

Delcour sat on the other side of the river from the Whitehall district. I remembered seeing the building from a distance from our apartment downtown when I was a kid and lived with my mother. Tall, black, with gold trim, it reminded me of something out of an old movie. Gangsters in pinstripe suits, cars with whitewall tires, ladies in fancy gowns…. A tad of the art deco look, a bit of old Hollywood, and entirely too ostentatious, but it always filled me with awe when I would catch a glimpse of it. I didn’t know how anything could be glamorous and haunting at the same time, but Delcour proved that there was such a thing. It sat in the middle of the city like an ornate jewel on someone wearing a potato sack.

I didn’t fit in in places like this, and my nerves were acting of their own accord.

There’d probably be young people like me, but unlike me, they’d be hyper on a completely different set of priorities: designer shoes and triple, venti, no foam, soy lattes.

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened, the vibrations from the music under my feet hitting my ears now.

My mouth dry, I forced a step and entered Michael Crist’s penthouse.

“Hello,” a man in black pants and a black shirt greeted me. “May I take your coat?”

“No.”

I passed the racks of coats in the entryway, ignoring his taken-aback expression, and rounded the corner into the rest of the residence. Music played loudly, but I could still hear the chatter of the couples I walked by. Men moved about, dressed casually, some in suits with open collars, others in jeans and T-shirts, while the women were dressed to the nines. As usual.

The dim lights shined over the black marble floors, and I walked into the living room, the hair on my arms rising at the sight of all the people.

But I forced myself to relax. Crowds made me nervous, but I could deal. A few pairs of eyes drifted over me, trailing up and down my appearance, but I just continued my scan of the room.

Where the fuck was he?

I walked, slowly surveying the party for his sharply styled black hair and usual bored stare, but it appeared to be impossible. Many of the guests looked like they were Storm players—Michael’s teammates—because even Kai’s impressive six-foot-two was going to get lost in the midst of some of the six-and-a-half and seven-foot guys here.

Cry Little Sister droned out of the speakers, and I caught sight of Erika, walking back inside through the terrace entrance. Candlelight flickered across her skin, and our eyes met. She made her way over to me.

“Hi,” she said calmly, her smile small but warm. Even though she must know I didn’t want to have anything to do with her, she didn’t show it.

“Is Kai still here?” I asked, gesturing to the envelope in my hand. “He wanted this tonight.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment but just looked into my eyes.

“This way,” she finally answered.

Falling in behind her, I followed her past the kitchen and down a hallway, looking to my left and seeing a sunken basketball court, right here, in the apartment.

Because of course there was.

Several guys in suits sans jackets raced up and down the court. I quickly searched the players’ faces but didn’t see Kai there, either.

Erika trailed farther down a dimly lit hallway, and my gaze fell on her back, kind of admiring the sleek and flowing black jumpsuit she wore with criss-crossed straps over her shoulder blades. Beautiful, simple, and the horsemen’s center.

Everything I would never be to anyone.

Still, I couldn’t see why Damon was so obsessed with her.

She veered right and opened a door, deep voices and laughter immediately drifting into the hallway. Rika turned with her back to the open door, making room for me to enter.

I stepped in and looked around. A card table with half a dozen men, including Michael and Will, sat in the center of the room, and Kai occupied a chair, his back to me. Several more men loitered at various tables around the room, and a woman leaned on the wall in the corner, a drink in her hand.

A few, including Michael and Will, cast me a glance, pausing a moment, but most didn’t pay me any mind.

I marched to Kai’s side, not looking back to see if Rika stayed or left.

“I could’ve brought this to your house later,” I said, annoyed as I shoved the envelope at his chest. “Or to the dojo in the morning.”

He had me working and running errands nonstop for the past two days, after all. It was late, and I needed sleep.

Ignoring my complaints, he took the envelope and opened it.

I turned to leave.

“Stay,” I heard him say.

I stopped, turning back.

Kai pulled out the papers Gabriel gave me, while my gaze flashed to Michael, who was watching me. I almost smiled. Tenderfoot was still probably pissed about yesterday at the hotel.

I watched Kai flip through the contract but then stop to pull out a pen from his inside breast pocket. That was to be expected. Gabriel knew he’d fight certain stipulations.

“Aren’t you going to introduce your friend, Kai?” a man on the other side of the table asked.

But Kai just cocked the pen, his eyes narrowing as he read.

And then I saw him shift in his seat and look up, eyeing me. “Is he kidding?” He points the tip of his pen to a bullet point on the contract, something about making sure Vanessa had children in a timely manner.

One of his eyebrows damn near touched his hairline as he looked at me like it was my fault.

I shrugged. “If you can’t get it done, we can give her to a better man. Just say the word.”

He just looked at me, not even the faintest scowl marring his statuesque face. He turned back to the document. Slicing his pen across the page, he crossed out the provision and moved to the next page, also X-ing out several others.

“So, it’s that easy in your world, huh?” he asked, keeping his voice just between us. “Just give one person to another person?”

“You should know,” I shot back.

I was given to him until the wedding, wasn’t I?

“This is Banks,” he spoke up again, louder, so everyone at the table could hear. “She works for Gabriel Torrance. How long have you worked for him now?” He glanced up at me, but didn’t wait for me to answer. “Kind of odd how such a young girl got taken into a millionaire scumbag’s mansion like that, don’t you think?” His pen moved swiftly across the pages, circling and jotting notes. “Does he know your family? Do they have connections to him?” A wisp of a smile softened his stern face as he looked over the rest of the contract. “It would be interesting to find out how that happened. What use a woman could be to a house full of men, I wonder.”

A few people around the table chuckled under their breaths at his insinuation.

“And how much does he pay you or…” He paused, drawing out his last words. “What did he pay for you?”

He looked up at me, flipping the pages back into place and slipping the document back into its envelope. He might’ve been thinking out loud, or he might’ve been hinting at finding out the answers himself. It wouldn’t be hard. A PI would only have to talk to my mother.

“Gotta be less than what I pay for a woman,” I heard Will toss out, followed by more quiet laughter from around the room. He shot me a look, letting his distaste scale up and down my appearance.

“Oh, please,” the woman in the corner interrupted. “Like I even charge you anymore. All you want to do is cuddle half the time anyway.”

One of the men at the table snorted, barely able to contain his laughter, while others didn’t bother trying to hide it.

Will turned to her with a scowl, whining, “Fuuuuuck.”

She smiled and winked at him.

That must be Alex. College student and over-priced escort from the sixteenth floor. Friends with Rika, and has Will Grayson as a regular customer.

Damon liked her energy. Didn’t like that she wouldn’t do everything he wanted, though.

“So many questions…” Kai held up the envelope, offering it to me. “Almost makes you wanna hire someone to find out the answers.”

I blinked slowly, trying to look bored, but my heart sped up just a hair. I’d expected this. Kai negotiated learning curves faster than most. I’d been researching him and his pals. He’d start doing the same with me, of course.

I’d have to pay my mother a visit.

Tomorrow.

“Have him agree to these changes, and I’ll sign it,” he said.

I grabbed hold of the envelope, but he didn’t release it. Instead, he pulled it down, bringing me with it.

“And by all means,” he whispered, his breath falling across my cheek. “Keep underestimating me.”

We both clutched the envelope, and I turned my eyes on him, momentarily frozen.

So close. I wanted to pull away but couldn’t. Something swelled in my chest, and his dark eyes turned black as he held me, locked.

You said you wanted to be hunted. God, why had I thought of that after all this time? I almost closed my eyes at the memory.

His smell, his mouth, his body pressing into mine…. He was as cold as ice all the time.

Until he wanted it. I knew just how greedy he could get then.

The pulse between my legs began throbbing, and I yanked the envelope out of his hands and stood up straight.

“Can I do anything else for you, Mr. Mori?”

He dropped his hand to the armrest and appeared to focus back on the card game. “Go restock towels for the guests in the pool.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I’m not here to wait on your friends.”

“You’re here for me and whatever I tell you to do.” He pinned me with a warning look. “Unless you want to go back to Thunder Bay and tell Gabriel you broke the contract.”

Yeah, you might just love that, huh? You’ve got the keys and codes to the hotel, haven’t signed the contract yet, and the blame would fall on me for breaking the deal.

Holding Kai’s glare, I stalked out of the room, hearing Michael’s voice behind me. “They’re in the hallway closet upstairs!”

I gritted my teeth, seething as chuckles drifted out of the room behind me. Fuckers.

Rounding the corner, I slipped in between people, and grabbed hold of the railing, climbing the stairs quickly. I wasn’t in any hurry to be of service, but I wanted out of here, and as soon as they got their damn towels, I was leaving with or without his permission.

The music downstairs faded, and I reached the top, a large open area full of TVs, couches, and a few people greeted me.

I continued down the hallway, in the dark, opening a few doors to find a couple bedrooms, a bathroom, and an office, before opening another and finally finding shelves of bedding and towels neatly stacked. I started plucking out as many towels as I could carry.

“Hi.”

I jumped, my breath catching in my throat. The young woman from the poker game earlier peeked around the open door, her hand on her hip.

“I’m Alex,” she told me.

“I know who you are.”

I grabbed one more towel and added it to the stack in my arm.

“I’ll take that as a good thing.”

Take it however you like.

“I can’t believe Rika tolerates your presence,” I said, closing the closet door. “How many of her guests are you making clients tonight?”

But to my surprise, she laughed. “Not working tonight, actually.”

A twinkle lit up her eyes, and I had to hand it to her. I’d been purposefully rude, but she rolled with it like a champ.

“And Rika likes having me everywhere,” she taunted, leaning in. “She thinks I’m a good kisser.”

Yeah, okay.

“Women are typically better kissers in my experience, anyway,” she continued, giving me a look up and down that suddenly made me hyper-aware. “I mean, men have no idea what to do with their tongues.” She laughed. “I charge them extra for the kissing.”

My mind drifted back to when I’d kissed Kai, and the nerves under my skin sparked to life. Kai definitely knew what to do with his tongue.

Alex went on, rolling her eyes. “It’s either, I’m an ice cream cone”—she closed her eyes and licked the air, grunting and making exaggerated movements with her tongue—“or it’s like tornado-fucking-alley with that thing.” And again, she closed her eyes, making circles in the air with her tongue and demonstrating a cyclone. “It’s like, I’m sorry. Am I supposed to need a bib when I kiss you?”

She winced, and I couldn’t help but breathe out a little laugh. Thank goodness I hadn’t had the same misfortune. I’d probably be tempted to bite anything stuck in my mouth that wasn’t pleasant to be there.

She drifted across the hall, peering through the crack in the door there.

“But Will?” she whispered, the light from inside the room making her eyes sparkle. “He’s really good. He knows how to use just the right amount that you can feel it like his tongue is right between your legs instead. He touches every nerve.”

I followed her, spying Will inside the room with a girl pinned to the wall. His mouth covered hers, her lids fluttering as his hand trailed all over the dark skin of her thigh before lifting it up and pressing himself deeper between her legs, their clothes the only thing between them now.

I caught her little moan.

“Gentle at first,” Alex goes on, watching him as though she’s narrating. “He savors and teases, and then goes in stronger and harder, and you’ve never been fucked so good and his dick’s not even inside you yet.”

I could see his tongue moving in her mouth, not too deep, but then he licked her upper lip before quickly snatching up her bottom one between his teeth. Then he dove back in, capturing her lips again.

My teeth tingled, and I clenched them, closing my eyes for a moment.

“He does the work, you know?” Alex said, and I could hear her breathlessness. “No part of a woman’s body should be left un-kissed. Will truly makes the most of what he’s good at.”

The beat of the music downstairs vibrated up through my legs, but I couldn’t hear it. All I could hear was her. The girl in the room, her gasps and moans, and not really wondering what he was doing, because I could already see it in my head.

Part of me knew everything my brain told me was true. Men would hurt me, use me, and throw me away, blah, blah, blah.

But no matter what my head said, I still couldn’t help the longing that always seeped in, more and more lately.

I wanted to grow up.

“I’d really like to do that to you right now,” a voice said in my ear, and I popped my eyes open, noticing Alex had come to stand at my back. “I’d like to strip you down and bury my tongue between your legs.”

My eyes rounded, and I dropped the towels. Shit!

“Alex.” A deep voice suddenly pierced the silence, and I froze.

Alex stopped, too, and I felt her shift behind me.

“Not that one,” Kai told her.

“You took the threesome I wanted with Michael and Rika, and now her?” she retorted. “I’m beginning to think you’re my competition, Kai.”

Threesome. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I’d known about it, but I didn’t need reminders of it.

There was a silence, and then I finally saw Alex leave out of the corner of my eye, walking back down the hallway. I clenched my thighs, feeling the wetness between my legs as I turned around.

Kai leaned against the opposite wall, staring at me with his arms crossed over his chest. But there was nothing cold in his eyes. They had me rooted.

The sounds from the room where Will and the girl were started to get louder, and an unbidden image of Kai on top of me six years ago popped in my head.

My breathing shook as my stomach flipped, and I felt dizzy. “I’m…I’m going to be sick.”

“You’re not sick.” He remained on the wall, looking me up and down. “You’re turned on.”

Heat rose to my cheeks, and I shook my head, trying to control my breathing.

“Spread your thighs,” I heard Will order through the cracked door. “Open ’em up for me, baby.”

Amusement touched Kai’s eyes as we both stayed rooted, our gazes locked.

“Yeah,” the girl panted. “Hurry. I’m about to come.”

“Oh, that’s so hot,” Will told her, adding, “Keep rubbing that pussy. Make it nice and wet.”

My chest caved, and I immediately pictured her on the bed in there and what she was doing for him.

“Mm- hmm,” she moaned, begging, “Come on, let’s do it.”

“Turn over.”

A cool sweat broke out all over my body, and I stared at Kai, letting my eyes fall down his body. Even under his clothes, I could tell how beautiful he was. I closed my eyes for a split second, trying to push away the need building between my legs. I wanted to be touched. I wanted these clothes off. I wanted his full attention on a bed somewhere. I didn’t care where. He felt so good, and I remembered. Everything was still so clear.

The headboard in the room started hitting the wall and grunts and small cries drifted into the hallway.

I trailed my eyes down Kai’s narrow waist and long legs, wishing for a moment that it was me in that room.

Entertaining for a moment that I would ever let it happen.

“Keep looking at me like that,” Kai spoke up, “and we’re going to have problems.”

I turned my eyes away. I needed to get out of here.

“Can I leave now?” I shot out.

But he didn’t answer. Instead, he moved, dropping his arms and walking straight for me.

“You know what I’ve thought about so many times over the years? More times than I care to admit?” he asked, planting a hand on the wall behind my head. “You and me in that tower, my hands on you, just feeling you. Remember that?”

I said nothing, and he leaned in. “I liked having control of you,” he continued, his words coming out softly. Thoughtful. “It was different than it was with other girls. Control is an illusion. It usually only lasts a few minutes.” He raised his eyes, meeting mine. “But with you, I felt like I’d have control of you for good. It felt like I could hold everything you are in the palm of my hand. You had to do and say so little to make me want you.”

I inched back, hitting the wall. What did he want from me? Did he get off on slumming or something? Not that I thought I was disgusting or ugly, but Jesus. I purposely dressed in clothes too big in order to deter attention, and Kai acted like he didn’t even see the clothes, the tangled hair, and the dirty fingernails.

He acted like he did six years ago. Like I was just a girl.

But not average, either. I was special. Wanted. Desired.

He leaned into my ear, sending a flutter through my stomach as he whispered, “Take off your jacket and open your shirt for me.”

The urge to push him away hit me, but I remained still, because I really wanted to do what he asked me. I wanted his hands again.

I just shook my head instead.

He reached up, pulling the hat off my head, and my hair came free, spilling out around me. He took a tendril of my hair, curling it around his fingers. The small sensation made my eyelids flutter.

But then he shot up, grabbing a fistful of my hair at the back of my head, and I gasped, wincing at the pain.

“Fair’s fair,” he growled low, forcing me to hold his eyes. “You watched me. You followed me. Counted how many times a day I showered. Did you watch that, too? Huh?”

I clenched my teeth, the heat of his breath hitting my lips.

“Did you watch me fuck?” His eyes fell to my mouth. “Open your shirt for me, little one. Let’s see if I like what I’m getting for my trouble.”

His lips hovered over mine, and the longing in my body raged.

“No,” I whispered and planted my hands on his chest. “You take off your shirt.”

He paused, staring at me curiously as he held my head an inch from his. My skin was burning, and my clothes chafed. It was almost painful. I wanted them off. I wanted to feel him against my body.

Reaching up, I touched his face, running my hand across his jaw and down behind his neck. Warm and smooth, but I wanted more.

He watched me warily, his eyes briefly dropping to my mouth again as his own lips parted. But he didn’t stop me. His hold relaxed.

I dragged my fingers down to his shirt and held his eyes as I started undoing the buttons, but my fingers were shaking so badly I grabbed the shirt in both hands and ripped it open, the buttons flying in both directions.

He let out a heavy breath, sounding almost like a growl as he tightened his hold and lowered his forehead to mine.

But I pushed him away, sending him stumbling back. “Don’t touch me.” And I advanced on him, pushing him again until he slammed back into the opposite wall.

A mix of shock and anger crossed his face, but I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I rushed up to him, taking his wrists in both of my hands and planting them against the wall at his sides as I shot up to my tip toes and buried my face in his neck.

And I ran my lips over his skin.

Slowly up and then down, over the bump of the vein in his neck and down the hot curve toward his collarbone.

He shuddered.

God, he was so smooth and warm, and a tingle hit my lips, spreading across my face and down my whole body. I opened my mouth, dragging my lips everywhere. Dipping under his chin to the other side, I explored him with my mouth, so tempted to kiss him. Just once. To sink my lips into his skin and taste what smelled so good. I ran my nose under his ear, inhaling his scent and then breathing out my warm breath. He melted into the wall, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, inviting me in further.

He started to push against my grasp, wanting his hands free, but I squeezed as hard as I could, sending him a warning.

Coming back to stand flat on my feet, I released his wrists. “Keep them there.”

Pulling his shirt and jacket open wide, I moved my hands and mouth to his chest. My fingers scaled down his skin, humming at the feel of the ridges and dips and my mouth followed the path set by my hands. I circled his nipple with my middle finger and then followed it with my lips, my thighs clenching at the skin there and the hard nub.

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want this to end. I wanted him to wrap his arms around me, locking me into his heat and intoxicating scent.

But if I let him, that would be my first mistake.

I raised my head, watching him watch me as his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.

“I’m not your little one.” I dropped my hands, backing up. “But you’re right about control. It’s an illusion. Look at yourself. You never had it.”

I let a smirk slip and dipped down to pick up my hat.

But the next thing I knew, Kai grabbed me and pulled me back into him. “And neither did you,” he whispered in my ear. “You only have as much control as I allow you to have.”

“Oh, yeah, you win. Brawn over brains every time, right? But you forget one thing.” I turned my head, speaking to him. “I can say no whenever I want, and it ends. Unless you want to go to prison again.”

He stilled, not saying anything.

He knew I was right. Of course, he could say no, too, but it wasn’t likely.

His breath fell on my hair, and he released my arms, lowering his head next to mine.

“You’re right,” he said quietly. “You can say no anytime.” And he began running his lips across my neck just like I’d done to him. “Anytime you want.”

My eyelids fluttered, and his hand took the side of my face, turning my head toward him. Our noses nudged, our lips a hair away from each other, so close I could taste him, and we weren’t kissing.

I was throbbing between my legs, and I thought about that piece of crap house and that lone bed in the room upstairs, and how there was nowhere else I wanted to be right now.

Who was really in control of whom? We were both fucked.

His hand grazed over my stomach, going lower, and I grabbed hold of it just as he took hold of me between my thighs. I whimpered. “Oh, God.” I meant to pull him away, but it felt so good.

Fuck. I couldn’t get air, and I gasped. These goddamn bindings.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Stop,” I cried, shoving his hands away. “Stop, stop, stop. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

I sucked in air, resting my palm on the wall to support myself. Jesus. What the hell? My ribs and lungs ached, and I winced, desperate to get this shit off.

I needed to get out of here.

“Hey, Kai,” I heard a woman say.

I turned my head to see two girls walking down the hallway, neither of whom I recognized. Not that I should know them.

They glanced at me, their eyes dropping down my body and taking in my appearance. They turned their eyes away again, but I didn’t miss the look they shot each other as they passed me, barely waiting to make it into the bathroom before breaking out in quiet laughs.

I looked down at the floor. “Can I get the hell out of here now?”

Kai stared at me, his jacket and shirt partially open, revealing the olive skin of his chest. “Don’t worry about them. They’re just drunk.”

I pulled my hat on, not bothering to stuff my hair back up into it. I couldn’t muster the patience. “Like you give a shit,” I spat out. “You wanted me to be uncomfortable. That’s why you had me come here, around these people, so you could remind me of my place.”

“I didn’t—”

“I don’t care about your bullshit.” I glared at him, familiar anger heating my blood now. “You think I’m not used to the way people like that look at me? Men thinking if they prettied me up they’d be doing me some kind of favor, and women laughing behind their hands. It’s been that way my whole life. I don’t give a shit what they see when they look at me. Your world is empty, and it can teach me nothing.”

I’d let myself down. I’d gotten carried away with him. Again. But thankfully, it hadn’t gone too far. Blame it on stress or the attraction toward him I always felt, but I’d stopped it. I could at least feel good about that.

I tilted my chin up. “I have Damon. He’s all I want.”

Kai’s eyes thinned on me, and I could hear his slow but hard breathing from here. Yeah, think what you want, but it was true. My brother was the only man who wanted me strong. The only man who would never hurt me.

I turned on my heel and walked back down the hallway, toward the stairs.

Rounding the bannister, I quickly descended the steps, seeing Kai following me out of the corner of my eye. He trailed slowly, though, so I knew he wasn’t trying to catch me.

In two minutes I’d be outside and away from here. Just go.

But reaching the bottom, I looked up, seeing a scuffle starting in the middle of the living room. What the—?

Lev stood with his hands locked behind his head, grinning at David and Michael standing toe to toe. Ilia stood back with his arms crossed over his black suit coat, while Rika, Will, and several bystanders stood near, watching what was boiling.

“What’s happening?” Kai called behind me, brushing past me.

The desk clerk from downstairs, still in his three-piece suit, turned and spoke up. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, looking rattled. “Mr. Crist said anyone could come up, but they looked out of the ordinary, and when I called to check in, they just took the elevator. I’m sorry.”

He looked between Michael and Kai, his eyes worried. I wasn’t sure why he was apologizing to Kai. It wasn’t his apartment.

“It’s fine,” Michael assured him and then looked to my guys. “Who are you?”

“They work for Gabriel,” I called out, pushing through the people. “David, what are you guys doing here?

I saw them in Thunder Bay a couple hours ago when I was picking up the contract, but they were supposed to be in for the night. I wasn’t expecting them in the city this late.

David turned his head, looking down at me. “Do you want to go home?”

“I was just leaving.”

But Kai stepped in, glancing at me. “Sit,” he told me.

I steeled my jaw, glaring up at him. What?

Hell, no. Screw him and this power trip. I’d had enough for one night.

“You’re not prepared to start something with these guys,” I said, getting cocky.

Real easy to do when I had back-up. Yeah, I was a little shit.

But Kai spoke to David instead. “Gabriel agreed to this. She works for me now. Leave.”

“Gabriel didn’t send us.” He stepped forward, approaching Kai. “And we leave on her command. Not yours.”

Kai turned to me, bowing his head to stare me down. “Go with him. I dare you.”

My heart skipped a beat. How much he reminded me of Damon now.

But the contract still wasn’t signed. Once it was, I could bolt, and it would be up to him if he wanted to chase me down. If I broke the agreement now, though, Gabriel would blame me.

Kai lowered his voice, everyone around us hushed, but the music and partygoers in the rest of the place still went hard. “Who do you belong to?”

“Kai,” someone scolded.

“Quiet, Rika,” he bit out, still looking at me. “Who do you belong to?”

I could feel eyes on me coming from everywhere, and I wanted to take out my pocket knife and sink it into his fucking gut. Goddamn him. Years and years of climbing over shit bags like him to just get a peek over the fence, and here he was, grabbing my ankles and yanking me back down into the pit. Everyone was going to know. Everyone was going to see me powerless here.

I held his eyes, my own burning with hatred. I clenched my teeth so hard they started aching.

Taking a step, I moved to his side and turned around, facing David, Lev, and Ilia.

“To you,” I said barely above a whisper.

And I’m going to kill you for this. A lump lodged in my throat, and I felt nauseous.

“Now…” Kai said, sitting down in the black cushioned chair behind him. “You can take her home.”

I didn’t wait for the guys to do anything. I shot off, pushing through all the people, the guys turning and following me as I passed. I felt a hand rest lightly on my back.

“She knows how to walk,” Kai barked behind us. “Don’t touch her.”

The hand, probably David’s, immediately left me.

Swinging around the corner, we all charged into the elevator, and Ilia pushed the button. Once the doors closed, I was fucking done. I threw my fist into the wall over and over again, swinging my leg back and kicking it, growling at the top of my lungs. “Fuck!”

I swung around, throwing my elbow back, everything in my right arm, from my knuckles to my shoulder, screaming with pain. I slammed the wall again and again, punching and kicking. “Ugh!” I threw another punch.

Thankfully, the guys knew to shut up and stay on their side of the elevator.

I paced back and forth, breathing hard. He’d humiliated me in there. I slammed the wall with my palm again, pain shooting up my arm. Humiliated me…

“What do you want us to do?” David asked.

But I didn’t look at them. Or answer.

I knew what needed to happen. I needed Kai to sign that damn contract. Once he did that, he was all I had to contend with. My brother would be allowed to return and be safe, and father would be out of the picture, having gotten what he wanted. I could do things my way, then.

But I suspected Kai never had any intention of signing it. That was the problem. He was going to drag this out and drag me with him.

I should never have let him touch me.

“Guys just wanna fuck,” I remembered my bother telling me once. “We’ll fuck anything we can get our hands on. No one’s going to love you. Not really. He’ll just lead you on, get what he can take, and eventually, he’ll move on to someone newer and hotter. Promise you’ll never let anyone use you like that. Don’t be a slut. Be strong.”

My brother taught me that men would only use me and hurt me, and from what I’d seen so far in this life, he was damn right.

Kai could get horny just like anyone else, but lust could never overshadow how cruel I knew he could be. How cruel he was to Erika last year and how cruel he’d just proven himself to be.

He was in complete control of me. He knew it, and he’d just proved it.

I needed to stop responding to him. Whether it was lust or anger or fear, I needed to shut down. I needed to bore him.

If I didn’t, we’d both let loose.

And then…it would be war.