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.”