Unable to hide my amusement, I slowly stepped in the room, moving toward her. Damon and I had both inherited our father’s methodical nature, but Damon also had some patience. I didn’t.
“Have you ever actually been in a fight?” I asked, gesturing to the dummy.
“Yes. Why?” She straightened her back, making herself a little taller.
I walked around the wooden Wing Chun, appraising her. “You spend a lot of time on your stance and your form,” I told her. “Most people who fight are fighting to survive. There are no rules. No fair play. No time to maintain proper striking distance. All your plans will go out the window.”
“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “I know how to pull hair, scratch, and kick if I need to.”
“And bite,” I added, watching her turn back to her dummy. “When Damon ties you up again, show him what a scrapper you are. It’ll amuse him.”
She whipped around, fury in her eyes.
And I couldn’t stop the smile that peeked out. Yeah, I know all about Pithom, Michael’s family’s yacht, last year and how he scared her. Not that I approved at the time, but God, I hoped he was going to do everything he could to make trouble for her now.
I dropped my voice. “I know you kept the guys from going after him last year. I know you insist on staying at the penthouse alone, without protection, when Michael’s out of town.” I inched forward, not blinking once. “I also know you like a man’s hands on you, and they don’t necessarily have to be your fiancé’s, do they? So, when Damon comes for you, be sure to put up a good, little fight for measure, okay? That way Michael believes your lies when you tell him you didn’t want every inch of it.”
Her face twisted in fury, and she growled, swinging back her fist and knocking me across the jaw. I stumbled a step to the side, losing my breath and closing my eyes on reflex.
But the heat of adrenaline flooded my chest. Yes.
I quickly righted myself again, forcing myself to face her. The ache sank deep into the bone, and my skin burned. Touching the corner of my lip, I pulled my hand back, seeing blood on my fingertips.
“Thank you,” I told her.
Using everything I had, I twisted and whipped the back of my hand across her face, sending her flying to the floor. She caught herself, landing on her hands and knees, and I could hear her sucking in air, the wind having been knocked out of her. She pounded her fists onto the floor once, growling in anger, and before I knew it, she twisted around, lunged for me, and shoved her hands into my chest, both of us tumbling back onto the mats.
“What the fuck is your problem?” she bellowed, crashing down on top of me.
But I swung us around, sending her to the ground with me straddling her instead. Grabbing the blonde hair on the top of her head, I leaned in. “Just keeping your world in perspective, Erika Fane! Not everyone bows at your feet!”
I pounded my fist down into her face, but she shoved at me, making me lose my hold. I gripped her neck instead and slammed her twice more.
She snarled, knocking my hat off my head and yanking my hair, forcing my head down and my scalp to scream. I winced in pain.
Dammit!
I should’ve cut off my hair. Years ago. It was just the only part of me that was still Nik and not Banks, and I’d hung onto it for some reason.
I lost my hold on her, giving her just enough time to push me off. She released me, sitting up and throwing out her leg, kicking me in the stomach.
And I couldn’t breathe. My throat closed, and I struggled to inhale. I coughed, hunching over. Did my stomach go through my goddamn spine?
“Are you done?” she shouted, and I noticed she had a trickle of blood coming out of her nose.
A momentary pang of satisfaction hit me through the pain. She’d made me bleed, after all. It was only fair.
“Not just yet.” I launched for her, grabbing her neck again and curling my fingers so hard, my nails dug into her skin.
She gasped, her eyes going wide as she grabbed for my wrist. I knew I’d broken the skin.
Hands grabbed me from behind and pulled me away, off her.
“What the hell?” I heard Kai growl. I whipped my head around, briefly turning my glare on him.
He was still in his workout pants from before, but now sweat matted the ends of his hair and his chest glistened.
“No, screw that!” Rika shoved at Kai, seething. “Let’s finish this!”
I laughed under my breath, seeing the four crimson half-moons tattooed into her skin over her jugular where a small scar she already had sat. I gazed down at my nails, seeing blood mixed with the dirt.
I lurched for her again, but Kai caught me, yanking me back.
“Enough!” He came between us, yelling. “Everyone is watching you two. What the hell is going on?”
Bystanders lingered outside the room, peeking in at the commotion. Turning back to Rika, I sucked at the cut in my cheek and spit the blood at her feet.
She launched for me again.
“Dammit!” Kai gripped me by the collar, pushing me back. He pointed his finger in my face, his teeth bared as he fixed me with a warning look.
Turning back to Rika, he tilted her head up, checking her bloody nose. “Are you okay?”
Is she okay? Your little princess threw the first punch, asshole.
“I’m fine.” She jerked her head out of his hands, challenging me. “I can take anything you got!”
“I’m sure! In both ends, I hear!”
She came for me again, but Kai pushed her back, turning to me. “What the fuck is the matter with you?”
“I don’t like her, and I don’t work for her, so I’ll do whatever I fucking want!” I gritted out.
“You’ll do what I want,” he whisper-yelled, getting in my face. “End of story.”
Looking around me, he spoke to the audience gathered. “Carry on, everyone. It’s over.” And to Rika, “Leave us alone, please.”
She didn’t move for a moment, still glaring at me and red from the exertion, and her ponytail hung on by a thread. But she finally walked past us, leaving the room.
I heard the voices slowly fade as everyone went about their business and left.
“What do you have against Rika?” Kai questioned. “You haven’t spoken to her once or barely spared her a glance. What is it?”
Taking my cuff, I wiped the blood off my mouth, not answering him.
“Are you jealous?”
I cast him a ‘fuck you’ look and went back to staring at the mirror behind him.
I could feel his eyes on me, eating away the small distance between us and wrapping around my body like a cage.
“What did you mean about ‘in both ends’?”
“You know what I meant.”
Their little threesome in the steam room. Kai took the front. Michael got the back. How many times had it happened after that?
“You heard about Rika and me?” His voice was low. “About the steam room?”
Who hadn’t heard? They were seen, it was all over the club, and it was no secret how he felt about her. It was there every time he looked at her.
“I—”
“No.” I cut him off. “I’ve had my fill of your stories, and I couldn’t care less—”
“Shh, shh, shh…” He pressed his finger to my lips, shaking his head at me. “Let’s not do this here, okay? We need to talk about it but somewhere we can really talk.”
And his gaze turned dark, telling me there was another meaning to his words.
Really talk? Where?
Dropping his hand, he walked around me, leaving the room.
“What do you mean?” I barked after him.
“You’ll find out,” he threw over his shoulder and then disappeared.
Banks
Present
An hour later, and I’m still on edge. I was tired before the fight at the dojo, but now I was wired, awake, and pissed at myself. My cards were on the table now.
She knew I hated her, so th
ere was no getting close to her if I needed to, and Kai was probably relishing my disgusting display of jealousy. What had Damon told me, time and again? It’s always best to say as little as possible. The more of a mystery you are, the less leverage they have.
And I went and fucked it all up.
I walked down the quiet street, entering Halston Park, the shopping district of Meridian City. It was just after nine, and I looked up at the sky, finally able to see a few stars. The lights everywhere else in this town were too bright to see many anymore.
What did Alex want? She’d texted, saying that Kai wanted me to meet her at McGivern and Bourne. I’d never been there, but I knew it was an upscale department store.
Rounding a corner, I swept some hair out of my eye and tucked it back under my hat as I approached the building’s glass doors.
I raised my hand to knock but stopped, seeing that it was dark inside. There were a few emergency lights shining way in the back, lighting hallways, but this store was closed. Why did she tell me to come here?
Screw it. I dropped my hand and turned to leave.
“Oh, don’t you dare!” a woman’s voice shouted.
I spun around, seeing Alex coming out of the doors. She wore a billowing, sexy white blouse that hung off her shoulder with black leggings and brown leather boots up to her knees. It occurred to me I’d almost only ever seen her in workout clothes. Aside from Michael’s party.
She skipped over and grabbed my hand, pulling me along.
I dug my heels in. “What is this? Isn’t this place closed?”
“Not for us,” she sing-songed. “Come on.”
She swung the door back open, forcing me inside.
“What’s going on?” I whined.
“Kai’s orders,” Alex answered. “Shut up and follow me.”
A security guard in a dark gray uniform came over, locking the door behind us. “Have fun, ladies.”
“Thanks, Pip,” Alex chirped.
“Phillipe,” he corrected.
“Whatevs.”
I narrowed my eyes on her. “You know him?”
“Nah, we just met. He fell fast, though.”
I rolled my eyes. What was going on? Clearly, the store was closed. Except for us. Why?
My combat boots squeaked across the marble floors, and I glanced up again, momentarily forgetting to resist her as the air in my lungs expelled.
Whoa. At least five floors were stacked on top of us. We stood at the bottom of the atrium, and I turned my head around and back and forth, seeing how the flights above us circled the perimeter of the open space, all the way to the skylight at the top of the building. Every floor could look over the edge and see us down here.
A massive chandelier hung high, and everything sparkled white and gold as the scent of leather and perfumes wafted over me.
We passed display cases of jewelry, perfume counters, and purses, while pictures hung everywhere, displaying beautiful people on yachts and in luxury snow cabins brandishing their ten-thousand dollar watches or suede boots that you could easily pick up here and then you, too, would be magically transported to a yacht in the Mediterranean or a cabin in Aspen or a polo club in Scotland.
I used to dream that my mom and I would go shopping some place like this when I was little.
Someday, when we were rich and all the problems were gone, we’d have pretty things, I’d be popular, and my real life would have started.
It still seemed like part of me was dreaming of that. Always waiting. Biding my time.
“Have you ever been in here before?” Alex asked, leading me into an elevator.
“No.”
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” She pressed the button for the fourth floor and the elevator doors closed, immediately beginning to ascend. “Did you ever see that old movie from the 80s? Mannequin?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, shaking my head.
“Well, this window dresser works nights in a department store like this, and it always looked like so much fun to be him, you know? Having the whole place to yourself to try on clothes, explore, and play with everything.”
The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and she walked out, not waiting for me to follow her.
“Look, it’s after nine.” I trailed behind as she strolled through a maze of racks. “I still have a couple things to take care of tonight. What am I doing here?”
She delicately picked up a piece of silk something—lingerie?—and matching underwear. “Trying on clothes, exploring, and playing with everything,” she replied frankly, inspecting the garments.
She held the top up to me, and I reared back, seeing spaghetti straps, lace, buttons, and a shitload of missing fabric that should’ve been covering the stomach. Jesus. That wasn’t clothes. It was the scraps left over from the clothes.
She pursed her lips, appraising me. “Hmmm…dark brown hair. Olive skin. The slate gray, yes. That’ll do really nicely.”
“Do nicely for what?” I tensed. “I’m not wearing that.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She dropped her arms, sighing. “Would you please have a drink? Lots of drinks?”
I turned around to leave. This was the last thing I needed today.
But a body suddenly blocked my path, and I sucked in a breath, backing up again.
Will Grayson stared down at me, smiling.
“What are you doing here?” I burst out. He wasn’t staggering, and his eyes weren’t hooded as usual. “Sober for once?”
He laughed and walked around me, starting to sift through the panties on the table. He picked up a black G-string and threw it at Alex before turning back and looking for more he liked.
That better be for her.
“Look, I gotta go.” I spun back around and walked toward the elevators.
“Doors are locked,” he called.
“Don’t worry.” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “That won’t stop me.”
He tossed another garment to Alex, speaking to her. “Go pick out a few more things.”
She nodded and walked off, and he made his way to me. I stopped and turned.
“Look.” He sighed, gazing at me like I was a child. “You seem like you don’t have a lot of friends, and wow, that’s a real shocker, but Alex seems to like you, and I like her, so I try to be a friend.”
“That must cost you a pretty penny.”
He cocked an eyebrow, not appreciating my remark. “She arranged for the place to be open after closing hours, so you wouldn’t get skittish on account of all the...oh, what’s the word?” He tapped his chin, pretending to think. “People?”
Whatever.
Yeah, I don’t like people, but it’s a conscious choice, not a hang-up.
I could deal with them. If I wanted to. Which I didn’t.
“Kai wants you to buy clothes,” he continued. “They don’t have to be sexy or girly or even as stylish as those awesome hand-me-down guys’ jeans you’re wearing with the indents of Damon’s packs of cigarettes on the back pocket. But they have to be nice, they do have to fit, and they do have to be yours. I’m here to make sure you do that.”
“I would rather eat my hand than let Kai Mori pay for my shit,” I gritted out.
“He’s not paying. Graymor Cristane is.” He walked into me, forcing me to back up. “You’re an employee, and you represent us. We have an expense account for clothes. It’s not personal. It’s business. And you always look like shit, so here we are.” He threw out his arms, gesturing to the massive, dimly lit, empty department store we now stood in at nine-thirty at night.
That they’d completely arranged with my comfort in mind.
“Now, sit down,” he ordered, “I need to go get a bra to match your new underwear.”
A little more than an hour later, we were in Will’s car, driving through the city with the back chock full of bags. I couldn’t believe what had happened. Or how fast it happened. Alex was like a tornado, and she and Will talked too fast to let me think or argue. They starte
d picking out stuff I hated, and before I knew it, I was tossing out garments I didn’t like and keeping ones I thought I might be able to wear. And after a few more minutes, I participated and shopped and shit.
I sat there, still a little stunned.
I’d probably just get rid of most of it. Put it in the Goodwill donation box and make tomorrow someone’s Christmas morning, right?
Or hey, I’m sure my mom would love the stuff. Why not?
I didn’t like anyone paying for my things. It made me obligated.
But it was kind of fun indulging in the fantasy that this was all mine. That, for a few minutes, I had bags and bags of little treasures and pretty, new things that had never belonged to anyone else and any woman in town would envy me for.
I’d even enjoyed the feel of the slate gray lingerie when she shoved me in a dressing room to try it on. I thought about what Kai’s face would look like if he saw me.
“Well, thanks.” I glanced over at Alex in the seat next to me as Will drove. “And thanks for the ride home.”
She gave me a sincere smile. “You’re welcome. And you could’ve worn one of your new outfits, you know.” Her eyes fell down to the same dingy attire I’d worn into the store.
I shrugged. “I’m going to sleep soon. The day is over. No sense in taking a chance at getting something dirty.”
I turned my eyes on Will, watching him take a drag off his cigarette, while Alex started typing on her phone. They had a weird relationship. They were friends, who slept with each other, but they also slept with other people.
But who was I to talk? I didn’t have a single, healthy relationship in my life. At least they enjoyed each other.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I dug into my jacket, fishing it out.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, trouble.”
That smooth, deep tone poured like syrup into my ear. Only one person could make those two words sound like a threat.
My chest rose and fell faster and faster, and my heart raced.
God, I hadn’t heard his voice in so long, and I shot my eyes over to Alex and then to Will, making sure I hadn’t drawn attention to myself. Will watched the road, while Alex had turned her gaze out her window.