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.