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 started 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.

“Hey, um…” I breathed hard, licking my parched lips as I kept my voice low. “I can’t really talk right now. Can I call you back?”

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked.

Tonight? How did…

God, Kai was right. Damon was watching me, too? Or he was having someone watch me. Did he know about last night?

“They will hurt you,” he told me. “And he will toss you out like trash, because that’s what sluts are. Trash.”

My chin trembled.

“If I was going to let my kid sister pass her pussy off to my friends,” he said, “I’d have at least given you to Will for first dibs. He was the most loyal.”

I stared at Will as he drove, completely oblivious to who I was talking to.

“I gotta go,” I told my brother.

“He’s going to die,” he spat out.

He. Kai?

“Not because he betrayed me, but because you did,” he explained. “This will be all your fault.”

My heart pounded so hard it hurt. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Damon would do it. He had nothing to lose.

And he was single-minded in his idea of what was right and what was wrong. Betrayal was unforgiveable.

I cleared my throat, keeping my words vague, since Alex and Will were sitting here. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m already doing that. It’s Wednesday night. He’s usually at the cathedral around this time, isn’t he?”

I closed my eyes. “Don’t,” I whispered.

But he’d already hung up.

“Hello?”

The other end of the line was dead.

Goddammit. Kai worked late on Wednesday nights. Then he showered and ate and drove to Thunder Bay to the Cathedral of Saint Raphael. Sometimes he went in the confessional, sometimes he strolled and looked at the art. Sometimes he was in there less than ten minutes, sometimes more than an hour.

He went every Wednesday, though. Every. Single. Wednesday.

He was supposed to be an expert in self-defense, right? Wasn’t “varying your routine” a preventative measure, goddammit?

I stuck the phone in my pocket. “Can you take me to St. Raphael’s?” I called out to Will.

“In Thunder Bay?” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Why?”

“I just need to get there.”

“What about your clothes?”

“I don’t give a shit about the clothes,” I bit out. “Just let me take your car then? Please!”

“Alright, alright.” He sighed and jerked the wheel left, turning and speeding down the narrow, cobbled street toward the highway. “I’ll take you.”

I pulled on my seatbelt. “Go fast.”

Kai

Present

“Kai?”

I turned around, following the voice.

The cathedral was all but empty, except for me and a couple janitors lurking somewhere, but the doors were still unlocked. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Keeping my arms folded over my chest, I walked down the Stations of the Cross to peer around the massive marble columns.

Banks stood at the back of the church, near one of the holy water fonts, slowly turning her head back and forth, looking for me.

How did she know I’d be here?

No, of course. She’d done her research, hadn’t she?

I let my eyes fall down her form. Wasn’t she just shopping? I saw all the charges come in on the card, but she still wore her same grungy clothes with the newsboy cap covering her hair as before. Although, some dark strands fell around her face.

It was funny. She seemed to do everything she could to distract from the fact that she was a woman, but she didn’t realize that the clothes she wore only amplified her face. Without her curves or smooth skin, you had no choice but to rest your eyes on the one part of her you could see.