Not that I really cared. As long as that bitch was gone, I was happy.

Kai’s jaw flexed. “Devil’s Night, six years ago at The Pope,” he explained. “She was…hurting Damon. And she was trying to hurt Banks. I lost it, and I attacked her. She got hurt in the fall.”

That night came flooding back. The terror, the disgusting, vile words she spoke, Damon’s pain, and…Kai losing his temper, hitting her, and the blood. He’d protected us, and if she was dead, then good-fucking-riddance.

“You’re just telling us this now?” Rika blurted out. “After all this time?”

“I didn’t know I killed her. Not until last year on the yacht,” he said. “You, Michael, and Will were in the water, and Damon and I were fighting. He fucking taunted me with it. A little tidbit he’d saved just in case.” He sucked in a breath. “After I left the hotel that night, she didn’t survive. He got rid of the body to protect me. Now he’s using it to threaten me. That’s why I need to find him. I’m not risking going back to prison.”

“And if he’s lying?” Will argued. “How do you know he’s telling the truth?”

“Would you take that chance?” Kai bit out. “Because she hasn’t been seen since. Either he produces his very-much-alive mother or her body, so I can move on with my fucking life and not have this hanging over my head. And if I don’t get one or the other, I’m going to shut him up forever.”

“So, that’s why you’ve been so concerned with finding him?” Rika asked.

And then Will added, “You should’ve told us sooner, man. Like last year.”

But Kai ignored their protests, pushing me to Will. “Just take her,” he ordered, whipping off his jacket and wiping his nose with his thumb. Blood stained his fingertip. I didn’t see him get hit, but he must’ve. “Bring her to Darcy Street and then leave,” he told him. “I need to calm down before I deal with her.”

And he didn’t look at me as he climbed into his car and shifted into gear, taking off as fast as he could.

Rika and Will stood with me in the driveway, watching him speed off, and Will jostled me. “I guess you’re in for it now.”

Banks

Present

“Kai!” Rika growled into her phone. “Pick up!” And then she ended the call, sounding exasperated. “Dammit.”

That was the third time she’d called him since we left Thunder Bay. Will drove, and Rika sat in the passenger seat next to him, while I gripped the blades hidden in my pockets as I sat in the backseat.

Leverage. He’d said I was leverage. Was she really dead? He couldn’t know for sure, but I guess that’s what he was trying to figure out. Nothing like having a potential murder hanging over your head.

Would Damon really throw him to the wolves?

“We need to talk to him,” Rika told Will as he lit a cigarette.

But I watched him shake his head. “We need to leave him alone. Kai knows what he’s doing.”

“He didn’t plan that turn of events, asshole! It’s all about her.” She jerked her head toward me. “And he’s in it now. I need to get a hold of Michael.”

She checked her phone again, and I turned my eyes out the window, seeing the city lights shine on the black water of the river as we crossed the bridge.

I wasn’t bound to that contract. Indentured servitude wasn’t a thing anymore. I could run, and I would. I’d been useful, my father got what he wanted. I’d be welcomed back now.

And my brother certainly wouldn’t expect me to honor the agreement.

“You need to talk to him.”

I heard Rika’s words, but it wasn’t until I caught her watching me out of the corner of my eye that I realized she was speaking to me.

“Excuse me?”

“You need to talk to him,” she told me. “You backed him into this corner. Take some responsibility.”

I laughed under my breath, looking away again. Jesus. None of this was my fault, and I wasn’t taking the blame. Men and their idiocy, and I was sick of being collateral damage.

“You heard what he said,” I shot back. “I’m leverage. That’s all he wants with me.”

“Do you really believe that?” She eyed me. “He could’ve just taken you if that’s what he wanted. He signed that contract, because he was angry. With you,” she pointed out. “He’ll listen to you. I’ve known him a long time, and once he calms down—”

“I knew him long before you came along,” I snarled. “I don’t need you to educate me on who he is.”

She pressed her lips together, shutting up.

“And I’ve known him a hell of a lot longer than both of you,” Will shot off. “Kai’s acting out of character, but he works shit out better when he’s left quiet, okay? If he talks to anyone, it’ll be Michael.” And then he nodded to Rika. “Try him again.”

She sighed and picked up her phone, dialing her fiancé once more.

“And you,” Will called out.

I looked up, seeing him eye me in the rearview mirror.

“Shit’s gonna hit the fan regardless of that contract. You know that, right?”

Yes. Yes, I knew that. Even if Kai put away his anger and Natalya was alive and well, Damon was still coming.

And there was a very good chance he wouldn’t win.

Will blew out a stream of smoke, flicking the ash out the window as we turned onto Darcy Street. “If you ask Kai not to hurt Damon,” he told me, “then he won’t. All you have to do is ask.”

I clutched the door handle, ready to bolt as soon as the doors unlocked.

But I slowly relaxed my fingers, thinking about his words.

Maybe Will had a point. Kai could be intimidating and scary and just as mean as I could be at times, but he wasn’t cruel. He could be reasonable.

I dropped my hand from the door as the car slowed at the top of the incline.

“Here we are,” Will said, putting the car in Park.

I looked out the window again, seeing Kai’s black brick house with ripped shades hanging over the windows and the flickering porch light, looking like something out of one those movies “You go in but you don’t come out” types. What did he use this place for? He didn’t live here.

Where did he sleep? Where did he cook his meals and shower and screw women other than me?

“He’s waiting inside.”

I met Will’s eyes in the mirror again. “How do you know?”

“He just texted,” he informed me, holding up his phone. “Here’s your chance.”

We’d left him less than an hour ago. He wasn’t going to be calm yet.

“Just talk to him,” Rika said, turning to me. “Please.”

The last thing I wanted to do was anything for her. Tension crawled my skin, and I pushed open the door, suddenly wanting to be out of there more than away from here.

Fine. I’ll ask him. Not because they want me to, but because it might work. Damon could come home, I could keep him away from them, and they could all go on with their lives here in the city, while my brother and I continued with ours.

I slammed the door and immediately began walking up the steps to the house.

But my gaze flickered farther up the hill to the house perched on top, seeing a single light on the second floor. And I slowed.

It looked like a lightning bug hovering over a black lake at night. There was nothing up here. No other houses, businesses, and the light from the city couldn’t even pierce the thin forest surrounding the area. We were high and isolated, just that house and Kai’s. Did he know who lived there?

Chills spread down my arms. It was beautiful, kind of turn-of-the-century gothic with pointed gables and a black gate.

“Are you okay?” Will called, and I looked to see him leaning out the window.

I turned back around, shooting him a middle finger over my shoulder as I headed for the house again.

Once I was on the porch, I twisted the door knob, finding it unlocked.

There were no lights on inside, except for the moonlight streaming through unshaded windows. I entered the foyer and heard Will pull away right before I closed the door.