I twisted my head, reaching for the sponge. “I can do it.”

But he pulled it away, saying gently, “I know you can.”

I didn’t like people doing things for me. It was uncomfortable being taken care of. I wasn’t used to it.

Dipping the sponge in again, he squeezed the water over my back, letting it cascade down my skin, and I closed my eyes, surrendering.

“Oh,” I breathed out.

My head fell to the side as he rubbed the hot sponge over my shoulder and up neck, and it felt like a blanket I never wanted to leave. We didn’t speak, and he didn’t order me about, simply tipping my head back and pouring water over my hair before he washed it, and I kept my eyes closed the entire time. His fingers on my scalp, the hot water over my head, and the smell of him and his body wash made me dizzy and high, and I never felt so good.

I almost felt happy.

After he rinsed my hair, he washed my body, slipping the sponge between my legs, and I grew more alert, opening my eyes.

“Use your hands,” I told him. “They feel better.”

I saw his lips turn up in a smile, and he put the sponge down, soaping up his hands.

Slipping them between my legs, he hovered close as he washed me.

I was about to close my eyes again, but I heard a phone beep.

He turned his head, trying to see the screen where it lay on the counter. Then he let out a sigh and pulled his hands away, drying them off.

“What is it?” I sat up, hugging my knees again.

He stared at the phone, swiping the screen and reading. He frowned and tucked the cell into his pocket, standing up.

“Michael,” he told me, leaning down and kissing my forehead. “He’s at the gate. I need to go deal with him. I have clothes in the bedroom, so find whatever you want to sleep in, and I’ll grab some food on my way back up, okay?”

I nodded, reluctantly letting him go. He walked out, and I watched him until he disappeared down the hallway.

So, obviously his friends knew where he lived then.

Although, I wondered if they’d ever been up here. In my research there was never any indication Kai had this hideaway. I never saw him or his friends come to this house.

It was beautiful, though. And of course, I was right all along. There was no way he lived in that hovel.

I finished washing and pulled the plug on the water, rising to my feet. Picking up a towel off the nearby rack, I dried myself, wiping away all the suds and wrapped the soft, thick fabric around my body.

After I brushed out my hair—and got nosy, smelling his cologne—I went into the bedroom and pulled one of his T-shirts out of a drawer. I’d always worn my brother’s stuff, because that’s what he gave me to wear, but I smiled, putting on Kai’s shirt. I wanted to feel his clothes on me and his smell around me.

Glancing at the empty doorway, I quickly slipped it on and then took the towel back into the bathroom, tossed it in the hamper, and folded my clothes laying on the counter.

“No!” I heard a shout and stopped, turning my head.

“How could you take her anywhere near that piece of shit?” another voice bellowed.

Michael. I was surprised I could hear him all the way up here.

I dropped the clothes and crept lightly back through the bedroom and back down the hall, coming to the top of the stairs. Looking over, I saw that the foyer was empty, but I was just in a shirt. I wasn’t going down there if people were here. I walked to the top step and stopped, hearing shuffling coming from the study.

“I don’t need to clear anything through you. She makes her choices!” Kai growled back.

She? Meaning me?

“Rika is mine!” Michael’s voice lowered, but the fury was just as strong. “My partner, if you have any concept of what the hell that even means. We make decisions together!”

“You know, I’m right here!” I heard Rika yell. “Talk to me!”

Oh, they were talking about Rika.

And I guess Michael found out about the dinner tonight. Kai wasn’t supposed to let Rika go to Gabriel’s, I guess?

I spotted Will hanging back near the wall, his arms crossed as he just watched.

Kai continued, “You were the one who said she was one of us. She can carry her weight. She’s an equal, so—”

“She’s not equal!” Michael shouted.

And everyone fell silent.

Dammit, I wished I could see their faces.

“She will never be equal!” he went on. “She will always mean more than you.”

My heart pumped wildly, and I could only picture Kai’s face as those words hung in the air. Was he hurt Michael would say that?

But if it were me, wouldn’t I expect to mean more to the man I was going to marry than his friends?

Judging from the silence coming from the room, everyone was realizing the dynamics of their little crew were getting a very clear dose of reality.

“I love you guys,” Michael said, “but are you fucking dense? You’re my friends. She is everything. Maybe someday you’ll know what the fuck I’m talking about.”

And the next thing I knew, he stalked out into the foyer, toward the door, holding Rika’s hand as she cast a mournful look back at the guys. I reared back, out of sight.

I could tell she was sorry they got yelled at, but what do you do? Michael had been scared for her.

And he certainly wasn’t the only man who didn’t want his woman around my father.

They left, and Kai and Will filtered into the foyer, looking the worse for wear.

“What does this mean?” Will asked him, looking at his friend.

But Kai just stared at the door Michael had left through. “It means we need new horsemen.”

Banks

Present

“Hello, hello?” a cheery voice pierced my sleep.

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, finally noticing the light shining through my lids. What the hell? I was deadweight.

I yawned, rolling over and stretching my arms into the air as I registered a door closing and the rustling of bags.

“Did I wake you?”

“Duh,” I grumbled, recognizing Alex’s voice.

Seriously, what was it with this chick? Every time I turned around she was breaching my safe space. I wish she didn’t like me so much.

I blinked my eyes open, yawning again. “What time is it?”

Not waiting for an answer, I turned left and right, searching the bedside tables in Kai’s room for a clock. I must’ve fallen asleep before he even got upstairs last night. He and Will had to talk, so I laid down, in his shirt, to wait.

“There’s no clocks in here,” I thought out loud, sitting up.

“Yeah.” She sauntered over and plopped down on the bed next to me, on the mussed side where Kai must’ve slept.

I frowned, kind of disappointed we slept in the same bed for the first time, and I was passed out.

“This house is another dimension where time doesn’t exist, apparently.” She did spirit fingers at me, oohing like a ghost.

Holding her phone up, she checked the screen. “It’s two-thirty.”

“In the afternoon?”

She nodded, fitting an arm under her head. “You must’ve been tired.”

“And Kai just left me here?” I threw off the covers.

“Of course not. He worked from home today” she explained, “so he’s been here the whole time, but now he’s busy with the caterers, and I just got here, so he asked me to wake you.”

I looked at her. “Caterers?”

“For the party?” she pointed out, jogging my memory. “The pajama party Will wanted to have for Devil’s Night?”

Oh, yeah. I vaguely heard about that. I didn’t realize Kai was hosting, though.

I stood up, smelling coffee and bread. I noticed a tray sitting near the door. “But Devil’s Night isn’t for a couple more days,” I told her.

“Yes, but they’re men now. No parties on work nights.”

She smiled sweetly, and I looked around for my clothes. Oh, right. I left them in the bathroom.

“I have so much to do.” I dived into the en suite, but my clothes weren’t on the counter where I folded and left them. They weren’t anywhere. Shit!