A few, including Michael and Will, cast me a glance, pausing a moment, but most didn’t pay me any mind.

I marched to Kai’s side, not looking back to see if Rika stayed or left.

“I could’ve brought this to your house later,” I said, annoyed as I shoved the envelope at his chest. “Or to the dojo in the morning.”

He had me working and running errands nonstop for the past two days, after all. It was late, and I needed sleep.

Ignoring my complaints, he took the envelope and opened it.

I turned to leave.

“Stay,” I heard him say.

I stopped, turning back.

Kai pulled out the papers Gabriel gave me, while my gaze flashed to Michael, who was watching me. I almost smiled. Tenderfoot was still probably pissed about yesterday at the hotel.

I watched Kai flip through the contract but then stop to pull out a pen from his inside breast pocket. That was to be expected. Gabriel knew he’d fight certain stipulations.

“Aren’t you going to introduce your friend, Kai?” a man on the other side of the table asked.

But Kai just cocked the pen, his eyes narrowing as he read.

And then I saw him shift in his seat and look up, eyeing me. “Is he kidding?” He points the tip of his pen to a bullet point on the contract, something about making sure Vanessa had children in a timely manner.

One of his eyebrows damn near touched his hairline as he looked at me like it was my fault.

I shrugged. “If you can’t get it done, we can give her to a better man. Just say the word.”

He just looked at me, not even the faintest scowl marring his statuesque face. He turned back to the document. Slicing his pen across the page, he crossed out the provision and moved to the next page, also X-ing out several others.

“So, it’s that easy in your world, huh?” he asked, keeping his voice just between us. “Just give one person to another person?”

“You should know,” I shot back.

I was given to him until the wedding, wasn’t I?

“This is Banks,” he spoke up again, louder, so everyone at the table could hear. “She works for Gabriel Torrance. How long have you worked for him now?” He glanced up at me, but didn’t wait for me to answer. “Kind of odd how such a young girl got taken into a millionaire scumbag’s mansion like that, don’t you think?” His pen moved swiftly across the pages, circling and jotting notes. “Does he know your family? Do they have connections to him?” A wisp of a smile softened his stern face as he looked over the rest of the contract. “It would be interesting to find out how that happened. What use a woman could be to a house full of men, I wonder.”

A few people around the table chuckled under their breaths at his insinuation.

“And how much does he pay you or…” He paused, drawing out his last words. “What did he pay for you?”

He looked up at me, flipping the pages back into place and slipping the document back into its envelope. He might’ve been thinking out loud, or he might’ve been hinting at finding out the answers himself. It wouldn’t be hard. A PI would only have to talk to my mother.

“Gotta be less than what I pay for a woman,” I heard Will toss out, followed by more quiet laughter from around the room. He shot me a look, letting his distaste scale up and down my appearance.

“Oh, please,” the woman in the corner interrupted. “Like I even charge you anymore. All you want to do is cuddle half the time anyway.”

One of the men at the table snorted, barely able to contain his laughter, while others didn’t bother trying to hide it.

Will turned to her with a scowl, whining, “Fuuuuuck.”

She smiled and winked at him.

That must be Alex. College student and over-priced escort from the sixteenth floor. Friends with Rika, and has Will Grayson as a regular customer.

Damon liked her energy. Didn’t like that she wouldn’t do everything he wanted, though.

“So many questions...” Kai held up the envelope, offering it to me. “Almost makes you wanna hire someone to find out the answers.”

I blinked slowly, trying to look bored, but my heart sped up just a hair. I’d expected this. Kai negotiated learning curves faster than most. I’d been researching him and his pals. He’d start doing the same with me, of course.

I’d have to pay my mother a visit.

Tomorrow.

“Have him agree to these changes, and I’ll sign it,” he said.

I grabbed hold of the envelope, but he didn’t release it. Instead, he pulled it down, bringing me with it.

“And by all means,” he whispered, his breath falling across my cheek. “Keep underestimating me.”

We both clutched the envelope, and I turned my eyes on him, momentarily frozen.

So close. I wanted to pull away but couldn’t. Something swelled in my chest, and his dark eyes turned black as he held me, locked.

You said you wanted to be hunted. God, why had I thought of that after all this time? I almost closed my eyes at the memory.

His smell, his mouth, his body pressing into mine…. He was as cold as ice all the time.

Until he wanted it. I knew just how greedy he could get then.

The pulse between my legs began throbbing, and I yanked the envelope out of his hands and stood up straight.

“Can I do anything else for you, Mr. Mori?”

He dropped his hand to the armrest and appeared to focus back on the card game. “Go restock towels for the guests in the pool.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I’m not here to wait on your friends.”

“You’re here for me and whatever I tell you to do.” He pinned me with a warning look. “Unless you want to go back to Thunder Bay and tell Gabriel you broke the contract.”

Yeah, you might just love that, huh? You’ve got the keys and codes to the hotel, haven’t signed the contract yet, and the blame would fall on me for breaking the deal.

Holding Kai’s glare, I stalked out of the room, hearing Michael’s voice behind me. “They’re in the hallway closet upstairs!”

I gritted my teeth, seething as chuckles drifted out of the room behind me. Fuckers.

Rounding the corner, I slipped in between people, and grabbed hold of the railing, climbing the stairs quickly. I wasn’t in any hurry to be of service, but I wanted out of here, and as soon as they got their damn towels, I was leaving with or without his permission.

The music downstairs faded, and I reached the top, a large open area full of TVs, couches, and a few people greeted me.

I continued down the hallway, in the dark, opening a few doors to find a couple bedrooms, a bathroom, and an office, before opening another and finally finding shelves of bedding and towels neatly stacked. I started plucking out as many towels as I could carry.

“Hi.”

I jumped, my breath catching in my throat. The young woman from the poker game earlier peeked around the open door, her hand on her hip.

“I’m Alex,” she told me.

“I know who you are.”

I grabbed one more towel and added it to the stack in my arm.

“I’ll take that as a good thing.”

Take it however you like.

“I can’t believe Rika tolerates your presence,” I said, closing the closet door. “How many of her guests are you making clients tonight?”

But to my surprise, she laughed. “Not working tonight, actually.”

A twinkle lit up her eyes, and I had to hand it to her. I’d been purposefully rude, but she rolled with it like a champ.

“And Rika likes having me everywhere,” she taunted, leaning in. “She thinks I’m a good kisser.”

Yeah, okay.

“Women are typically better kissers in my experience, anyway,” she continued, giving me a look up and down that suddenly made me hyper-aware. “I mean, men have no idea what to do with their tongues.” She laughed. “I charge them extra for the kissing.”

My mind drifted back to when I’d kissed Kai, and the nerves under my skin sparked to life. Kai definitely knew what to do with his tongue.

Alex went on, rolling her eyes. “It’s either, I’m an ice cream cone”—she closed her eyes and licked the air, grunting and making exaggerated movements with her tongue—“or it’s like tornado-fucking-alley with that thing.” And again, she closed her eyes, making circles in the air with her tongue and demonstrating a cyclone. “It’s like, I’m sorry. Am I supposed to need a bib when I kiss you?”