Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

I stepped up to the small desk. “I need to see Kai Mori, please.”

The young man, black hair and in a simple suit with a thin tie, nodded as if expecting me.

“He’ll still be in the lounge.” He walked around his station toward the next set of double doors. “Just take a right as you enter the dining room.”

Hmm. Women weren’t typically allowed in the club. I was surprised he was letting me in so easily. I guess Kai took care of that.

He cast open the doors, stepping aside so I could enter, and I immediately veered to the left, briefly noticing all of the staff in the dining room setting the tables for lunch.

Entering the lounge, I looked around for a moment, taking in the den-like feel of the large room. Brown leather couches gleamed in the lamp light, while forest green drapes dressed floor-to-ceiling windows around the room. Gold sconces, deer, elk, and even a lion head were hung high above, and plaid throw pillows were tossed on chairs and sofas. A bar lay at the back, shelves of books lined the walls, and a tapestry depicting some kind of war hung over the fireplace.

Christ. This room was decorated with the theme “If the Nazis had won…”

I scanned the room, quickly spotting Kai over by the windows. His coat was off, his sleeves were rolled up, and my mouth suddenly went dry at the sight of him. It almost hurt to look as he sat there, hunched over a table of papers.

Those hands were all about me last night. And that beautiful, stern expression that looked almost angry and kind of made me want to smile was lost in pleasure the last time I saw it.

So controlled and so cold, but he could be so rough, too.

Michael and Will sat on either side of him, one on his phone and the other slouched in his chair with his rocks glass pressed to his forehead and his eyes closed. I made my way over, ignoring glances from the dozen or so other gentlemen in the room.

Kai glanced up as I approached. “You’re late.”

His tone was curt, but his mouth wasn’t, curled at the corners as if he was just thinking about why I barely got any sleep last night.

“I had to go to Thunder Bay this morning,” I told him.

“Why?”

“Gabriel wants to know why you haven’t signed the contract.”

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me again. Michael turned away from his phone.

“What did you tell him?” Kai asked.

I tossed the envelope with a fresh contract inside on the table in front of him. Some of his papers fluttered about in protest. “That you’re delaying,” I said. “The same thing I’ve been telling him.”

“What—”

But he stopped whatever he was going to say, picking up his phone that was buzzing.

Annoyance on his face, he answered. “Yeah.”

He listened while someone on the other end talked, his eyebrows digging in farther.

“A&J Plumbing?” he said, sounding confused. “I didn’t call any—”

I leaned over the table and held out my hand.

He stopped, looking at me. I grabbed the phone.

“I left the keys for him in an envelope under the desk,” I told the kid at the dojo whom I knew was on the other end, “and I turned off the alarm system at the house for him. Tell him to start upstairs in the bathrooms. I need a full estimate as soon as possible.”

“Uh, yes, ma’am,” he stuttered, and I hung up.

I’d made the call to arrange for plumbers, electricians, and contractors on my way back from Thunder Bay. I figured I’d be at the dojo, though, so I thought I was meeting him there.

I handed Kai’s phone back to him.