“You okay, Rika?” Kai asked.
I heaved breath after breath, my body swaying as my head swam.
I bit him. I suddenly wanted to laugh. My hands tingled, and I straightened, feeling a little stronger.
“I wish I could say he was all bark and no bite, but…” Kai trailed off, letting the thought sit.
Yeah. We both knew that wasn’t true.
I inhaled, his heady body wash with only a hint of sweat hitting me. “I’m fine,” I answered. “Thanks.”
I pulled away and turned to my right, fed up with standing here like a target.
“Where are you going?”
“To the catacombs,” I replied.
“You can’t.”
I pursed my lips, twisting my head to face him. “I’m not a kid. You got that?”
“Yeah, I got it.” His deep voice held a hint of humor. “But you’re facing the wrong direction.”
I sucked in a quick breath, feeling him take my shoulders and spin me further to the right.
“Oh,” I mumbled, embarrassment heating my face. “Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem, kid,” he said, his voice thick with a laugh I could tell he was trying to hold back.
I held out my hands just a bit, still refusing to let Michael win by taking off the mask as I took a hesitant step forward. But then I stopped and turned my head again.
“You knew my name,” I stated, remembering that he’d called me Rika. In fact, Damon had said my name, too.
“Yeah.” Kai approached my back. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Why wouldn’t he?
Why would he? I’d never spoken to these guys. It at least made sense that Michael knew of me, since I spent so much time at his house, but I was sure the others had never even noticed me.
“You study fencing,” Kai started, “you’re heir to a fortune in diamonds, and you’ve been on Honor Roll since birth.”
I smiled to myself, finding his sarcasm a hell of a lot easier to deal with than Damon’s hands.
“And,” he continued behind me, his voice lowering, “You wore an amazing black bikini at the Fourth of July cookout at the beach this past summer. I looked longer than I should have.”
My cheeks instantly warmed. What did he just say?
Kai Mori was as handsome as Michael and as equally sought after by women. He could
have anyone. Why would he even have given me a second glance?
Not that I ever held out hope he would. He wasn’t Michael, of course.
“Michael shouldn’t have let you come in here,” Kai warned. “And I don’t think you should go down there.”
I felt a smile pull at my lips. “I know. That’s the same thing everyone else would tell me.”
I turned around, adding under my breath, “Except Michael.”