kill us. All of us. It’s literally all for one, one for all with us.”
My head swam. I had no idea.
No wonder Kai was so concerned about who Brooke fell in love with.
“Thank you for telling me. I didn’t know.”
“About that…” He bit his bottom lip. “Can you not tell Kai you found out from me?”
I barked out a laugh, a little louder than I meant. “Yes. Of course. Yes.”
And then, because we hadn’t covered it, I asked, “What about Kai and his love life?”
The ride was coming to an end. Jonah reached for the top of the bench in front of us. “Kai has women in every city for his needs.” Then he stood and glanced at me. “I mean, that was before you. I think?” His grin turned lopsided, and he hopped off like his life depended on it.
I sat rooted to that bench.
Kai had a woman in every city? But of course. I cursed myself. How stupid was I? To think I was special? I’d been brought in because of his sister’s actions, not his.
It hadn’t been his choice. Though maybe that didn’t matter.
I stood on wooden legs and moved to where Jonah was waiting for me. The guards moved in behind me, and we were tourists for the rest of the day. But my spirit wasn’t in it anymore. The thought of Kai’s other women plagued me, sitting heavy on my shoulders. I only did one silly face in the photo booth.
I really threw myself into the movie at the theatre. And by throwing myself, I mean I sat in the darkness and pretended I was into it. Silently. Soullessly. Just imagining all those women at Kai’s beck and call.
Of course he had them.
He was powerful and gorgeous.
I was foolish not to have thought about that earlier.
It was dark when we emerged, and if someone had asked me what movie we saw, I would’ve had no idea. A guy was in it. That’s all I remembered.
“Where to now?” Jonah asked.
We had switched places at some point after the carousel. Jonah had begun to enjoy himself, and I was the one not really here. I could hear his reluctance to go home. Hell, I didn’t want to go there either.
I moved behind him. “I think there’s a beer garden here.”
He brightened. “That’s a great idea. We should call Brooke and Kai.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Brooke burst on the scene like a four-year-old colt getting her first run through the field. She zipped in, ignoring the guards in front of her, her arms swinging and her braids flying. Almost in sync. Spotting us in the back, she stopped and did a hop-skip-jump before twirling around and landing on the seat across from me.
“Hi, guys,” she said in a rush, smiling from ear to ear.
Dressed in leather pants, a silky, shiny skin-tight tank top and a faux fur vest, she had glammed up for the night. Her hoop earrings swinging with her braids, she was embracing her freedom.
“Finally, finally, some booze and boys.” She clapped to herself, doing a little shuffle in her seat. “I’m free!”
Jonah and I had picked the back table for a reason. It afforded a modicum of privacy, and there was a walkway beneath us, so if we had to do an emergency getaway, we could go out that way. Plus, just as we figured, the guards were already spreading out to surround us on both fronts.
The place was full, and all eyes were on us.
They’d been watching us since we entered. Two of the guards had taken position at the bar. One was trying to lean against a post, pretending to be on his phone the whole time, but people noticed. Another guard had claimed an entire table behind us. When the staff tried to fill it, he walked off with them, and I saw the manager coming out seconds later.
That table remained empty the whole night. I could only imagine they’d paid them well for it.
The attention from the other customers followed Brooke, because who acted like that? Apparently Brooke did, and I now remembered a time we went to a mall and she decided to start dancing in the food court. I’d forgotten she had that side. She didn’t care who was around. If she felt something, she did it. Tonight, she’d wanted to come in swinging, literally.
As she grabbed a menu, I knew who else was coming.
I felt him. A little tingle on the back of my neck.