He’d helped. Even though he was in the mafia, he’d still done well today.
“Thank you,” I murmured, feeling his hands sweep through my hair.
His arms tightened around me, and I felt his lips on my shoulder. A deep, shuddering breath left him. “You don’t hate me?”
I pulled back to see him. “Is that why you brought me in here? To loathe you?”
“No.” He bent back down, nuzzling me. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know why I brought you in here. I wanted you here. I wanted you to understand this world better. I wanted you to see that you don’t have to regret hating your father, in case you did.”
I felt his tension and reached up, my hand cradling the back of his head. My fingers began running in small circles, comforting him.
“Is that what you do? Regret hating your father?”
His body tightened, then relaxed. “No, but you’re better than me. I can see you feeling that. I wanted to line everything up for you and let you deal with your father, but I can’t bring myself to let you go or haul him in here.”
I laughed softly, “So let’s not. Let’s handle him another time.’” I tipped my head back to grin up into his eyes.
He lifted his head, his eyes darkening, dipping to my lips. “That sounds perfect.”
I framed his face with my hands and nodded my head, feeling his arms tighten around me, knowing he wouldn’t let me fall.
His body was riddled with tension and knots. What he’d done just now, pulling all of that off, I could only imagine how much energy it had taken.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
His lips were on mine almost before I finished speaking, and he swept me up in his heat, the tingles already spreading through me, his arms holding me fast. He carried me out of the room, to an elevator, and we rode it to the next floor.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Kai was standing shirtless at the window, looking out at the lake when I woke up in the morning. He had a coffee cup in one hand, and his other rested against the wall.
Fuck. A magazine cover right there.
I pushed back the covers, reached for a robe, and padded over to him.
He grinned, bringing his arm around me as I fit in next to him.
I slid my arms around him. “Did you sleep?”
A half laugh/half snort came from him.
We hadn’t slept, hardly at all.
There’d been a frenzied need in Kai, a desperation to release whatever demons had been in him through the long night before. The first time had been rough. The second slow and loving. The third had been in the shower. For the fourth, he took me from behind. And still, a few hours later, he reached for me again, pushing inside and watching me the entire time.
I was sore as I leaned against him.
He smoothed his hand down my back, resting it on my hip. “I told you to trust me last night.” He stepped back, his hand finding mine. He set his coffee down on the nightstand and pulled me toward the closet, where he handed me an oversized sweatshirt. I pulled it on, along with a pair of pants. He tugged a Henley over his head and led me to the elevator.
His guards were waiting for him, and they fell in step around us.
We all walked outside, then down to the lake’s edge. There was a small dock with a boat tied to it and two people waiting on it.
As we stepped onto the dock, one of them stood up.
His hood was pulled over his head, but after a moment I recognized him and faltered. It was the first prisoner from yesterday, the guard that had been blackmailed by my father.
He extended his hand, tears glimmering in his eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Bennett. Thank you.” His voice cracked. “This means a lot. You have no idea.”
Kai shook his head before stepping back to stand beside me. He nodded to the other man. “You gave him his paperwork and everything?”
The man nodded. “Yes, sir. He’s set to go. New ID for him and his family. I’ll drive him up, make the drop so he can reunite with his family, and continue to my normal fishing expedition. I’ll take good care of him.”
It was then that I noticed the penguin—small, but pinned just inside his coat collar. He’d been watching me, waiting, and I stepped closer to Kai’s side.