hope I’m still here when you finally realize you want me.”
11.
KAI
WHEN YOUR QB asks you for backup, you go, no questions asked. It wasn’t in Kai’s nature to ask Ryder what had bothered him so much about Reese having a date with Lennox Murry. If he was honest, Kai didn’t think much of the guy. He was hotheaded, had been in more bar fights over women or because of his temper than in the sanctioned UFC fights he was paid millions for. But, Kai figured, if Reese was interested in that asshole, that was her business. Only, Ryder didn’t seem to see it that way. And he didn’t like that this date had landed front page of the sports section with the Steamers new placekicker, looking fucking gorgeous in a sexy strapless black dress and Murry in a suit and tie, kissing in an alcove of the Royal Sonesta while a horde of paparazzi watched.
“It had to be a setup, right?” Kai had asked Ryder as the QB sped through New Orleans the next night, seeming a little too anxious to catch Murry at his hotel before the man left the city.
“I got no idea.” He shifted, weaving his Maserati Gran Turismo into afternoon traffic, making illegal turns and riding yellow lines to get around cars that were going nowhere. “I just want to look the man in his eye and see if he’s jumpy.”
“You’re fast, Cap,” Baker said, trying, it seemed to Kai, to offer their team captain some encouragement.
“On the field, maybe, but that asshole is paid a lot more money that I am to throttle guys bigger than me. I might be fast, but I’m no UFC fighter. I can hold my own, but if he gets jumpy, I hope I can count on you two…
“We got you, man,” Kai said, exchanging a look with Baker in the rearview.
They made it to Bourbon, handing over the Maserati to the valet and were escorted around the back, avoiding the notice of any fans or tourists before the weekend crowd got too thick in the streets. Kai glanced at Baker as Ryder moved in front of them, nodding to a security guard he seemed to know.
“He’s this way, Mr. Glenn,” the man said, stepping in time with the QB. “One of his guys is on the door, but there’s no one else there as far as we can tell. The maid said there might still be some girls he had hanging out with him last night.”
“Thanks, man,” Ryder told the guy, shaking his hand as he punched the button for the top floor. He saluted Glenn with the folded bill he’d given him, nodding to Kai and Baker before leaving them alone to move into the elevator.
“So…” Baker started, nodding toward the closing door and the retreating security guard.
Glenn shrugged, tugging on his bent collar. “He wanted season tickets. I wanted info. Fair trade.”
“You that worried about Reese?” Kai asked, surprised when Glenn glared at him? “What? I’m just asking. Seems like she can handle herself.” The man’s glare hardened, and Kai decided not to dig deeper.
Two minutes later, Glenn led them from the elevator, to the end of the hallway, stopping in front of a double door guarded by a beefy, squat guy with no neck and a ruddy complexion.
“I need to speak with your boss,” Glenn said, his voice sharp, but confident.
The guy looked at the QB, his attention focused, sharp. Kai knew there was no way he didn’t recognize Ryder Glenn. He’d been a Super Bowl MVP twice over. He was a future hall of famer and one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Everyone knew who Glenn was even if they didn’t live and breathe Steamers football like everyone else in this city.
“One sec,” the man finally said, stepping out of the hall and through one of those doors. There was a slip of noise and pounding music that pulsed through the opening when he disappeared into the room, but it quieted the second the door was closed.
Glenn glanced at Kai and Baker, but kept his expression neutral, not giving away anything as he waited for the guard to return. Kai didn’t know what would happen, if Murry would have his guard tell them to fuck off or if they’d be welcomed inside. Whatever the result, neither option left Kai feeling easy. He was keyed up and worried, but then he had been for a straight week, ever since he’d left Gia’s apartment after