Page 22 of Devilish

He yawned and closed the book, setting it on the coffee table before getting to his feet. In a pair of jeans and a soft crew-neck sweater that actually fit his small frame, Kai looked entirely at home here—and handsome as ever.

“Good night, Lucien.”

I slipped a bookmark between the pages of my novel and looked up. “Sleep well, Kai.”

“Thank you. I will.” He headed into his room, and I waited for the click of the lock…only it never came.

My eyes drifted to his closed door, and when another minute passed by, a smile slowly spread across my face. He hadn’t felt the need to lock it tonight. That in itself felt like a huge win.

It was too bad I couldn’t stick around to enjoy it. Tonight I needed to make an appearance at The Veil.

THE MOOD IN the club tonight was fire—couples, throuples, and curious onlookers all out for a good time as they indulged in some of the delicious delights that were on offer.

Do you like to watch? Participate? Or maybe a little bit of both.

I wasn’t one to judge. I, myself, liked to dabble in a little bit of everything when I was in the mood. But tonight my mind was focused solely on the business aspect of work, not the pleasure.

Come to think of it, nothing in here had caught my fancy inthatway since the night Kai walked into The Veil with Rupert.

It was hard to believe it’d only been two weeks. I’d thought it would take longer to coax Kai out of his shell. But little by little he was starting to trust me, and I didn’t care if it took two weeks, two months, hell, two fucking years—I would do whatever it took to help him find his footing in the world.

“Boss?”

“Huh?” I turned to see Malcolm with an expectant look on his face. “Oh, you wanted to leave early tonight.” It was about an hour or so from closing, and some time during the night I’d forgotten to get back to him about that.

“You mind? Jocelyn’s in town for the week and?—”

“Say no more. Although”—I arched a brow—“if I find out you’re playing in someone else’s playground instead of one of mine, don’t think I won’t dock your pay.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Malcolm chuckled and clapped me on the shoulder. “Not when your play equipment and toys are the best.”

“Damn right they are. Well, be sure to give Joss a kiss for me.”

“Yeah, that’d be a no, and don’t even think about giving her one yourself the next time you see her.”

“Spoilsport. But fair enough. I guess I need to leavesomepeople in this city oblivious to my charms.”

Malcolm snorted. “It’s not your charms I’m worried about. But thanks, I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

“Not too early, I hope.” I winked at him. “Or I’ll feel really sorry for Jocelyn.”

“Night, boss.” Malcolm threw me wave and headed out for the night through the sea of people on the main floor.

Even with closing time creeping up, the masses hadn’t thinned. Each and every one of them was determined to indulge in the final minutes of sinful pleasure they could before security started gently urging them toward the exits.

I made my rounds, checking that the bar was tidied up and the tables and booths were free of any and all objects before the cleaning crew came in first thing tomorrow morning. We opened again at ten a.m., giving us time to restock alcohol and supplies, and to clean the surfaces to keep the place as hygienic as possible.

With the club now empty, I did a final sweep of the place and, happy everything was in order, headed for the doors.

I locked up, and just as I was about to step off the curb and cross over to my car, a loudboomexploded somewhere behind me. Thrown clear off my feet, I landed hard, my face scraping along the ground, no time to catch myself or cover my head.

There was a roar from somewhere, but my ears were ringing, and I couldn’t place where the noise was coming from until I turned around.

Jesus Christ.

The whole fucking building was in flames.

Mybuilding.

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