Page 38 of Collide

The elevator dinged behind Kai and he motioned for me to get inside.I kept my head down and walked past him, refusing to acknowledge how fucking handsome he looked. He was the devil dressed in a designer suit and he knew it.

When he left me in Angel’s room earlier, he had ditched the suitjacket and tie, and the top buttons of his shirt had been undone, he almost looked casual. Now though, he was back to his intense business look, his shirt was immaculate, his dark blue tie was perfectly straight and tucked underneath his matching blue waistcoat. Over the top, he had his tailored suit jacket back on. His whole outfit clung to every part of his sculpted body and it was easy to imagine women throwing themselves at him.

For some inexplicable reason, a twinge of jealousy rolled through meat the thought of him being with other women, but I quickly shut that down. That was not a road I was willing to travel down.

As soon as the doors to the elevator closed behind us, his masculinescent wrapped around me, it wasintoxicating. Not that I’d ever admit it to him.

“Did you explain everything to Angel?” he said as the elevator startedgliding down smoothly.

“Yes.” I avoided his heated stare which was burning into the side ofmy face, my cheeks heating, but I still refused to look at him.

“Good. If you behave yourself, you can see her again in a few days.”

Rage swirled deep in the pit of my gut as I finally swung my gaze tomeet his.

“If I behave myself? I’m not a fucking child, Kai,” I sneered andinstantly regretted the words leaving my mouth when his eyes hardened and a menacing look crossed his face, one that scared the absolute shit out of me.He took a step toward me and I took one step back, my back hittingthe wall of the elevator. Kai placed both hands on the wall behind me, caging me in. His nostrils flared in anger and his eyes narrowed on me. Never in my life had I felt like a little mouse caught in a trap, until now.

“I will say this once and once only, Riley,” he snarled. “You knew theterms of the deal when you agreed to them. You work for me now, and I expect my employees to speak to me with respect. I will not have you acting like a stroppy child now reality is sinking in.”

I glared back at him, not letting him see just how frightened I was. Ihadn’t decided if I thought Kai was going to hurt me, I believed every single one of the rumors I’d heard of Kai and his brother’s hobbies of torture and murder, but something deep down inside of me said Kai wasn’t going to hurt me.

Not intentionally anyway. Why would he make the deal we had if hewas just going to hurt me?

But there was something about this asshole that made me want topress every single one of his buttons just to see how he would react. Someone needed to show him not everyone would bow down and kiss his ass when he demanded it, and I was only too happy to be that person.

What can I say? I’m a dumbass at times.

“Respect isn’t just given, Kai, you have to earn it.” In my defense, henever said anything about respecting him when he made the terms of his deal.

I didn’t have time to react to the movement of his hand which swiftlywrapped around my throat as he pinned me against the wall. He didn’t grip me hard, certainly not enough to leave a mark or cut off my breath, but enough of a grip to let me know he was in charge.

Like this was going to earn my respect.

Prick.

“Do not test me, Riley. I am not someone you want to push,” hehissed in my ear. “You will show me respect or you are going to find yourself over my knee with my hand tanning your fine ass before you even realize what’s going on.”

I should have been scared of his threat, should have apologized formy outburst and begged for his forgiveness. But I didn’t.

Like I said, dumbass at times.

What was a surprise though, was the fact Iwasn’tscared, but turnedthe fuck on at the thought of him bending me over his knee and spanking me. Clearly, it’d had the same effect on him given how his eyes filled with unadulterated lust.

For once in my life, I managed to stop the snide remark from leavingmy mouth before it did. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, instead, I kept my lips sealed.

We glared at each other for a moment and it was only the ding of theelevator and the doors sliding open that drew our attention away. He let go of my throat and instead grabbed my hand, dragged me out of the elevator and through the basement car park where the man who had driven me here earlier waited with the back door of a sleek black SUV standing open.

“The docks, Frank,” Kai growled as he roughly shoved me into theback of the car.

I climbed in and scrambled to the other side, wanting to get as faraway from the asshole as possible. To my horror, he got in next to me and slammed the door shut, locking us both in the back of the vehicle. Rage rolled off him, his knuckles clenched in a fist. I’ll admit to feeling slightly smug that I’d successfully pissed him off as much as he’d done to me.

The car pulled out of the underground basement and started weavingthrough traffic. I stared out of the window, watching as the city passed by.

Now that it was daylight, and I wasn’t locked in the trunk, for which Iwas grateful for, I took the opportunity to soak in the sights of West Bay.

It was a world away from the shithole where I had spent the last fiveyears. The streets were lined with little boutique café’s, designer shops, posh hotels, and even a casino. There wasn’t a smidgen of graffiti or litter to be seen anywhere, and the people walking the streets looked smart, the men in tailored suits and carrying briefcases, and the women tottering around in high heels and designer dresses. There was absolutely no sign of any homeless kids begging for money on street corners.

The roads were full of traffic, commuters no doubt making their wayto the office buildings that towered over the city. Every single car on the road must have cost a fortune,Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars, cars I’d only ever heard about. From the brief glimpse I’d seen as I was dragged through the basement car park, I bet Kai owned at least one model of each of the brands.

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