Page 57 of Collide

He stood and offered me his hand which I accepted without givingit much thought. I shouldn’t have though, the touch of his hand on mine did absolutelynothingto calm my erratic thoughts. In fact, all I could think about was what it would be like to have his hands roaming everywhere over my body….

Fuck! I needed out of this room, and right now.

Kai led me to a door at the back of the room, he opened it and let mepass through onto the private balcony. The cool air immediately hit my overheated skin, thankfully cooling me down. I stepped up to the glass barrier and gasped at the view.

The restaurant was in one of the city skyscrapers and was on thethirtieth floor so the view overlooked the city. I’d seen the view from Kai’s apartment of course, but I’d never been outside tofeelit.

It was incredible. The city was full of life, cars honking their horns inthe busy streets, bars and clubs playing loud, pounding music, and people down below shouting in enjoyment. The whole city was lit up brightly and full of life, a stark contrast to the opposite end of the city which I could just make out in the distance. It was almost like East Bay had its own personal storm cloud constantly floating over it.

Kai stood next to me, and I breathed in his luscious scent. I wasn’tsure what cologne he was wearing tonight but it smelledincredible. He was so close his arm brushed against mine as he came to stand next to me, sending a shiver down my spine.

We stood silently for a minute taking in the view, I watched himfrom the corner of my eye, watching how he stood tall peering over the city that he believed he owned.

I wondered what it would be like to have that kind of power, it wasn’tsomething I’d want. I also had to wonder how peopleallowedthe city to be ruled by one man. I mean we had a police force, we had city officials, all for the purposes of running a city, how on earth could they allow one family to dominate it?

I was about to ask Kai those very questions when he turned to askme one of his own.

“How did you come to meet Joe Mason?”

Oh good, we were back to this. Seriously, how could he be thisinterested in my past?

“I stole from him,” I said with a grimace.I wasn’t proud of stealing but I had a mouth to feed and I would havedone what I could to keep Angel fed, and I’d do it again tomorrow if I had to. Kai’s eyebrows rose in surprise.“It’s not something I’ve done in a very long time,” I quickly added,suddenly worried I’d just confessed my crime to the king of the city. To my relief, he smiled and took my hand.

“I’m not judging you, Riley. You did what you had to do.”he gently ran his thumb over the back of my hand, sending tinglesthrough my body and into my core.

So much for cooling down.

“Joe took us in. He gave us a place to stay and let me work in someof his shops. He was a good man, he didn’t charge me a penny for letting us stay in his apartment. He died of a heart attack about two years later and even now it still guts me I won’t ever be able to thank him for his help.”I swallowed the lump in my throat that had formed while talking aboutJoe, I missed that man so much.

My brows furrowed when Kai’s eyes darkened and a murderous lookappeared on his face, one I had seen before. I didn’t know what the hell I’d said to make him react like that, but his reaction had me instantly running scared. He was still holding my hand and he gave it a tight squeeze.

“Riley, Joe was a pedophile,” he said, void of any emotion.

“What?” I replied, confused.

What the actual fuck was he talking about? Joe was no pedo, Kaiwas talking shit and I wouldn’t stand for him bad-mouthing someone who had been my savior. I yanked my hand out of his as anger consumed me.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I snapped.

He didn’t take his eyes off me. Didn’t let any emotion show on hisface, he just glared at me.

“I’m sorry, Riley, but Joe was responsible for running a sex ring. Hehad a number of apartments across the city in which he arranged for men to abuse little girls.” His face twisted in revulsion, a look that reflected my own at the sheer nonsense Kai was spouting.

“You’re lying. Joe would never have done anything like that.Seriously, Kai, what the hell is wrong with you?” I was getting angrier the more he spoke and my hands balled into fists.

He was lying, he had to be. Joe was a good man, akindman. He hadhelped Angel and me when we needed help, and he’d never given me any cause for concern.

Instead of replying, Kai fished in his pocket and pulled out his phone.He tapped at the screen several times before shoving the phone under my nose. I skimmed the words on the report that was in front of me and felt my world start to crumble.

Sex ring.

Girls as young as ten.

Raped.

Trafficked by Joe Mason.

Kai was telling the truth.

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