Page 46 of Collide

I hadn’t told my boys about Riley until a couple of days after I first mether. Hendrix and Danny had ripped the piss out of me, calling me a pussy for being whipped by a girl. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from them. But Miles, he’d clapped me on the back and said it was about time I’d met someone, and that was all he had said on the matter. Even when I was concocting my plan to get her to live with me, he remained silent.

“What happened?” he asked, settling back into the chair and helpinghimself to a shot of my vodka. He grimaced as he downed it, he never was one for spirits.

I relayed everything that happened in the warehouse, including thedeal I had struck with her. I didn’t intend on telling him what had happened in the elevator, but once the words started flowing, I couldn’t stop them.

Credit to Miles, he didn’t say a word as I regaled my story, and when Ifinished, he poured himself another shot but this time, he didn’t drink it.

“That was a dick move in the elevator, Kai, it’s no wonder sheretaliated,” Miles finally said. I glared at him. I didn’t need him to add to my sour mood.

“Miles, I have got no problem with popping a round in yourkneecaps,” I threw him a murderous look. I was deadly serious, I loved him like he was my own brother, but right now, he was pissing me off.

My words earned a chuckle from him and it felt foreign to my ears,Miles hadn’t really laughed since Theo died.

“Keep your bullet in the chamber for now, Kai. All I’m saying is youmight have gone about this the wrong way, but it’s not too late to fix it. You’ve got her here, for at least six months and every day is going to count,” he said casually. He picked up his shot and downed it, once again grimacing as he did.

I rolled my eyes. Why the fuck did he insist on drinking vodka if hedamn well didn’t like it?

“What the fuck do you suggest I do then, Miles? Come on, you knowme. I don’t fucking date, I don’t do flowers and shit. I’ve never had to work to get a woman into bed. Tell me what the fuck I need to do.”

Anger and frustration mixed together, not helped by the amount ofvodka now swimming in my system. Popping a cap in someone's knee was beginning to sound more and more like a good idea. If I couldn’t fuck to get the anger out of me, maybe inflicting pain on someone would.

“Just treat her with respect, Kai, that would be a good starting point.You’ve spent the last week learning everything there is to know about her, but she knows nothing about you. Show her who you are. You know, despite the murdering and torturing and being a controlling motherfucker, you’re a decent guy.” He gave me a smirk, knowing full well I wouldn’t appreciate being called a motherfucker, but also knowing I wouldn’t do anything about it.

As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Not about being adecent guy, fuck no, I was a cunt. But about treating Riley with respect and letting her get to know me. I’d never allowed a woman to get to know me, why would they need to know me when it was just a quick fuck I was after. And I certainly didn’t respect the whores.

But Riley was different, and to win her over, I needed to show her shemeant more to me.

As if he had decided the conversation was over, Miles abruptly stoodup, taking me by surprise.

“Look, I’m not exactly prince charming with the ladies myself, but I doknow they want to be treated with respect, and they want to be listened to. Do that for her as a starting point and I guarantee she’ll be eating out of the palm of your hand in no time.”

With that, he clapped me on the back and walked back towards thepool table, wrapping his arm around the waist of a redheaded waitress and leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Chapter 14

Riley

Forthesecondmorningin a row, I was awoken by sunlight beaming into my bedroom windows. Despite my predicament, I couldn’t grumble at the view. The sun rising over the city in all its gorgeous orange, pink, and red hues was a sight I wouldn’t tire of.

What I could grumble about though was the lack of sleep I’d hadlast night, I had barely slept a wink.

The events of the past 24 hours churned over and over in mymind, starting from when Kai killed the man in the alley, right to the elevator ride where Kai had pinned me against the wall.I shouldn’t have said that about Theo, but in my defense, I wasscared, and we all say and do stupid things when we are backed into a corner. I wasn’t scared of him hurting me, but scared because he was right.

My pantiesweresoaking and all sorts of images of him fucking mehad been running through my head from the minute I agreed to his stupid deal.

I didn’t want Kai touching me because the thing that scared me themost was I might just like it.

Inevershould have agreed to his deal, Lord knows Leandra didn’tdeserve to live. The truth was, Icouldhave stomached seeing Kai blow her brains out, and I for one would not have missed the stain on the world that was Leandra. I could only blame it on another brain to mouth malfunction which seemed to be happening a lot around the jackass.

The worst part was, as soon as Kai untied Leandra and instructedHendrix to drive her to the edge of the city, she hobbled out without even a thank you, telling me to, ‘have fun’as she disappeared out of my life for good. I mean, I wasn’t expecting her to actually follow me around andlick the shit off my shoe for saving her life, but a little, ‘thank you for saving my life, Riley,’ wouldn’t have been difficult.

I didn’t think I’d have to see Leandra ever again, Kai had told her toget on the first bus out of Hollows Bay and if she ever came back then he would put a bullet in her brain.

She was free to start again, while I was left to clear up her fuckingmess.

I dragged my sorry ass out of bed, stretching and yawning as Iheaded to the bathroom to take care of business. As I passed through the walk-in closet, I was reminded that the shelves and rails had been filled to the brim with clothes, shoes, handbags, purses, sunglasses and god knows what else while I had been out yesterday.

I hadn't immediately noticed someone had been in and stockedthe wardrobe with designer gear, my thoughts had been totally consumed with what had happened in the elevator. It was only later in the evening when I'd got bored of laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling when I'd had another nose around the room, only to find the once empty wardrobe was no longer empty.

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