We turned, driving into the small alleyway on the side of the hotel, toward the back, and the car was suddenly seeped in darkness. The overhang blocked out any light, and I ran my hands slowly down my thighs, feeling a buzz all over my skin. The car seemed so much smaller now.
The darkness.
The confessional. The trunk. The Bell Tower. The grave. Small spaces with him. Always small, dark spaces.
Without giving me a glance or a word, Kai parked the car and opened his door, stepping out into the rain. I quickly followed and watched him reach in the back and grab the blueprints I’d brought.
He broke out in a jog, heading for one of the rear doors, and I noticed two dumpsters, some wooden pallets, and an overflow of cardboard boxes getting soaked nearby.
“What are you doing out here?” I heard Kai ask. I looked up to see him talking to Michael Crist and Will Grayson, who were waiting under an awning.
Will only wore a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, while Michael was dressed for the weather, looking eerily similar to what he looked like in high school in his hoodie. Splotches of water covered his jeans.
“Why aren’t you guys waiting in the car?” Kai asked them.
Michael’s eyes veered to me, narrowing, as Will pushed off the wall and took his gum out, tossing it out into the rain. “Didn’t want to miss you,” he said.
Kai held out his hand to me, and I handed him the hotel keys.
“Where’s Rika?” he asked the guys.
Michael turned as he approached, ready to follow him through the door. “Class.” And then he looked to me again. “It’s just us.”
A sense of foreboding swirled in my stomach, and I stood behind, letting them all enter before me.
We walked through a dark tunnel, and I couldn’t see clearly from behind the more than six-foot-tall men in front of me, but after a few moments, I saw some white. Bright walls came into view, and I noticed several freezers, refrigerators, and stoves. We’d entered through the kitchen. It was only visible, though, due to the poor light streaming in from the windows.
Each of the guys turned on their flashlights, and Will handed me one.
I took it, switching it on.
“So, Kai?” Will called out as all of us walked through the kitchen. “You wouldn’t need me to break in your virgin bride for you, would you?”
He started laughing and turned his head to me before Kai could answer. “Kai doesn’t like virgins. He likes women who know what they’re doing.”
And then he let his gaze move up and down my body.
I arched a brow. Yeah, I didn’t believe that. I was a virgin that night years ago, and it didn’t deter him from wanting quite a lot from me.
“But me?” Will went on. “I like ’em from scratch. I can teach them exactly what I like and how to do it the way I want.”
“You mean you like that they don’t have anyone to compare you to,” I said, “so they can’t tell how bad you are at it.”
Michael’s snort was small, but I caught it, and I could see the back of Kai’s shoulders, shaking with silent laughter.
Will turned back around, leaving me alone.
We all followed Kai, and I waited outside the control room as they flipped switches, trying to get the electricity on. After a few minutes, though, nothing.
“Good thing we brought flashlights,” Michael mumbled as he walked out of the control room.
Kai followed and stopped, all of us standing together.
“Well, at least the rooms will all be unlocked,” he told us. “Bad news is we’re taking the stairs.”
Up twelve flights. Excellent.
“Let’s split up,” he told us, starting to walk for the kitchen doors, which probably led into a dining room. “Take pictures of any rooms you go into and close-ups of any potential problems. Rodents, plumbing, leaks, any kind of damage…I’ll have contractors come in and get better estimates, but I want an idea of repairs and what we have to chalk up to losses.”