From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(15)

Kori turned and started looking through her bag for her keys. One of these days she was going to downsize. Smaller bag, less shit. Why did she need all that crap?

“Look, I need to talk to you about what Jared requires in his living space.”

The one thing she didn’t have? A Taser. She could use a Taser. She would bet Skinny Bitch wouldn’t even need much voltage. “Why the hell would I care about that?”

“Because you’re Kai Ferguson’s assistant and Jared will be living with him for the duration of the filming. Also, I’ll need to see the space reserved for him at the club.”

She could almost feel her jaw hitting the ground. Kai didn’t live with anyone because he was a prissy, control freak who had a touch of OCD complex he couldn’t seem to admit to. She didn’t blame him or anything. He was a germaphobe, too. It was all part of the unique crazy that made up her boss. He didn’t share well. Oh, she was sure he would be totally horrified by that statement. He was all about the love and peace and sereneness that came from self-awareness, and he could totally lead others to that place. But he wasn’t exactly there himself. “Kai didn’t mention anything about us having guests.”

“I don’t know about what Mr. Ferguson did or didn’t say to his employees. I only know that I take care of Jared and that means for the next few weeks, you’ll have to take care of him, too. He’s going to need his favorite protein bars, coconut water, a juicer—that has to have a 900-megahertz chopping engine—the crappy ones won’t do. He’ll need a set of kettle balls and a space for his training. He has to keep his body fit.” She gave Kori a onceover. “I don’t think that you’ll fully comprehend the needs of an athlete so you should probably make up a guest room for me as well. I can stay close to Jared and ensure he has everything he needs.”

What the hell was going on? “Sleep on the couch. I don’t care. There’s only Kai’s room and a tiny guest room. The rest of the building is for Kai’s practice.”

“That’s not acceptable. We might need to bring in a designer to make the place comfortable for him. I don’t understand why he thinks staying here is a good idea.”

“Apparently he wants to spend time with his brother.” It was still sinking in that Kai had an international superstar brother that he never talked about. They’d had a thousand conversations. She’d spent late nights talking about everything from politics to TV shows to restaurants. Never—not even once—had he said oh, and hey, my brother happens to be that dude on TV every woman pants after. Ever heard of him?

Then again, it wasn’t like she’d said “hey, guess what? I used to write screenplays and I’ve had a bunch of movies made and developed some awesome TV shows that I didn’t get paid for because I was way too invested in my Master.”

Yeah, she’d definitely not talked about that.

How much had they kept from each other? She’d thought she was the only one who was hiding something, holding back. It looked like Kai had held out as well.

“If this guy was a good brother, I would have met him by now. I’ve been around Jared for three years now and this Kai person has never called or come to visit him.”

Which made her wonder what the hell had happened between them. Kai had worked hard to build a new family. Kai was a man who was desperate to have people depend on him. It was why he’d started in the D/s lifestyle in the first place. He’d needed the responsibility.

And he needed to go seriously hard core on a woman who could handle it. Like she could handle it. Like she craved it.

It was precisely why she’d stayed away from him. She’d stayed away from all of them. She’d played the lightweight sub who needed the occasional spanking and service role to feel complete. God, she hadn’t had an orgasm in years. Not a real one. Not a screaming, eyes rolling to the back of her head, wail his name orgasm.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like it’s none of my business.” If Kai hadn’t talked to her about his brother, he didn’t want her to know. Despite the fact that she was dying to know, it seemed too personal. If she got involved in this, she would be stepping over a line she’d decided a long time ago she wouldn’t step over. She’d decided it about three minutes after meeting Kai because she’d immediately known that this was a man who could dominate her, who could give her what she needed and she would hand over all of herself.

“It’s everyone’s business.” The skinny chick wouldn’t let up. Her foot tapped against the concrete. “Jared is important. He’s going to be here for at least eight weeks. Two weeks prep. Six weeks principal filming in this hellhole. Then we get to go back to LA and civilization, so I need to know everything I can about making our time here survivable. Jared is a saint so he’s staying here while the rest of us get to be in what passes for a luxury hotel in this part of the world. So you’ll give me a list of the restaurants that are worth eating at, the stores I won’t barf at shopping in, and clubs that he won’t mind being seen in.”

“Or you could f*ck yourself hard.” Skinny Bitch was getting on her last nerve. Lately she’d begun to miss a few things about LA. She missed West Hollywood and the dog park across from her house. She missed going out to Santa Monica and walking along the beach, going to the pier and people watching. She did not miss star personal assistants with over-inflated egos. Yeah, she’d dealt with more than one of those.