From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(93)

Would he lie to her? Again. Since he’d been lying to her for a very long time it seemed.

Mia went still beside her. “Kori, I think we should go.”

Case crossed his arms over his chest. “Did he do what, Kori?”

Case’s eyes pinned her as though daring her to say it out loud. Or pleading with her to keep silent. She wasn’t sure.

Was she in the middle of something she didn’t understand?

What she wanted to do was walk right up to Kai and kick him in the balls. She wanted to rage at him.

She needed to figure out what was happening because she didn’t understand anything. She knew what she’d heard. She knew what Mia had said. If she raged at Kai right now, she could blow up whatever Case had been doing.

And that would be good. Yeah, angry Kori was definitely in the house. Vengeful Kori was ready to blow up everything and everyone and take them all down in the process. It didn’t matter if they were guilty or innocent. All that mattered was her rage.

“I was asking Kai if he’d called a cab. I got dizzy all of the sudden.” She couldn’t do it. Not until she understood what was happening. Being an adult f*cking sucked sometimes.

Kai was suddenly right beside her. “Baby, it’s all right. I’ll get us out of here. I’ll take care of you.”

Yes, she was sure he would try to ease out of her life. Kai didn’t do big scenes. He would slowly ease her out and likely find a way to make her think it was all her idea in the first place because he was a manipulative bastard.

God, how many ways had he manipulated her to get to tonight? She hadn’t wanted to come out, but he’d talked her into it because she was the only one who could talk Mia into it. When she’d wanted to stay home to comfort Sarah, he’d gotten her to believe it would be better for Sarah to confront Jared.

Who was he? This wasn’t the Kai she knew. This wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with.

He’d said he loved her, too. Wasn’t that the greatest manipulation of all?

He touched her, his hand gripping her arm more tightly than he needed to, as though he was afraid to let her go. “Come on, I’ll get us home.”

“Mia, are you ready?” Case asked.

Mia looked over at Kori. “I think so. Maybe we can catch a cab with them. I just need to be dropped off at my place.”

“I thought we could hang out for a while,” Case offered, his smile turning high wattage.

Manipulation. She’d thought Case wanted Mia. She’d thought Kai wanted her. All manipulation.

She pulled away from Kai. She needed a minute. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

The door was cool under her hands as she pushed it open. Mia was hot on her heels. Kori didn’t want to deal with any of them at this point. Not one of them. Maybe there was a window she could crawl out of.

“What happened?” Mia asked. “Don’t tell me nothing. You went so pale.”

She couldn’t tell Mia what she’d heard. Not until she found out what was going on. There was a mirror to her left. It looked like the ladies’ bathroom was divided. They were in a lounge portion with a huge vanity stocked with everything from mini hairspray bottles to perfumes to condoms. Nice. True VIP service. Yes, it was like she was back in Hollywood all over again. VIP luxury and all she had to do was sell her soul out.

“I feel sick. It’s fine. The guys were down the hallway talking.”

“About what?”

“About how fast a cab could get here.” She hated lying but she needed time. Mia was too close. Kori moved into the second section where there appeared to be three large stalls. In the low light, she could see the marble floor. It was white with some kind of dark stain to it.

“Kori, stop. Don’t take another step,” Mia said, her voice tight.

“I told you I’ll be right back.” She would hide in the stall. Hell, she would call her own cab and sneak out and deal with Kai in the morning when she handed in her resignation and then kicked him in the balls. Maybe shove a sadistick up his *. See how he liked that.

The minute she hit the stain on the floor she realized why Mia had told her to stop. Something had spilled and for the second time that night, Kori felt herself sliding and falling to the floor.

“Damn it.” She was going to sue. She was going to sue whoever thought it would be cool to coat the bathroom in…what the hell was that?

She started to push herself up, and that was when she realized she wasn’t alone on the floor. Lena was lying across from her, a gaping hole in her neck, her eyes staring at Kori with absolutely nothing to illuminate them.

She heard someone scream and then the lights seemed to fade to black.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





Kori shivered as she looked around the small, utilitarian room. She glanced up at the clock. Two a.m. How the hell had it gotten to be two in the morning? She was supposed to be asleep by now, cuddled up in Kai’s arms. All her friends were supposed to be happy because she’d worked hard to make sure they got what they needed.

They weren’t supposed to be sitting in a chilly interrogation room.

“Why are we here?” Sarah asked. “If they think we did something wrong, shouldn’t they split us up?”

Kori looked over at Sarah, who sat beside her. “They took Mia away. Maybe they’ll come and take us one at a time to somewhere else.”