“Not a chance,” Lor snaps. “I’m not done yet.”

Then Lor joins us in the corridor. Naked. Still hard, too. He slaps a palm against the door, and as it slides closed, I hear Jo yell, “Hey! I said untie me! I never would have come here if I’d known you weren’t Pri-ya!”

“Not scoring any points with me, honey,” he says over his shoulder.

“You can’t leave me like this!”

“Sure can,” he says. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll be back to finish what I started.”

“That’s not what I—” The door closes, cutting off the rest of Jo’s words. The rooms around here are seriously soundproofed.

“The fuck you will,” Ryodan says.

“Because she’s yours?” Lor says. “She’s done with you.”

Ryodan glances at the door, making sure it’s closed. “I was done with her months ago. Kept waiting for her to move on. Just not with you. It seems you’ve forgotten two of our critical rules: we don’t fuck one another’s women. We don’t lie to one another.”

“It wasn’t as if I went looking for it. She came in and sent all my babes away and she was crying, for fuck’s sake, and you know damn well I can’t stand it when chicks—”

“Dani’s back. She looks five years older. Possibly more. She’s taken over the abbey.”

Lor goes motionless. “How the hell did that happen?”

“We don’t know,” Barrons says. “She’s not talking to any of us.”

“So encourage her,” Lor says.

“She’s more difficult to encourage than she used to be,” Ryodan says.

“How is she? What happened to her? Is she okay?”

“Get your fucking clothes on. In my office in five.”

“What about Jo?”

“I’ll take care of Jo,” Ryodan says coolly.

“You’re not killing her,” Lor says sharply.

“Never said I was. But that’s the third rule you seem to be forgetting: I run this place. I run you. If you don’t like it, too fucking bad. You’re not leaving, so I suggest you get back on the program. Fast.”

Ryodan stalks off. Looking amused, Barrons heads off after him.

Fascinated by the perks of my new state—my own personal reality TV, I’m getting all the juicy dirt!—I hurry after them.

28

“Don’t play with me ’cause you’re playing with fire”

MAC

When we reach Ryodan’s office, Barrons says he’s got things to do and I’m abruptly divided, but I make a snap decision to stick with Ryodan. Although I’m dying to know what kind of “things” Barrons does when he goes off by himself (and intend to fulfill that fantasy very soon), I’m also riveted by the intimate look I’m getting at the man behind Chester’s, who I’m beginning to realize is far more complex than I thought.

He protected Jo’s feelings. He was done with her months ago and waited for her to dump him without ever betraying it. That’s hard to pull off in any relationship. I can’t reconcile the ruthless, bottom-lining man I know with the one who went out of his way not to hurt a human woman.

When he steps into his office, I follow, realizing only after the door slides shut that I’m stuck in here until he decides to leave again. When he pulls out his cell phone that shouldn’t work and taps a number, I hope he’s not summoning a woman to get the taste of Jo and Lor out of his mouth because I really don’t want to watch Ryodan have sex.

Well, okay, so maybe I wouldn’t be entirely adverse to that, if I didn’t know him and have to see him all the time, but really. Not in the mood for more of the sex everyone else is getting to have at the moment. Between my new invisibility and extreme irritation at the only man I want to have sex with, my prospects are slim.

“Fade, get your ass down to Lor’s room and untie Jo.” He’s silent a moment. “It’s none of your fucking business why Jo’s tied up there. Just do it. And I don’t care what that woman says or does, I don’t care if she’s suddenly snatched up by a tornado and dropped straight on your dick, you will not fuck her.” Another silence. “Yes, she’s naked. No, that’s not ‘cool.’ Fuck you, Fade. Forget it. Take one of the waitresses down. You will remain outside the door while she goes in and unties her. Then tell Jo she’s fired.” Silence. “I don’t care what the waitress thinks. Fire her, too.”