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Kane's expression turned curious. “Fuck yes, I want to know.”
Ari let out a deep breath, unsure of how to say this. Maybe it was a rip-the-bandaid-off-quick sort of situation. “I wasn't out camping for three weeks. I was kept prisoner in a cell. By Claire.”
Kane laughed.
“I'm not joking.”
It took a long moment for the smile to leave Kane's face, for him to realize Ari was serious. “But... she's so tiny. How on earth did she...?”
“She's smart. She figured it out. She got some unsuspecting help, and she has financial resources—probably nearly as much as you or I do. So it wasn't as hard as it seems on first glance.”
“Okay, but even with help, how did she... how were you incapacitated?”
“I was drunk at a bar, moping over Holly. She slipped something into my drink.”
Ari turned away from Kane, giving him a full view of the marks Claire had left on his back.
“Holy shit,” Kane breathed. “That girl didthat?”
Ari turned back around and put his shirt on.
“She did,” he confirmed. “And I'd be proud of her if she'd done it to the man who deserved it.”
“Someone hurt her,” Kane said, the pieces finally falling in to place. “And she thought it was you. Fuck. How are you dealing with this?”
More uncharacteristic empathy. It was unsettling seeing this other side of Kane. Ari had gotten used to the cold bastard.
He shrugged. “Well, I'm keeping her as my slave, and never letting her go, so you tell me how well I'm handling it.” He said it almost nonchalantly as if this explained everything about his mental state. “And don't you dare judge me. I know it's wrong, even with what she did, but I don't care. That girl needs me. She can't survive out in the world. She was barely holding it together before our paths crossed. How long would it be before she found another man she thought was her captor and started this shit again? She might kill the next guy. I got lucky. She's dangerous. She's wild. She needs to be controlled.”
As much as Ari was sure Kane colored outside the lines with his own morals, he was also sure he wouldn't keep a woman as his literal slave with no way out. He waited for the inevitable judgment and disappointment from his friend. It didn't come.
“Do you want to know how Saskia and I met?”
Well, that was a subject change. Maybe Kane just couldn't process this. “Sure,” Ari said. At least he wasn't calling the cops. Not that he'd ever thought Kane was that noble.
“She conned me out of twelve million dollars. I hunted her ass down in Italy, told her she could choose between prison or being my slave, and I think it's clear which thing she chose. So, no judgment from me. I required far less provocation than you did. I'm afraid my pet might not still be breathing if she'd held me captive and beat me. Claire is lucky it was you and not me.”
“Shit. So that night in the club when I was trying to save her from you?”
“Your instincts were dead on,” Kane confirmed. “I took her out in public too soon. Try not to make the same mistake with your girl.”
As if he could risk taking Claire out in public.
“But that night she chose you. She wouldn't let me save her. She was nearly hysterical at the idea of being separated from you.”
Kane shrugged. “What can I say? I'm an irresistible motherfucker.”
“But if she wanted to leave now, you'd let her go, right?” No matter how much it seemed they had similar situations and were engaged in similar crimes, Ari would never let Claire go.
“Absolutely not,” Kane said. “It would kill me. I can never lose her. And someday when I'm gone, she'll have Marcus.”
There was a fifteen-year age difference between Kane and Saskia. It wasn't a problem now, but someday it would be. Of course Kane had already considered that. He always considered everything. He kept his life in neat compartmentalized boxes with a different identity attached to each box.
Ari was never sure exactly the nature of Kane's relationship with Marcus. The man worked for him in various capacities from errand boy to bodyguard, but he also seemed to be a friend, perhaps even a sometimes lover. Ari had never pried too far into their arrangement. But now it seemed there was something going on with all three of them.
“So how is your girl settling in? She seems to be doing well, all things considered,” Kane observed.
“It helps that I'm not as sadistic as you.”
