Kayne slowed his steps, pretending to study a clipboard.Meanwhile, Joel kept glancing around suspiciously.
And there it was.
Joel checked the hall again, then eased toward the locked supply room.The one no construction worker had any reason to access.Joel jiggled the handle.Locked.He looked annoyed, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a keyring.
Kayne snapped to attention, every system online and warning light lit.
Where the hell did he get a key?
Joel tried one.Then another.Click.
Kayne moved.He didn’t hurry or rush, but he still managed to close the distance as if he had all the time in the world.He reached the man just as Joel pushed the door open three inches.
“Whoa there, big guy,” Kayne drawled, closing a hand around the edge of the door before Joel could slip inside.“Funny place to go exploring, don’t you think?”
Joel jerked as if someone had hit him with a live wire.“Jesus, you scared me.”
“Doing my best,” Kayne said mildly, though heat throbbed in his veins, and it was not at all welcome this early in the day.“Now, how about you tell me why you’re sneaking into a locked storage room?”
Joel swallowed.His Adam’s apple bobbed hard.“Not sneaking.I, uh, I thought the cleaning supplies were in here.”
Kayne arched a brow.“Even though the sign right above your head saysElectrical & IT Storage?”
Joel glanced up at the label and paled.“Oh.I didn’t see that.”
“Uh-huh.”Kayne took the keyring from his hand.“And these?You win ’em in a raffle?”
Joel’s mouth tightened, defensive and irritated.He appeared to be more offended at being caught than worried about why.“Stu said there were extra mop heads in storage.Look, man, it was a mistake.”
“Stu got a last name?”Kayne asked casually.“Or does he just go by the one, like Madonna?”
Joel blinked.“What?”
Kayne stepped closer, letting the man feel every inch of the threat he wasn’t saying aloud.He didn’t touch him.He didn’t need to.“Let me be real clear.If you need something, you come ask.You don’t go testing random locks.”
Joel’s nostrils flared.“I wasn’t testing anything.I told you, it was an accident.”
“Then why the wrong set of keys?”Kayne dangled them.“Construction crew uses the silver-ring set.But you?You’re holding the black-ring set reserved for management.Which you aren’t.”Kayne had no idea if there were different keyrings, but it sounded good.
Joel stiffened, trying to school his expression and failing badly.
Kayne grinned slowly.It wasn’t a friendly smile.“I know the difference because I made it my business.So I’ll ask again: where’d you get these?”
Joel’s voice thinned.“Someone must’ve handed me the wrong ones.”
“Must’ve,” Kayne echoed.“Happens all the time.And by all the time, I mean never.”
A bead of sweat slid down Joel’s temple.Good.Fear at least meant he understood the stakes.
Kayne stepped forward the last inch between them, enough to make the man shift uncomfortably.
“Listen closely,” Kayne said.“This gym is Chloe’s dream.So if anyone starts poking around areas they shouldn’t, I get twitchy.”
Joel’s eyes flickered.For a split second, the mask slipped into annoyance tinged with something else.Something watchful, possibly predatory.
Kayne filed that away.
Joel forced a shaky breath.“I’m not causing trouble.I’m here to do my job.”
