Well, hopefully that means no shifters will be trying to sneak a quick bite of her neck tonight. I’d hate to start a war during a business trip because I had to kill a shifter for trying to snipe her out from under me.
His smile fades, and his attention stays on her. “No offense, but I don’t trust leeches.”
She groans. “Garrett. Be my friend, that’s fine, but youdon’tget to insult him like that.Especiallynot when he’s sitting righthere.”
He shifts his focus to me. Even though his hands are laced behind his head, I can tell he could easily leap over the desk and try to kill me. He’s an animal, a wolf, and it’s right there, just below the surface and barely constrained.
Instead, he blows out a long breath. “Sorry,” he says. “That’ll take some getting used to. But Amber’s right—there’s crazy chemistry between you two.” He sits forward and clasps his hands on the desk, and I see his wolf sink back down as the man takes over. “What are we discussing tonight?”
I get to the crux of my offer and outline the main points. Then, moving slowly, I pull a thumb drive out of my jacket and hand it to him. “There are PDFs on there with more details.”
He studies it in his hand, then grabs a laptop and plugs the drive in.
I wait while he skims through the information, feeling a little satisfaction when his brow furrows then rises as he processes what I’m offering.
As he reads, I hold my hand out to Eilidh.
I’m pleased that she takes it and wraps her fingers around it, so I offer her a playful smile.
After ten minutes, he sits back, relaxed and thoughtful. “I’ll admit when Lucius called me, I was skeptical. I wondered what the catch was. This looks…doable.”
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told him—I won’t pay tribute. We’re businessmen, and alegalenterprise like this, alucrativelegal enterprise, only helps all of us. I’ll sweeten the pot a little. I know your pack recently helped resettle a large group of shifter refugees rescued from one of those secret labs.”
He scowls. “Who told you that?”
“I have sources even Lucius doesn’t know about. But you and I are absolutely in agreement those labs must be destroyed. Create a legal nonprofit I can funnel a considerable donation into every year to help fund those efforts. Or some other legal entity I can fund, however it needs to be handled to keep the IRS out of it. With the goal being the destruction of any other labs you locate and to care for shifters displaced by them. We can even create a program to integrate them as employees at the hotel and casino, provide immediate emergency housing, all of that.”
I don’t blame him for his skepticism. “Why do you care?”
“Programs like that threatenallof us, not just shifters. Do youreallywant the government—any government—making shifter-vampire hybrids?” I take a risk. “Lucius’ decision to turn Selene was completely based on his love for her, but he made some enemies by doing so. Fortunately, she’s a good person with a good heart, and has no desire to take over. Lucius has her well in hand. I say this as a friend to them both, by the way. Keeping both your and Lucius’ operations strong here in Tucson means taking power away from rogue vampires who want to sow mayhem, and from rogue shifters who want nothing but war.”
He rocks back in his chair, which groans and creaks a little in protest under his bulk. “Connie? Thoughts?”
She’s watching me. “I don’t know the details of the business proposal. I can’t give you an opinion.”
“About him.” He points at me.
“You know me,” she says. “I stay neutral. But…” She smiles. “I like him. So far, he hasn’t done or said anything to make me not like or trust him. If he does, you’ll be the first to know.”
“All right then.” Back to me. “You know I own the piece of land you’re looking at buying.”
“I do. That was a deliberate choice on my part after researching several options. And as a show of good faith, Lucius is willing to convert some of his territory to neutral territory, provided the shifters don’t antagonize vampires at night in those territories. A day/night usage split. He’d also be willing to introduce you to some of his contacts about maybe expanding Fight Club’s operations. And both of us will help fund your preferred local political campaigns and issues, as well as apply our special kind of…influence, when necessary, to protect all our interests.”
“You’ll pay full market value for the land?”
“It’s all there in my proposal.”
He takes the thumb drive out and tucks it in his pocket. Then he offers me his hand. I shake with him.
“We have a deal, Dexter. I’ll get with my attorney to go over this in detail, and we’ll set up an official meeting in a couple of weeks to handle the sale and get things rolling.”
“Thank you, Alpha Green. All my contact info is in the PDF.”
“Garrett.” He smiles but displays his canines. “You break her heart, I’ll kill you myself.”
“I think you’d have to get in line behind Lucius and Selene, and your own mate, but point taken.”
“Oh, good grief,” she mutters.
