“His husband wouldn’t approve,” Nate stated tightly, noticing the way Donaver smirked triumphantly at his tone, as though the guy was waiting for Nate to step in it. Fuck. He needed to get the hell out of here before he really did saysomething he couldn’t take back. “Actually, there’s been a family emergency so I—”
“Doesn’t your brother live off planet?” Sier asked. Her calling him out like that was only made worse by the fact she was a total clueless ditz and didn’t actually mean any harm. Her uncle had left the shop to her a year ago and things had only gone from bad to worse since the changing of hands.
For one, no one had ever actually taught her how to run a business properly.
He had no clue what she’d been doing with her life prior to taking over, but Sier’s way of doing things was mostly bringing in flashy clientele from the clubs she used to frequent. The type who didn’t actually care about the work being done on their vehicles and instead were more interested in…different types of bodywork.
Pretty much all of the older staff had already jumped ship—or been fired if their looks weren’t up to snuff in her opinion—but Nate had stayed on since no one had ever pushed him for anything he wasn’t comfortable with, despite the new underlying type of business they apparently ran.
Until now.
“It’s my other sibling,” Nate said, not wanting to name Neve and bring his sister into this filth. It was his job to protect her, not drag her into this fucked up world he had no clue how he’d even entered in the first place. He stood and gathered his thin coat, tossing it on as quickly as possible without looking too desperate to leave, hackles rising when suddenly Mit was following suit.
“Allow me to walk you out,” Mit offered and Nate shook his head.
“That won’t be necessary.”
“He’d love that, Mr. Parker,” Sier interrupted. “Could you help him hail a cab? Nate is always too nice to bother them and ends up walking.”
“In this weather?” Mit made a big show of looking toward the window and shivering. Outside, snow was coming down, but it was light, the type that didn’t even stick to the ground for longer than a minute or two.
This type of weather was nothing to him. Nate’s home planet was way colder than this, but he didn’t bother saying as much. The less the other guy knew about him the better.
“I should be going as well, before it gets much worse,” Mit announced.
Everyone there chose to pretend they didn’t catch the innuendo in his words.
Which was how Nate found himself forcing a smile as he followed Mit Parker out of the crowded restaurant downtown, trying not to give into the images in his mind of punching the guy whenever his gaze lingered a bit too long.
One day Nate would get out his shit together and not have to worry about pleasing those with more power, he comforted himself.
One day.
But not today.
Chapter 4:
Kazimir wouldn’t say he had trust issues, more that he was cautious about the company he kept. He’d grown up in the Brumal mafia on the planet Vitality, groomed for a high-standing position from a young age, and the cousin to the current leader. Very few ever dared try and get close enough to cause him harm, but that didn’t mean it was unheard of.
And there was something about the man seated across from him that gave him the actual ick.
As the newly appointed underboss, it was Kazimir’s job to handle all the extra important work that Baikal Void, the Dominus and said cousin, didn’t want to or wasn’t able to find time for. In this particular case, Kaz’s money was on the first scenario.
“We’re here to broker a deal,” the creepy guy with the eerie orange eyes replied in a cool tone. He was leaning back in the leather seat, relaxed in a way no one else in the room was currently able to be.
A bit too relaxed for Kaz’s comfort, in fact. Typically, when requesting a meeting with the Brumal, a person came a bit more prepared and on their toes. But this guy had come alone, not a single bodyguard in sight, and had been lightly sipping from the glass held loosely in his left hand since Kazimir’s arrival fifteen minutes ago.
The dark blue liquor was strong enough to put a grown Vital man on his ass with only half a glass, and yet an almost empty bottle was perched on the end table at the man’s side.
Kazimir wondered if Nate would even be able to handle a couple of sips. He’d gotten wasted off a single bottle of hard liquor at the bar that day, but that was nothing compared to the drink their guest was downing like water.
And there he was doing it again. Thinking about the pretty racer when he should have been done and over it already.
“You’re refusing to tell us exactly what it is you’re looking for,” Flix, the official Runner/Fixer of the Satellite, stated from where he stood at the end of the long couch Kaz was seated on. “You’re basically asking for permission to let you loose on our planet, and for what?” He clicked his tongue. “Very little return, that’s what.”
“I understand Baikal is new to playing the part of a king,” the man drawled, “but surely he should have known to send better than a snarky platinum blond and his brooding sidekick.”
Kazimir’s brow quirked, and he chuckled. “You talking about me?”
