He let out a snort. Call someone a money-hungry bitch once and they never let it go. To be fair, Harlow was not wrong. Janice Pricelin, as she’d been called before, was only there for Tony's money. All she did was spend. Before marrying Tony, she had jumped onto whatever schmuck she could get her hands on, and then drained them dry before moving on. The only reason she stayed with Tony was because her looks had gone. Harlow would celebrate the day she either died or they divorced.
“Right. Janice would probably throw a fit.” He smirked. “Could be entertaining.”
“No.” Tony sighed. “You’re Hunter’s insurance will probably cover this because it was likely a retaliatory attack…but it will take a while.”
Harlow sighed. “Yeah, and I’m going to have to rebuild somewhere else because whoever did it knows where I live now.”
“So…do you have anyone that you can stay with?”
Harlow frowned and thought about it. He was surprised that he could actually name a few that may have helped him, yet…they were all cities away. Huh, maybe he did have friends. Who knew?
“No one close enough,” he admitted as he pressed the button for the gate on his visor. Harlow was close enough that it should open. The sirens had gotten closer, so the truck, or trucks, would arrive any minute now.
“Here me out,” his boss started hesitantly. “I have a suggestion. You aren’t going to like it, but we don’t have a lot of options here.”
“Just spit it out.”
“Foxx.”
“Foxx?” he asked, confused until it hit him what the man was suggesting. “Absolutely not!”
“He lives in the city. In that fancy gated Inner Village, with high security and paranormal guards. From what I know of the building he lives in, his condo should be big enough to house you both.”
“My house was just blown up, and you want me to go live in a place surrounded by paranormals? Hmm, let me think about that.” After a sarcastic pause, he said, “No.”
“For all you know, it was humans who did it. Bombs are more of a human tactic than paranormal.”
Ah, fuck, he had a point. But still no! Hell no! “No.”
“Harlow, you don’t have enough choices to be picky. Guaranteed, any hotel or motel you find will be a security nightmare for you long term.”
“FUCK!” He slammed his hand against the wheel again, groaning as the fire trucks sped past his Jeep towards his burning home.
* * *
Foxx lounged grumpilyon his couch, head against Alastair’s leg as he glared fiercely at his wall, as if it was what had offended him.
Alastair sighed next to him, hands threading through Foxx’s black curls. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or just continue to ‘angy’ stare at your wall?”
Foxx frowned. “What is ‘angy’?”
“Angry in cute. You are just a tad too cute to reach the full word.”
He let out a snort. “Nonsense. Anyway, how did you get over here so fast?” Foxx asked. He tipped his head back further to rest it in the man’s lap, and stared up at his friend’s face.
Alastair’s brow rose. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I bought a place in the building. I figured, when I’m not traveling, I'd rather stay somewhere near my best friend.”
Foxx squealed and hugged the man around his waist, clinging onto him. “Ahh, my bestie is the best.”
The vampire chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, I’m amazing. Now, tell me, what’s wrong?”
Foxx sighed. “My partner hates me.”
“Surely he doesn’t? It’s been what, a day?”
“But he does! Harlow doesn’t want to talk to me or listen. I just want to be his friend! Is that so wrong?”
Alastair chuckled. “Let’s not lie, Foxx. You want to fuck him. That’s you wanting a bit more than friendship, don’t you think?”
