“It wasn’t an insult; it was a business offer,” Franklin corrected.“You have information I want, and I’m prepared to pay very handsomely to get it.”
“Did you pay Kershaw to throw you to us tonight, as well?”Arslan asked.
The more politely the lion spoke, the more tense the man sitting at his feet became.It was a useful tell.Just like watching a secretary often gave the best indication of a businessman’s mood.
Franklin studied the boy at Arslan’s feet very carefully, eager to gain any advantage before negotiations began in earnest.Apparently, he stared at him for a second too long.
Suddenly, Arslan wasn’t sitting placidly in his chair; he was standing directly in front of Franklin, looming over him, a snarl building in the back of his throat.
“Yes,” Franklin rushed out, helpless to do anything else.“I paid Kershaw.”
“And what do you intend to pay Cameron to do if you succeed in tracking him down?”Arslan demanded.
Franklin tried to meet Arslan’s gaze and hold it, but it was damn near impossible to outstare a man who didn’t appear to need to blink.
As the seconds passed, it was all Franklin could do to hold his ground when his body begged him to take several rapid steps back.“That would be between myself and Caramel,” he managed to say.Habit held him in good stead.The words were neither as weak nor uncertain as he feared they might be.
Arslan made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat as he spun away from him.“Humans!”
Arslan ran his fingers through his sub’s hair as he re-joined him, perhaps in apology for insulting his boy’s species, perhaps not.
Franklin turned toward Kefir as he automatically sought out a weaker link to bargain with.
“You’ve seen him recently?”the little lion asked, his tone as mild as ever.
“A few weeks ago,” Franklin admitted.
“Where?”There was nothing mild about the way Ellery barked out his question.
Franklin considered his options.Searching for Caramel on his own wasn’t working.Would it really be such a bad idea to use this pride to track him down?They couldn’t do any worse than the private detectives Franklin had already invested a fortune in.
“In a night club on the other side of town,” he replied.
Within minutes, Kefir and Ellery had a whole selection of maps and notebooks spread out across the table on the far side of the room, and they were both pouring over them with Franklin.The other shifters and their mates moved around them, tucking into the plates full of food that had been nudged to one side.But, as the other lions turned their attention to conversations on other matters, Franklin stayed at the table with Kefir and Ellery.
When Ellery finally undid his cuffs so he could help them sort through the papers, Franklin found himself in his element.Putting together the clues wasn’t that different to putting together a business deal, and Franklin knew how good he was at those.
Kefir and Ellery had already done most of the grunt work.No doubt they would be far from pleased when they discovered he had no intention of sharing Caramel with the pride when they finally found him.Franklin gave a mental shrug and turned all his attention to the notebook where Kefir had neatly listed all the places that the dancer might be.
Their hurt feelings weren’t his problem.And, anyway, in his experience, there were few things that wouldn’t be forgiven if a man threw enough money at the offended parties.
* * * * *
Bastard!
Cameron let out a snarl as the atmosphere in the club changed around him.
The stripper who’d been getting changed next to him, almost fell over his own feet as he tried to pull on his trousers and scurry away at the same time.But Cameron barely spared a glance at his rapidly retreating colleague.
Hewas back.
Cameron’s claws crept out as the man’s presence filled his senses.He shouldn’t be here.He should have been back in that other club, the one Cameron had left specifically because he couldn’t bear to sense the man in the audience again.The man shouldn’t be here.It was wrong, and—
Cameron’s thoughts faltered as something else tugged at the edge of his senses.
Lions!
It had been so long since he’d been in the presence of another shifter, Cameron almost doubted himself.Almost.But a man didn’t survive long working in clubs like that, or dealing with the kind of men who liked to buy more than a dance off the performers, if he wasn’t willing to trust his instincts and learn how to spot the warning signs.
