But until it came to that…
Shawn held his breath as a white mustang parked two blocks over on the other side of the street, a man in an old hoodie with a red baseball cap getting out of it and keeping his head down to the ground—and with good reason.If word got out that he was the type of guy to leak the contracts that were going around in hunter society to anyone?Well, then, his business was pretty much as good as gone.
Shawn was pretty sure that Xavier really just liked the thrill of this, to be honest.The idea of being caught, of somehow tearing his whole ass life to shreds.Guys like Xavier, ones who had the option to live a normal life but had decided to go into the hunter lifestyle, were kind of like that.Nothing ever satisfied them.
In the time that Shawn had known Xavier, nothing had ever really made him happy, and even now, as Shawn looked him up and down and took in the details of his old friend's face, he couldn't help but note that the man didn't seem fulfilled.He was still searching for something he likely would for all his life.
To be honest, it was the site of Xavier that had made Shawn double down in his determination to protect his mate, feeling like his life was far more fulfilled than it had been before.If it wasn't for her, obviously, he'd be just like his friend.
And his friend?His friend looked rough.Shifty and rough.
There was a reason why he hadn't decided to bring Xavier to the pride compound, even though he wanted to believe that he could trust him.There is always a certain desperate error to its savior, one that made it clear that at the end of the day, he would choose himself.
And choose himself, as he always did.
He’d known him for a while.Xavier had always been the type of guy to ruin his life once things started going right.The fact that he had agreed to show up was hardly a surprise, nor was the way that he cut across traffic, hardly caring if one of the cars dared to stop a little too close to him.Xavier was always looking for some sort of thrill—it had led to a startling drug habit that had almost torn apart his life once or twice.
To be honest, Shawn was surprised when he saw Xavier by the fact that the man had actually cared to show up, having heard time and time again from other people of all the ways that he had supposedly backstabbed them by letting them down.For some reason, he chose not to let Shawn down.
Maybe the fact that Shawn had been the one to drive him into rehab had been the reason that Xavier showed up, he supposed.Maybe the fact that he took the goddamn needle out of his hands and slapped him across the face, telling him to get his shit together—maybe that was enough to have gained him the fat manilla folder that sat in Xavier’s hand as he walked along the sidewalk towards them.
Shawn didn’t know, and he didn’t care.He just shook his head, watching the way that Xavier’s lips pulled back to show his toothy gums, revealing a large smile as he walked right up to Shawn, obviously having never read the memo that Shawn wasn’t much of a huggy guy as he wrapped his arms around his friend and pulled him in, tightly grasping him.
“Who the fuck did you bring with you?”Xavier hissed into Shawn’s ear, reassuring him that he had not, in fact, read one of his oldest friends wrong.Instead, Xavier was unimpressed by the fact that Shawn had decided to bring company, of all things.
“Trainee,” Shawn stated, letting the lie flow from his lips with ease, even as Xavier held him close for a minute longer and obviously measured his heartbeat, a look of unamusement coating his features.
Hunters were trained to sense the slightest change in heartbeat.They could tell with just one look at you and your bobbing throat whether or not you were lying.Shawn knew that, and thankfully since he didn't give a shit what Xavier thought of him, he was actually capable of lying to this asshole.
Especially when it was for El’s sake.
“You finally getting to fuck that girl, or?”Xavier cut off as he pulled away from Shawn, his eyes leveling his as he very obviously remembered the murmurings of drunk Shawn’s past.
If Shawn could, he would beat the shit out of Xavier and himself for having dared to say such a thing about El.Instead, Shawn just held Xavier’s gaze with an icy stare, holding out his hand in wait as Xavier sighed and flopped it into his grasp.
“You know, they’ve got protections and shit now.This wasn’t easy to get,” Xavier explained, obviously expecting a larger reward than usual for his offering.
“Put it on my tab,” Shawn instructed, but the look on Xavier’s face made it clear that wasn’t enough.He sighed, rolling his eyes as he reached back into his pocket.So much for the power of friendship and all that bullshit.It seemed like everywhere he turned, people were looking to make an extra buck.
But before Shawn could withdraw his pocketbook to drain his already plush bank account, Trip reached over his shoulder, holding out seven crisp hundred-dollar bills.For a moment, all Shawn could do was stare at them, wondering what type of guy Trip had to be to be carrying that much cash.Then he reminded himself that every single one of the guys in the triad had a job, and Trip’s was to be the guy who handled the money.
It made sense that he expected the unexpected expense, as well as that he was more than willing to hand over the cash with little to no argument on his part.From what Shawn had heard of Feral, the restaurants were doing well—well, far better than well—and were pretty much the talk of the city.Seven hundred dollars was probably pocket money, Shawn guessed by the look of the smile that resided on Trip’s face and did his best to button his lips, providing Xavier with a raised brow and an expression that made it all too clear that it was time to leave.
“Fuck, you’re doing gay shit now?”Xavier remarked as he diligently accepted his money, and while Shawn would have done well enough to break down the intricacies of his relationship with his brothers and explain that there wasn’t really anything gay about it, he didn’t really care enough to mind.
“Sure, whatever,” Shawn stated, rolling his eyes as he gripped the manila folder and turned on his heels to walk away with Trip in turn.“You’re just mad that you can’t afford me,” Shawn stated, much to Trip’s amusement, and the two laughed together for the whole of three or four blocks before they found a seedy, greasy burger joint that had definitely not passed a health inspection to date in which they could examine their wares.
Nice to Meat You was,to put it kindly, a shithole.And that was putting it kindly.Considering the fact that Trip knew enough about restaurants to know that you weren't supposed to have tiles that were caked with a layer of grease, he could tell you that it was far more than a shithole.It was probably a potential health risk to both of them to eat there, but it was nearby, and it was the sort of place that no one would go to unless they knew that the food was either legendary or they were goddamn desperate.Judging by the look of the waitresses who meandered around the restaurant with stray hairs left and right and age showing heavily on their skin, Trip had to guess that it was the torrid place that you go when you are desperate and there’s nothing else open for miles.
This meant that it went on the long list of potential locations for a new restaurant that Trip was currently in the process of making, having long since convinced investors that Feral as a chain was the solution to any failing neighborhood and that if they were to get in while things were cheap and run down without a whisper of who they were, they could flip the value of any city block easily.
The triad had been looking for a far more central location for a while now.He admitted to himself as their waitress angrily stalked off to put in an order of burgers with what he assumed to be the grill cook—either that or he was a convicted felon who had just wandered in and decided to start grilling things for fun, which was honestly how a few grill cooks got their start, to begin with.
Whatever the case, Trip took note, mentally adding the location to his list as he prepared his presentation for the shareholders on Friday, a presentation in which he would look into diversifying their restaurant lineup and spreading out their business a bit more to ensure that whatever sort of life that his daughter lived, it was going to be a comfortable one.
Ever since Destiny had come into the picture, he’d begun cleaning up his act—everyone had, really.The four men had grown easily into the idea of being fathers, treating their surprise bundle of joy like she was the center of the world and rearranging their lives surrounding her to accompany her.What were a few extra hours of missed sleep and a few $1,000,000 of investment money, if not an opportunity to further enrich his daughter's life?There was always a chance that she would ask for a boat or something for her birthday.He wasn't going to be the one to say no.
Fuck, if anyone thought that they were going to be the one to say no to his daughter, fucking end them.She currently had more money than God, but El still deserved more.If she so much as showed an inclination, Trip was pretty sure that her mates would buy a small country for her.
