“Of course.Poor creature.How are you getting there?Will you be on time?”
Xavier nods to the side.“There’s a bus stop on the next street over.I only need to change once.I should be there in twenty minutes or so.”
What?!
We’ve talked about his work before, so I know where the clinic is.And twenty minutes sounds way longer than it should take to get there from here, especially in an emergency.
I wave Miles over.“Miles can drive you.”
“Vera...”Miles gives me a level look.“I’m here foryoursecurity.I don’t run a driver service.”
“We’ve got the rest of the team here for our security.Xavier needs to get to the vet clinic quickly, driving him is faster and easier.”
“He’s right.It’s not that—” Xavier puts his hand on my arm, but I glare at him.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but they’d only call you in today if they had no other option, right?”
“Yes?”
“Then having to depend on public transport is not a good idea.Miles will drive you.”I turn to Miles.“It’s not far.You’ll be back well before the meeting is over.”
Xavier turns to Miles.“Thanks.I’m sorry.”
Miles shows him a slight smile.“If it’s an emergency, it can’t be helped.”Then he gives me a stern look, copying Derrick.“Go inside.Stay inside.Don’t cause any trouble.”
“Yes, yes.”I wave for the two to leave already, before I look around for Luca.The Beta is still waiting with the rest of the security team, looking at the exchange with what seems like amusement in his gaze.
I go over to them and take his hand as Miles drives off.
“You’ve gotten used to bossing people around.”Luca laughs as I pull him towards the restaurant, the security team flanking us.
“Well, it’s not like I had much of a choice.I didn’t want Xavier to get there too late and it’s not like it’s very dangerous here.”
I don’t want to imagine what might happen to the dog or the puppies if he arrives too late because of traffic or a poorly connecting second bus.Sometimes, you’ve just got to use the tools you’ve got, and if we can be sure that Xavier gets there on time this way, then that’s what you’ve got to do.
As soon as we step inside, one of Xavier’s Alphas, Henry, stands up from their table at the back and waves us over.He’s like a younger version of Caleb, very tall and broad, but he’s not covered in scars and he’s still got all his fingers.
“Did you see Xav on your way out?”Henry sits back down as we come close.
“Yes.We ran into him.I got Miles to drive him to the clinic.”I sit opposite Henry as Luca sits next to me, and the security team take their places at two tables nearby, spreading out so they’ve got the best view of us and our surroundings.
“He must have put up a fight.”Even the way Henry laughs reminds me of Caleb, that rumbling sound.
“He did, at first.But people tend to listen when I tell them to do things.”I grin, which gets laughs from Henry and the rest of their pack.Asher and Tom are much quieter than Xavier and Henry, both Alphas, both part of Henry’s security company.
“I got that impression before, yes.”Henry nods, his smile fading as he looks to me.“We saw the articles.You’ve got quite a lot on your plate right now.I didn’t think you’d have time to meet.”
“The articles haven’t really changed anything.The plans are the same as before.We’re adapting a few things, but we’re not planning to call it off.”Putting things off would only give the Hearts more time to make things harder for us, so we’ve got to keep moving.
“Any trouble with any of the other people?”Asher, the guy in the middle, takes a sip of his coffee, his eyes constantly going around the place, like he’s trying to see if anyone is watching us.Well, anyone outside of our team.
“Some people have been getting nervous, but they also know that an opportunity like this isn’t going to come around often.We haven’t had any other trouble.”I’d expected some people to maybe pull out when they saw the articles, especially because our faces were so visible, but the people who are helping us know that we need to take this chance while we can and that seems to be much more important.
“Good.”Asher nods, his eyes settling on Luca for a few moments.“You still good with all of this?”
Luca looks tense, but then he nods.“Yeah.I need to do this.For the kids I couldn’t help before.For the kids caught up in things that they really shouldn’t be around.”He slides his fingers along my arm and takes my hand, weaving our fingers together, his grip tight.
It can’t be easy for him to go back to the brothel.He’s not even supposed to go inside, but I’m sure that even seeing the building from the outside, being in the neighbourhood, will be very stressful for him.
