“Fuck off.” I growled at him, my voice holding a hint of alpha power, which had absolutely no effect on Axel. “And yes,” I said, choosing to ignore his grin instead. “I know we might bump into them, but it’s not a crime to go to a club. Anyway, it might not be so easy forGabrielto get in. He’ll need to get permission to go to Midnight since he’s human.”
“Which he isn’t,” Axel muttered.
I ignored that too. “So you’ll come?”
“Yes,” he said, all serious now. “I want to catch who did this to Callum as much as the rest of you.”
GABRIEL
I sat at my desk,Nick’s business card between my fingers.Nick Parker. Assistant Manager, Midnight.Two phone numbers were listed below.
“You going to call him?”
I looked up to find Max watching me.
He pointed to the card. “Nick.” He waggled his eyebrows and I laughed despite trying to glare at him.
“Best friend,” I repeated for the third time.
“Hot best friend.” Max gestured to his arms. “Nice tatts.”
I set the card down and stared at him. “Want me to ask him if he’s single?”
“What? No. I’m not looking for anything like that.” Max sighed, a pained look in his eye. “Not with him, anyway,” he muttered under his breath, so quietly I suspected I wasn’t supposed to hear.
I didn’t have time to dwell on that before he spoke again.
“But if you want to know if he’s single for your benefit,” he said, smile back in place, “then go ahead and ask him.”
“I think I’ll pass.” As hot as Nick was now, and I could appreciate he’d aged extremely well, I loved him like a brother, or at least I had before he’d left. It’d felt just as easy when I saw him at the club, almost like we’d never been apart. I wanted to get that friendship back. Leaving Tombs’ group had lost me a lot of friends. Most I didn’t give a shit about, but there were a few, especially the younger ones, I missed a lot.
I needed all the friends I could get these days.
Deciding I didn’t want to call Nick with Max in the room—nothing would be private with his super-hearing—I sent him a text.
Gabriel:Hey Nick, this is my number. I’d really like to catch up, it’s been way too long. Text me when you’re available. Mase.
Short, sweet, and to the point.
I wasn’t expecting him to reply right away, but my phone chimed in my hand, making me almost drop it.
Max gave me a curious glance, then his eyes narrowed. “You texted him, didn’t you? So that I wouldn’t overhear.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Max rolled his eyes. “I can choose not to listen in on people’s conversations, you know.”
“Yes, I do know. But are you really going to sit there and tell me you wouldn’t listen if I called Nick from here?”
“So you were texting him,” Max crowed triumphantly.
I ignored him and opened the message.
Nick: I’ve got to work Friday and Saturday, are you free tonight?
A glance at the time told me we were nearly done for the day. The footage we’d looked through at Midnight hadn’t shown Nick having any interaction with Callum, because he’d had that weekend off work. He’d also given Max a solid alibi for Monday when Callum would have taken the poison.
But I wondered if I should check with Max that I wasn’t jeopardising anything by meeting him.
