Chapter 113
Chapter 113
KNOX
Lately, I’ve found myself wanting to leave the club earlier than usual.
It’s not even a guilty feeling, just… foreign. Like I’m abandoning an old friend to chase after a new lover. This place used to be my kingdom. My comfort. The one environment I could control without compromise. I’ve got other businesses scattered all over–some in the city, some not–but this is the one! show up to. I’ve always liked being where chaos gathers, where I can play fixer.
But now, at just a few minutes past 8 p.m., I’m sitting in my office staring at the analog clock on the wall, wondering how quickly I can justify slipping out. Levi and Jade can handle the rest of tonight. They’re good, more than good. Monday through Thursday is usually steady with regulars and low–drama clients. No new blood. No backstage fights.
Still, I used to stay anyway.
I stare at the clock hands as they tick slower than they should. My elbow rests on the arm of the leather chair, knuckles grazing my temple.
All I want is to lie in bed with a certain woman and fake sleep just so I can watch her read those books she swears aren’t alien porn. To see the rise and fall of the blanket next to me. To listen to pages turn and the occasional dramatic sigh when the plot pisses her off.
She’s been testy since the week started. Hormones from her period, she said–like I haven’t already figured that out from the way she nearly threw a pillow at me for breathing too loud. Or the way she cursed out an ottoman when she hit her foot, then spent the next ten minutes limping and blaming me for it..
Last night, she threw her book across the room, where it hit the wall with a dry thud and slumped onto the floor. She then turned and murmured for a couple of minutes before falling asleep. I didn’t touch the book. Neither did she. It stayed there all night.
And somehow, all of it just makes me want to be near her more.
God help me.
She’s sunk her claws into me so deep I’m afraid to even say it out loud. Every time I’ve let myself be that happy, the universe has pulled the rug from under me. Maybe that’s why I’m not rushing to label it. Maybe I think I’ll jinx it.
I glance at the clock again. It’s now 8:04.
I’m seriously considering texting Levi that I’m heading out when there’s a knock at the door–two knocks, like always.
It creaks open.
Aaron enters, pushing an absurdly large box that looks like it should be carrying a refrigerator. He maneuvers it into the room with far more ease than you’d expect for a thing of that size, which tells me it’s exactly what I ordered: the ridiculous alien plush I had custom–made for Sloane. Aaron drags it toward one of the leather couches near the minibar.
The box is taller than him.
I lean back in my chair and smile.
“Boss,” Aaron says, exhaling as he sets the box down, “your alien toy is ready and delivered.”
“I expected it to be bigger.”
Aaron shoots me a dry look. “That thing’s over six feet. What more do you want from it?”
1/3
Chapter 113
I wanted a chubby alien.”
I assure you, if that thing had bones and body fat, it’d weigh over 300 pounds. Thing’s a menace already
“It’s not enough for the joke I had in mind,” I mutter, eyeing the box.
Aaron squints at me, tilting his head. “The joke? Who’s it for anyway?”
“My future wife.”
“Bloody hell,” he says, stepping back like I just confessed to a murder. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft and left the rest of us behind. Who’s going to be the president of the Die Alone Association now?”
“I’m pretty sure you can handle the mantle I’m passing over to you.”
“That’s just cruel, boss.”
He gives me a mock–wounded look, then pulls a file from under his arm and places it on my desk, sliding it forward.
Aaron is technically my assistant, but that title doesn’t cover half of what he is to me. Handler. Errand runner. The best kind of watchdog, if I need something done off the books, he’s the guy.
He straightens, still catching his breath from the heavy box. “So I had a PI look into Mateo Torres as requested.”
I flip open the file as he starts talking.
“Man’s clean. Like, suspiciously clean. Humble background. Christian parents. Old money from the grandfather’s side. His grandfather owned a winery- a big one. Mateo sold it after the old man died and used that and his inheritance to buy into the firm your girlfriend works at.”
My fingers pause over the page.
“He was married,” Aaron continues. “Wife and kid are in Idaho. Apparently, she’s married now to some lawyer dude. Mateo’s been solo for a while. His movements are simple. No wild nightlife. Gym. Church. The firm. Some high–end clubs, but nothing flashy. Hell, he doesn’t even have a parking ticket.”
I lift my eyes from the page.
“He’s so clean,” Aaron says, crossing his arms, “that he annoys me. If what you said is true, that he means you or your girlfriend harm, my guess would be that he’s planning to drown you both during baptism. That’s the only thing I can think of.”
I close the file and press two fingers to the bridge of my nose with my eyes closed.
Aaron waits, like he always does when he knows I’m turning things over in my head.
Finally, I open my eyes. “He’s being smart. If he eventually makes a move, no one would believe he’s guilty.”
“So what’s the play here? Want me to grab him so you can have a chat?”
“If you mean that violently, no.” I push the file to the side. “I’ve been putting it off. But I need to set a meeting with him.”
“Need extra security?”
“I have different sizes of guns, thank you. Besides, you said he’s a church boy. Can’t harm a fly.”
“Right. I’ll be heading out then. And in case you need me to arrange for any other weird alien toys, let me know. I saw some good options back the There’s a whole galaxy collection.”
I smirk. “I’ll do that.”
He makes it to the door, then opens it.
2/2
11:45 Sun, 8 Jun ▲
Chapter 113
But he doesn’t leave.
Because standing right there is Jade, hand raised like he was about to knock.
He drops his arm when he sees Aaron. Then his
gaze finds me.
“Knox,” he says, voice even but urgent. “We’ve got a problem.”
Aaron steps aside, letting Jade enter fully.
Jade walks straight to my desk and plants both hands on it. His posture is relaxed, but I know him too well.
“What is it?” I ask.
“So Levi came to me saying there’s a man at the ground floor reception asking to see you. I was like, you know the drill. Send him away if he’s not a customer. But then Levi told me who he is.”
Jade pauses, like he’s still weighing the next part.
“I thought about sending him away at first because he can’t be here for anything good. But I figured you should know before I do that. Don’t want to end up doing something you wouldn’t have wanted.”
My chair creaks as I lean forward. “Who is he, Jade?”
Jade’s lips press into a line.
“Sloane’s father,” he says. “He looks kind of mad.”
AB
Comment
