96
Megan had given me a death stare before leaving for work while I just laughed and Link shook his head as he looked at me. We had a busy day ahead of us and we left not long after Megan did.
“What’s going on with you two?” he asked me.
“I believe Megan was supposed to be my bonded half, Abeloth agrees so I told her that,” I said to him.
“And?” he asked.
“And now she’s got me jumping through hoops proving that I can be faithful and shit,” I said as he laughed.
“So what’s with the death glare this morning?” he asked me.
“I’m just giving her a taste of her own medicine, she’s teasing the shit out of me so I returned the favour this morning,” I said.
“The sexual tension between you two is going to lead to you guys banging on the stairs or someplace,” he said as I laughed.
“Hopefully sooner rather than later, she’s winning this little game of hers, wearing pajamas that covers basically nothing and acting like it’s all normal while I stutter and drool,” I said to him as he laughed again.
“You two are like a live sitcom you know, every night I come home with anticipation,” he said as I shook my head.
“Enough about my personal life that’s so fucking funny to you, what’s going on with this housing project of ours?” I asked him.
“Right, well, Jeff Malone is being rather difficult with the books and he had no real explanation about why things aren’t getting done, I think he’s skimming from the accounts and bullshitting us with the work load,” Link said.
“Let’s go give him a surprise visit,” I said as Link smiled and sped up as he took the turn off to the building site.
We drove in silence for the next ten minutes when I picked up my phone and ordered a huge bouquet of lilies for Megan to be delivered to the school with a note that read, ‘thank you for last night.’ Link was laughing again as I ended the call and he glanced at me.
“She’s going to fuck you up,” he said as I laughed.
He parked the car in front of the building site offices and we climbed out of the car as I saw the blinds move in the office. Jeff Malone was in for a special visit, not a friendly one at that.
“Good morning, Mr. Grey,” Jeff said as he stepped out of the office.
“Jeff,” I said as we shook hands.
“Please come inside,” he said as we followed him inside and sat down on the chairs in front of his desk.
“I hear you’re stalling and I don’t appreciate your bullshit excuses. You were paid to do a job and I expect you to finish on the deadline you were given,” I said to him.
“Mr. Grey as I explained to your assistant here…” he said and Link glared at him.
“I’m not his assistant, I’m his enforcer,” he said threateningly and Jeff swallowed uneasily.
“Continue,” I said to him.
“As I was saying, with the permits and building codes, deliveries were late, but I’ll make up the lost time,” he said with unease.
“Show me the books,” I said to him.
“Actually the books aren’t here right now,” he said.
“Jeff let’s cut to the chase here shall we, if you’re abusing my money I’ll find out and then Link here will come back to hurt you, he has a creative streak that I admire. If you try and run, we’ll find you and then I’ll hurt you. If you steal from me, I’ll take everything you hold precious in your life. If you fuck with me on this project, your body will never be found. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Mr. Grey, I promise just give me one week and everything will be back on track,” he said with fear lacing his voice.
“Good, don’t do anything stupid, Jeff,” I said and stood up.
Link kept glaring at him until we drove off and I smiled to myself as Link started laughing out loud. He drove away from the building site and headed into town.
“If I didn’t know you like I did, I would’ve peed myself a little,” Link said through his laughter.
“Get someone to watch him, that motherfucker’s going to run,” I said to him.
“Yeah I could see the wheels turning in his head,” Link agreed.
We visited four other businesses before heading back to town. The other meetings had gone well and I could see a general improvement as the managers were eager to show us what they’ve done over the past month. I was happy with everything and Abeloth had stopped bitching at me about Sire Albert.
We spent the afternoon updating our files and talking about Jeff and what we were going to do to him if he did decide to run when the front door slammed shut and Link’s face broke out into a huge smile as Megan yelled my name loudly.
“He’s in the office,” Link yelled back as he stood up to leave.
“Ryder,” she said as she gave me a look.
“Hello, Megan, how was your day?” I asked innocently.
“Oh my day was just perfect until you had this huge bouquet of flowers delivered to the front office!” she said loudly.
“Did you like them?” I asked her.
“I would have liked it more if you hadn’t added a note that everyone read,” she said.
“What was wrong with my note?” I asked her.
“Thanks for last night,” she said and Link started laughing in the hallway.
“Yeah, the coffee you made me and helping me remember those details about Joe,” I said to her and she looked taken aback.
“Oh,” she said and turned around to leave.
“No, no, wait a minute, what were you thinking?” I asked her keeping my expression neutral.
“Nothing, but obviously everyone else thinks something,” she said as she walked out of the office.
“I could always give them a reason to think something else,” I said loudly.
“You wouldn’t dare!” she yelled back and I heard her footsteps on the stairs.
“You’re an asshole,” Link said as he laughed.
“I know, but she had it coming,” I said to him.
Two hours later Basil arrived alone and we made our way to the dining room. I poured drinks for us as we sat around the table and talked about random subjects waiting for Megan. Basil stood up when she walked inside and grabbed her hand.
“You must be the lovely Megan I’ve heard so much about,” Basil said as he kissed her hand.
“If it’s from Ryder’s mouth it’s probably not true,” she said and Basil laughed as he gave me a look.
“I like her,” he said as he returned to his seat and she sat down opposite him.
“I’m sure, Basil, now keep a tight leash on it,” I said as he laughed at me.
“Are you afraid that she might like me more?” he asked and Megan laughed.
“Don’t be an idiot,” I said to him.
“I don’t know, Ryder, he seems funny and charming and he’s not bad looking,” Megan said as she smiled at Basil and Link started coughing and trying to hit himself on the back.
“Is this payback for this morning?” I asked her and she smiled sweetly at me.
“Ooh what happened this morning?” Basil asked.
“Nothing,” I said as Megan kept smiling.
“So Basil, what do you do for fun when you’re not planning kidnappings?” Megan asked him and he chuckled.
“Maybe I should just show you,” Basil said as I glared at him.
“You do realize that I can hurt you,” I said to him as they both started laughing.
“Oh relax Ryder we’re just having some fun at your expense,” Basil said.
“She’d never choose you over me,” I said as I looked at him.
“What could you possibly have that I don’t?” he asked curiously.
“That’s for me to know and you never to find out,” I said.
“Well Ryder does have all those tattoos working for him,” Megan said and I smiled as I looked at Basil.
“His death tally tattoos?” Basil asked and I closed my eyes briefly.
“Death tally?” Megan asked as she looked at him.
“He got those after each successful assignment, meaning for every ten people he killed he added a tattoo, Felix had them too, it was like a brotherhood thing with them,” Basil said easily.
“Wow, I didn’t know that,” Megan said.
“Aren’t you due for another one after your little escapades recently?” Basil asked me.
“Yes,” I said and tried to figure out the look on Megan’s face.
“So I found out that Joe is indeed still in Chicago, spending his time at that damn warehouse and his house, I’ll probably grab him in between those two,” Basil said after a moment of silence.
“Joe likes to go to this little bar about a mile from the warehouse, eat a steak, have a few drinks, relieves himself in the alleyway behind the bar and then goes home,” I said and Basil smiled.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he said.
“Please Basil, you love me like a brother,” I said and he laughed.
“What’s going to happen after you kidnap this Joe guy?” Link asked as he pushed away his empty plate.
“We’ll question him thoroughly for information,” Basil said and I laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” Megan asked.
“Question thoroughly is code for torture,” I said and her eyes widened slightly.
“I was trying to keep the conversation light,” Basil said as he emptied his wine glass.
“Give me a call when he doesn’t talk,” I said to him.
“What makes you think he won’t talk?” Basil asked.
“I trained under Joe, I know all his techniques, we underwent torture training, he won’t talk to you,” I said to him.
“I can be creative,” Basil said with a frown.
“Not as creative as him, you’re not a monster Basil, just a good guy looking for revenge for his brother,” I said.
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