by Zoe Perdita
Ken’s feet ached, and his bladder really did need emptying by the time he sneaked off. No one paid him any mind, as if he were one of the crates. Might as well be for all the good he’d done so far. He cast one last glance at Davis and slipped away in the opposite direction than they’d come.
That side of the warehouse was just as much a maze as the other half. If the place caught fire, they’d burn up before they found an escape. Hadn’t that happened during the gang war? Several of the warehouses burned, killing a handful of Russians. A chill shot up his spine, and he shoved that thought away.
Ken found the bathroom easily enough, and when he wandered back out he took a minor detour and pulled out the phone. Perhaps these crates would look familiar to Jin or Fei in some way. They were each stamped, but the writing was Cyrillic, which he couldn’t read.
One of the crates had a crack in it, so Ken took a picture of the interior with the phone. Even with the flash, it came out blurry.
Damn!
He took several more photos, unsure if any of them meant something.
After several uneventful minutes, footsteps pounded toward him, and bear musk flitted through the air. Ken shoved the phone away and marched toward the sound with his chin up. He reached the main walkway and turned. A bear eyed Ken, but he didn’t say a word.
Ken swallowed and went back to the game. He stepped into the room as several players raised their voices. They spoke in a combination of languages, and Ken only caught bits of English here and there. His stomach sank.
This better not be Davis’s fault.
Of course, it was.
A middle-aged woman leaned over one of the tables, glowering at Davis. “You cheat!” she cried and electricity danced on her finger tips. A lightning mage? After everything else, they didn’t need that!
Ken edged closer, his eyes on Davis.
Davis shook his head, smiling just enough that he didn’t look like an ass. “I did not cheat. Promise. I’m sorry you lost but. . .” He reached for the pot of chips, and she shocked his hand.
He shook it, and the stink of singed hair filled the air.
Ken rushed toward them. No matter what Davis did, he didn’t deserve to be electrocuted because of it.
A bear spoke to the woman, and she shrugged him off right as Ken saddled up to Davis. He counted the chips. Thirty grand. Not bad for a night’s work.
Davis looked up at him and shrugged. “This is a mistake. I didn’t cheat.”
Every hackle on Ken’s back stood on edge. What was he supposed to do if it came to a fight? It’s not like he relished in his omega side unless he had to. The occasional hike through Forest Park in wolf form was enough to satisfy him month to month, and he never had to contain violence. This might call for violence, and he really didn’t want to ruin his suit. Or end up with broken bones. Or die.
But this was Davis.
Ken gritted his teeth and shed his coat. “He didn’t cheat. I’m his mate, and I know him. I can vouch for him.” His voice carried better than he thought it would, considering all his bones felt like they were about to vibrate out of his body.
Davis clasped his hands, steadied him, and nodded. “That’s what I keep saying. Can I get my chips now?”
Dmitri watched them from across the room. His gaze was intense and curious, but he didn’t do a damn thing to intervene.
Of course not. Ken and Davis were on their own. They always had been.
The lightning mage narrowed her bright eyes. A handkerchief was tied around her hair, and her accent was thickly Russian. “Turn out your sleeves.”
The oversized bear who loomed over the tabled nodded his approval at that request.
The room fell deathly still, as if everyone held their breath. Ken felt it clog in his throat, and he silently begged Davis to be telling the truth.
Slowly, Davis rolled up his sleeves, his eyes level with the mage’s the entire time.
Empty.
No cards fluttered out.
Ken sighed and pinched his lips together.
“My chips?” Davis growled. For once he wasn’t smiling, and Ken felt the alpha bristle inside Davis. Ready to rip and tear if someone denied him.
“Da. He won. Chips are his,” the bear grumbled and turned.
However, the lightning mage didn’t back away. She hit the table with the flat of her fist. “I don’t accept this.”
“You don’t have to accept it, but it’s the truth,” Davis said and pulled his winnings toward him. He made quick work of each pile, and the sound of plastic snapping against plastic drowned out the beating of Ken’s throbbing heart.
“We’ll see,” the lightning mage said, and Ken’s hair stood up on the back of his neck.
Then the woman slipped into the maze before Davis could reply.
“Did you make the cut,” Ken managed after several seconds.
“Yep. You didn’t see?”
“Bathroom.”
Davis gave him a knowing wink. “Let’s cash this in and check the roster for the final game.”
They did.
Ken didn’t know any of the names besides Dmitri, but Davis didn’t seem overly concerned. Ken was concerned that Davis had that much cash on him, and his shoulders tensed as Davis tucked it away. If they got mugged on the way home—talk about bad luck! But Ken didn’t broach that. Davis would probably tease him for even thinking about it.
He almost forgot his jacket as they left, but Davis grabbed it from the table and handed it over. “Don't want you to freeze out there.”
“Right,” Ken mumbled and slipped it on. He called a cab as soon as they got outside.
Overall, the night went better than planned, but they hadn’t found the drugs or any damn sign of the them. What good was he to Davis if he couldn’t do that much?
As they waited, he watched the boats bob on the water. Mist curled around the edges of the pier, the air thick with it.
“One of those boats is missing,” Davis whispered as the cab pulled up.
Ken eyed them. There had been three boats before, now there were only two. Strange to go out on the river at night, especially with the fog setting in. Perhaps it meant something. Something to do with the drugs, but how the hell were they supposed to figure it out by the day of the last tournament?
Going back there would be dangerous. If Davis got caught, he wouldn’t be able to pay back Jin. That put the responsibility squarely in Ken’s lap. He scowled.
“Did you cheat?” Ken asked after they’d settled into the cab.
Davis snapped his seatbelt in place. “You think I would?”
Maybe Ken was being an asshole again, but what the hell else was he supposed to think? “Did you or not? You don’t have the best rap sheet.”
“You sound like a probation officer,” Davis said as an ace appeared in his fingers. “I didn’t plan to use it, but I did pocket this.”
Ken pinched his eyes shut. Then he snatched the card from Davis’s hands. “And she saw you? What if she does something? Attacks you? I didn’t find the drugs, and you pissed off a lightning mage. All in all, not great!”
“You’re overreacting,” Davis said and kissed Ken’s temple. “We have a lead and three more days to find the drugs. Plus, you needed some excitement in your life.”
Ken nudged Davis. “This isn’t the kind of excitement I had in mind.”
Davis’s only response was to put an arm over Ken’s shoulder and pull him close.
Three more days to find the drugs. How the hell could they pull that off?
10
Truthfully, that wasn’t the sort of excitement Davis had in mind either. Not for himself or Ken. That’s why he didn’t bring Ken with him when he strolled into the Dragon’s building the next day. Ken was tucked away at work, while Davis wandered into a den of Tigers, Monkeys and Dragons, but that’s the way it should be. It’s what alphas had to do for their packs.
It’s what Davis should’ve done fifteen years before when he started this.
> That didn’t stop him from wishing Ken were there. Not for moral support, but because that damn alpha wanted to make sure he was safe. Wanted to keep an eye on the omega. And, maybe a little, because Sam was at work with Ken.
The alpha growled.
The feeling wasn’t new. Davis always wanted Ken safe before, but after that night the sensation heightened to the point his palms itched and his gut clenched. Ken didn’t notice, of course, because Ken never noticed the effect he had on others. He was too busy worrying about Davis to ever watch out for himself.
But Davis noticed the eyes trail over Ken in that damn suit at the game the night before. Not just the ladies either. Some of the guys watched Ken with keen interest. Hell, even Dmitri gave an appreciative nod of his head in Ken’s direction. And how could Davis blame them when Ken was so damn sexy?
He couldn’t, but he did.
Silently and secretly.
The alpha wanted to claw out their necks, and Davis fought to keep that desire in check with mindless conversation and a smile. It worked until that morning when Ken got up.
Davis yanked him back into the bed with an oomph (on Ken’s part, not his), and attacked. Well, attacked with his lips and hands. Ken’s back arched when Davis kissed it, and the whimper that left Ken’s lips, still rough with sleep, singed Davis to the core. He didn’t let go until they’d both gotten what they needed, sticky and slick.
Then, Ken took a rare morning shower. Davis joined him. Not in an effort to save water, but because leaving Ken’s side seemed like the most impossible task in the universe. This new side of their friendship was much better than he’d imagined, even if Ken didn’t want to hear what Davis had to say.
But Davis knew what he wanted. Even if he still had things to figure out about himself, he wanted to be at Ken’s side while he did it. He wanted them to figure this out together.
Ken’s scent hung on him now, and Davis breathed it in as he stalked up to the tiger at the elevator. It wasn’t one he recognized from the last time he was there.
“I need to see Jin,” Davis said.
The tiger narrowed her eyes, pulled out a cell and made a call. She spoke Cantonese, so Davis had no clue what she said. When she hung up, she nodded her agreement.
Just as Davis was about to climb into the elevator at her prompting, another wolf trotted up. An omega, slight and rumpled. He wore a Hulk T-shirt under his jacket and jeans with frayed bottoms spilled over his Converse. “Hey Ming-Na!”
The tiger held the door for him.
The omega stepped next to Davis.
Davis smiled. “Nice shirt.”
The omega blinked. “Oh. You here to see Jin too? Wait? Are you the gambler that owes Jin all that money, and he got you to go undercover to figure out the Russian drug problem all James Bond like? Ha! I thought you’d be taller.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not,” Davis said and shrugged. “You work with Jin?”
“From time to time. I’m a member of the Black Wolves. I’m actually here for Fei. Uh, he’s the tiger with the dimples. He’s usually at Jin’s side getting people drinks and silently judging everyone. I mean, I know that because he tells me about it at night. He called you the loser, but I’m sure he meant it in a funny way and not a mean way. Or maybe it was in a mean way. He didn’t make that clear. I laughed. Sorry.”
Davis blinked. “Are you—”
“Fei’s mate? Yep! That’s me. Milo. Nice to meet you. I hope you get that stuff with Jin sorted out. He’s pretty reasonable if he gets what he wants. Oh. Here you are,” Milo said as the door pinged its arrival and slid open. Milo didn’t step out, so Davis went first.
“Good luck!” Milo called as the door closed behind Davis. Fei must’ve been on another floor.
Davis shook his head. That little omega was mates with the dour tiger? Well, at least the omega seemed happy.
Jin stood with his back to Davis. Haven stretched in front of him, draped in rain and fog. He didn’t turn.
Davis walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink instead as he glanced around the room. It was a penthouse with huge windows that overlooked Chinatown and the edge of the Flats. If Davis squinted, he could make out the street Ty lived on. His tattoo parlor was a smudge on the landscape.
“You made quite the impression last night,” Jin finally said and turned. He stood parallel to the window, so the dim gray light covered half of his face and the other was draped in shadow.
“I won. That’s all I needed to do,” Davis said and sipped his glass of tonic water with a little lime wedge. Not what he’d usually have, but drinking before noon wasn’t something he did unless he’d had a bad night. As in, he lost a shitload of money.
“And you pissed off a lightning mage. She thought you cheated,” Jin mused with a smirk.
Davis shrugged. “I didn’t. Who did you have spying on me? Dmitri?”
Jin didn’t answer, but his smirk turned up at the edges. “I know you don’t have my money yet. Why are you here?”
That’s why Davis really came. Not to update Jin on his progress (the Dragon had his own people for that), but to make an amendment to their previous deal. “You want me to pay you back and find these drugs, which I’m doing, but what do I get out of this?”
Jin swept around, both his brows raised. The golden rims of his irises shone. “You think you’re in a position to make requests? What you get is your life and the safety of your mate and brother.”
Davis swallowed the lump in his throat before he spoke again. Sure, he made dumb decisions on an almost weekly basis but standing up to the Dragon might’ve been right up there in the top ten. It was Ken’s fault, really. How else was he supposed to make his mate proud?
“It’s more of a proposition. It’ll benefit both of us, I swear,” Davis said and put on his most disarming smile.
Jin frowned. “I’m listening.”
Looks like the charm didn’t work on Jin. Oh well. At least Jin didn’t shift and swallow Davis whole. “After this is all over, I need a job. Ken—my mate—he needs to know that I’m here to stay and that I’m responsible.” But Davis wasn’t the nine to five work in an office environment kind of guy. Fuck, he wasn’t even the start his own business like Ty kind of guy. He was the kind of guy whose only real talent was gambling, and Jin happened to run several casinos in town. They were a perfect match, besides all the stuff about stealing and Jin threatening to kill him. “I want a job in one of your casinos.”
Jin actually laughed and moved to an expensive looking leather chair. It faded quickly as he sat. “You think I’d put you in one of my casinos?”
Davis nodded and set his glass down before he squeezed it so hard it cracked. “Yeah. Hear me out. I don’t want to be a dealer, but I can play at the tables like a normal patron, only I’m not. More like a plant to root out cheaters and card counters. You could use one. Your guys are good, but I’m better.”
“You don’t think I hire the best?” Jin growled, his eyes narrowed to slits.
Davis fought the urge to lick his lips. Or pour another drink, alcohol this time, and down it before he finished his spiel. “They’re good. But none of them are me. They’re not professionals. The only reason you caught me is because I got sloppy. The only reason I got sloppy is because I got bored. I might have a list of offenses all over the U.S., but that’s a fraction of the places I’ve been. Think about it. I didn’t cheat because I wanted to win. I cheated because winning the normal way wasn’t interesting enough.”
“So you’re an adrenalin junkie with a death wish?”
“No,” Davis sighed. How the hell could he explain it to someone who didn't understand the rush? “Well, maybe a little, but I don’t want to die. I want to give you the opportunity to hire someone who can help your casino. Look, it gives me a good use of my skills and a job. Ken needs someone stable. I have a pack, and I’m not running off this time. You seem like a man that can appreciate unusual talents. Give me a job and you won’t be sorry.” Davis ended by tiltin
g his chin up the way Ken did. It sounded too much like begging, so his stance should be defiant.
Jin studied him for a long moment, his hands tracing circles on the armrests of the chair. “You make a compelling argument. Keeping you close is better than tossing you out into the wild.”
Like he was a damn salmon in the river. But Davis nodded and stood up straight.
“Fine, but is your mate going to like it? You’ll have a job, but you’ll be working for the Triad. I like how that works.”
In truth, Davis had no idea how Ken would react. Badly, he guessed, which is why he planned to tell Ken sooner rather than later. Get it over with like yanking off a Band-Aid.
“Thank you,” Davis said.
Jin waved his hand toward the elevator. “I hope you’re as talented as you claim, Mr. Harrison.”
Davis nodded and left with a new found resolve burning in his chest. Tonight, he’d tell Ken everything—even if his mate didn’t want to hear it.
Of course, as with all of Davis’s plans, this one went awry. Only, this is one of the few times it wasn’t his fault.
The phone rang as he made dinner. Davis answered it, leaning against the kitchen counter. The smell of cooking filled the condo.
Davis already went down to the butcher on the corner and picked out two steaks each (filet mignon, which was Ken’s favorite). He hoped the wine on the counter went well with steak. As far as he was concerned, wine was wine, but Ken had to be picky about it.
“Hey,” Ken said and his teeth chattered on the other end of the line. The rush of traffic hummed behind him.
“Hey,” Davis said. He could get used to this. Ken calling on his way home. Making dinner, as long as it fit with his hours at the casino. Them being together.
It felt right.
Perfect.
“I’m going to be late. We have this work thing that I totally forgot about and Carolyn is bugging me to go so. . . .” Ken trailed off.
A car honked and the phone buzzed with static. “Yeah. That’s cool. Uh, you want me to join you?”
