Arranged love

“That bad, huh?”

“I haven’t even been to bed yet.” She covers her mouth to yawn. “And I’m pretty sure I’m still drunk.”NôvelDrama.Org content.

“Well, at least it was worth it.”

She winks at me. “He always is.”

I don’t ask who she’s talking about because she keeps who she hooks up with pretty secretive. It’s none of my business. As long as she’s getting what she wants, that’s all that matters.

“Sorry, ladies.” April returns to her seat.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah …” She doesn’t sound so sure. “Ethan is just acting weird.”

“How so?” I ask, curious about Ethan.

April and I haven’t gotten to spend much time together lately. She supplied the flowers for Titan and Emilee’s wedding, and when the happy couple did an article in the paper, they name-dropped Roses. April’s shop blew up. She’s been slammed with order after order ever since then.

Her brother was in trouble a while back, and Grave had to dig him out of it. I don’t know the extent of it, but it cost Grave quite a bit of money.

“He seemed to have been doing better, but we’re not as close as we once were. And we no longer live together since I moved in with Grave, so all I can do is guess.” She shrugs.

“Well, I’m sure if he was in trouble, he would come to you or Grave,” I say, and Jasmine looks away as if to check out of the conversation, not wanting to stick her nose into anything. Makes me wonder if she knows something.

“Yeah,” April agrees but doesn’t seem convinced.

I look up to see Titan enter the restaurant with his wife in hand, followed by one of the King’s best friends, Luca Bianchi, and his wife as well. Titan stands out just like the rest of the Kings with all of his ink. But Luca looks more business type. He wears the expensive three-piece suit, whereas Titan is dressed casually.

“Can’t find the place on your own?” Jasmine asks Emilee.

She ignores her and turns to kiss Titan before plopping down next to me. Emilee has her dark hair up in a bun and no makeup on her face. Her blue eyes meet mine. “Why are we here so early? What happened to our lunch dates? I wanted to sleep in.”

“April picked the time.” Jasmine calls her out.

“Hey!” April shoves her shoulder. “Some of us have jobs to do.”

“You have fun with that. I’m going to drink two more cups of coffee, then go home and sleep the day away,” Jasmine states.

Haven sits down next to Jasmine, making them scoot in more to give her room as her husband and Titan leave the restaurant.

I like her, but I haven’t spent any time with her husband. No reason to. We’ve been around each other here and there but never spoke to one another directly. Her husband, Luca, seems … different. He’s best friends with the Kings, but I can’t find the connection. He doesn’t work for Kingdom that I know of, and she doesn’t work at all. From what I know, the girls all grew up together.

“Where’s your babysitter?” April asks Haven.

“Nite? He had to go upstairs with the guys. I guess they’re having an important meeting.” She shrugs. “I don’t ever ask. Sometimes, it’s better off not knowing.”

“You know there is a law-spousal immunity-where the spouse can’t testify against their significant other,” Jasmine offers her. “So even if you did know where he buried the bodies, you don’t have to say.”

The girls laugh it off like it’s a joke, but a part of me knows they’re being serious, and that makes me even more interested in Cross. I know it’s wrong. That comment from Jasmine alone should make me delete his number from my phone and run, but it does the opposite. Ever heard of curiosity killed the cat? Well, call me a dead pussy.

CROSS

I SIT AT our conference table on the thirteenth floor in tower one as Nite, Luca, and Titan enter. Grave sits across from me, icing his right hand. He got in some good hits last night at the Airport. Bones already sits at the head of the table.

Nite takes the seat to my left, and Luca sits next to Grave. He places his cell on the table, and I flip my Zippo open and closed as I stare at it.

The conference room has jammers all over it, so we conduct our business here. Secretive meetings where we talk about shit that cannot be repeated. No cell phones or electrical devices will work in this room, just in case someone tries to record anything. The Kings cover our asses.

“What’s the issue?” Bones asks Luca.

He undoes his suit jacket before answering. “Well, the fact that Kenneth didn’t give you anything to go on doesn’t look good.”

“The guy wasn’t going to talk,” Grave states, leaning back in his seat and getting comfortable.

“He was dead. Doesn’t matter who did it. The guy was on borrowed time,” Bones agrees with his brother.

“Maybe, but we needed to know when that shipment was going to arrive,” Luca says.

“There’s got to be someone else who knows something.” Titan is the one who speaks.

“The Mason brothers,” Grave offers.

“No.” Bones shakes his head.

“Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean they can’t be helpful,” Grave snaps at him.

“I don’t want them involved,” Bones goes on.

“And I don’t want people I love killed.” Grave stands, throwing his ice pack into the center of the custom black table where a skull is carved out. “Some of us actually have something to lose here, Bones.”

His brother sighs, looking up at him, but he doesn’t argue. I can understand Grave’s frustration. Titan and Bones have nothing to do with the Mason brothers, but I don’t mind them.

“I can go speak to them. Dig around a little,” I offer. “If I don’t think they can help, then I won’t give anything away.”

The room falls silent, and Luca looks at Nite. “You can go with him.”

Nite nods as if it was a question. Nite is our secret weapon per se. The guy doesn’t speak. He’s been a mute since college.

“Then it’s decided,” Grave states before turning and exiting the room, shoving the double doors open.

Bones bows his head, running his hand through his hair, obviously not pleased. But what can he do at this point? He may be Grave’s older brother, but Grave has always done what he wants to do. The kid wasn’t nicknamed Grave for nothing. He’s always had a death wish.

“We’ll go tonight,” I say, and once again, Nite nods, letting me know that’s fine. I have no doubt that Grave will go with me as well.

“Don’t leave him there with them alone.” Bones finally speaks, thinking the same as me before he too gets up and leaves the room.

I exit the conference room and get to my office. I pull out my cell and see if anything comes through now that I have service. Nothing.

I pull up Alexa’s number on my cell. I had put mine in her phone and then called myself. I told her to text me later, but I wasn’t going to rely on her to take that step. If need be, I’ll take it myself.

I write her out a text but then delete it and decide to just go see her tonight after I’m done at the Airport. It’ll be harder for her to reject me in person.