Chapter 140: Wild card 1
LUCIAN
I left Isabelle exactly where she stood, her composure cracking in ways I intended to deal with properly once I had finished the more pressing matter that now sat in my pocket.
Kayden had taken the bait and said hello.
My phone buzzed again before I had even reached the front door.
It could only be him again. I picked it out of my pocket.
I had expected another cautious text, the kind of probing message a smart monster would usually send when something smelled like an opportunity too good to be true. Instead the screen lit up with an incoming call, and I let it ring twice before answering, just to make him wait the way I always made men like him wait.
"Lucian." His voice came through ragged, too fast, words tumbling over each other with the particular looseness of a man whose body was demanding something it had grown thoroughly dependent on. "Lucian, thank the goddess you picked. I have been needing a fix so badly. You have no idea what the last few years have been like."
"I might have some idea," I said, leaning against the hallway wall, unhurried. "Come to my private club today. We have considerable business to discuss, and I think you will find the conversation worth your while."
"What kind of business? You said-"
"The kind you have been needing for years." I let the silence stretch just long enough for his withdrawal-frayed nerves to start working against him. "So come find out or risk taking your lust out on your Alpha’s daughter and see what becomes of you."
"I can be there in twenty minutes."
"I will be waiting."
I ended the call and finished my walk to the car at my own pace, settling into the back seat and giving the Beaumont driver the address only once I was properly seated, the door closed, the matter of timing handled the way it should have been handled from the start.
The club sat on the outskirts of the Beaumont territory, tucked behind layers of legitimate-looking business fronts that kept it comfortably invisible to anyone without the right connections.
My sentinel met me at the entrance.
"Beta Kayden arrived twelve minutes ago," he said. "He’s been pacing."
I glanced toward the parking lot before heading inside. His car stood out immediately, parked crooked across the line as though he’d abandoned it the second he killed the engine. It was impossible to miss. Sleek bodywork, custom rims, imported paint. The sort of car bought less for performance than for the statement it made.
Someone had come into money.
Interesting.
"Good," I said. "Let him pace a little longer. Then bring him to me."
The anticipation would do half my work.
I made my way to my usual room and settled into the chair opposite the door. I preferred that seat because men revealed themselves before they ever spoke. The moment they crossed the threshold, their eyes searched for advantage, escape, reassurance. Desperation always reached the face before it reached the voice.
Nearly ten minutes passed before the door opened again.
Kayden walked in with a grin that arrived a second too quickly.
He looked worse than the last time I’d seen him.
His expensive clothes hung looser on his frame, his complexion carried a faint yellow tinge, and his hands trembled despite the effort he made to bury them inside his jacket pockets. His pupils were just a little too large. His smile just a little too eager.
Withdrawal.
He was holding himself together with little more than pride.
"Lucian." He spread his arms as if greeting an old friend. "Good to see you. It’s been what, months?"
"Sit."
He obeyed without argument.
I studied him for another moment before speaking. I had to start with small talk. I was certain he was suspicious about my motive for being a good samaritan out of the blue. So I had to play this with one of his safest assumptions.
That I was a greedy bastard who saw his shiny success and wanted in.
"I noticed your car outside."
His expression brightened immediately.
"Quite an upgrade from the last one."
He chuckled, rubbing a hand across the leather armrest. "Business has been generous."
"I’d say so."
"It isn’t just the car." He leaned back, unable to stop himself. "I upgraded my life too. I have a spare apartment separate from my pack. Different neighborhood. Better security. The operation’s expanded more than I expected."
"Congratulations."
The single word was enough.
Men like Kayden heard admiration wherever they wanted to.
"So," I continued like I cared, "what changed?"
He shrugged, though the satisfaction on his face betrayed him.
"Supply chain."
I raised an eyebrow.
"My old distributors couldn’t keep up anymore. The Alpha wanted to stay small. I did not. Product quality kept slipping, shipments got inconsistent, margins started shrinking. I found someone new."
"Locally?"
A brief pause.
"No."
"No?"
"They operate across several territories."
Interesting.
"That usually comes with complications."
"It comes with volume." His grin widened. "Consistent inventory, better purity, reliable logistics. When your supplier delivers on schedule every time, your customers stop looking elsewhere. Retention goes up. Word spreads. Demand compounds."
He spoke like a man who had rehearsed those sentences.
Someone had taught him how to think beyond street dealing.
"And your profits?"
He laughed.
"I practically tripled them."
"Tripled."
"I’ve got cash moving through three different fronts now. Cash businesses. Easier to clean the books that way."
Not sophisticated enough to be laundering properly.
But sophisticated enough to have help.
I nodded thoughtfully.
"Impressive growth."
"It didn’t happen overnight."
"I wouldn’t imagine it did."
"The people I’m working with know what they’re doing."
"I’m sure they do."
He hesitated, then added almost proudly, "They’re expanding aggressively. Looking for reliable operators instead of desperate idiots. Makes all the difference."
There it was.
Not merely a supplier.
An organization.
Possibly structured.
Possibly large enough to threaten regional stability if left alone.
I let the silence stretch before smiling faintly.
"I won’t ask you to compromise a business relationship."
He visibly relaxed.
"I appreciate that."
"Confidentiality has value. Anyone who survives in business understands that."
"Exactly."
"I’ve built enough legitimate enterprises to know trust is often worth more than capital."
His shoulders loosened another fraction.
Good.
He thought we were discussing entrepreneurship...