Grinning, I shook my head at Rory before looking at Vas and Patrick. "You won't believe this shit. She put me on hold. I'm listening to fucking muzak right now." Just to share my pain, I hit the speaker button so they could enjoy it right along with me.
"No shit?" Patrick was the first to react, laughing it up and slapping his thigh. "Well, ain't that some hoity-toity shit for you? You know what? I like it. Rory, make a note. Da needs muzak for when the riffraff call."
Rory smirked at his brother. "I totally should. Especially since the riffraff usually bothering us on the phone is you and the other boyos. Being able to put you on hold and make you listen to some god-awful instrumental version of songs like ‘Baby Got Back’ or ‘Toosie Slide’ would make my day a lot more fun."
Vasily and I shared a smile, knowing we sounded just like this at home. And everywhere else we went. It was good to see Rory relaxing enough to tease his brother. I was distracted by watching him and nearly jumped out of my skin when the muzak stopped and her voice came back.
"Thank you for holding, Mr. Novak. Mr. Chen is willing to give you a few minutes of his time. He will see you in one hour, but only you and your mate. Do not be late." She rattled off an address and was gone before I could thank her.
I looked at my screen to reassure myself the call was ended before pocketing my phone and nodding at Rory.
"And that is how it's done. Good. We’re all set. We should probably get going though since I’m pretty sure that address she gave me is on the other side of the city, and I need to make a stop along the way."
Rory clapped his hands together. "Done. Let's get moving. We can take my car. Patrick, I'm slipping out through the garage so I don't have to deal with the boyos. Bring them up to speed and tell Mark he's in charge."
Patrick looked like he wanted to argue, but we'd all clearly heard her say that only Rory and I were invited. "Fine. But if Mark is in charge, what will I be doing?"
"I want you to lay off the whiskey and get some sleep. Keep your phone on. When I come looking for backup, it's going to be you that I'll call.” He nodded curtly and turned to Vas, his brain obviously going a mile a minute. “Thank you so much for your help. I hate to sound dismissive, but we need to go." Rory led me out into the hall with our brothers right behind us.
Vasily was already reaching for his keys. "Don't worry about it, Rory. If anyone gets it, it's me. You’ll be fine though. You couldn't have a better guy at your back than my brother. Good luck over there. I hope Li Chen is able to get you the answers we need to find your father."
Patrick crossed himself then kissed his fingertip and pointed toward the ceiling. "From your lips to God's ears." His eyes narrowed as he turned to me. "As for you… look, I know we’re friends, and I also get that it's supposedly impossible to hurt your fated mate. That being said, I feel like I'm supposed to threaten you or something."
Rory stepped between us. "Can we not with all the alpha posturing, Patty? Threaten Misha at your own risk. But keep in mind that I'm a grown-ass man who knows how to get payback. I'm not one of those simpering omegas you flirt with down at the pub, and I don’t need my alpha brother to speak on my behalf." Rory jabbed at Patrick's chest with a fingertip, enunciating each word with a poke.
When Patrick jerked away, he pouted as he rubbed his chest. "Jaysus, Rory. I didn't say you were any of that. Can't I defend your honor without getting attacked?"
Rory winked. "Is that what you were doing? Huh. You should've said something sooner. Remind me when I get back, and I'll give you the name of my college boyfriend. Sorry not sorry, but my so-called honor was besmirched several years ago."
I snorted and followed Rory out of the house.
I was still laughing a few minutes later when I slid into the passenger seat of his sporty little yellow RAV4.
“Where to?” he asked.
“You can start heading toward I-90,” I said. “It’ll take me a moment to figure out where we need to stop.”
By the time he backed out of the garage, I already had the address entered on my GPS and was looking for what I needed along the route that we'd be taking. I kept quiet the whole time, reminding myself that I was going to heed Vasily’s advice and let Rory take the lead.
Rory drove several blocks before breaking the silence. "What's this stop of yours and why is it important enough to risk being late over it?"
I smiled at his no-nonsense tone. I didn’t know why I’d ever thought I wanted an easy-going mate who would laugh and joke with me. There was something so much sexier about having to work for it.
"Don't worry, Irish. We won’t be late. I found the perfect flower shop right on the way. I'm ordering what I want right now and it should be ready when we get there. You can just pull up and double park while I run in."
Rory frowned but didn't take his eyes off the road. "Why do we need flowers? This is a business meeting, not a date."
"A business meeting with the infamous Chinese Triad. Trust me on this one. We’re not dealing with people like the Stanislavs. And this isn’t the kind of place where you want to show up empty-handed. A token of our gratitude will be appreciated as a proper thanks for Mr. Chen inviting us into his home. Bringing a gift is a respectful way of saying thank you."
"And you’ve decided to say this with flowers?"
I looked up from my screen after completing the order and verifying that it would be ready in twenty minutes. "Yep. But not with just any old flowers. An exotic purple orchid. It symbolizes admiration and respect, among a few other things. Trust me, Mr. Chen will appreciate it."
Rory lifted a brow. "You sound awful cocky over there. What makes you so sure he’ll like it?"
"Easy, Irish. I looked at his Facebook page. His photo gallery is filled with pictures of orchids. Nothing else. Just orchids."
5
Rory
I was nervous we’d be turned away when I handed over my driver’s license at the palatial marble and gold front gate of the Chen mansion. That couldn’t be real gold, could it? It didn’t seem like a safe place to put it. All someone had to do was ram the gates, grab what gold they could wrench or snip in less than sixty seconds, and then drive off.
It either had to be a gold look alike, or maybe steel plated with gold.
Or it was actual gold and it was just for show, because a dragon could seriously fuck up anyone who even looked at their treasure sideways.
If I wasn’t nervous already, I was now.
The grounds and house were so well lit, it was almost as if it were still daylight.
The valet waited for us in a half bow at the bottom of the intimidating set of stairs that led up to the oversized front entrance. He wore a gold shirt over black suit pants. The shirt’s arms were wider than was standard in American fashion, and gold rope hooky things seemed to hold the shirt closed. Unless there was a hidden zipper. I could only imagine what a bitch it was to change out of that before shifting. His black hair was long enough to be bound in a man bun on top of his head.
Unless the Chens employed non-shifters… None of my family even had a clue the Triad was anything other than human until today. I would have sworn that the runners and representatives I’d personally run into were human.