mainstream for some folks. Dev doesn’t allow drugs and he’s serious about the whole ‘place of peace’ thing. Some folks want a more…liberal establishment.”
“So this is where the criminals go,” Lee observed astutely.
“Probably,” Liv admitted. “Scott turned him down the first time, but this Julius guy came back with an offer for a lot of money.”
That didn’t seem right to me. Scott was a dipshit. He rarely held a job for more than six months. It wasn’t that he was dumb. He was intensely lazy. He started out well, all full of enthusiasm and vigor, but then work would mess up his football-watching schedule or conflict with bowling night. Inevitably, his good intentions failed and he either walked out or got fired. Why would some guy with money want Scott on the team? “What exactly did this Julius want Scott to do?”
Liv’s hands fidgeted with the strap of her leather purse. “He wanted Scott to be in charge of the bar. He was supposed to do all the ordering, deal with vendors, liaise with the kitchen staff, and hire the bar staff. He’s done it before.”
I nodded, thinking about the problem. Scott had run bars in restaurants before, but I wouldn’t call him an expert. “Why Scott?”
Hugo glanced up over the book he was reading. “What sort of being is your fiancé, Ms. Carey?”
Liv bit her lip as she turned to the vampire. Nervous. She was actually nervous about being close to the academic. I could have told her Hugo was harmless unless he decided to have an intellectual discussion with her, and then all bets were off. Academics will fight if they have to, but they prefer intellectual pursuits to anything else. Well, almost anything else. Marcus was pretty fond of sex, I’d discovered.
“Scott’s a shapeshifter.” I answered for my reluctant client. “He’s not what I would call powerful though. He doesn’t practice often. He mostly does dogs. It’s easiest for him.”
Hugo’s intelligent eyes narrowed as he considered the problem. “He’s a true shifter, then. That’s rare and fairly innocuous. He wouldn’t have a pack, per se, so he wouldn’t have loyalties to outside forces. In addition, he would be managing people who more than likely do have packs or families. Often shifters and were creatures have prejudices against each other. Your fiancé is an excellent choice if his employer wishes to make all creatures welcome.”
Liv nodded and I could see her start to relax. “That makes sense. The club was supposed to open a month ago. I was going to attend the launch, but the night before Scott told me I wouldn’t be allowed in and I shouldn’t ask questions. He kept going in to work at night but he stopped talking about it. Then last week, he stopped coming home. I tried his cell but I get voice mail every time I call. I went to the address I had but they wouldn’t let me in. They told me to go away if I knew what was good for me.”
Despite my anger with her, I certainly didn’t like the idea of Liv in danger. I wanted her safely miserable. “Liv, you should never have gone there.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Talk to your coven leader. Or you could have called Jamie.” Anything but walking in there herself without any backup. Again, I felt the guilt of avoiding her. Anything could have happened if she’d walked into that club.
“I did call Jamie,” Liv admitted. “He put me in touch with someone else.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. Dots I didn’t want connected were on a collision course. There was only one person Jamie would have sent Liv to with me out of the country. “I need that address, Liv.”
She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and slid it across the desk. My heart sank. It was the same address the demon had passed me.
Grayson Sloane was in serious trouble and I had a new client.
Chapter Four
By the time I met my assistant, I had a ton of work for him to do. After Liv left, two more clients had
“So this is where the criminals go,” Lee observed astutely.
“Probably,” Liv admitted. “Scott turned him down the first time, but this Julius guy came back with an offer for a lot of money.”
That didn’t seem right to me. Scott was a dipshit. He rarely held a job for more than six months. It wasn’t that he was dumb. He was intensely lazy. He started out well, all full of enthusiasm and vigor, but then work would mess up his football-watching schedule or conflict with bowling night. Inevitably, his good intentions failed and he either walked out or got fired. Why would some guy with money want Scott on the team? “What exactly did this Julius want Scott to do?”
Liv’s hands fidgeted with the strap of her leather purse. “He wanted Scott to be in charge of the bar. He was supposed to do all the ordering, deal with vendors, liaise with the kitchen staff, and hire the bar staff. He’s done it before.”
I nodded, thinking about the problem. Scott had run bars in restaurants before, but I wouldn’t call him an expert. “Why Scott?”
Hugo glanced up over the book he was reading. “What sort of being is your fiancé, Ms. Carey?”
Liv bit her lip as she turned to the vampire. Nervous. She was actually nervous about being close to the academic. I could have told her Hugo was harmless unless he decided to have an intellectual discussion with her, and then all bets were off. Academics will fight if they have to, but they prefer intellectual pursuits to anything else. Well, almost anything else. Marcus was pretty fond of sex, I’d discovered.
“Scott’s a shapeshifter.” I answered for my reluctant client. “He’s not what I would call powerful though. He doesn’t practice often. He mostly does dogs. It’s easiest for him.”
Hugo’s intelligent eyes narrowed as he considered the problem. “He’s a true shifter, then. That’s rare and fairly innocuous. He wouldn’t have a pack, per se, so he wouldn’t have loyalties to outside forces. In addition, he would be managing people who more than likely do have packs or families. Often shifters and were creatures have prejudices against each other. Your fiancé is an excellent choice if his employer wishes to make all creatures welcome.”
Liv nodded and I could see her start to relax. “That makes sense. The club was supposed to open a month ago. I was going to attend the launch, but the night before Scott told me I wouldn’t be allowed in and I shouldn’t ask questions. He kept going in to work at night but he stopped talking about it. Then last week, he stopped coming home. I tried his cell but I get voice mail every time I call. I went to the address I had but they wouldn’t let me in. They told me to go away if I knew what was good for me.”
Despite my anger with her, I certainly didn’t like the idea of Liv in danger. I wanted her safely miserable. “Liv, you should never have gone there.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Talk to your coven leader. Or you could have called Jamie.” Anything but walking in there herself without any backup. Again, I felt the guilt of avoiding her. Anything could have happened if she’d walked into that club.
“I did call Jamie,” Liv admitted. “He put me in touch with someone else.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. Dots I didn’t want connected were on a collision course. There was only one person Jamie would have sent Liv to with me out of the country. “I need that address, Liv.”
She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and slid it across the desk. My heart sank. It was the same address the demon had passed me.
Grayson Sloane was in serious trouble and I had a new client.
Chapter Four
By the time I met my assistant, I had a ton of work for him to do. After Liv left, two more clients had
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