"Hey guys," she greeted with a tight smile. Alexi followed not far behind her and placed a tray of glasses and a pitcher of water down on the table for us. Gen sat on the couch opposite Zed and me and gave Alexi a shy smile when he poured her water.
"What's happened, Gen?" I asked when Alexi was gone. There was no good reason why my new legal counsel would stop by for an in-person meeting without calling first.
She grimaced, confirming my suspicion. "Your license applications for Timber have all been rejected by Cloudcroft City Council. Too many objections from neighbors."
Fury swept through me, but I kept it contained through years of practice. Externally, I just gave a small nod of understanding. "I see. And those neighbors?"
Gen wrinkled her nose. "All buildings owned by Locked Heart."
A small, livid breath hissed from between my teeth, and my jaw tightened to the point of painful.
"I'm working on it, though," she assured me. "But if you have any, you know, less conventional ideas? That might be quicker. I know you want to open Timber in October, but without liquor or gaming licenses..."
"Understood," I snapped. Without those licenses I'd be asking for trouble with the Cloudcroft PD, and if Chase had been buying up property, then there was a solid chance he'd been buying up law enforcement.
Zed shifted beside me, clearing his throat as he draped his arm along the back of the couch. It was the same pose he'd been sitting in earlier, except this time his arm was draped over my shoulders and his fingers brushed my exposed upper arm, thanks to the sleeveless top I wore.
"Anything else we need to know, Gen?" he asked, calm as anything.
She shook her head, her whole posture tight like she expected me to bite her head off for delivering this less-than-exciting news. "No, sir. Sirs. That's it. I was driving past and saw your Ferrari here. Figured it was quicker to tell you in person."
I simmered with something uncomfortably close to jealousy. Or possessiveness. She’d seen Zed's car. She’d come to tell Zed in person. I didn't enjoy feeling like that toward Gen because she had earned my professional respect already. And that was rare.
"We appreciate it," I told her in a carefully cool voice. "We'll get it dealt with."
Her gaze flicked between Zed and I, then she jerked a nod and made her exit. Smart woman, she knew she'd been dismissed.
When we were alone again, I breathed out a long, angry sigh. "Fucking Chase."
Zed hummed a sound of agreement, his fingers still idly stroking my arm. "Wanna go shoot some shit to blow off steam?"
I snorted a laugh. "Yes. I'd rather shoot someone, but sadly, no one has challenged my authority lately."
Zed arched a lopsided smile. "I think you scared them all straight when you killed Cass."
Speaking of my Grumpy Cat, I pulled my phone from my bag and checked to see if he'd messaged me. He hadn't, but I did have a series of missed calls from Special Agent Hanson.
I showed Zed, then hit redial on her latest missed call if for no other reason than to satisfy my own curiosity. I'd made it pretty damn clear that I wouldn't help her find her nephew's body, so what was she calling about now?
"Ms. Wolff," the FBI agent answered, sounding all business. "We need to speak in a professional capacity. Would you like me to come to you?"
Surprise and intrigue rippled through me. "That depends, Dorothy. Will another of my venues explode if I agree to meet you again?"
There was a strained silence, broken only by the echoing click of her shoes on a floor. Then she grunted an irritated sound. "I guess I can't make any guarantees. You've got a lot of enemies, Ms. Wolff."
Surprised, a small laugh escaped my throat. "Fair call, Dorothy. I have to head over to Club 22 for an appointment; I can meet you there in two hours when I’m done."
I ended the call, then turned to look at Zed.
He just stared back at me like he was thinking, then tilted his head to the side. "What appointment do you have at 22?"
I couldn't stop the smirk creeping over my lips. "Maxine is meeting me to go over her dance routine again." His brows shot right up, and I gave a laugh as I pushed up from the couch. "I don't renege on my deals, Zeddy Bear. A bet's a bet."
He scrubbed a hand over his face and gave a pained groan before standing up as well. "I'll drive you."
I swallowed my smug laughter, not even slightly surprised at the offer. But if he thought he was going to sit in and watch me fumble through Club 22's sexiest and most athletic strip tease, he was sorely mistaken. My rehearsals with Maxine were behind closed doors.
Hannah called me as we climbed into Zed's car, and I put her on speakerphone as she ran through my schedule for the rest of the week and gave me quick but detailed updates on the other initiatives she'd taken. I'd never had my own assistant before, so she'd identified jobs I didn't even know needed doing. All in all, I was impressed.
"I like her," Zed commented after I ended the call.
I clicked my tongue in irritation before I could catch myself, and Zed let out a low laugh.
"Not like that, Dare. Fuck, you're quick to think the worst of me."
I rolled my eyes, shifting my gaze to look out the window. "Can you blame me?" After all, he was notorious for sleeping his way around our female employees. Not that I'd been a freaking nun, but I didn't bang our staff and make a whole thing about it.
Zed didn't respond to that comment for an extended moment, then let out a long breath. "Fair call. But that's not what I meant about Hannah. I just think she's a good addition to Team Hades, you know? Her background fully checks out too. No skeletons, other than her shitty ex-boyfriend, but Cass handled that one pretty well already."
I gave a grim smile, remembering how Cass had beat the ever-loving snot out of Johnny Rock and then broken his arm as a message from Hannah. Served him fucking right for laying hands on a sweet girl like her.
19
My rehearsal with Maxine was grueling at best. I'd never felt as uncoordinated and unsexy as I did while attempting to emulate her lithe grace and seductiveness. There was a reason I owned the clubs and didn't dance in them.
Maxine, to her credit, had managed not to make fun of me too hard. There was more than a healthy dose of amusement in her eyes every time I fell off the pole, though.
"This is a disaster," I groaned, rubbing my head after falling out of an inverted spin and smacking my forehead on the stage. I'd kicked Zed and Rodney out when Maxine had arrived, so thankfully, we didn't have an audience. The same couldn't be said for Friday night when I'd be fulfilling my end of the stupid shooting bet I'd made with Zed.
Maxine bit back a smile as she offered me a hand up. She wore staggeringly tall heels and didn't even wobble in the slightest as she pulled me up. I had to hand it to her, she was impressively strong.
"It's not as bad as you think," she told me as I stretched my aching limbs out. "You're actually picking it up really fast. But... if it's okay, boss, I might make some tweaks to remove those few moves that you're stuck on."
A small wave of relief rushed over me, and I nodded. "More than okay. The last thing I need is to publicly humiliate myself right now." I winced, touching that sore spot on my head again.