Primal Instincts_ Volume 2(20)
Author: Nicole Edwards

 

“Fine.”

 

“And I want you to talk to Nick. Explain what happened. He needs to look into this. See what leverage we have to fire that motherfucker before I end up killing him.”

 

“Will do.”

 

“Oh, and Garrison?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“She’s important.”

 

“I couldn’t agree more.”

 

I tucked my phone in my pocket and walked into the restaurant. I doubted I’d be good company tonight, but it’d been too damn long since I caught up with Knox Montgomery, known across social media as the filthy hot billionaire. While he sounded like a playboy with money to burn, Knox was a businessman through and through. He’d taken Montage Markets, the big box super chain, and had doubled its gross profits since he took over the company from his father, making it the highest-grossing retailer with both online and physical storefronts worldwide. Since then, he’d built an empire of world-famous auction houses with his wife, Emily, and their husband, Kieran. And their most recent venture was a resort casino/hotel in Las Vegas. Ever since he opened the Monolith, I rarely ran into him when I was in New York. He still had a residence here, but he spent the majority of his time out there.

 

“I was starting to think you were going to stand me up,” Knox said by way of greeting when I found him seated at the bar.

 

When he offered a hand, I reached to shake it, only to end up in a hug that resulted in overly aggressive pats on the back.

 

“You look good,” I told Knox as we took our seats.

 

“And you look like shit,” he countered with a laugh.

 

The bartender delivered drinks.

 

Knox grinned. “Since Kieran couldn’t be here, he said to have a drink on him.”

 

“Irish whiskey, I presume?”

 

“His favorite.”

 

I lifted the glass and clinked mine to his before taking a drink.

 

“Seriously,” Knox noted with concern, “something wrong?”

 

“Shit in California. Nothing I can deal with tonight.”

 

“That’s what you’ve got Garrison, Hawk, and Nick for.”

 

I took another drink. “Hawk’s here with me. Right now, he’s cursing my name, I’m sure.”

 

Knox laughed. “You have him tied up in the penthouse?”

 

“Actually, no. But he is otherwise indisposed.”

 

“I thought that was over between you two.”

 

“There was nothing between us,” I corrected him.

 

Knox nodded like he didn’t believe me.

 

“What?” I prompted.

 

He smirked. “I know all about living in denial, my friend.”

 

I rolled my eyes and changed the subject. “How’s the wife?”

 

A smile formed. It was so wide I feared it might split his face open.

 

“Emily’s doing well. She’s in Vegas with Kieran. They’re working on an upcoming charity auction. She’s got one running here and one there. I offered to oversee this one.”

 

“Sounds like she’s busy.”

 

“She is. But Kieran spoils her, so it works out in the end.”

 

“And you spoil both of them.”

 

“Maybe.” He took a drink. “What about you? How’s Primal Instincts?”

 

“Thriving.”

 

“And the cigar lounge?”

 

“Same.”

 

“So why don’t you look happier?”

 

I glanced down the bar to get the bartender’s attention as I tossed back what was left in my glass. If Knox expected me to talk, I was going to need a lot more liquid courage.

 

 

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

 

 

Garrison

 

 

I managed not to glare at the guard as I waited for him to call the house to get permission for me to enter.

 

It was only a little awkward that I actually lived in this neighborhood. Perhaps a little more since the guard knew I did, yet we both pretended I needed permission to go through the gates. I wasn’t sure letting Journey know we lived right down the road was a good idea. She’d been through enough shit today and probably wouldn’t take kindly to learning we’d been neighbors with her folks for years.

 

As it was, I shouldn’t even know where they lived.

 

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll let him through now.”

 

I nodded when the guard pressed the button to retract the enormous metal gates that secured the neighborhood. Like other residential areas around here, it was chock full of rich and famous people who could afford to pay real guards to keep an eye on things. It made me feel better to know Journey was safe.

 

I made my way up the winding road, higher into the hills. Although the Zeplyn’s house overlooked the city below, their place wasn’t quite as ostentatious as ours. Considering who her fathers were and the kind of money they raked in, they could easily afford something with views far more impressive, but I knew they preferred to spend their money on other things.

 

By the time I was walking to the door, I was cursing Creed’s name. I’d been doing a lot of that in the past couple of days. Twice as much since last night, when Journey made her polite exit at Austere. If I were being honest, I was glad she did. I’d been skating on dangerously thin ground at that point. Her leaving was likely the only thing that had saved me from doing something I couldn’t undo. Coming here now was another risk I shouldn’t be taking, and Creed’s see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil wasn’t helping matters much.

 

Before I could knock, the door opened. Journey appeared, looking so young and so goddamn beautiful.

 

“Hey,” she said softly, that sexy rasp in her voice coarser than usual.

 

I could tell she’d been crying, and the first thing I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and promise her everything would be okay. It would. There were four of us, plus an army of people behind us who’d ensure that. Of course, she didn’t know about the two hundred sixty members of Primal who had our backs day in and day out. That didn’t mean our roster, which included some influential people with powerful ties, wouldn’t rally to assist us when necessary.