Page 130 of Beast

The next morning,Gambit alerts me to a pair of black Escalades parked at the security gates.

I know who they are.

They’re the mayor’s investigators.

On my instruction, Gambit lets them in, and I meet them out the front. Two men dressed in black suits climb out. They’re young and have no idea who they are facing.

“The mayor wants to see you,” one of them says.

“Tell the mayor if he wants to speak to me then he can come to me. Not send two little boys to summon me.”

I turn to walk away, but the baby-faced one who doesn’t look old enough to shave holds up his cell. “You might want to hear what Mayor Boney has to say. I’m sure you heard about the fire in town last night.”

I should tell them to go to hell. But my gut tells me to take the call.

Reluctantly, I take the phone from him and hold it up to my ear. But I say nothing. I don’t need to. Boney is already screaming at me. “If you don’t want every law enforcement officer turning up on our doorstep for what you did in Devil’s Kitchen last night, then I suggest you do as I fucking tell you.”

Without saying a word, I hang up on him and throw the phone back to Babyface. “Tell your boss he really needs to learn some manners.”

The phone rings again. Babyface answers it. “He says you either come to his office now or he’ll send the sheriff around to escort you.”

“Hang up,” I say, crossing my arms.

Babyface looks unsure. “What?”

“I said hang up the goddamn phone.” When he goes to speak into the phone, I snap, “No, don’t say anything, just hang up the fucking phone.”

Surprisingly, he does.

I calmly remove my phone from my cut and bring up the mayor’s number.

He answers on the first ring.

“Ask nicely,” I say.

The words make me think of Belle, and I smile when I think about her in the garden, making me ask her on a date.

“What the fuck?” Boney explodes on the other end of the phone.

I sigh. My grin obvious in my tone. “We’re not off to a very good start, Boney.”

“You listen to me, you criminal biker fuck. People might be too scared to come forward and say what they saw last night but?—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

By the screaming that follows, Mayor Boney is about to give himself a heart attack.

“You get your ass down here now. It’s time we talk face to face about this town and its future.”

“Well, shit, Bee. That’s all you needed to say.”

The black Escaladesfollow me to Mayor Boney’s office.

“This is all just a little dramatic,” I say, walking into his office and finding Boney behind his desk. “There was no need for an escort.”

“I wanted to make certain you would arrive in a timely manner.”

I look at the two suits and then back to Boney. “I hate to break it to you, Bee, but two suits and a couple of Escalades ain’t going to make me do what I don’t wanna do.”

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