Page 60 of Possess

“It’s okay. Not the first time I’ve gotten lost on these back roads.” She grabbed her clipboard and shut the door to her truck.

“Max, this is Allyson Young with the city inspector’s office. Allyson, Max Preston, owner of Wicked Sanctuary.”

Allyson stopped in her tracks. This was Wicked Sanctuary?

“I think you shocked her.”

“Mr. Preston, it’s nice to meet you.” Allyson held out her hand.

“It’s Max, and it’s great to finally meet you.” He shook her hand. “Zeke has told me a lot about you.”

“Oh?” Allyson glanced over at Zeke, who was smiling.

“Only good stuff,” Zeke said.

“What paperwork did you need me to fill out?” Allyson asked.

“I like her. Gets right to the point.” Max motioned to the back of Zeke’s truck where the tailgate was down with a makeshift table top on it. “It’s an NDA about the club.”

“NDA?”

“Standard with the club,” Zeke said, handing her the papers.

Allyson read them through. Nothing she hadn’t seen before. She could understand Max’s need for that. Thank goodness this hadn’t been one of the jobs she had to hand over to Wes for Rudy.

She signed the bottom of the NDA and handed it to Zeke, who handed it to Max. “Before I forget, Zeke, Rudy is making waves, so you’re going to be dealing with him on some of your other jobs.”

“They took you off my jobs?” Zeke stiffened.

“Three of them, but not this one. Thank goodness.”

“Ah, that’s what Wes meant when I called him,” Max said.

“You know my boss?” Allyson stared at Max.

“Yes. Zeke assured me you wouldn’t have any issues working at the club, but your co-worker might. I need someone I can trust, so I made a call.”

“No worries.”

“Shall we get this moving?” Max asked.

“Ohhh, someone sounds testy. Did you not get your caffeine this morning?” A woman with black hair walked over to them.

“Sierra.” Max stared at the woman, and Allyson burst out laughing at the face Sierra made. Max turned his gaze to her.

“I’m sorry; the look you gave her was, shall we say, intense, and her reaction was not what I expected.” Allyson shrugged.

“Sierra, Max’s fiancée. Let me go grab him a mug of coffee, and we can start.” Sierra disappeared inside and returned with a large travel mug. She handed it to Max.

“Thank you, love.” He took a long drink, then gave her a kiss. “All right, expansion of the club.” Max led them around the building to the north wall. “Based on the plans Gabriel drew up, we’re going to remove this wall.” He patted the building. “And we’re going to expand out.”

“I looked at the small plans I have on file.” Allyson glanced at the foliage and trees. Since this was private property, there wasn’t a requirement to replace the green space, and she didn’t see any reason to. There were plenty of trees and foliage even with the expansion. “Max, how much of this land do you own?” She hadn’t pulled the full property records.

“Roughly fifty acres. Our private home is on one acre, the club is slightly below two acres.”

“When the club is done it will be closer to three acres,” Zeke said.

“If you’re worried about the trees, we’re going to replace them further out,” Max said. “There are some bald spots that were discovered a few weeks ago when a survey was done. I’ll have new trees planted out there.”

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