Page 167 of With Us

“Fine by me.” Keeping hold of me, he walked us back to his chair. He sat and pulled me onto his lap. “We’re almost done, then we’ll go eat.”

I looked around the crowded table, not recognizing any of the other people. There were three women and five men, including Theo and Sammy.

Apparently word has travelled about Theo’s preferred seating arrangement for us, because none of them seem fazed.

“Where were we?” Theo asked.

The older woman picked up a remote and pressed something. A large map of the city projected on one of the walls. “The spots marked with the red stars are our available properties right now.” She must have clicked again, because green squares covered some of the places. “These are the best choices for the next fight.”

“We’ve got four scheduled for the Thanksgiving weekend.”

“Four?” Lowering his voice, Theo told me, “It’s usually only one or two.”

“The Wednesday before is big for bars. People come home to visit and need to get shitty before they face their family the next day. Gabe said there was a big jump in game day bets and people feeling restless. Low risk, possible high payout.”

Theo hit the tip of his pen against the table, the fingers of his other hand drumming on my hip. Slowly, he nodded. “Astaire is Thursday, right?” At Sammy’s confirmation, he continued. “If we do Wednesday, it needs to be smaller. People blow through their cash on Wednesday, they’ve got nothing left for the weekend. I’m not doubting Gabe, but Astaire will draw a crowd. Plus, I don’t want to be out the compensation for big names on Wednesday if only two people show to bet pocket change.”

Sammy fell silent for a moment, a pensive expression on his face as he looked at the map. “What if we do a newbie night? Most of our regulars will be holding off for Astaire on Thursday and then Maize’s match on Saturday. Wednesday is a good chance to see how some of the new boys do and get some new faces into the crowd.”

“That work for the space?”

“Yes. It also brings me to the next point,” the older woman said, pressing the remote. One last change added a large red ‘X’ through a building and a blue star on another. “I’d originally suggested the Cobden property for the Astaire bout. Unfortunately, due to my team being just too good at their jobs, we’ve sold it.”

Huh. She must be with the real estate company.

She wasn’t old by any stretch of the word, but she was older than everyone else in the room. Likely in her late fifties, she didn’t look like someone who’d be having a meeting on a private floor to discuss illegal fights.

The woman focused in on the building with the blue star. “Deckard is a bigger venue.”

“Secluded enough?” Theo asked.

“Very. Still, I believe Mr. Ricci is planning on checking it out tonight during the correct timeframe.”

“Good.” He leaned back, his grip on my thigh tightening as his arousal pressed against my ass. “If that’s all, we’ll meet again next month to plan the holidays.”

Everyone gathered their tablets and papers, offering polite goodbyes before leaving.

“I could get used to this,” Theo murmured against my neck, his lips grazing the sensitive skin.

“What?” My breath hitched, the question coming out softly.

“Working with you on my lap. I’m thinking it should be a daily thing.”

“Mmm. I don’t know how much work you’d actually get done.” Putting my hands on the table, I lifted to stand.

Theo’s grip on my hips tightened before he slowly released me. “Good point.”

When we stepped back into the lobby, I looked around. “I didn’t know you had offices on this floor.”

Grabbing my hand, he led us toward the elevator. “I try to keep Amaric and Amato business separate, but sometimes I need to have meetings while I’m here. It’s mostly kept empty. The other floor above us is an apartment.”

“Really?”

“I used to crash here if I was working late so it made sense.” He gestured down the hall. “Luc had set up a large office as a crash pad, but he was sleeping there more days than not. Since I hadn’t been using the apartment, I had him take it.”

Luc had a small place near Theo’s, but I hadn’t thought much about it beyond that.

“If you come in the morning sometime,” he said, “I’ll take you on a long tour of the whole building.”

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