Page 69 of Suspicions on the Stage
I have no idea what that means, but he’s Lady M’s mate, and I’m in this family one hundred percent.
“Gotta be honest—I don’t know what I’m agreeing to, but if you need help? I’m here for you.” I grin at him encouragingly, hoping he believes me. “Not here and now, of course, but when we’re not waiting on cops and lawyers to converge.”
The siren laughs, and I notice how musical the sound of it is. I must not have been paying attention, but it’s like he’s about a thousand times more appealing suddenly. As I stare, his face turns bright red. “Shit. Sorry about that. I felt touched by your offer and opened some of my power up to you. You see me differently now, right?”
My mouth goes dry as everything about him gets more beautiful by the second. “Uh, yeah. You’re.. It’s like I’ve never seen you before. Holy shit, Slade. Is this… how youreallylook and sound when you’re not closed off to people?”
His face gets even redder as he nods. “Yeah. Siren thing. I’m really skilled at controlling it, so once I let people in, they’re often super shocked. Sometimes it makes them too crazy, and I have to cut them off. That’s why I keep it so tightly controlled until I trust new folks. Well, I guess except for Morgana. I’m pretty sure she saw me normally from the second she walked into the coffee shop. I didn’t know it then, but once we became part of her circle and she never mentioned the change? I knew.”
“You could make so much fucking dough just… standing places. Like as a model or something. You never have to lift a finger, man. You know that, right?” I say as I try to shake the effect off.
“No fucking thanks,” Slade growls softly. “That isnotfor me. You’re right, and certainly not the first person to tell me that. But I’ve been careful to downplay this as much as I can because… I was worried my father might…”
Goddamn it. If today wasn’t bad enough, I just got the pretty boy to admit that he was afraid his father would sell him offif everyone could see how gorgeous he is.
I’m batting zero for a thousand today, and it’s not getting any better.
“Greetings, my problem children!”
Slade and I both look to the door as it bursts open to reveal the impeccably dressed legal hotshot and his intimidating companions. Kendrick is as dark and foreboding as the last time I saw him, while Rainier practically oozes ‘former special ops’ from every pore. Even in the black polo and cargos, the guy makes me feel like we’re about to plan an invasion of Panama or something. Channing, however, breaks away from Morgana to hurry to the three men. Jax picks her up and spins her briefly, then smiles widely as the other two approach.
Very interesting. Morgana’s hand-picked introvert has definitely gotten cozy with these dudes—thoughhowcozy is the question.
“Jackson, I highly doubt Slade and Lucasplannedto find the Beauregard heir dead on this stage,” Morgana says drily. “Problem children is a stretch, even for you.”
My lawyer moves away from Channing, striding forward to air kiss my mate and then shakes his head. “Fair enough, Dean LeCiel. However, I have so many clients all over the world, and the two ladies from this part of the world create the most work. There’s something in the air around these parts, I’d swear my life on it.”
“There’s something in the air everywhere,” Rainier grumbles as he, Channing, and Kendrick join my family. “The uptick in problems is not normal, and I’d stakemyreputation on that.”
Morgana tilts her head, eyeing the big man with a sharp gaze. “Is that why you guys have been on the move so much?”
Both of the scary supes shift their gaze to Channing, who shrugs. “I didn’t tell anyonewhereyou were going, just when people were out of town. It seemed important, and today proves that it is. This would have been a much bigger mess if you guys were halfway across the country.”
“True, darling. Very true.” Jackson sighs and waves at us. “How are you two doing?”
“Not a day at the beach, man.” I snort, gesturing to the lump under the cloth and my stage-bound companion. “We’re stuck here until you clowns get the authorities here. Something I’d recommend doing soon before one or both of us have to use the restroom. That won’t be pretty.”
They all laugh, but I’m right. I drank a shit ton of water today because of early practice, and I don’t know what Slade has done, but we’ve been up here for almost an hour now. Bodily functions are inevitable, and who the fuck knows how slow those lazy asses at the station will be.
“Okay, Morgana,” Jackson says when he catches his breath. “Go make the call, and Channing, you call security and advise them the cops may enter the campus. They need to be sent to this buildingonly, and don’t give them any other details. Got it, ladies?”
The women nod, peeling off in different directions to do as he asked, and I sigh. I’ve never been more grateful that while somebuildings at SU are older, they’re all nicely air-conditioned. Lack of cool air would make this situation pretty gross in not that long.
“Take a quick, careful look around, gentlemen,” Jackson says to Kendrick and Rainier. They split in opposite directions, heading for the furthest corners of the orchestra level of the theater without comment. “I want to see if they notice anything we need to draw the less trained locals’ attention to.”
Iggy nods, looking around the theater with a grimace. “It doesn’t appear to be disturbed but for the body to my recollection. That’s going to make this a nightmare.”
“Oh, we sailed past nightmare to absolute debacle the second the hockey player walked in on it, Professor.” The lawyer gestures at me with an annoyed look. “We were riding out the LaMount thing while they spun their wheels. I was hoping they’d drop the charges now that you’re back from the coast. There’s been no movement, and that boded well for him. Now he’s atanothercrime scene, and that idiot detective will use that fact to extend his ‘investigation’ into his supposed guilt.”
“I’m right here, you know,” I retort. “And before this moment, I didn’t even know who this fucker was. I’ve never interacted with him or any of his family personally. Nana might have, but I wouldn’t know them from Odin, Thorne. I havezeromotive to kill him.”
“This isn’t a TV show, though, Lucas.” Liam runs his hand through his hair, obviously stressed by my eventual issue. “And the people in that station backed down because of the combination of Jackson’s and my connections, but… They didn’t care as much about some out-of-towner hockey player as they will about the wealthy heir to a hometown billionaire family.”
“Ding, ding, Your Highness!” Jackson says with a grin. “The Beauregard name carries afucktonof weight in this state, and despite their scandals and problems, they’re like a Southern Kennedy family, but for the arts. The matriarch is absolutelydismalto deal with, and as I told Morgana, his sister is a straight-up cunt. We’re going to be drowning in local politics and broader implications.”
“Lucky we have you, then,” I mutter loudly enough for him to hear. “Aren’t you even more influential than this corpse?”
“How rude,” Jackson says as he frowns. “I’malwaysmore influential than a corpse. However, yes, my family’s heritage will help, as will the fact that Thorne Enterprises’ market value trumps that of the Beauregards. The tricky bit will be that their roots go back further than mine—but only slightly.”
