Page 132 of Saving the Last Heir
I blinked, looking down at the hand outstretched before me. Before I could offend him, I shook it. His hand was surprisingly soft and firm.
“You’ve got balls, Jackson,” Alessio said, and now the smile on his face was genuine. “I like that. Also, just for that, I’m going to help you out.”
He released my hand and pulled a slip of paper from his pants pocket.
“Don’t ask me how I got that. Don’t ask me how I know what you’re looking for. And don’t ask me for anythingeveragain,” he said, closing my fingers around the paper, and leaned close, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Just so you know, the orb you think is in Brazil is actually in Canada. This is where you can find it.”
My eyes widened as he backed away.
Holy shit. I forced myself to shove the paper into my pocket without looking, choosing instead to maintain the eye contact. One alpha showing respect for another.
Alessio snapped his fingers, and like an ocean tide, the wolves turned and trotted away. Those in their human forms retreated to their cars. Alessio raised a hand in departure as he opened the door of his Porsche.
“We’re even now, Jackson. You don’t fuck with me anymore, and you’ll never have to see me again.” He gave me another wink. “Make sure you don’t fuck with me. Okay?”
“Understood,” I said.
With that, Alessio climbed into his car, and within thirty seconds he and the rest of his crew were driving down our driveway, leaving me shaking but relieved.
“All right,” Reggie cried. “Is anyone gonna tell me what thefuckthat was about?”
“It was a…uh…” I turned and looked at Dad, desperate for a good story.
“A business rival,” Shyanne said. “He’s got some dealings that intersect with Jackson’s. No big deal.”
“No big deal?” Brent said, wiping his brow as if he’d been sweating. “That dude was acting like he was gonna kill someone. And what the hell was with the goddamned wolves? That dude was weird as shit.”
“More than weird,” Carlo said, gazing at the wolves as they retreated. “He looked familiar. That was Alessio Torrence. I’d bet my life on it. Haven’t seen him in a few years, but I recognize him. Guy’s dad was always bringing stuff into the shop.”
Marquel threw me a look, and from what I saw in his eyes, I could see that he’d recognized him as well. I gave him an almost imperceptible shake of the head. He was not a dumb man by any measure, and I hoped he understood. In response, he inclined his head.
“No offense,” Marquel said, giving me and my father an apologetic look, his tone conciliatory, “but I long ago stopped trying to figure out rich people. Alessio’s father was strange as well. I looked past it because he was a good customer. It appears his son is equally strange and apparently dangerous as well.” Heshrugged. “Who knows what that psycho does in his free time. Maybe he likes training wolves? Who am I to judge?”
Heaving a sigh, I smiled and nodded, latching on to that line of thought. “Yeah. Sure. We… Uhm, we can be a little weird. That’s for sure.” I gave Dad a pleading look, and he nodded.
“True,” he said. “I knew a CEO once who had a half dozen parrots as pets and spent his free time teaching them to say lines from his favorite movies.”
Carlo snorted a laugh. “Damn. For once in my life, I’m glad I’m fucking poor.”
Mom and the other dragons knew the truth of what had happened, and they all looked rattled, but they did a good job of covering their surprise and fear.
“Dad, I need to tell you something,” Shyanne said, deftly changing the subject. “I’m going on a trip with Jackson.”
That did the job of quickly getting everyone’s mind off the interruption of the wolf shifters, and got the humans to think of something other than the weird showdown they’d witnessed.
“A trip?” Marquel said, frowning in confusion. “Where?”
“That’s a little hard to explain,” she said, walking over to sit next to him.
“Well, you better explain, missy,” Reggie said, eyeing her suspiciously. “Where’s the rich guy taking you? You aren’t gonna come home with a herd of freaking lions or something like that last weirdo, right?”
“No,” she said rolling her eyes at him as she took Marquel’s hand. “We’ve got some important stuff to do. Some stuff that Ireallywant to help him with. I’m…well, I’m gonna be gone for a while. A few weeks to a few months.”
Her father looked from her to me, a little bewildered. “But who’s going to watch over the shop while you’re gone?”
“I thought you would,” she said with a small smile.
He frowned at her, then chuckled. “Shyanne, I’m retired. You know that.”
