Auctioned Mates Revenge
Chapter 74

Mordecai's POV

The people I had tailing Renda and Cindy through the mall had several things to report. One, Cindy's new name was Grace. Matt had gotten her registered as a member of Warhammer as an affiliate and as Midnight as a citizen.

I almost bristled at the move, but it was understandable. Setting up an identity in Warhammer was easier for him for all he knew. Using that to base her registration in Midnight was smart to keep the Interpack Authorities confused and to skate under any flags in the registration system. He'd done the same for every person who used to be a prostitute at Club Heaven and set up their employment profiles accordingly. He was as thorough as I expected him to be. My lips twitched into a little smile.

Sharon would have been proud of him.

Currently, Renda and Grace were out at the mall. They picked up an order at the electronics shop then went wandering around the mall to a lingerie boutique. I ordered them not to follow them in, but to keep an eye on their movements.

As I arrived at the restaurant Matt had invited me to, they reported they were headed to lunch. I let the valet take my car with a stiff and almost fearful greeting before breezing through the restaurant to the private terrace where Matt was waiting.

He turned with Sharon's eyes and her smile, all straight white teeth and benevolence. I could almost see her mischievous intellect in his eyes. It wasn't surprising. He'd attended her alma mater.

"Little Matt," I said crossing the terrace to pull him into a loose embrace. "Odd that you'd invite me out to lunch here. Missed me already?"

He smirked, "I didn't know I could pop in at any time given that trainwreck of a dinner."

I scoffed, "Ben's fault. Not mine. If it was up to me, Teagan and her little brat would have only had a crust of bread to eat."

Matt laughed and we took a seat. A waiter came out to take our order, fill our glasses, pour some alcohol, and disappeared.

"I hear Club Heaven is taking off," I said. "It's only been a few days and the whole city seems to be talking about it."

He grinned, "I learned how to have a good time overseas. I thought it was about time for a new sort of fun."

I laughed, "I bet. How is Felix? He looked like he was going to be sick."

He'd played it off with his usual energy and gregariousness. If I hadn't spent enough time with Matt, I would have thought his watchfulness of Felix was just him wondering what the kid was on, but there had been a concern in his eyes. Matt shook his head, "Lack of sleep. Seeing Ben didn't help. He's good."

"I was surprised you didn't bring Grace or Renda," I said.

"The message that was passed through Ben was that it was more of business meeting than pleasure. I was surprised to see Teagan there."

"Well, once Ben decided it was a good idea to invite Teagan to my house, there wasn't a chance for it to be anything else. That poor schmuck, Gordon. I don't know what she's got on him, but he looked like he was going to escape at any minute... And that other kid her demon spawn was clinging to looked like he wanted to puke on her."

Matt snorted, "I got that sense as well."

The waiter returned with our appetizers. I plucked a tiny, seared steak from the tray and sipped my whiskey.

"So, what did you call me for?" I asked, "Not like you to shoot the breeze."

Matt's lips twitched, "Well, first, an apology."

I tilted my head, "An apology?"

"Your party. I'll be attending alone. I'm letting Grace and Renda do a trial run as managers that night." He sighed, "Shame. I was looking forward to showing off."

I sipped my drink, "I bet... Hard to replace a natural blonde of that shade."

Matt bobbed his head in agreement, "She's sweet too."

Sweet was a good word for Grace if I ever heard one. I wanted to ask exactly how much he knew about Grace's sweetness, but I refrained. The audio had been pretty clear that he was more than involved with Grace and indulging in her sweetness frequently. Admittedly, I was pissed off at the situation, but I could only blame myself for not taking her sooner.

"I suppose that means you're not going to bring them to the Masquerade either."

Matt shook his head, "Short of a catastrophe, we'll be there."

"Well, apology accepted. I almost thought it might be personal."

Matt grinned, "I'm not Ben."

I laughed, "No. You aren't."

He was more like his mother and her father than Ben. Why Ben didn't understand that and act accordingly, I could only guess, but it didn't matter. Ben was probably giving himself a heart attack somewhere in my territory over Matt. The bastard deserved it for all the stunts he'd pulled over the years.

"That apology comes with a gift."

I stilled, "The last gift you gave me gave me more work than I had anticipated."

"But it was a good gift, wasn't it?"

I sipped and waved him off, "Don't get cheeky."

He laughed, "It's about Justin, Skyfall, and Frost Pelt."

His lips twitched, "More importantly, it's about Wade."

I narrowed my gaze at him, "Wade?"

"He tried to kill me," Matt said, "His ambition is growing by the day with Sonia nudging him along and Ben being too preoccupied to keep him in check."

I narrowed my eyes, "He tried to kill you?"

Mat's brow furrowed and his eyes searched my face before he nodded slowly.

"Tampered with a cable car. It crashed. Renda was with me. It was before we came to Midnight."

I had heard about an incident at Zag Park a while ago, but I hadn't known that Matt was involved. Looming Height had its own mysticism and I could think of only one reason that Matt would have been there. Well, wasn't that interesting?

"You should have killed him," I said.

Matt grinned, "I would have had too much motive, but maybe not considering his accident."

I laughed at the sly gleam in his eyes, lifting my glass in salute, "Atta boy. The whiny little f**k should know not to f**k around with larger predators."

"I agree, which is why I'm telling you what I think is going to happen next." Matt said, "What do you know about a Sean Ashbrook."

I frowned, "Justin's brother?"

Matt nodded.

"Not much. I knew he came back to Midnight recently. Nothing on him after he left."

"Sean works for the Interpack Authorities," he said. "He's... pretty invested in nailing his brother to a cross. I imagine that's because he knows what Justin has been up to."

I'd have to look into him and nodded, "I'll look into him."

"He's just a piece. I'm not sure about Ben's involvement with it all, but Wade is behind Justin and likely Skyfall in some capacity. Calvin and his son were in Frost Melt before coming here, meeting with Gordon supposedly."

I grit my teeth, "You're saying they're playing me, and it's a good chance there's something else going on."

"I'm saying there is an opportunity for you to expand Midnight and get a real industry under your belt."

I leaned forward, "Go on."

"Interpack rules means if something to have to Frost Pelt, it's likely that Ben would have rights..."

I set my jaw, "The same would be true for Skyfall."

"I figured as much, but I don't think that Ben knows about Wade's involvement with Skyfall or his attempt to buy up Blooming Vibes' stockpile through Justin."

He pulled a sheet out and slid it across the table. I didn't recognize the handwriting but I knew enough to know that they were prescription lines.

"This was given to Renda by Chloe, you know who that is don't you?"

"Justin's play housewife," I said. "Everyone knows who she is. You think she'll want a deal."

"I think she's invested in getting her freedom. Something easily granted if Justin crashes."

"What's this have to do with Skyfall and Frost Pelt?"

"Justin's the weakest link in that chain," Matt said. "If I had to guess, Calvin and Teagan are eyeing each other's territory. Teagan's always been the jealous type. She's suspicious of Calvin's new place in Ben's circle. Calvin's probably just as suspicious of her and nervous about his new position. I can only imagine that Ben needs him for something, but I'm not convinced he's delivered; otherwise, he wouldn't be linking up with Wade."

I narrowed my eyes searching Matt's face for some scrap of knowledge. There was no way he could have put all this together without knowing about Fluorite or at least have an inkling.

"I think we're in for a long conversation, Matt."