by Faith Gibson
Frey had barely disconnected before Kai’s phone beeped with an incoming message. “Damn, he’s fast.” Kai opened the text and had all Presley’s information, including where she worked as well as all her relatives’ info.
“Well?” Frey wasn’t usually so nosy, but Kai appreciated his boss’s interest. Frey was more than a boss, though. They had become fast friends with their interests aligning. “Presley is a partner in her father’s law firm. She has a sister, Joselynn, who also works at the firm.”
“That’s a good starting point.”
“Now to figure out how to pay a visit without giving Presley the wrong idea.”
“Did Julian give you the sister’s address?”
“Yes. You think I should try there first?”
Frey rubbed his chin. “Maybe sniff around. If she’s your mate, you’ll know it by getting close to her home.”
Kai vibrated with excitement. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll do that tonight.”
“Really? You can wait that long to find out?”
Kai grinned. “Yes. Besides, I thought we had a building to look at.”
“We do. I called Mason and asked him to come in early. He can man the counter until we get back.”
“Who’s guarding Willow?” Kai couldn’t imagine Mason allowing his mate to stay home unprotected.
“He’s dropping her off at the manor. With Rafael working from home, she hasn’t been going to the office. Julian set it up so Willow has everything she needs in Rafael’s home office.”
Speaking of the young Goyle, Mason entered the gym with a smile. “Morning.” Mason was still a teen, but by Gargoyle standards, he was a man. Like all of their kind, he aged more quickly than humans, and he appeared to be in his early twenties.
“Thanks for coming in early,” Frey said, giving Mason a knuckle bump.
“It’s no problem. Now that Sebastian is here, it’s like I don’t exist anymore.” Mason was smiling, and Kai knew the male was joking. None of them existed when the baby was around. All the kids had that effect, and Kai couldn’t wait for the day he added his own babies to the mix.
“We won’t be gone long. Lor might stop by, so if he does, let him shadow you. He’s going to take Kai’s place when he opens his new gym.”
“Will do.” Mason stepped behind the counter, and Kai followed Frey to the parking lot. They climbed in Frey’s Jeep. It was an older model than Kai’s, but it was still in good shape. Frey only drove it when Abbi wasn’t with him.
The building was perfect. As soon as they stepped through the door, Kai could envision where everything would be. The former tenants had used it for both yoga and massages. There were dressing rooms and a break room which would serve him well.
“I had Rafael pull the plans.” Frey led Kai to a counter where the architectural drawings were laid out. “These walls aren’t load-bearing, so they can easily be removed to open up the space. These massage rooms can be left as-is if you think you want to keep them for meditation.”
Like Frey, Malakai was a firm believer in fighting being as much mental as physical. If you weren’t in the right headspace, you didn’t do as well. Kai missed sitting on the beach as the sun came up, finding his Zen, but Sixx’s house was situated so he could sit outside on the patio and do the same thing.
They walked around the space for an hour, discussing where the main ring would go, where Kai would put the heavy bags, speed balls, and smaller sparring rings. Kai could already smell the sweat and hear the grunts and pounding of flesh striking flesh. For the first time since he left his small island, Kai felt like he had found his true purpose. When Frey and the others moved on, Kai would have his gym – and hopefully his mate – to keep him from feeling lonely. And it wasn’t everyone who would be moving. He had the other Gargoyles, like Lorenzo and Jasper, who were fairly new to the area to spend time with.
“Where do I sign?”
Frey rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s already yours.”
“What?”
“Rafael drew up the paperwork signing the building over to you.” Frey handed him the keys. “Welcome to your new gym.”
“I… that’s…” Kai choked back the emotions threatening to spill forth.
“Rafael doesn’t need the money, and besides, you’re family. You can use the money you would have spent on the building to renovate and purchase your equipment.”
Kai looked around again. His dream was coming true. “Thank you, Brother. And I’ll go see Rafael and thank him personally.”
“Just make sure I get one of the first T-shirts so I can advertise.”
Kai held out his hand, and Frey shook it. He gave one last look around at his future before he took his keys and locked the door behind them.
Chapter Two
“Joselynn, where’s the Parker file?” Presley asked as soon as Josie walked in the door. Her boss didn’t bother with pleasantries. Josie should be used to it, having lived with her sister for twenty years before Presley moved out into her own apartment after graduating college. Presley was their father in every way. She had his take-no-prisoners attitude and went after whatever she wanted. She also got his stature and good looks. Where Presley was easily five-ten without heels, Josie took after their mom’s side of the family, barely hitting five-five. Josie had been called cute her whole life, and she’d come to accept that early on. She also accepted the fact that she wasn’t as smart or as pretty as her older sister.
Also like their mother, Josie was laid-back and took life as it came. She never pursued a man she thought was hot. She’d learned a long time ago the men she went out with would eventually get a look at Presley, and Josie was a forgotten memory.
“Joselynn, did you hear me? I don’t have time for your daydreaming.”
“It’s on your desk.” Josie might not be a much-sought-after attorney like her sister or father, but she was darn good at her job. She had started working at the family firm right out of college, and eight years later, she knew as much about each of the cases as they did. Josie never wanted to go into law, but she hadn’t been given a choice. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She either studied law and joined the family business, or she paid for college herself. Since she didn’t want to be in debt with student loans the rest of her life, she’d done as her father wanted.
“I don’t see it.” Presley muttered something harsh under her breath. Josie was used to that too. To the world, Presley Pierson was fierce in the courtroom and sugary sweet when not. Most of the time it wasn’t an act, except when her attention was focused on Josie. Presley often chose to point out Josie’s shortcomings, and it was something Josie didn’t understand. She was good at her job. Josie spent long hours making sure her father and sister had everything they needed for their cases. She spent far more hours at the office than either of them. Even Naomi, the paralegal for the firm’s other partner, had a life outside Pierson, Pierson & Hobbs. Sterling Hobbs was just as good at winning cases as Josie’s father and sister, but the man had an easy, kind way about him.
Josie set her coffee and purse on her desk before heading into her sister’s office. She walked to the desk, picked up the stack of files, and handed over the third one down. Presley took it without saying thank you, which wasn’t anything new. Josie was used to her sister being rude and unappreciative. She returned to her desk, placed her purse in the cabinet, and sipped her caramel latte she picked up every morning from a little coffee shop on the way to the office. Yes, she could do without the calories, but she absolutely could not live without the caffeine. While her computer woke, she opened her planner and reminded herself of the files she had to work on, even though she had them all down in her head. She didn’t leave anything to chance. Not once had she forgotten a project. Never had she let her family down when it came to what they needed to win their cases.
Preston walked through the door an hour later, expensive leather briefcase in hand. As he did every morning, he said hello to Josie as he passed her desk to get to Presley’s o
ffice. Presley was supposed to have been a boy and named Preston the second. When she surprised them by not having the right anatomical parts, they’d scrambled to come up with a different name. In the long run, their dad hadn’t cared Presley was a girl. He still shaped her into the image of himself, and her sister ate up the attention. She played all the sports and got the best grades. She was competitive from the start, learning from the best.
Josie came along a few years later, and her mother shielded her from her father for the most part. When it was apparent she wasn’t anything like Presley, her father lost interest. Josie loved her mother more than anything in the world, and the two of them remained close. Her mom cooked Sunday dinner once a month, and it was the only time Presley showed up at her parents’. They both saw their father five days a week, but once a month wasn’t enough time with their mother. Not for Josie.
“Joselynn, please come here,” her father ordered. At least he had the decency to tack on a please. Something Presley never did. She grabbed her tablet and joined them. “The Sanderson case has been pushed up two weeks.”
“No problem.”
“What’s the date on that?” Presley asked.
“September twenty-seventh,” Josie answered.
“I was talking to Dad.”
“She’s right, Pres.” Still, Presley flipped through her calendar, but Josie already knew what she was looking for.
“The Peters case is that day as well, but you have all the information,” Josie said.
Presley scowled. “You are aware things come up last minute.”
“I am, and when that happens, I’ll handle it. Presley, I’ve been doing my job a long time, and I’ve never let you down. I’m not going to start now.”
“The Peters case is the most important trial of my career. Dad, can’t you get the Sanderson trial moved to another date?”
“No, I can’t. And I won’t. For once, listen to Joselynn. She works harder than the two of us combined.” Josie frowned at her father. That was the first time she could remember him praising her. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a conference call to prepare for.”
As soon as Preston was out of the office, Presley said, “Do not screw this up for me.”
Josie bit her tongue. “I won’t,” she said instead of the ugly comment she wanted to hurl at her sister.
The day flew by like normal, with Josie eating lunch at her desk. When four-thirty rolled around, Presley came out of her office dressed in workout attire. She sauntered by without a word. Josie wished she had the luxury of going to Hartley’s for kickboxing classes. Presley said the classes kept her mind sharp. Josie didn’t doubt it. She also didn’t doubt her sister had her eye on the hot guy who taught the class. Her sister had never had to chase after a man, but it seemed this one was playing hard to get. Presley hadn’t shared her pursuit of the man with Josie. She had overheard her sister’s conversation with her best friend, Elise. The guy was probably gay if he wasn’t interested in someone as pretty as Presley. That, or he was the fabled unicorn who fell for women like Josie instead.
Josie hated the smug feeling she got every time Presley whined about the man not falling into her arms. Pettiness was beneath Josie. Instead of dwelling on things that didn’t matter, she called in an order for dinner and got back to work. When Josie looked up, it was a little after nine. Damnit. This was getting old. Just because she didn’t have someone waiting at home didn’t mean she wanted to live at the office. If she had only her father’s cases to deal with, she could go home at a decent hour, but he insisted she work for Presley as well when her sister couldn’t keep her own paralegal. Instead of her father telling Presley to be nice, Josie had to endure her sister’s attitude, and that made her workload double what it should have been. Josie grabbed the files she was working on and shoved them in her leather bag.
As she drove, Josie let the sounds of Cyanide Sweetness occupy her thoughts. The hard-pounding rock matched her mood. She probably should have listened to classical, but she needed something with grit.
POP!
Josie looked around to see if someone was shooting at her. It was downtown NATL after all, but people were going about their evening, strolling down the sidewalk. She turned onto the street leading to her apartment complex when her car began to shimmy. Josie pulled over next to the sidewalk under a streetlamp and turned the car off. When she got out, she found the passenger side rear tire blown.
“Fucking great!”
Kai’s attention wasn’t as focused as it needed to be. Between Presley flirting with him and his thoughts on her sister’s photo, he knew someone else should be leading the class. Mason taught a few of the self-defense classes, and he would be taking over this one as well when Kai left to open his own gym, but the younger male had gone home for the day. Lor was currently keeping an eye on the front counter while walking through those customers using the various weights and cardio machines.
Kai breathed easier when class was finally over. He told the ladies, “Good job today. I’ll see you all next time.” These particular classes were held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Since it was Friday, he had the weekend to focus on the floor and showing Lorenzo the ropes. Kai worked seven days a week so Frey could focus on his family. Lorenzo was also without a mate and had agreed to the same schedule.
Kai was headed to the office when Presley caught up to him. “Elise and I are headed to Bishop’s tonight, and I was hoping you would join us.” Bishop’s was an upscale club which required membership. It was like most regular clubs with too loud music, but the drinks weren’t watered-down, and the clientele were some of the most affluent in New Atlanta. Kai had never been there. He’d only heard about it from some of the gym members talking about going there. Kai had no desire to step foot in the place. He owned exactly one suit, and he only wore it when absolutely necessary. He preferred hole-in-the-wall dives where he could drink domestic beer from a bottle, eat greasy appetizers with his fingers, and wear his faded jeans with holes in them.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass.”
“Hot date?” Presley ran a manicured nail down his bicep. He stepped back, putting a couple feet between them.
“Something like that.” If she only knew he was scoping out her sister’s house, she probably wouldn’t be as friendly.
“I’ll leave your name at the door in case you change your mind.”
“That’s not going to happen. Bishop’s isn’t my scene.”
“Oh? What is your scene? Because I like to dress down as much as the next girl.”
Malakai seriously doubted that. He couldn’t see the high-profile lawyer chugging beer and shooting pool. “It doesn’t matter because I have a girlfriend.” While that technically wasn’t true, he did have a mate out there. He needed to get away from this woman for a couple reasons. One, she smelled good, and two, he needed to find out who the scent was coming from.
“Kai, there’s a phone call for you,” Lorenzo said from the doorway.
Nodding his ascent at the male, Kai told Presley, “Enjoy your evening.”
“I’ll get him yet,” Presley muttered to her friend. If it weren’t for his shifter ears, he wouldn’t have heard her.
When he reached the desk, Lorenzo grinned. “I hope I didn’t overstep, but I thought you might like a save.”
Kai smiled back. “Thanks, Brother. No wonder that female wins all her court cases. She’s tenacious.”
“Is that going to be a problem if it turns out her sister is your mate?”
Kai shook his head. “Nah, I don’t mind a little heavy-handedness when it’s from the right person. But Julian sent me a photo of Joselynn, and the two sisters are as different as night and day as far as looks go. I bet their personalities are as well. If Joselynn turns out to be my mate, Presley will just have to get over it.” Kai had stared at Joselynn Pierson’s photo several times during the day. The female was just as pretty as her sister, but instead of being blonde and tall, Joselynn had long, blac
k hair, and was average height. They both had startling blue eyes, but Joselynn’s seemed brighter. That might have been Kai’s imagination. Her smile was more genuine as well. Maybe it was because the younger sister wasn’t an attorney. Kai didn’t know much about being a paralegal, but he doubted it was as stressful as being a lawyer.
The photo was almost enough to prove Joselynn was his mate. He was drawn to her expressive face, and he could feel the warmth radiating through the screen of his phone. Kai would have his answer that night when he went to her home.
Voices halted their conversation, as Presley walked out of the gym with two of her friends. The woman told Kai she was still putting his name on the list, just in case. As she winked and flirted, her two friends were focused on Lorenzo. Lor crossed his beefy arms over his chest and grinned at the attention. When the three were out the door, Kai arched an eyebrow at the male.
“What? I’m not mated. Besides, that Elise is fine,” Lor said, rubbing his hands together.
“Well, she’s going to be at Bishop’s tonight with Presley. My name will be at the door, so if you want to go play, just use my name.”
At the mention of Bishop’s, Lorenzo curled his lip. “Yeah, no thanks. Not my kind of place.”
“Mine either. I’m going to wash some towels.”
“I got that, Brother. You hang out here and look at the picture of your mate some more.” Kai swung lazily at the male, but Lor ducked out of the way, laughing. Kai thought he’d been stealthy looking at his phone. Guess not.
Kai sighed and did a walk-through. It was a little past six on a Friday night, but the gym was still busy. Lorenzo left at eight, and by the time Law walked through the doors for his shift at nine, Kai was ready to phase. His beast knew they were close to finding their mate, but Kai still didn’t know what to do or how to approach Joselynn if she was the one.
First things first.