CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Tony

 

I was tired. Really tired. I’d gotten less than four hours of sleep, and here I was back at Bruder’s. He’d texted me the night before to let me know he had everything I’d need to begin Shika’s portrait, so at least I hadn’t had to lug a canvas, easel, and my painting supplies. Turned out, he’d ordered what looked like one of everything from an oil painting supply store.

I was not psyched about painting Shika. She was a beautiful woman and no hardship on the eyes, even if I didn’t swing that way, but I was used to painting whom I wanted when I wanted. A creative person needed to be led by their muse, and my muse wasn’t interested in painting a nude of Karl Bruder’s girlfriend.

Bruder, being the controlling son-of-a-bitch that he was, insisted upon arranging Shika exactly as he wanted her for the portrait, and that was lying on a chaise lounge, a sheet artfully draped between her legs but her breasts bare. She wore a silver collar around her neck.

As I sketched out the general shapes on the canvas, my mind wandered. I’d briefly spoken to Cane that morning, but I hadn’t had time to fill him in on what I’d found out while researching in my room. Hung hadn’t been home, which had become a habit I wondered about more and more. Was he staying the night at strangers’ houses? I worried about him and promised myself I’d talk to him as soon as he’d let me. Axel had expressed a similar concern to me recently. Naturally soft-hearted, the big guy worried about us a lot now that he was living with Caleb and not around the club as much. At our last club meeting—or “church” as many MC’s called it, but Matteo had had a strict religious upbringing that made him hate the word too much to stomach its use—we had tried to have an intervention of sorts, but Hung had become angry and distant and had refused to talk.

Sketch completed, I began laying down background colors while Shika chatted about the recent improvement in the weather, not bothered one iota having her tits out in front of me.

Maybe Blaze should let Hung have his conquests to the clubhouse again. I didn’t mind sleeping somewhere else if I had to. It was dangerous to pick up people at bars and go home with them. Hung was in really good shape, but muscles aren’t much when faced with a gun. I decided to talk to Blaze about it that night. He wanted to know what was going on with Cane’s cousin anyway. Lake still insisted upon working at The Yellow Banana, although hopefully Bruder wasn’t paying attention to him now he’d gotten Cane to give him what he wanted. The asshole.

“Can we take a break?” Shika’s soft voice broke into my thoughts.

“Of course.” I wasn’t sure how long we’d been at it, but I got the feeling she’d stopped trying to make small talk with me a long time ago. Gradually becoming aware of the aches and pains in my own body, I stretched and checked my watch. “Wow. We can stop for the day. It’s close to noon, and I’m sure you’re tired of sitting in the same position.”

Shika stood and reached for her clothes. “You get really lost in your work.”

I smiled. “Yeah. Sorry I’m not better company.”

“That’s okay. I can always meditate.”

I texted Cane, asking if he’d have lunch with me. I got a quick reply that Bruder was keeping him busy, but if I’d go to the deli down the street—the same one I’d eaten at after turning down Bruder’s job offer—he’d try to make it.

I put away my paints, cleaned myself up, and headed that way.

I was seated and halfway through a sandwich when the bells on the door jingled, and Cane walked in. My eyes swept over him, as did many of the other patrons’. With his height, dark hair, and spectacular eyes, he was a stunning man. He smiled when he spotted me, and my heart flipped over like a teenager’s while my hole contracted, remembering how it had felt having Cane inside it.

He ordered and then joined me at the table with his food.

“Fun morning?” he asked, knowing I’d not been enthused about painting Shika.

“Thrilling.”

“He didn’t have her in some lewd pose, did he?” Cane bit into his Reuben.

I chuckled. “Thankfully, no. It was pretty tasteful. She was wearing a collar though.”

Cane licked a piece of Sauerkraut from his lips. “What kind of collar?”

“A thin silver one. Purely a statement of ownership.”

Cane grunted. “He’s a piece of work. As far as I know, they aren’t in any kind of Dom/sub relationship. My guess is he just likes the idea of owning her. Be glad he didn’t ask you to paint her with his python.”

I raised a brow. “Is that a euphemism?”

Cane laughed. “I kind of wish it was.”

“He really has a python? What did you say its name was…Juno?”

He nodded. “Twelve feet long and still growing.”

“Wow. I’ve never understood why people keep animals like that as pets.”

“I’d say for some it’s the adrenaline rush of working with something that could kill you. For Karl, I think it’s more about looking tough. I don’t know. To be fair, he’s always been fascinated by snakes and owns quite a collection.”

“Does Bruder deal in tea?” I asked, wanting to get to what I’d found in the emails.

“Tea? Like, the drink?”

I nodded. “There’s a lot of talk of tea in your cousin’s emails on his secret account.”

Cane wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I think B-Natural sells different kinds of herbal teas. What are they saying about it?”

“People who are planning a trip here soon want to make sure they get certain kinds of tea. They’re pretty specific about their orders. No mention of supplements. Just…tea. I thought it was kind of weird.”

“That is weird.” Cane put down his sandwich. “Unless…”

I looked at him. “Unless what?”

“Unless tea isn’t tea.” He met my eyes. “I’d like to see those emails.”

“I’ll show you tonight.” I looked at my watch. “I’d better get back and start on the computer work, although painting Shika’s more interesting, to be honest. What’s he got you doing today?”

“I have to be at the warehouse to meet some shipments.”

“Supplements, or something else?”

Cane looked uncomfortable. “I hope you don’t think—”

I reached out and touched his hand. “I told you I believe you when you say you didn’t know about the…” I looked around the crowded deli and lowered my voice. “You know. I just wondered about weapons or drugs.”

“He knows better than to send me to deal with those kinds of shipments. Karl wants to control me, but he isn’t so cocky he can be sure I won’t rat him out if handed something like that on a silver platter.”

“Well, while you’re there, why don’t you see if there’s any tea in those boxes?” I smiled at Cane. I wanted to kiss him, but that would have to wait until later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

****

I was starting to wonder if Karl really needed me looking into his competitors. I couldn’t find anything of interest. Grandma’s Vitamins certainly didn’t appear to be a threat. As far as I could see, B-Natural was way ahead of everyone else in sales. Bruder had nothing to worry about.

After hours of fruitless searching, I shut down the computer and walked downstairs, ready to go home. I could hear Bruder’s voice coming from down the hall behind a closed door. I paused, listening. When I couldn’t hear well enough to make out any words, I quietly moved down the hall and put my head close to the door.

“…the perfect cover. All those people…the tunnels. Just fucking hurry up and…harbor.”

Another male voice said, “…fast as they can.”

“Well…fucking faster!”

I moved away from the door and down the hall. I had just reached the elevator when I heard Bruder’s office door jerk open. The elevator doors parted just as Bruder and one of his oversized henchmen rounded the corner.

They both looked surprised to see me. I smiled.

“Hey. I got to a good stopping place, so I’m headed out. See you in the morning.”

Bruder nodded, and I stepped onto the elevator, pushing the button for the lobby as casually as I could. There had been nothing to make Bruder think I’d heard anything he’d said. I hadn’t been standing near the door when he’d opened it, and I could barely make anything out as it was. Still, he’d had a look in his eyes of distrust that had unsettled me.

Man, I’d be happy when all this was over. Bruder gave me the fucking creeps—even more so now that Cane told me about his obsession with snakes. I could just picture the man with a huge python wrapped around his shoulders. Cane was right—I was lucky Bruder didn’t want the snake in the painting with Shika. What could be more titillating to someone like him than a painting of his python slithering all over his nude girlfriend? Fortunately for me and probably for Shika too, snakes won’t stay still for a portrait.