the Mangnall brothers. Because, out of the corner of his eye, Judd saw Kevin also go white as a sheet.
“Oh fuck me, no. Judd, tell me you didn’t already sign it!” Keven, his fellow enforcer, actually yelled at him across the table. They always sat so one was facing the big windows and the other the front door.
Judd tore his gaze away from Colin to glare at Kev. This was a perfectly normal contract, why was he freaking out? “Uh, yeah. The money’s insane. The contract was a digital rush job. I signed it a few hours ago.”
“You’re running the op on your own, then. Or we’ll pull Tank and Bryan from their crap jobs for a bit. Better yet, get Isaac to help.”
“Hey now,” rumbled Tank, mildly.
“I could ask for time off. I’m only running spotter for a human ambulance team over next few days.” Bryan offered, ever the peacekeeper.
Isaac only sat watching. He was waiting to see if he needed to intervene and mediate. Judd and Kevin often teased each other, so it was hard to know if Kevin’s anger was genuine.
Judd, however, did know. This was out of character for his partner. He stared at Kevin, trying to read his body language. The other enforcer was vibrating with rage and what… Fear?
“Well, I’m out, no matter what!” Kevin’s jaw was set, the shape so much like Colin’s. Their lips were different, though. Colin’s were fuller, especially on the bottom. Judd always wanted to tug on that lower lip with his teeth. It was an inconvenient urge but apparently irrepressible.
Judd shook his head at Kevin, staying firm. “No can do. They asked for you specifically, remember? You’re named in the contract. I told you. You’ve got the reputation to beat with celebrities these days, apparently. All that flirting.”
“Well, shit a brick,” said Colin, surprising everyone. He almost never swore. The rest of them were confirmed potty mouths. Colin was proper and educated and stuff.
Trick was watching the whole exchange with wide eyes.
Kevin stopped eating. Everyone else did as well, in sympathetic shock.
Kevin never stopped eating.
Kevin rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s not my reputation she’s after. It’s my relation.”
Judd frowned. “How so?” He looked at Colin. “How’d you know she was coming to town?” His stomach churned. Had he made a horrible mistake? He tried to make a joke of it. “Are you her number one fan, Gingersnap?”
“Nope. I’m her number two son.” Colin still had that funny look on his face.
“What?!”
“Lexi Blanc is our mother,” Kevin explained, voice flat.
“I guess Kev doesn’t tell you everything, Judd.” Colin pushed back from the table and ran from the room.
“Oh shit,” said Judd, meaning it. He turned to their Alpha. “Did you know about this?” He pushed his chair back to go after Colin. To comfort and apologize. His Gingersnap was hurting. Judd had to make it right somehow. He’d no specifics of the brothers’ history with their mother. But it clearly wasn’t good.
“No,” snapped Kevin, “I’ll go.”
Alec stood then. Alpha. Dominance. “Neither of you go. Isaac?”
“On it.” Isaac jumped up and trotted up the stairs with alacrity.
“Well, isn’t this terribly dramatic and exciting,” said Max.
Alec turned back to his enforcers.
Judd felt guilty even though there was no way he could’ve known. He glared at Kevin across the table. Both of them were now standing. “You could’ve said something!”
“How was I to know my fucking mother would try to hire us? I haven’t spoken to her in over a decade!”
“Both of you, sit.”
It was a mark of how agitated they both were that they ignored their Alpha.
“She’s famous, you wanker!” Judd swore. “You didn’t think this pack needed to know that your mother’s, oh, I don’t know, the fucking queen of country music?”
“She doesn’t mean anything!” yelled Kev back.
“Clearly she does!” Judd gestured to the two empty spots at the table. The absence of Colin. His baby was hurt! Worse, Judd was the cause. Idiot Kevin.
“BOTH OF YOU WILL SIT.”
Power rolled off their Alpha. Real power. The kind that forced compliance.
They sat.
Trick said, into the resulting silence, probably to Marvin. “Is it always this exciting? It’s like that new soap opera – what’s it called? Oh yeah – The Nights of Our Afterlives.”
Marvin said, “Always, darling. And we haven’t even gotten started yet. Wait until you meet our kitsune friends. They’re nothing but drama. It’s fantastic. Lovejoy, pass the seaweed salad please? Trick, darling, would you like some?”