sorry I missed him, it’d been good working for him, I’d appreciated the opportunity, but now I’d claimed my fated mate and wouldn’t be coming back.” He leaned in, kissing Kee’s hair. “I might’ve told him my mate wasn’t keen on the violent aspects of my position. No one can scent lies over the phone.”
“You wouldn’t have been lying.” Kee took another mouthful, thinking hard. When his mouth was empty again, he asked, “And your boss is going to accept that? He’s not going to come looking for you?”
“I wouldn’t think so.” Scraping his plate, Dian licked off his knife and fork and put them diagonally on the china before pushing them away. “Something Cam said about the council hit hard. He bluntly said that the council didn’t care about me personally.”
“Is that true? That’s sad if it is.” Maybe my dad’s thoughts about ‘the man’ weren’t so wrong after all.
“Burton is all about the job. He doesn’t bother asking how I am, even if I get hurt. Other supervisors I’ve had over the years have been the same. A lot of our enforcers have left the council and started working in security for themselves. They make better money, they prefer working as part of a close-knit team if they do work with other people, and they can take time off whenever they want. The petty form filling in triplicate at the council is bad enough, but there’s very little recognition for the positives we do either, which can weigh on a person over time.”
“Everyone deserves to be told they’re doing a good job, no matter what that job is.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? It doesn’t cost anything to say thank you or well done. But anyway, to answer your question, no, I doubt Burton will do anything except curse my name as he’ll have to replace me. Eagle’s already on his way to New York – he should be back here in a few days. He’ll be quitting as soon as he’s handed in our report. We’re recommending - based on the information we’d received from confidential informants - that Austin is indeed mated and has obviously left because his mate didn’t fit with the image Austin had cultivated in the office. The report will be ignored, but it’s our opinion based on our investigation. What they do with it after it’s filed is up to them.”
“We can discuss what you want to do with your life now you’re a man of leisure, later.” Kee ran his finger up the inside seam of Dian’s pants. “I really missed you this afternoon. This wonderful dinner and the soft furnishings and everything else were a huge gift and I really appreciate it. Are you sure Eagle won’t be coming back to the house for a few days?” He tilted his head and winked up at his mate.
Dian caught on immediately. “You fancy wrecking a few pillows?” He asked leaning over Kee, pushing him back among the plush materials.
“Definitely.” Wrapping his arms around Dian’s neck, Kee pulled his mate into a kiss.
Chapter Twenty
Dian was sure something was going on with his mate. On the surface everything was fine. The two men settled into a routine around Kee’s working hours, which he’d cut back to just three days a week. Every day he woke to lazy mornings with breakfast in bed and lots of loving. Dian would walk Kee to work on the days he did, maybe hang around and chat to Cam if he was there, or he’d head back to the house. He’d decided to put in some gardens out the back, and although it was winter, he’d been busy clearing away dead bush and getting the raised beds ready for spring planting. It was such a difference to always being on the move for his job, endless form filling, and bureaucracy. Dian had ordered lumber ready for the new fence that was going right around the section in lieu of Kee’s hoped-for dog and was looking forward to seeing if he still had any skills with a hammer.
There was no word from the council regarding his abrupt resignation or the report. Eagle was back and helped a bit in the gardens when he was around. He’d settled into the spare room, moving out of the master bedroom seeing as the house now belonged to Dian and Kee. But he wasn’t home often. While Eagle appreciated having a stable home base that wasn’t the council buildings, he was traveling – enjoying