“The site looks good. The only issue is with the mobile version having some minor glitches. Are you losing your touch, old man?” Alaric waves a hand in front of me, pulling me out of my thoughts. The thoughts involve the gorgeous brunette who slammed into me a few minutes ago. I’m kicking myself for not asking her name or going after her. I just stood there and watched her walk away.

“You haven’t even listened to a word I said. Are you going deaf too?” Alaric continues with his annoying banter.

“My hearing is fine, I’m simply ignoring your nagging.”

“Really? Then what did I said?”

“That the website is looking good and that you’re an old man. But don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find you a proper nursing home soon enough,” I joke.

“That’s closer to your future, not mine, bro.”

Not wanting to give in to his games, I change the topic and press the issue while we’re here. “I’ll fix the glitches tonight when I get home. What worries me is the other stuff we found. Have you been able to contact her yet?”

“She’s elusive as fuck, Tristan. I told you she hates me, she won’t see me.”

“That’s because you’re an asshole, Alaric. I told you you should’ve let me handle it, but you don’t listen.” I state, knowing well that if it was me who handled the issue, we would’ve been over and done by now.

“Whatever, but we both know that the one who has the lady skills is me, not you,” he reminds me.

“And you love to gloat about that. Very mature of you,” I counter.

Alaric laughs, not the least affected by my remark. We might be only three years apart but it might as well be decades. As opposite as night and day. It seems that being skilled in the arts of seduction skipped me and went straight to his arrogant ass. Alaric is a player, which helps him in his line of work and he has a new girl every night, if not every hour. Me, I’m a loner and a homebody. After Rachel, the last girl I dated, told me she wasn’t ready to settle down and rejected what I offered, I decided it was time for a change. A change I’m still working on after three years. Maybe Alaric was right? As much as I hated to admit it, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a casual hookup or I went out with friends. All my focus is on work and trying to keep my brothers out of trouble.

“I’ll try to talk to her tomorrow. Something tells me her assistant’s going to help me out.”

“Careful, brother,” I warn. “This woman won’t even hesitate to take you down, don’t give her weapons to do so.”

“Don’t worry, bro. I got this,” he assures me. I’m about to tell him he’s full of shit when a man screaming catches our attention.

“What the fuck?” Alaric stands and starts to laugh.

I turn and try to see what’s all the commotion about but a few people from the restaurant’s staff are blocking my view. “What’s happening?”

“Oh, come here.” He motions for me to stand by his side. “It’s creepy Craig.”

“Who?” I ask as I stand and walk to his side of the table. When I do, I see the bloodied face of an older man. “Do you know that guy?”

“Yeah, he’s a real piece of shit. He’s a salt daddy,” Alaric informs me.

“Please explain.”

“He’s a guy that pretends to be something he’s not. He lures girls, making them believe he’s a sugar daddy but he’s not willing to spend a dime on them. He pretends he will as a means to get in their pants. He tried to trick Bella once and she threaten him to go to the police. We haven’t heard from him in a while but looks like he’s back to his old ways.” Alaric points to his right where a girl is being held by a waiter.

“Oh shit, it’s her,” I blurt out.

“Her? Her who?” Alaric questions but I ignore him and walk toward the brunette.

As I approach I can hear the weasel’s wails of pain.

“You broke my nose, bitch,” he sneers and I see red.

“Watch your mouth if you want to keep your teeth,” I threaten, “and you, let go of her.” The waiter instantly releases my beautiful brunette and her brown colored eyes meet my blue ones. I can see her shaking and it takes all my self-control to not smash the guy’s face for it. I’ve never been a fighter and I don’t know why but for her, I would fight.

“Are you alright?” I ask, softly. Eager to touch her, I lean forward but stop when I notice how tense she is. “It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”

“He tried,” her words get caught and I can see her swallow, “he grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. He hurt me.”

“She’s lying.” I turn to look at the piece of shit in front of me.

“You need to leave, now. Before I ask the manager to call the police.”

“Well, good. Let’s call them so they can take care of this. This is assault.” In that moment, Alaric walks past me and straight toward Craig. He says something in his ear and I can see all color leave his face.

“Are we clear?” Alaric’s tone is firm and full of warning. Whatever it is he said to him, works because he starts to retreat.

“Wait,” the brunette leaves my side and walks ahead. But Craig is already speed walking toward the door and doesn’t acknowledge her.

“What is it?” I ask.

“He’s a dangerous man, he shouldn’t, he’ll try.” I see her swaying and I catch her before her body hits against the table.

“Whoa, hey come on. I think we should sit down for a minute.”

“It’s the adrenaline,” Alaric offers. “Here, drink this. It’ll make you feel better.”

The girl tips back the shot and grimaces. “Oh no, it’s tequila. Tequila and I don’t mix well.”

Alaric laughs and I scowl at him. “You gave her a shot of tequila? Seriously?”

“Well I would’ve offered patron, but that’s the first thing I snatched from that waiter.” He points to the waiter retreating, taking a couple of dishes on his tray.

“Unbelievable,” I mutter.

“Excuse me, sir.” The waiter that had been holding the girl, taps on my shoulder. “Do you need me to call the police or someone to look at her.”

“No, it’s fine. We’ll take care of her.”

“We will?” Alaric questions.

Now I’m the one using a warning tone. “Yes, we will.”

“Of course. Is there anything I can bring you?” The waiter asks.

“Just some water, please. And don’t worry about the tab.” Removing one of my credit cards, I hand it to him. “We’ll cover it.”

Turning to the side, I notice the girl watching me. I can’t pinpoint what it is that calls me to her but I’m unable to look away. The tears still linger in her mesmerizing eyes and the sadness and worry reflected in them are like a punch to my stomach. I feel the need to protect and comfort her. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.

I sit at her right side and clasp her hand in mine, it’s so soft to the touch and I find myself not wanting to let go. “What’s wrong?” I want to tell her I’ll do whatever she asks, give her whatever she needs, but her next words are something I didn’t expect.

“I need a sugar daddy.”

As soon as she utter those words, she starts crying and I’m left unsure how to comfort her.

* * *

“Shit, Tristan.”

“Shh, you’ll wake her up,” I scold.

We left the restaurant with a passed out girl in my arms. It was mostly Alaric’s fault. She wasn’t lying when she said tequila didn’t sit well with her, and after the waiter told us she was previously drinking sake, we realized what a big mistake that shot was.

Opening the door to my car, I carefully place her on the back seat, trying not to wake her. She stirs and I cover her with my jacket. Closing the door, I face my brother. “Did you get into her phone yet?”

“We’ve got bigger problems than that,” Alaric states.

“What? You couldn’t break past her passcode? Who’s the one who lost their touch, again?”

“Fuck you, of course I broke it. I’m not talking about that.” Alaric hands me a black card with the letter C on the front and a number on the back.

“What’s this?”

“That’s Cordelia’s card,” Alaric informs me. “She’s one of Cordelia’s girls.”

“Shit.” My hand rakes over my hair. “Well, we’ll call her and ask her to meet with us. We could kill two birds with one stone.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind? Do you have any idea of how bad this looks?” he yells.

I cross my arms and calmly ask, “what do you suggest then?”

“She used an Uber to get here, we can request another one to take her to the same address and hope she doesn’t remember any of this in the morning.”

“Over my dead body,” I state. “We can’t just send her in an Uber to an address we’re not even sure is hers.”

“We can’t call Cordelia either. You were the one who warned me about keeping my distance from her until all of this gets sorted.”

“Fuck, for once you’re right.” I turn to look at the girl sleeping in the back seat of my car. “I’ll drive her there and make sure she’s okay.”

“Tristan, I don’t know what’s up with you, but she can’t know who we are.”

“I know,” I sigh. “I’ll just make sure she gets home safely.”

Alaric eyes me for a couple of minutes, trying to decide if he believes me or not and I don’t blame him, because I’m not even sure if I believe myself right now.

“What’s her name?” I ask as he types on her phone.

“Hannah Hartley.”

“Hannah.” Her name rolling from my tongue makes my chest ache. “It suits her.”

“She’s a feisty little thing,” Alaric adds, “she must be because of the lifestyle she has.”

“The same as yours.” I’ve never judged the way my brother chose to live his life, no matter how much I tried in the past to change his ways. But hearing his accusing tone towards Hannah has me hanging by a thread. “Since when did you become a judgmental prick?”

“Cool it, I wasn’t judging. I was just stating a fact. For your own sake.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I inquire.

“It means exactly what you’re thinking. She’s not the kind of girl you want to pursue and you’re not the kind of guy she would be interested in. Despite me calling you an old man, you’re not. So it’s best you just get her home and forget about all this. We still have work to do.”

“Fine, whatever you say little brother,” I remind him who’s the oldest and mostly the one who has the better judgement.

“I’m serious, Tristan. Don’t get yourself into a mess that won’t bring you anything but a headache.”

“Noted,” I say, dryly, snatching Hannah’s phone from his hands and opening the driver’s door. “I’ll fix the stuff we talked about and I’ll call you later.”

“You do that. Oh, and Tristan?”

I turn to look at him before closing my car’s door. “Yeah?”

“Next time, we go to Angelo’s, you owe me a slice.”