Chapter Seventeen
Mason was absently wondering what Heidi was up to at the spa right now—and if she was naked.
“Heads up, superstar. Our date’s here and I don’t have the stomach to be convincing, so I hope you’re prepared.” Wade nudged him in the direction of the entrance just in time to see Serena saunter in wearing a skin-tight, leopard-print dress. Talk about tacky—what kind of a shifter wore animal prints?
He mustered up his most endearing smile and they both stood when she approached the table.
“Hello there, boys,” she purred and surprised him by leaning in close to kiss his cheek before she did the same to Wade.
“Serena, you look ravishing today.” Wade pushed her chair in for her as she took a seat. “Can I get you a drink?”
“Thank you, Wade, but Todd will bring me something.” She waved him away and sure enough, the bartender was already on his way with a very large martini.
The club they were meeting her in was one of the BDSM clubs on board, though at two-thirty in the afternoon there weren’t many patrons in attendance. Those that were, were simply enjoying drinks in the lounge area the same as they were.
“So, I brought your wristbands, we may as well get the business portion over with first before we delve into other activities,” she took two slim silver bracelets out of the small clutch she had with her and set them on the table, “don’t you think?”
“Of course.” Mason smiled and picked one up to take a closer look. “So what are these going to run us? I didn’t become wealthy from throwing money away, you know.”
“Fifteen grand a piece.” She took a long draw on her drink. “It’s a deal, really, especially if you want to impress your dinner companions by ordering $800 bottles of wine all night like you did last evening.”
Mason was impressed that she didn’t even bat an eye while making her comment. She obviously did her homework on her customers before she made the transaction.
“For that amount, I’m assuming it will be retroactive to when we boarded the ship?” Wade added, and Mason was curious to see what kind of access she had with the computer systems if she could make that happen.
“I think that could be arranged,” she smiled and then winked at them, “as a special favor just for you two.”
“Will a cashiers’ cheque do?” Mason asked right before her cell phone lit up, the caller ID name of Raphael Costas running across the screen.
“Cash is always in style.” She picked up the phone and the bracelets and looked to the exit briefly. “This is actually my business partner now, so why don’t you run to the banking kiosk in the foyer and I’ll talk to him about getting your account settled. Of course, we still will leave enough trivial charges to make it look legit, but that shouldn’t run you over a thousand. Meet me back here in ten minutes?”
“Of course,” Mason smiled, although this one was much more predatory and she clearly took it the wrong way, preening before she turned and walked away with an extra sway to her scrawny ass.
“Did you see that caller ID?” Wade asked as soon as she had left the club. “There’s only one man with that name on this ship. I can’t believe that thieving bastard Costas is stealing from you, after everything your parents did for him.”
“I know. It's going to upset my mother.” Mason hated to think of her being upset, but at the same time, he was glad they’d found the thieves responsible. Raphael Costas had been a close schoolmate of his youngest brother Simon, but when both of his parents had died in an accident and no other family could be located, Mason’s parents had taken him in until he’d finished school. Mason had only met him a couple times in passing, as he’d already been away at university at the time, but he also knew one of the reasons Raphael had been given the job he had now was because of his parents. Ungrateful bastard.
Now he could call the office and order an immediate search of the boat and an audit on everything as soon as the vessel next hit a dock—which would then leave Wade and himself free to enjoy their time with their new mate.
Twenty minutes later they were sitting back at Serena’s table with the cheques in an envelope and an itching desire to be elsewhere. Her smile was relieved when she saw them still sitting there.
“I’m so sorry that took me so long.” She held her hand up until the bartender saw her once again and then sat. “My business partner can be so dramatic at times. Ah, you have the payment, wonderful. Here are your bands. Simply let them scan it wherever you are on the ship, and it will all be taken care of. Now, just let me scoot into the back to put this money away, and we can move this party to the other side of the club.”
She didn’t even give them a chance to respond before she was heading to the back of the club through the employee exit, her envelope in hand.
“Can we leave now?” Wade released the breath he’d been holding.
“Can we?” Mason asked back, not really sure what the protocol was for a situation such as this. It seemed rude to just ghost on her, but then again, they’d had no intention of doing anything else with her other than talking. Now that they had the names and the evidence they needed, it was probably time to make a hasty getaway, then they would also have enough time for a nice relaxing nap before they picked up Heidi for their real date.
“Sheesh, Mason,” Wade snickered, “haven’t you ever dumped a crazy woman before?”
“Not like this, it just seems so—abrupt.” Then he thought back to Serena’s over-teased hair and her over-made face and realized he didn’t really care if it was rude or not—they already had a mate, and he wanted to get back to her. “Okay, let's do it … but we can at least leave an excuse with the bartender.”
As they approached the bar, Wade nodded to the young shifter, Todd, flagging him down.
“Hey, can you please give our regrets to Serena about this afternoon?” Wade tipped him a couple of twenties. “Just tell her we ate some bad shrimp or something.”
Todd’s mouth dropped open as if in disbelief, then he suddenly grinned and looked down at the cash Wade had given him, pushing it back across the bar.
“Are you kidding? Serena’s a huge bitch,” he gleefully sneered. “I’ll do that shit for free, gladly. You guys just made my day.”
Mason was shocked as he followed a laughing Wade out of the club and back toward the elevators.
“Oh, my. Well, it seems we weren’t the only ones who didn’t fall for the cheetah’s tacky charms,” Wade mused as he pressed the button for their floor. “Can you believe that kid? Hilarious, I have a feeling he isn’t planning on breaking the news to her gently. I almost wish I could be there to see her face.”