Page 24 of Conan
“It’d still make me feel better if I can read their body language,” Marcum supplies.
“Lead the way,” I say, shooting my arm out for him to take the lead. I match him step for step as I walk beside him, men part like the Red Sea as we brush past them. “That was nifty.”
“Even dressed down they know who the alphas of the pack are,” Rev advises.
“You make us sound like a pack of wolves or something,” Marcum sneers.
“Good,” I add. “If we’re the intimidating ones then that’ll mean we’re the ones everyone will want to befriend. It gives us a leg up with the men we’re here for.”
“The bad boys always draw an audience,” Midas conveys as he walks around us and heads toward the smoking section.
Upon our abundant research done on the four dipshits, we know that Liam and Niles are pack-a-day smokers, whereas David and Joey are not. As a matter of fact, the latter two, they’veloudlyprotested being stuck in places that allow smoking indoors through their social media accounts. After the long car ride, the first thing Liam and Niles are gonna want to do is light up so Midas will strike up a conversation with them and try to get us in with the group.
“There they are,” I point out, nodding my head at the deluxe Audi pulling into the lot.
“Of course they’d rent a fancy ass car to show off with. What better way to flash your money and status around than pull up in style?” Risk murmurs.
“It’s because their bank accounts are bigger than the size of their dicks,” I enthuse. “Gotta draw in the ladies somehow.”
“What a pathetic way to exist,” Marcum muses. We continue talking amongst ourselves as the four men grab their luggage and split into two groups. As we suspected, Niles and Liam rush over to where Midas is and the other two head inside to check them in.
“Showtime,” Rev announces, clapping his hands.
“I’m gonna head over to Midas and grab a smoke, see if I can help reel those fuckers over to our side,” I announce.
“You mean the dark side,” Marcum jokes.
“Is there any other side worth living on?” I tease as I saunter away, pulling out my smokes and lighter. Before I make it to them, I’m already lighting up.
For the first time since we’ve been riding together, we’ll be referring to each other by our given names, the ones our mommas gave us. The fact that I had to sit back and think of what they are is telling in itself.
“Aiden.”
“Xavier,” he nods in acknowledgment. “Guys, this is one of my partners that I told you about, Xavier.” We agreed not to hide who we are from the pussies, there’s no need for it. We are legitimate, tax paying businessmen after all. Unless they do more than scope us out, they’ll never unveil our tie to Demi.
Being as polite as I can, I reach out my hand for a shake. When they separately place their palms in mine, I squeeze—a little too hard for their delicate ones considering they both wince when I apply a tad amount of pressure to my handshake.
“What is it y’all do?” I ask, drawing a drag from my cigarette.
“We’re insurance fraud investigators,” Liam answers, puffing out his chest.
“That sounds like an interesting job,” I state, not meaning a damn word of it. It sounds boring as fuck.
“It can be,” Niles mentions. “Some are dull and boring, but others are interesting and angst-ridden. It can be dangerous.”His boasting has me fighting off the want to roll my eyes. Whenever I hear bullshit, I tend to do that.
How dangerous could what they do for a living be?
The hardest part of what they do is the investigating. Getting a tongue lashing from someone you’ve caught defrauding the system is a cake walk compared to fighting off a knife-wielding psychopath. I’d know, I’ve done it a time or two.
“I hear that,” Midas fake chuckles. His acting skills are subpar. He needs to up his game.
“How many people have tried to stab you or have pulled a gun on you when you uncover their fraudulent ploys?” I ask, setting a trap for them. Time to take them down a peg or two from their showmanship.
“I can’t recall that ever happening, what about you, Niles?” Liam asks, looking over at me with hero worship in his eyes. “Have you two had to deal with that in your line of work?”
“More often than not,” I brag. “We’re hired brawn and muscle.”
“We’re more than that, though,” Midas tacks on, sharing a triumphant grin with me. “We’re detectives, security, and punishers.”
