Marc (Bowen Boys, #4)(42)
Chapter 14
Roy was waiting for her. Jonny said she’d be at the restaurant at six and it was five minutes till. He knew she’d be right on time. She was for everything. “On the Dot Jon” was what some of the others had begun to call her. When he saw her coming toward him, he stood, and that’s when he noticed the man with her.
He was extremely tall—but then standing next to him any man would be—and he looked good standing next to Jonny, like wedding cake toppers. His suit was expensive, probably worth more than Roy’s entire closet, but it was the way Jonny looked that took his breath away.
She was wearing what he could only describe as amazing. A black dress that fit her trim body like it had been painted on her. Short, so that when she walked in those black high heels it looked like the length of her legs was twice that of her body. And damn what a body she had. He’d never noticed just how beautiful she really was. When the man pulled out the chair for her, Jonny sat down. Roy sat when the man did.
“I didn’t know we were bringing company to this meeting, Jonny. I would have brought a date as well.” She smiled at him, picked up her napkin, and put it across her lap without answering. The waiter came to take their drink order. She ordered a white wine, the man bourbon straight. Because of the pain pills that were running through his body, making this meeting possible, Roy declined and drank his water.
“I said I’d do this one gig and I’m done. You’ll leave my family alone, and me as well. Are those the terms we agreed to?” He didn’t like this Jonny. He wanted to bring her down a notch or two before she got out of hand.
“No, I said I would agree to this after you did the job. If the job doesn’t net me what I wanted, why should I give you what you want?” The man stood and pulled out Jonny’s chair. “Wait. What are you doing? I thought we would discuss this.”
“A discussion, by the very definition of the word, means we talk about terms and we both come to some sort of agreement. You said you wouldn’t give me anything until you got what you wanted. Not very fair if you ask me.” She put her hand on the man’s arm and started away, and Roy panicked.
“Come back here. I’ll listen to what you want and be more opened-minded.” She looked at the man and he nodded. “You know that it would be polite if you introduced me to your date. That would be a good beginning, don’t you think?”
“Of course. Roy Dawson, this is my soon-to-be husband Marc Bowen. Marc, this is the man that I was telling you about. The thief.” She picked up her glass, and he noticed the diamond.
“Christ, is that real?” Marc laughed and Roy felt himself flush. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’ve been a little under the weather and I’ve been on pain pills for a while.”
“Of course you have.” Marc leaned back in his chair, and Roy felt sweat roll down his back. “You’ve been hurting my fiancée for a number of years now, and I’d like for it to stop. As of this moment, as a matter of fact.”
Roy looked from her to him again. This wasn’t going at all like he had planned. He started to say something else when another man sat down with them, bringing a chair from another table.
“Hello there. You’re Roy Dawson, are you not?” Roy nodded. “Thought so. You’re f*cking up big time, buddy. There are rules you need to follow, and you’ve pissed in about a dozen leaders’ shit and they are not happy.”
Roy sat up straighter, even though it hurt like hell. “I’m sorry, but do I know you? We’re trying to have a conversation here and you’re being very rude.”
“I’m Khan Bowen, the leader of the panthers in this area. When you asked a shifter to become one of us, you violated about ten laws. Then when you kidnapped my sister-in-law, you set my entire family on your ass. See?”
Roy looked around the restaurant and whimpered. They were cats. Every person in the room was a large cat. And not just panthers either. There were two Bengal tigers, one of them a snowy white. He looked back at Jonny and the two men.
“I…where did they come from? Where…are they all here with you?” Khan looked around the room, then back at him. Roy did the same. Everyone were people again, humans just like before.
“Are you all right?” Khan asked. Roy shook his head. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. There are some people here that want to talk to you about this theft ring you got going on. None of them are very happy that you’re making a profit off their subjects.”
“No. No I don’t want to meet anyone else.” He stood up and then sat down when Khan barked for him to sit. “Please, don’t hurt me. I’ll leave her alone. I swear this was going to be my last job anyway. I’ll just leave as soon as I’m finished with Anita. I swear it.”
“What thing with Anita?” He looked at Jonny. “I asked you what you are going to finish with Anita.”
“Her daddy wants her killed. He wants me to let him know when she comes to the house again, and when she gets there, he is going to have his men come in. They’re already at the house waiting. I can hardly take a shit without one of them coming to see if she’s there yet.”
Roy flushed when he realized what he’d just said. But she was looking at Marc again. He had a feeling they were talking about him but found he really didn’t care. He just wanted out of there. He glanced around the room again, then back at the other man. When he winked, Roy thought for sure his eyes had changed, but didn’t want to think about it. When Jonny looked at him again, he was relieved. Why on earth did he think this was a good idea? Jonny snapped her fingers in front of his face when she started talking.