Jesse gave a sarcastic salute. “I aim to please, boss. Hey, Kris. So this is big brother.”
There was something about the way the younger man eyed him that made Alex wary. He’d spent too long in the FBI to not be able to size people up. He wasn’t on Eve’s level, but something was off with Jesse Murdoch. His eyes quickly went to every single place where Alex might be packing. He was looking for guns. Smart kid, but Alex wasn’t strapped yet. Even the great and mighty Ian Taggart hadn’t found a way to get a gun through public airport security.
“Don’t pay any attention to him. He plays here from time to time, but only with the regulars. He’s not a true Dom,” Chazz said, puffing up a little.
What the fuck was a “true Dom”? Idiot. Alex simply nodded as though Chazz was obviously a member of the “True Dom Club.” If that asshole was a Dom, Alex would eat his shoe.
“So, I heard you were also bringing a cousin along?” Chazz asked.
Sean. “Yes, Kris mentioned you needed someone to run the kitchen.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, my last guy kind of sucked.”
“He gave everyone food poisoning,” Jesse added.
If he couldn’t take down Evans for drug dealing and terrorism, at least he could call the health department in on the fucker. “I can assure you my cousin won’t give anyone food poisoning.”
Real poisoning was totally on the table, however. That hadn’t slipped his mind. He would prefer to strangle the fucker, but the purpose of this whole exercise was to take Evans out, and he would do that any way he could. If he decided that the best path to a successful operation was a portion of deadly French fries, then that was the way he would go.
Fuck. He might have to think of something else because Sean had become a horrible food snob. He likely wouldn’t lower himself to make French fries. Alex had to hope that Michael Evans liked foie gras.
Chazz leaned against one of the tables, his eyes narrowing. “Your cousin did some time.”
According to all his Adam-approved records, Sean Reilly had spent time in prison for armed robbery and assault. “He fell in with a bad crowd. We’ve all done that from time to time.”
“Yes, I did my own time, so I understand. You did a little time, too.”
That told him something. Chazz had a halfway decent hacker on the staff. Adam had suggested a juvenile record for Alex, something he could bury under a couple of layers of bureaucracy. It was a little test, Adam had explained. He wanted to know just how savvy these guys were so he wouldn’t underestimate them. As Adam was listening to everything that was being said thanks to the micro wire he’d placed on Alex’s belt buckle, he was very likely formulating his tech plans right now.
Alex frowned, acting surprised. “That record was expunged.”
If he could convince them he was just a dumb grunt, they would trust him faster, speak more freely around him, see him as no kind of threat.
Kristen put a hand on his arm and gave Chazz her own frown, looking every inch the protective sister. “He was seventeen, Chazz. You can’t hold it against him.”
Chazz held his hands up, a superior smile on his face. “Hey, I don’t hold nothing against nobody. But there’s no such thing as buried these days, not records or anything else. You would do good to remember that. Big guy like you is good to have around, if you know what I mean.”
Alex damn well knew what he meant. He meant that it was only a matter of time until he was in. He nodded. “Yeah, I want to be helpful, but my first order of business is to get this club in shape. Do I have any kind of budget?”
“Write it up and let me know what you need, but don’t throw anything out without talking to me. Now, where are your other friends? Because Kris promised you were bringing along a sub of your own who can help train these dumb bitches. We have some bigwigs coming in a few weeks. They’re very interested in ‘playing’ as we call it in our little world.” He waved his hand at the women who were currently cleaning his club.
So they were basically using their subs as prostitutes. Nice. One more strike against the fucker, but it would fit with Evans’s philosophies. It made for a problem though. “I don’t share my sub.”
He wasn’t going to put Amanda in harm’s way. She was simply here as backup. The last thing he needed was to worry about her being raped because these guys didn’t take care of their women.
“Kris told me,” Chazz said, holding a hand up. “She said you were a one-sub Dom. I don’t get it, man. There’s so much trim in the world. I couldn’t hold myself to just one, but, hey, to each his own. I was a little surprised you let her off the leash long enough to fly here by herself.”
Only because he seemed to be under a mistaken impression about how D/s relationships worked. “It was easier for her to fly in with Sean. I trust him. He’ll take care of her.”