Fated for Forever [Kindred of Arkadia 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (16 page)

Ashby turned onto his side and buried his face into Gabriel’s arm.

“I don’t want anyone to die. Please wake up soon, my prince,” Ashby whispered and eventually fell

asleep.

* * * *

“Prince Ashby, repairs have started on the VIP conference room, it should be completed before we

reopen on Friday night. Do you think we could change the paint color while we’re at it, maybe a neutral

gray? What do you think?”

“Prince Ashby, the beer vendor we use is angry with us for denying them entrance on Monday, should

we try and retain them as our alcohol vendor or see if we can get someone new?”

“Prince Ashby, what do you think we should do next weekend for theme night?”

After the final person in what seemed to be a never-ending stream of people left the office, Ashby

slammed his head down onto Gabriel’s desk. He had been fielding questions all morning and was shocked

at the number of people coming to him for advice.

He had slept through the rest of the day Tuesday and woke up still moving slow on Wednesday. Baptista

made sure he stayed in bed all day. When he woke on Thursday he felt refreshed and much better. The only

thing left over from his ordeal were the teeth marks from the savage bite from Gabriel’s reclaiming. To his

disappointment Gabriel was still asleep and hadn’t shown signs of waking when he had left their apartments

that morning.

“Gabriel does this every day?” Ashby turned his head, his cheek on the desk, to look at Roman who

was quietly typing at his own computer. Roman looked up surprised.

“Of course not. The coven loves Gabriel, don’t get me wrong, you’re just more approachable. They

would never come to him with these type of concerns.” Ashby groaned. Roman resumed his typing.

“It just shows how much they have come to care for and trust you.” The sound of typing stopped.

Roman’s face inched toward the screen and he shook his head before the tapping resumed.

“Prince Ashby, I’m sorry to bother you again. But I contacted the alcohol vendor like you advised, they

are saying that they cannot make any deliveries to us for the next two weeks,” Rhys said from the doorway.

Ashby raised his head, his eyes flashing.

“That is ridiculous! They’re just messing with us. Contact the other vendor and say we’re willing to give

them our business, beer and liquor, contingent on getting a delivery out to us today, and ask how low of a

rate they can offer. Advise them we’ll need an answer back in thirty minutes and let them know you are

contacting other vendors, so their offer better be the best they can do, we’re not negotiating.” Ashby tapped

the desk thoughtfully.

“If their offer comes within five percent of what we’re paying now, switch vendors. Then contact our

current vendor and let them know their services are no longer needed.”

“Yes! These guys have been assholes from day one, but they offered the best price,” Rhys explained.

“Sometimes you have to pay more to get what you want. In this instance it’s better customer service. Let

me know what they say,” Ashby said, grinning at Rhys who practically left the office at a run to get back to

his phone.

“Where on earth did you learn how to deal with vendors?” Roman asked, stunned. It was Ashby’s turn

to look surprised.

“I learned from the best. You should hear Ma make arrangements to get food and supplies. I applied

what I learned to run my own business. Whether it’s a restaurant, an ice cream parlor or a club, they are

basically the same.” Ashby shrugged.

A few minutes later Rhys returned with a swagger.

“Prince Ashby, it was epic. The second vendor was all too willing to help. It’s a smaller company run by

a family. The prices are slightly higher than what we’re paying now, but he said that rescheduling shipments

wouldn’t be an issue and is willing to make arrangements for evening or even late night deliveries. That

alone is worth the slight increase. Being able to split deliveries across the day and night shifts will help

immensely.

“But the best part was when I called the asshole back from our old vendor. He was still screaming ‘You

can’t do this!’ when I hung up on his ass.” Rhys was grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s awesome! I’m glad to hear about the split deliveries. You look happier too.” Ashby couldn’t

help but return Rhys’s grin. The man looked that happy.

“You have no idea what a load off my mind this is. I hated working with that douchebag.” Rhys’s face

turned dark.

“Is there more that you aren’t saying Rhys?” Ashby asked, concerned.

“Just that he was a little too touchy feely with me and some of the guys when he would come out with

the delivery driver. Most of us are at least bi, but no one welcomed his advances. He would touch us

inappropriately or grind up against up from behind if we bent over while putting stock away.” Rhys’s eyes

went to the floor as he explained. Ashby felt his blood pressure spike. He hated bullies!

“Roman, which button is David and Daniel?” he asked, pointing to the multibutton intercom system.

“The one with the biohazard sign next to it, why?” Roman asked, as he and Rhys watched Ashby.

Ashby paused and looked down at the intercom, and sure enough, drawn on the intercom system was a

small biohazard sign.

Shaking his head Ashby pressed the button, and after a few seconds he heard Daniel’s voice.

“Hey bossman, what’s shakin’?”

“I need your kung fu,” Ashby said.

“Target?”

“ABA Distributers. Our old alcohol vendor,” Ashby said.

“Intent?” David asked. Ashby could hear keys tapping.

“Total annihilation. Find their current list of customers and let them know that we’re raising a case with

the Better Business Bureau for sexual harassment. They may want to check with their employees. Then

launch a Facebook campaign online to spread the word.”

“On it! Finally a fun project,” Daniel said, then the intercom beeped before going silent. Ashby looked

up to see that Rhys’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

“You matter Rhys. Let the other guys know that I will not put up with anyone hurting or disrespecting

our coven members. You shouldn’t have to feel threatened in your own home,” Ashby said, his voice gentle

but firm. Rhys cleared his throat and swallowed hard.

“Thank you, my prince,” Rhys said, turned to leave and nearly ran into Gabriel and Mikhail who were

standing just inside the office.

“Prince Gabriel, thank goodness you’re OK!” Rhys exclaimed.

“Gabriel.” Ashby’s voice was shaky. Gabriel crossed the room and pulled Ashby into his arms.

“I thought I lost you, I thought they had taken you from me. I felt the bond break,” he whispered to

Ashby.

“Not without a whole lot of kicking and screaming.” Ashby held on tight and buried his face in

Gabriel’s shoulder.

“I hear you have been taking care of things while I’ve been recovering.” Gabriel lifted his face and his

eyes immediately fell on the marks on Ashby’s neck. Pain filled his face. Ashby shook his head.

“I’m OK, I’d do it again in a heartbeat to get you back.” Ashby cupped Gabriel’s face. Gabriel took his

hand and kissed the center of his palm before turning to the desk and pressed the middle button on the

intercom.

“Hey, Ashby, what’s up now?” David asked.

“It’s not Ashby,” Gabriel said, wrapping an arm around Ashby’s waist, turning them to face Rhys and

Roman.

“Prince Gabriel! Thank fuck you’re OK!” Daniel screamed into the intercom causing Ashby to wince.

“I have another fun project for you,” he said, giving Ashby a wink.

“Seriously? A fun project?” Daniel asked breathless.

“I want you to hack into that ABA owner’s life. Dig until you find the dirt I know is there and I want

you to make his life go nuclear,” Gabriel said his voice taking on a hard edge.

“Fuckin' A, what did this guy do?” David asked.

“He hurt members of this coven,” Ashby said, watching the tears drop down Rhys’s cheeks.

“Initiating program Seek and Destroy,” David said in a serious tone.

“We’ll keep you posted. Consider this guy toast,” Daniel said before they heard the beep indicating the

call was over.

Ashby looked back to Rhys. Mikhail had a hand on his shoulder to comfort the man.

“Rhys, why did you never bring this to my attention?” Gabriel asked. Rhys just stared at the floor.

“You’re not the most approachable man, my love. But don’t worry you have me now, we’ll work on it,”

Ashby said, patting Gabriel’s arm.

“My coven doesn’t trust me?” he asked sounding hurt.

“No! Prince Gabriel no! It’s just that we know that you deal with far more important issues that impact

our entire race. We try to take care of these matters so you aren’t bothered,” Rhys explained, his face going

pale.

“How can I hope to save my race when I can’t even protect my own coven?” Gabriel’s head fell back

until he was staring at the ceiling. Ashby wacked Gabriel on the chest to everyone’s surprise.

“For starters you can stop trying to take care of everything. Do you hear yourself? You’re trying to

manage an entire race, a coven and multiple businesses. I don’t care how old you are, that’s just impossible.

Start letting your coven support you more. Turn over all regional coven meetings to Roman. He can handle

more than being your personal assistant. Have Daniel and David create an online feedback forum so that

coven members across the globe can reach out to you. Have them create a program that filters for keywords

that would indicate an urgent matter. They can also create a program that can correlate all the missing shifter

information that you have and spit out next victim possibilities or how they are all related. Reach out to

Arkadia for assistance. Rebecca Arkadion is a literal genius. She can probably give you fresh perspectives

since she isn’t biased one way or another despite being mated to Aleks, and I can help with the coven.”

Ashby finished up his minirant, breathlessly making eye contact with the men in the room. Roman scowled,

Rhys looked nervous, Mikhail’s lips were twitching, and Gabriel stared down at him a look of pure shock

on his face.

“It’s what I would do.” Ashby stared down at the desk wondering if he had gone too far. He looked up

and was about to apologize when Gabriel laid a finger on his lips.

“Roman, you’re in charge of all intercoven relations including the organization and running of the

covens on a regional, national and global scale.” Roman started to sputter, unable to form complete

sentences.

“I know you prefer to stay in the background, but Ashby is right, I’ve held you back long enough.”

Roman dropped his head to his desk and repeatedly began to pound his head against the shiny wood.

Gabriel reached down and pressed the intercom button for the twins.

“David, Daniel, I need you to create an online program that will allow me to manage and communicate

with coven members around the world. I also want you to work with Mikhail while he’s here to compile the

information that we have gathered concerning the drug ring and murders and see if there are any patterns.”

Gabriel smiled down at Ashby, who was staring back at him with wide eyes.

“Will Mikhail try to kill us…again?” Daniel asked timorously. Gabriel looked up and raised an eyebrow

at his old friend. Mikhail sighed.

“I’ll try not to,” he said flatly.

“You’ll be fine,” Gabriel said as he released the button. He removed his finger from Ashby’s lips.

“Ashby, would you please assist me in the running of this coven?” he asked. Ashby could only nod.

“Even if that means moving here?” Gabriel asked, and he could see the uncertainty creep into Ashby’s

eyes.

“We’ll figure something out,” Ashby said hesitantly.

“Gabriel, since it’s the first day for you to be on your feet, might I suggest you and Ashby go lie down

and take a nap? Both of you have been through a lot in the past couple days. I think Roman might want to

have his breakdown in private,” Baptista said from the doorway, jerking his head toward Roman who was

still pounding his head on his desk and muttering.

“Excellent idea,” Gabriel said, taking Ashby’s hand.

“Ready for a nap,
mon ange
?” Gabriel asked.

“With you? Always.” Gabriel wrapped his arm around Ashby’s waist as they walked toward the door.

“Rhys, can I ask that you also take on a new responsibility? Could you help me to identify problems

that our coven members may be reluctant to share with me? Possibly act as a liaison?”

“If you think I could help, then I will do whatever you need.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” Mikhail asked dryly.

“Yeah, don’t kill the twins.”

* * * *

“Are you not happy here?” Gabriel asked after he closed the door to their apartment.

“I love it here! Everyone has been wonderful…it’s just…it’s not home to me. I miss my apartment, my

shop and my friends,” Ashby said, sitting down on the black leather couch. Gabriel walked over and sat

next to him, pulling him close.

“We can have your things shipped here, maybe it would feel more like home if you were surrounded by