Chapter Two

Karl

"Karl?"

The sound of my supervisor had me jumping from my chair. "Oh, I'm sorry. Um, can you repeat that?"

"Yes, Karl. I asked you if you were ready for the meeting." Oscar knew I hated and often would get distracted during meetings.

"Sorry, sir," I said. "I had a long night."

"Yeah, we heard." Anthony sat beside me and nudged my arm. "Dude, just because we were at a party didn't mean you had to drink the whole bar down."

"I didn't overdo it." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe just had a few too many whiskies."

"A few?" Cindy raised a brow. "You indulged more than I did. And I'm like a frat boy during pledge week. You usually have much more control."

I laughed at the petite woman in front of me. She wasn't lying. She could guzzle liquor more than any of us here in the room. And I did have more than her.

"Hey, everybody, let's leave Karl alone." My friend Prof put down his coffee mug. "We all know he needed the release after such a rough night. Don't remind him of why."

I groaned. No one had to remind me. Yesterday was a day from hell—at least, my hell. Not only had my girlfriend of the last twelve years dumped me, but I had also found out that my parents were getting a divorce, and that all my brothers had known for months and hadn't told me. I wasn't sure if other adults were so floored by this, but in our close family, I had never seen it coming. It hurt. It all made me think about love and how it may not exist. Or if it did, maybe it wasn't worth it.

"All right. I don't want to be an ass." My boss, Omar, tapped his fist twice on the table, gathering everyone's attention. "But we do have to talk about actual business today."

I jumped on the chance to change the subject. "Okay, sir. What cases do we have this week?"

"We do have quite a few cases coming into the office lately. Let's get them solved." Omar handed out files to each of us. The folders were color-coded by case. I barely held back my laugh when I saw that Prof and Anthony had been assigned to work together. The tension between them had been growing for months, but lately, I could almost feel the vibration of it in the room. Knowing Omar, I think he put them together to force them to confront their attraction for one another. It would lead to either another GSC wedding or a colossal explosion. I should have stocked up on popcorn.

"This one is special. I'll discuss this with you after dismissing everyone else," Omar leaned in and whispered.

"Okay." I nodded and stared at the folder, excited to get one of the exceptional cases. Only the best agents were picked for those, so it meant a lot to me to have been given this chance after having such a horrible night last night.

Omar spent the rest of the meeting reviewing the cases and teams. I sat back and listened, feeling more focused and energized now that I knew I had a special case I would be sent out on. Finally, the meeting was over, and I was left alone in the room with Omar.

"This one is kind of personal to me." Omar gestured toward the folder. "A friend of my husband, Charlie, and his son are in a bit of a bind right now. They need our help."

"Okay, so you need me to go extract them and bring them here?" I flipped the folder open and looked at the pictures of a gorgeous omega and an adorable young boy. My dragon rumbled inside me, and a sense of protectiveness came over me. I was curious .

"I don't think they should come here or to any of our known safe houses." Omar steepled his hands together on the table.

"You don't trust them?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"After what happened with previous cases and the safe houses, we need to do a full investigation and maybe rebuild that part of our services from the bottom up. And keep things under a tighter lock," Omar said. "But this situation is different too because of who it involves."

"Who does it involve?" I flipped through the sheets in the folder and saw a name I knew well from my family's decades of involvement in the GSC. "Are the city's crime families involved in this?"

"Allesandro Del Marco is the one who would be looking for my friend." Omar nodded. "And probably others in the family. The omega is his husband; the boy is his son."

"Shit." I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. "This is not a simple case, then."

"I don't think so. Peter got out of the city with his son, Georgi, and hid in a zoo for a night. Luckily, the zoo has a system to help shifters in need, and Peter contacted Charlie last night."

"I'd better get down there." I stood and collected my belongings. "I have a small bag in my car already packed for a few days away and can leave straight from here. Do you have the address for where they are?"

"Here." Omar handed me a strip of paper with the hotel's name and address. "It should take you about three hours to get down there."

"Where should I take them after?" I paused with my hand on the doorknob. "If the safe houses aren't safe. My house isn't going to work."

"I spoke with Wolf Ramano this morning about having you three stay at the Survolar-Ramano Training Center. They are highly secured and can help you keep them safe."

"And you want me to stay with them until further notice?"

"The training center can put you to work if you get bored. And there are kids there, which will make it easier on little Georgi." Omar smiled, and I could tell he cared for the young boy.

"I will protect them with my life." I would do anything to keep those two safe, even beyond my job with GSC.

"I know you will."