Chapter Thirteen

In the old days, like two weeks ago, Cyrus would’ve handled things a little differently when faced with a situation of two known scammers trying to ply their trade on someone he knew. He would’ve still stormed into a similar meeting, although he wouldn’t have kissed the person being taken advantage of – that was a Ness special. But he would’ve gone in, complete with his own guards, pulled the scumbags from their chairs, shaken them down for everything they had on them, and then he would have them driven out to the desert and leave them to find their own way back. And good luck with that.

But Cyrus liked to think he was now an improved man. The conversation he had with Ness the day before had him remembering that the two men trying to scam his darlin’ were human and Ness would not be happy if he had to get the carpet stripped out of another room in his hotel.

“I’m waiting.” It was like watching two fish on the end of a large hook, dangling from a long line. Ness had leaned back in his chair, apparently happy enough to let Cyrus take the lead.

“We have a really good business idea, Mr. Marinus,” Ron insisted. “Mr. Duncan was prepared to finance us, and if we can get this off the ground…”

“Correction.” Cyrus held up a finger. “You stole a really good business idea that someone else has just gone to prison for because she did exactly the same thing you are trying to do – steal funds from unsuspecting investors for a great concept that hasn’t got a shit show of working. But go on” - Cyrus’s shark was present in his eyes as he glared at the two men - “explain to me how your idea was any different to the one that was outlined at length in a documentary, cable television series, and likely a movie as well.”

There was a long silence, although the stench of fear and nerves hadn’t abated any. Finally Hank said, “Well, clearly we’re at an impasse. We genuinely thought the idea would work. The research we did on this project…”

“It wasn’t your research.” Cyrus was holding onto his temper by a very thin thread. “Let me tell you why I’m late for this meeting, shall I? My receptionist alerted me that you two entered these premises – a place you’re banned from – thanks to the facial recognition software I have running behind every camera in the building. Now, there’s a solid use of technology for you.”

“We weren’t here to drink or gamble,” Ron mumbled.

“You’re not allowed to step foot on any of my premises for any reason,” Cyrus reminded him grimly. “However, rather than drag you out by your sorry asses, which was my first intention, I decided to do my own bit of research. I called your Aunt Jessie. She used to work for me years ago, until she had to stop work and raise you two. Very lovely lady and so helpful.” Cyrus leaned his arm on Ness’s shoulder.

“You’d think with young men like this who were wanting to be at the forefront of innovative medical technology, that they’d think to password protect their laptop and clear their browsing history. Shall I tell your prospective financer where your research came from, or will you?”

Ron pressed his lips together, but Hank said, “It was very solid research.”

“How would you know? Your research consisted of a couple of papers written by one of those paper mills on the internet. The sort of place who makes up garbage for lazy students who couldn’t be bothered to do their own assignments. All you had to do was add your name to the top. All acquired for the princely sum of twenty dollars a page, although Aunt Jessie told me you got a discount, Ron, because you’re a return customer. It’s very clear how you got your degree.”

“I wasn’t aware places like that existed,” Ness said quietly.

“That’s because you’re decent and you take people at face value. These two have been running one scam after another since they were ten years old. The original manufacturing proposal came from a legitimate company, but there was an email from them on Ron’s laptop advising our intrepid duo here that the parts they’d ordered could be sourced readymade from another supplier at a fraction of the cost. The friendly customer service rep there even provided a link.”

“I don’t recall getting a copy of that correspondence.” Ness flicked the papers in front of him.

“They were after your money, darlin’, and they were so close to succeeding.” Cyrus grinned showing his teeth. “If you two idiots hadn’t tried to renegotiate the contract so that you got more of the money agreed upon upfront, all because you got greedy, my dear Ness here would’ve probably wired you the money without a second’s thought.”

“I’ll be sure to show my appreciation later,” Ness said, ripping the papers in front of him in half and dropping them in a handy trash can. “Are your guards here to escort these two from the hotel?”

“They’re not my guards, darlin’. Apparently these two have another appointment directly after this one, with one of the other casino owners here on the Strip. Mr. Dogra was a little concerned Ron and Hank here might be late for their meeting, so he sent across two of his men to make sure they didn’t get lost going from one casino to another.”

“Mr. Marinus, please.” Hank started sweating, his face bright red. “Mr. Dogra will kill us. We’re already late with our payments, but we’ve been trying really hard to get the money together.”

Cyrus wasn’t moved, although he felt a shift through the air and knew Ness was affected by the display. “I would’ve believed that if Aunt Jessie hadn’t also told me you’ve spent most of the last month playing online casinos and anytime you did get a win, according to your browsing history, you were paying cam girls for flashes of their pussy. Mr. Dogra was a little concerned that your priorities weren’t in the right place, that’s all, but I’ll let him talk to you about that.”

“Mr. Duncan, I don’t know what connection you’ve got with this shark,” Ron said bitterly as he stood up, “but he’ll fuck you over faster than you can say shit. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Ness said firmly. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

“I told you when we met him we should’ve tried seducing Duncan instead of scamming him. Look, he took up with a shark, so he’ll clearly go with anyone,” Hank whispered to Ron as they headed for the door. “It would’ve been a lot less hassle, more enjoyable, and the guy would’ve been paying us for the rest of our days.”

“Did you just… Get out. Get the fuck out!” Cyrus roared and even the guards jumped as the four men left the room. “I’ll kill them. I’ll fucking kill them both…”

“No, you won’t.” Ness was there, on his feet, smothering Cyrus with his scent and body as he hugged him tight. “You can’t go killing anyone, not today. Jimmy the carpet guy’s not back until Monday. If you have another one of your rooms with bare floors, people will think you’re running out of money.”

“Wait, what?” Cyrus was shocked out of his anger, even though he was probably holding onto Ness a bit too tight. “I can’t kill them because Jimmy the carpet guy is still on vacation?” He burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. Ness looked so earnest, so sweet, so damn innocent, and yet so serious all in the one go. “You’re incredible, did you know that? So incredible.”

“So are you,” Ness said warmly. “And to say thanks for saving me an incredible amount of money today, the least I can do is buy you lunch.”

“Kiss me first.” The urges Cyrus had, wanting to claim his mate all over again inside and out, were going to have to wait. He’d have to settle for a kiss and a burger.