Frey squeezed again, then stepped back. “I can promise your mate will put everything into perspective. Now, let’s make this happen.” Frey pulled out his phone and called someone. “Hey, Little Brother. I need a favor.” Frey rattled off Presley’s information, and Kai bit back a smile. “Send the info to Kai’s phone. Thanks, Jules.”
Frey had barely disconnected before Kai’s phone beeped with an incoming message. “Damn, he’s fast.” Kai opened the text and had all Presley’s information, including where she worked as well as all her relatives’ info.
“Well?” Frey wasn’t usually so nosy, but Kai appreciated his boss’s interest. Frey was more than a boss, though. They had become fast friends with their interests aligning. “Presley is a partner in her father’s law firm. She has a sister, Joselynn, who also works at the firm.”
“That’s a good starting point.”
“Now to figure out how to pay a visit without giving Presley the wrong idea.”
“Did Julian give you the sister’s address?”
“Yes. You think I should try there first?”
Frey rubbed his chin. “Maybe sniff around. If she’s your mate, you’ll know it by getting close to her home.”
Kai vibrated with excitement. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll do that tonight.”
“Really? You can wait that long to find out?”
Kai grinned. “Yes. Besides, I thought we had a building to look at.”
“We do. I called Mason and asked him to come in early. He can man the counter until we get back.”
“Who’s guarding Willow?” Kai couldn’t imagine Mason allowing his mate to stay home unprotected.
“He’s dropping her off at the manor. With Rafael working from home, she hasn’t been going to the office. Julian set it up so Willow has everything she needs in Rafael’s home office.”
Speaking of the young Goyle, Mason entered the gym with a smile. “Morning.” Mason was still a teen, but by Gargoyle standards, he was a man. Like all of their kind, he aged more quickly than humans, and he appeared to be in his early twenties.
“Thanks for coming in early,” Frey said, giving Mason a knuckle bump.
“It’s no problem. Now that Sebastian is here, it’s like I don’t exist anymore.” Mason was smiling, and Kai knew the male was joking. None of them existed when the baby was around. All the kids had that effect, and Kai couldn’t wait for the day he added his own babies to the mix.
“We won’t be gone long. Lor might stop by, so if he does, let him shadow you. He’s going to take Kai’s place when he opens his new gym.”
“Will do.” Mason stepped behind the counter, and Kai followed Frey to the parking lot. They climbed in Frey’s Jeep. It was an older model than Kai’s, but it was still in good shape. Frey only drove it when Abbi wasn’t with him.
The building was perfect. As soon as they stepped through the door, Kai could envision where everything would be. The former tenants had used it for both yoga and massages. There were dressing rooms and a break room which would serve him well.
“I had Rafael pull the plans.” Frey led Kai to a counter where the architectural drawings were laid out. “These walls aren’t load-bearing, so they can easily be removed to open up the space. These massage rooms can be left as-is if you think you want to keep them for meditation.”
Like Frey, Malakai was a firm believer in fighting being as much mental as physical. If you weren’t in the right headspace, you didn’t do as well. Kai missed sitting on the beach as the sun came up, finding his Zen, but Sixx’s house was situated so he could sit outside on the patio and do the same thing.
They walked around the space for an hour, discussing where the main ring would go, where Kai would put the heavy bags, speed balls, and smaller sparring rings. Kai could already smell the sweat and hear the grunts and pounding of flesh striking flesh. For the first time since he left his small island, Kai felt like he had found his true purpose. When Frey and the others moved on, Kai would have his gym – and hopefully his mate – to keep him from feeling lonely. And it wasn’t everyone who would be moving. He had the other Gargoyles, like Lorenzo and Jasper, who were fairly new to the area to spend time with.
“Where do I sign?”
Frey rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s already yours.”
“What?”
“Rafael drew up the paperwork signing the building over to you.” Frey handed him the keys. “Welcome to your new gym.”
“I… that’s…” Kai choked back the emotions threatening to spill forth.
“Rafael doesn’t need the money, and besides, you’re family. You can use the money you would have spent on the building to renovate and purchase your equipment.”
Kai looked around again. His dream was coming true. “Thank you, Brother. And I’ll go see Rafael and thank him personally.”
“Just make sure I get one of the first T-shirts so I can advertise.”
Kai held out his hand, and Frey shook it. He gave one last look around at his future before he took his keys and locked the door behind them.
Chapter Two
“Joselynn, where’s the Parker file?” Presley asked as soon as Josie walked in the door. Her boss didn’t bother with pleasantries. Josie should be used to it, having lived with her sister for twenty years before Presley moved out into her own apartment after graduating college. Presley was their father in every way. She had his take-no-prisoners attitude and went after whatever she wanted. She also got his stature and good looks. Where Presley was easily five-ten without heels, Josie took after their mom’s side of the family, barely hitting five-five. Josie had been called cute her whole life, and she’d come to accept that
