Page 172 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

Authority.

A company big enough to hold them.

A way to keep him and his men together.

A way not to crawl back to Atlanta and wait for some polished commander to talk down to them.

He turned back to Cassidy.

Morrison was a good man, on and off paper. And the contract he’d laid out was more than fair. He could’ve simply offered them jobs, but instead, he respected them and offered partnership instead.

By the way his husband was gripping his hand, he wanted this for them.

“We negotiate final structure,” he said. “Let lawyers look over everything.”

“Of course.”

“Day and I make decisions together.”

Cassidy nodded. “I already know that.”

“Ruxs and Green answer to themselves and Xander first if they take his detail. I don’t want them treated like rented muscle.”

“They won’t be.”

“And my men stay my men,” God said. “Even if the badges change.”

Cassidy smirked. “That’s exactly why I want ’em. They’ll perform at their peak because they’re under your command.”

God held out his hand.

Cassidy shook it.

Day laughed under his breath, almost disbelieving.

Ruxs looked at Green. “Guess we’re moving to Hollywood.”

Green held his deadpan expression as long as he could before it eventually broke, and he grabbed Ruxs and hugged the hell out of him.

“Xander-fuckin-Vale. Holy shit.” Ruxs laughed.

Day lifted his glass. “Here’s to severe traffic congestion, high costs of living, widespread urban sprawl, and contracting a respiratory disease before the age of sixty from smog inhalation.”

Ruxs and Green laughed loud enough to make people wonder what was going on behind the bushes. Cassidy almost spat out his drink, and even Steele snorted before he stopped himself.

“Way to stay positive, sweetheart.” God lifted his glass and clinked it with his.

They said yes.

Not all at once. Not without conditions. Not without the complicated questions the lawyers would want answered.

But they said yes.

By the time the second bottle of bourbon came to the table, the business meeting had turned into something shockingly close to joy.

Ruxs began to tell Cassidy some of the wild stories of them in the field.

He told him about the time Green had gone undercover at a biker bar but his cover was blown on day one because he didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle.