Page 34 of Business vs. Pleasure

“I’ll bet he’s connected to NightPigeon,” August grumbled.

“Who?” Heidi asked.

“NightRaven. He’s the guy whose ratings are going up while ours are going down.” He scoffed. “Someone’s going to some pretty serious lengths just to knock us out of the number one and two spots.”

“Victor sent a fucking army after us,” Ricardo said.

August grunted in agreement. “True.” He scrunched up his face. “Oh God, is this guy going to be another Victor? With the minions and the catchphrases and everything?” He made flapping motions with his arms as he said in a mocking voice, “To the NightPigeon go the spoils.” He followed that with some squawking that had Heidi laughing.

Ricardo would’ve chuckled, too, except he was worried August was right. Not that NightRaven would be as insufferable as Victor had been, but that he might be as good. As dangerous. Victor had been an actual psychopath, and he’d been determined to do whatever it took to knock August and Ricardo out of their top spots on RateYourHit. Whatever it took.

“Do some digging, would you, Heidi?” he asked. “Because I think we need to figure out who this asshole is sooner than later.”

“I’ll get on it. It might take some time, though—everything on that site is encrypted to hell and back, and people are hard to find by design.”

“I know. Just do the best you can.”

“Will do.”

They ended the call, and Ricardo sat on the edge of the bed again, eyeing the frozen image on the screen.

“You’re sure it’s him?” he asked August.

His husband nodded. “I’m sure. Hopefully Heidi can find something on him.”

“Let’s hope. Because I don’t know how else to end this streak of bad luck.”

CHAPTER 10

August didn’t put much stock in trite sayings, but he had to admit there was one that had always hit with him: “Home isn’t a place, it’s a person.” That had always been true for him. Even when he was a child, stuck in a tiny room with his siblings while they waited for their ransom to be paid, he hadn’t been upset because he missed home. Home had been Elodie and Laurence, far more than his parents’ sprawling mansion ever was.

His sense of home had eventually expanded to include Ricardo and his family as well, but there was something extra comforting about coming back into his sister’s gravitational pull. Elodie had been unfairly thrust into a parental role over her siblings early, and August wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d wanted her space as an adult, but she always welcomed him back in.

This time, welcome came with a light slap to the back of the head. “What on earth were you thinking, hmm? If I’d known you were going to use it for a job, I wouldn’t have let you fly on my damn plane.”

“Ow,” August said as pathetically as he could.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop.”

“Ow, you’re so mean.”

“You haven’t seen mean yet, August.” Oh, she was pissed. “The last thing I need is for the company to be implicated in some sort of assassination scheme because you two have fallen out of peak condition.”

He gasped. “Are you calling me fat?”

Elodie ignored him and reached for Ricardo, pulling him into a hug. “I can’t believe you let him talk you into this.”

August had the distinct, unworthy pleasure of watching the love of his life’s face turn the shade of a sundried tomato.

“Actually,” Ricard confessed, “it was my idea.”

Elodie stepped back, looking between them with a flat expression. “Are you two bringing me trouble?”

“No,” August promised immediately. “We’re not, I promise. We wouldn’t come here if we thought we might be compromised. We’ve just had a run of really bad luck, and I sold my fortress of solitude here to fund the one on Malta, and I’ve just missed you so much.” He sniffed—dramatically. “But if you want us to go, we can go. I’ll even give you back the plane. We can fly commercial and ship the weapons and hope nothing gets tagged as suspicious by the postal service, and⁠—”

“You’ll be losing access to the plane either way,” Elodie said, but her demeanor had softened enough that August knew they were in the clear. “You’re always welcome with me,” she continued, “but I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Believe me,” Ricardo said, “so do I.”