Beast stiffened. “Oh… Laurent, just the club members are going. Since it’s gonna be a trial for Nick and all that,” he said, though most of all he wanted Laurent and Marcel as far away from the trees as humanly possible.
“So just club members?” Laurent asked as if Beast hadn’t already said that.
Nao pulled on his arm. “We could watch the new season of The Houseboys of New York.”
Beast cleared his throat. “We’ll go in an hour’s time. Rev, Fox, you’re staying at the clubhouse. Can’t leave it unguarded at such a tense time.”
Fox’s brows shot up. “What? But it’s Nick’s—”
“That’s exactly why you’re staying.”
“Can’t have him get performance anxiety in front of Daddy,” Joker said with a grin, and managed to use his plate to shield himself from the piece of damp bread Fox sent his way.
Elliot whispered something into Knight’s ear, but from the looks of it, the plan was settled, no one had serious objections, and in an hour’s time, they would be able to find out if the monster of a tree was any match for a chainsaw.
Beast used a napkin to clean his mouth, finished his soda, and walked out of the room, holding the door for Laurent, who picked up Marcel from a chair in the corner and followed him into the hallway.
Beast hated when Laurent got argumentative in public, but his silence was ominous. They walked next to each other toward their apartment, and it took quite a few minutes for Laurent to speak.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Beast had already suspected this was coming, but his shoulders still hunched under the weight of Laurent’s disapproval. “Why?” he asked, stopping by a window that overlooked the woods surrounding the clubhouse, and offered a view on the clearing where Theodore’s ghost had tried to do what they were to do tonight—attempt to stop Baal—and had gotten killed for it. Then again, Beast’s life had never been devoid of risk. Maybe he was numb to it at this point.
Laurent met Beast’s gaze head-on despite the difference in their size. “Because we don’t know what we’re dealing with. Why rush into it, when Magpie is working on the matter as well? And why make it Nick’s initiation? So that I can’t go?”
Beast frowned. “What? This isn’t about you,” he said, even though in his mind it absolutely was.
“I might have stayed silent, just like you asked, but I do not appreciate this at all. Do you not care for my council?”
Beast took a deep breath and squeezed Laurent’s shoulders. “I appreciate it that you waited to say this in private. And I do want to hear your opinion. But that doesn’t mean I’ll agree with you.”
Laurent sucked on his bottom lip, nose twitching. “It’s hard for me to accept this, but I’d rather know where you are than to be kept in the dark, so thank you for including me.”
Wow. That was positively unexpected. Maybe they really were getting somewhere. Talking like on those couple therapy demonstration videos. No accusations. No generalizations. Just honesty.
Beast smiled and cradled Laurent’s face to kiss him. “You just need to trust that I’ll do the thing I believe is best for my family. Can you do that?”
Judging by his sullen expression, it would be a struggle for Laurent, but he didn’t back away from the peck. “Only if you promise to be careful.”
Beast sighed and slid his hands down Laurent’s arms. He didn’t want to explicitly mention his pact with Baal and risk being listened to again without Vars around, but he trusted that Laurent would understand what he meant anyway. “I promise we’ll be safe.”
Laurent swallowed, and the intensity of his gaze burned holes in Beast’s heart. “But if any assistance is needed, I will have my phone with me.”
“Make sure Fox is always around you and Marcel. Just in case,” Beast said, and slid his hands into the back pockets of Laurent’s jeans, savoring the warmth of his body in preparation of what was to come.
Chapter 13 - Beast
The tree they chose was the most distant from the clubhouse. Away from roads and people’s houses, it was tucked into a dip in the ground between hills, and so remote they had to leave their bikes behind and all hop onto the bed of the pickup truck, which cast a bright white light on the dark scenery.
The vehicle rolled over uneven ground, its wheels dipping into holes as it maneuvered its way between bushes and rocks. Beast chose to be in the back with most of his men instead of sitting in the cab with Vars, because he wanted to keep an eye on Nick.
Seventeen, with a mop of ginger hair he wore over his face to cover a constellation of pimples, he seemed like a kid to Beast, but maybe that was only because he’d seen Nick grow up. Fox had been patched in just three years ago, but back when they’d all first met him, Nick had been an unruly thirteen-year old. Since then, he’d gone through a serious growth spurt, and there was no denying he was a young man in the making.