Wing of a Butterfly

Chapter 23

Vegas watched the way his supervisor acted while his men were unloading the packets of drugs from the hidden hole under the warehouse. There were three men that he assigned to take the inventory to prevent any possible tampering with the numbers. But way before the numbers were presented to him, he already knew that this location wasn't the one he was looking for, based on the way his supervisor was acting.

The man was surprised and nervous when Vegas called him an hour before his visit, but he was ready to show Vegas and his people around the warehouse and never hesitated to open up any of the storage or present the local accounting books. But still, Vegas made sure to be just as precise during his inspection as he would have been if the supervisor acting would have been suspicious. He didn't want to miss anything ever again regarding his deal. He was already quite angry with himself that he overlooked the possibility of anyone stealing from them with such a complicated method.

He lifted his hand automatically to hold it before his face as his men lifted a cover from a box so they could open it and the dust filled the air, making his eyes tear up. He changed the course of his motion at the last moment to swipe through his hair instead. He didn't want to look like those prissy rich bastards who couldn't handle a little bit of mess. He knew how important one's image was in their circles.

"We have finished, Khun Vegas," said the supervisor as he presented his books with a bow.

The three other men showed their notes too and Vegas made a motion to Ace, then stepped to the side with a nod as his bodyguard pulled out the camera they brought with them to take photos of the documents. It was much more secure than using a smartphone which could be broken into at any point when it connected to the internet. This way they only needed to secure the smart card before they saved the photos to a secure location. Vegas would make sure that they wouldn't be hacked and misled again.

He glanced to the side as they stepped out of the building and felt his lips twitch when he saw Pete fall into step with him without hesitation. This was the man's first time that they spent together while not in the mansion, and Vegas was slightly worried about how he would act but Pete was just... perfect. He always stood a little bit to the side, clearly separating himself from the other guards but still showing his importance. He was just far away to not distract Vegas from his work or make it look like Pete was hovering over his shoulder, but close enough that Vegas would only need to reach out to touch him.

He wondered if the man was trained in acting this way or if it was his instincts that made it possible that they worked together so well. Vegas never had a lover before who fit so well into his life. To be honest, he'd never had a sexual partner who he even thought about introducing into his circles. The flings he had were always just about pleasure and satisfaction, and most of the subs he sometimes played with at the club would probably have pissed themselves if they figured out what Vegas did to gain the money and power that they liked so much.

And let's not talk about the boys who plastered themselves to his side at events after they heard his family name. They liked him well enough, especially the status his presence at their sides bought, but those bird-boned men would have crumbled if he'd have even grabbed them too tight or used the wrong tone of voice with them.

But Pete, Pete was perfect. He knew how to act, how to position himself in a situation. When they were at the casino, he moved in sync with Vegas, his head held high, his eyes proud but not challenging. He was silent, letting Vegas talk but didn't hesitate to act and voice his displeasure when he was touched without respect.

And he was so beautiful. Even with his black locks, slightly grey from the dust that they collected in the warehouse, he looked like a dream in his black shirt and pants, his dark eyes attentively observing their surroundings. Vegas' gaze slid to Pete's plush upper lip and fought the urge to push the man against the car and kiss him senseless while they waited for Ace to wrap up the meeting inside the building.