She took a quick glance around, but didn't see Gabriel's truck anywhere. That meant she was early, but perhaps that was a good thing. It would give her an opportunity to talk to Ferro without him around. The two of them had a prior relationship, she knew, which could help, but it almost might be a hindrance. Ferro might feel more compelled to talk to someone of "official" status than he would an old friend. If not, she would let Gabriel do the talking, but doing it her way wouldn't hurt.
There were duel wooden swinging doors that moved easily as she pushed them inward, exposing the brightly lit interior. It was still a work in progress, but the ceiling looked to be almost complete. She recalled having heard of it as a dark and dingy dive bar, so the brightness caught her off guard.
Only part of the floor was finished, but it conveniently led from the door where she stood directly to the bar, along the middle of the left-hand side of the bar. She surreptitiously surveyed the bar as best she could while moving to stand in front of the giant piece of mahogany that covered the surface. It had been shined to a beautiful sheen, and she kept her hands on the raised front piece to avoid marking it up.
There were only two people in the bar that she could see. The man behind the bar had to be Ferro, since he matched every description she'd heard of him. The other man she didn't know, however. That didn't mean much because of how new she was to Genesis Valley, but she still didn't like it. There was no way for her to determine if she could talk while he was around or not.
The bar itself was a block U-shape, with the long side facing out into the rest of the bar. She took a seat along the short side nearest her, which also happened to be the complete opposite end from the other man.
Ferro stared at her for a long time before he approached, one hand holding a towel that constantly wiped the mug in his other hand, though it was long since dry.
"What can I do for you miss?" he asked politely.
"I've been told that the house beer here is excellent. Are you still producing it these days?" she asked, looking around at the damage.
"Of course," he said with a nod, setting the glass down in front of her. He walked smoothly back to the middle of the bar and grabbed a brown bottle. One deft twist of his hand and the lid went spinning neatly into a recycling bin at his feet. The entire process took no more than five seconds before he was pouring the bottle into the mug.
He spoke once more, his voice much lower. "How can I help you today?"
Her eyes wanted to narrow, but she kept a straight face. "I work for the Mining Consortium, LMC," she told him.
He nodded in understanding, but didn't speak. She had a feeling that he preferred to speak as little as possible, which meant that the words he had already spoken must have had great import to them.
Could he possibly know why I'm here? Caia wasn't sure how to proceed from there. She had been hoping to get Ferro on his own, but something told her that wouldn't be feasible. She would have to dance around the subject.
"I was just looking for some peace and quiet," she said at last. "I work as an assistant for Marcus and Valen Kedyn. I'm sure you know who they are."
She saw the understanding in Ferro's eyes as to her true point. Of course Ferro knew who they were. He recognized that she wasn't truly as oblivious as she was pretending to be. By acknowledging that he knew who they were, he understood that she was referring to the fact that they were gryphon shifters. Which meant she was here because he was a dragon shifter.
Or at least, she hoped he realized that.
"I've met them a time or two, yes. Good folks," he said. "Like me, if they can help you out, they will."
Caia forced herself to remain calm. Had his eyes truly flicked over at the other man, or had she imagined it?
"True. I'm actually really enjoying working for them so far. Only thing they can't help me with is finding a place to relax. I was told that this was a good place for that."
Ferro's eyes definitely flicked over to his shoulder toward the other man. It was so slight she would have missed it again if she hadn't been looking for it.
"Well, you may have been steered wrong there," he said, chuckling, though the laugh didn't extend to his eyes. "I'm not sure I can help you." He paused. "The Jade and Emerald crews are likely to be here later, and it can get pretty rowdy when they are."
She nodded. Caia was fairly certain she knew what he was saying. There was nothing more to be said, so she downed her drink, and pulled out her wallet.
"It's okay, it's on the house today. I feel bad that I can't help you out with your quest for quiet, but my hands are tied. They always come by shortly after five, and after what happened, well... I can't say no."
She blinked, then nodded.
"Thank you. Is there a better time for me to come by?" she asked.
"If there is, I'll let you know," he said.
"Thank you." She turned to go, just as the door banged open.
It was Gabriel.
"Hey Ferro!" he shouted across the floor.
Shit.
She needed to get him out of the bar, and quickly. If he spoke about their reason for being there out loud, things would go badly.
Before she knew what she was doing, Caia was halfway across the bar, bearing down on Gabriel.
She needed to shut him up, whatever it took.
Chapter Eleven
Gabriel
Gabriel went to greet Caia next, but he didn't get a chance.
"Hello sexy," she purred, walking straight up to him, grabbing his collar and pulling his face down to her level, where she pressed her lips against his firmly.
His eyebrows raised and then furrowed in surprise and confusion, before relaxing as he gave in to the kiss.
His brain worked furiously as their lips pressed together. He could taste the last lingering bits of Ferro's house beer on her breath, and for whatever reason, that drove him more insane with desire.
After several moments, she pulled back slightly. He badly wanted to speak, but his delirium-addled brain had managed to work through the fact that if she was kissing him like this in public, there had to be a reason for it, and that he should probably shut up and let her explain it.
"Uh... hi," he said with a lopsided grin.
She promptly kissed him again. This time he got the idea that perhaps she was doing it for fun.
"Did you get my text?" she asked, pulling back after another moment.
He shook his head. "I don't think so?" Gabriel pulled out his phone at the same moment she did, and checked it. "No, I didn't get a thing."
"That's weird," she said, tapping away at her phone. "It looks like it sent."
His phone buzzed. "Oh, weird. I just got it now."
"Yeah, I re-sent it," she said. They weren't talking overly loud, but loud enough that a dragon shifter could hear them.
Gabriel opened it, and forced his eyes to stay calm.
Place compromised. Can't speak inside.
"Really? You want to do that? Right now?"
Her face reddened at the suggestiveness in his tone. "The kitchen is still under construction and Ferro isn't serving any food yet, so we'll have to go somewhere else for dinner."
"Okay, well I guess we'll go to your place then," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Take me home," she growled, deciding to roll with his teasing and started pushing him toward the door. "I've been waiting all day for you."
"As you wish," he said, turning and heading for the door. He tossed a wave over his shoulder to Ferro, though he didn't notice if the bartender even saw it.
The moment the doors to the truck closed around them, Caia attacked him once more, her hands moving frantically over his body.
He grabbed hold of her and returned the favor, his hands roaming everywhere. Whatever else might be going on, she was his, and he would take any chance he could to ravish her.
After a few more moments of frenzied passion, he pulled back and punched the ignition button on his truck's dash. It seemed a bit over the top technology-wise, but he loved the feature.
"Okay, so what's going on?" he asked as the truck backed out of the parking lot. "And where am I actually going?"
"Just stay here for a bit, then we'll take both vehicles back to my place, and maybe I will do that to you," she said with an exaggerated wink.
"Do what?" he asked.
"Whatever you want." Her tongue flicked out and wet her lips while she stared right at him.
"Oh, okay."
Her grin widened for a second, then disappeared completely.
"Ferro can't talk. Whoever that other man is, he's not there because Ferro wants him there."
"Luthor? What's wrong with him? I always got a good impression from him," Gabriel said, thoroughly confused.
Caia recanted her conversation with Ferro quickly. "What I got from that is that he can't speak freely, and he can't help us, because something happened that's forcing him to cooperate with them somehow."
"With who?"
"Them. Whoever it is that's behind all this. I don't get it," she said, turning to face forward, though her hand drifted across the console and began to caress his upper leg as she talked. "Who is Luthor?"