4. Gage
Four
Gage
G age did not end up going back to the coffee house over the next week, but the others made sure to stop in. There was something about the calm, accepting atmosphere that kept them coming back.
Willow made sure to keep the lighting so that it was not too bright that people were blinded, but not so dim they were sleepy. The music was soft enough that it provided a quiet murmur customers could talk over and the A/C was at the perfect temperature. For the boys, it was a perfect oasis away from the typical nights of hunting or hard labor they were used to.
Gage kept himself busy renewing leases, fixing leaking roofs and broken dishwashers, and collecting rent for his father, along with preparing the casino tent for the music festival. The casino’s manager was a new hire and was not great at helping with the planning, so most of that was left to him. They also had a limited crew to work with, so physically setting up the tent and slot machines would also be left to him.
All of this gave him very little time to do anything fun. He barely had time to hunt down dinner. He did end up coming across a sex worker who offered to sell some of her blood. He normally would have been ashamed for having to stoop so low as to buy blood, his looks and relation to Clay usually made it easy to find women willing to give up a pint, but being numb helped cure that shame. Plus, hiring someone was so much more time-efficient and didn’t require any emotions to be involved. Tonight involved a quick exchange of cash, a bite in his truck, then she left without so much as a glance back at him so he could continue on his way to the marina.
“Hey Pops,” Gage said as he brought in a roll of carpeting on his shoulder and flung it to the ground with ease.
Clay nodded at his son as he finished taking measurements of the marina’s office space for the new trim. Tonight he was wearing a colorful polo shirt tucked into his khakis with his dirty-blond hair still perfectly slicked back. Even with his dorky exterior, he was still intimidating to people, and held an air of confidence that made others know he was the man in charge. Even though Gage had taken over leadership of the family after the tragedy that had happened, he still found himself going back to his father for advice.
Gage was obviously his son, with his matching angular face, green eyes, and confidence that seeped out of every pore. Gage was just a little bit rougher around the edges with his unkempt, shoulder length hair and monochrome outfits. What they had in common was the rosary tattoo on their chests in remembrance of Gage’s mother, who had passed. It was a simple design of black beads wrapping around the base of their necks, with the red and black cross resting on their left pectoral muscles.
“It’s about time you showed up. I was beginning to think you’d bailed on me.” Clay frowned at his son.
“Nah, I just had to make a quick pit stop.” Gage held up the coffee cup with a green mermaid printed on the outside.
Clay sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose at the sickeningly sweet scent emanating from the cup. “Are you sure that’s coffee? Or dessert?”
“It’s a little bit of both. Your new tenant can make surprisingly good coffee and got me to like this stupid latte shit.”
“Why didn’t you stop at her café, then?”
Gage shrugged, not fully sure himself why he avoided The Coffee House Bunny. “I didn’t want to be seen carrying around a cup with a rabbit logo on it.”
“But a mermaid is better?”
“Yeah, it makes me feel like a pirate.” He placed the cup on a windowsill and grabbed a broom to clean up the sand they had dragged in on their shoes. As he swept, his thoughts kept going back to the café with the pretty barista.
His desire to know more about her caused him to break the silence. “Hey, where did you find her anyway?”
“Who?”
“Willow.”
Clay had been crouched on the floor retaking a measurement, but he didn’t move. Instead, he peered at his son from the corner of his eye. “She found me. She inquired about the building since it was so close to the hospital. I liked her idea of having an all-night coffee shop, and she had an amazing credit score, so I rented her the place. It looks like it’s doing well. Every time I go past it there are always customers inside.”
“Yeah, the nurses love the place, but hate it when we show up.” Gage laughed, thinking of the group of nurses that reminded him of a flock of angry geese as they scattered.
“You guys have been going often?”
“I haven’t, but the others have. I think Matteo has a crush on her. He doesn’t have a chance since she’s way out of his league, but I’ll let him keep dreaming.”
“She’s very pretty, isn’t she?”
He paused at his dad’s comment. “Eh, she’s okay. Do you have a crush on her too?”
“No, but I am always impressed by an independent, strong woman like her. It takes a lot for a single person, let alone a female, to move over a thousand miles away and start a successful business. She would make a good leader.”
“Looking for my replacement already?”
Clay finally looked up from his tape measure and smiled softly at his son. “Never. It was only an observation. I’m glad you guys are going there often, she’s a sweetheart and I would like to keep her in our community, but working nights like she does isn’t safe. Speaking of which, the murder rate has increased lately, and I’ve been hearing a lot about other vampires entering our territory. I haven’t seen any myself, but I wanted you aware. Your Uncle Al has noticed his murder rate in Daytona increasing, too. Something’s going on, but we’re not sure what.”
Gage’s stomach tightened at the new information. “Do you think it’s connected to Waldo?”
Clay’s eyes took on a heavy sadness at the name of the Miami family leader. “Possibly, that’s something you must look at. I know it won’t be easy and will be opening old wounds, but we need to keep our territory safe. Part of being a good leader means keeping a level head even when dealing with people you want to kill.” He hesitated, like he wanted to broach a subject he knew would be controversial. “I know you’re still hurt by what Venice did.”
“Please for the love of god, don’t bring her up. I do not want to talk about that wench of a woman.”
“Okay, but maybe think about moving on from her. You know I never liked her, and it makes me so angry to see how she’s changed you. Now Willow I like. When I helped her set up her café, I noticed how patient she was when things would go wrong, and I think you need a girl who’s going to be patient with your cranky ass.”
“If she’s as sweet and patient as you say, then you shouldn’t want me with her.”
“Every leader needs his woman to lean on, and occasionally get some sound advice from. Your mother was that support for me, and I hate to see you not have someone like that. I know your mother would be so sad to see you alone.”
He knew his voice took on an aggravated tone. “Please don’t play the dead mother card to guilt trip me into dating your coffee girl. I’m not interested in dating. If Waldo might be poking around our territory, then it’s not safe for me to be associated with her anyway. Or did you forget that he was the reason Venice left me?”
Clay’s lips turned into a thin line. “No, how could I forget? Her betrayal broke my son.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, finally disrupting the perfect style. “I have to get going before the lumberyard closes for the night. I need you to finish the carpet so we can at least start on this trim tonight. I want this finished soon so the manager can move back in. As much as he’s loving working from home right now, I’d prefer to keep him on the premises to keep an eye on the employees. Thanks to your lovely friend Horatio, one of my favorite employees fell into the water and almost drowned.”
Gage perked up at the mention of the lumberyard. “Hey, are you going to the store off Palm Coast Highway? There’s an old mechanic shop that’s up for sale next door. It looks a little run-down, but it would be a good starter place for my shop.”
“You don’t want a place that needs updating. I’ll get you a plot of land and you can build yourself a brand-new shop with the exact layout you want.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that a few times now, but I’m still waiting. I’ll still be able to help you manage all your properties, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“What I’m worried about is you losing focus on rebuilding the family. Why don’t you talk to Nikolas about helping you run the shop? I already tried to get him to work for me at the marina, but he said he wasn’t interested in the nautical life. It seems like motorcycles are more his thing, and you could use some support if you’re going to start your own business. Do you think I built my property empire all on my own? Hell no, your Uncle Al was there every step of the way and is still there when I need him. We supported each other and were able to build strong families because of that.”
Gage’s eyes glazed over and he zoned out as his father began his lecture about not isolating himself. Instead of developing a traditional retirement hobby, like bird-watching or crafting, Clay was nagging Gage into rapidly gaining loyal followers to rebuild their family to its former glory. So far, he had three that had somehow found a way to become not only his roommates, but also his best friends.
In his glory days, Clay had been running one of the top families in Florida, but once everything collapsed he had given up his position early and passed it onto his son. Typically, sons didn’t take over as the head unless their father died, so their situation was unique. No other heads of families had their fathers guiding them like puppets. Gage was grateful to still have his father for advice, but it affected his confidence in his leadership skills, since he felt like he couldn’t make a decision on his own.
“Also, since we’re on the topic of Uncle Al, I need you to stop sleeping around.” Clay’s comment broke Gage out of his trance.
“Huh?”
“You hooked up with one of his boy’s vassals and he was pissed. I think her name was Delilah or Denice.”
Gage wasn’t surprised to hear that another woman had been two- timing him. “Destiny?”
“That sounds right. Thank god you didn’t kill her, or else you could have started a fight. This is another reason I need you to settle down with a good girl. I’ve been waiting almost forty years for grandbabies to spoil.”
“Okay first of all, why are you trying to get the term vassal to come back? That’s old-school slang that hasn’t been used since the 80’s. Second of all, he didn’t mark her with his bite, so how was I supposed to know she was claimed?”
Clay shrugged. “If you stuck to one girl, you wouldn’t run into this problem. Okay, I have to get going for real this time. I’ll see you later.”
Clay left and Gage returned to his cleanup. The silence in the office was making his ears ring, and his thoughts returned to the woman who not only broke his heart, but stabbed him in the back by running off with the enemy. He pulled out his phone and picked the loudest, angriest music he could find to help him through the night.
????
Gage threw the head onto the pile of decaying, bloodless flesh that was piling up in the back of the cave. Nikolas appeared to be slacking on feeding his pets. He had caught his latest victim in the middle of torturing a kitten to death as he was leaving the marina for the night.
He had been walking down the dock when he’d heard high-pitched meows coming from one of the boats. At first, he thought it was someone’s cat locked up safely in one of the rooms of the house boats, but the closer he listened the more it sounded like the creature was in pain. A splash sounded and the crying ceased, so he’d quickly run to where the noise came from. Expecting to find a kitten swimming in the water, he’d instead found a scrawny young man bent over a bucket on one of the boats. He’d looked like a rich kid with his name- brand shoes, freshly pressed slacks, and a new hoodie displaying a fraternity’s symbol.
“The fuck you doing? This is private property.” Gage called.
The guy had snapped his head up with round eyes and quickly stood up with his hands behind his back. “My dad owns this boat, sir.”
“That doesn’t explain what you’re doing.”
“Nothing, I was cleaning something. That’s all.”
“What are you cleaning?”
His expression had shifted from shock to irritation. “Mind your own business, bro.”
He’d turned his back to Gage and bent down to pick up the bucket. Annoyed by the guy’s attitude, aggravated by his father’s lack of help with setting up a shop, and still raging at the recently constant reminders of his ex-girlfriend, Gage had quickly hopped over the boat’s railing and landed with a loud thud behind the man.
“Now what the hell are you doing?” The guy had shouted and spun around. He’d taken a step back once he’d noticed how close Gage was, and tripped over the bucket.
To Gage’s horror, the bucket had spilled out and a small, white creature had tumbled out of it, not moving. For a second he’d thought it was a rat, but he’d noticed its thin tail had fur and its face was not as long.
“Did you drown that kitten, you fucking psycho?” He asked and took another step forward. He’d felt saliva starting to build in his mouth and his fangs had ached with the desire to rip into flesh.
“N-no, it fell into the bucket and I was getting it out.” He’d swallowed and his eyes had shifted to the dock.
“Liar. There’s one thing I hate more than preppy assholes with piss-poor attitudes, and that’s people that kill animals for fun.” He’d smiled and known that in the moonlight he looked terrifying. His face had been shadowed, making his eyes look black, his sharp fangs had been on full display, and his shirt had highlighted his muscled arms. Arms that could easily rip this guy’s head off his shoulders.
“I-if you kill me, m-my dad will hunt you down.”
“Oh? What, is he a vampire, too?”
“No, he owns Highland Car Lot and has a lot of money. He’ll hire a hunter to find you.”
Gage had let out a sharp laugh. “I’m not scared of a used car salesman. Especially one that rents his building from my father.”
The boy had taken off and tried to run around Gage to jump to the dock. Gage had been quicker and grabbed him by the back of the shirt, pulling him to his chest.
“Where are you going?” Gage whined like a friend was leaving his party. “I’m starved and could really use some fresh blood.”
The guy had let out a high-pitched scream as Gage had bit down into the tender flesh of his neck. He’d torn a chunk of flesh out, and blood had poured down, covering the golden fraternity letters on the hoodie. Gage had been tempted to stick the boy’s head into the salt water to increase his pain and drown him, much like he’d done to the kitten, but his hunger had taken over and he’d drained his blood quickly. The guy had thrashed around for a few minutes, trying to loosen Gage’s grip, but eventually his strength had begun to fade away and he’d slumped to the ground, resigned to his fate.
Gage had loaded the dead body into his truck. He’d been grateful he’d driven it tonight since hauling a body seemed rather impossible on a bike. Before leaving, Gage had gone back to the boat to discard the kitten.
“Sorry little one,” he had murmured to the limp clump of wet fur. He had squeezed it around its middle as he picked it up and a gush of water had come out of the tiny, pink mouth. Two blue eyes had squinted open, followed by a raspy mew.
“Oh, oh my god.” Gage had panicked, not knowing what to do with the pocket-sized creature. “You’re alive.”
The kitten had sneezed, and a small spray of water and snot had covered Gage’s hand. He’d felt bad releasing the kitten back in the marina and assumed she would die if he did that, so he’d taken off his shirt and rolled her up in the warm fabric to bring her home with him.
When he’d arrived at his house, Nikolas hadn’t questioned why he’d walked through the front door shirtless and with a kitten. He’d simply nodded at Gage and taken the bundle from his arms.
“Her name is Buffy. Can you take care of her for a bit while I clean up a body?” Gage asked.
“Sure thing boss. I’ll text Matteo and ask him to pick up some kitten food on his way home.” With that, Nikolas had turned and taken her into the kitchen to find some warm milk.