Page 143 of A Quick Buck

“Volunteers,” Crybaby replied. “People who like helping out Mr. Star.”

“Uh-huh.” Noah headed to the master bedroom, knocking quickly.

“Come in,” Alistair called out.

“Hey,” Noah said as he came in, smiling.

Alistair was wearing a deep magenta suit with golden chains around his neck. Damn, he looked good. He pulled Noah in for a hug. kissing his cheek. “Good morning.”

“Thanks for letting me snooze.”

“It’s no trouble. I didn’t think you’d slept very well.”

“Shit.” Noah frowned. “Did I wake you up?”

“Only once or twice. It’s all right.” Alistair touched Noah’s hair. “You look very handsome this morning.”

“If you think you can distract me with flattery, then you are correct. Thank you.” Noah tugged on the lapels of Alistair’s jacket. “You look fuckin’ edible.”

“Language.”

“Back on that again, huh?”

“Mmhm.” Alistair straightened out Noah’s collar. “We’ll deal with it later. We have more important things to focus on.”

“Like?”

“Breakfast, of course.”

Downstairs they went, and Noah got his first look at the volunteers.

They were mostly men, very big, and none of them appeared to be law-abiding citizens. They were rough, armed, and Noah would not want to meet any of them in a dark alley. Maybe it wasn’t right to judge a book by its cover, but Noah stuck extra close to Alistair anyway.

Breakfast was served on the patio, and it was pancakes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Frida was there putting on the finishing touches, and she didn’t immediately bolt when she saw Noah approaching.

Ah, progress.

“Good morning, Frida,” Noah said politely. “Thank you for breakfast. This looks dope.”

Frida actually smiled, and she nodded her head.

“Thank you, Frida.” Alistair pulled out Noah’s chair for him. “I trust everything is sorted in the kitchen?”

“Yes, Mr. Star.” She nodded again. “It took… longer than expected, but we’re done now.”

“Mace and Junior got into a fight, and they threw everything away,” Crybaby explained. “So, we basically started over from scratch, but now we know everything is safe.”

Noah sat down at the table, scooting in with Alistair’s assistance.

Alistair sat across from him, and he picked up a cup of coffee. “Mm, thank you for the update. I spoke to Erasmus earlier, and we should have the results of the testing this afternoon.” He smiled at Frida. “That’ll be all for now, Frida.”

Frida scuttled away then, wordlessly fleeing back toward the house.

“I trust our volunteers are settling in well?” Alistair asked Crybaby.

“Yes, Mr. Star,” Crybaby confirmed. “Most of ’em are here for the rest of the week, then they’ll start switching off in shifts.”

“Excellent. Thank you.” Alistair sipped his coffee.