“He didn’t walk away. He went out for a drive. And you abducted him from the side of the road.”
Raul swung down from Ace. He strode up to the gate to face Cedric directly before answering. “I found him wandering barefoot, dazed, and bleeding from your unsealed bite on the shoulder of the goddamn highway. After you verbally abused him. That’s how you take care of your blood pet?”
“It’s not that serious.” Cedric scoffed. “Ji-Su was being foolish and dramatic after some harmless teasing. I was too tired at the time to deal with his bullshit. I would have sent a servant to retrieve him if he hadn’t come back home.”
Raul clenched his fist with restrained anger at Cedric’s callous disregard for Ji-Su’s well-being. “I’m not letting you near him.”
“I could jump this fence and take him back. The only reason I haven’t is out of courtesy.”
“You could try,” Raul replied, cold and hard. HewishedCedric would jump his gate. The problem of how to deal with this situation would be solved after he stomped Cedric six feet underground the moment he landed.
Unfortunately, Cedric wasn’t stupid. He knew he wasn’t a match for Raul. He immediately backed off his threat, impotently banging a hand on the gate instead.
“You can’t snatch someone’s blood pet away from them!” he yelled again.
“I’m aware of that,” Raul answered calmly. “So, name your price.”
“What?”
“Name your fucking price. I’ll pay it to buy out his contract and in exchange you leave Ji-Su alone for good.”
That got Cedric to stop his yelling. The young vampire stared at Raul in surprise.
“You’re kidding.”
Raul wasn’t kidding. He remained silent, waiting for Cedric to reach that conclusion himself and come up with a dollar amount. Behind him, he heard Burke arrive on one of the ranch’s golf carts.
“Okay then. I want one million dollars.”
“Done.” He spoke to Burke without taking his eyes off Cedric. “Burke, make the transfer.”
Cedric’s mouth dropped open wide. He clearly hadn’t expected Raul to call his bluff and accept that price.
Burke got off the cart and pulled out his phone. “Sir, if you have your bank info I can make a direct transfer. If not, I can cut you an electronic check. I’ll also need to know the name of Ji-Su’s agency.”
Cedric recovered from his shock and gave Burke the requested bank and agency details. He snorted a cruel laugh after providing the information. “A fool and his money. Enjoy that little kawaii waste of space and his mediocre blood. Believe me, you’ll get bored with him soon enough.”
Raul didn’t bother to respond. He simply watched as Cedric and his people returned to their vehicle and left. Once they were gone, Raul turned to the gate guard.
“Notify me immediately if they return or if you notice anything suspicious.”
“Yes, sir.”
Raul swung back up onto Ace. “I’m not making my casino rounds tonight,” he said to Burke as the big horse he sat turned in the drive. “I need to let Ji-Su know what happened and make sure he’s okay. Call Deklan and tell him he’s in charge for the night.”
“I’m on it.”
Raul left Burke to make the call while he cantered back up to the stables. “Sorry, boy. No ride this evening.” He handed Ace off to one of the stable hands. After washing up in the sink by the wide, double barn doors, he went back into the ranch house to talk to Ji-Su.
WHEN RAUL WALKED BACKinto the ranch house, he was told by a staff member that Ji-Su hadn’t come down yet. The young human was probably exhausted after his ordeal the previous night. Deciding he’d give him a little while longer before he went up to check on him, Raul went into his office. Burke walked in just as he was sitting down at his desk.
“Do you think Cedric will let this go?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. He got a million dollars for being an asshole to a human. But I don’t know anything about him. He might be smart and walk away. Or he might decide to be vindictive because he lost his toy to someone else.”
“I hate to say it, but he seems more the vindictive type.”
“He does. And I want to be prepared if that’s the case.” Raul pulled out his phone and pressed the speed dial button to call thehead of security for the Sanguis Syndicate. The call connected on the second ring.