Page 66 of Billionaire and the Barista

NATHAN

The engine idled as I sat in the Jag and watched the front door of the bar. My mother had told me to find my cousin. She was beside herself with fear for him. I had to find him before my uncle got involved and flew to the States.

“He’s so young. He’ll get himself in trouble. He doesn’t know how to deal with the rougher types, not like you. He’ll get himself beat up or killed.”

She wailed and I shrugged. Had my mother once been concerned when I was hanging out with the ‘rougher crowd?’ Maybe, after all, she had fully supported my exile to live with my uncle in Amsterdam.

I enlisted the help of Cameron to help me locate my missing cousin. Gavin’s phone was paid for by the business, so she would have access to account information. And, as it turned out, a phone locating service.

The GPS had put Gavin at a hotel earlier, and he was currently in the type of bar I hadn’t pictured him at. I figured his style was more elegant, rubbing elbows with the corporate elite. Something more akin to the place he took me that time we needed to celebrate—what had turned out to be nothing. It had been an excuse to go drinking. Something I didn’t think my cousin needed. The line of Harleys out front gave me the impression they wouldn’t be discussing cryptocurrencies inside.

I sat there for at least an hour before some lanky guy strode up to the car and tapped on the window.

“Mitch,” I said as I rolled down the window.

“Nathan, you’ve been sitting out here for a while now. You’re making some of the guys nervous. If you think this is the place to make some kind of a deal, you are in the wrong neighborhood.”

I laughed. “I’m not here for drugs.” I held up my phone, showing the screen of the GPS phone locator.

“According to this, my cousin is in there. I’ve been waiting for him to come out so I can kick his ass and drag him home. My mother is worried about him mixing with unsavory types. Thinks he’s too sweet and innocent.”

“So come on in and grab him. Or are you too good to mix with us unsavory types?” I did not miss the sneer in his voice.

I tipped my head, indicating him to back up. I cranked the window back up and opened the door. I twisted my neck and popped my jaw as I stood. I had forgotten how wiry Mitch was. He was as tall as I was, but thin where I had bulk.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. I didn’t want to cause a scene. You know, start something inside. I fully expect him to take a swing at me, and when that happens…”

Mitch nodded. “Self-defense is a bitch. I get it. Come on in and have a beer. I need to ask you a question anyway. And when we’re done, you can drag your cousin’s ass out the door. If he’s who I think he is. You’ll have to carry him out.”

I let out a derisive chuckle and followed Mitch inside.

I ordered coffee from the bartender and leaned against the bar next to Mitch. He nodded in the direction of a back, dimly lit booth. There was a guy with the same sandy hair as Gavin. He was listing to the side and mostly passed out.

I let out a disappointed sigh. Not disappointed in Gavin, he was, after all, living up to my expectations of him. I was disappointed that I was going to have to physically haul his drunk ass out to my car. I didn’t want him throwing up all over the interior. It was bad enough I had fucked up the passenger side, I didn’t need to fuck up the interior as well.

“Yeah, that’s him.” I turned and leaned on the bar. “So, what’s that you wanted to ask me?”

“What happened between you and Gabby? You haven’t been around and she’s miserable. I thought you had gotten back together. So, what’s up?”

I shrugged. “She got pissed at me. And she’s staying pissed.”

“What the hell did you do, man? Used to not be able to pull her away from you with a pry bar. Now, she practically kicked my ass just for talking about you. You had to have done something,” Mitch said. He looked at me with a side glance. He was wary of me, but he wasn’t about to beat my ass.

I let out a long heavy breath. “It’s a miscommunication. But she’ll tell you it's something else entirely.”

“She ain’t sayin’ anything, and that’s a problem.”

“My family is developing the property next door. The Lake Moore development.”

Mitch let out a low whistle.

“So, my idiot cousin over there has been attempting to get all the properties at that corner, so we can expand Lake Moore before we finish clearing the land and start the actual construction. Gabriella thinks I’ve been trying to woo her out of her property.” I sipped the coffee. It was hot and bitter.

“And have you been? Trying to romance the property out from under her?” Mitch’s tone dropped. Anger on behalf of the woman we both cared for in different ways clearly evident.

I shook my head. “Maybe that very first day I headed to the café to talk to her. But I was there for her, and her alone after that.”

“Did you try to explain yourself?”

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