Alpha Billionaire Series
Billionaire and the Barista Chapter 30

NATHAN

The engine idled as I sat in the Jag and watched the front door of the bar. My mother had told me to replace my cousin. She was beside herself with fear for him. I had to replace 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 a*s 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 a*s out to my car. I didn't want him throwing up all over the interior. It was bad enough I had f****d 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 a*s.

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?"

"Ah, she's stubborn."

Mitch laughed in agreement.

"She refused to listen to me. Developments like mine bring in more money to the neighborhood, revitalize it. I made the mistake of mentioning that selling out with that old building might be a good idea. Give her a fresh start. She could have a space in the new development or get out of the neighborhood, get her away from the racers she still allows hanging in there." "That's not what you think it is. She doesn't want to leave the neighborhood."

"Oh, yeah?" I spun to face him. "What is it, Mitch? Cause it looked like she was having a party after a night of illegal street racing. Are you still fixing the bikes that go out? It's dangerous, and half those kids are dealing drugs-"

"And the other half are rich brats coming down to show off their expensive-ass bikes and score some dope. I remember how you got in Nathan. I'm aware of when you and your friends on shining new Ducati's came rolling up. You picked up Gabby, your buddy picked up crack."

I shook my head. It hadn't been the smartest of ideas at first. But I had met Gabriella with her full smile, and her flowing long hair. She had been right, she looked like an angel perched on the back of my bike.

"Yeah, but you were always down there keeping those bikes running."

"Still am. Someone has to make sure those idiots won't turn themselves into ground meat because the bike they're on can't handle it. Most of those kids can't afford their bikes," Mitch said.

"You worked on my bike, man. Insisted on it," I said.

"Do you think I was going to let Gabby go out on some bike I wasn't one-hundred percent sure was up to it? Or that I would do what was necessary to make sure you came back to her? She had already lost her parents, and when I saw what you were to her, I was going to make sure that she didn't lose you on my watch. Look, Nathan, you are wrong about what she's up to. She's never been there to party. Never. Her mother started bringing food down because she knew those kids would forgo food and rent for their bikes. That's what Gabby's doing. That's what she's always done. Make sure those kids have something to eat, a safe place to talk. After the kid was born, she doubled down on it too. She stopped bringing the food to the racers. But she wouldn't turn any of them away." He kept talking, but my brain latched onto a single word he had said in passing. "What kid?" I asked.

"Robbie, Gabby's little boy. I think she realized she was helping to take care of someone's baby after she had her own. She brings in resources to those meetings, ways to help those kids get away from their dealers, replace jobs. You aren't going to get her out of the neighborhood, not when she thinks people need her. Hell, just the other day a little girl was getting beat on by her old man, and the first person she could think of to help her was Gabby. And she was right. Gabby looks out for them like some kind of big sister." "When did she have a kid?"

"Seriously, man? Gabby didn't tell you? Maybe she's doing that single mother thing where she doesn't introduce the kid to the date until she knows it's serious. The kid is five. So, tell me, what's got you so anti-racing these days? You used to be in the thick of it." I drank down the rest of my coffee like a shot. It burned. Why the hell hadn't she told me there was a child?

"Not until you tell me who the father is?" My throat went dry as I waited for the answer.

Mitch shrugged. "You'll have to ask her yourself. That's not something she goes around telling people. Not even me."

I was running calculations in my head. If her kid was five, there was a very good chance.

"Fess up, why are you so against racing all of a sudden?" Mitch prompted.

"I realized it was stupid and dangerous in the most tragic way possible. It would have been different, I guess if it had been me, but it wasn't." I breathed out through my nose. "I was winning, and then my buddy got in front of me. The truck came out of nowhere. I went down. The driver rolled right over my bike. I was so f*****g pissed. I expected Fred to be standing on the other side of the truck laughing at me. He hadn't made it. My bike wasn't the only thing that truck rolled over."