Page 118 of Callous Shot

“Yeah, I know—” His phone vibrated next to my leg, and he groaned. “Who’s interrupting our date? It better be important. Hello? King. What do you want?”

“Where are you?” Ryker said through the speaker.

“On a date with my boyfriend,” Daniel replied, and I stared at him. Boyfriend, he mouthed.

“For fuck’s sake, Arson. You’re gonna give me grey hair, I swear,” Ryker groaned. “Aren’t you supposed to be staying away from each other until you’re given the all-clear?” I barely paid him any attention, my gaze still fixed on the man staring right back at me, mischief sparkling in his bright eyes and his mouth curving into a smirk.

My heart skipped a beat. “He’ll phone you back,” I said loudly, then took the phone from Daniel, hitting the End Call button. “Come here. Now.”

“So much for lying low,” came a dry voice from behind me. Daniel screeched straight into my ear, and I shot him a glare before slowly turning around, rubbing at the side of my head.

“Sorry,” my boyfriend murmured, kissing beneath my ear, and I smiled.

My smile fell away when I met Mike’s unimpressed gaze. He shook his head. “I guess it was too much to expect the two of you to stay away from each other, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Daniel slid his arms around my waist, hooking his chin over my shoulder as he pressed his chest up against my back. “If you’re gonna blame anyone, blame me. I can be very persuasive.”

Mike sighed heavily. “That’s something you and your uncle have in common.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning…we need to talk. But not here. I’ll meet you at the Hoyton house.”

“How did he find us?” Daniel whispered to me.

“You’re not as sneaky as you think.” Mike jerked his head towards our cars. “Come on. We have things to discuss.”

“So you were working together this whole time?” Daniel stared between Mike and Neil.

“Is that why you were so cagey about investigating the Hoytons? Because you were working together?” I asked.

“Yes, Link,” Mike said. He turned to Daniel. “We weren’t working together the whole time, no. But Operation Foxglove coincided with Neil’s own…less-than-legal investigations into the Cartwright Gang.”

Neil smirked at my uncle. “I went to him with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Our goals were aligned, and we decided to pool our resources to catch the bigger fish.”

“Neil?” Daniel bit down on his lip. “Did you know Frank Culverhouse was still alive?”

“None of us knew,” Mike said. “It was you that tipped me off, actually, with your comment about sending detectives to your games. As far as I was aware, no one was investigating you, so it wouldn’t have made sense to waste resources like that, especially when we only had a small team working on it. I did some investigating of my own, and we both had our suspicions, but we only discovered his true identity when we went through Harold’s paperwork.” He glanced at Neil. “We let it be known that I would be leading the raid in Wiltshire, when, in actual fact, I’d planned to oversee the arrest of your parents and then take Mr. Culverhouse into custody after Neil had apprehended him. We knew—or hoped—that he wouldn’t be able to resist coming to your game, and your uncle promised me that he was prepared should Mr. Culverhouse show up. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to question the man. By the time I arrived…let’s just say there wasn’t anything left of him to question.”

Neil held up his hands, his eyes sparkling. “Nothing to do with me.”

“Sure.” Mike rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky my boss was in a good mood after bringing so many high-profile criminals into custody that he didn’t even care that one of my prime suspects had passed away in an ‘accident.’ We disbanded a total of six OCGs— Organised Crime Groups,” he elaborated when we all stared at him.

“And all my friends and their families were saved,” my boyfriend piped up, and then seemed to remember who he was talking to. “Uh, I mean, of course they were all saved, because they’re completely innocent, law-abiding citizens.”

“I suggest you stop talking,” Mike said.

“Yeah. Good idea.” Daniel mimed zipping his lips.

The door creaked, and Daniel’s mum stepped into the room, her gaze immediately going to the sofa, where Daniel and I were sitting far too close, our thighs pressed together. I rose to my feet, my manners kicking in automatically, but my heart was pounding, and my palms were sweaty. So far, the conversation had been focused on the deal between Mike and Neil, and no one had said anything about Daniel’s and my relationship. But judging by the look on his mum’s face, that was about to change.

“Mrs. Hoyton,” I croaked. Shit. Should I kiss her hand, or shake it, or⁠—

“Lincoln, please. Call me Rachel. Mrs. Hoyton makes me sound too old.” She smiled, placing her arms around me. After a moment where my body went into complete shock, I tentatively hugged her back.

Releasing me, she hugged Daniel and ruffled his hair before crossing to Mike and Neil, greeting them with equal enthusiasm. I remained frozen in place until my boyfriend tugged me back down to the sofa, brushing a kiss over my cheek.

“You’ll get used to it,” he whispered, his fingers sliding between mine. “You’re part of the family now.”