Then

When people in Gareth's group offered support or gave their word, they meant it. It had not taken Phoenix long to discover that. Cracker had come through without hesitation.

The moment Phoenix had found the perfect apartment, he had mentioned it in passing to Cracker, and suddenly Cracker had been all up in his business, looking over the numbers for the apartment and Phoenix's accounts. No surprise, Cracker had been thoroughly impressed with Phoenix's financials. He was wealthy to a point where it seemed ridiculous for him to work at all.

Having inherited a fortune from his mother's brother, which Phoenix had used a part of to play the stock market and do investments, Phoenix had accumulated a strong portfolio of lucrative ventures, mostly for fun to see if he could do it. Then there was the pay he had gotten from his jobs and positions of teaching. Of course, there were the payments given for his time doing 'experiments' as a kid, he had been paid whenever he had done something they could use. Added to that was the signing bonus with a relocation package from Gareth, and his monthly wages and percentage bonus on Gareth's income as part of the contract he and Gareth had negotiated.

Longer story short...

Phoenix was loaded.

And Cracker loved how Phoenix was almost as anal about his accounts as Cracker was with his. There had been very little for Cracker to improve on.

Still, he had gone over everything, making sure the apartment Phoenix had chosen would be the best deal possible.

He had brought in another of Gareth's guys, Alexei, who was a licensed building inspector. Alexei had gone over the apartment with his most critical glasses on and found a few issues, which had helped Cracker to get the price lowered.

A lot.

How he had done that, Phoenix had chosen not to look into.

Phoenix would have had no problems paying the full price, with Cracker and Alexei's help he had saved a handsome penny. Not to mention that Alexei had pulled in a bunch of Gareth's guys who were in construction to fix the issues. And they had not stopped there. They had redone the hardwood floors where needed, had painted all rooms, and fitted the blinders and curtains, Phoenix had been asked to choose to fit this color scheme. They had spruced up the kitchen with new countertops and cabinets and updated the bathrooms at no cost.

They had, without Phoenix's knowledge, broken down all the doorways except for the front door and made them wider and taller with custom-made doors, made by Keff, who was a carpenter. It was marvelous to walk through them and not have to duck or at least be aware to not bump his head.

Everything they had done, Phoenix had been in awe of.

The only demand was a housewarming party with free drinks.

That Phoenix could do.

Hell, he would throw in snacks if needed.

He was floored with the way they all had come to help him with things he would normally just have paid his way out of and never bothered anybody with. Having joined Gareth's gang had already proved to be one of his best decisions. Never before had he felt accepted like that at face value. Yes, he sucked at reaching out to make friends but they more than made up for it and had befriended him.

For some reason that escaped Phoenix, they sought his company.

It was a weird blurry line between colleagues and friends. One he found himself not being too bothered by.

This was why he stood in front of his new apartment building with ten of his new friends, waiting on the moving van, ready to move his stuff into his fully up-to-code apartment.

All his belongings had been put into storage when he had moved from England and had now been shipped there. His friend Blakely had supervised the transfer from the storage unit to the shipping container back in London, and the company Phoenix had hired had secured the container upon arrival and packed the moving van.

He was almost giddy at the thought of getting his things.

God, he missed his own bed.

One custom made for him and his size. It was massive, and he loved it.

"So, where are the beers?" Jace came nonchalantly walking from his parked car to the group lounging there, waiting. Well, as nonchalantly as it was possible when looking as hung over as he did. He was wearing a skintight, dark blue t-shirt and a pair of stonewashed jeans sitting low on his narrow hips.

The twinkle in his blue eyes and the bright smile were simply too much at 7:30 in the morning, especially when he was ash grey in the face and there were bags under those twinkling eyes. Phoenix rolled his eyes and tried to calm himself, it was too early to blow a fuse or smack Jace one.

"There'll be coffee if you go get it." Phoenix found a wad of cash in his pocket and held it out to Jace, who looked at the money with disgust, nearly cringing away.

"Calm your tits, Rockefeller. I can afford coffee."

Phoenix huffed at the absurdity of it. It was his responsibility to provide them with food and drinks throughout the day for their troubles. "You're all here helping me. I'll pay."

"Buy me a drink later and we're good."

"If you're heading that way, could you drop by my hotel and get my stuff? It's all packed and the room is paid for by Gareth's account. You just have to hand in the keycard at the reception when you've gotten my things." It was maybe too much to ask. Phoenix had spent the night at the mansion due to work and had not had time to go by the hotel himself, because he had owed it to the people showing up to be there as the first.

Still, he held out his keycard to Jace, hoping the dumbass would comply. "The Schwartz junior suite on the sixth floor at The Marker Hotel."

"Sure. I can do that." Jace flashed one of his signature smiles and walked away, supposedly to get coffee and Phoenix's stuff.

A few aspirins and maybe a twelve-hour nap in the suite would do him good.

Phoenix had no idea how Jace was able to be cohesive and joking that early in the morning, when he very well knew that there had been some party at a private club the night before. Phoenix had not attended, since there had been some work to be done. From what Maksim had told him, they had been at it at 4:00 am when he had left. And still, they were at Phoenix's apartment building at 7:30 am.

It had to be some Russian trick Phoenix was not privy to.

Thirty minutes later Jace came back hauling all of Phoenix's things. Two massive suitcases, four suit bags, and a computer bag. He dumped everything in front of Phoenix and handed him a small glittery-wrapped present. "They gave me that at the hotel, and said it had been delivered to you yesterday."

Phoenix looked at the present with disgust and threw it on top of his things, paying it no mind. "Thanks, mate."

"No worries, now for the coffee, be right back. My car is loaded with caffeine boosters." A moment later Jace returned with coffee and enough sugary pastries and muffins to knock them all on their asses. The moving van had still not arrived, so they were all sitting outside in the early rays of the August sun.

Coffee and pastries were not a bad idea.

With a rather impolite, suspicious look, Phoenix eyed the coffee Jace held out for him, pretty much suspecting a mermaid to jump out or for it to have chili powder or something in it.

"For the love of..." Jace grumbled and took a gulp of it, holding it back out for Phoenix to take. "I don't mess with coffee. Besides, I thought we had an understanding?"

Snatching the to-go cup from Jace, Phoenix appreciated Jace confirming their truce, or what it was called. "True."

"I didn't know if you were one of those fancy buggers from London who needs their coffee to go through a beauty salon to get it fluffed up and smell like cinnamon or something."

"I'm a pretty simple guy. I need my coffee black, my job interesting, and my whiskey neat," Phoenix said while standing up and dusting off the back of his pants with his free hand. "My steaks preferably medium-rare, and whoever graces my bed willing and eager."

With that, he left Jace and the others to go greet a leggy brunette coming out of the apartment building, waving enthusiastically at him. "Evelyn..."

"Damn..." Cracker did nothing to hide his smile as he licked his fingers free of powdered sugar from his pastry. "That guy is intense and straight to the point."

Though Cracker's words were true, Jace barely heard them, and he did not reply at all, he was too busy looking at the brunette and Phoenix talking. They were too far away to hear what they were saying, but their body language did show some familiarity between them, he had called her by name, which would be an indicator.

She was lovely, maybe not what Jace would have chosen if picking companionship for a night, though he would not have said no if the opportunity had fallen in his lap. There was something subtly drawing in her fluid motions and the way her head tilted slightly when she talked to Phoenix. Her flirtatious smile and the way her eyes never left Phoenix's face only amplified her allure.

If Phoenix had a type, and she was it, he did have good taste. 'Evelyn' was the perfect counter to Phoenix's large frame.

Petite and delicate.

And legs for miles.

Without warning, images of her being crushed under Phoenix's weight in bed came flooding through Jace's brain. Vivid images that soon changed focus from the brunette to Phoenix. Big hands roaming her flawless skin, grabbing her hips, cupping her breasts. With the size of his hands, he could probably hold her ass in one hand alone.

Jace shook his head to clear those images. It was too embarrassing to stand there and fantasize about sex he was not even part of. Then again, if it had been a free, available porn clip online, featuring those two, he would have watched and gotten off.

Violently.

"She's hot."

Gaine's words drew Jace from his improper thoughts, and he noticed how all of the guys were watching the brunette, who had her hand resting on Phoenix's arm and was laughing animatedly at something Phoenix had said.

Who the fuck laughed at anything Phoenix said?

She was hot and they all knew it, they also knew she was only focused on Phoenix, and though they all were quite ok in the looks department, they did not stand a chance.

It was almost a relief when the huge moving van pulled up and parked at the curb, it gave Jace a reason to stop staring at the two by the entrance. He did side-glance to see Phoenix peck a kiss on the woman's cheek and stride confidently back to them.

"Ok, guys. I really appreciate this." Phoenix looked into the tightly stuffed van with a sigh and a slight eye-roll at his own need for material things. "All boxes are labeled with which room they go in. Major furniture should be self-explanatory, the rest, well, just ask."

Cracker and Yarro jumped up on the lift of the truck's back and pulled the blanket covers from the nearest furniture and pulled it out. Phoenix and Timofey grabbed it to go first because Phoenix had the keys.

"Why don't you just stay up there and direct us as we bring stuff in?" Cracker suggested, already hauling the next item from the van.

"What?" Phoenix frowned. "Like I'm going to stand up there like some dictator, letting you guys do all the work?"

"You won't just be standing, you'll be arranging things where you want them when we get them brought in. We have no idea how you plan to furnish your place, so all we can do is play muscle to your interior decorator." Cracker laughed boyishly with no concern about the amount of work it would be to move everything. Just the thought of Phoenix decorating was enough to fuel him.

For the next five hours, Phoenix instructed how he wanted things in his new penthouse apartment, while he, Dante, and Cain unpacked things from boxes and wiped them down before putting them where Phoenix wanted them. The next van from the department store had arrived with the newly bought items, and those too had been brought in.

The guys had assembled furniture and wiped them down to make sure they were clean and vacuumed wherever they placed something.

Phoenix was quite OCD about that.

They had not expected anything but that from him.

"What do you need three desks for?" Yarro looked puzzled at the two desks they had just assembled from the department store. The rag in his hand swiped the surface with wood polish as he studied the desk. There had already been a massive desk with Phoenix's initial moving van, two more made no sense.

"I made a deal with Gareth about working from home most of the time. I'll be dealing with companies in other time zones, so a regular office building might not want me there in the middle of the night, and I don't feel like being at his mansion when I'm done and just want to tumble into bed."

"That still doesn't explain the number of desks," Yarro pointed out, still confused.

"I guess it's a courtesy. If Vlad, Gareth, Rotha, or one of the others needs to be here to work with me on something. I can't banish them to the dining room table, right?"

"I would have." Gaine pushed the newly assembled swivel chair next to one of the new desks and surveyed the room Phoenix had made into his office.

It was a nice, large room with a floor-to-ceiling window at the end, where Phoenix's grand mahogany desk was placed. They had hung six smaller LCD screens on the wall to the side of the desk over a cabinet. Those at least made sense, since Gareth had screens like that in his office too, displaying everything from stocks to that new YouTube thing. A few smaller paintings, cabinets, and some shelves graced the other walls, and the two extra desks stood to the side of the left wall.

The room was a nice ivory color with dark paneling.

Not a bad workspace.

It had been quite humorous for Phoenix to see the guy's faces when they had brought in the pieces of his bed, which they had assembled in the master bedroom. A bed that size was not normal, and they were big guys, still, none of them needed a bed that long or wide.

Needed, no.

Wanted, maybe.

"That bed is made for orgies," Maksim laughed. "Swinger party at Phoenix's!"

"Too much information." Cracker walked out of the room with a smirk. Maksim had not been wrong, though he doubted that the King of Stoicism would even know how to hold an orgy, let alone do swinger parties.

Not that he did himself.

Of course...

Pizzas, burgers, and chicken wings along with fries had been delivered and they were all lounging in Phoenix's kitchen, proud of how much they had accomplished. There was not much more for them to do, a few odds and ends. Phoenix had to unpack his personal boxes on his own, all they could do was help clean up where they had needed to drill holes for paintings, pictures, and shelves and then get all the packaging from the furniture discarded of. There were a few smaller things other than that, but it was not something they needed to be twelve people to do.

"What the fuck do you need all this space for?" Jace huffed and lit a cigarette, leaning against the kitchen counter. A four-bedroom apartment seemed a bit much for one person. Not that he did not like the place, it was awesome and reminded him a lot of his own, though two bedrooms larger than his. It was modern and had airy rooms with impressive lighting through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the floor plan was great, and it seemed like it was not made from paper-thin materials so you could not hear the neighbors.

Phoenix's style was also something he liked. He had a lot of stuff, but when put in place the apartment still had a minimalistic feel to it. He had a lot of greys and glass and high-polished wood mixed with subtle blues, bright orange, and black.

And he was a fucking clean freak!

"My business," Phoenix retorted dismissively.

It was, Jace admitted to himself. It was not too excessive when he thought about it. One of the four bedrooms, the one next to the master bedroom, Phoenix had made into an office. That left two extra bedrooms which both had large beds installed, not stupid at all if having friends over, or if Vlad might need a place to sleep after work. Or even for when his parents came to visit.

Jace had nobody.

His extra guestroom was usually used when Gareth had gone into a whiskey stupor, and he had needed a place to crash.

Outside of an occasional Gareth habitat, it was just an extra room he had to clean.

Jace always kept his partying outside of his home, and his socializing at the mansion or clubs. People did not visit his apartment.

Phoenix sighed at Jace's expression. He understood he had been rude when dismissing his question.

"Master bedroom, office, guestroom, and exercise room which can double as a guest room if needed. I don't like people crashing on my living room couch," Phoenix explained while gesturing in the general direction of the rooms.

"Ok, when you put it like that, it makes sense." Jace nodded to himself.

"It's a great investment too," Cracker offered because Jace looked a bit embarrassed.

"True that. I like when the money I spend works for me. If I one day sell this place, it should yield a nice profit." Phoenix threw the crust of his pizza slice back in the box and lit a cigarette, inhaling sharply to relax, feeling his new home.

Home.

He had a home again.

And when the guys had left, he could close his door and enjoy the silence. No more noisy hotel guests or the feeling of no privacy after room service. Not that he had anything to hide, and the cleaning of his room had been beyond reproach, but it was still an invasion on his senses to know that a stranger had been near his stuff.

Besides, he had lived there for over two months. And though luxurious and comfortable, he was over the whole hotel experience.

"So, who was the hot chick this morning?" Cain asked with a cheeky grin and a curious look in his eyes. He had asked the question most of them wanted to know the answer to.

"I met her some time ago at a club, she told me that this building had a few apartments up for grabs, and she offered me to schedule a viewing."

"Are you two an item then?"

Phoenix smirked. "Heh, no. She's not really my type, but I do enjoy her company and she does make some ace Asian recipes."

Roarke huffed. "Not your type? She's everybody's type." He paused, looking at Phoenix. "Would you mind if I tried my luck?"

"Hey!" Yarro gave an offended glare at Roarke and threw a napkin at him. Most of them had wanted to ask, and, of course, it had been Roarke, that charming shit, who had had the balls to do it. Like that guy needed new chicks for his harem. Yarro had put his money on Jace being the one with no filter to do it, though.

Maybe Roarke would be a nice match for her? Phoenix was not sure. It was not like he knew her specific likes, though she had expressed interest in him the first time they had met, though he had shot her down. That at least gave Roarke a sporting chance, being tall and extremely handsome in that pretty boy way many women liked. Except for him not being quite as tall as Phoenix and the light blond hair, he and Phoenix could be brothers with their sharp features, grey eyes, and lean muscles.

Perhaps Evelyn would like Roarke or one of the others.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do or not. I have no right to decide anything for her. But if you're asking if you'll be stepping on my toes, the answer is no."

Roarke just nodded with respect. Not only because Phoenix had not made decisions for another person, but also because it was rare that Phoenix understood the subtleties of the bro-code banter. It had taken some getting used to for Gareth's people, because Phoenix surely was different, and sometimes, he reacted weirdly to things. As they had spent more time with him, most had warmed up to him, though he was sort of distant and somewhat bluntly rude in his approach to things.

"Really, man, what is your type?" Jace was back in the game, seeing an opportunity for him to get some answers. If Evelyn was not Phoenix's taste and the women at the clubs, he had seen him with were not either, he had no idea.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Phoenix tapped his nose. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You're impossible," Jace groaned at the laughter of the others.

It was quite funny how Phoenix had the ability to drive Jace insane with only small answers and nothing more. Everybody was used to it being Jace who ran circles around them, suddenly somebody ran circles around him.

The irony was not lost on Jace.

"Is this the right place?" Gareth's voice carried from the small foyer of the apartment, where the door had been left open after the food had arrived.

"Kitchen, G-man," Cain called out.

Gareth came to a halt in the doorway to the kitchen, seeing the guys lounging around with food and soft drinks.

Soft drinks?

Where the fuck were his Russian, hard-liquor men?

"Am I too late to help?" He checked his expensive watch and frowned. Ok, it was a bit later than he had expected to be there.

"Pretty much."

People shrugged like it did not really matter. They had managed fine with the people there and had not needed the extra hands that Gareth now offered, and in addition had brought more in the form of his driver, Rami. A sort of Hispanic-looking guy with dark, alert eyes, muscles for miles, and black tousled hair.

He looked more like a bouncer than a driver, if it was not for the fancy suit he wore. He did double as a driver and bodyguard, and Gareth had his specific demands to the people around him. Rami surely knew how to drive and how to keep the paparazzi away.

And he packed a punch too.

Nobody knew where Gareth picked up all his men that were not Russian, or how, all they knew was if Gareth had ok'd them, they were in, and nobody would survive questioning his decisions.

"If you're that eager to help, Phoenix's got five bathrooms you can clean. Five!" Jace turned from Gareth to Phoenix. "Seriously, bro, you can only have your ass on one porcelain throne at a time, just saying."

On instinct, Phoenix raised his hand to slap Jace for his comment but let his hand fall. It was kind of funny of him to tell Gareth to clean bathrooms.

And ballsy too.

In that aspect, he respected Jace. He did not fear anything it would seem, including Gareth. They had to be very good friends for Gareth to allow that kind of behavior.

Maybe another approach would be wise. "Jace, how many cars do you have?"

"Three?"

"And how many of them can you place your ass in at a time?"

"Touché." Jace laughed. Phoenix had just nailed him with logic, at his own game.

Annoying.

Gareth could do nothing but shake his head at Jace as he walked into the kitchen and placed a few bottles of liquor on the counter. He had had every intention of being there in time to help, to make Phoenix feel that he cared, which he absolutely did. Sadly, some little fuck had tried to sneak himself to some drugs on a delivery, so he and Vasili had been dealing with that.

And that had prompted the need for a shower and a change afterward. Both had been time-snatchers.

Showers were nice.

"Is there anything left to do? You can't be all done?" He chuckled quietly. "I mean, I brought muscles and booze."

"There's not much left. I need to stock up on basics for kitchens and bathrooms, I can do that tomorrow. I need to have bedding put on the beds, towels, shower curtains, and stuff filled into the bathrooms. I need the office organized. And I'll unpack my clothes myself ."

In true Gareth style, he could not let the few things hang. He took over instantly and began directing people. It was like a light turned on in his eyes at the chance of taking charge and getting things done. His eyes shone under the brows knitted in concentration, he was simply loving being of use, helping Phoenix. Gareth despised loose ends, and unfinished business left him jittery.

"Ok, Phoenix, make a shopping list then Rami and Jace can go shopping, you need something to survive here." Gareth threw his credit card at Jace, who just shoved it into his pocket. Then he divided the rest into fixing beds and putting things in the bathrooms, because hell no, he was not doing that.

"You and I can do the office, ok?" Gareth looked to Phoenix for confirmation.

"Fine with me." Without arguing, Phoenix put out his cigarette and found a pad to write a shopping list in collaboration with Rami, who was surprisingly good at suggesting things Phoenix would need.

"When we're all done, we can have a few drinks, and then you lot go home to shower and change. Dinner tonight is on me."

Hi dear Wattlings.

Thank you for reading.

And now Phoenix has moved in. Gotten some new friends and he's ready to be part of the group for real. You think Jace is beginning to notice Phoenix in that way or?

If you like it then pop a vote and please leave comments. The comments are important for me to know how the story is progressing and the characters are developing. And I'd love to know what you think and interact with y'all.

Give me a follow too for updates on other work and put this book in your library. I'd appreciate that.

Love, Alix

Published: August 13th, 2021. ©Alix Davenport, Copenhagen