There was a soft, albeit squishy surface holding Luan suspended a couple feet from the ground. He could feel springs through the course blanket that swaddled his large frame. Sunlight dappled through the blinds at his window, streaming across his face and forcing a groan from his chapped lips. His eyes felt crusty as he forced them open, shielding the light as he took in his sparse bedroom. Luan made it a point to not own much. If he ended up liking something, odds were it would be used against him.
So, he only kept necessities and the occasional cocoa packet. He might have bought those for Mira, but that was mostly just an excuse. Luan was kind of obsessed with the chocolate beverage. He almost wondered if Arlan was aware of that fact, considering the drink he'd ordered before Luan even arrived at their meeting.
He almost wanted to just roll over and keep sleeping. Last night was exhausting, and Luan didn't really feel like dealing with people today. But, alas, he had business to attend to.
Revenge doesn't orchestrate itself.
He dragged his tired body from the warmth of his shoddy sleeping pad, stumbling into the bathroom and trying to wake up in the forever freezing water that poured from his crooked showerhead. The brisk water did wonders for the muddled state of his mind, driving sleep away with a relentless vengeance.
His muscles bulged, clenching in the cold air as he stepped out clean and now fully awake. Water dripped off the ends of his hair as he towled through it, going for a set of clean clothes and a fresh hoodie.
He dressed in a pair of nondescript clothes, dark colored and baggy. Nice and blendy. Perfect for existing amongst other humans.
He ate a quick breakfast of eggs, not feeling like something complicated, even if he could have afforded to add a little more flavor to his bland diet.
Pulling on his boots, thick and padded for the harsh wonders of the outdoors, Luan exited his abode, making sure to lock it on his way out. Just because Dante could get a key like it was the easiest thing in the world didn't mean he shouldn't take precautions against the normal inadequacies of regular burglars. Dante was an unfair standard for anyone to be compared to.
Plus, he was totally insane and not at all afraid of getting rid of people who got in his way.
Luan would love to stop thinking about the man, but he had planned on scoping out Mira's whereabouts while running errands today, so it was a little hard to keep the intensity of the alpha completely out of his mind.
He was, after all, Mira's deadbeat father.
Finding his car in the parking garage, dark and tinted as it was, Luan quickly checked all the specs. One could never be too careful of dark designs on their things.
Everything was in order, just as he'd left it when he got chauffeured off to a gallant party, so Luan was quick to start the machine and control it towards his own purposes.
With practiced ease, he drove through the city, years of fending for himself outside the wolf den, Luan came upon a small building. On the outside, it was advertised as insurance, promises meant to persuade people to buy overpriced nonsense meant to protect them from the cruelties of the world.
The inside held a couple desks, a reception area toward the front and separate partitions further in. Luan went straight through, the lady at the front desk not bothering to try and stop him, as this place was secretly in his name.
For being so cut off from his family's money, Luan was able to scrounge together enough to start a small business. Insurance, as was reported to the government every year, was the disguise he'd chosen.
He came to a locked door near the back, hidden behind wood paneling and designed to blend with the walls around it.
Using a simple key and a specific method of pushing in the right spot, he was easily admitted access, going inside and finding the true heart of his business.
Luan's favorite subject was finding dirty secrets about other people, especially those who thought themselves better than everyone else.
So, he made it a point to gather those secrets, offering them for strong prices to others he'd just as easily sell out. He'd been sure to keep his name out of everything, only going by a pseudonym for the purposes of conducting business: Shadow. Dramatic, but it got the point across.
Whatever one wanted to know, he could get it. Sometimes, people paid just to keep him from selling their secrets, completely of their own initiative. He wasn't really into blackmail. Too many things could go wrong, too many loose ends. But, if they specifically asked him to protect their secrets, that he could do and do it with pleasure.
It was through this business he'd first caught wind of the whereabouts to the necklace that still hung around his neck. The silver chain made him capable of wearing it with any kind of dress code, the rest staying hidden beneath his shirt at all times.
The heavy weight of the silver encased jewel gave him comfort, keeping his mother close in the only way he could. And he would never let it be taken from him again.
The room he entered was dark, quickly becoming illuminated when he switched the light on.
A desk sat against the wall, computer console, and keyboard, taking up most of its circumference.
A couple of filing cabinets took up the space next to it, housing documents he felt were too valuable to keep backed up, where hackers could find in the safety of their homes. No, the important information was kept in this secret room, where only he had any real access to it.
He sat at the desk, bringing the computer screen to life as he got situated. He didn't plan to stay long, just enough to get some things dealt with. Mostly, he had a couple of jobs backed up, so he had some info to be distributed to the paying parties. Just because he'd been busy, didn't mean he had no time for work. The necklace was a personal transaction, so while he had taken a few days to acquire it, he really didn't have the luxury of any more time off. People wanted their enemies' secrets, practically willing to beg for them. So, he had to provide. Not like it was hard, seeing as he'd made it his business, and they usually paid handsomely. But still, Luan didn't feel like bothering with spoiled brats wanting a leg up in whatever shady transaction they had planned.
No need to mention his own shady dealings. Those were definitely more necessary.