168 Wilsons, snuggles and traps

~ Seattle, Wilson family villa ~

"Master, there is something you should see…", the butler told Mr. Wilson (Tyler's father) discreetly.

Mr. Wilson excused himself from the living room where they are hosting their guests and followed after the butler.

"Who is this? Is he alive?", Mr. Wilson frowned at the sight of the savagely beaten man sprawled on the stairs in front of the main entrance of the villa.

"He is alive, but unconscious. I believe that is young master.", the butler responded. He recognizes the jacket Tyler is wearing, it's a unique piece which Mrs. Wilson designed personally. He is not much into fashion, but Mrs. Wilson showed it proudly to everyone (more than once) before giving it to Tyler as birthday's present. And now that jacket is all dirty, and probably torn as well.

Mr. Wilson looked at the man's face carefully, but it was so badly bruised and swollen and covered in dried blood that he was unable to recognize his son. "Does he have an ID?"

The butler squatted and got a wallet out of Tyler's back pocket.

"Oh, God…", Mr. Wilson said under his breath while holding Tyler's driver's license with shaky hands. "Who would do such a thing? Call my wife…"

"There is a note.", butler said while handing the paper to Mr. Wilson before going inside to call Tyler's mother.

"What is going on?", Mrs. Wilson asked when she saw her husband standing at the front door without moving. She is not happy that she is leaving their guests by themselves.

"Ah…", she grimaced at the sorry sight in front of her. "What is this?" Her eyes flashed at the sight of the familiar jacket, but she refused to acknowledge the obvious. She looked at her husband, expecting an explanation and hoping that her conclusion is wrong.

Mr. Wilson was frozen while staring at the paper in his hand. And he reacted only when his wife nudged him. "Uhm… that is Tyler. He offended someone…"

"Tyler?", Mrs. Wilson leaned closer to observe her son.

She looked at Tyler's hands and she recognized the ring and the wristwatch. Those together with the jacket mean that she can't refuse the reality.

"Oh, oh…", she patted her chest. "It is him… Call an ambulance!", she screamed at the butler.

"Don't yell.", Mr. Wilson told his wife. "It will not help anyone."

Mr. Wilson turned to the butler and asked: "How did he get here? Did you check security footage?"

Butler confirmed that he saw the video from the security camera. That is how he got alerted to check in front of the doors. "Four men wearing dark hoodies carried him here. We don't see any faces. Their car is out of camera view as well. By the time I came to see what is going on, they left."

Mr. Wilson nodded absentmindedly and waved at the butler, indicating that he should proceed with calling an ambulance.

It took few seconds for Mrs. Wilson to compose herself. "You said he offended someone? Who would do such a thing?"

Mr. Wilson shook his head, indicating that he does not know. He handed the note to his wife. "It only says that if he didn't learn his lesson and tries it again, we will lose our businesses."

Mrs. Wilson closed her eyes and exhaled. "I knew it. I told him to stop his shady work and to go back to school and he didn't listen. Look at him now."

Mr. Wilson pressed his lips into a line. He knew that as soon as he mentions their business, his wife will remember that Tyler is not a son who makes them proud. "Let's take him to the hospital and we will talk later."

"If he is not so badly beaten up, I would smack him.", Mrs. Wilson was unable to hide her irritation.

"Calm down."

"Calm down?", Mrs. Wilson said through her teeth and shoved the note back into her husband's hands. "You are the one always saying to calm down, to give him another chance, that it's a phase and he will come around… and look at your precious son now! A school dropout who makes a living like he is a live tabloid magazine. We reached the point where someone is threatening MY business because he is lazy and stupid, and you are still defending him while telling me to calm down!"

Mrs. Wilson took few deep breaths to adjust her mood.

"You take care of him. I am going to tend to our guests. Don't bring him in the house.", Mrs. Wilson commanded and went to the living room.

Mr. Wilson sighed while looking after his wife.

He knows that she worked hard to reach this point and she is disappointed that Tyler has so many advantages compared to them (when they were in their twenties), and instead of soaring to the skies he is squandering his life.

"Now what…?", Mr. Wilson grumbled while looking at the note and wondering, who did Tyler offend? It must be someone powerful when they dared to bring him home in such a bad condition and to leave this note. Well, he will ask Tyler when he wakes up.

…

In front of Mia's and Hunter's apartment building…

Max paused while checking message on his phone. "Tyler is delivered without problems."

"Q, do you want to come up for dinner?", Hunter offered to Quentin.

Hunter does not like Quentin because he is Max's party-buddy and Quentin and Max got into a lot of troubles together, but now is different. Both of them stopped partying and Quentin is stripped down to Max's friend who will drop whatever he is doing when his friend needs him. Hunter respects that.

Quentin rejected Hunter's offer. "No, thanks. I don't want to watch the two of you with your girls while I drown in dogfood."

"How is your progress with Bri?", Max asked.

"It will take longer than expected.", Quentin said with a forced smile.

Max can see that Quentin is troubled and he found that interesting. Quentin never struggled to get a girl. Well, in the last few weeks a lot of strange things happened, and Max should not tease Quentin because Max's change is probably more drastic than Quentin's.

"Thanks for coming. If you need help…"

"I know…", Quentin interrupted Max. "Don't worry about me. I have my company for tonight." Quentin showed the bottle of 'The Ambassador' (12 year old bourbon) in his hand. Since they left the Liquid Essence bar, Quentin is not letting go of the bottle.

"Go and take care of your girls.", Quentin urged Max and Hunter before walking away. He wondered if he should call a cab or walk. His apartment is not far from here.

…

In Mia's and Hunter's apartment…

"What took you so long?", Liz whined when she hugged Max as soon as he stepped in the apartment.

The last traces of Max's uneasiness disappeared when Elizabeth's body pressed against his.

He wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath, inhaling her scent mixed with wine, before responding with a smile on his face: "Sorry, I had to take care of something. Did you miss me?"

She nodded vigorously while tightening her hold on Max and making him chuckle.

"We are invited us to stay for dinner. Do you want to eat here or go home?", Max asked Liz.

Liz looked up at him and blinked. "I am here for a long time and I want to snuggle with you. Let's go home."

Mia wanted to remind Liz that they ordered food as soon as she got a text from Hunter that guys are on their way. And Liz was right next to her! But after seeing Liz sticking to Max like that, she didn't want to spoil the mood.

Mia reminded Max to take Liz's car keys. She should not be driving after all the wine she drank.

"Food will be here in ten minutes.", Mia told Hunter after Max and Liz left. "I ordered more than usually because I thought they will stay."

Hunter approved. "It will not go to waste, I am hungry. I will shower until the food arrives."

"You took care of Tyler?", Mia guessed the reason behind Hunter and Max being late from work.

"Max did. I was a support. Q was with us also. I will tell you the details during dinner." Hunter pecked Mia's lips before going the bathroom.

Mia watched him go and counted silently: '3… 2… 1…'

"MIA!", Hunter screamed and dashed out while holding onto a knife. "Why are you setting traps for me in the bathroom?"

Mia smiled brightly and nodded in approval. "You caught it. Good."

"This is not a joke!", Hunter fumed while gesturing toward the knife.

Mia agreed. "True. When we go to Portland, the traps will be more elaborate. I will increase the level of difficulty starting tomorrow."

Hunter swallowed hard. "Your family is crazy."

"You said that you will do whatever it takes to be with me. And you need to survive my family's trials which includes traps. The moment we reach Portland, we are officially in my father's territory and you need to stay vigilant. Anyone can target you, and no place is safe.", Mia explained.

Hunter was not sure how to respond to this. So, he didn't. He kept the knife on the table and went back toward the bathroom, this time more cautiously.

Hunter said that he would put his life on the line for Mia, but this… is too stressful. He will spend more time at work going forward.

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