They both knew who was standing on the other side, and Liam had never felt so reluctant to see him.
“I’ll get the door. You get the whiskey.” Liam sighed and left the kitchen, heading for the door. “It’s already gonna look weird with you here.”
Seth snorted, but if he said anything, Liam didn’t hear him as he opened the door to find his little brother, Sven, and his new husband, Geoffrey, on the other side. Not that there was one thing little about Sven. The hulking blond was just as tall and broad as Liam. Though he might have more muscles, Liam chalked that up to his line of work.
“Liam,” Sven said before pulling his brother in for a quick hug. He looked tanned and blissfully relaxed from his honeymoon. Still glowing.
Sven stepped into the apartment, allowing Geoffrey to step forward and hug Liam. Something warm pushed against the growing nerves, allowing Liam to bask in his happiness for his brother. Geoffrey had changed Sven in unexpected and subtle ways. He was definitely less grumpy and quicker to smile. He was also more outwardly affectionate. Sven had never been a hugger, but Geoffrey seemed to bring that out of him.
“Good honeymoon?” Liam asked as he shut the door behind Geoffrey.
“Oh, my God! The best! The beach was gorgeous, and I even got Sven to go skinny-dipping in the ocean.”
“You did not,” Liam said with a chuckle. He couldn’t imagine his brother doing that. Of course, Geoffrey could probably talk him into anything.
“He did! We both did. Of course, we got in trouble when we got caught, but I managed to talk us out of an arrest.”
Liam’s mouth dropped open. “How did you do that?”
Sven laughed. “He started talking and wouldn’t shut up until the cop threw up his hands in defeat. He gave us a warning and let us go.”
Geoffrey shrugged. “The house we had on the beach had a private backyard pool, so we took the nakedness there. And then we stayed naked for days.”
“I don’t need to hear this part,” Liam said with a shake of his head. Geoffrey had zero filter, which could be both entertaining and frightening.
But Liam’s good mood died when he noticed that Sven had spotted Seth standing in the kitchen. The bottle of whiskey was on the counter along with four glasses.
“Seth!” Geoffrey yelped as he moved around Liam to stand beside his husband. “What are you doing here?”
Seth’s eyes darted to Liam, and a light blush started to stain his cheeks. Of course, Geoffrey immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. Well, not totally wrong, but not the real reason for Seth’s appearance.
“Holy shit! Are you guys dating?” Geoffrey crowed. “I saw you both talking at the wedding reception and just knew something was going on.”
Seth made a scoffing noise in his throat. “Geoffrey, you were floating so high on wedding bliss, I doubt you noticed anything that night besides Sven.”
“I saw you,” Geoffrey said in a singsong voice. “Ward Dating Service strikes again!”
“Liam?” Sven’s voice was soft and gentle. Liam met his gaze and saw only questions.
“We’re not dating,” Liam mumbled. Oh, they were doing a lot of other things. Some truly wonderful things in bed, but not dating.
“You know I wouldn’t have a problem with you dating one of my coworkers,” Sven continued. “He’s a great guy. A little young. Younger than even me.”
There was a reminder Liam desperately needed in his life.
Liam groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. There was a choking noise that sounded as if it came from Seth, but he couldn’t look at the man. His life had taken a strange right turn, and he just couldn’t find his way to the correct path no matter how hard he tried.
“No, Seth and I aren’t dating. He’s here…for another reason,” Liam said evenly. When he lowered his hand from his face, he motioned toward the couch. “We should probably sit down.”
Sven’s and Geoffrey’s expressions turned grim at the same time, the laughter sucked out of the room in an instant. As they moved to the living room, Liam looked over at Seth.
“You want me to step outside for a little while?” Seth inquired with a jerk of his chin toward the sliding glass door that led to the patio.
“No. You can stay. You might be able to help answer any questions.” Liam really wanted him to sit next to him and hold his hand, but that would just destroy all his earlier comments about how they weren’t dating.
Liam dragged in a deep breath and joined his guests, sitting on the one chair opposite the couch.
“Liam, what’s going on? Are you in trouble?” Sven asked in a low voice.
“Yes, I am.” With his eyes locked on his hands, he launched into a detailed explanation of what had happened over the past couple of weeks, from the first attack at the shop to his visit with Rowe to Seth’s fight to Gerald’s death in Vegas.