Lucas squeezed his eyes shut. “I am so royally bad at relationships. I mean epically. Worse than Snow even.” He cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded hoarse. “But you’d rather risk your life than stick around to see how monumentally I could fuck us up.” When Lucas opened his eyes, Andrei was drowning in a sea of moss green.
“I would still love to see how you can fuck this up, but I need you safe first.”
“Andrei…”
“Listen to your analytical side. You know this is the best way to get at the bastard. It saves you and Thomas and anyone else he might be threatening.”
“I can’t. You’ve fucked everything up. I can’t think any more.”
A ripple of warmth swept through Andrei and he had to fight the urge to kiss Lucas right there. But he didn’t. Lucas was at the edge, nearly ready to give in. He had to keep pressing. It was what was best. What was right.
“I get in. Get the info. Get out. Nothing more.”
“And if they discover the truth?”
“They won’t.”
“How long?”
Andrei hesitated, so very tempted to lie, but he couldn’t. “A few weeks at least.”
“How many fights?”
“I don’t know. As few as possible. Just enough to make it look like I’m genuinely desperate and pissed.”
“And when you get back…”
“You can fuck me until I can’t walk,” Andrei promised with a half grin.
Lucas nodded, one hand sliding through his hair. He gently stroked the soft curls, his eyes moving over Andrei’s face. “Say it again,” he commanded, his voice low and rough. “About the monkey and the bicycle.”
Andrei smiled and repeated the same bit of nonsense Romanian he’d said the night before, but his tone was low and soft like a caress or a promise. Lucas didn’t smile as he’d hoped. Tipping his chin down, he kissed Lucas slowly, tasting him. This time it wasn’t about building the fire that seemed ready to flare between them at all times. It was reassurance. It was a promise that this wouldn’t be their last kiss.
When Lucas pulled away, he cupped Andrei’s cheek. The look in Lucas’s eyes stole his breath. Something had hardened in the man in those last seconds, stopping Andrei’s heart in his chest.
“Be safe. Come back to me.”
Because if you don’t, the world will burn.
The words hung unspoken in the air. The man who was willing to negotiate, threaten, and even plead to get what he wanted was gone. Lucas would step away and let Andrei take this risk. But if he failed, if he was hurt or killed, Lucas Vallois would rain fire on this city and no one would be safe.Chapter 16With his arm against the window, Lucas leaned his forehead on his wrist. The glass was cool to the touch as the brisk wind buffeted the building. The local weathermen were speculating that the city could see its first dusting of snow by Halloween. It was a sad thought considering the trees were still green on the hills surrounding Cincinnati.
But Lucas didn’t feel the cold or see the shivering trees thick with leaves. The world was little more than a garish blur of noise and faded colors. Life had been squeezed down to work, sparring with Rowe until his body was aching and trembling from exhaustion, and the occasional update on Andrei’s status. So far, Rowe’s hacker had turned up nothing and Lucas’s own discreet inquiries into who was buying up land around Cincinnati had not resulted in any new players or even useful information.
Two weeks. It had been two fucking weeks since that afternoon in Rowe’s office. Nothing happened for the first week. Andrei contacted his associates in the fights and Lucas returned to his normal routine with a new bodyguard hounding his steps. Lucas never spoke to him. Never looked at him.
One week ago, Andrei had his first fight and Lucas lost himself in a bottle of bourbon to get through the night. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was the long scar along Andrei’s knee from where he’d had ACL surgery. The injury would slow him down, make him just a little less mobile, make that knee just a little weaker. All Lucas could wonder was if that knee injury would be what made Andrei lose.
It was dawn when Rowe appeared to tell him Andrei had suffered only some minor injuries and had come through his first three fights victorious. But there would be more. The fights would keep coming until Andrei’s body finally gave out or the bastard hunting Lucas offered Andrei a job.
Heavy footsteps thudded down the hall, approaching his study. Lucas turned back to the desk and picked up the 9mm sitting on a stack of papers. His finger rested on the safety and he drew in a slow breath, waiting. He started to lift the gun until Rowe stepped into the open doorway. Flipping the safety back on, Lucas wordlessly returned the gun to the papers and stayed behind the desk.