Lucas waited. He didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t think of anything that could possibly happen that would drive him to purposefully hurt Andrei.
“Always treat him with respect,” Milos said. Lucas looked back at the man who seemed to straighten a little and nod as if he liked what he’d come up with. “Yes, that’s what I ask as his father. Always treat him with respect.”
Lucas nodded solemnly. “I will. I promise.”
“Milos! You old son of a bitch!” Rowe exclaimed as he came into the room, a beer in one hand. “I’ll say it again. It’s good to see you! Where the hell have you been hiding yourself?”
Milos winked at Lucas before he walked over to Rowe and clasped the other man in a hug, thumping him twice, hard on the back. Lucas barely kept from rolling his eyes and wished again for a drink. Of course, Rowe knew Milos. And of course Rowe was far closer and more at ease with the man than Lucas would ever be on his best day.
“Hiding down in the hills of Kentucky,” Milos said as he stepped back and sank into the sofa. “When are you coming down? We’ve still got a month of deer hunting season.”
Rowe snorted, dropping onto the couch next to him. “I don’t know who you’re fooling. That ended two weeks ago.”
“Just for guns. Crossbows and archery are still open.”
“If you want to see a true marksman in action, drag Lucas up your mountain.”
Lucas paused in the act of sitting in one of the chairs positioned opposite the sofa and glared at Rowe. Yes, he was talented with a gun—not as sharp as Rowe of course—but he had no desire to go hunting Bambi’s mother, even in the name of bonding with Milos. He didn’t hunt animals. Hell, it had been years since he’d last been tromping through the woods. Was that Andrei’s idea of vacation? Fuck, maybe lounging on the beach on some secluded tropical island wasn’t a good idea.
“You hunt?” Milos asked as Lucas settled in the chair. There was no hiding the man’s skepticism, not that Lucas could blame him. So far, Milos had only seen him dressed in a designer suit and driving a Mercedes. He probably thought Lucas couldn’t survive in the wild.
“No, I don’t.” When Milos continued to look confused, Lucas glared again at Rowe who was just grinning at him. “I served in the Army with Rowe many years ago. I’ve kept up some of my skills over the years, but I’ve never cared for hunting. How long have you known Rowe?” he quickly asked, changing the subject.
“A couple years now.” Milos scratched his chin as he stared at Rowe, looking as if his mind was digging back for the actual memory. “Rowe called us when Andrei was shot the first time while on a job. His mother and I came up to be with Andrei. Rowe met us.”
Lucas straightened instantly at the mention of Andrei being shot, even if it had been a long time before they met. His heart sped up and his hands tightened on the arms of the chair. “Exactly how many times has Andrei been shot while working with you?”
Rowe flinched. “Just a couple…”
“Rowe,” Lucas growled in warning, no longer caring what Andrei’s father might think.
“Really. Just a few times and that first time he was just grazed.”
“Then why did his parents need to sit with him?”
Milos chuckled, dragging Lucas’s dark glare from Rowe. “Andrei twisted his bad knee at the same time,” Milos explained, patting his own knee. “Andrei had to go back in for several weeks of physical therapy. Sonja stayed up here with him for a couple of weeks to help and I came up on weekends.”
Rowe cackled, pulling Lucas’s eyes back to him. The former Army Ranger lounged on the couch, his beer dangling from his fingers. “See what we’ve had to put up with?” He rolled his head over to Milos, grinning. “He’s been like this for as long as I’ve known him. He barked orders at us before he was even made squad leader.”
“A good man to have at your back.”
“Great!” Rowe paused to take a big swig of his beer before setting it on the table. “Except when we wanted to get up to trouble.”
Milos laughed and even Lucas felt a reluctant smile drawing the corners of his mouth up. “Someone had to keep you and Snow out of trouble.”
“Well…” Rowe slowly drawled.
Lucas cursed under his breath. The man wouldn’t dare to bring up that one time…
“There was that one time in Germany. We’d just gotten back from a mission in Serbia. It was just supposed to be a quick escort duty, but all hell broke loose.”
Lucas closed his eyes against the memories that flashed through his brain. Stupid fucking mission. Bad information all around. Everyone had come back alive from it, but Snow had come close to biting it. Rowe had come close to snapping altogether. They’d all stood on the edge of the abyss on that mission, and somehow they’d come out alive.