Lucas sat up straighter, his hand tightening on his glass.
“I lied when I left here.”
“Obviously,” Andrei muttered. “You went to The Dock.” His expression let Snow know the man wasn’t a fan of the place. That, in turn, made him wonder when he might have gone there since he’d only recently moved fully into a gay relationship. He shook his head. Back to the important discussion.
“I found out at The Dock that Jagger’s current house of young love is at the Southgate House.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Andrei breathed, mouth falling open.
Lucas looked at him in surprise.
Andrei merely nodded at his boyfriend. “I’ve heard about those gatherings. You hear a lot in my line of work. Nobody thinks anything about talking about the most private situations in front of a bodyguard. A lot of people look at us like we’re merely pieces of furniture.” He curled one leg under him on the couch. “I heard about these parties where the men look like teens but aren’t actually that young. I’m just really surprised it would be there.”
“You and me both,” Jude muttered.
Lucas watched Snow, then Jude, his mouth in a frown so tight it had to hurt. “Ash.”
Snow rolled his eyes. “I know. You’re pissed. But I found out at The Dock that Jagger’s group was meeting there and someone had actually seen Gratton there.”
“That means he’s back in the fold,” Lucas murmured.
Nodding, Snow moved closer to Jude before he realized he’d done it. He started to sit back up, but Jude wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. He gave in, needing to feel the man’s strength against him tonight. He ignored Lucas’s pointed stare. “Gratton being at Southgate means he’s been let back into Jagger’s world. What I don’t get is why. Jagger was livid over what Gratton had done to—” he stopped, realizing he’d almost blurted Ian’s private business in front of two people who knew nothing about it.
Lucas set his untouched drink on the table next to him. He leaned forward, dark brows drawn together as he looked down at his hands before looking back at Snow. “We are going to have to share some of what happened with Andrei.” He lifted one of those brows. “And since you took Jude with you to Southgate, apparently we need to share with him as well. And what the fuck, Ash? You went there by yourself?”
“He wasn’t alone.” Jude’s tone held a thread of dark warning.
Snow moved out from under Jude’s arm but the other man merely tightened his hold on Snow’s arm, keeping him close. “I know it was dangerous, but I also knew you wouldn’t want to go.”
“Hell yes, I wouldn’t have. Not without a fucking plan.” He stood, tall and visibly angry in every tautly drawn muscle in his body. “And you took a paramedic with you. A paramedic! A bodyguard would have still made the situation risky.”
Andrei looked Jude over critically. “I have a feeling Jude could hold his own.” He smiled at him.
Jude merely tightened his fingers and pulled Snow back to him before he looked up at Lucas. “Maybe you should listen to the man instead of yell at him.”
Silence filled the room as both Snow and Andrei waited for Lucas to lose it. But he didn’t. He only narrowed his eyes and stared at Jude before he nodded thoughtfully and sat back down. He picked up his glass, swirled it around. “Tell me what you learned.”
“We missed Gratton,” Snow answered, still surprised Lucas had reacted to Jude’s note of authority. Or not reacted. He had to work to keep his dick from responding to that short but hot alpha show. “We did, however, find out that there is going to be an auction soon. I have a bank account number. A half million on deposit in the next twenty-four hours will get us all the details. We don’t know for sure Gratton is going to be there, but he’s definitely connected to this.”
Lucas closed his eyes, silent for a long time before he looked at his lover. “Can you be free for this? I know you have a lot of extra work with Rowe gone.”
Andrei nodded. “We’ve got a lot of men in the field and coverage needs to be coordinated. I’ve got someone parked at Ian’s until Sven gets back and a client returning to the area in a few days. Requests for research. But it can all be put on hold. Briefly.”
Lucas aimed his gaze at Jude. “What about you?”
Snow felt Jude’s body jerk with surprise. “I can be free. Though, I don’t know if I want to be. An auction?”
Disgust twisted Lucas’s lips. “Yeah, an auction. Snow and I were never invited to any of those during our brief association with Jagger. We would have made sure such things were shut down and Jagger knew it. But I know how we can get in.”