“He might not be my type,” drawled a teasing voice that had Lucas smirking. He turned to his right to find Geoffrey standing beside him, his hands propped on his slender hips as he watched Andrei walking toward them. He waggled his eyebrows at Lucas. “But he is sexy as hell,” Geoffrey conceded.
“And he is taken,” Lucas said firmly.
Geoffrey snorted and turned to face Lucas. He was dressed in a tuxedo like the rest of the men at the function, but something about the way the cut hugged his lean form made him still look like he was on the prowl at a nightclub rather than a high-society function. He’d first encountered Geoffrey more than a year ago at Gaile when he’d been drunk and crawling all over Snow. He’d later been kind enough to help them out when it came to sneaking into one of Jagger’s auctions.
“The rest of the world never had a shot at Andrei from the moment he first looked at you,” Geoffrey scoffed.
“That is so very true,” Andrei agreed as he slid one arm behind Lucas and grasped his side, pulling him close. Andrei’s cologne wafted around Lucas, drawing him in until he found himself tipping his face up. Andrei didn’t hesitate to kiss him gently, nipping his bottom lip as he pulled away—a promise of more to come when they were finally alone. Lucas never thought he’d reach this point in his life. With all the women he’d dated, he’d never engaged in public displays of affection, preferring to always present a professional, reserved demeanor. With Andrei, he just didn’t care what the world thought. He needed Andrei to know he was everything.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Geoffrey,” Andrei said, turning back to their companion. “Didn’t think this was your sort of thing.”
Geoffrey gave a casual shrug. “Well, you guys are always entertaining. After the shooting at Gaile, the party crashing at Music Hall, and then the fire at The Warehouse, I thought I’d pop in to see what you’re planning for an encore.”
“Nothing,” Lucas quickly said, while inwardly flinching. Had Geoffrey really been present for all those catastrophes over the past year? It was a wonder the man was willing to remain in the same zip code as any of them. Of course, he’d been pretty damn enamored of Snow at one time.
“Really?” Geoffrey sounded as if he were fighting back a laugh. “With Boris Jagger still on the loose? You’re going to tell me that you don’t have some other little plan in motion right now?”
Andrei swore in Romanian beside him and looked over his shoulder, checking to make sure no one else was close enough to hear Geoffrey’s comment.
“If you’re so sure something is going to happen, why are you here?” Lucas growled.
“Two reasons actually.” Geoffrey rubbed his clean-shaven jaw, looking at Lucas out of the corner of his eye. For the first time, the playful, smirk was gone and he looked serious. “That night…at Music Hall…you guys let me help you do something really good, and while I might have been scared out of my mind, it was nice to know that I helped with that. I wanted to be here to offer to help again.” Geoffrey looked away, a blush darkening his cheeks as he cleared his throat. “I know I’m not as impressive as him, but I can be of use.” He waved one hand randomly across the room, and Lucas turned to see that Geoffrey had motioned toward Sven rather than his usual obsession, Snow.
“I’ve seen your skills in the self-defense classes. You’re welcome here,” Andrei said, earning a new wry grin from Geoffrey.
Lucas took a small step closer to Geoffrey and lowered his voice. “You know Rowe’s men on sight?”
“Mmm…definitely.”
Lucas fought to roll his eyes. Geoffrey couldn’t remain serious for long. “If you see anything suspicious, find one of them and report it. We’re all listening.” He tapped his right ear, indicating the earpiece hidden there.
“Gotcha, big man,” he said with a salute and a wink that made Andrei chuckle.
“What’s the other reason?” Andrei suddenly asked when it looked like Geoffrey was going to drift back into the crowd.
“Oh, yeah.” Geoffrey reached inside his jacket and pulled a white envelope out of the interior pocket. He handed it over to Lucas with a hesitant look. “For your fundraiser.”
“Really?” Lucas took it and peeked into the envelope to see a check made out for a quarter of a million dollars.
Geoffrey shrugged again, but his carefree vibe felt forced. “My parents died not long ago, but it was after I’d made my money, which allowed me to get custody of my little brother Finn. In a way, we were lucky and I know that there are a lot of kids out there who aren’t so lucky.” He gave a sudden full-body shudder as if shaking off the serious mood. “No big deal, though.”