“Which one?”
“Ivan.”
“What about him? Wait, I think I know what this might be. Tariq had feelings for my brother, right? I know Tariq’s gay, but… is that it?”
“Do you really want me to tell you?”
Adam shrugged. “Homosexuality isn’t illegal. I know they’ve been close friends since childhood, but I never would’ve thought…” He cringed. “So is Tariq saying Ivan was gay?”
“Sort of. But there’s more to it than that. Much more.”
“You wanna tell me?”
“I’m not sure. It might not even be true. But…”
Amy trailed off and rubbed her forehead with her fingers.
Adam reached out and drew her into his arms. “Don’t say anymore. I hate to see you in such an awkward position. Well…”
His eyes flitted with playfulness, unable to resist a sexual innuendo even in this serious situation. Amy laughed gently – it was refreshing to know that he could retain his light side regardless.
“I just don’t want to hurt you,” she said. “To sully your memories of your brother.”
“I know; and you couldn’t – nothing could. Look, don’t say anything else for now – you can tell me once I’ve got my head around all this, alright?”
“Alright. But what are we going to do, though? Tariq wants an answer from me before I leave America.”
“Let me and Dylan handle it. We’ll make sure Tariq doesn’t leak this to the media or use you or get his hands on the blueprints. Let’s go see Dylan right-away. We can figure something out together.”
Amy leaned forward and kissed him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She realised that Adam might be brash at times, but he was steadfast in a crisis and would always have her back.
“Adam, you know what you said…”
“About what?”
“Not wanting me to go back to London?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t want to either.”
He cupped her chin. “Then stay. Stay with me. I’ll take care of you.”
“I really believe you would. But, still… after everything that’s happened with Tariq… I just want to go home.”
“But you want to be with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll come with you. I like London. You can show me where you live.”
“Okay, I’d like that.” Amy winced as a memory churned up in her mind. “Oh, but James will be there.”
Adam’s expression surged to possessive anger. “Who the hell is James?”
Amy chuckled at his reaction. “My ex. He’s the IT manager for Grafton Techs. Wanted to be the ops director, but I got the promotion. He repaid me by fucking his assistant. Nice, huh?”
“Sounds like an asshole.”