Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Make him happy, and you’ll have nothing to fear from us,” Gabriel said quietly.
“Hurt him,” Justin started with a cold smile, “and I promise there will be nowhere you can run that will be safe from us.”
“You better be playing nice!” Alexei called out from the second floor, his voice echoing up the winding stairs.
“I think it’s more likely that he’s going to grow bored with me. I’m not going to be exciting enough to keep his interest.”
Gabriel shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. “Alexei isn’t looking for excitement.”
Soren wanted to argue that he was wrong, but that was stupid. Gabriel and Alexei were clearly close. Wouldn’t he know best what Alexei wanted in life? No, Soren kept his mouth shut. If he was lucky, Alexei’s uncles would drop a few helpful nuggets while they were in town that would finally give Soren the key he was looking for to unlock Alexei’s heart.
Instead, he threw himself into artfully displaying a mix of cheese, meat, and fruit on a nice charcuterie board. He placed the board on the table as Alexei and Justin huddled over the laptop. He then turned his attention to making a frittata. As he cooked, he listened to Gabriel and Alexei chatting about recent events as well as normal life in the States. Justin would occasionally chime in with a comment, but the man was otherwise occupied with the computer.
“Have you heard from your buyer?” Gabriel asked Soren as he placed plates of food in front of him and Alexei. His tone was incredibly civil and the threat had left his eyes, leaving Soren to believe that Gabriel was going to let him live for now.
“Not since we left Paris. That was…three days ago, I think.” He turned to the island, grabbed his plate and Justin’s, and joined them at the table.
“Have you considered that the buyer for the hard drive and the man who hired Alexei to kill you are one and the same?” Gabriel continued.
“You think?” Alexei demanded when Soren couldn’t speak. “But why?”
Soren dropped heavily in the chair next to Alexei. His lover reached over and placed his hand over Soren’s. Had he been set up from the very beginning?
Gabriel gave an elegant shrug of his slender shoulders, but Justin spoke up.
“The buyer might have been afraid that you’d see something you weren’t supposed to when you snagged the hard drive. Maybe he thought you’d sneak a peek at the contents before handing it over. If there’s a chance that someone might pay a higher price for it, he might have been afraid that you’d double-cross him and auction the damn thing off.”
“I have a solid reputation. I’ve never screwed over a buyer,” Soren snapped.
“No, but thieves, in general, have a reputation for being flighty and unreliable. No offense,” Justin said, not looking sorry at all, though he wasn’t the first person to describe thieves as such, and that probably explained why they didn’t like seeing him with their nephew.
“Assassins, unfortunately,” Gabriel drawled with a heavy sigh, “tend to be a dime a dozen. There are so many of us, though there are few true professionals. We get in, get the target, and walk away. No fuss. No fuckups. No double cross.”
Alexei snorted. “Well, except for that one.”
For once, that dark glare was turned on Alexei, but Soren could see the love and warmth that remained in his eyes. “Dev was a special exception.”
Alexei’s fingers tightened around his. “And so is Soren.”
Gabriel and Justin stared at Soren in silence for several painful heartbeats. It was as if the angel of death had placed his life on the scales, determining whether he truly deserved to die.
“He’s mine,” Alexei snapped, and there was a knifelike sharpness to those two words. He was willing to fight for Soren.
“Yes, he is,” Gabriel agreed. The coolness of his expression melted slightly, and he warmed further when he smiled at Alexei. “No one is going to touch him.”
The dark shadow of death passed, and Soren could finally breathe. He didn’t know what Gabriel saw when he looked at him, but it was apparently enough. This had to be the weirdest stamp of approval he’d ever received. Didn’t matter. As long as he got to keep Alexei, he was happy.
“We have Marilyn checking into Alexei’s contract as well as your contract for the hard drive. We’ll uncover who sent you both on this path.”
Gabriel didn’t have to say it. The sentiment was laid out clearly in his tone. He and Justin were going to make whoever put Alexei on this path pay with his life, and Soren was going to be happy to help.
Chapter 18
Alexei felt only a little guilty about sneaking out of bed early the next morning while Soren was still sleeping. There had been no sex the previous night. As it was, Alexei had needed to do some fast talking to keep Soren in their bed. There were definite drawbacks to having two assassins for uncles.