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“Has nothing to do with it.” He turned in his seat. “So what’s with the long face?”
“Let’s just pick a place and get that drink first, okay?”
They ended up choosing a noisy sports bar at the edge of downtown. Just a few blocks from Shane’s place. They had beers and burgers in hand when Royce got an obstinate look on his face that Quinn recognized. He sighed and ran his finger through the condensation his glass had left on the wood table. “I can’t say anything about the job. I signed a disclosure statement promising to keep the details to myself. All I can say is that I found some information that really needs to get out, and I blew up because Shane refused to expose the person.” He snarled and crumpled a napkin in his fist. “Thing is, he was right.”
“You?” Royce dipped his fry in mustard. “You blew up?”
“I get mad,” Quinn snapped, frowning at Royce’s plate. “That’s disgusting.”
“It’s better than all that sugar in your ketchup.”
Quinn smirked. “This entire meal is full of unhealthy things. What happened to your strict diet?” He’d always found Royce an interesting mix of good and bad. He had secrets and a temper from hell and though he didn’t talk about his past, Quinn had a feeling it was rough. Royce now lived like he was trying to keep everything clean, even his diet. Usually.
Royce shrugged. “I break it occasionally. So let’s take your happy ass back to the subject at hand. You don’t blow up. You go quiet and scurry off to cuddle with your game controllers when you’re upset. There’s no yelling. Not that I’ve ever seen.” He picked up his burger, frowning when several pickles fell out. He shoved them back in but didn’t yet take a bite, his dark eyes on Quinn. “He’s right, you know. Investigators have to go by the rules to keep their license.”
“I know. Fuck.” He slumped back in the booth and watched Royce’s eyes roll in pleasure when he bit into his burger. “I have to apologize to him.”
Royce chewed for long moments, his gaze still probing. He set his burger down and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth. “What made you yell?”
“I never said I yelled.”
“Yeah, you pretty much did. Something you need to get off your chest, Quinn?”
For a moment, he thought about talking about his past, but he couldn’t. And not only because he never had before either. It was still too close to what he’d read about the mayor and whether he was angry or not, Quinn wouldn’t be breaking his confidentiality agreement.
“No, I just want to finish and go find Shane. I’m feeling pretty bad about some things I said. He didn’t deserve them.”
This time, Royce’s smile held a faint trace of sadness. “You’re too good, Lake.”
“No such thing.” Quinn picked up his phone, thought about the right words to apologize. He started to text, then put down his phone. Shane deserved one face-to-face. “How can a person be too good?”
“It’s better to have at least a semblance of a dark side. Helps ready you for the shit this world can throw at you.”
God, Quinn wanted to ask about Royce’s past. It wasn’t the first time. He’d wanted to understand the visible darkness in this man from the first day they’d been introduced. “Well, I obviously have a dark side, or I wouldn’t have blown up at Shane.”
Royce’s laugh surprised Quinn and several people in the booths around them. “Getting mad and yelling is not a dark side. Fuck, how’d you get to this age and stay so innocent?”
Quinn’s eyes flew open wide. “Innocent is the last thing you’d say if you’d seen me last night.” He clapped a hand over his mouth and groaned. “Shit.”
“Awww, did you get laid, squirt?”
The cat was out of the bag now, so he might as well go with it. “More like he did.”
Royce laughed again. “Well, that’s a hell of a lot more than I expected to get out of you.” He signaled the waitress for another beer. “Gonna share any more details?”
Quinn shook his head. “You want details, go find Dominic.”
Royce shuddered. “Nah, he over-the-fuck shares. Were you within hearing distance when he told the story about getting his dick caught in a toy some guy was using on him?”
Grimacing, Quinn shook his head. “No, and that’s all I want to hear about it.” He squirmed in his seat.
“You know, for all his crass hijinks, he’s a good guy.” Royce crumpled up his napkin and smiled at the waitress when she set down another drink.
They talked about work the rest of the meal, and Quinn had a hard time sitting still. He wanted to go find Shane and apologize. After Royce ordered another iced tea, he growled at him, frowning when Royce threw his head back and laughed. “You’re stalling me on purpose.”
