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“This place specializes in young-looking rent boys,” Snow explained, picking up his pace again. Luckily, the rain had stopped, but the winter wind cut across the Ohio River, picking up just enough moisture to slice through his clothes. He should have grabbed his winter coat from his car, but he didn’t want to check it and then be forced to leave it behind if they had to make a hasty exit.
“How young looking?”
“Under age.”
“Shit,” Jude whispered as they stopped at a corner, waiting for the light to change so they could cross.
Snow roughly grabbed Jude’s elbow and pulled him away from a small group also waiting at the corner. Bending his head down so that he could whisper directly in Jude’s ear, Snow forced his thoughts away from the soft caress of Jude’s hair against his cheek. “I need to know now if you can fake your way through this.”
“Fake it how far?”
“Be friendly. Smile. Nod. Look and admire. Nothing beyond that. You don’t have to touch.”
“But—”
“And that look of disgust on your face can’t come out. Not once.”
“Got it,” Jude snapped, his expression hardening.
“Do you?” Snow’s hand tightened on Jude’s elbow as his own fears started to ride him. “They figure out we’re not supposed to be there, we don’t get shown the door and the cops aren’t called. We get taken to a secret room in the cellar and someone puts a bullet in our skulls before our bodies are dropped in the Licking River.” Snow paused, staring into Jude wide eyes. “You still in?”
“I’m in,” Jude said within a second of hesitation. “Now can we go? I didn’t get nearly enough time to warm up and I’m freezing my balls off out here.”
Snow wanted to kiss him. As the urge hit him, his gaze dropped down to Jude’s lips and he remembered the hot rush he felt when Jude had pinned him against his car and kissed him absolutely senseless. A sharp tingling surged through his body that had nothing to do with the biting cold. He watched as Jude’s full lips curved into a smug smile as if he knew exactly what Snow was thinking about. Jude moved forward, tilting his face up to kiss Snow, snapping him out of his fantasy. Snow jerked away and scowled. No kissing. This was just business. This was Jude helping him out of a bad spot. Kissing led to Snow doing stupid things and right now his focus needed to be on the stupid thing he was rushing into at Southgate House.
“Let’s go,” he grumbled, leading the way across the street with the rest of the Newport revelers. Jude’s low chuckle followed him, but Snow didn’t look back. Let him laugh. Snow deserved it. He’d proven more than once he was an idiot where Jude was concerned.
Southgate House rose up on a hill to their left with wide concrete stairs leading the front door of the old, three-story red brick home. The wrap-around porch was a great place for drinking a beer in the waning heat of a summer day after a concert. Snow could easily imagine Jude leaning back against one of the brick pillars while chatting with some friends. But those summer daydreams were a distant thought in the winter wind that snapped at his exposed flesh. And the looming building too closely resembled something out of a horror movie tonight. Its tall windows on the third floor stretched open bright and yellow with fear while its door was nothing more than a gaping maw trying to swallow them whole. It was no surprise there were rumors the place was haunted.
A young man with blond hair that looked as soft and light as a dove’s feathers greeted them with an eager smile and calculating blue eyes as they stepped past the vestibule. Their footsteps were muffled on the worn Persian rugs covering the hardwood floors that creaked softly under their weight. The lights were dimmed and shadows thickened in all the corners and crevices of the hall ornately decorated with old pictures and heavy, dark woods. Gone were the concert posters and neon beer lights. An air of exclusivity and secrecy cloaked the Southgate House tonight.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” the young man said, his voice barely over a whisper. “How can I—”
Snow grabbed the hand the blond had been motioning with in both of his, pressing several hundred dollar bills into his palm, while at the same time hiding the action with his body from the watchful eyes of the guards lurking in the shadows just a few steps away. Lowering his head, he purposefully brushed his lips against the edge of the man’s ear and smiled when he shivered. “My friend just got in from Madrid and I promised him a very good time tonight. What can you do for us?”
