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“It’s pancetta. Besides, your blood pressure.”
Lucas shot Andrei a dark look. “Did you tell him too?”
Andrei just smiled wickedly at him around a mouthful of gnocchi. “Texted.”
“What the—”
“You eat his cooking more than anyone else’s. I had to,” Andrei interrupted, trying to head off the next comment.
“I promise to make you breakfast with bacon next week,” Ian swept in neatly. “I bet Sven can carry me up to your place no problem.” He aimed a pretty smile at the blond bodyguard, who stood behind his chair. “Do you want to sit with Mike over there?” He pointed at a small table a couple over from theirs. “They should be bringing your food shortly.”
Snow couldn’t help but look at Hollis to find a fierce frown in place. If the man liked Ian so much, why was he hesitating? It sure as hell had nothing to do with both Snow and Lucas warning him off because it was obvious nothing would keep Hollis from doing whatever he wanted.
Andrei sighed. “This is fantastic, Ian. Are you going to put it on the menu?”
“Not at first. I don’t want to print up more right now, but I plan to make it a weekly special.”
“Let me know which night.” Andrei winked, then turned to Snow. “Why don’t you come back to the office with me and we’ll see if Gidget has found any information?”
“Good idea. It’s not like I have any place else to go.” Snow stabbed at a mushroom.
“And you will be sharing with your friendly neighborhood police officer, right?” Hollis threw in, smiling broadly at Snow.
“Of course, officer. Anything you say.” Snow sneered and Hollis just rolled his eyes.
“What about your patients?” Ian asked.
“A colleague is taking over for me. But I plan to call in and check on them.” He chewed the mushroom, thinking again that everything he loved about his life was completely screwed up. No home, no job and for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel entirely comfortable at Lucas’s place. He glanced up to find Lucas still eyeing Hollis’s plate like he planned to buy it off him. He only stopped when Andrei handed him a fork, chuckled and patted his hand. “I’ll feed you some bacon later,” he murmured under his breath.
“You’ll feed me something, all right,” Lucas whispered back, but not low enough because everyone heard.
The laughter around the table helped to dispel the tension. But not enough. Snow knew none of them would truly be able to relax until they knew exactly why that psycho had come back to town.Chapter 18The twenty-minute drive north to Ward Security in Reading gave Snow a chance to get a handle on his worries over Ian. The young man had been smiling at Rialto, losing himself in the simple glee of digging around in Snow’s sex life, but there was no missing the shadows lingering in his eyes or the way he’d get lost in thought, his smile wilting like a slowly dying flower. That was Gratton’s doing. Ian was either tumbling into old memories or drowning in new fears while suffering the loss of his friend’s death. The sooner they found Gratton, the sooner Ian would feel safe again and put his past firmly behind him again.
But as Snow slammed shut his car door and turned to face the front of the former warehouse-turned-office for Ward Security, he couldn’t deny the uncomfortable twist of anxiety in his stomach. Lucas had refused to accompany him to this meeting with Andrei, claiming that he had to get back to his office to deal with his own company, which he’d been neglecting the past week. He liked to think that Lucas hadn’t purposefully left him alone with his boyfriend, but well…Lucas was a devious fuck when he wanted to be and it was an uncomfortable fact that Andrei and Snow had never been alone together, not since Andrei had become romantically involved with Lucas. Unsaid words were hanging in the air.
Shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat, Snow ducked his head against the cold breeze wind that stirred as he crossed the small parking lot. Bare limbs of the ornamental pear trees that lined the front of the building rattled and gray clouds were rushing across the blue sky. Typical Cincinnati winter. The sun was never around long.
Warm air wrapped around him as he entered the reception area for Ward Security. It was small but open and airy, with white furniture and cold black marble floors. Melissa had hired the decorator for the main entrance and a couple of the offices where customers would be greeted. Rowe hadn’t given a shit about the appearance, his mind always on the latest security tech and training his people. This was just a nice, thin veneer to settle the minds of the customers with the bulky wallets.
