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“Okay.”
“That’s it? Okay, you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, I’ll do it. I’ve been thinking I need to start looking to get out of the field. I was going to ask if you’d let me do some more training classes, but this works even better.”
“Great!” Rowe tightened his grip on Andrei and pulled him into a quick bear hug before releasing him. “We’ll work out the details during the next week. We, technically, need to run this past Lucas since he’s a major shareholder,” Rowe paused and rolled his eyes, earning a chuckle from Andrei. “But I’ll leave it to you to tell him our plans. I don’t see him being a problem.”
“Nah, probably not.”
“Let’s get downstairs before Snow decides to throw Keegan off the balcony for flirting with Ian,” Rowe muttered.
“Keegan? This the friend you mentioned to me before. Army Ranger, right?”
“Former Ranger, but yeah.” Rowe pulled open the door and started down the hall.
“He could be a useful hire,” Andrei ventured, following him.
“See. Already thinking like a COO.” Rowe was about to say more when boisterous laughter exploded from the first floor, bouncing off the high ceilings.
“Doesn’t sound like Lucas or Snow is having any problems with your friend,” Andrei said, breaking through Rowe’s shock.
Rowe picked up his pace, hurrying down the stairs. He didn’t know why he should have been worried. Keegan was good with people, but then Lucas, Snow and Ian weren’t people. They were family. They were nosy, annoying, obstinate, intrusive, frustrating, and overprotective…and he loved everything about them.
Stopping several feet from the group with Andrei right behind him, Rowe was stunned to find Noah sitting on the couch next to Snow, while Ian was perched on the arm of the sofa closest to Noah and Jude was sitting on the other side of Snow. They were all listening with wide grins as Noah regaled them with the story of the time he and Rowe pulled a prank on the press corps by weakening all the chairs so that they started randomly breaking, sending person after person crashing to the floor during an important press conference.
Mid-sentence, Noah stopped and turned his head to look directly at Rowe as if he’d just sensed that he’d returned to the room. He sent him a quick wink before diving back into the story without missing a beat. Something unexpected fluttered in his chest and Rowe cleared his throat. It had always been like that with them. Like they were in tune on some cosmic level.
Andrei stepped around Rowe, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed and approached Lucas. Rowe watched as Andrei leaned over the back of the chair where Lucas was relaxing and kissed his neck, nuzzling him for a moment. Lucas reached up, threading his fingers through Andrei’s dark hair, holding him close as his eyes slid closed, soaking in the affection. Andrei reached a part of Lucas that they rarely saw. The distant man relaxed and was more easy-going.
“Ian, is the papana?i ready?” Andrei inquired as the laughter died down.
“Oh crap!” Ian jumped to his feet and scrambled back to the kitchen. “I totally forgot. I was so wrapped up in Noah’s story.”
“Here, Ian. I’ll give you a hand.” Noah smoothly rose to his feet and followed Ian.
Rowe looked expectantly at Lucas and then Snow, waiting for one of the two men to growl or bark, but neither blinked an eye at the big man as he strolled into the kitchen. What the fuck? He couldn’t be the one overreacting. That was their job.
Swallowing back a groan, Rowe flopped on the couch in Noah’s spot and tried not to glare at the coffee table in front of him. Everything felt off-kilter and wrong. He had no business getting jealous over his friend and Ian was wonderful. It had to be the strange melding of his past and present. His brain was trying to play catch up. Too much had changed in his life over the past year. That had to be it.
“Noah said he’s staying with you for a little while,” Lucas began, his deep voice pitched low so it wouldn’t carry over the noise in the kitchen.
Rowe grunted, scrubbing one hand through his hair. His friend’s tone pulled his thoughts from more trivial matters.
“Does he know?”
Rowe looked up at Lucas, lifting both eyebrows, pretending ignorance. “Know what?”
“That you’re a magnet for mayhem and chaos,” Snow chimed in.
Andrei snorted. “Rowe has always been that way. I would imagine his friend knows.”
“That someone is hunting you,” Lucas interrupted before Rowe could retort, putting them unerringly back on track.
His heart stopped for a breath. For a short time, he’d managed to forget about the danger stalking them all. He’d laughed and the tight band of pain that always seemed to be present eased around his chest. But there was no avoiding it. Jagger wanted them dead and every moment Noah stayed near him, the higher the risk that he was going to end up dead along with them. He didn’t want to put Noah in danger, but it was too late. Noah wouldn’t back off at this point for anything. “Yeah, he knows.”
