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“You never did say what your favorite food is,” Ian whispered.
A smirk pulled up one side of Hollis’s kiss-swollen lips. “Did that on purpose, GQ. I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“Sure, I will.”
“Casseroles. I was raised on every possible casserole combination you could imagine and the cheesier the better.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Ian could not stop his frown of dismay.
Hollis laughed and cupped his cheeks. “So. Fucking. Cute. Kiss me again.”
“No man likes to be called cute.”
“But you are. Cute and sexy. You blow my mind.” Hollis narrowed his eyes. “Kiss me again,” he repeated.
“You know what you said about chocolate?” Ian asked, standing on his toes again. “I feel that way about kissing.”
“Thank fuck,” Hollis breathed as he swooped in for more.Chapter 6Lucas turned the deadbolt, locked it, and dropped his forehead against the door with a hollow thud. The damn bodyguard wandered off in the direction of the kitchen, his shoes making only a soft noise across the floor as he likely went in search of Andrei who’d moved to the penthouse earlier in the day to give one of the bodyguards a break.
Closing his eyes, he released the heavy sigh he’d been holding in most of the day. He was home. Well, he’d been home for more than twenty-four hours, but after the bomb that Ian and Hollis had dropped into their laps, the ensuing fucking chaos, and then trudging into the office to catch up on the mountain of mundane tasks of running a multi-billion-dollar company, Lucas hadn’t been able to find a quiet moment to think. Not that it mattered. In all of those twenty-four hours, Andrei had been anywhere but in front of him.
Andrei had been staying at the Ward Security office, directing their operations and planning from there. Lucas had grabbed two bodyguards and quickly ventured into his own office downtown to test if he had someone tailing him and to try to get a little work done.
Of course, since returning to Cincinnati, they’d not had a single moment together. No time to apologize. No time to beg for forgiveness or try to explain. Lucas had hoped that they could steal a few private moments alone but at this point, he didn’t care how much of an audience they had when Lucas finally had a chance to apologize.
The gaping hole in his chest created by Andrei’s continued absence was worse than when Lucas had been traveling because then he was able to tell himself that Andrei was still in the penthouse, waiting. When Lucas could finally look himself in the mirror, face what he’d done, and the lives he’d destroyed, he returned home to confront Andrei. He just had to figure out the right words to say.
Andrei was there now, somewhere in the penthouse. Lucas had spotted his car in the guest spot as he pulled in. But even knowing that his lover was somewhere close by, Lucas still struggled to push away from the door. He was terrified. What if he couldn’t fix this? What if Andrei walked away from what they had because he couldn’t forgive him for killing Green? For killing Mel…
He could still fix this.
Shoving away from the door with shaking hands, Lucas turned and walked past the kitchen then jerked to a halt when Snow’s head lifted above the back of the sofa, his hair mussed. From the angle, Lucas was willing to guess that Snow was not on the sofa alone, but rather lying on top of Jude.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that he couldn’t have a moment alone with Andrei because the man refused to be in the same room with him, but they also had bodyguards underfoot and the couple who was now using his penthouse as a honeymoon getaway. Of course, that meant Snow was no longer bitching about Lucas using himself as bait, but only because Jude was keeping the surgeon’s attention otherwise occupied.
“At least tell me that you’re dressed,” Lucas grumbled.
Snow looked down. “Well…mostly.”
Lucas heard Jude’s muffled voice, but couldn’t make out the words, a second before Snow’s head disappeared followed by a loud thud as Jude likely pushed Snow to the floor. Jude’s head popped up next, his thick hair sticking out in every direction as he flashed Lucas a quick smile. “We’re dressed. Where’s Sven and Dominic?”
Shrugging out of his coat, he laid it and his briefcase on the kitchen island. Snow stood, straightening his clothes and running a hand through his hair, a few seconds before Jude stood and did the same. Both men had swollen lips and flushed faces. It was like catching a pair of fucking teenagers making out while the parents were away. And Lucas was jealous. He wanted to get back to that point with Andrei…if that was even still possible at all.
“Dominic went up to check in with Andrei and then he’s off duty for the night,” Lucas said. “Sven is in the garage, checking over the cars again.”
