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“Sorry,” he mumbled before sitting up.
Noah smiled at him. “Nothing to be sorry about.”
They both climbed out of the truck and silently closed the doors. Rowe kept his gun in his hand as they hurried across the open lot, his eyes sweeping back and forth for hidden assailants. He had no clue as to who they were up against. Nothing moved.
In the distance, he could hear the steady whoosh of traffic as it rushed down the expressway. The crickets were noisy and there was a faint dance of lightning bugs in what looked to be a thin band of trees and bushes toward the rear of the lot. If he remembered the area correctly, the other side of those trees opened onto a residential street. The afternoon heat had completely dissipated, and there was a chill that had Rowe wishing he’d grabbed a jacket.
They climbed the exterior concrete steps, taking them two at a time. The white paint was chipped and peeling. Trash and leaves littered the stairs. It was definitely not the type of place you came to if you had a choice. And Rowe was willing to guess that this JB had been looking for a place where he could simply disappear. Just pay a wad of cash and not sign any paperwork. Maybe even give the front desk clerk a little bonus to forget his face.
He could so easily see the sneer on Lucas’s face if he were walking around there. The man had become a pampered princess who needed his high-thread-count sheets and room service at all times. Not that Vallois hadn’t stayed in places just like this when he’d sneaked away for his secret hookups before he found Andrei. Or before he made his first million. They’d all stayed in places like this during their darker days.
Not a sound was made as they walked down the narrow path. At the room JB had indicated, they found the hotel lock flipped out, holding the door partially open. Noah pressed his shoulder to the wall and reached back with his right hand, wrapping his fingers around the grip of the gun. He looked at Rowe, who nodded, his gun already raised and ready.
Rowe’s heart pounded a fast, steady rhythm in his chest as Noah reached out with his left hand and knocked loudly on the door a couple of times. “JB? It’s Noah,” he called out.
There was soft sound inside the room. Movement of some kind. “Yes! Noah! Come in!”
With one last nod, Noah pushed the door open and stepped inside the brightly lit room. Rowe followed on his heels a second later. His gaze flew over the room, taking in the empty double beds with ugly floral-patterned comforters, the bland beige walls, heavy burgundy curtains pulled over the one window, and the even uglier green carpet.
The gun snapped up at the man who rushed across the room toward Noah, his arms open and his hands empty. That was the only thing that kept Rowe from putting one in the asshole’s shoulder.
And then the guy was hugging Noah tightly as if his life depended on it. Rowe was pretty sure the man hadn’t even noticed that Rowe was standing there, pointing a gun in his direction. He definitely didn’t notice Rowe when he pulled back and kissed Noah hard on the lips.
Hell. Fucking. No.Chapter FourNoah froze. He’d hugged JB back out of habit, but when the man kissed him, he fucking froze. He could feel his lips soften and there was some part of him that wanted to kiss him back, but again, out of habit. But there was a much louder voice screaming in his head to pull away, this was wrong. So damn wrong.
Chaos exploded in the room. “What the fuck?” Rowe snarled.
Noah could only think that Rowe was armed—this was not going to end well.
JB reacted before Noah could. His Army friend grabbed the back of Noah’s shirt tightly and slung him roughly behind his slightly smaller frame while pulling a gun that had been hidden somewhere on his person. He pointed the barrel directly at Rowe’s face, and Noah swore that his heart stopped.
“Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?” JB shouted. With a flick of his thumb, the safety was off.
When Noah saw Rowe do the same, he found his voice again.
“Wait! He’s with me! He’s with me,” he spit out.
Tension still tightened JB’s shoulders and the hard fist holding the gun. He didn’t lower the weapon, but he at least moved his finger out to the trigger guard.
“I told you to come alone.”
“Not a fucking chance, kid,” Rowe snarled. His boyfriend looked like he was still deciding whether to shoot him, and Noah had a feeling a lot of it had to do with the kiss. Rowe was incredibly possessive and territorial with what and who he considered his. Most of the time Noah found it to be an incredible turn-on. At that moment, he was more concerned with Rowe overreacting and shooting JB before they could find out what was going on.
