He shook his head. “No. I don’t want to kill her. I just never want to see her again.” The waitress returned with another whiskey, as well as menus that she passed to them. Conall drank this one slower than the last. He took a sip as he opened the menu, then nearly choked on the liquid in his mouth. Eyes widening, he spluttered, “Fuck, this place is expensive!”
Sloan grinned in amusement. “I wouldn’t take you to anything less, pet.”
“I honestly wouldn’t mind a good bar meal. Heard there’s an Irish pub around here somewhere.” Conall focused on the menu, but he continued their conversation. “What about your family?”
Sloan already knew what he wanted to order so didn’t bother picking the menu up. He was a man of habit when it came to food. “There’s only me and Fionn now. Mum died a few years before my dad. She had breast cancer. I had a brother, Fionn’s father. He was shot in the chest when Fionn was only four.”
Conall’s gaze swung toward him, eyes narrowed. “The Italians?”
“No, a Mexican drug lord who wanted to make a business for himself in New York City.” Sloan tightened his hold around his glass. “You make a lot of enemies in this type of business, pet.”
His pet stared at him carefully, the tumbler of whiskey held so tightly in his hand that his fingers were turning white. “Aren’t you worried they’ll get you?”
“If I worry about that, pet, I’d never run this company right.” Sloan smirked. “Why? Are you worried about me?”
Conall grunted. “No. Don’t be stupid.”
Sloan laughed quietly and pointed at the menu Conall had dropped back on the table. “Have you decided what you wanted?”
“Yeah. The Australian salmon. I’ve never had salmon before.”
“It’s delicious. Some of the best fish come from Australia.”
“What are you going to get?” Conall finished off his whiskey. When the waitress came to collect it, he waved his hand at her, signaling he didn’t want more. She took it away anyway.
“I usually get the lobster frittata. It has Sevruga caviar, which makes the dish perfect as far as I’m concerned.” Sloan poured himself another glass of wine and offered the bottle to Conall, but his pet refused with a shake of his head.
“I’m going to pretend that I know what that is, and no, I don’t really care. If it tastes nice, I don’t care if it costs me ten bucks.” He shrugged. “There’s a bar down the street from the Virtue that has the best chicken parmigiana I’ve ever had.”
“Really? So this isn’t impressing you?” Sloan gestured around the beautifully decorated patio. Someone had finally put on some gentle love songs, too.
“I don’t care for the expensive food.” He smirked. “But I kind of love your cars.”
Sloan’s brows rose and his lips curved in a half grin. “I said you could drive them, didn’t I?”
“When?”
The eagerness in his pet’s eyes made excitement race through Sloan. His other pets had been interested in his pride and joys, and the more he got to know Conall, the more he realized he’d found his perfect boy.
“Tomorrow,” Sloan promised. “Now let’s get some food.”
Conall accepted it with a nod. They ordered—Conall with his salmon and Sloan his lobster frittata—and the waiters and waitress left the area, leaving them alone. Even though Sloan’s soldiers stood guard outside, within hearing distance in case something went wrong, they finally had the peace and quiet Sloan wanted from the beginning. He reached across the table and entwined their fingers. Bringing Conall’s hand to his mouth, he laid a tender kiss on it.
“I meant what I said before, pet. Anything you want, anything you desire, it’s yours. Tell me.”
Conall stared at their hands, his blue gaze almost thoughtful, before it shifted to Sloan’s face. “Anything?”
“Anything.”
“I want to know about Taylor. You told me about the others, but you didn’t talk about him.” Conall’s fingers tightened in Sloan’s. “Did you love him?”
“Love is such a nonsense word.” Sloan sighed. “People say they love each other all the time, but when it comes time to show it, they run like the cowards they are. Love is a word and nothing more, pet.”
“For someone who doesn’t believe in love, you try to be sickeningly romantic.” Conall gestured around them with the hand Sloan didn’t have hold of. “The music, the location. I don’t know why you’re trying so hard, you’ve already fucked me.”
“The only thing that’s hard is me, pet. Otherwise, this is me enjoying fine dining while I spoil someone I care about,” Sloan snapped, harsher than he’d meant to.
Conall’s dark eyebrows rose in surprise. “I’m notPatience. I don’t need to be spoiled, that’s all I’m saying. It doesn’t matter anyway. I just wanted to know if Taylor was any different from the others.”
