Page 21 of Soul of Discretion

“Thank you. I love you and Ben like family, but I don’t believe there’ll be a happy ending in this case. Besides it was only a couple of hook-ups.” He would have to keep that in mind as well. “Now I’m done for the night. See you in the morning.”

Nick grabbed his jacket, kissed Steph on her forehead, and headed for his old truck in the back parking lot. It took him almost an hour to get to the house his Aunt Rose had left him in Bloor West Village. After all these years he still didn’t consider the house his home. He pulled in front of the two-story brick building that had been built in the early 60s. To look at it, you would never guess it was worth over one million dollars. It all came down to location, location, location.

He’d been approached numerous times from people wishing to buy it, but he wasn’t ready to let go of the last remaining memory of his aunt, even though the taxes were killing him. The front door squeaked as he opened it, like it’d done the last day Rose left her home ten years ago. The paint was old and the wallpaper peeling. Most of the rooms were empty other than the kitchen and the one bedroom he’d chosen as his own. He quickly changed out of his uniform and into jeans and a T-shirt.

Before he realised it, Nick sorted his clothing out on the bed to decide what to take with him to Suite 1002. Whoa, what the hell am I doing? It felt as if his body moved on autopilot, already having decided to go to Simon. Could he risk it? He walked away from his clothing and into the kitchen. After being gone for a few days, Nick shouldn’t have been surprised there wasn’t anything to eat.

With a loud huff, Nick leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. Now what? He knew damn well where he wanted to be but would that jeopardize the case? He doubted it. It had become clear that having access to Breakforce’s accounts and information would be needed to get to the bottom of this. Working together would be the only way. But nothing about that involved sleeping with Simon. That was all on Nick.

He could see into his bedroom from where he stood and he stared at his clothing. Simon hadn’t contacted him again since he dropped him off at the hospital, apparently leaving Nick alone to make his choice. It was after 11:00 p.m.

Hell, we’re on the same side. Why not? The case won’t last forever considering all the information we already have from our previous investigation. Simon will be off to England to continue his life as an earl, and then my life can get back to normal.

“Fine,” Nick said before storming back into his bedroom and packing.

Due to the light traffic, it took him only forty-five minutes to make it to the Hilton. He walked in with his bags, collected his suite key, and went up to his room. Nick didn’t know what to expect when he opened the door but the space turned out to be as lavish as Simon’s. The separate bedroom, kitchen, and couch areas were large.

Out of curiosity, he went to the apartment-size fridge and opened it. It was stocked with snacks, sandwich fixings, water, pop, and his favourite beer, Canadian. The cupboards were much of the same, and he didn’t miss the fact Simon’s favourite biscuits, McVities, were stocked as well. He shouldn’t have been shocked; this was Simon after all.

Nick put away his clothing and hung up his uniforms. The room had great views of downtown Toronto so he grabbed a beer and sat staring at it. He wasn’t sure if he should knock on Simon’s door or wait. Perhaps Simon didn’t know he was there. Only one way to find out—he knocked on the adjoining door.

There was no turning back now. Not that he wanted to, but that didn’t stop his hand from shaking a little as he reached for the door handle.