AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Charlie smirked at him, trying for casual, while his heart thudded painfully in his chest. “Not bad, right?”
His companion opened his mouth and then closed it again with a shake of his head and a chuckle. “Yeah, I want to give you shit, but you know you’re sexy. There’s more gray than I remember, and the beard is thicker. Same eyes, though. Same smirk.” Will sighed. “Looks were never your problem, Charlie, and you know it.” Will cleared his throat. “But you were saying about Stephen and Ehren? I don’t see how they got you here from Turkey? Or even how Stephen got from Denver to Turkey?”
Charlie appreciated Will’s efforts to redirect their conversation to safer territory. He’d been about to start blurting out dangerous things like how Will needed to give him a second chance because it was obvious they still had feelings for each other. The direct approach would never work with Will. The man would shut down so damn fast.
“Ehren’s family on his mother’s side is Turkish. That’s where his uncle was living when he died.”
“Ah, and where the art collection was located,” Will chimed in.
The server chose that moment to bring over a large tray heavily laden with plates and bowls of food. Their conversation was put on hold as Will thanked her and then explained all the things he’d ordered for Charlie to try.
“So, you get to…”
“Istanbul,” Charlie supplied. “Long story short, we took out the bad guys without anyone getting hurt and located the art.”
“Impressive collection?”
“Mind-blowing. I don’t know art, but I recognized some of these artists. This stuff belongs in museums like the Louvre. There was a Rembrandt and a Picasso. Stuff from the Renaissance. It was insane.”
“No wonder someone was willing to hurt your brother’s boyfriend for it,” Will murmured between bites of meat and noodles from his pho. Will stopped and frowned. “Wait. You’re not following some old Nazi-looted art treasure hunt, are you?”
“Ha. Funny. No.” Charlie grunted before popping a piece of chicken into his mouth that had him immediately reaching for his water. Okay, so maybe this was next-level spicy for him.
Will chuckled and picked up something else with his chopsticks and held it out for Charlie. “Here, eat this. It will kill some of the heat.”
Charlie didn’t question it. He let Will feed him while trying to ignore the different kind of heat that was spreading through his chest. He doubted Will even realized what he was doing. The man was a natural caretaker. And there was no way in hell Charlie was going to stop him if Will was suddenly driven to take care of him.
Reaching out with his free hand, Will grabbed the plate with the inferno pretending to be food and moved it to the other side of the table. “I had a feeling that might be too much, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”
“Tell that to my tongue. It’ll never be the same,” Charlie complained.
“Eat your pho. You’ll love it,” Will admonished with a small smile. “And tell me about this non-Nazi-related treasure hunt you’re on.”
Charlie gave the doctor a repressive look that only put a smirk on Will’s lips. “It’s not a treasure hunt. It’s actually tied to what you’re doing in a way.”
Will paused with a spoonful of broth halfway to his lips and blinked at Charlie. “How’s that?”
“Within Ehren’s new art collection, there were half a dozen paintings that no one knew who the artist was. Ehren’s uncle refused to have them authenticated and was extremely secretive about them. Of course, Soren recognized them,” Charlie finished with a roll of his eyes. “Turns out they were painted by an Argentine artist by the name of Thiago Vergara, who dis—”
Charlie was suddenly cut off by Will violently choking on his pho. Will dropped his spoon and chopsticks into his bowl as he coughed. Charlie jumped to his feet, trying to pull Will’s arms above his head or even lift him out of his seat to begin the Heimlich maneuver, but Will batted his hands away as he coughed and gasped for air.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Will rasped as his coughing started to subside. Charlie lingered at Will’s side even as he sipped his water.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Sit. I’m fine.” He took another sip of water and put his glass down with a shaking hand. He wiped his face with his napkin, but Charlie could still see tears glistening on the ends of his ridiculously long eyelashes. Will cleared his throat and offered Charlie a shaky smile. “I’m fine. I think I inhaled a spring onion. What were you saying about this artist?”
Charlie stared at the man across from him for another second, trying to get a read on him. His heart was still trying to descend from his throat. But Will seemed fine and had already returned to his pho as if nothing had happened.
