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Stephen bumped him, grinning. “I would have done that for you as a friend if you needed me.”
“And what if I want you to be more than a friend?”
“Then I’m happy to claim you as mine. My exclusive, monogamous, not-sharing-you-with-anyone boyfriend.” Yeah, he was turning into a real sap, and he loved every fucking second of it.
Ehren started to say something, but a hard object poked Stephen in the back. He turned to look behind him, but a large hand clamped down on his shoulder and barked at him in Turkish. From the corner of his eye, he could see that someone was also behind Ehren, holding his shoulder and forcing him to keep walking.
“What the—”
“Don’t, Stephen,” Ehren interrupted in a low, tight voice. “Just keep walking and don’t say a word.”
Stephen’s heart jolted and raced. A cold sweat slipped along his spine. It had finally happened. They were being kidnapped. Fuck Charlie and his bait idea! Where the hell was he now? He’d thought someone was supposed to be following them, but wouldn’t Edison or West have stepped in already?
At the next intersection, they turned onto a quiet street, moving away from the hotel. They walked for nearly twenty minutes. The thugs never spoke other than to point them in the right direction. At times, the hand on his shoulder tightened or the gun would poke him harder in the spine.
Ehren tripped once and nearly lost his balance. Stephen caught him, keeping him upright, but the man guarding Ehren snapped and cuffed him on the back of the head. Stephen shouted and moved to slug the bastard, forgetting about the damn guns, but Ehren was right there, his voice calm and soothing, talking him down again.
Stephen had never thought of himself as a reckless hothead, but all bets were off when it came to keeping Ehren safe. No one hit his boyfriend. No one harmed one fucking hair on his beautiful head. If he didn’t have the strength or skills to tear these bastards apart, he had no qualms about setting Charlie and his team loose on them.
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Ehren murmured, patting him on the chest. He got Stephen turned in the right direction and moving.
When they were thrust into a vacant apartment building, Stephen had no clue where they were in the city. He could only hope that Charlie or one of the guys had been following, because he had no idea how to get to them if they managed to escape.
No, when. When they managed to escape.
They entered first with the armed kidnappers following close on Stephen’s heels. The air was stale and smelled of feces and mold. Walls were crumbling, and the windows were completely covered in dirt and grime. What little light that penetrated was dingy, leaving most of the apartment they were shoved into cloaked in thick shadows.
Stephen and Ehren stopped in the middle of what looked to be a small living room. A ratty, old sofa stood away from one wall as the only other object in the room. The walls were yellowed with water stains, and there were a few bright patches where there might have been pictures at one time.
Sticking close to Ehren, Stephen immediately placed his body between Ehren and the armed men. They would have to go through him to touch Ehren again.
“Who would have thought an American could be so protective?” a man’s heavily accented voice drawled. Stephen’s heart jumped because the question had come from behind him. There was someone else in the room.
Ehren jumped against him and they both turned to see a tall, well-dressed figure stroll out from the deeper shadows of the next room. His hard-soled shoes crunched and scraped on the detritus that covered the tile floors of the abandoned apartment.
“Who—” Ehren started, but the words were cut off.
“Not someone you want to know,” the GQ criminal snapped. “I’m speaking in English because I thought the American would like to know why he’s dying for you.”
“What?” Ehren gasped. He jumped in front of Stephen, throwing his arms out wide as if it might stop any bullets that would fly Stephen’s way. “No!”
Stephen was completely frozen except for his heart. It was slamming into his chest like an animal trying to break free of its cage. Was he going to die tonight? He wasn’t overly keen on the idea. He liked the idea of being alive. Loved the idea of spending months, even years with Ehren. But he didn’t mind dying so much if it meant saving Ehren’s life.
“I’m tired of waiting for you. Tell me where your uncle hid his art collection!” GQ snarled.
“I don’t know! I don’t know where he hid it. I don’t know anything about it,” Ehren cried. It was the truth. They’d not been able to track anything down through the key or any of Yusuf’s records. If there was a storage facility holding a bunch of lost art, they had no idea where it was.
