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Alexei pointed at Izzie. “This is why I let him date my son. He’s a smart man.”
While Alexei busied himself with digging out the hidden whiskey bottle and getting glasses, Max leaned closer to Izzie and lowered his voice. “Why does he keep calling you his son and all this adoption talk? You’re clearly older than him.”
Isidore chuckled and waved a hand at him. “Oh, that. It’s just Alexei being Alexei. He thinks I’m too much of a nice guy and I need someone like a father figure in my life to watch out for me. It’s how he shows that he cares for me.”
Okay, he could agree with Alexei on that point. Isidore was incredibly nice. He was the epitome of the cinnamon roll. He was too sweet for the harshness of the world and he needed to be surrounded by people who would love and protect him so nothing could happen to that sweetness.
But he stood by what he’d told Ed before. That sweetness only went so far. If someone were to dare come between Isidore and Kairo, Max had zero doubt that Isidore would take whatever steps were necessary to get his man back.
The same went for Alexei when it came to Soren. The only difference was that Alexei’s ruthlessness wasn’t hidden under a layer of sweetness and gentleness.
“Then why did you say that you wanted to adopt me? I’m not a nice guy like Izzie.” He started to turn toward Alexei, but the man was already at his side, setting down three glasses and the bottle of whiskey.
Alexei slid into the final open seat on the other side of Max and grinned, but there was something feral in that smile as those bright-blue eyes narrowed on him. It was like this crazy young man could see straight to his most inner thoughts and fears. Yeah, no one could beat Alexei when it came to creepiness. “You? You need someone to watch out for you because A, you’ve got a really shitty family, and B, you’re a whole lot of bluster but not a lot of common sense.”
“I’ve got plenty of common sense! That’s what has kept me alive all these years,” Max blurted out.
Isidore reached out and took the bottle from Alexei and proceeded to pour a couple of fingers of booze into each glass. “I’m skeptical, considering you just said that you’re not dating Edison.”
“Mmhmm,” Alexei chimed in, both his eyebrows lifted toward his hairline. “And we all heard what kind of a good time you had with Ed.”
He would not blush. There was no way he was going to blush. He was an adult. Ed was an adult. Everyone else in the house was likely having adult-type fun. Well, except for maybe Westin, but the sniper could be going out in his free time and finding his own fun. That was none of his business.
But he would not…
Fuck. His cheeks felt like they were on fire.
“Look, Ed and I haven’t discussed dating and the future and things like that. We’re just having some fun…I think. Nothing more complicated than that.”
“But you do think Ed is a great guy, right?” Izzie pressed.
“Of course he does!” Alexei answered before Max could even draw in a breath to say the same thing.
“No, you’re right. We all know Ed is an amazing guy,” Izzie easily agreed with a smile, but it disappeared and his eyes widened on Max again. “Is it that you’re worried about what it’s like dating a mercenary and that you might not be able to keep up with him while still pursuing your career? Are you worried that you can’t be a valuable part of the team because you can’t shoot a gun or know how to set explosives?”
Max had just lifted his whiskey to his lips for a drink, but Izzie’s questions had him inhaling the amber liquid, leaving him choking. “I wasn’t before, but I am now,” Max rasped when he could finally catch his breath. He didn’t need to bring up that he did, in fact, know how to use a gun, but definitely not to the level of the mercenaries that filled the house each day.
Yet, Isidore brought up a dilemma that hadn’t even crossed his mind. How in the fuck was he supposed to date Ed? Max’s life was currently split between teaching classes at Brown University and a variety of digs throughout Europe and the Middle East. They were headed in different directions. It was only that their paths crossed for this brief moment in time.
Alexei made this weird, dismissive noise and waved his hand at both him and Izzie. “Not important. Not important.”
“What?” Max croaked. Both his throat and nose still burned from the whiskey going all the places except for where it was supposed to go. “How is that not important?”
