AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There wasn’t ever enough time, was there? An image of his sister’s smiling face rolled into his head. They’d been very close and now she was gone forever. Dante had lost the chance to tell her how great he thought she was. What an incredible lawyer, mother, and person she was. How without her, he wouldn’t be the person he was today.
He didn’t want that to happen with André. Maybe they didn’t know everything about each other, but he knew André would keep him on his toes, challenge him. And, dammit, that’s what he wanted. He suspected André wanted that too.
The man of the hour nudged his knee. “Keep talking.”
Dante gathered his thoughts. “Fast forward, I didn’t quit. There didn’t seem to be a reason to after you disappeared. But believe me when I say I’d been thinking about seeing if you maybe wanted more. More than quickies on our free weekends.”
It wasn’t André’s fault that Dante’s job had made it impossible for him to have a real relationship. When he’d taken on the job, he’d only had Simone, with Daniella on the way. Simone had been all for Dante’s career, proud that he played an important part in taking down human trafficking organizations, drug dealers, and other scum. “Then in August, my sister was murdered. And everything changed.”
“Your sister.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
His tone encompassed the things that there were no words for. The pain and grief of losing a loved one forever.
“I am too. Anyway. Dani witnessed it and”—he raised a hand, palm out—“yes, we were offered WITSEC, but we decided against it. The choice was made, and neither Dani nor I are changing our minds. Case closed.”
André looked away from him to stare at nothing, nostrils flared. He was clearly working hard not to fly off the handle. Marshals felt strongly about WITSEC, even retired ones.
“We’ll circle back to that issue later.” André turned back to him. “How did you end up in Cooper Springs? I have a hard time believing it was an accident.”
“Definitely one hundred percent on purpose,” Dante admitted. “It wasn’t hard to figure out where you’d moved to. Once I knew my UC life was done and I had Dani to keep safe, I had the wild thought that, now that I wasn’t undercover, we might as well move to Cooper Springs. The guys who killed Simone would never think of looking here, and we’re using Brown, just in case. But I also thought, why not come here and make a case for myself? Damn.” He paused. “I didn’t out you, did I?”
“No, you didn’t. Not that I shout my sexuality everywhere. But seriously. One.” André raised his thumb. “You’ve been here since at least September—that’s three plus months. Two.” He lifted his index finger. “Making your caseis not showing up at my house and fucking me into the mattress.” Now he pointed his finger gun at Dante.
Wincing at the truth of André’s words, Dante crossed his arms over his chest. André wasn’t going to make this easy. But did he want easy?
No. He wanted André Dear, who was not at all simple. Or easy.
“That was a mistake. Not the sex part,” he rushed, “but thejustsex part. Seeing you again close up and personal, I kind of lost my head. And then—well, it’s different for me now, isn’t it? I have Dani to think of. I can’t just drop in unannounced and strip you naked whenever I want—which isalways,just so you know—and—”
He had to push aside a memory of him and André naked together in bed or he was never going to finish.
“Know that I always want to. Being a full-time uncle is harder than I ever expected. And I worry about Dani. Hatch, my old handler, called last week to tell me that there’s been rumors. They’re pretty sure a criminal already in the Big House is up to something. Maybe.”
“What kind of something?” André’s concern overtook his previous irritation.
“Maybe Dani heard her mom talking on the phone and didn’t know that she heard something important? I honestly don’t know. She was careful, a professional. Damn good at her job—she wouldn’t talk to her kid about any of her cases, but especially not about fucks like this shit.”
Simone’s only mistake was opening the door that night.
“Huh. Your sister was in law enforcement too?”
“Sort of.”
They’d strayed from André’s original question, but after a brief moment of looking thoughtful, André brought them full circle.
“So, you came here to hide, a DIY protection program. You have to know that, as an ex-marshal, I absolutely hate that decision. But” —he shook his head, appearing bemused once again— “you really came here becauseI’mhere? Were you planning on luring me out to a balcony and declaring yourself?”
Dante scowled at André. Now André looked amused. Yes, he felt fucking defensive.
“Maybe? Maybe I was. But then we got here, and things have been fucking hard. And maybe I don’t know what love is anyway.” There, he’d used The Word. “But I do know that I enjoy being with you and I haven’t been with anyone since you left Portland.”
“Really?”
“Christ.” His patience was starting to fray. “André, I haven’t been with anyone else since the first night we went home together. That’s closing in on two years.”
