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"I am fiercely drawn to you, and I do believe we have a future if what we experienced here today persists. The connection I feel to you is like nothing I've ever felt before. I don't know about forever, but I would love it if it were true." He kissed him again. Zeke had to chuckle.
"You're very careful, and I can appreciate your hesitance, but let me assure you that this is forever, and my love is a fact." Tanner chuckled this time and gave him another squeeze.
"You're one in a million, Zeke Montgomery."
"I'll accept that." He said and moved up and over Tanner, taking his lips in a possessive kiss that took his breath and his doubts away, hopefully.
They lay together a little longer, and then Zeke suggested they needed sustenance, so they washed up, and Zeke headed to the kitchen. With Tanner sitting at the breakfast bar, watching and helping where he could, Zeke prepared steak, potatoes, and a nice salad. He took his time and prepared a dinner that he hoped would be a hit with his new bonded mate.
Tanner helped plate the meal, and they sat down at the dining room table for dinner. Zeke poured the wine and set the bottle on the counter, noticing that Tanner was looking at his food as if he had not eaten in a long time. That thought bothered him too much, and he was adamant that he would make sure his mate was always well-fed from now on.
"I haven't enjoyed steak in so long I think I have forgotten how it tastes," Tanner commented.
"Dig in, sweetheart, and there is more where that came from." Tanner buttered a roll and set it on the side of his plate before taking his first bite of the New York strip." Zeke enjoyed his expressions and found himself getting turned on by the way Tanner seemed to make love to his meal.
He received a call back from Cross mid-meal, so he excused himself to the living room. It wasn't so far away that Tanner couldn't hear, and it gave the impression he wasn't hiding anything from him. "Hello." He answered the call.
"We have information on the shot that shattered the window in your mate's apartment." He stated and then continued. "It was a man, a wolf shifter, working with the same men who killed Griff, so your worry for Tanner was justified. You don't have to worry about him. One of Griff's clan caught him out front of Tanner's building as he was pulling the trigger. He is no more."
“What about the man they all work for?”
"No name yet, but I doubt he will be bold enough to continue going after Tanner. If I was him, I'd be lying low until Griff's clan has sated their blood lust." Cross said, and Zeke agreed. "If need be, bring Tanner here, and you two can stay in the apartment upstairs. We are more than willing to help you protect him."
"I know, and thank you. I'll do that if things get out of hand." He closed the call and returned to the dining room. "My boss." He said in reference to the call, and Tanner did not question him. He felt sorry for keeping secrets from him but didn't know how to share without completely opening Pandora's box.
He sat back down, and they finished dinner and had a couple of glasses of wine. Zeke decided to see if he could dance around the subject of assassins and murder and still get some idea as to what, if anything, Tanner saw that night in the back lot.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"Iwork surveillance at the club and keep an eye on the private areas in the back and the exterior of the club. You made a delivery a couple days ago around midnight. You used your own car, not the delivery truck." He began and noticed Tanner nodding to his statement.
"My boss likes us to use our personal vehicles when making late-night deliveries so we don't stand out. We're usually delivering expensive liquor, and he believes we are less likely to be a target. I guess it makes sense, but I don't like making the late deliveries downtown." He explained himself, but he didn't have to.
"When you parked in the back and waited for someone to let you in, did you notice anything in the parking lot next to you?" Tanner's eyebrows rose slowly and then lowered as if he was remembering something.
"The lights got dim, and it made me a little nervous. Then that guy came to the door and motioned me inside, so I put my focus on the delivery and forgot about the parking lot." He stopped, and his gaze dropped to the left, indicating he was organizing his thoughts.
"When I finished the delivery and was getting into my car, I heard something from the lot. I stopped and looked over there, but it was too dark to see anything. I figured it was nothing, but still, it freaked me out a little, so I got out of there." He caught Zeke's gaze then and asked. "Did you see something in the parking lot?"
“When the lights returned to normal, I saw two men walking away.”
“Were they parked in that lot?”
“I assume they were.”
"Why did you ask if I saw anything?" Tanner asked.
"The two men in the lot are part of a criminal organization." That made Tanner's eyes pop. Zeke was getting himself in too deep, and he didn't want to tell him about the shifter's death, not yet, anyway. "It was probably nothing. I was just curious because you looked startled when you jumped in your car and left."
"Uneasy, I was uneasy, I don't like late-night deliveries downtown, so that fed into my uneasiness." Tanner gave a self-deprecating smile and finished his wine.
“Downtown after midnight can be challenging.” Zeke agreed.
"Did you know I was the delivery guy when you answered my ad?" Now, what was he going to say?
"I didn't know your name," he said, and that wasn't a complete lie since he didn't know his whole name, just his first.
"I'm glad you answered my ad." Tanner went in a different direction than expected, and Zeke was both pleased and relieved.
