Chapter Five #2
Sam narrows his eyes. “That’s because I haven’t unleashed The CharmTM on you yet.”
I glare at him. “Don’t talk about unleashing gross things on my boyfriend,” I say before thinking.
Sam’s eyebrows go up, and he smiles. “Soft, I told ya. Tell us who else knows about the murders, Nick.”
I turn to find Nicholas grinning. Totally an inappropriate expression while talking about murders that could land us in prison.
He clears his throat. “Right, so we had to share some details of the murders with the victims' families. Not everything, though. I’ll have to look through the reports to see who knew what. But yeah, that’s a batch of people who’ll definitely need to be questioned. ”
“Right, so your team can do that, while we can look them up everywhere else in case, you know, they lie,” I say.
“So pessimistic.” Sam shakes his head in disappointment at me. “So, when can you hand me the list? I’ll look into everyone they could have told, too. Which will be a totally manageable number of people, I’m sure.”
Nicholas looks between us and keeps his plate on the table. “You guys wouldn’t last in the Bureau with that attitude.”
“We know that, Nicholas. We actually get things done,” I tease.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get you the names sometime this week. There are a lot of reports because when you do things properly, you have to be accountable to your team. That means paperwork. Tons and tons of paperwork.”
“So we were saving humanity and trees. Are you sure you don’t want to get credit for that from any god?” Sam asks me.
“Maybe we can look into Buddhism?” I suggest.
“While I’d love to see you guys immerse yourselves in the religion of peace, I’d love me some peace more.” He gets up and carries our plates to the kitchen.
“I can use some sleep too,” Sam says, giving an exaggerated yawn. He makes a beeline for his room. He’s so making breakfast tomorrow.
When I follow Nicholas into the kitchen, I find him leaning over the sink. If he’s going to be this nice, Sam will chew him up. I shake my head. He clearly needs some good influence in his life. “You cooked. We should let Sam clean the dishes.” I get a towel and start drying the clean dishes.
Nicholas smiles, his eyes almost drooping shut. “We’ll make him cook breakfast.”
I watch his tired face. “I knew you were not as nice as you pretend to be.”
He laughs. “You can’t be surprised by that anymore, baby.”
I hear a groan from behind. “That is so gross and, frankly, offensive to the single population of the world. Don’t be inconsiderate asses,” Sam says, snatching the refrigerator door open and taking out a bottle of water.
“No PDA in the common area if you clean the dishes,” I offer.
“Put in eye fucking and flirting, and we have a deal,” he counters.
I toss the towel, grab Nicholas’s arm, and drag him out of the kitchen. “You got it,” I shout over my shoulder.
Nicholas lets me pull him to the bedroom easily. “I didn’t agree to that deal, just so you know.”
“You can use some reins, though,” I tell him.
“Ah, is that another one of your kinks?” He leans into me as soon as the bedroom door closes behind us. My heartbeat goes up at the words. Fuck, how can he unravel me just with his words?
I smile up at his tired face. “Not saying we won’t talk about it, but you need to sleep now.” The man was ready to fall asleep on my sink a few seconds ago.
“What, no,” he whines while stifling another yawn.
I raise my eyebrow. “You were saying?”
“We should sleep.”
“That’s what I thought, buddy.”
We strip quickly. He lies down on one side of the bed.
When I’m done, I lie on the other, facing away from him.
I only have to wait a second before a big arm pulls me into the warmth of his body.
My mind, that’s been going haywire since Nicholas told me about the murder, calms down as if a switch has been turned off.
My body relaxes, and my breath becomes even.
If this is it. If this were all the time I had, I’d be content spending my life in a cage because I got to live this with him. If this moment was the last time I’m happy, I don’t need another smile in my life. That’s the last thought in my mind before I drift off to the most restful sleep.
***
Sam does end up making breakfast, but Nicholas has to leave before he’s done.
“So what do you think about Indonesia after this blows up in our faces?” Sam asks as he stacks pancakes on my plate.
I narrow my eyes, suspicious of his chirpy tone. “We will figure it out.” We have to. Indonesia is nice, I’m sure. But I’m not giving up.
He gives me a look that says he thinks I’m hopeless.
“So soft. Babe, someone is targeting us. We don’t know who it is.
Of course, it’s going to go boom. And we’ll be right there with our unprotected gorgeous faces.
Unless, of course, you know a millionaire who can have a jet ready to fly us out to the beautiful country of Indonesia on no notice. ” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“Why are you giving up so easily? That’s not like you.” I pour a comfortable amount of maple syrup on my pancake.
He comes around the counter and sits beside me, stealing the bottle of syrup from my hand. “You’ll drown in it if you add any more. At least taste my hard work before covering it completely.”
I glare at him until he hands the bottle back over. I happily pour more on my large stack. “Don’t change the topic. Why do you think we can’t solve this problem? We’ve dealt with worse.”
Sam focuses on his pancakes, cutting them into small pieces like he’s going to feed a kid. “I don’t know. Indonesia sounds fun,” he says after a few seconds.
I look at his face expecting to see the ever-present grin and bright eyes, but I’m surprised to find shadows under his eyes and his mouth etched in a frown. The change is like a blow to my heart.
How did I miss it? And when did it happen?
When did this perpetually smiling and teasing man become a shell of himself?
Now that I’m paying attention, he looks thin.
He is hunched over the counter, still playing with his food.
This seems to be more than just being tired from the dangerous, long journey.
“Sam?”
He finally turns to look at me, smiling, but his eyes remain distant, tired. “Of course, we’ll get this SOB. I’m kidding.” He waves his hand, dismissing me.
“Are you—” My phone, which is on the countertop between our plates, pings with an email. I ignore it. “Are—”
Sam picks it up and hands it to me. “It’s from Adrian’s office. Check it.”
I give in because he’s clearly not ready to talk. And I’m curious about the email too. I read it out to him, his smile getting wider with each sentence. By the end of it, his eyes are just as alive as they always are when he’s talking about a case.
Mr. Rhodes,
I’m so happy you reached out to us for legal assistance. Rest assured, you’ll receive the highest level of expertise for your case. I’m transferring your matter to Attorney Adrian Sinclair. He’s a Principal Associate in our Contract Department.
Attorney Sinclair will be in touch with you with the particulars of the case within the next few days. You can then schedule an appointment with him at your convenience.
Lily Adler
Hartwell & Pierce LLP
I read the email again. Then again. Something just doesn’t sit right.
Looking up at Sam, I ask, “Wasn’t it a bit too easy?”
Sam shrugs. “We knew he was in the contract department. It was just a numbers game, and it looks like we won. Don’t question it.”
Right. We were owed a win right about now anyway.