Chapter 16 Morning, Interrupted #4
“But someone just shot through your window.”
“I'm aware of that.”
“And you think staying here is good idea?”
“I think running isn't going to solve anything.” Declan crossed his arms over his bare chest. “This is my home. I have responsibilities. I'm not abandoning my life because someone wants to scare me.”
Dmitri looked at me with an expression that said he couldn't believe what he was hearing. “Is he always this stubborn?”
“You have no idea.”
“Luka is not going to like this.”
“Luka can deal with it.” Declan's voice stayed level and controlled. “I appreciate the concern, but I'm not going anywhere.”
“Troy, talk to him.” Dmitri gestured at Declan like he was a puzzle that needed solving. “Tell him this is stupid.”
“I already tried.” I ran a hand through my hair. “He's not budging.”
“Bozhe moy.” Dmitri pulled out his phone and started typing. “Luka is going to lose his mind.”
“Let him.” Declan moved to the coffee pot and started making a fresh pot like we weren't in the middle of a crisis. “I'm staying. End of discussion.”
Dmitri watched him for a long moment. Then he looked at me with raised eyebrows. “You are staying too?”
“If he's staying, I'm staying.”
“Both of you are insane.” But Dmitri was smiling now, like he appreciated the audacity. “Fine. We do this the hard way. I bring security here. We turn this house into fortress. But when Luka arrives and is angry, I am telling him this was your idea.”
“Fair enough.”
Dmitri made a call and spoke rapid Russian that I only caught pieces of. Words about perimeter security and overwatch positions and teaching stubborn Americans a lesson. When he hung up, he looked at both of us.
“Two men will be here in twenty minutes. They will watch the street, the rooflines, make sure no one else takes shots at you.” He dropped into one of the kitchen chairs and sprawled like he owned the place. “Until then, we wait. You have beer?”
“It's ten in the morning,” Declan said.
“Is five o'clock somewhere.” Dmitri grinned. “Besides, I have been up since four. That counts as afternoon for me.”
Declan pulled three beers from the fridge and handed them out. We all drank in silence for a moment.
Then Declan set his bottle down and looked at me. “I need to ask you a question.”
“Why am I being targeted?” His voice was calm but there was an edge underneath, controlled anger waiting to surface. “This is your problem, Troy. Your life. Whatever shit you're involved in. So why is someone shooting at my house? Why am I collateral damage in whatever war you're fighting?”
The question was fair. More than fair, and I owed him an honest answer.
I took a long drink and tried to figure out how to explain this in a way that didn't make me sound like an asshole.
“Because they know you matter to me. Whoever is behind this, they've been watching. They know I'm staying here. They know we have history. They know that hurting you is a way to hurt me.”
“So this is about leverage.”
“And intimidation. And proving they can reach me anywhere.” I met his eyes. “They're not just trying to kill me. They're trying to break me first. Make me scared. Make me isolated. Take away anyone who might help me.”
“That's fucked up.”
“That's how this world works.” I set my beer down.
“People like Luka, like Adrian, like whoever is behind this, they don't just eliminate targets.
They destroy them. Strip away support systems. Turn allies into liabilities.
Make you so alone and desperate that when they finally come for you, there's nothing left to fight with.”
Declan was quiet for a long moment. “And you've been living like this for years.”
“I have.”
He stood up and paced to the window. He stayed to the side where he couldn't be seen from outside. “How do you do it? How do you live knowing that everyone around you is a potential target?”
“You just do.” I looked at Dmitri. “Right?”
“Da.” Dmitri took a long pull from his beer. “You stop getting close to people. Or you accept that getting close means putting them in danger. Is shit either way, but you adapt.”
“That's no way to live.”
“Is the only way we know.” Dmitri's expression was serious now, none of the easy charm visible. “But Troy is right. Someone is trying to hurt him by hurting you. Which means you are involved whether you want to be or not.”
Declan's jaw tightened but he didn't argue.
“So we do this. We lock down your house. We bring in security. We make it so expensive and difficult to attack you here that they give up or make mistake.” Dmitri grinned. “Is more fun this way anyway.”
“You're insane,” Declan said.
“Everyone keeps saying this.” Dmitri stood and stretched. “I am going to check upstairs. See how bad the damage is. You two stay down here. Try not to get shot while I am gone, yes?”
He headed upstairs before either of us could respond.
The silence that followed was heavy and loaded with everything we weren't saying.
“So. That's Dmitri.”
Declan turned to look at me. “He's exactly what I expected.”
“What, charming and inappropriate?”
“Insufferable.” But there was almost a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Does everyone you work with have a death wish?”
“Pretty much.” I leaned back against the counter. “It's required for the job.”
“And the accent? Is that real or is he fucking with me?”
“Oh, it's real. Wait until you hear him start swearing in Russian. It's a whole experience.”
Declan shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “This is my life now, isn't it? Russians with guns showing up at my house. Snipers taking shots through my windows. Security teams turning my home into a fortress.”
“Could be worse.”
“How?”
“Could be boring.”
He laughed. Actually laughed, short and burst out of him surprised. “You're an asshole.”
“But you're still sleeping with me, so what does that say about you?”
“That I have terrible taste in men, apparently.” He crossed to where I was standing. “And terrible timing. We just had sex for the first time less than twelve hours ago and now we're dealing with this shit.”
“To be fair, someone's been trying to kill us for weeks. The sex was inevitable.”
“That's one way to look at it.”
I grinned up at him. “You got a better explanation?”
“Not really.” He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me closer. “But I'm not complaining.”
I kissed him right there in the kitchen with Dmitri upstairs and security on the way and a sniper somewhere out there who might still be watching.
Declan kissed me back like he meant every word he'd just said.
When we pulled apart, I rested my forehead against his. “You're an idiot for staying.”
“Probably.” He smiled but there was fear behind it, worry he was trying to hide. “But I'm your idiot now. So deal with it.”
“I can deal with that.” I kissed him again, quick and hard, trying to memorize the taste of him in case this was the last time I got to have it.
Dmitri came back down the stairs with heavy footsteps.
“Bedroom is fucked. Glass everywhere. Both shots hit headboard. If you had been sleeping, you would be very dead.” He paused and looked at us standing close together.
He grinned. “But you were not sleeping. You were down here doing other things. This is good timing, yes?”
“Dmitri,” I warned.
“What? I am just saying, morning sex saved your life. Is romantic in terrible way.” He pulled out his phone. “Security team is three minutes out. They will set up perimeter, watch approaches.”
“What are they going to do exactly?” Declan asked.
“Watch. Wait. Make sure nobody else takes shots at you.” Dmitri shrugged. “Standard security procedures.”
“You say that like it's normal.”
“For us, is normal.” Dmitri's phone buzzed. He checked it. “Security is here. I am letting them in. You two stay away from windows.”
He headed for the front door.
I grabbed Declan's hand and held on tight.
“This is insane,” Declan said quietly.
“But we're still here.” I squeezed back.
We stood there in his kitchen, holding hands while Dmitri let armed men into the house. While our morning got turned into a crime scene. While the life we had been trying to build together got shattered by violence neither of us had asked for.
But we were still here. Still breathing. Still together.
That had to count for something.
Even if I didn't know how long we'd get to keep it.