Chapter 10 Burned Evidence
The Threat
Gideon arrived at Reyes Ink before Nico could finish locking the front door.
He crossed the street quickly, his expression hard and focused. Nico saw him through the glass and unlocked the door.
“You’re early.”
Gideon stepped inside.
“Where is the message?”
Nico held up his phone.
Gideon took it and read the warning.
His jaw tightened.
“When did you receive this?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Did anyone else see it?”
“No.”
“Did you reply?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Gideon handed the phone back.
“Where is the photograph?”
“Locked away.”
“Show me.”
Nico watched him.
“Gideon.”
“Show me.”
There was something different in his voice.
Not anger.
Fear.
Nico unlocked the drawer and removed the photograph.
Gideon looked at it for several seconds.
Then he looked around the studio.
“How many people know about this?”
“Not many.”
“Names.”
Nico told him.
Gideon listened carefully.
“Anyone connected to the original contractor?”
“Daniel’s contact.”
“Anyone else?”
“The investigators.”
Gideon nodded.
He walked toward the front window.
“From now on, you don’t come here alone.”
Nico sighed.
“We’re starting this again?”
“This isn’t the same.”
“Because someone sent a message?”
“Because someone sent a threat.”
“It says stop looking. It doesn’t say they’re going to hurt me.”
Gideon turned.
“You don’t know what it means.”
“And neither do you.”
Gideon walked back toward him.
“You’re staying away from the case.”
Nico crossed his arms.
“No.”
“You’re not going back to that photograph.”
“No.”
“You’re not meeting anyone connected to the warehouse.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You’re not working late.”
Nico stared at him.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Gideon hesitated.
“You shouldn’t stay here.”
Nico looked around.
“My studio?”
“Until we know who sent it.”
“And where am I supposed to go?”
“Somewhere secure.”
“You mean the firehouse?”
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
“Then where?”
Gideon’s expression tightened.
“Somewhere they don’t know.”
Nico studied him.
“Do they know me?”
“They know you found something.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
Gideon looked toward the door.
“Pack a bag.”
Nico stared at him.
“No.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Gideon’s breathing changed.
“You’re not staying here.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“Someone is watching you.”
“I know.”
“Someone knows about the investigation.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you acting like this isn’t dangerous?”
“I never said it wasn’t dangerous.”
Nico stepped closer.
“I said you’re panicking.”
Gideon’s face went still.
“I am not panicking.”
“You are.”
“No.”
“You walked in here and started giving orders.”
“Because I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“No. You’re trying to make the fear stop.”
Gideon stared at him.
Nico’s voice softened.
“Those aren’t the same thing.”
Gideon looked away.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Gideon said, “You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
Gideon’s hands curled into fists.
Nico waited.
“I’ve seen this before.”
“Someone being threatened?”
“Someone being in danger.”
Nico’s expression softened.
Gideon looked toward the front window.
“The first time I realized something was wrong that night, I thought we had time.”
His voice was quieter now.
“We didn’t.”
Nico didn’t interrupt.
“The building was unstable. We knew there were problems, but we thought the situation was manageable. Then everything changed.”
Gideon swallowed.
“People were inside.”
“I know.”
“I keep thinking if I had made one different decision, Marcus would still be alive.”
Nico stepped closer.
“But that’s not what this is.”
Gideon shook his head.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“But you think I’m reacting to the past.”
“I think you’re reacting to the possibility of losing me.”
Gideon’s eyes closed.
That was the truth.
He hated that Nico could see it.
When he opened his eyes again, there was no anger left.
Only exhaustion.
“I can’t watch it happen again.”
Nico’s voice became gentle.
“Watch what happen?”
“Someone become important.”
Nico said nothing.
Gideon continued.
“I thought I was protecting myself after the fire.”
His voice broke slightly.
“I stopped getting close to people. I stopped making plans. I stopped letting anyone become necessary.”
Nico’s chest tightened.
“And then you came along.”
Gideon looked at him.
“You kept standing there.”
Nico gave him a faint smile.
“You noticed.”
“I noticed everything.”
The confession was quiet.
“I noticed your hands. The way you work. The way you look at people when they’re nervous. The way you remember what everyone tells you.”
Gideon’s eyes dropped.
“I noticed how you never treated me like I was broken.”
Nico reached for him.
Gideon let him take his hand.
“I noticed when you started looking for reasons to see me.”
Nico smiled.
“You weren’t supposed to notice that.”
“I noticed anyway.”
Gideon’s fingers tightened around his.
“And now someone is watching you.”
“Yes.”
“And I can’t make that stop.”
“No.”
“That is what I can’t handle.”
Nico stepped closer.
“Gideon.”
“I can fight a fire.”
His voice was rough.
“I can run into a building. I can pull someone out. I can make decisions when everything is falling apart.”
He looked at Nico.
“But I can’t fight something I can’t see.”
Nico squeezed his hand.
“And you think pushing me away will make you safe.”
Gideon didn’t answer.
“You think if I leave the studio, leave the investigation, maybe leave you, then nobody can use me against you.”
Gideon looked at him.
“I thought if I made you less important, I wouldn’t be so afraid.”
Nico’s expression softened.
“But I’m already important.”
Gideon’s eyes closed.
“Yes.”
The word was almost a whisper.
“I can’t change that.”
Nico moved closer until there was almost no space between them.
“You don’t have to.”
Gideon looked at him.
“I might lose you.”
“You might.”
Gideon flinched.
Nico continued gently.
“Just like I might lose you.”
Gideon looked away.
“But neither of us gets to live as if loss has already happened.”
Gideon swallowed.
“I don’t know how.”
“Then learn.”
Nico lifted their joined hands.
“You don’t have to solve tomorrow tonight.”
Gideon looked at their hands.
His breathing slowly steadied.
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want another name.”
Nico’s expression changed.
“Another name?”
“On a list.”
Gideon looked toward the floor.
“Another person I couldn’t save.”
Nico understood.
He moved close enough that Gideon could feel his warmth.
“You don’t get to save me from everything.”
Gideon looked at him.
“But you can stand beside me.”
Gideon was silent.
Nico touched his face.
This time, Gideon leaned into the touch.
“I can do that,” he said.
Nico smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Gideon rested his forehead against Nico’s.
“I hate that I’m this scared.”
“Being scared doesn’t make you weak.”
“I know.”
“It means you have something you don’t want to lose.”
Gideon closed his eyes.
“I have you.”
Nico’s breath caught.
Gideon opened his eyes.
The words were out now.
He couldn’t take them back.
“I have you,” he repeated.
Nico’s hand remained against his cheek.
“And I have you.”
Gideon kissed him.
There was no urgency in it.
It was simply a quiet confirmation that neither of them was leaving because fear demanded it.
When they separated, Gideon stayed close.
“I still think you should leave the studio tonight.”
Nico smiled.
“You can ask.”
Gideon sighed.
“Will you come stay somewhere with me?”
“Where?”
“My place.”
Nico raised an eyebrow.
“You’re inviting me home?”
“Yes.”
“Because you’re worried?”
“Yes.”
“Because you want me there?”
Gideon hesitated.
“Yes.”
Nico smiled.
“Then I’ll come.”
Gideon looked relieved.
“But I’m not abandoning the investigation.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not letting you make every decision for me.”
“I know.”
Gideon nodded.
“Fair.”
Nico slipped his phone into his pocket.
“Then let’s go.”
Gideon looked once more toward the dark street outside.
The fear hadn’t disappeared.
Neither had the threat.
Somewhere, someone knew they were looking.
Someone had tried to frighten Nico into silence.
But Gideon finally understood that protecting Nico did not mean removing him from the world.
It meant standing beside him while they faced it.
He took Nico’s hand.
This time, he didn’t hide the gesture.
They walked out of the studio together.
And for the first time since the warehouse fire, Gideon allowed himself to admit the truth without trying to escape from it.
He was terrified of losing Nico.
Not because Nico was weak.
Not because Gideon had failed to protect him.
Because Nico had become someone Gideon loved enough to fear losing.
And that fear was no longer something he could outrun.
The Night We Choose
By the time they reached Gideon’s apartment, neither man mentioned the threat again.
That didn’t mean it had disappeared.
It remained somewhere in the back of Gideon’s mind, an ugly possibility he couldn’t completely silence. Someone was watching Nico. Someone knew they had found something connected to the warehouse. Someone wanted them to stop asking questions.
But tonight, Gideon didn’t want fear deciding what happened between them.
He unlocked the door and stepped aside.
Nico entered first.
Gideon followed and closed the door behind them.
His apartment was exactly what Nico expected and somehow completely different from what he had imagined.
Everything was clean and organized, but there was very little decoration.
The furniture was practical. The walls were mostly empty.
There were no photographs displayed, no souvenirs, nothing that suggested Gideon had spent much time thinking about the future.
Nico looked around.
“You really don’t own much.”
“I don’t need much.”
“That sounds depressing.”
Gideon gave him a faint smile.
“I’ve been called worse.”
Nico walked toward the kitchen.
“Do you have anything to drink?”
“Water.”
“Of course.”
Gideon opened the refrigerator.
“There is beer.”
Nico looked at him.
“You said water.”
“I was trying to sound responsible.”
“You’re a firefighter. You’re supposed to sound responsible.”
Gideon handed him a bottle of water.
Nico smiled.
The ordinary exchange eased something inside Gideon.