Chapter 20 Lina
Lina
Alistair stands when he sees me across the restaurant, and I release Guy’s hand to weave quickly through tables and reach my friend.
He looks the same as always. Tall, broad, and terrifying.
Thick, gray hair that he told me he’s had since he was young, and a matching beard.
He’s dressed sharply and always has an air of power and belonging.
It makes sense, given that he runs one of the most powerful arms trades on the East Coast alongside Colt Harland.
When I reach him, he hugs me, lifting me off my feet.
It took me a long time to realize that Alistair isn’t an affectionate man.
He reserves his kindness for those he truly loves, and I consider myself incredibly lucky that I’m one of those people.
He’s always remained close to me, a hand on my waist, a hug if I need one, but to most people he’s cold.
Distant. I can only hope he’ll thaw out quickly for Guy.
“That’s him?” Alistair whispers in my ear. “Little old for you.”
“Oh hush.” I pull back and swat his chest. Guy reaches the table, and I take a second to admire just how good he looks in his suit.
I’ve only ever seen him in jeans and T-shirts or his uniform, and he always looks good, but tonight he looks fucking delicious.
I don’t look half bad myself, in a figure-hugging red silk dress, and no underwear.
I plan on getting the Chief to shag me in the bathroom before we leave. “Alistair, this is Guy. Guy, Alistair.”
They shake hands, and Alistair takes his seat. “I ordered you a wine. I got you something vintage. It seems you like that.”
I roll my eyes and Guy reads the menu. “He’s funny.”
“Hilarious,” I say. “Make an effort to be nice to each other; you’re the only men in the world I can tolerate.”
Alistair says, “Whiskey, Guy?”
“Sounds good.”
Alistair raises his fingers to the waiter, then taps the half-finished glass already in front of him.
“So …” Alistair leans back in his chair. “Lina tells me you’ve convinced her to quit.”
Here we go.
“I made the decision myself,” I snap. “Stop antagonizing him.”
“Just protecting what’s mine,” Alistair says, his eyes focused on Guy’s. “You know I worry about you.”
Guy doesn’t even blink. “That makes two of us. Lina can make her own decisions, and she has.”
“With your input, no doubt.”
“Do you even know the woman you’re defending?” Guy asks.
“Very well.”
I snap my fingers between them. “Stop bloody pissing around me, both of you. We’re here to have a nice dinner.”
Guy’s drink is delivered, and we order our food.
A tense start, but nothing unexpected. Guy and Alistair are similar, so I knew things would be a little rocky at first. They’ll find common ground, though.
“What do you do for a living, Guy?”
I groan.
Guy sits easy in his chair, taking each question in his stride, whereas I’m considering swigging my wine directly from the bottle. “I was chief of police in San Francisco.”
Alistair’s brows fly up, and he grins at me. “Seriously? A cop?”
“Ex-cop,” I point out. “He’s retired.”
“Of course he is. You know his pension will suck, right?”
“Well, it’s a good job I’m filthy rich then,” I snap back.
Guy looks at me. “You are?”
“I’m … comfortable.” To the tune of eleven million and stock options that will keep me wealthy until I’m a hundred.
I’ve killed a lot of important people, and I’m smart with my money.
“Are you going to move in together?” Alistair asks.
I slam my wineglass down. “Are you my father?”
“I’m the next best thing.”
“Yes, we are,” Guy says without missing a beat. “If Lina wants to, we can travel for a while, and I’ve found a horse ranch up north that we can look at together. If we decide we like it, we can buy it.”
A smile spreads across my face. “You have?”
“Yes.” He kisses my knuckles. “Whenever you’re ready.”
He’s made plans. With me. For me.
For us.
No one’s ever done that for me before.
“We’ll do some work with the bureau first, though. If that’s what you want,” Guy adds.
Alistair pauses his glass at his lips. “The bureau?”
“They’re helping us with the Sinclairs,” I say.
Our food arrives, but Alistair doesn’t touch his. He continues to stare at me.
“You’re not going to kill Sawyer yourself?
” he asks, and I focus on cutting my steak as I shake my head.
I hadn’t told him because I wasn’t sure how he was going to react.
He spent a lot of time and money finding Sawyer Sinclair, and I’m essentially throwing it back in his face.
Finally, he picks up his knife and fork. “Good.”
I pause. “What? You’re fine with it?”
“Lina, revenge gets you nothing but heartache. I found Sawyer because you asked me to, but I’ve never wanted you to go through with this. He’s dangerous, and your life is more important.”
“I agree,” Guy says, and the two men lock eyes before returning to their meals.
I look between them and smile, the tension easing, my heart lifting.
I knew that they’d find common ground; I just never imagined that ground was how much they both love me.
“Do you remember the first night we met?” I lift my eyes from my phone.
Alistair is watching me with the same intensity as always, but there’s a softness behind it he usually reserves for the harder moments in our lives.
Guy has gone to the bathroom, so it’s just the two of us, and it’s been a long time since Alistair and I were alone.
I lock my phone and nod. “Like it was yesterday.”
He angles his glass of whiskey, staring at the ice cubes.
“You picked a fight in a bar with a guy and he punched you. You were a kid, an angry, drunk kid, and he smacked you right across the face. I remember it didn’t register at first that he’d really done that, but before Colt and I could get over there, you’d hit the guy right back. ”
I smile. “And before he could strangle the life out of me, you knocked him out.”
“I did,” he says. “You were furious at me. Claimed you could look after yourself and I should mind my own bloody business. I dragged you out of there, got you some food, and when you’d sobered up, you talked to me.”
We spent hours in a crappy diner, eating chips and then cake, just the two of us.
He listened, really listened, and I was drunk enough to spill that I had traveled to New York alone and had nowhere to go and no money to my name.
I was almost seventeen, and Alistair was nineteen, and he said he’d fix it.
He did. He found me a place to stay, and a job, too.
He's always looked after me. Without question, without judgment.
I’ll forever be grateful to him for that.
“You swore to me that night that you’d never depend on anyone, that you’d never fall for a man’s lies,” he says, meeting my eye.
“I depended on you. You’re a man.”
“I wasn’t trying to sleep with you.”
I frown. “Yeah, you never have. Should I be offended?”
He grins. “I prefer to be the dangerous one in the relationship. You’d steal my thunder.”
I raise my glass to him. “True.”
I know exactly how Alistair is with women.
He doesn’t date, definitely doesn’t go as far as to call a woman his girlfriend or his partner, but there are women he sees regularly.
Women he enjoys … chasing, and who enjoy being chased.
Colt has told me some tales that had my toes curling and my cheeks warming.
I think Alistair would give me a run for my money.
He takes my hand. “Do you trust him, Lina?”
“Yes,” I say, without missing a beat, because I do. Guy knows every part of me, the good and bad, and he only wants to know more.
“Do you love him?”
I squeeze his hand gently. “I do.”
“You loved Asher, too.”
“Not like this,” I say quietly. “I hid myself from Asher. With Guy … there’s nothing I’m afraid to tell him. Nothing.”
Alistair watches me for a moment, as if considering my words and the truth of them. He leans close and kisses my cheek, his lips hovering by my ear. “If he hurts you, little Fox, I’ll kill him.”
I smile. “If he hurts me, I’ll kill him myself.”