Chapter Nine #8
Zeppelin’s eyes narrowed. Ameer was a goddamn idiot. “Watch who you’re tone, pup.”
“Time to hit the road,” Vaughn casually said.
Ameer’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t challenge them. He kept his gaze steady as he stepped back, pivoted on his heel, and strolled out the door. The restaurant stayed silent moment longer before customers finally remembered their food was getting cold.
Outside, Ameer crossed the street in a lazy swagger. Quinn was climbing out of his SUV, a shit-eating grin on his face. The two men sized each other up as they passed, then Quinn tossed what looked like mail at him. Ameer picked up the envelopes then slipped into his ride and pulled away.
Quinn watched him go then headed for the restaurant door.
Rio sighed, scrubbing a hand over his head. He glanced down the row of booths toward his mate.
But Kevin was gone.
* * * *
Kevin had no idea who that stranger was, but the guy was setting off alarm bells in Kevin’s head, a warning to get his ass out of there.
He slipped from the dining room while everyone postured at the door, and didn’t stop until he reached the single-occupant bathroom.
Closing the door, Kevin twisted the lock.
For a good ten seconds, he pressed his back flat against the door, willing his heart to slow down.
Once his heart obeyed, Kevin moved toward the sink, catching his reflection in the mirror.
His hair stuck up from where he’d raked fingers through it about a thousand times.
Sweat beaded on his brow, and his face was flushed.
He splashed water on his face, watched it drip off his chin, then scrubbed hard with a wad of paper towel until his jaw stung.
“Why can’t I have a normal, boring life?” He rested his palms against the sink’s edge.
The moment that slab of muscle walked through the front door, Kevin had panicked. He didn’t know the man, but the look Rio had leveled at him and the way the stranger had stared back, told Kevin all he needed to know. That goon worked for Izan.
“All I’d wanted was to dance and get laid. I can never catch a fucking break. God, I’m so tired of this bullshit.”
He wanted to pull his hair out or punch something. So he slapped the paper towel dispenser.
“Ow! Fuck that hurt.” Kevin shook out his stinging hand. “Stupid dispenser.”
A knock sounded at the door. “Kev?”
Kevin froze, like he could disappear if he stayed completely still.
The lock clicked with the sound of keys rattling. Rio had a master key. Of course he’d use it.
Rio slowly entered the bathroom, like he was approaching a cornered animal. Kevin wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. What he didn’t want was Rio’s constant concern or the way his mate hesitated at the door.
“I didn’t give you the signal for bathroom backup.”
“I figured you’d appreciate the privacy. But I also figured you’d try to climb out the window, so here I am.”
The words landed somewhere in Kevin’s chest, thick and sticky and too close to real.
Rio was never going to let that go. Kevin had run one time, and now every time he panicked, Rio assumed he would take off.
“Do you see a window in here?” He pointed at the solid wall. “Or maybe you thought I’d use the toilet as an escape hatch into the sewers.”
“It was a lousy attempt at levity.”
“At my expense.” Kevin shot forward and shoved Rio in the chest, but his mate didn’t budge. He just stood there, hands tucked into the front pockets of his slacks.
Kevin tried again, only this time Rio caught his wrists. Even now, he handled Kevin like he was something precious, not a threat to be managed.
“Let go,” Kevin hissed.
“I won’t let you hurt yourself, Kevin.”
“Fuck you. My life isn’t a joke, Rio. You’re only experiencing a sample size of what I deal with. If it’s not an asshole who thinks bottled water equals ownership, it’s a boyfriend trying to strip away my identity, or a father who blamed a small child for adult decisions.
They weren’t mates, which made it too easy for her to walk away, yet I caught the blame.
Those are only three examples out of a hundred.
I’m over a century old, yet I can’t recall a moment in my life where I’ve truly been at peace.
You’re my mate, Rio.” Kevin yanked his wrists. “Do I need to say more?”
“No.” Rio shook his head, the movement almost imperceptible. “I’m supposed to be your safe landing. But I let the fear of losing you to the monsters circling overhead to slip out. I would die to protect you, but what if that isn’t enough?”
The fear in Rio’s eyes was so genuine, it nearly broke Kevin.
“You’re the first person to be that honest with me. But that doesn’t forgive that cheap shot at my expense.” He lowered his gaze. Rio was standing too close, and all Kevin wanted to do was fall into his mate’s arms. He wasn’t even sure if he was in the right, yet he couldn’t stop arguing.
“I looked up and you were gone,” Rio said.
“What was I supposed to think, Kevin? You literally took off twelve hours ago. You’ve only been back an hour.
Maybe I shouldn’t have joked about the window, but can you blame me for thinking you ran again?
Stop running and I’ll stop assuming it’s your default setting.
” He released Kevin’s wrists. “I’m not your enemy. ”
“I didn’t leave,” Kevin pointed out. “I’m literally still in the building. In the bathroom. That’s not running, that’s… pacing. And who the hell was that guy?”
“Name’s Ameer Kingston. Sheriff says he’s got a record. Assault, harassment, the works. Most of it pled down. My guess is he’s Izan’s enforcement, but I haven’t confirmed it.”
Kevin gave a sharp bark of laughter. “You haven’t confirmed it? He’s not here for the garlic bread.”
Rio shrugged. “The timing fits.”
“There something you’re not telling me?”
“I’m telling you the truth. I don’t have reason to lie.”
“Sure you do,” Kevin shot back. “Everyone lies. Sometimes it’s just easier than caring.”
For a second, Rio’s expression flickered, but he didn’t blink.
“I care. That’s the damn point.”
“Bullshit. You don’t know me.”
“I know you better than you think.”
Kevin looked away. Nobody really knew him.
They just tried to control him. His own father was nothing more than a stranger to him.
Kevin hadn’t talked to him in over a decade.
The last time he’d reached out, his dad had told Kevin to stop pretending he cared.
He’d done his job raising Kevin to adulthood so leave him alone.
He closed his eyes, refusing to mourn a relationship that never existed. As shitty as it was, it existed for Kevin. How messed up was he that he cared about a man who never wanted him in the first place?
“I’m not any good at this,” he muttered.
“Neither am I,” Rio admitted. “I’ve been solo for too long.”
“It’s different for you.” His mate had chosen to be single. Kevin never had a choice.
“How is it different for me?”
Kevin paced the small bathroom, making it two steps before turning around. “I keep fucking up. Doesn’t matter where I go or who I’m with. I always find a way to ruin things.”
Rio leaned a shoulder against the wall. “Because you sabotage everything good. That’s easier than putting in the hard work. Fate might’ve given us the pull to find our mate, but left the rest for us to figure out on our own.”
“Then we are so screwed. I’ve got miles and miles of daddy issues you are not equipped to handle. I’m not even equipped to handle it, hence the running.”
Rio smiled. “We’ll tackle them one mile at a time.”
Kevin would rather run laps around the globe than face the damage his father had caused. He wasn’t ready to crack that door open, let alone step through it.
“No.” He shook his head as he stepped back. “I’m not digging through a graveyard of emotional destruction. Those memories are buried for a reason. I’m not trying to be difficult, but nothing on this earth will convince me to grab a shovel.”
“Then Plan B,” Rio said. “Destroy the shovels, cover the graveyard in concrete, and be disgustingly happy together.”
“Denial and suppression.” Kevin nodded. “That’s a much better plan. Unhealthy and a thousand percent chance of backfiring spectacularly, but still a much better plan.”
“I won’t let you break.” Rio leaned in. “I’ll just duct tape the shit out of the cracks.”
“You are the strangest man I have ever met,” Kevin said. “But your enabling skills are impressive. Are you sure you don’t have bodies in your basement? You’re a little too eager to use duct tape.”
And yet Kevin would willingly let Rio use it if that meant avoiding a past he’d barely survived the first time.
“Last chance.” He looked up at his mate. “You can still walk away from this unscathed.” The pull wouldn’t allow Rio to leave. It was a built-in failsafe no one could circumvent. So why had he given Rio an out?
Fuck if Kevin knew. He walked to the sink and grabbed a paper towel to give his hands something to do.
“That time has come and gone.” Rio scratched his chin. “I lost the choice even before I knew you were my mate.”
“But you knew right away.” He thought back to last night. Crashing through the door, flailing and making a mess, then finally sprawling on the floor. Rio had come into the kitchen, then crouched.
“It only took half a second to know I wasn’t walking away from this. Then I felt the pull and my snow leopard wanted to cover your impala in his scent.”
“Or eat him. I can’t believe my mate is an apex predator, and my enamored impala yeeted self-preservation into the nearest trash can.”
“Animal instinct.” He closed that last bit of distance, hands bracketed on either side of the sink.
Kevin glanced up at the mirror, caught both their reflections. His head only came up to Rio’s shoulders. Kevin looked exhausted while Rio looked like he could do this all day.
“What if your involvement bites you in the ass?” Kevin just could not stop thinking of reasons that might push Rio away. Even knowing that was impossible, his brain was not convinced.