Vlad’s lips twitched. Coming from Roman, that was the equivalent of him admitting that he missed him.
“Fine,” he said. “But I want a raise.”
“A raise?” Roman said with a chuckle. “I pay you a fortune, you greedy asshole.”
“This city is fucking expensive and my tastes aren’t cheap.”
“And to think you used to be a country bumpkin who owned two shirts,” Roman murmured, lighting another cigarette.
Vlad’s smile faded. That country bumpkin would have been disgusted and horrified if he could see him now—it he knew Vlad was so crazy about another man.
“That was a long time ago,” he said. “I’m a different man now.”
Was he?
Chapter 24
Sebastian let himself into his flat, locked the door, and took off his Chelsea boots with a relieved sigh. He adored them, but they were still new and weren’t ideal for wearing all day long. Moving his toes to get rid of the stiffness in them, Sebastian padded out toward his bedroom.
He yelped when he saw a figure sitting on his bed in the dark.
“It’s me,” Vlad said.
Sebastian breathed out, pressing his hand to his rapidly beating heart. “Jesus, you scared me! Warn the guy that you’re waiting for him in his dark bedroom. Creep. Normal people wait outside when there’s no one at home.”
“You left the balcony door open.”
Sebastian turned the lights on. “I live on the second floor.”
Vlad shrugged and gave him a look, as if saying, “So?”
Sebastian’s amused smile froze. What was wrong with him? Vlad’s criminal habits weren’t adorable. They weren’t. They were terrible. Vlad was a terrible, terrible person.
“Right.” He peered at Vlad curiously, pulling his coat off and dropping it on the chair. “Why are you here so early? Shouldn’t you be bodyguarding Luke?”
“Roman’s back. My contract is over.”
Sebastian’s stomach clenched.
After a moment, he said in a carefully casual tone, “Does that mean you’re leaving England?”
Vlad’s blue eyes were studying him intently.
Putting on his best neutral expression, Sebastian started unbuttoning his shirt.
“No,” Vlad said at last. “Roman rehired me as his head of security.”
Sebastian let out the breath he’d been holding. Fear knotted his insides when he realized he felt relieved. He had no business to feel relieved.
“That’s...good,” he said, slipping out of his shirt. He felt a little off, unsure. He didn’t know where they stood after the other night’s weirdness—after Vlad had gone all caveman on him. He had liked it. He had liked it too much, against his better judgment. “I mean, that’s good for you, right?”
Vlad shrugged, his eyes still on Sebastian’s face despite Sebastian’s semi-undressed state.
“Have you told Luke about this?” Vlad said. “Have you told anyone else?”
Sebastian frowned. “About what?”
“About—you and me,” Vlad said in a clipped voice.
“Of course not,” Sebastian said, his frown deepening. “Luke knows only what he saw with his own eyes.” He pursed his lips. “I haven’t told anyone—well, there’s Antonio, but you did agree to have a threesome with him, so it was kind of unavoidable. But I would never out anyone without their explicit permission. That’s not cool.”
Vlad kept staring at him with that weirdly intense look.
“What?” Sebastian said.
The muscles in Vlad’s cheek pulsed. “It makes me uncomfortable—that people know. First that Italian, now Luke and Roman.”
Sebastian’s hands paused in the middle of tugging his jeans down his thighs. He wet his lips with his tongue, nausea rolling in his stomach.
So this was it.
“If it makes you uncomfortable, let’s end it. It’s no big deal.” He managed to chuckle lightly. “This was supposed to be sex for fun, no strings attached. If it’s not fun anymore, it defeats the purpose, right?”
Maybe it was for the best. This no longer felt like a no-strings-attached thing. It felt anything but.
“Yes,” Vlad agreed, his gaze still on Sebastian’s face.
“Okay, then,” Sebastian said, forcing out a small smile and trying to ignore the hollow feeling in his stomach. He wasn’t disappointed or hurt. He wasn’t. He was totally cool. He’d always known Vlad would eventually freak out and go back to being “straight” and “normal.” Vlad was just like Mike. Sebastian had been prepared for it. It had been the whole point of having no-strings-attached sex. Vlad had warned him this would happen. He had no reason to feel angry or upset.
“You know the way out,” he said.
When Vlad didn’t move from the bed, he felt a little silly.
“Bye,” Sebastian said pointedly, starting to get pissed off. Why couldn’t Vlad just go? He looked around the room. “I need to feed the cat.”
Where was Hermione when he needed her?
At last, Vlad stood up and moved toward the door, his footsteps slow and heavy.
Suddenly, Vlad stopped, his shoulders and back radiating tension. He swore through his teeth and strode toward Sebastian, grabbed his face and kissed him, his tongue pushing into Sebastian’s mouth, demanding and rough. There was something needy and urgent about that kiss, something painfully angry and desperate. It broke Sebastian’s heart, just a little. This was it. This was it.