“I’m mad at you for not letting me take you away from all this and going somewhere we can be together and don’t have to hide anymore.”
“Ivan had to hide his affections for other men too, Talon.” Javier nuzzled the other man’s neck and planted a kiss there. “The world doesn’t need to know about us, does it?” He slipped a hand under Talon’s shirt and caressed the ridges of muscles on his abdomen. “I know what you need.”
Talon sighed and grabbed Javier’s wrist before his fingers could connect with his nipples. “Not here. Anyone can come along.”
“Kiss me first, and I’ll stop. Show me you’re not angry with me.”
Talon tilted his head and Javier pressed his mouth to the other man’s. Javier nibbled on his bottom lip, then licked his way into Talon’s mouth. Talon moaned, and Javier smiled.
“I can never stay angry with you, and you take advantage of that,” Talon said.
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“Then it better be good because I’ve got news for you.”
Javier scanned Talon’s features as they faced each other. “Eh, the way things have been going, it’d be good news if someone told me they found a puppy in the yard and I get to keep it.”
Talon smiled. “Is that right? You want me to buy you a puppy, Jav?”
Javier scowled. “Puto.”
Talon’s smile only grew into a grin. “Tu puto.”
“Don’t you forget it.” Javier returned to his desk. “So what’s the news?”
“I uncovered a lead about who Ivan might have been with the night he died.”
“You did?”
“I was asking around again if someone had noticed anything odd about that night. One of the men at the gambling house mentioned a boy came in, although it wasn’t the night boys usually did.”
Javier’s heart skipped a beat. This was what he needed. If he could avenge Ivan’s death, the family would respect him more.
“What else?”
“He apparently left shortly after Ivan did.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Javier said.
“Neither do I. I asked around and discovered the boy works the streets for Nolan.”
“Nolan?”
“He runs one of the brothels we protect in exchange for a cut.”
“That beady-eyed slimeball who couldn’t keep his eyes off you the last time he came here because he skimmed us?”
Talon’s lips curled into a knowing smirk. “The same.”
“Bring him here and the boy.”
This was the closest Javier had come to figuring out what had happened the night Ivan was shot multiple times and left for dead in an alley as if he were no more than a dog. There was no love lost between him and his brother, but they were family, which meant loyalty regardless of personal feelings.
“I’ll get on it right away.” Talon started for the door, but Javier couldn’t let him go like this.
“Cariño.”
“Hmm?” Talon turned, his hand on the doorknob.
Javier took in his lover’s face, chronicling as much as he could—the thick eyebrows, the straight nose, and the sharp cheekbones. And the lips Javier must have kissed a thousand times since they became lovers.
“Ten cuidado.”He swallowed hard. “If anything happens to you…”
Talon smiled. “Now you understand what I go through when it comes to you. If there’s ever a day I don’t return, rest assured I would’ve fought like hell to come back to you.”