Rialto (Unbreakable Bonds 8)

With a great deal of reluctance, Ian told Wade and Sean to be honest with the cops and tell them everything they remembered. Even the threats. Ian didn’t want the cops involved, and Hollis had to agree with him, but it was an extra set of eyes watching over Ian’s people at Rialto.

They stayed with Sean for a while, making sure that he was comfortable and didn’t have any new information that Wade hadn’t already told them. Sean would definitely be taking some time off. He was about as grumpy as Wade had been about it…well, before Jackson gave him some incentive to lounge at home for a few days.

It was late when they silently walked out of the hospital and to Hollis’s car, both of them deep in thought. They didn’t see Snow or Jude as they left, but Hollis was sure they were both busy doing their jobs. Tomorrow there would be more phone calls and questions. And for once, Hollis welcomed them. They needed all the help they could get. The problem was growing more dangerous by the day, and they had too few leads.

They didn’t speak again until they were home. Hollis turned off the security system and locked the door behind them. While Ian hung up their jackets, Hollis quickly swept through the house, double-checking to make sure that nothing had been disturbed while they were gone. It shouldn’t have been possible, but since the attack on Ian, Hollis couldn’t relax until he made an entire pass through the house.

Luckily, Ian said nothing about it, understanding that it was something to make them both feel more secure.

Hollis returned to the first floor to find Ian in the kitchen, which wasn’t surprising, but he was staring off into space.

“Babe?”

Ian shook his head as if pulling himself out of a spiraling thought. “This has to be someone from Jagger’s old crew.”

Hollis nodded. He’d been thinking the same thing on the drive home but hadn’t figured out how exactly to broach the topic with Ian yet.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. Another restauranteur? Competition? I can’t imagine that person would turn to violence. Bad reviews and even the health department stunt, sure. But attacking me? And attacking my staff? That’s too extreme for most normal people.”

“But Jagger’s crew are made for violence,” Hollis agreed.

“Dammit,” Ian swore softly. “I can’t believe my past is coming back to hurt my people. This shouldn’t be happening. Shouldn’t be possible.”

Hollis walked around the island that separated them and pulled Ian tightly into his arms. “This isn’t your fault. You haven’t done anything to cause this. This fucker is insane. You can’t be blamed for that.”

“But—”

“There are no buts for this.”

Ian wrapped his arms around Hollis, dropping his hands down to cup his ass, which brought a smile to Hollis’s lips. “Except that you’ve got a really sexy one.”

Hollis pressed a kiss to the top of Ian’s head. “And only you get to touch it.”

“What are we going to do? Besides add more security, of course.”

Hollis swallowed back a sigh. He would have liked one quiet, happy evening at home with Ian, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen until they caught this fucker. They needed to take care of this problem.

“How about you grab that Bordeaux you’ve been wanting to try and two glasses? Bring them into the living room. I’ve got something a friend sent me today.”

Ian pulled away and gave him a questioning look before he nodded. Hollis released him and walked into the home office he’d set up in a corner of Ian’s office. He woke up his laptop and quickly opened the email that his friend from the CPD sent him. There were several pages, but he only needed the top sheet. He printed it off and went to the living room, where Ian was pouring them a glass of the dark red wine.

“What secrets have you been keeping?” Ian asked when Hollis appeared.

“No secrets. A cop friend emailed me this today, and I was going to show you tomorrow morning. I wanted us to have one quiet night together.”

Ian opened his mouth, looking as if he planned to apologize, but Hollis glared at him as he stood over Ian. Ian snapped his mouth shut and smiled at him. There would be no more apologies from Ian. This wasn’t his fault.

Sitting down on the couch beside Ian, Hollis handed over the paper.

“What’s this?” Ian asked, his eyes already skimming over the list.

“Those are all the people who were known to work for Jagger who are still living and free in the Cincinnati area.”

Ian’s eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open. “So many? There have to be at least thirty people here.”

“I found out that after all the chaos, the DA was forced to focus on the most dangerous of Jagger’s people. His lieutenants. Those who were most likely to restart his business interests.”