“Ian, if he’s trying to hurt you, even kill you—” Noah started, his voice soft and so sensible, but Ian didn’t care.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ian snapped. “We have to at least try. Just talk to him. Try to help him.” Ian had no plan in mind, but his resolve firmed. If this was a kid hurt by Jagger, then they would find a way to help him. Give him the same chance Ian had. Give him a second chance at life.
Hollis tightened his arm around Ian, squeezing him so he could soak in more of his husband’s strength and warmth. “We’ll try, baby. We need a solid lead first. I’ll contact my friend at the CPD. The triplets will dig as well. Hopefully we find something useful soon.”
Ian nodded, but he didn’t have any doubts in his mind now that they’d finally kicked over this stone. Ian was sure that at the end of the trail to the person that was trying to ruin Ian’s life, they were going to find someone who had their life ruined by Jagger.Chapter FifteenIan pulled the lasagna from the oven and set it on the stove in Lucas’s penthouse. He looked around the kitchen, and the nostalgia threatened to bring him down. His hand strayed over the counter’s smooth surface in a gentle caress. So many new recipes had been tried in this kitchen. And so many had bombed, but Lucas had given a safe place to experiment. Countless breakfasts. Promising to come over for that first meal of the day twice a week had been the only way Lucas grudgingly accepted Ian moving out on his own. He hadn’t even asked Ian to cook. Breakfast had been Lucas’s guarantee that they’d see each other twice a week.
Those quiet meals together had been the starting point of too many arguments to count. Lucas didn’t want Ian to move out. Lucas pushing Ian to open his own restaurant. Ian fighting Lucas over the amount of bacon he was allowed to eat. Lucas growling over Ian’s dating attempts. Ian growling over Lucas’s pathetic dating attempts.
The penthouse wasn’t the first place he’d lived with the guys, but it was the last place he’d lived with any of them before moving out on his own. It was a refuge. A sanctuary.
It was home.
And tonight was their last night in the place. Most of Lucas’s, Andrei’s, and Daci’s personal items had been moved into the new house Lucas had built in Indian Hill, a huge sprawling place with a big yard and more rooms than they could possibly need just for their family. There was even a cute little cottage being built for Andrei’s parents at the edge of the property.
But before the doors could close on the penthouse, he, Lucas, Snow, and Rowe had decided on one last hurrah in their home before it went up for sale.
He gazed over the light honey wood and brushed nickel decor, then walked to the massive window that looked over Roebling Bridge and a wide swath of Cincinnati and the Ohio River. He’d miss this view and this gorgeous penthouse where they’d spent so much of their lives. They’d gathered on the balcony every year to watch the Labor Day weekend fireworks that were shot off from barges on the river. They’d watch snow falling in dancing swirls and bright flashes of lightning in brutal summer storms. Every holiday. Every major event. It all took place here.
And soon someone else would be living here where he had so many memories. It felt like their place. Made him sad to think it would be no longer.
Snow walked up to him and handed him a glass of wine. “Food smells good.”
“I went with something easy, so we’d have more time together.”
“Only you would think lasagna is easy, especially since I know you make that sauce early and let it simmer all day.”
Ian shrugged and looked back outside. “I’m going to miss this.”
Snow turned toward the window too. “So will I. I kind of hate that they’re moving, but I certainly understand why.”
Rowe and Lucas were in the living room, talking about some new toy Rowe picked up for Ward Security. Andrei had taken Daci out with his parents for the evening, so they had the place to themselves.
The little girl’s presence was felt in the various pieces of baby furniture dotting the rooms. There was a high chair at the dining table and a playpen in the living room. Framed photographs had been taken down and packed already, but normally, the walls were covered with images of Daci, Andrei, and Lucas. The penthouse hadn’t changed much when Andrei moved in. It continued to feel like the comfortable bachelor pad that it was. But that little girl had added a layer of warmth and love Ian hadn’t thought possible.