Shiver (Unbreakable Bonds 1)

Fuck. Andrei had a pretty good idea himself.

Not one to apologize, Lucas just shrugged and gave the man his sexiest smile, then watched as Andrei’s breathing picked up. Lucas wasn’t even sure Andrei knew he had reached up and loosened the tie around his neck.

Snow threw his head back and laughed like he usually did with Rowe. “Oh, to be a fly on the wall in your penthouse right now. It’s probably the best show in town. If not already, then it will be soon. Rowe aware you two are here on a date?”

“It’s not a date,” Lucas assured him. “He’s still here in an official capacity and I’m working.”

“Makes the role-playing that much more fun, doesn’t it?” Snow’s attention was snagged by something over Lucas’s shoulder.

He glanced behind him to see someone a lot more Snow’s type giving him a look from the next table over. Nobody could ever call that wide-shouldered man a twink. Lucas looked again at Snow to see the lurid plans already forming in his friend’s head. He barely held back from rolling his eyes. Instead, he waved the hovering waitress over and had her get him a whiskey and Snow a refill. He looked at Andrei.

“Soda water with lime.”

He hadn’t expected the man to order alcohol while on duty, but sometime he hoped to see Andrei drunk. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to watch that tight control disappear.

“So,” Snow said slowly as if dragging his mind from the temptation he’d spotted. “That detective—Hollis—returned to the hospital and asked that I let him know if more people come in with the same bruises on their thighs. I went through the files because I generally don’t get called to handle beatings. Besides you, there has been only one other — Thomas Lynton.”

Lucas nodded, glaring down at the table. “That what Rowe told us.” He’d been hoping for a little more information, something that might shed some light on who was behind this and why.

“But I did make a couple of calls.”

Lucas’s head snapped up and for once Snow looked a little uncomfortable. “Do I want to know how many laws you’ve broken?”

“None yet,” Snow growled. “But if I dig any deeper I could definitely lose my job.”

“Snow—”

“Two others suffered similar attacks. Obvious beatings but the bruising was similar to yours.”

“Who?”

“That’s what I’m not allowed to know. HIPAA fucking privacy rules.”

“Rowe’s got someone who can find out that information,” Andrei volunteered. He scooted to the edge of the sofa, resting his forearms on his knees.

Lucas forced his mind away from the enticing fact that Andrei’s knee was just a few inches from his own. So close it wouldn’t take much to reach out and run his hand along that strong thigh. But his mind jumped back to the idea of Rowe sending his hacker through protected hospital files. There went the straight and narrow.

“No,” Lucas sighed.

“But—”

“Not necessary,” Snow interrupted Andrei. “One was taken to St. E. South in Kentucky and the other was taken to Good Sam. I don’t have names but my contacts confirmed that both likely had more than seven figures in their bank accounts.”

Lucas swore, shaking his head. “Someone has hired these bastards out to put pressure on Cincinnati’s rich. Why? I’m the only one buying in Price Hill. I’ve checked.”

“Then what?”

Without warning, Geoffrey was back, followed by a red-face, angry bouncer. The little guy wrapped his arms around Snow’s neck from the backside of the couch and whispered something in the doctor’s ear. Snow’s mouth dropped open.

Lucas gave his employee a withering stare.

“He’s little, fast, and slippery,” the guy said, holding up his big hands. “He was in the cab and on his way off, I swear. I didn’t even see him slip back in until he was nearly here.” He put his hands on Geoffrey’s hips and tugged him.

Lucas could tell the bouncer was trying not to hurt the guy and he got it. He was pretty sure he’d never seen anyone that delicate looking in his life.

“Come on, little dude. It’s time to go all the way home this time.”

A loud shot sounded and a hole appeared in the couch right next to Geoffrey. He pulled away from Snow, frowned, stared at it. “Whatzthat?”

There wasn’t time for a response as Lucas found himself on the floor with over two hundred pounds of muscled bodyguard on top of him as loud gunfire drowned out the music. Glass shattered and Lucas twisted to see shelves of vodka bottles exploding along with the mirrored wall behind them.

Screams and stampeding feet overpowered the music and everything became a blur of noise. He saw Snow’s shoes as the doctor jumped to his feet.

“Idiot! Get down.” Andrei reached out and snagged Snow’s hand and tugged him hard enough to make the man lose his balance. He hit the floor with a grunt. “I know your first instinct is to help, but you have to wait. Lucas’s bouncers had one down already and were close to the second man.”