Shiver (Unbreakable Bonds 1)

Anxiety churned in his stomach. There were so many things that could still go wrong, but there was a different shadow in his mind. The fear of nothing going wrong and Lucas having the chance to return to the life he’d been living before he’d met Andrei. Did he really have to give up Andrei? No, that wasn’t an option any longer and they both knew it. But could they just…continue as they were? Fucking. Laughing. No strings and no complications. That couldn’t be hard. They both had their own lives and their own friends. They could just arrange it so that their paths crossed on occasion. That’s how relationships worked, right? He was so useless when it came to this shit.

Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. This was not a good line of thought. Not for eight in the morning. He jumped slightly when his cell phone vibrated in his breast pocket. It was too early in the day for Snow and Rowe to contact him and Candace was in her office. Pulling it out, he frowned at the unknown number but he answered it.

“Lucas, I’m out,” announced a rough, older voice in rush.

“Thomas?” Lucas demanded, taking a moment to place the voice. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“Someone broke in last night. Shot at us. He shot at Marilyn!”

“Calm down, Thomas. Tell me exactly what happened.”

“I’m telling you, someone broke in and tried to kill us,” the older man nearly shouted. He took a deep breath, the sound rattling over the phone. When he spoke again, it was obvious he was trying to keep his voice low and even. “After midnight, someone set off the alarm, breaking into the house. He shot our bodyguard and tried to kill us. Our bodyguard managed to shoot him as well, but he got away. The police don’t think he’ll survive based on all the blood that’s splattered across my walls.”

“I’m sorry, Thomas. What can I do?”

“Nothing. We’re out. I’m calling my lawyers today and making it clear that I’m selling my property to whoever wants it. Patrick is already dead and Marilyn could have been killed last night. It’s not worth it.”

“I understand. Sell it to me.”

“What?”

Lucas paced away from his desk to the windows looking out on the river. It was a dreary day, the sky a dull gray of thick clouds that promised a cold rain. “Sell it to me. I’ll buy it for whatever you paid for it. I’ll hold it untouched for six months. If this is cleared up and you find that you want it back in six months, we’ll swap and pretend I never bought it.”

Thomas was silent for several seconds. There was only the sound of his heavy breathing on the line. “But that will put the bastard on your tail.”

“He already wants me dead and I know I’m close to nailing the son of a bitch. I’ve got less to lose than you.”

“But—”

“When you hang up with me, call your lawyer,” Lucas directed, his voice low and forceful. “Tell him to contact my lawyer, Sarah Carlston. I’ve already talked to her about this. She’ll help speed up the paperwork. If your man is good, we can have this all filed away by close of business today.”

“Are-are you sure?” Thomas’s voice wavered.

“Sign the paperwork and then take Marilyn to the Seychelles for a couple of weeks. You’ve both earned the rest. When you get back, we’ll do brunch at Orchids.”

“Yes,” he said slowly as if still trying to convince himself. “Yes. That is a good idea. You’ll have to bring Andrei along. Marilyn would like to see him again.”

Lucas smirked. Andrei was going to be amused to find that the Lyntons were anxious to see him again. Apparently the man had made an excellent impression on Marilyn. “Of course. We’ll talk when you get back.”

Thomas hung up and Lucas sighed, shoving his phone into his pocket. He’d warned Sarah as soon as Andrei had gone undercover at the fights that he would buy Thomas Lynton’s Corryville property if his lawyer approached him. Uncovering the bastard threatening their lives was taking far too long and the Cincinnati police were proving to be useless in this matter. Sure, he could have been a little more forthcoming with information, but he’d also been unwilling to completely sacrifice his privacy so that they could dick around in his life and waste his time finding this fucker. And truthfully, after the initial attack in the alley, Lucas had been all too eager to handle this personally.

But he understood Thomas’s need to get out. He was surprised the older businessman had stuck it out as long as he had after the death of his partner. No, Lucas was happy to take care of this matter alone and then hand the land back to Thomas when the man returned from his impromptu vacation with his wife.