Divide & Conquer (24 page)

“Yeah,” Ty agreed contentedly. His fingers played with Zane"s hair, his body relaxed against Zane"s. He seemed perfectly happy to just sit there and hold Zane for the rest of the night. He cleared his throat and moved his chin to rest it on top of Zane"s head. “We"re never going to find that lube,” he muttered in wry amusement.

“We"ll get more,” Zane murmured, gears still spinning as he tried to deal with the questions and uncertainty crashing down on him.

Somewhere in it all was a pang of upset: wasn"t loving someone supposed to be a happy thing? He cursed his innate habit of analyzing everything to death and turned his face into Ty"s arm. “How about bed?” he suggested quietly. “I"d….” He shivered again.

Ty"s chin moved again, and Zane got the impression Ty was peering down at him. “You"d what?”

Zane bit his lip for a moment before answering. “I"d really like you to hold me for a while,” he whispered. It felt odd to say it like that, something so innocuous yet meaningful.

“I don"t know… you"re all sweaty,” Ty said with mock distaste.

He pressed his mouth and nose to Zane"s cheek and smiled so Zane could feel it. He inhaled deeply, growling on the exhale. “You smell good, though.”

The weight on Zane"s chest let up a little as Ty kept his response light. Zane wasn"t sure what he"d been expecting. He reached out to drag his fingers down Ty"s chest to his belly, where Zane"s come had smeared between them. “Could shower first,” he offered.

“No point in that,” Ty murmured. “Yet.”

Zane grunted inquisitively.

154 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty smiled against his cheek again, then pulled his arm away and pushed himself to his feet with a groan. “Oh my God,” he bemoaned.

“I"m too old for that.”

“Ha!” Zane scoffed from the floor. “As the man eight-plus years older than you who just got fucked to the point of not being able to remember to breathe, I disagree.”

Ty"s hand found his and pulled him to his feet. He pulled Zane closer despite both of them still being sticky and kissed him chastely.

“Are you complaining?” Ty asked seriously.

“Not even a tiny bit,” Zane murmured as he found his physical balance. He leaned closer into Ty"s arms, seeking the comfort he craved and needed for his emotional balance, which felt like an unbolted teeter-totter.

“Good. "Cause that took a lot of energy,” Ty said with obvious amusement. He let his hand slide down Zane"s arm, and he took his hand. “Come on. I want to keep you in bed long enough for that pasta to go bad.”

GRAHAM stood on the sidewalk, staring wide-eyed at the door. What the
hell
kind of fight were those guys
having
?

He held the envelope between damp fingers. He"d written it quickly. He"d wanted to follow Mr. Garrett and his friend, but he"d missed them leaving the restaurant while he"d been washing dishes. He had been so panicked for a moment he"d almost told Leticia that he needed to go after them, but then he"d overheard Ryan talking about delivering to Mr. Garrett"s and realized they had to have his address in the delivery logs. Turned out his place was only a block away, close enough he could walk there on his break, and so he had, shaky but determined.

Graham had to tell someone what Pierce was doing. Who better than an FBI agent who couldn"t see his face to identify him?

But now, standing here, listening to what sounded like a violent disagreement inside, Graham was having second thoughts. The door Divide & Conquer | 155

actually rattled as someone pounded on it erratically. Well, the other dude
had
looked awfully angry when they were at Chiapparelli"s.

Graham swallowed hard, steeled himself, and gripped the confession in his fist as he stepped up to the door. He wouldn"t knock, because there was no way he was going to interrupt whatever epic battle was going on inside, so he smoothed the letter out with shaking hands and slipped it under the door.

It got stuck in the rubber doorstop and wouldn"t push all the way under. Graham cussed to himself and shoved it harder. It crinkled up, and he stopped. Another bang and thump against the door followed by what sounded like a shout of pain made him jump back, and he looked up at the door, heart hammering in his throat. The letter wasn"t going anywhere, but he sure as hell was.

He turned and jogged to the corner and around the block, back to the restaurant and safety.

156 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

ZANE shifted as he came awake. He was warm, half-wrapped in the sheet, but something was missing. He frowned and reached out, his hand catching on the rucked-up quilt before coasting over the cool sheet beside him. Zane pushed himself up on one elbow as he started to rub at his eyes. After a moment, he made himself stop. It wasn"t like it was going to help. He still couldn"t see anything. His chest clenched painfully.

“Ty?”

“I"m here,” Ty grunted from somewhere near the edge of the bed.

He sounded like his head was down, his voice hoarse.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just… restless,” Ty answered, his voice lacking its usual liveliness, even if he had just woken. “Couldn"t sleep.”

“You could go for a run,” Zane suggested. Sometimes getting Ty up and moving helped.

“I was thinking about going to the office,” Ty countered, sounding guilty.

Zane frowned. “Thought Mac told you to stay home. If he sees you, he"ll get that pinched look on his face, like he bit into a lemon or someone twisted his shorts.”

“That"s how he always looks when he sees me,” Ty muttered, almost under his breath. “I"m sorry. I just can"t sit here anymore. I need to find someone to bully into telling me what"s happening.”

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It had been all of one day. Zane shook his head and made a mental note to stock up on shiny things to divert Ty the next time they lucked into vaca—time off from hell together. “Yeah, okay,” he said as he pushed at the sheet to untangle it from his legs.

“Do you want to come?” Ty offered uncertainly. “If I can find Alston, I can blackmail him into giving me something. It won"t take long.”

“I think I"ll pass on actually going in,” Zane muttered. He didn"t want to be around anyone like this. Not yet. “Blackmail?”

“Long story. Involves a duck and a can of oregano.”

“Don"t tell it, please.”

He felt Ty"s hand on his arm, rubbing comfortingly. Ty had been unusually tactile since the hospital, making up for Zane"s lack of vision by touching him whenever he was able, as if he somehow knew how much it helped. Zane closed his eyes, grateful for it. He covered Ty"s hand and squeezed gently. It was easy to think black thoughts when you were stuck in the dark, and Ty"s touch helped him resist it.

“Breakfast first?”

“Sure, why not,” Ty replied easily. Zane felt him lurch off the bed, and when he spoke again, he sounded like he was stretching. Zane had an immediate vision of Ty"s lean, nude body in the dim light of the bedroom, and he flushed with warmth, not really registering the words when Ty said, “I"ll go start it up.”

He listened as Ty got dressed, probably throwing on his jeans and one of his numerous Tshirts. Zane didn"t hear him pad out of the bedroom, but he could hear him banging around in the kitchen, cussing at the tiny, run-down space, talking to the pots and pans. Zane smiled.

There were reasons they spent most of their time together at Ty"s row house instead of here.

By the time he got up and moving, Zane could hear the bacon sizzling, and the smell of sausage wafting out of the small kitchen area made his mouth water. He could smell the toast, too, and knowing Ty, there would be scrambled eggs. Ty didn"t cook a lot, but the man could fix a mean breakfast. Zane made a stop in the bathroom and then sat at the bar that separated the kitchen from the little living area.

158 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

“You know what I realized?” Ty asked, picking up the conversation he"d been having with the pots as if Zane had been there for the first half of it. “I don"t have a car.”

Zane opened his mouth to correct him but caught himself. They"d taken a cab home from the hospital, and the office had sent a car for Ty yesterday. “Where"s my truck? You didn"t bring it back yesterday?”

They"d walked around the block to the restaurant for dinner last night; Zane had assumed Ty had put the truck in the Little Italy parking garage when he came back from the office.

“That rookie I made drive me to the hospital took the keys.

Truck"s still parked at the office. That"s another reason for me to go in today.”

“Maybe one of the guys can pick you up?”

“It"s past nine. Everyone"s already in. Hell, I"ll just take a cab or ride the bus or something.” Something about his voice was odd as he stood in Zane"s kitchen fixing breakfast, and it took Zane a little thinking to pin it down. Ty didn"t sound gruff or hurried. He didn"t sound agitated or even all that concerned. He was at ease despite the need to get up and go. It made Zane a little nervous, but in a good way.

“What"s wrong?” Ty asked him, apparently picking up on it. “It"s not exactly like I"m going to be attacked on the bus.”

Zane shook his head, still reconciling the warmth curling in his chest with the idea that Ty might be happy here, just doing something as simple as making breakfast. “I have no idea what the schedule is around here,” he said.

“I"ll figure something out. Come eat,” Ty said, and Zane heard a plate set down on the bar in front of him. “Wonder how a gun on public transportation goes over? Or two guns, for that matter.”

Zane slid onto the battered bar stool and had a stroke of inspiration. “You do have another option,” he mentioned.

“Oh yeah? You know I can"t really sprout wings out of my ass and fly, right?” Ty asked, a smile in his voice.

A smirk pulled at Zane"s lips, and he let it show. He loved teasing Ty, and this one always got him riled. “The Valkyrie"s out back.”

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Ty coughed and sputtered, like he was choking on a bite of food.

“Hell, no,” he finally said with difficulty. “I"ll walk.”

Zane chuckled and felt around for the fork he"d heard Ty clank onto the plate. It was mean, but he loved poking Ty about the Valkyrie.

He supposed he shouldn"t, what with knowing about Deuce and the accident. Ty had taught his younger brother how to ride and left him his bike when he joined the Marines. Deuce had wrecked it not long after, ruining his leg and any chance of following in his brother"s footsteps.

But Deuce seemed to take it all in stride, so Zane didn"t really see the harm in teasing Ty about his absolute hatred of all things with two wheels. “Okay,” he said after several mouthfuls of scrambled egg.

“Bureau won"t reimburse cab fare,” he reminded, just to get in one more dig.

“That"s okay,” Ty assured him in an overly sweet voice. “I"ve got your wallet.”

Zane grinned. “I don"t have any cash. When have I been able to go to the bank?” he said reasonably as he munched on a piece of bacon.

“Cabs take credit cards,” Ty reminded.

Zane wrinkled his nose. “Fine,” he said on a sigh. “Can I have jelly for my toast?” He heard a jar clink down on the bar, and Ty was grumbling. Not really understandably, but obviously irritated now.

“I haven"t been on a bike in twenty years,” he said, more to himself than to Zane.

“Maybe not a good idea, then,” Zane allowed reluctantly. He could
see
Ty on the Valkyrie, and it was a gorgeous vision to think about. But this wasn"t a do-or-die situation, like playing chicken with a New York City taxicab. Zane shivered as he momentarily felt his stomach drop just at the memory.

Ty sighed heavily. “I guess it is a better option than walking my happy ass out of the city,” he mumbled.

Zane blinked and straightened. “What?”

“Can I borrow your goddamn motorcycle to go to the office?” Ty asked, resigned.

160 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Zane"s jaw dropped. “You"re not seriously going to take the Valkyrie.”

“I could hotwire one of the cars in that parking deck, but they don"t take kindly to that sort of thing "round here,” Ty drawled.

“All these months, all the times I"ve asked you to ride with me, and you"re finally getting on the Valkyrie when I
can’t see it
?”