Winter's Knight Read online

  “Practice,”Lucianrejoined, and heard Shea snort.

  “You people finished blowin’ each other up there?” Chance called fromhis seat severalheads down.

  “Only just begun,” Lucian replied. “But by all means, distract me from an unfortunate early emission and tellus ofyour time in... where was it?”

  “Amsterdam. The real one.” Chance grinned, and Ryuu spoke to the ceiling in Japanese. “You fuckin’ loved it. Don’t give me that shit.”

  Ryuu tolerated a wet kiss to one cheek, and Lucian concentrated on eating while Chance stole center stage with a story about accidentally propositioning a foursome. In minutes the table was laughing, Tim was blushing, and even Clark looked quietly horrified. Lucian eyed Shea and nudged Shea’s wine glass closer to his hand.

  Shea chuckled and picked up his drink to take a longsip. “It’s like family, huh?”he asked.

  “Yes. Cannot take them anywhere in public, killing them isn’t an option, and they require alcohol to tolerate.”

  “Good drugs wouldn’t hurt, either,” Aaron mentioned.

  “Final course,” Lucian promised, and he noticed his hand was on Shea’s arm seconds after he’d made the move. The rest of the table, however, seemed to be striving not to stare, and Lucian let go and firmly held his fork.

  Dinner passed quickly with Chance’s stories and Clark’s wit. Lucian kept an eye on Shea, liking the smiles and the laughter and disliking the flickers of confusion bordering on unease. Lucian brushed Shea’s leg under the table during one bad spell, and it knocked the negativitymomentarilyoffcourse.

  While the group sat drinking tea, coffee, or liquor, the staff cleared out with the deft efficiency Lucian enjoyed. Lucian glanced at a clock over the fireplace in the corner, and he nodded to Cale, who stood immediately. Aaron finished his glass of Brandy and followed suit without a word, and Becca rose to sweep around the table to whisper to Claire.

  “Oh!”Claire said, finishingher coffee as she rose.

  “Lovely to have you,” Lucian said, standing and staying at the head of the table. “Forgive us for such an unsavorycombinationoffood and business.”

  “It’s no, uh, problem,” Claire said, blushing pink and wavingher hands.

  “Not at all,”Becca said witha smile.

  “Coats, sir?”Cale asked.

  “Closet in the den,” Lucian supplied, hoping the nitwit at the door had done as asked before leaving.

  “Thank you for your hospitality, sir,” Aaron said, nodding.

  “You are entirely welcome,” Lucian said. “I’ll let youknow should there be anythingofnote for you.”

  The bodyguards guided their significant others out of the room, and Becca shushed Claire when the woman started whispering questions. Lucian repressed the temptationto chuckle.

  “We should go, too, then,” Galen said, rising with Jin. The two came over to Lucian, kissinghis cheek and wishinghimwell.

  “You got shit for us?” Chance asked, standing and rubbing his stomach and shaking Jin’s hand when it was offered onthe wayout.

  “It wouldn’t hurt to have your input,” Lucian said. “Much.”

  “Fuck.” Chance sighed. “Takin’ a leak. Feelfree to start without me.”

  “Me, too,” Ryuu said, following Chance out of the room.

  “Probably would be wise not to touch the towels in the downstairs bathroom when they’re done,” Clark mused.

  “After last time, Chance knows better,” Lucian said simply, retakinghis seat.

  Shea leaned toward Lucian and asked, “Should I take a hike, too?”

  “Not necessarily,” Lucian answered, meeting Shea’s lean in the middle to speak near one ear. He curled his fingers around Shea’s forearm, and Shea’s hand clasped the touch before letting go. Lucian took a second to fall in love with the idea of Shea understanding what it meant for Lucian to be so easy with contact. Shea understood the gravity, and the net made it easier for Lucianto fall.

  “Some of this family leaves when they know they have no part in our business dealings,” Lucian explained. “Some choose to go so they don’t know more than they’d like, but I wanted you here to see and to have the choice.” One of Shea’s curls tickled his nose, and Lucian’s cheek brushed Shea’s in a frisson of contact. Shea’s dark eyelashes lowered. “I’d like you to stay, but the decisionis yours.”

  “I’ll stay,” Shea said. His eyes opened, and he quirked a grin. “Been wonderin’ what you do in your hightower.”

  “Paperwork, mostly,”Luciandroned, sittingback in his chair.

  “Shall I go fetch Chance from the world’s longest piss, sir?” Clark asked, fingers entwined with Daniel’s on the tabletop. Tim laughed, retaking his seat next to Shea, freshglass ofwater inhand fromthe kitchen.

  “I heard that,” Chance bellowed before entering the room. “Fuckin’ impatient bitches.” Chance resumed a place at the table. Ryuu daintily wiped his mouth with a pinky finger and sat sideways in his chair to drape his legs over Chance’s lap. He set an iPad on the table and tapped at it.

  “One of these days we should really go hunting, Chance,”Clark said, standing.

  Chance snorted. “You and me alone in the woods withguns. No thanks. I like mynuts attached.”

  “Then shut up so I can call the meeting to order.” Clark stood straighter, Chance didn’t seem to have a retort, and Clark cleared his throat. “I hereby call to session a status meeting of Kinky Bastard Vigilante Personal Gain Enterprises. We welcome Daniel Germainand Shea Ollivander to the table.”

  “New attendees noted,”Ryuusaid.

  “Fantastic,” Clark said. “And Chance, since you’re so eager to get to round two with your boy, why don’t yougo ahead and talk Break.”

  Clark sat down, and Chance launched into the latest ideas for Break in the coming year. Each of the other owners valued the club for its privacy, safety, and as a place to conduct business in a shroud of protection and trust, but Chance loved to use it as a canvas for sweeping fantasy as well. Lucian kept the ideas within the realmoffeasible, but he liked Chance’s enthusiasm.

  When Chance finished, Tim spoke up with talk of equipment he could make in his own shop and what needed to be ordered to make Chance’s dreams into reality. Chance agreed, mentioned a conversationwitha State Representative who showed interest in Break, and the meeting continued. Lucian monitored Shea, who seemed to take everything in stride. Shea had grown up with Chance, Ryuu, and Clark, and knew plentyabout Lucian’s business to follow alongwithout a problem.

  Lucian also knew, however, that Shea would see that Break held all their vested interests, and was a symbol of how the four men supported each other in all their ventures. Fromcharity causes to bidding on public works projects to voting, they each helped the other succeed, and the favors they swapped were both currencyand insurance.

  Sipping at a well-watered whiskey, Shea sat back and watched silently while the group spoke of an art show and the new director of tourism. Eventually the updates waned, and Luciansteepled his fingers.

  “Tim?” Lucian asked. “How is your search going to find a second construction company to contract for your site prep and restorationwork?”

  “Ongoing. Right now we’re working with Reynolds Construction, and they’re slow. My site manager and the CEO don’t see eye to eye onquality, either.”

  “Mm,” Lucian nodded. “Shea? You chose to work for your Steve Walker. Do youback him?”

  “Yes, I would,” Shea replied without hesitation. “He’s solid. Small fry compared to you, but honest and knows what the hell he’s doin’. Hasn’t looked for more, having enough to feed all his guys’ families has beenenough.”

  Lucian hummed, met Tim’s gaze, and waited until the architect snapped a nod of affirmation. “Do you think Steve would be solicitous to a proposal from Akkard and Associates?”Lucianasked Shea.

  “He’s no idiot,” Shea said. “He’ll jump on it. And it’llbe a blast to see himdo well.”

  “Good deal,”Timsaid, s
miling.

  “Excellent,” Lucian said. “Thank you, gentlemen. I do appreciate the communication among our various corners ofthe city.”

  “Aw, and we do it all for you, Majesty,” Chance drawled.

  “Naturally,” Lucian said smoothly. “What other motive is there?”

  “Don’t tango with his ego, Chance,” Clark said. “It’ll have you hog tied before you make your second move.”

  “What you two bastards do on your own time is none ofmybusiness,”Chance said.

  “So unfortunate that you make your private life so painfullyobvious to the rest ofus,”Luciansaid.

  “You fuckin’love it.” Chance groped and squeezed Ryuu’s groin for all eyes to see, grinning like a starving wolf. Ryuu bit his lower lip and waved Chance’s hand away.

  “So,” Chance said. “Now that the niceties are over, we talkin’ the serious shit or what?”

  “Clark,”Lucianintoned.

  At Lucian’s word, Clark nodded and beganmaking a report on the underbelly beneath various façades. The latest murders associated with gang activity in Gehnbatton. The influx of illegal substances being filtered through the Russian mob connections. Funding cuts to the city’s police department. A senator recently outed as homosexual in the throes of media scandal. Crimes, dirty games, statements of life in a city where favors were the currency of choice and most of the money was laundered after a bloodbath. Clark spoke quickly, concisely. Most of the report was meant to be informative, less actionable, though Clark’s contacts were assisting a task force within Narcotics to staunch the flow of cocaine fromNewAmsterdam’s harbors to points south.

  WhenClark got to the politicalmaneuverings ofone Hendrick Gray and listed who was currently on the man’s payment and bribery schedule, Lucian leaned forward. “Thank you, Clark. As everyone knows, we keep close tabs on my dear father and on those he keeps in his intimate circle. And we’ve linked severalof those names to a string of murders we believe connected to a club called Haze.”

  “The kink club just outside the city lines?” Tim asked.

  “That’s the one.”

  “You mean you haven’t got it shut down, yet?” Chance asked. “Damn, Lucian. What’s the hold up?”

  “Priorities,” Lucian answered. “Not to mention red tape and information. As long as the club stays open, we have a better chance of making links between victims and patrons that might actually stand up in court witha decent lawyer.”

  “Which means that people will continue to get killed,”Timpointed out.

  “Sad but true,”Lucianacknowledged.

  “What do youknow so far?”Danielasked.

  Lucianquicklyoutlined the victims’ information. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucian saw Shea stiffen, sitting forward to follow this conversation far more closely than the others. Lucian liked the interest. “Most of the victims are women for hire who were seen more than once at Haze.”

  “That’s what you call a ‘connection’?” Chance scoffed.

  “The older injuries on the bodies are dislocated shoulders, long thin scarring, assorted broken bones, and burns,” Clark said. “And the deaths are allmade to look like auto-erotic asphyxiation or drug overdose during bondage play with a client who conveniently leaves no trace, record, or tie.”

  “Sounds like bad Scene,” Chance conceded. “But what the hellcan we do? Take a field trip to Haze? We already talked to everybody we knew the first time this came up on His Majesty’s hit list. Might look a little fuckin’ conspicuous if we all traipse in at once, you think?”

  “That’s why you send in a spy, moron,” Ryuu said, quiet and fixated onhis iPad.

  Chance grunted. “Well. We ain’t done that, it’s true.”

  “I’ve got a few people I could talk to at Break, see if they’d be interested in earning a little extra to scope out the competition,” Clark said. “People who owe me and whom I’d trust to watch and not interact, to listen and not speak.”

  “Is there anyone in this city who doesn’t owe you a favor, Clark?”Timasked, smiling.

  “What can I say?” Clark asked with a shrug of artifice. “I’ma helpfulguy.”

  “It’s a new avenue we’ve not explored,” Lucian said slowly. “But the implicit danger is a concern.”

  “Would be shitty to lose a good resource, eh, your royal pain in my ass?” Chance said to Lucian, who ignored him.

  “There’s a fairly large contingent of ex-military on the member list for Break, sir, as either guests or standing, non-VIP members,” Clark said. “Some of themmatchup to the profile I just described.”

  “Get me names and rationale,” Lucian said, and Clark nodded smartly.

  “Good. Anything else?” Lucian asked. The men collectively shook their heads, and Lucian stood, signaling that the meeting was finished. “Thank you,” he said.

  “Sure, Lucian,” Chance said. “And happy fuckin’ birthday.”

  “One can hope there will be fucking,” Ryuu muttered, smirkingat Lucianand tossinga coyglance at Shea.

  “I’m sure you’ve done enough to account for all of us,” Lucian said sweetly. He waited until Ryuu’s eyes dropped his, and Lucian touched Shea’s upper arm. “If you wouldn’t mind staying, I’d like some time with you,”he said to Shea, tone far kinder and sincere. “And don’t worry. Any fucking would be entirely at your discretion.”

  “Uh... sure,” Shea said, far more guarded than Lucianliked and without a trace ofreturned humor. The muscles of Shea’s jaw and neck were stiff, but he walked a graceful half-step behind Lucian as Lucian escorted everyone else to the front door.

  Lucian shook Daniel’s hand, hugged Clark, and endured another of Chance’s embraces. When he finally shut the door on the rest of his company, he fell against it with an explosive sigh. “Thank you,” he said, hesitant but hopeful, and Shea stood with arms crossed and forehead creased. “For being here tonight,” Lucian continued. “It made everythingmuchnicer.”

  “Yeah, no problem.” Shea’s eyes went to the floor, and Shea tied himself into a tighter knot, knuckles going white as he gripped his upper arms. “Didn’t figure on the gorydetails ofwhat youdo.”

  “I see.” Lucian crossed to Shea, slowly, and cupped one elbow with a light palm. “I wanted you close to me, to see that I view you as an intrinsic, trusted person in my life and... Well. I always have.” Lucian paused to stop babbling. “I’m sorry if the talk distressed youinsome way. I didn’t mean--”

  Shea looked up and shook his head abruptly, but his hands loosened their death grip. “You didn’t. But you... Aw, fuck I’m gettin’ off track, and I have to tell you.”

  “Tellme what?”Lucianasked.

  Shea took a deep breath. “Were some’a the girls -the victims -- called ‘Lily White,’ ‘Rose,’ and ‘Dazzle’?”

  The alarmbells that rang in Lucian’s head drowned out sensible thought for a suspended second. “How do youknow those names, Shea?”

  “I met ‘emat Haze,”Shea said.

  The words sent horrified, glacial, lunatic fear down his spine and into his balls, and Lucian’s train of thought led straight into a No Man’s Land of impossible reality. “Haze,”he repeated.

  “Yeah,” Shea answered. “I had ta say something to you ‘cause if Clark’s sending someone, I’ve gotta warn you. Nothin’s what it looks like, and most ofit’s fuckin’ dangerous.”

  Lucian shook his head and Shea’s arm. “What were you... Wait. How do you know anything about... You don’t even do...” Memories of a certain night on a couch that undermined what Lucian thought he knew about Shea dropped into his center like a ton of lead. Lucian glared at Shea with some mixture of outrage, shock, and terror. “Youplayed at Haze?”

  Shea squared offinfront ofLucian. “Yeah. I did.”

  “But...” Lucian ran a hand through his hair and tried to calculate a way to pry answers out of defensive posturing, and struggled to rise above the screaming improbabilityofit all. “But why? Youknow me.”

  With an exasperated,
startled laugh, Shea shook his head. “But no fuckin’ clue you were interested, Luke. You were Lucky Luke, Prince Luke, Luke who fucked a thousand--”

  “The hell does that matter?” Lucian yelled, gesticulating wildly. “You’re my best friend, and you knew I played, I opened a goddamned club, remember? You may have heard of it? I only told you every fucking detail in a thousand conversations over years of planning, so... If you wanted to play, why... why in the... why in the hell didn’t you...” Lucian stopped so he wouldn’t stammer. Images of dead bodies in ditches kept flashing over and over in his mind, and it was getting hard to breathe. “Why didn’t youtrust me?”

  Stepping forward, Shea wrapped his arms about Lucian, and the tangible comfort temporarily shut down Lucian’s tirade. “Shit,” Shea muttered. “I didn’t trust nothing. I hid everything: went outside the city, made cover stories to hide fromeveryone who knew me.”

  “Wait,” Lucian said, pushing at Shea until the man relinquished the hold. There was too much trying to sort itself at once, and Lucian found solace in command. “You’re right. You do need to tell me everything. From the fucking beginning.” Lucian shoved Shea’s immobile bulk. “Familyroom. Go.”

  Shea took Lucian’s hand, and Lucian ground his teeth at being so well known. For a second, there was nothing but Shea’s fingers around Lucian’s, and Lucian sighed at himself. They walked past the stairs, through the kitchen, and descended shallow steps into a sunken sittingroomwitholder, less formalfurniture and shelving full of Lucian’s favorite books. A two-story stone fireplace stood cold in one corner next to a bank of windows opening onto the backyard terrace. Lucian slapped a switchonthe walland dimlight and warmfire flared to life. Shea sank into one of the couches, and Lucian dragged a leather chair around to sit and face Shea. He took a seat, spine straight, legs crossed, and fingers drumming on the arm. “You’ll start with when youfigured out youhad aninterest inScene.”

  “Fine. Uhm. Grade school?” Shea looked bemused.

  “Oh, good,”Luciandroned.

  Shea rubbed the back of his neck. “It was kinda strange. I mean, everyone knew I was the smartest kid, but I never wanted to do shit. I amlazy. But then you’d come along and get in my face.” Shea smiled. “You pushed me, hounded the fuck out ofme, but when I did what I had to do to beat you, it always felt amazing.” Shea’s tone turned reverent, and Lucian resisted the urge to fidget.