Rebecca didn’t answer. Robby left her a message telling her she could meet him at the Elite headquarters tomorrow morning. His hands had shaken so badly Calder had taken the phone from him and hung it up as if worried he might somehow damage the equipment. Robby was just done with this day. He wanted to go home. Except, they weren’t going home. They were going to a safehouse.
They rode in silence, Southern rock playing softly from the speakers of the Land Rover, which was new enough for Robby to still smell the leather. His stomach churned, dread heavy like a stone in his belly. What did it say about his family that he didn’t know if he could trust his own sister? What did Linc’s not accepting Calder’s resignation mean to their relationship? If one could even call it a relationship.
“Are we over?” Robby blurted.
He wanted to suck the words back into his mouth before they’d even left his tongue, but it was too late. Calder glanced over at him, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses, his mouth gaping slightly. “What? Why would you even think that? Have I given you any reason to think this is done?”
Robby shook his head, embarrassed. His misery coursed through him, a living creature with claws and fangs, shredding his insides and his sense of what was real and true. He felt raw and needy, everything in his life uncertain except Calder, and yet, he worried he couldn’t trust that either. They were temporary. That was the unspoken agreement they’d had since this began. But then Calder had said that he cared about Robby. That he was too important to him. He’d quit his job to be with Robby in every way and not be a liar.
Calder took Robby’s hand, lacing their fingers together, just as Robby had done to him in Linc’s office, squeezing tight. “I know you’ve had a rough couple of weeks, angel, but you’re tilting at windmills. We’re fine. We’re better than fine. Okay?”
Was he making problems where none existed? Imagining enemies that didn’t exist? Was he only imagining his father as an enemy? Was his sister really just reaching out for help? These last few months, his life had spun out of control. He’d felt completely alone and hopelessly lost at sea without a shoreline in sight. And now, there was Calder and he made everything so good that it made the idea of losing it feel like it was the worst thing imaginable. He had no idea where any of this was coming from but he felt like it was choking him. He couldn’t even answer.
Calder turned the truck into the parking lot of an old brick fire station. Robby frowned at Calder, his minor meltdown temporarily halted by his confusion. Calder clicked a button, and the red door of the garage rose, allowing them to drive in before it closed behind them. He got out, throwing a latch of some kind—maybe a lock—before opening Robby’s door and helping him from the car.
Robby expected Calder to turn and lead the way inside, but he crowded Robby up against the side of the truck, cupping his face. “Tell me what’s bugging you. Really.”
“I can’t.”
“That’s not like you, angel. You always tell the truth, even if it scares you.”
Robby stared at a stain in the brick over Calder’s shoulder, his heart pounding like he had just run a marathon. “I’m not afraid it will scare me. I’m afraid it will scare you,” he muttered.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m pretty unflappable.”
Robby met Calder’s gaze, blinking tears from his eyes. He took a deep breath, feeling like there was only one way this conversation would end. “I think I’m in love with you.”
Calder laughed, and to Robby’s utter humiliation, he began to cry harder. Why was he like this? Then Calder’s arms were around him. “I hate when you cry, sweetness. You’re breaking my heart. Why are you so upset?”
“Because this is all temporary. I’m either going to prison, or we’ll figure out what really happened to that guy in my apartment and I won’t need your protection anymore, and then you’ll just be gone and I’ll be alone again,” Robby wailed into Calder’s t-shirt.
“Angel, I love you too, but I have to tell you, you have a flair for being dramatic.”
It took too long for Calder’s words to penetrate, but when they did, Robby was in the middle of a big hiccuping sob. He wiped his face on Calder’s shirt before looking up at him with wet eyes. “You do?”
Calder tilted his head, looking at Robby like he was crazy. “I quit a six-figure job for you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, that ass is fantastic, but I wouldn’t quit just to have sex with you. I could have lied to Linc, but I knew the minute he saw us together he’d see what everybody probably sees when I’m with you, and that’s that you own me, sweetness. I’d do anything for you.”
Robby’s head spun at Calder’s words. “Really?” he managed, dragging the back of his hand across his runny nose like a five-year-old.
“Yes, really. Now, please, please, stop crying. Let’s go inside and take a shower.”
“I’m sorry.”
Calder pressed his lips to Robby’s forehead. “Don’t be sorry, angel.”
He stepped away from him, pushing him towards the door that Robby assumed led into the interior of the fire house. Calder punched in a door code and swiped a key fob over the pad. The door gave loudly. Robby didn’t know what it was made of but it was heavy and cold, so he assumed it had to be heavy-duty material. Steel, maybe?
Past that door was a staircase leading upstairs. It was definitely no longer a fire station. Floor to ceiling windows allowed sunlight to stream inside the large living space and kitchen. The place had an ultra-modern feel, which was to say it felt stark and barren like a hotel room. There was no warmth. No energy. It was nothing like Calder’s well-loved couch or the bed that smelled like him. It was just another place to hide. Like Robby’s sterile apartment. A place where people stayed, not a place where they lived.
He found Calder in the bedroom, gun in hand. Had he had it with him the entire time? Sometimes Robby forgot that Calder had the skills necessary to kill if he had to. He supposed the thought shouldn’t turn him on but it did. He watched silently as Calder checked the chamber, clicked something on the side of the pistol, and set it inside the top drawer of the side table beside the king-size bed.
Calder wrapped his arms around Robby from behind in a bear-hug, walking him into the bathroom. He flipped on the tap, undressing first Robby then himself as the water heated to an acceptable temperature. Calder washed Robby thoroughly, paying almost too much attention to his ass, teasing his soapy fingers between Robby’s cheeks, grazing his hole just enough to make him whine in frustration. By the time Calder declared them both clean, Robby was already hard and Calder wasn’t far behind.
They dried each other off and wandered back into the bedroom where Robby flopped onto the fancy, overstuffed chaise with a sigh, starfishing himself so his arms and legs hung off the side. Calder grinned at him, straddling Robby and leaning down to hover over him. “What’s the matter, sweetness?”
“I hate this place,” Robby said.
Calder laughed. “This place was designed to be both incredibly safe and ridiculously luxurious. We’ve guarded princes in this house. Diplomats, pop stars, even a magician once. You miss your fancy pants apartment?”
