Aiden squeezed his shoulders once more. He wished there was some way to quell his fears but the only ways he could think of required them being alone.
“Maybe this has nothing to do with Shane at all,” Thomas said suddenly. “Maybe Shane was just a means to an end. Maybe this person has just had it out for me from the beginning. Someone who is pissed we killed a partner? Someone looking for people to kill with to replace that partner? It would explain the online activity.”
“Well, we need Calliope if we’re going to chase the rabbit down that black hole,” Jericho said just as the door opened. “There’s no way we can run those leads down without her.”
“Ask and ye shall receive,” Calliope said, breezing in, wine glass still in hand. “Despite my relaxed, vacation-like demeanor, I’ve been on top of our little band of psychopathic misfits. I tagged all of the names and have lots of little bots scrubbing the web, both dark and light. Whoever they are, I will find them. Fear not.”
“So, we’re giving up on the Shane angle entirely?” Atticus asked.
“Not entirely,” Thomas said. “Maybe I just pay them and see what happens? Maybe it all goes away.”
“No. We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Asa said.
“Yeah, we’re not giving this dick our inheritance money,” Avi said. “Besides, he’ll just come back for more or release the story anyway.”
“We could release it first,” Lucas said. “Let Zane write it. Get ahead of it and put our own spin on it.”
“You’re forgetting something,” Calliope said. “If this AlwaysChristmas guy and the blackmailer are one in the same, they don’t just have you dead to rights on that family secret, they know you kill people. All of you. What if they can prove that, too?”
“So, what do we do? Go back to the beginning?” Mac asked.
Thomas closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Let's just call it a night. Come back to it in the morning with fresh eyes.”
The others looked like they wanted to protest but Calliope gave them a subtle shake of her head. Once all of them had filed out but her, she sat on the table beside Thomas’s chair. “How you holding up, buttercup? You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine,” Thomas said warily.
“Anybody with eyes knows you’re clearly not fine. But are you okay? Can you handle this?” Calliope asked.
That was a good question. All the strain couldn’t be good for him. He had too much heart. Aiden never worried about Thomas’s physical health before. Thomas was always the fittest one in the family. He went to the gym nearly every single day, ate clean, and didn't smoke. Hell, his only vice was liquor and even that was only after a fight with Aiden.
But Aiden would be lying if he said he couldn’t see the strain was taking a toll on him. Aiden needed to take better care of him. And maybe, for once, Thomas would actually let him.
Calliope gave Aiden a hard look that seemed to convey that she expected him to take care of this…of him. “Why don’t you guys go take a shower…or a bath? Yours is probably big enough for ten people.”
“What are you going to be doing?” Thomas asked.
Calliope shrugged. “Well, first, I’m going to work my magic on those keys and see if I can’t dig up some more information on our Mulvaney counter-strike serial killers. Then, if I’m lucky, I might get to do Lola.”
Thomas coughed in surprise. “Calliope.”
Calliope laughed. “What? You asked.”
“And on that note…” Aiden said, letting his words trail off as he tugged Thomas to his feet.
“Good luck,” Aiden said in lieu of a farewell.
“When you look like me, honey, you don’t need luck,” Calliope said.
“I meant with the computers, but I admire your confidence,” Aiden said, shaking his head.
“Night, boys.”
Thomas had never been one for baths. Showers had always seemed far more efficient and he rarely had time for languishing in lukewarm water. But now, lying back in the tub with Aiden straddling his hips, massaging his chest with soap-slick hands, he was thinking maybe he’d been too hasty.
Aiden was taking it slow, almost too slow, digging fingers into the muscles of Thomas’s shoulders, his arms, his chest. He ran his fingers through the hair there, running his thumbs over his nipples, teasing until he was half-hard and squirming beneath him. He couldn’t help himself. When Aiden continued his exploration, palms running lower to his stomach, Thomas arched up into his touch.
Aiden’s thumbs traced the ridges of his abs. “You have a very nice body, Mr. Mulvaney. Has anybody ever told you that before?”
