“Felipe and I have Chinese at the Tam Noodle House regularly, and sometimes we go to Mather’s or one of the Italian places he likes.” Ansley didn’t need to know it was on days those restaurants were nearly guaranteed to be quiet. “We also visit his family for Sunday dinners and join them for plays and gallery openings. Wedothings.”
Resting his chin on his hands, Ansley drawled, “And let me guess, you always go for Chinese food or to Mather’s on a certain night, and you always order the same thing?”
Oliver hoped the abysmal lighting hid the burning in his cheeks, but he doubted it by the way Ansley rolled his eyes and shook his head with a knowing smile.
“Oh, Oliver, you’re so predictable. Live a little. Be spontaneous. You don’t want your relationship to get stale, do you?” When Oliver didn’t respond, he leaned close enough that Oliver could smell the whiskey on his breath. “Look, I know you love routine, but it gets boring for other people. You don’t want Galvan getting bored with you and finding someone more exciting. You’ve already been together, what, four months?”
“Five.”
“Five months of your routine, that’s a long time to do the same thing. You seem to care a lot about your charming assassin, so let me give you some advice as someone who has been in a relationship with you: novelty is what keeps a relationship alive. You could do with being less uptight about... everything. It’s been three years, and you look exactly the same. I’m sure you eat the same breakfast, drink the same coffee, read the same dreadful magazines, do the same things in bed.”
Oliver’s heart clenched as he swallowed against a knot in his throat and avoided meeting Ansley’s gaze.
“No one is asking you to be a different person, just make an effort to be less rigid. Trust me, you and Galvan will thank me later. Perhaps, you could ask Joe for some tips.”
Tears burned the backs of Oliver’s eyes at Ansley’s laugh, but he shoved them and the wall of emotion back for fear that Felipe would feel them at the other end of the tether. If he fell apart now, he would only make things more difficult for Felipe. Digging his fingers into the rough table, Oliver tried to let the smells and noise overwhelm him until he went numb. It was for the best that he didn’t think or feel, even if he would pay for it later. When Felipe appeared at the table with enough beers for all three of them and a smile on his face, Oliver schooled his features into an approximation of happiness.
“The bartender says Joe is working tonight and should be upstairs in room six on the fourth floor. Whoever is in there now will be done at the half hour mark, so then, we can go up.”
Nodding, Oliver held the grimy mug between his hands and wished he was brave enough to drink it. Maybe with some alcohol in him, things would be better, though that had never been the case. As Felipe told them about what he had seen and overheard, Oliver focused on the weight of the tether beneath his heart. Felipe seemed happy with him. For the five months they had been together, he had been kind and straightforward with him about what he wanted or needed, but what if that changed? What if one day Felipe woke up bored of him or disenchanted with their life together, and he couldn’t leave like Ansley did?
Chest tightening panic lanced through him, and when he raised his gaze, he found Felipe looking at him across the table with concern. Oliver gave him an anxious smile and tightened his grip on his feelings. Their lives were inexorably tied together, but it wasn’t fair that Felipe had to be stuck with someone like him. Oliver would just have to do better than he had with Ansley or any of his past relationships. This time he would be different and try harder. If he loved Felipe, he would have to.
Chapter Eleven
The Green Daisy
Leading Oliver andAnsley up the maze of stairs to the fourth floor, Felipe tried to keep his wits about him in the smoky halls. The quarters were tight as men came and went on the stairs beside them, along with rent boys and fairies relieving others in the brothel. Unlike some of the lavish saloons he had seen out West or even the Parisian style parlor houses he had visited on cases, this was more like a boarding house or the cabins on a ship. It was dim, narrow, and the plaster did little to dampen the thumping and voices coming from the rooms around them. When he glanced over his shoulder to confirm Oliver and Ansley were still behind him as they reached the penultimate floor, Ansley gave him a queer look. Oliver, on the other hand, looked miserable. That was to be expected, considering the circumstances, but he looked more depressed than overwhelmed, though he flinched as someone cried out. Felipe hadn’t felt anything come across the tether, but maybe he had been too preoccupied with the case to notice. He would ask him later.
At the gloomy landing for the fourth floor, Felipe opened his eyes wider, and his vision sharpened as he read the numbers that had been burned into the doors. Outside door six, Felipe stopped and looked to the other men. “Ready?”
“Could they make it any harder to read?” Squinting at the door, Ansley asked, “Are you sure this is the right room?”
Felipe traced the six on the scarred oak for the other man. Ansley needed his eyes checked or to spend more time outdoors; it wasn’tthatdark. Tempering his knock to sound less like an order and more like an invitation, Felipe waited.
“Come in,” a sultry voice called from the other side. For a moment, he feared the bartender had sent him to the wrong Joe, but when he opened the door, he found the man who had levitated outside the Institute for the Betterment of the Soul lounging across the bed, dressed in nothing more than drawers, a corset, and a shawl. The kohl around his eyes had been smeared but hastily tidied at the vanity in the corner. When he saw Felipe, a knowing smile crossed his lips.
