“What?”
“Your friend,” the policeman repeated. “How close are you? Do you know hisfamily?”
Panic like Angelo had never known roared in his ears. Faint and dizzy, he grabbed the policeman’s arm. “He’s myboyfriend.”
* * *
The optimistic declarationdidn’t get Angelo very far. The policeman led him through the cordon but then dumped him in the back of an open police van and ordered him to stay put, and with armed officers as far as the eye could see, he had little choice but to do as he wastold.
Eventually, a plain-clothed officer came to find him. “AngeloGiordano?”
Angelo slithered out of the van. “Yes. Where’s Dylan? Is heokay?”
The officer held up her hand. “ID?”
Angelo passed over his ancient provisional driving licence. “Where’sDylan?”
“He’s safe,” the officer said. “A few cuts and bruises, and he’s a bit shaken up, but he’ll beokay.”
Relief rushed through Angelo and cleared his mind, blowing away the haze of panic that had left him so dizzy. “Whathappened?”
“A client brought a machete into the office and triggered a terrorist alert. We have him in custody now. Dylan and his colleagues are at the council offices next door. I’ll take you therenow.”
Dazed, Angelo followed the officer through the eerie closed-off streets. The need to get to Dylan outweighed every emotion somersaulting through him, but as they got closer to the second cordon, perspective came back to him. Was Dylan expecting him? Or would he flip his shit when the police announced Angelo as his boyfriend in a room full of his work colleagues?Shit.What if Dylan wasn’t even out at work? Whatif?—
“He’s in the last room on the right.” The officer touched Angelo’s shoulder and turned him gently in the right direction. “The team in there are expectingyou.”
She probably meant her smile to be reassuring, but Angelo felt sick. He’d barged his way into this part of Dylan’s life under false pretences and seemingly couldn’t stop. His legs moved of their own accord and carried him into the nondescript building and down a dreary corridor. A policeman at the end took his name and pointed to a closed door. Angelo touched the handle and resolve crashed into him. If Dylan was angry that he’d lied to get to him, Angelo didn’t care?—couldn’t care?—because nothing mattered except putting his hands on Dylan and knowing for sure that he wasokay.
He opened the door. At first, the small room appeared empty, but then he saw Dylan sitting on the floor in the corner, bruised and bleeding arms a cage around his head. “Dylan?”
Dylan looked up slowly, his gaze hooded and heavy. “Angelo?”
Angelo crossed the room and dropped to Dylan’s side. He pulled Dylan close and wrapped his arms around him, holding him so tight that he didn’t know where Dylan ended and he began. “I’m here, baby. I’ve gotyou.”
* * *
Dylan was wrecked.“Please, Angelo. I just want to gohome.”
“I know, I know.” Angelo held him tight. “I’ll get you out of here, Ipromise.”
But escaping turned out to be easier said than done. It took a while for the paramedics to check Dylan over and then for him to convince the police to let him leave, and by then, the reopened streets were overrun withpress.
They snuck out a side door and jumped into a waiting cab. Dylan said nothing on the journey back to Romford, and by the time they pulled up outside Dylan’s place, his trembling outshone Angelo’s, even on his worstdays.
Alarmed, Angelo swiped the cab driver’s machine with Theresa’s debit card and hauled them both out of the car. He patted Dylan’s pockets for his keys and let them into the flat. Safely inside, he leaned back on the front door and released a long breath. The hint of colour returning to Dylan’s cheeks eased the worry banding his nerves, but it wasn’t nearlyenough.
Dylan toed off the grey plimsolls he wore to work, his gaze fixed on the floor. Angelo went to him and took his hands. “Do you want sometea?”
“How did youknow?”
“What?”
“How did you know where to findme?”
“The police told me. I?—um?—said I was yourboyfriend.”
Dylan stared blankly. “They never mentioned that. Just said that someone was waiting for me. When they said your name, I thought I’d imagined it and my dad would come waltzingin.”
