“You’re changing the subject.” Jono stroked his knuckles over Patrick’s cheek. “Stay. You need to eat.”
“I can eat later.”
Jono stared down into Patrick’s eyes before pulling his own mobile out of his pocket. He texted Emma, letting her know they were leaving. “Right, come on. Let’s go.”
Patrick sat up, eyeing him. “Where?”
“Home, like you said. Sage will make sure Wade gets enough grub. We have leftovers back at the flat if we get hungry.”
“You don’t have to leave because of me. You can stay here.”
“I don’t want you gone, I just want you back.” Jono smoothed his hand over Patrick’s messy ginger hair. “You’ve been lost in thought since the meeting in the park earlier today. This news article isn’t helping. I hate seeing you like this.”
Patrick sighed tiredly, the troubled look in his eyes something Jono wished he could wipe away. “I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”
“We’re a pack. Where you go, I go.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”
Jono ignored Patrick’s mutterings. The past week had been hellishly long, with Patrick working loads of overtime to deal with the cleanup and the case. The dark circles beneath his eyes weren’t due to getting punched but from lack of sleep. Jono wanted to lock Patrick up and feed him before letting him sleep for a week straight.
He settled for taking Patrick home.
Patrick spent the drive there with his head resting against the window, staring blankly at the street traffic passing them by. Every line of his body screamedleave me alone, and Jono had no clue how to keep Patrick from chewing on the latest problem. Before the mess with Tremaine and Tezcatlipoca, Jono wouldn’t think twice about using sex to distract Patrick, but they hadn’t had sex since before the night Patrick came down from his drugged-out high.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by his mobile going off, thePsychoringtone filling the car. He and Patrick shared a look.
“Are you going to answer?” Patrick asked.
“I haven’t answered them all week.”
“Maybe you should. I know the PCB has been in touch with their lawyers.”
Jono made a face before giving in and letting the call sync to the Bluetooth in the Mustang. “What do you want?”
“We need to talk,” Estelle said.
“I’m not going to help you get your story straight if that’s why you rang.”
“Maria summoned us tomorrow to the construction site in the Meatpacking District. That isn’t her territory and never has been. She said you would be there as well. I want to know what’s going on.”
Patrick raised both eyebrows in surprise at that revelation. “Huh. Didn’t take Maria long to grovel.”
“What?”
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Jono said before ending the call without giving Estelle the answer she so desperately wanted. Even if he knew it, Jono wouldn’t have helped her.
Patrick already had his mobile out, typing away. “I’ll text Carmen and see what’s up. The meeting tomorrow is news to me.”
Jono left him to figuring out when the meeting was going to happen and what it would be about. He focused on getting them home.
Finding parking on a Saturday night was difficult but not completely impossible. Jono ended up parking a block away, and they walked home in silence. Their hands brushed together, and Jono sighed quietly when Patrick reached for him, tangling their fingers together. Patrick didn’t let go, not even when they made it inside the flat and Jono was pushed up against the closed door.
Patrick’s free hand curved around the back of his neck, fingers running through the short hair there. Jono settled his other hand on Patrick’s hip, staying where he was put.
“You’ve been keeping your distance,” Patrick said, his eyes searching Jono’s. “Is it because of what I did to you at Grand Central?”
Jono shook his head. “I already told you how I feel about you tapping a ley line through the soulbond. It doesn’t bother me.”
