Miles
ThepicturesIfoundof this man don’t do him justice. Every emotion is written on his face, and the faint freckles over his nose are more pronounced from the harsh flush of red. A mix of defiance and terror. The latter is winning out. Unsurprising.
“A-about what?” Matthew asks, gaze darting between us. The light blue is almost fluorescent in the dark lighting of the room. Fascinating.
“Who let you in here?” The door wasn’t locked, because no one would dare come in here when Xavier had made it explicitly clear the room was off-limits. No staff would have directed him anywhere near here.
“There was a man, in a suit. I thought he worked here?” Matthew visibly swallows. “I asked if he’d seen someone of Hunter’s description, and he took me here and said it was fine to come in.”
Did he, now? Without another word, I turn and approach the laptop where Xavier was watching us. Easy enough to find the recordings and the right corridor that leads to this room.
“Matthew, I’m very sorry for getting you involved in this,” Hunter says. He sounds more composed than I would have given him credit for, after the way Xavier and I worked him over.
“It’s okay.” The words waver, not quite a truth, not quite a lie.
“There.” Paused at the very moment that Matthew approaches the man. An unfortunately familiar man. I curse under my breath, fingers itching to hunt him down and hang him off the nearest set of stairs.
“Lester Clarence,” Xavier murmurs, stepping up behind me and looking over my shoulder. “What the hell is he doing in my hotel?”
Nothing good.
“Who is that?” Hunter asks. “Another acquaintance?” He raises an eyebrow at us in not-so-subtle judgement.
“In a manner of speaking. Miles, lock the hotel down. If he’s still here, I want him found.”
If we find him, he won’t be leaving this building alive. He and his boss are done being thorns in our sides. This time they made it personal, and there’s no surviving that insult.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I make the appropriate phone calls, first to the manager on call in the restaurant and then in the hotel. They’re paid excessively well for their discretion and don’t ask any questions.
“What is going on?” Matthew mutters under his breath. He goes to stand, and I place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly and keeping him in place. When he looks up at me with his big blue eyes, I shake my head subtly. He won’t be moving from that spot until we give the say-so. He slumps into the seat and nervously wrings his hands.
Hunter grasps Xavier’s elbow, halting him. “Instead of being vague, why don’t you answer the question? I keep getting dragged into your mess, and I want to know why.”
“You are my mess, darling.”
“Xavier.”
Matthew watches them like he’s at a tennis match, going back and forth between them, unable to settle on one. I understand the indecision. They’re both aesthetically pleasing, in different ways. Together they’re a masterpiece.
“He’s Roger’s pet. Does his dirty work.”
“And this Roger has a grudge against you, why?”
Xavier shrugs. He dislodges Hunter’s hand and takes it in his own, lifting the back to his lips. Their eyes meet as the kiss lingers. The heat between them is unmistakeable, even after already having satiated themselves. In all the years that I’ve known them, that spark has never gone out, not for a single second.
“Everyone wants to be me.”
“And the real reason?” Hunter asks, unimpressed.
“Thatisthe real reason, whether you want to believe it or not. He took offense at decisions that I made that cut into his profit, and I showed him the door. He’s never forgiven me for it.”
A nice way of saying that while Xavier was cleaning up his father’s mess, Roger preferred to keep certain aspects of the business going, and Xavier told him to get out, or he could share the same fate as Xavier’s father. It was enough of a threat to make Roger tuck tail and run. He’s never been quite this bold in his attempts to undermine Xavier, however.
“This happens a lot, then?” There’s a hint of worry in Hunter’s gaze. He slips his hand from Xavier’s and wraps it around the side of Xavier’s neck. “If he’s so dangerous, why haven’t you gotten rid of him?”
Matthew flinches under my hold. He looks up at me again, looking for answers. He won’t get any here. He’s not part of this world, only stuck in it.
“He’s an annoyance. Unimportant.” Xavier mimics Hunter’s hold, both of them clinging to the other. “Until now. He dies for this.”
