Angelo scrubbed his hand down over his face, “The boss has told you repeatedly to stop calling it a bat-cave.”
“I am not—” Rio had been about to yell at them both that he could not drive into a fucking imaginary freaking cave, bat one or not when a hole opening up in the face of the cliff stopped him in his tracks.
“Huh?” Cade’s eyebrows drew together in a frown, “It’s a cave and has all the tech and we even have an Alfred.”
“Drive, Rio.” Lo smacked Cade on the shoulder, “Will you shut up.”
“Shh, you know you love me.”
Rio chewed on the corner of his lip, ignoring the ache in his chest. He was not jealous. Not at all. “You all can walk from here.” He could just go home, pretend this day hadn’t happened. Although, maybe he would be better off making a bee line for the Rio Grande instead. But he could decide once he was away from these crazies.
“Nope.” Angelo chambered a round into his weapon to emphasize his point. “Drive.”
“Rude much.” Cade told him, “I told you to be nice.”
“And we sell scappaccioni, my friend.”
“Please come with me?” Cade ran a hand down Rio’s arm. “Please?”
“Bah.” This was so fucking stupid. It was official, he was an idiot. This type of shit was how people ended up in the clutches of serial killers. Except, he had met Cade’s bosses in Brazil. He knew they were military but not much more. “Okay.” Rio made a split-second decision and shifted the car into gear, lining its nose up with the entrance,
It took all his concentration to drive into the tunnel, he was sure with a bigger truck that the paint on the wing mirrors would be scraped off the sides. In the mirror, he caught the frown Angelo sent Cade’s way, and if he wasn’t mistaken, that was worry for his friend that the man didn’t bother to hide.
He flicked on the lights, illuminating the passageway ahead. Now that he could see better, Rio drove on a slightly downward trajectory for about half a mile before the tunnel opened up into a massive cave.
“Park there.”
“Okay,” Rio pulled the car into a marked parking spot, barely having time to switch off the engine before Cade opened the door and stepped out, tripping over the seatbelt in the process.
“Idiot,” a voice Rio recognized as Cade’s boss’ growled, “What the fuck have you done?” Rock caught Cade as he stumbled, before turning to scowl at Rio, “So, you’re here. That’s nice.” If any more condescension dropped from his mouth, it’d stain the freaking floor. “What did you give him?”
“Um, he turned up at my house like that.” Rio should have expected the hostile welcome. Didn’t stop it from stinging a little though. Why did nobody ever want him around just because he was him?Cade does.His inner voice reminded him.Oh, shut up.
“Bring him.” Rock nodded toward Rio, “Put him in room one and search him. I’ll take dumbass to the mash.”
“Yes, Sir.” Angelo said.
“No.” Cade shrugged off Rock’s hand, stumbled, and nearly face planted in his effort to get to Rio. “He’s with me.”
“Nope,” Rock caught him again before he could hit the floor, “We have a special place for idiots.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cade weaved where he stood, “I know there is a special place in hell for me, it’s called a throne.”
“Bah, for the last time, it’s sick bay, the medic room, or the mash, not freaking hell.”
“It’s got needles,” Cade’s words slurred so much, Rio could barely make them out, “Same difference.”
“Go.” Rio didn’t know why Cade was so insistent on staying with him. It was kinda sweet, could you call a man like Cade sweet? Eh, he would do it anyway. But he could see the temper or maybe it was frustration that Cade’s boss was holding back. “You need to get checked out. I’ll be okay.”
“Umm.”
Rio ignored the warm feeling in his stomach. That should not be there, what should be was a healthy dose of self-preservation, maybe a little caution, but nope. What he had was the warm flipping fuzzies. Argh, he was an idiot, acting like a freaking kid with a damn crush. Why did this man studying him make it feel like they were the only two in the room? Wait, scratch that, not the room, but the only two in the bat cave.
“Go.” He’d be fine, he was almost sure these men wouldn’t kill him. The Bossman had said put him in a room; unless that room had snakes or was a torture chamber, Rio was pretty sure they weren’t lying. “You need to get checked out. Come find me when you are done.”
After searching his face for a couple of seconds, Cade finally agreed. “Okay.”
“Smart choice,” Lo muttered. They watched Rock and Cade leave through a metal door a couple of feet away from where they had parked. “Boss was about two seconds from knocking him out and hauling him to the doc like a sack of potatoes.”
