CHAPTER 29
The bar was an Armory original, a part of the structure Rothgar hadn’t completely ripped apart to upgrade for security or comfort. Clusters of big leather chairs sat among relics of the past, including an old clock from the Civil War era—which Flynn had probably rewired—and a wall stacked with barrels once used for moonshine.
Shane found Romeo at the bar swathed in a red blanket falling off one shoulder, looking like a depressed superhero. The big man himself was dressed down in gray sweats, and if he was sick, he was, nonetheless, drinking gin on the rocks.
Nick sat next to him, a chiseled Adonis in a suit, downing something fancier involving olives and a swizzle stick. He lifted his drink to Shane in greeting.
Shane went behind the bar, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and took a seat across from the guys. “You’d better be really fucking sick,” he said to Romeo.
Romeo gazed at him with hooded eyes. He actually looked in pretty bad shape. “You do her?” he asked.
Shane took a giant gulp of beer. “I don’t know how you do what you do. On call. Just like that.”
“I like pussy,” Romeo said.
“I like pussy too,” Shane said. “I just like having a say ’bout what tail I’m gonna pursue.”
Romeo stuck a piece of ice in his mouth and crunched down. “Sometimes having a mission on the line just makes it hotter.”
“You like having Rothgar in your ear while you fuck?” Shane asked.
Laughter all around on that one.
“Kinda have to side with Shane,” Nick said. “But mostly because those Russian chicks need more meat on the bones for my taste. I like a bigger canvas on which to do my art.”
“Been Anya’s ‘driver’ a couple of times,” Romeo said with a cocky grin. “She’s lonely, she’s got a boyfriend who doesn’t do it for her, and she likes to fuck the help. Probably because she’s tired of being bossed around, wants to call the shots. She give you head?”
Shane drank his beer and stared across the bar at a point over Romeo’s head. In his peripheral vision, Romeo grinned and elbowed Nick. “Rumors look to be true.”
“What rumors?”
“That the lights have gone on at last. A man’s not gonna complain about Anya Gorchakov sucking his cock unless he’s got someone serious on his mind.”
“She’s sweet on the eyes,” Nick said across the bar. “Dex’s sis, I mean.”
Shane’s gaze shot to Nick. “You treat her with respect,” he barked.
All that got Shane was another grin shared between his brothers across the way, there. “Seems like you’re the one going scorched earth,” Romeo said.
Shane put down his beer. “How’s that exactly?”
“You’re the one who told Dex you messed around with his sister, that she wanted it, and now you’re done.”
“Ouch,” Nick said, with a laugh of disbelief.
“That interpretation has some serious spin, man,” Shane said, getting up for another beer and realizing on the way that he was a little drunker than he’d previously thought.
“And you’re the one with your face between another woman’s legs,” Romeo continued.
“Didn’t give, didn’t take,” Shane said.
Nick and Romeo went silent.
“Started out, thought I could, thought I would. Kissed, yeah, hands all over the place, yeah,” Shane said, taking his seat again. “And it was definitely heading downtown, but I put a stop to it. I know I told Cecily it wasn’t going to happen for us, so I guess I was in the clear, but in that car, with that beautiful Russian chick . . . I wasn’t going there. Just wasn’t. Didn’t want her. Couldn’t do it with Cece in my brain, couldn’t do it to her, even if we’re done.” He leaned his head on his hand and sighed, more exhausted than he could remember feeling in his life.
Nick let out a low whistle.
Romeo stood up, a little wobbly, a lot pale. “Just for the record, I really do not feel well.”
Shane shot a look of irritation toward him for the benefit of Nick, who was smiling around the red straw he was chewing.
“He’s gonna boot,” Nick said.
“Saying that just might make me,” Romeo managed, moving quickly and very unsteadily. “I bid you two a good . . . oh, man . . .” And he was out the door.
“Who drinks gin on a sick stomach?” Shane asked.
“Old family remedy, I’m told.”
“I need a fucking remedy,” Shane said.
Nick slid one of the olives off the pick and chewed. “You’re thinking too much. I realize you’ve probably been blindsided and all, but you’re thinking way too much. I’ve seen you two together. It looks right to me. Why are you fighting it?”
“She’s not Armory material.”
“Nobody expects her to clip bomb wires or steal a briefcase in a crowded restaurant. Why does she have to be?” Nick asked.
“You never think about what kind of woman might fit into your life?” Shane asked.
Nick grinned. “All the time, but, like I said, I need to get back to normal first.”
“How’s that coming along?”
“If it was coming along, I’d still be living in my sweet penthouse instead of shacking up like a fraternity brother in a war compound. Not that the breakfasts aren’t worth it, but still. I like my own space. And I’m worried about my fish.” Nick downed the end of his drink, tossed the swizzle stick and toothpick into the trash, and slid the dirty glass lightly enough for it to zoom down the bar and end just short of the sink. “Put it in park, Shane. You were happy with her.”
“You giving Shane relationship advice, Nick?” Rothgar slid onto the bar stool next to Shane’s.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, boss,” Nick said with a wink before making himself scarce.
“Can’t remember the last time I saw you in the rec room,” Shane said to Roth.
The boss looked tired. “Me neither,” Roth said. “Been building this business a long time. Work never ends.”
Shane ran his finger along the wood grain of the bar. “I know my head’s been . . . I don’t want to say messed up . . . let’s just say I know I’m not giving what you normally get.”
“Wanted to talk to you about that,” Roth said. “It occurred to me that maybe I got things wrong. Still not the hell sure, but I’m rethinking some things.”
Shane hooked an eyebrow. “Something happen?”
“Yeah, something happened. A man I thought was iced over wasn’t. Found I was taken by surprise. Didn’t like that I was surprised. Did some thinking. Things change, and this job, what I do running this place, I can’t make assumptions. Gotta watch for changes. Gotta adapt. That’s how you survive. That’s how you keep talent. That’s how you keep the family strong . . . I shouldn’t have put you in that car with Anya, Shane.”
Shane stared at Rothgar. “It’s my job, Roth. I owe you—”
“You paid that debt long ago, brother. If you want to be here, be here. I want you here. And I need your skills. But you don’t owe me shit anymore. Not in that way.”
“If it wasn’t for you, I’d be in prison. I’d have nothing but bars the rest of my life. I owe you—”
“Nothing,” Roth said. “You’ve been on the team ten years. You know it’s true. You’re a good man. You figured out how to be a good man, and you found a woman who wants to love you, and if you care about her, then I gotta change, and I gotta adapt our game plan so that you don’t have to cross a line that threatens what you’re gonna build with her. You know we’ve already got her back because she’s Dex’s sister, but if she weren’t, I’d take her back because she’s with you. You got me?”
“Jesus,” Shane whispered. He just shook his head in wonder.
“We have all this,” Rothgar said, gesturing with arms wide. “We have this because we had nothing else. We built our own world with rules we like and people we care about. Now you got something else you like and someone else you care about. I hope to hell you don’t leave our team for it, but, brother, I’ve watched you go from iced over with dead eyes to the dictionary definition of happy. Nick is right.”
A hint of a smile washed over his face. “Don’t think I don’t see all. You want to try and have it all, as long as I believe it’s the real deal, I’ll do what I can on my side. Fact is, you got someone, and I’m happy for you. Tomorrow morning, you wake up, you clean yourself up, you take the happy you deserve.” Rothgar pushed away from the bar and headed for the door. “’Night, Shane.”