Cross & Crown

“Fair enough.” Nick cleared his throat. “Do me a favor and never Google your real name, okay?”



“What? Why?”



“No reason.” Nick raised his hand for a waitress. “I need a fucking drink.”



When the first round came, JD took one of the napkins from beneath his glass and drew the cross and clover on it.



Inside each leaf of the clover, he wrote the symbols he’d seen.



Kelly had his phone out, frowning at the screen.



Nick leaned toward him. They were sharing a love seat, so he scooted closer, sliding his hand between Kelly’s thighs so it would look like they were merely lovebirds on a date rather than a group of men who’d just met the most notorious criminal in Boston and were now here drinking so Paddy and his boys could slip out the back of the hotel without being seen. “What are you doing?”



“Looking up what circles mean.”



Nick tightened his grip, squeezing his thigh and pul ing him closer. He whispered in his ear. “No beginning. No end.”



Kelly tried to turn his head, but Nick nudged his cheek with his nose, refusing to let him move just yet. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Kelly’s temple. “Like a wedding ring. Represents eternity.”



Kelly finally leaned away and turned to meet Nick’s eyes.



Nick couldn’t tell what color his eyes were tonight in the low light of the restaurant. He thought they might be gray.



Nick kissed him before Kelly could speak. “I love you,” he whispered. His words came out almost desperate and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Kelly had just seen a part of him he’d hoped no one would ever see. He didn’t know what Kelly would do with that.



“Do you two need to go to your room?” Julian asked with a long-suffering sigh.



“Soon,” Kelly answered, his voice hoarse and serious.



He gave Nick a barely perceptible nod and they both sat up straighter. Kelly cleared his throat. “This says the circles can represent anything from eternity to fidelity to the meeting of the spirit and matter.”



“Spirit and matter?” Julian repeated. “Why?”



“The solid line encircling the inner part that’s made of nothing,” Kelly summarized as he read what he’d found on his phone. He clicked it off and put it away.



“The sideways arch?” JD asked.



“It’s probably just an arch,” Nick guessed. “They had to work in the confines of their task, which was to make it look like a clover. Instead of a straight line, though, they chose to curve it to make it an arch. What numbers did we end up with?”



JD handed him the napkin. He had drawn the star, with circles representing each gem. He’d shaded in the pieces that were red or green, and copied the writing on the diamonds.



They weren’t numbers after al , but more symbols.



“You’re sure this is right?” Nick asked.



JD nodded, looking a little perturbed that Nick would question his memory.



“Seriously, you’re giving me a bitchface for doubting the memory of someone who can’t remember his own name?”



JD tried to maintain his frown, but he finally snorted and gave Nick a sheepish smile. “It’s correct. I promise.”



“This isn’t a pigpen cipher,” Nick said. “There aren’t enough letters.”



“How many are represented?” Julian asked.



“Just eight. You have the four symbols in the cross that are represented by the emeralds, then he has four more here within the diamonds.”



“So eight symbols. With no point of reference as to what they mean,” Kelly concluded. “Great.”



Nick was still shaking his head, examining the napkin. He was at a complete loss. “I . . . I don’t know what to do with this.



I don’t know where we go from here with this.”



“Hold on,” Julian said with a wave of his hand. “You’re not giving up, are you? This is information the others don’t have, information they won’t get unless they intend to go to the bloody mob for it. Not many people have the stones to do what you just did. We’re finally a step ahead. And we have him now; they don’t.”



JD was nodding his head with Julian’s words. “I don’t remember any of the important things, but I sure as hell remember this stuff,” JD told them. “We can do this. We can get there ahead of them.”



Nick narrowed his eyes and cocked his head at JD. “You’re very eager to get to this treasure.”



JD sighed heavily. “You still suspect me? My motives? That’s fine, Detective, because I do too. I don’t remember why I was there with people who would rob and kill. I don’t know why I hid those things from the people I was supposed to be working with. Maybe I was a hostage like his boyfriend.



Maybe I was there of my own free will and I decided to cheat them out of something I found. I don’t know. But you know what, Nick, I know there’s at least one person out there who does know the answers to those questions. And that person is looking for this same treasure. That’s who I want to find, that’s why I’m eager. If you want to arrest me and put me in a cell, you go ahead and do it, but one thing I know for damn sure is that I’m your best shot at this, and no matter what my motivation was for being there, I’m here right now for the three of you. Because you’re the only people in the world I know well enough to care about right now.”



Nick and the others stared at him, stunned by his outburst.



It was the first hint of real heat Nick had seen from him.



JD stood and straightened his suit, closing his eyes. “Am I under arrest, or can I go to the room and get some sleep now?”



Nick was torn between respecting the man for standing up to him and being upset with himself for not hiding his suspicions better. He nodded, and JD turned away without another word.



Julian tossed back what was left of his drink and stood.



“I’ll try to calm him. Keep an eye on him. Good night,” he added with a nod to them both.



Nick sat forward and held his head in his hands, groaning softly. Kelly’s fingers were tentative on his back, at first. Then he placed his palm on Nick’s spine and left it there.



“Your instincts are telling you to trust him. He’ll be here in the morning.”



“Only people he knows well enough to care about. Jesus Christ, just stab me in the heart already.”



Kel y chuckled. “He sounded a little like you there. All self-righteous logic and sass. Let’s go to bed, huh?”



Nick looked back at him, and Kelly gave him an exaggerated leer.



“You know what, fuck it,” Nick growled. He held up his hand for the waitress, ordering another round of drinks.



“What are you doing? I thought we were going to bed.”



“No, we’re not. I’m having drinks with my boyfriend at one of my favorite places in the city.” Nick sat back and slipped his hand over Kelly’s thigh again. He squeezed and pulled Kelly closer, sliding him on the leather love seat.



Kelly laughed and ran his teeth across his lower lip. “Does that make this a date?”



“It’d be our first real one if it is.”



“First date includes stolen treasure and the mob. How romantic. And fitting.” Kelly leaned closer, smirking. He kissed Nick before Nick could come up with any clever responses. Kelly’s hand found its way into the pocket of Nick’s tailored suit pants.



“Don’t,” Nick warned. He knew he’d jump on the chance to vent his frustration, and he didn’t want to be banned from this bar for indecency.



Kelly grinned against the kiss. “Why, Detective? You don’t mind making me come all over my sweatpants in the car.”



“You didn’t pay a thousand dol ars for your sweatpants,” Nick gritted out as Kelly’s fingers brushed against his thigh.



“I could hire a high-class hooker cheaper than I could replace this suit.”



“Are you offering to pay me?” Kelly asked, eyes sparkling.



Nick growled in the back of his throat and fished Kelly’s hand out of his pocket. “No, but I will fuck you into oblivion as soon as we get to the room.”



“Oh yeah?”



“Yeah, just keep your hands out of my pants.”



Kelly laughed. The sound was like a balm on Nick’s fraying nerves. He squeezed Kelly’s thigh tighter, keeping his fingers between Kelly’s knees as they drank and talked for the next hour. Nick would have given anything to have left as soon as Kelly’s lips had touched his, to take him upstairs and just take him as many times as they could handle.



But they were here for a reason. He had to be seen tonight.



“How do you earn a favor from the mob?” Kelly asked after his seventh or eighth drink.



Nick almost spit his alcohol all over the table. He had to struggle to swallow, and he set his drink down before he could spill it. He leaned closer to Kelly, his voice full of gravel. “You keep your fucking mouth shut in public, that’s how.”



Kelly blinked at him, then nodded obediently. He stared into Nick’s eyes for another few seconds, and then a smile spread over his lips. “That actually made me shiver. Can you do that again?”



Nick’s lips twitched.



“No seriously, that was the hottest you’ve ever been. Will you threaten me when you’re fucking me later? Or better yet, will you just fuck me right here?”



Nick laughed, and he stood to straighten his suit. He picked up his glass and finished off his drink, then held his hand down for Kelly. Kelly wavered when Nick pulled him off the couch.



“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Nick hissed in his ear as he guided him between the chairs and the table.



Kelly slowed enough that Nick pressed into him from behind. “I’m not going to make it to the room.”



“You’re not that drunk.”



“No, but I am that horny. This place is dark, I bet no one will notice.”



Nick shoved him ahead, ushering him out of the bar. It took every ounce of willpower Nick had to not pull Kelly close and grind against him on the escalator. Kelly obviously didn’t give a shit about decorum, because he stepped into Nick’s space and tugged at his belt.



“Control yourself,” Nick ground out, trying to keep calm.



The entire lobby could see people on the escalator. He didn’t want to give anyone a show. Actually, he did. But he wouldn’t.



“Where’s the fun in that?” Kelly challenged. He stuck his tongue between his teeth, grinning, then he hopped off the escalator when they reached the top, pul ing Nick by his belt.



Nick finally pried Kelly’s fingers off the belt and held Kelly’s hand instead.



“I like this,” Kelly said as they strolled across the lobby, fingers twined. “Holding your hand. Walking around. You in that suit, Jesus Christ.”



Nick pulled him closer, bringing his hand up to kiss it.



“I’ll remember that.”



They got to the elevator without incident, and without public indecency, but as soon as the elevator doors closed, Kelly grabbed Nick and shoved him against the wal . His hand worked at Nick’s belt and the buttons of his vest, and he kicked Nick’s feet apart so he could slip himself between Nick’s thighs and press their groins together.



Nick grasped at Kelly’s hips, holding on to him so he wouldn’t fall on his ass as his shoes slid against the marble floor. Kelly kissed him messily, his movements just sloppy enough to turn Nick on even more. He fucking loved when Kelly got like this. It went rough and messy and loud.



He grunted a warning that he was about to move them, and Kelly moaned in response, wrapping his arms around Nick’s neck. Nick spun them, pressing Kelly against the array of buttons.



Kelly grabbed two handfuls of Nick’s hair and yanked.



“Fuck,” Nick hissed. He rubbed his hardened cock against Kelly’s. “You couldn’t have waited five more fucking minutes to start this?”



“I’m sorry,” Kelly gasped. “I am, but I couldn’t fucking help it. You went all fucking badass evil mastermind on me with the Irish mob. Then you were talking about beginnings and ends and eternity and rings and that fucking tone of voice you use when you get all hard and drunk. God! This is your fault!”



The elevator dinged, and Nick slammed his palm against the emergency stop button. The lights flickered and the elevator shuddered to a stop. He pressed closer.



Kelly blinked up at the emergency lights. “You’re really going to fuck me in the elevator, aren’t you?”



“No,” Nick hissed. Although he did want to. Badly. “Not enough lube to go half as hard at you as I want to. I’m going to take you back to our room. I’m going to bend you over the end of our fucking bed, and I’m going to fill you so full of me you’ll be screaming in a Boston accent. Make you forget everything you saw and heard tonight.”



Kelly licked his lips slowly. “Promise?”



Nick closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before hitting the button again. The doors slid open, and Nick escorted Kelly out with a hand on his lower back. Thankfully there was no one there to see their disheveled suits or flushed faces.



He’d had his share of exhibitionist moments, and most had been well worth it. He didn’t want that with Kelly, though.



He wanted Kelly all to himself.



“You’re such a fucking white knight when you start drinking.” Kelly flopped against the wall beside their door, nestling into the corner of the part that jutted out around the doors. “Your alcohol tolerance sucks for you, but it’s awesome for me.”



Nick blocked him in and bent to kiss his neck. “Just means I get to take advantage of you.”