“And don’t worry. Any fucking would be entirely at your discretion.”
“Uh... sure,” Shea said, far more guarded than Lucianliked and without a trace ofreturned humor. The muscles of Shea’s jaw and neck were stiff, but he walked a graceful half-step behind Lucian as Lucian escorted everyone else to the front door.
Lucian shook Daniel’s hand, hugged Clark, and endured another of Chance’s embraces. When he finally shut the door on the rest of his company, he fell against it with an explosive sigh. “Thank you,” he said, hesitant but hopeful, and Shea stood with arms crossed and forehead creased. “For being here tonight,” Lucian continued. “It made everythingmuchnicer.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Shea’s eyes went to the floor, and Shea tied himself into a tighter knot, knuckles going white as he gripped his upper arms. “Didn’t figure on the gorydetails ofwhat youdo.”
“I see.” Lucian crossed to Shea, slowly, and cupped one elbow with a light palm. “I wanted you close to me, to see that I view you as an intrinsic, trusted person in my life and... Well. I always have.” Lucian paused to stop babbling. “I’m sorry if the talk distressed youinsome way. I didn’t mean--”
Shea looked up and shook his head abruptly, but his hands loosened their death grip. “You didn’t. But you... Aw, fuck I’m gettin’ off track, and I have to tell you.”
“Tellme what?”Lucianasked.
Shea took a deep breath. “Were some’a the girls -the victims -- called ‘Lily White,’ ‘Rose,’ and ‘Dazzle’?”
The alarmbells that rang in Lucian’s head drowned out sensible thought for a suspended second. “How do youknow those names, Shea?”
“I met ‘emat Haze,”Shea said.
The words sent horrified, glacial, lunatic fear down his spine and into his balls, and Lucian’s train of thought led straight into a No Man’s Land of impossible reality. “Haze,”he repeated.
“Yeah,” Shea answered. “I had ta say something to you ‘cause if Clark’s sending someone, I’ve gotta warn you. Nothin’s what it looks like, and most ofit’s fuckin’ dangerous.”
Lucian shook his head and Shea’s arm. “What were you... Wait. How do you know anything about... You don’t even do...” Memories of a certain night on a couch that undermined what Lucian thought he knew about Shea dropped into his center like a ton of lead. Lucian glared at Shea with some mixture of outrage, shock, and terror. “Youplayed at Haze?”
Shea squared offinfront ofLucian. “Yeah. I did.”
“But...” Lucian ran a hand through his hair and tried to calculate a way to pry answers out of defensive posturing, and struggled to rise above the screaming improbabilityofit all. “But why? Youknow me.”
With an exasperated, startled laugh, Shea shook his head. “But no fuckin’ clue you were interested, Luke. You were Lucky Luke, Prince Luke, Luke who fucked a thousand--”
“The hell does that matter?” Lucian yelled, gesticulating wildly. “You’re my best friend, and you knew I played, I opened a goddamned club, remember? You may have heard of it? I only told you every fucking detail in a thousand conversations over years of planning, so... If you wanted to play, why... why in the... why in the hell didn’t you...” Lucian stopped so he wouldn’t stammer. Images of dead bodies in ditches kept flashing over and over in his mind, and it was getting hard to breathe. “Why didn’t youtrust me?”
Stepping forward, Shea wrapped his arms about Lucian, and the tangible comfort temporarily shut down Lucian’s tirade. “Shit,” Shea muttered. “I didn’t trust nothing. I hid everything: went outside the city, made cover stories to hide fromeveryone who knew me.”
“Wait,” Lucian said, pushing at Shea until the man relinquished the hold. There was too much trying to sort itself at once, and Lucian found solace in command. “You’re right. You do need to tell me everything. From the fucking beginning.” Lucian
“Uh... sure,” Shea said, far more guarded than Lucianliked and without a trace ofreturned humor. The muscles of Shea’s jaw and neck were stiff, but he walked a graceful half-step behind Lucian as Lucian escorted everyone else to the front door.
Lucian shook Daniel’s hand, hugged Clark, and endured another of Chance’s embraces. When he finally shut the door on the rest of his company, he fell against it with an explosive sigh. “Thank you,” he said, hesitant but hopeful, and Shea stood with arms crossed and forehead creased. “For being here tonight,” Lucian continued. “It made everythingmuchnicer.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Shea’s eyes went to the floor, and Shea tied himself into a tighter knot, knuckles going white as he gripped his upper arms. “Didn’t figure on the gorydetails ofwhat youdo.”
“I see.” Lucian crossed to Shea, slowly, and cupped one elbow with a light palm. “I wanted you close to me, to see that I view you as an intrinsic, trusted person in my life and... Well. I always have.” Lucian paused to stop babbling. “I’m sorry if the talk distressed youinsome way. I didn’t mean--”
Shea looked up and shook his head abruptly, but his hands loosened their death grip. “You didn’t. But you... Aw, fuck I’m gettin’ off track, and I have to tell you.”
“Tellme what?”Lucianasked.
Shea took a deep breath. “Were some’a the girls -the victims -- called ‘Lily White,’ ‘Rose,’ and ‘Dazzle’?”
The alarmbells that rang in Lucian’s head drowned out sensible thought for a suspended second. “How do youknow those names, Shea?”
“I met ‘emat Haze,”Shea said.
The words sent horrified, glacial, lunatic fear down his spine and into his balls, and Lucian’s train of thought led straight into a No Man’s Land of impossible reality. “Haze,”he repeated.
“Yeah,” Shea answered. “I had ta say something to you ‘cause if Clark’s sending someone, I’ve gotta warn you. Nothin’s what it looks like, and most ofit’s fuckin’ dangerous.”
Lucian shook his head and Shea’s arm. “What were you... Wait. How do you know anything about... You don’t even do...” Memories of a certain night on a couch that undermined what Lucian thought he knew about Shea dropped into his center like a ton of lead. Lucian glared at Shea with some mixture of outrage, shock, and terror. “Youplayed at Haze?”
Shea squared offinfront ofLucian. “Yeah. I did.”
“But...” Lucian ran a hand through his hair and tried to calculate a way to pry answers out of defensive posturing, and struggled to rise above the screaming improbabilityofit all. “But why? Youknow me.”
With an exasperated, startled laugh, Shea shook his head. “But no fuckin’ clue you were interested, Luke. You were Lucky Luke, Prince Luke, Luke who fucked a thousand--”
“The hell does that matter?” Lucian yelled, gesticulating wildly. “You’re my best friend, and you knew I played, I opened a goddamned club, remember? You may have heard of it? I only told you every fucking detail in a thousand conversations over years of planning, so... If you wanted to play, why... why in the... why in the hell didn’t you...” Lucian stopped so he wouldn’t stammer. Images of dead bodies in ditches kept flashing over and over in his mind, and it was getting hard to breathe. “Why didn’t youtrust me?”
Stepping forward, Shea wrapped his arms about Lucian, and the tangible comfort temporarily shut down Lucian’s tirade. “Shit,” Shea muttered. “I didn’t trust nothing. I hid everything: went outside the city, made cover stories to hide fromeveryone who knew me.”
“Wait,” Lucian said, pushing at Shea until the man relinquished the hold. There was too much trying to sort itself at once, and Lucian found solace in command. “You’re right. You do need to tell me everything. From the fucking beginning.” Lucian
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