Page 84 of Pistols and Plush Toys

“What do you think?” Elliot asked, searching his face. “If you—if you weren’t worried about me being hurt?”

Nikolai sighed again. “I’m thinking… Gerard and Meredith, they’re not wrong. Probably it would work. Vitale, he is jealous man, and he hates me. If he’s hearing you and I were together now, I’m think he would fly back to try to kill me himself.”

He watched Elliot bite his lip and then seemingly remember he wasn’t supposed to, and let go. His hands instead moved across Apricot’s fur, petting it. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt,” Elliot said. His voice sounded brittle. “I don’t wantyouto get hurt either. But if you think this would help, I-I can help. What would we be… doing?”

One of Nikolai’s hands slipped down into his pocket to fiddle with the lock picks there. “Nothing very hard. We would go out to eat together, maybe you would come with me to jewelry store. Be seen together in public, maybe… maybe holding hands, or my arm around you, so it would look like yes, dating.”

Elliot licked his lips. “That doesn’t, um, sound too difficult.”

“No? I’m glad dating me would be easy,” Nikolai said, trying to lighten the mood. He sobered. “I’m just not wanting you hurt again.”

Elliot’s fingers clutched tighter at Apricot’s fur. “But it would help? To get Mattia to come back so…”

“So I would deal with him,” Nikolai said. “So he’s not going to hurt anyone ever again.”

Elliot swallowed. “Right.”

“I’m not wanting you to decide right now,” Nikolai said, trying to sound gentle. “Is serious, I know. I’m just wanting to say to you now, so you know that… is an idea.”

Elliot’s brows were knit, but he all he said was, “Um, okay. Thank you for telling me. I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

Nikolai nodded. “Have good time with Meredith. Buy everything you need, okay? You are my chef now, don’t forget. My chef needs many nice thing.”

“Are you working today?” Elliot asked. Nikolai let him change the subject. Meredith would do a better job at convincing Elliot to buy what he needed.

“Yes,” he said. “Things I’m putting off, that I’m needing to do now. But will be home for dinner, so I will see you then.”

“Okay,” Elliot said. He smiled. “I’ll make you a good dinner to look forward to.”

“I’m always looking forward to your cooking,” Nikolai said dumbly.

Elliot’s smile got brighter, and Nikolai took the memory of that smile with him as he left the house to start making his rounds. He had work to do.

But Elliot would be waiting for him at home when he was done.

Chapter 17: Elliot

If we go out, you and me.The words kept ringing in Elliot’s ears as he sat in the back of the car with Meredith as Alex drove them to the mall.

There was a certain amount of simplicity to the proposed plan, Elliot could see that. Mattia had always been possessive of him. And if the way he’d acted when he’d finally gotten Elliot back was anything to go by…

He had no doubts that it would work. Gerard and Meredith thought it would work. It made Elliot nervous to think of being out and about, but… Mattia had been able to get to him while Elliot had been supposedly safe in Nikolai’s house. Nikolai had increased security significantly of course, but it had still happened.

And Elliot didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. If this was the quickest way to get Mattia back, to end this–

It was hard to think about that. But Elliot no longer had the choice to be naïve or look away. He’d dated Mattia. He’d been in rooms with other men who had probably killed people. Now that the scales had fallen from his eyes, he had to make a choice.

Did he agree to the plan and help stop Mattia?

Permanently.

His gaze drifted to the other occupant in the back seat with him.

Meredith had greeted him when he’d first gotten in the car, and then apologized to Elliot and said that she’d need a few minutes on her phone to finish a work email. Elliot was more than okay with that. Meeting Meredith officially for the first time had his nerves rattling.

The last five minutes of silence had helped. The car moved smoothly onto the highway and Elliot took the opportunity to look Meredith over.

She was, somehow, even more competent looking than the image he’d put together in his mind’s eye. Today she was wearing a sleek and well-fit outfit of pale blue slacks with a crisp white silk-looking blouse. Her hair was cut above her shoulders in an exacting hairstyle that had been bleached in icy cool blond tones. She wore several silver earrings in each ear, one of which had a pale blue gemstone that matched the blue gems on one of her rings.

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