Page 26 of Risky Taste
He shifts as I sit beside him, his body stiffening, his eyes flicking away. “I reported it last night to one of my superiors. It was better to get ahead of all this bullshit than have someone try to link us to whatever Heath and Kurt are doing,ifhe’s involved.”
I can tell he’s trying to shield me but I’ve already accepted the truth. I may not like it but denying it won’t help anything. “You wouldn’t be doing all of this if you didn’t think he was involved, Bast.” I place a hand on his thigh, the man covering mine with his. “Does this mean you’re leaving? Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a suit outside of Ronny’s funeral.” The words are meant to be light but they fall flat, Sebastian letting out a biter laugh.
He threads his fingers through mine before bringing my palm to his lips. “My old Sarge is kind of like a father figure. He’s the one I visit when I come back, check in, reminisce or whatever. He kept me on the straight and narrow for a while.” Sebastian kisses my palm, the warmth from his lips making me lean into him. “After telling him about all this, he mentioned that they’ve already been looking into it. He also doesn’t want me anywhere near it. He’s found something for Logan and Declan but it's their choice if they want that.”
I nod, glad that my men have someone in their corner as well. Despite that, my selfishness bleeds out into my next words. “But you’re not leaving, right?”
“No, babe, I’m not. It’s local, just some security detail. Nothing dangerous and I’m not going far.” He kisses my palm again before leaning down to press his lips against mine. I melt into him, sighing as he tastes me, his tongue running across the seam of my lips. When he pulls away, I’m grinning up at him, feeling a little less unsettled.
Declan and Logan aren’t sporting the same expressions, Logan clearing his throat as he slips off the bed to stand up. “You really gonna just leave in the middle of the night, you bastard?”
They all share a chuckle, Logan reaching over to squeeze Sebastian’s shoulder. Sebastian just shakes his head. “I’ve been sitting here for a half hour, wondering if I should wake the three of you but the moment Noah got up, I knew you two wouldn’t be far behind. I’m not running off to anything dangerous, just removing myself from the issue. Sergeant Rainer’s taking a report to his superiors today. It’s going to get messy.”
Declan nods from his perch on the bed, leaning back on his hands. “And I heard you might have something for us too.”
“Yeah, there’s some folders on the night stand for you to look through. It’s boring and simple but that’s exactly what we need right now.”
I chew on my bottom lip, mulling over my options. There aren’t a lot of them and as much as I want to curl up in a little ball to wallow longer, the world moves on. “What are you going to do when Kurt finds out you three aren’t showing up at the training grounds or the house?” We all have seen how Kurt is reacting to me hanging around with his friends. How much worse will it be if he thinks his friends have betrayed him? My men all shrug and I decide to change the subject to something I know I’m going to get pushback on. “I need to go talk to Kurt.”
All three grunt, a chorus of dissent, Declan’s the loudest about it, folding his arms across his chest, his expression darkening until I see him for the lethal man he can be. “I wish you wouldn’t,Noah. We have no idea how deep this goes and Kurt’s not had a good track record when it comes to being cornered.”
He’s not telling me anything I don’t know but I need to hear it from my brother. I need to hear him tell me that he didn’t care about me enough to ensure that I was okay. That he sent me into the line of fire and then dismissed my symptoms like it wasn’t his fault I ended up broken. “Declan, I’ll make sure to meet him in public but I have to know. He was your buddy, your comrade, someone as close to a brother gets for years but he’s my flesh and blood. I looked up to him. He was all I had after our parents died. Betrayal doesn’t feel like the right word. It’s not enough. I have to do this.”
Sebastian stands, pulling me to my feet as he kisses the side of my head. “Just know that you have us to fall back on, alright? If he tries anything—”
“He won’t.”
Declan snorts. “He nearly swung at you the other day. I might trust him to save me in a firefight but I don’t trust him to care for his own brother. Where are you going to meet him?”
“Not sure. Maybe the café from yesterday? I want it public but not in the midst of everything else.” I start searching for my clothes, all three of them watching me. Despite the heaviness of the situation, heat bleeds through me and my cheeks warm.Another time,I tell myself as I shove myself into a pair of pants.
I’m dealt two more kisses before I leave the room, waving Sebastian along so that I can grab a cup of coffee to calm my nerves. There’s no good way to approach this conversation without letting Kurt know that I’m aware of what’s going on. Still, I try to find the softest ones as I take up a booth in the small eatery by the entrance.
Kurt, I just want to talk.
Oh, god no. That’s going to start a fight. I erase that, mulling through a few more options.
Hey, so Heath told me a few things.
Shit, that’s so much worse.
I sip on the coffee, grimacing at the awful taste. It’s definitely not an espresso like it’s being paraded around as but it’s warm and there’s caffeine. I blow out a breath and think of another delivery, frowning when I realize that sending a text is useless. A heavy presence plops onto the other side of my booth, a familiar, grating laugh hitting my ears.
“So, is it just one of them or all three of them?” His voice drips with mockery, a smirk tugging at his lips. “See, I thought it was weird when we first got back and Sebastian hugged you. You barely know each other—yeah, I know you two fucked around a bit but then Logan started hovering. And then Declan? Fat chance. Couldn’t keep your dick to yourself?” His grin widens as he leans back, threading his hands behind his head. “I was pretty sure of it a few days ago when Declan swooped in to protect you from me and the way they all banded together at the funeral? Noah, you’re not subtle.”
The words are meant to hurt but knowing that Kurt is no longer in my corner, I don’t feel the need to apologize. He’s for sure ruined my life but he’s possibly also ruined the lives of men he called brothers for the last three years. I open my mouth to respond but he holds up a hand, shaking his head.
“Save it. I wanted to have something, but you just always swoop in. Even in college, you were always all over them. Is this punishment for Heath breaking up with you or something else?” He raises a brow, obviously trying to grab something from my expression. I have the worst poker face so he finds what he needs. “God, really? You think you’re in love with them, don’tyou? Holy fuck, this is hilarious. Noah, you’re not in love with shit. You wanted to get your dick wet and—”
I cut him off, not about to get degraded by a man who doesn’t even care about my well-being. Should I have been a little more tactful hanging around my brother’s best friends? Probably. Still doesn’t negate the choices he made. “Why did you do it?”
His expression shifts, irritation etching lines into his face, erasing the amusement in an instant. “Do what?” he spits, my brother suddenly on the defensive.
“Heath said—” I start, but he snorts, reaching across to snatch my coffee, before he takes a long swig, holding up a finger to silence me, the gesture dripping with arrogance. “Anothercase of loose lips? This shit is hilarious. Anything out of his mouth is just lies. You remember how he beat you, Noah. How could you believe anything out of his mouth?”
Silence falls between us as the admission of Kurt’s guilt hangs in the air. I never explicitly told him anything about Heath and other than his friends mentioning things in passing over the last week, Kurt doesn’t really know why I left Heath. Which means that Kurt knows. And the only way he’d know is if he and Heath were much closer than brother in laws. The anguish that comes with that realization threatens to overtake me but I swallow that emotion down, needing to hear it from my brother’s lips. “You knew? Kurt, youknewHeath was hurting me?” Could Kurt have done anything from overseas? Maybe, maybe not but the fact that Kurt never called during those years hurts just a little more. “Why did you never say anything?” The fun brother I’ve waited for, the one who’d burst through the door with wild stories and a grin, is gone, replaced by this monster, this stranger I can’t comprehend, his face a mask I don’t recognize. “Heath said you’re in business together for something but I wanna know when the fuck you two even met. When Heath and I were together, we werealwaystogether.”
Kurt doesn’t answer but the anger grows in his expression.
