When Will I See You Again (18 page)

“How much time can we afford to lose to tea, Raoul?” Alexx fretted.

Raoul heard the locks click on the battered suitcase, and he turned back toward Alexx again, locking his gaze onto his bright blue eyes. “Tea? We don’t have time for tea.”
Especially not with
that silly old bat
, he added mentally.

“She’ll be waiting for us when we come downstairs,” Alexx pointed out.

“What, does she hang in the hallway, waiting to swoop down on unsuspecting victims?” Raoul quipped. He was rewarded for his efforts with a small smile.
“Almost. She has hearing like a bat, anyway. It’s impossible to get in or out of here without her knowing it.”

Raoul smiled at Alexx enigmatically. “That’s what you think.

Hand me your suitcase.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“You’ll see. Now don’t argue and bring it over.”

Raoul watched Alexx wage an internal battle between common sense and curiosity—curiosity won. He lifted the case and carried it the few feet to where Raoul stood by the window. He’d already unlatched the window, and was in the process of raising it.

“What are you doing?”

“Shhh.” Raoul put a finger against Alexx’s lips. He took the suitcase and hefted it out the window, onto the thick verdure in the yard. Both men watched its brief flight. It managed to land without busting open and strewing Alexx’s things over the lawn.

“What in the—”

Raoul stilled his words with a kiss. He wound his arms about him and held him close until he felt the will to speak drain away, before he pulled back. “I’m going first,” he whispered. “Then I’ll catch you when you jump.”

He didn’t give Alexx a chance to think about his statement, much less respond. Ducking through the window, he balanced himself on the sill and glanced about—no one in sight. Emerging completely onto the ledge, he spread his arms and leapt. It really wasn’t much of a jump—he’d managed the same thing from much greater heights—and he landed with practiced ease, dropping into a calculated roll before he regained his feet, shook his head to clear it, and took up a position beneath the window.

He held up his arms toward Alexx, who hovered uncertainly, half in, half out of the window. As their eyes met, Raoul mouthed,
“Come to me.” Alexx took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped from the ledge. By the time he opened them again, he was safely in Raoul’s arms. They looked at one another for a split second before Raoul set him onto his feet.

“Let’s go!” He grabbed the suitcase and they raced around the side of the house to where they’d parked. Alexx quickly unlocked the car with the remote, Raoul tossed the suitcase into the back, and then they both jumped in. Alexx started the vehicle and they took off, both laughing almost hysterically.

By the time they reached Charisma, they’d managed to reach a level of relative relaxation, no small feat considering the unacknowledged undertone that swirled about them. The parking lot was virtually empty. The club had no daytime hours, so the only people inside were the few staff that came in during the day, and the cleaning crew. The doors were deliberately kept locked.

Impatient patrons had been known to try to force the issue during the day, and it served to cut down on unpleasant encounters.

Raoul used his key to admit them, locking the door again behind them. He led Alexx down the hall into the main area, skirting the tables on the right side of the large open room, their chairs sitting upturned on the table tops to facilitate cleaning the floor. As they drew near to the bar, he saw Paolo standing behind it, clipboard in hand, taking a visual inventory and noting what items needed to be brought from the storeroom for the coming night. He glanced up as they drew near.

“Hey, Raoul.” He nodded to Alexx. “Can I make you something?”

“A pot of coffee, please, and bring it to my office, will you?”

“Coffee?” Paolo gave Raoul a confused look.

“Yes, coffee. It’s that plant with the aromatic beans they grow
down in Colombia. You know—the stuff that isn’t cocaine?”

The man’s cheeks flamed, and he took a step back, setting the clipboard onto the back bar. “I know what coffee is. It’s just that…

I mean…Well, you don’t usually…”

“Today I do.” He noticed Paolo give Alexx the once-over, so he quickly added, “And this is Alexx. If I send an order through him, you are to obey it as if I gave it.
Capisce
?” He wasn’t sure which of the two men was more surprised—Paolo or Alexx. He didn’t bother to add an explanation.

“Yes, boss.” Paolo nodded. “Do you want your messages now or when I bring the coffee?”

“With the coffee would be fine.” He spun about on his heel, catching Alexx by the hand, and tugged him toward the hallway and the private elevator. They rode in silence up to the third floor, exiting into Raoul’s office.

“Did you say your pills are here?” Alexx broke the silence.

“Among other places. I have more than one stash.” He found it to be more expedient, as he never knew where he might end up on any given night. Or with whom. He waved Alexx to take a seat on the white sofa and flopped into the leather chair behind his desk.

He unlocked one of the drawers and pulled out a prescription bottle. Opening it, he tapped two caplets into his palm. He replaced the lid, set the bottle into his pocket, and locked the drawer before joining Alexx on the sofa, sitting so close that their legs touched.

Alexx made no objection.

“Can I see?” He reached for Raoul’s hand.

Raoul relaxed his muscles and unclenched his fingers and presented the all-important pills for Alexx’s inspection. They were small and cherry red, with a smooth surface. Alexx picked one up, and brushed his thumb across it.
“They’re so small and yet they do so much.” He glanced up at Raoul. “Do you ever worry about what would happen if you didn’t take them on time?”

Raoul shrugged. “Luckily, not everything hinges on just one pill. They’re cumulative. I’d have to miss more than one for there to be any problems.”

“Good. Do you need to take it with water, or are you waiting for the coffee?”

“I wasn’t waiting. Water works as well as anything. I’ll just get some from the bathroom—”

“Which way?” Alexx interrupted smoothly, rising as he returned Raoul’s hand, not without pressing a kiss onto the knuckles which enclosed the pills once again.

“Over there.” Raoul nodded toward the door that led into his private bathroom.

“Be right back.” He smiled, heading in the indicated direction.

Raoul could hear his exclamations of awe as he entered the room.

“This is huge! This is bigger than my whole room!” His words were muffled by the sound of running water. Moments later he re-emerged, plastic cup in hand. “That is pretty awesome! I mean, that shower is huge. I bet you can fit two people in it without trying real hard.” He handed Raoul the glass, his cheeks turning scarlet for no apparent reason.

God, Raoul loved how easily Alexx blushed. He seemed so innocent, and yet he had such obviously impure thoughts.

“Easily,” Raoul affirmed. He tossed the caplets into his mouth and raised the cup to his lips, feeling them slide easily down his throat. If this was what stood between him and becoming a wild beast with no sense of right or wrong, then he’d take these damn pills for the rest of his life. He couldn’t imagine not being able to
control the wolf within, and he never wanted to find out just what that might be like.

He tossed the cup into the wastebasket, and relaxed into the sofa more, stretching out his legs, feeling suddenly at peace for the first time in a very long time. Surprising considering the amount of shit he was in. He knew why that was. Although he didn’t want to analyze the why too deeply, simply go with it.

“So we have that much out of the way, what next?”

“Next?” Alexx echoed. “Next we try to figure out why you’re being framed for a murder you and I know you didn’t commit.”

“There is that.” Raoul reached out, his fingertips lightly brushing over Alexx’s cheek. Alexx had pretty blue eyes, eyes that reminded him of the ocean. In the right light, he could see bits of green swimming about his irises. He found himself completely enchanted by them. He leaned in toward Alexx, looking between his eyes and his lips, his own lips parting, the sounds of their synchronistic breathing the only noise in the room, as Alexx drew closer to him as well.

The knock on the door was abrupt. They both pulled back.

Raoul swept all expression from his face, called out, “Come in!” A moment later, Paolo appeared with a cart bearing a sterling silver coffee service for two, along with everything else they might desire.

“Your coffee, Raoul.” He pushed the cart across the carpet and set it before them, then reached into his pocket, bringing out the pink slips he’d promised earlier. “And your messages. Did you need anything else?”

Raoul took the pieces of paper without looking at them. “No, not right now. Francesco coming in tonight?”

Paolo nodded. “I’ll be here, too. This is my late night.”
“Good. I’ll let you know where I’ll be.”

“Yes, boss.” Paolo nodded to them, left the cart, and exited the office, closing the door behind him.

When Raoul glanced back at Alexx, he noticed he was frowning. “Is something wrong?” He reached for his hand, brushing his thumb across his fingers.

“No. I mean, yes. I was just thinking…”

“Yes?”

“That guy that chased me into the woods. I keep thinking he did that on purpose, you know?”

“Why would he do that?” Raoul brought Alexx’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently before handing it back. He busied himself with the coffee, pouring two cups. “How do you take yours?”

“Cream and three sugars.” Alexx pushed his hand through his hair, tossing his head to keep it out of his eyes. He took the cup Raoul handed him and sipped at it. “Because I have a feeling he knew you were there and he expected that you’d find me and maybe kill me or something.”

“But anyone who knows me knows that isn’t a very likely scenario.” Raoul frowned in turn, pouring himself a cup of black coffee, one sugar.

“But you did come to my defense,” Alexx pointed out. “You fought him to save me.”

“Of course I did.” That seemed to be a no-brainer. And since Alexx wasn’t the one who was the threat… Raoul’s eyes grew large, and he set the cup back onto the cart. “Damn.”

“What?”

“What if the idea wasn’t to have me kill you, but to kill him?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that what happened was no coincidence. Someone
knew that if this man chased you into my woods and threatened you, that I’d find you…and defend you.”

“You mean…?”

Raoul nodded. “Yes, I was meant to kill him, or rather the wolf was meant to.”

“But why? I don’t understand?”

“Scandal, maybe? To discredit the Marchand family through me? Maybe someone’s after my father and is using me to get to him? I don’t know.”

“But how would they be able to know to use me to do that?”

Raoul narrowed his eyes, and he set his mouth in grim determination. “That, my dear Alexx, is a very good question.”

“Besides, that doesn’t explain something. That man in the woods
didn’t
die. It was another man. A different man. The man that… I mean…another man.” He stumbled over the words.

“You mean the man I fucked.” Raoul wasn’t about to pull any punches. The truth was the truth, and the truth was that he’d slept with the deceased and had felt nothing for him. But that didn’t make him a killer by any means.

Alexx didn’t respond to the blunt words, lowering his gaze to the cup in his hand. He busied himself with drinking it. The cup rattled slightly against the saucer.

“Alexx…look at me.”

He slowly lifted his head, and their eyes met.

“I have done things…” he began, slowly, trying to formulate thoughts he’d never expressed to anyone before. “Things that I’m…not necessarily proud of. I cannot change those things.”

“I know,” Alexx murmured. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me! Please…I can’t go back, and I know it, and I’m sorry this man died, but I’d be lying if I said his death affected me
any more than anyone else’s. Maybe it should, considering… But what I can tell you is this… I don’t want to be that cold man anymore. Even if not being him means opening myself up to pain as well as…”

“Love?” Alexx whispered and before Raoul could reply, he pulled their mouths together, their lips meshing perfectly and intimately.

They pressed closer together on the sofa, fingers twining, desire building so rapidly it was almost a palpable entity between them. Raoul was the first to pull back, and only because the phone on his desk was ringing.

Someone had a horrible sense of timing.

“Excuse me,” he murmured. As he rose, he made a slight adjustment, his erection digging painfully into his thigh.

“Yes?” He picked up the phone, leaning over the desk, his eyes trained on Alexx. “I know, I don’t have it, what? And? Have you called? Yes, do, then let me know what’s going on.” He hung up, almost slamming the phone into the cradle.

“Something wrong?”

“Just a liquor shipment that’s overdue, that’s all. They panic too easily downstairs.”

“Do you need to take care of it?”

Raoul weighed the pros and cons of the situation, tapping one finger against his lips. “Do you have your cell?”