Vidar stepped closer to him, lowering his voice, even though they were the only two in the building. “He’s thirteen years younger than me, Rory.” He looked to the side, giving a little shake of his head. “So, even if I did...it’s not happening.”
“Vi.” Rory started, trying to hold back a sigh. “I know reaching out to Roc for help with Luca dredged up some shit for you but—”
“It’s not happening, Rory.” Vidar’s voice was frigid, and Rory did sigh, then. There was no use arguing. It wouldn’t change anything. Rory could only hope that with Vidar pushing back so hard, Niko...or someone, could find a way to slip past his friend’s armor. Vidar deserved someone to love him. Someone to really know him.
“Aye, all right.” Rory nodded. “And I’ll go with you. Let me shower and change.” At Vidar’s nod, he turned for the locker room only for Vidar’s voice to stop him.
“I know it’s because you care that you push me.”
Looking back over his shoulder, Rory met Vidar’s eyes and he continued, “It’s been almost twenty years since I had anything that resembled a relationship. I know I can change that. I’ve even thought about it, but I can’t...not Niko.”
Rory nodded, surprised at Vidar’s admission. “What about Roc?”
“That’s a lot of history.”
“It is, but sometimes you can get past that.”
“Is that what you and Magnus are doing?”
Rory swallowed, turning around to face his friend. “I don’t know what we’re doing, other than trying to figure out how to be around each other.” Rory shrugged helplessly. “To maybe be friends.”
Vidar pursed his lips. “You really think that’s possible?”
Rory huffed. “We damn well need to be something. But fuck if I know how to get there. It’s not new between us, but it is. I don’t want to push, but after spending the whole day with him last weekend, he’s all I can bloody think about. Like I needed to think about him more, you know?” He heaved in a deep breath and blew it out slow. “Aye. Maybe we’ll never be friends...not really, because the truth is that will never be enough for me, but I...I have to try don’t I? For him. He deserves better from me, and all I’ve given him is shit.”
“Why didn’t you call him?”
“Vi, you know why-”
“No, not then.” Vidar waved his hand. “This week. Why didn’t you call him this week?”
Rory gaped. Why hadn’t he? Because he didn’t want to push? Because he wasn’t sure that was allowed? Because he was a coward? “I mean there are a lot of reasons…”
“You want him?”
Straightening his spine, Rory held Vidar’s stare and nearly growled. “I’ve never wanted anyone else.”
“Then ask him out for coffee.”
“Coffee? That’s your big advice?”
Vidar smirked. “Or dinner. Your choice. Now go take a shower. You stink.”
Chapter Six
Magnus breathed a sigh of relief when the bar was slow enough he could leave the bartenders on their own and go mingle a bit and check on Chelsea and the dancers. As he was tidying up the last of the area he’d been working in, his skin prickled with the presence of a person and the weight of eyes on him. He didn’t need to turn around to know they were the wrong eyes. He’d caught the man approaching out of his peripheral and hoped one of the others would take his drink order, but the man’s hair was definitely black. Not the fire red he’d been hoping to spot all night.
“Good evening,” Magnus said as he turned to greet the customer. “What can I…” His eyes widened even as his mouth fell open. “Rocco?”
A warm grin broke out on the man’s face. “Hey, Magnus. How you been?”
“Holy shit. Hang on,” Magnus breathed, heading to the bar pass so he could step out from behind the bar. As he approached, he got a good look at Rocco, who he hadn’t seen since high school. He was tall now, taller than he’d been, anyway. Magnus would guess six-foot-two and he looked slick in dark jeans and a blue button down untucked with the sleeves rolled up over his forearms. His black hair was cut short and styled in messy spikes that worked with the mischievous glint in his nearly black eyes. The minute Magnus reached him, Rocco wrapped him up in a bear hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you hopped the pond.”
“For a little while, yeah. My parents sent me to my grandmother in Italy to beat the ornery out of me.” His smile turned wicked. “It didn’t work.”
Magnus laughed, pulling back far enough to meet Rocco’s eyes, but not fully releasing his arms. “Rocco Zanetti. It’s good to see you. Are you back in this area?”
“Passing through at the moment. I do some work for a law office that has a location here.”
“Come sit down. What are you drinking?”
Rocco smiled, and obliged, sitting on the barstool beside the one Magnus claimed for himself. “Just a club soda and lime for me, thanks,” he said to the bartender that appeared in front of them before turning back to Magnus. “I’m off the sauce.”
“Good for you,” Magnus said. “So, what brings you in tonight? Did you know this was my place?”
“A little birdy might have told me.” Rocco’s lips tilted up again. “A blond not-so-little birdy.”
Magnus’s eyes went wide. He couldn’t mean? “Are we talking about who I think we’re talking about?”
“You know I don’t kiss and tell.” Rocco said, managing to look both mischievous and a little sad.
“Huh,” Magnus said, digesting the news that Vidar might once again be seeing Rocco, but Magnus guessed seeing was too strong a word considering the look on Rocco’s face. His eldest brother was ridiculously private, but Magnus knew he took a weekend off every now and again to get away...and maybe scratch an itch. He had absolutely no idea that the itch scratching might have been happening with Rocco, though. “I...didn’t know the two of you were still in contact.”
Rocco sighed and leaned his elbows on the bar. “We ran into each other a couple years ago at a bar in Chicago.”
“A couple years?” Magnus asked absently as the bartender re-appeared and set Rocco’s drink in front of him. A thoughtful silence settled over them while Rocco took a drink, and Magnus glanced around the club. He and Vidar were close. At least, Magnus had always thought they were. They both tended to hoard secrets like treasure, and now Magnus felt the sting of being on the outside of one of those secrets.
“But enough about me, how have you been? I was honestly surprised to find out you were back in this area.”
Magnus smirked. “Were you a fan?” He wasn’t ashamed of his porn career. Quite the opposite actually. He’d met a lot of wonderful people, some terrible ones, too, but the good far outweighed the bad.
Rocco smirked. “I tried to be, but couldn't do it. All I could think about was playing tag in your mom’s back yard, and her yelling at us to stay out of her garden, and all the stuff we used to do when we were kids. And of course I hadn’t seen you since…” He let his words trail off, but Magnus knew exactly what he was talking about. It wasn’t a memory he supposed he’d ever be rid of. The day Stella left their father after he’d beaten Vidar so badly he was bloody and covered in bruises. Other than their father, wherever he was, and Vidar, Magnus was the only one who knew Rocco had been there that day.
Trying to fill the pregnant silence that followed, Magnus opened his mouth to ask if Roc was in town long when Luca walked out of the back with his arms holding several bottles of liquor to his chest and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of them. “Luca?”
Rocco set his glass down and looked in the same direction Magnus was, and his face split into a grin when he saw Luca. “Hey, Luca. How are you?”
“Hi,” Luca said, setting the bottles down before walking over to stand in front of Roc. “I’m good. How are you?”
Magnus looked back and forth between the two, and he knew his confusion was showing on his face.
“I’m doing great, kid. Thanks for asking,” Rocco said, ext
ending his hand for Luca to shake. “It’s good to see you doing so well.”
Luca smiled. Actually smiled, then turned to look at Magnus. “I’m going to take some water backstage. Those bottles were the last of the stock I needed to bring up.”
“Okay, Luca. Thanks.” Magnus said, brain whirling and calculating eyes sliding back to the man beside him.
For his part, Roc played innocent, glancing at Magnus out of the corner of his eye and sipping his drink.
Magnus poked him in the side. “Spill.” If Rory had been Vidar’s best friend in school, Rocco had been Magnus’s. Until...until he’d been Vidar’s, and then he’d been gone. Rocco spun around on his barstool and leaned back with his elbows on the bar.
“This is a nice place you got here, Magnus.”
Magnus huffed. Of course, he’d be difficult. He was right about the bar, though. It was a nice place, even if was a little slow for a Saturday with the new club that had opened down the street. Dark wood booths lined the walls up near the bar, and beyond, the dance floor was alive with people bumping and grinding and having a good time. In the dim light, Magnus watched the dancers on the raised stage behind the DJ and the two smaller stages elevated up out of the dance floor. Niko was on the right stage by himself and commanding a slew of onlookers with his smooth movements and tiny emerald briefs. The flashing lights pulsed along with the beat of the music, lighting up his bronzed skin and the bright flower tattoos covering his right arm.
“Who is that?” Rocco asked, jutting his chin in Niko’s direction.
“Niko Barlos. Luca’s brother.”
“No shit? He said he had a brother.” Roc sent Magnus a sidelong glance, then sighed and turned to face him, lowering his voice. “Your brother called me. Last year...in June maybe? Set me on Luca’s trail.”
Magnus furrowed his brow.
“I’m a private investigator now. I mostly work for law firms. Digging up dirt on people, but I’m freelance, so I can pick and choose my cases. Your brother called and...” Roc shrugged.
“You took the case.” Magnus nodded his understanding. “Then you helped him and Rory get Luca out of wherever he was.”
“Yeah. I was sorry to hear about you and Wilson.” Roc added, quietly. “I always thought you two would have been first in line when marriage equality passed and have a couple kids by now.”
Rocco couldn’t have known, but his words were like a punch to the chest. How many times had he and Rory talked about that exactly? About getting married. About having kids. Only for him to leave for Scotland with only a flimsy phone call from the airport as a half-assed goodbye. “Yeah,” Magnus licked his lips. “Me, too.”
“Magnus, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ha—”
Shaking his head to cut him off, Magnus said, “It’s okay. We’re trying to get back on even footing now, but it’s been...a rough road.”
Rocco set his hand over Magnus’s on his thigh. It was warm and friendly. “I hope you can work it out.”
“So do I.” Magnus agreed, squeezing his hand back. He felt Roc go tense and looked up at his friend to find him looking over Magnus’s shoulder. Letting go of his hand, Magnus turned to find Rory and Vidar standing not three feet away, a scowl on both their faces.
Chapter Seven
What the fuck? Rory could feel the flush of anger pulsing up his body and undoubtedly coloring his skin the bright blotchy red he’d loathed his whole life. Magnus slid off the barstool he’d been perched on, releasing Rocco’s hand, and stepped toward them.
“Hey, I didn’t know you guys were coming in tonight.” Magnus’s eyes moved between them until they settled on him. There was something cautious in his gaze, like he was approaching a wild animal, and Rory made himself pull in a deep breath. He had no right to be jealous. Repeating it over and over again in his head wasn’t as convincing as he’d hoped it would be while that very emotion churned in his gut, scorching his insides. Thankfully, Vidar spoke up before he opened his mouth and made a total ass of himself.
“We haven’t seen you much this week,” Vidar said, his eyes glancing at Magnus before moving back to stare daggers at Rocco. “Thought we’d come check on you and have a beer…”
His voice trailed off and a moment later, Rory realized why. Niko, in nothing but a pair of dark green briefs that left nothing to the imagination, stopped beside Rocco. Luca was trailing behind him, looking sheepish.
“Are you him?” Niko asked Rocco, not bothering to look at anyone else. “Did you find Luca?”
Rocco glanced around the group then dropped his eyes to Niko’s face. His voice was strangely gruff when he spoke. “Um, yeah—” That was all he got out before Niko leapt into his arms, knocking an oompf from Rocco. He staggered back a step, but wrapped his arms around Niko and let the smaller man cling to him as Niko thanked him over and over again.
Luca stood off to the side for a moment before touching Niko’s arm and breaking his endless chant of gratitude. Rocco let him go when Luca pulled Niko away, but he looked shell-shocked and Vidar...Vidar looked ready to murder. Rory could only imagine who though. Trying to process what his friend must be feeling cooled his own jealous rage, as did the way Magnus had stepped closer to him to watch the spectacle.
Rory cleared his throat, and with an attempt at levity, looked at Niko with a mock disappointed pout. “So, what? I’m the only one that doesn’t get climbed like a tree in thanks?”
Everyone chuckled, except Vidar, as Niko blushed a deep red and walked to Rory. He leaned up on his toes and tugged on Rory’s arm to get him to bend down a little, before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Rory.”
“You know I was just teasing,” Rory said, sure he was even more red now, and they all stood in awkward silence for a moment until Vidar’s low voice broke it.
“I need to speak to you.” His ice blue eyes were trained on Rocco. “Outside.” He turned on his heel and stalked out of the club.
Niko sighed, watching Vidar go before giving the group a wane smile. “I’m going to go get changed. It was nice to meet you, Rocco.” Then he and Luca, who gave a little wave, headed back the way they’d come before cutting over and disappearing through a door off to the side marked Employees Only.
“Shit,” Rocco breathed, looking the direction Vidar had gone before turning his eyes on Magnus and Rory. “If he actually kills me, tell my Ma I love her, yeah?”
Rory almost felt sorry for him. “He’s not going to kill you. Maiming might still be on the menu though.”
“Thanks, Wilson.” Rocco rolled his eyes and stepped into Magnus’s space, leaning in for a hug. “It was good to see you, Mags.” He pulled back after a brief squeeze and fished a card out of his wallet. “Here’s my card. Listen, Magnus, there is actually something I want to talk to you about, okay?” Rocco’s eyes darted to Rory. “But it can wait a couple days. Call me sometime this week?”
Magnus nodded, confusion furrowing his brow, but he slipped the card in his pocket. “I will. It was good to see you.”
With a nod at Rory, Rocco walked away leaving him and Magnus alone at that end of the bar.
Magnus shot a quick look at him, and Rory prepared himself for a tirade. Or a brush off. Instead, Magnus nodded, almost to himself, and reached for Rory’s hand. Rory returned his grip without question, heart soaring when Magnus laced their fingers together and led him to the same Employees Only door Niko and Luca had used.
Before Magnus pushed the door open, he looked up into Rory’s face, a hesitance that hadn’t been there a moment ago showing in his eyes. “Do you mind coming somewhere with me or did you want to stay at the bar?”
“With you,” he answered quickly, cringing inside at how desperate those two words sounded, but Magnus didn’t seem to notice. He pushed open the door and started leading them down a narrow hallway. As soon as the door closed behind them, the noise of the club was almost completely muffled, leaving Rory’s ears ringing for a moment in the sudden silence.
Magnus was moving quickly
, pulling him past the stock and break rooms before arriving at a door with an exit sign attached to the top. There were more doors down the hall, and at the end a bigger red door with an emergency exit sign with a push bar that was obviously attached to some form of alarm system.
Magnus dropped his hand to dig a set of keys out of his pocket before unlocking the door and pushing it open. Cold, January air swept in through the door as Magnus led them outside. As soon as Rory’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized they were standing in a narrow alley with only a single security light at one end. There was a set of stairs hugging the side of the building directly to their left. Magnus was already on the second step when he turned back to look at Rory. “You coming?”
Rory knew Magnus lived above Viridian, but he’d always assumed that the entrance to his apartment was inside the club. He didn’t like how the one light in the alley cast long shadows, dark enough to hide just about anything. The thought of Magnus being out here on his own at all hours of the early morning when the club closed had his protective instincts clawing their way up his throat. Still, he held his tongue and followed Magnus up the stairs. At the top, Magnus unlocked the door and let them into a foyer with a mat for shoes and a row of hooks for coats on one wall.
“You can take off your shoes if you want, but you don’t have to,” Magnus said, sitting on the bench beneath the row of hooks and sliding his shoes off. Rory followed his lead, watching Magnus unlock the door on the opposite side of the foyer, and wondering what waited for him on the other side. Surely Magnus wouldn’t have invited him to remove his shoes if he had plans to rip Rory a new one, right?
“I need to make a quick phone call to my assistant manager to let her know I came up here, so just make yourself comfortable.” Magnus slipped through the door, leaving it open for Rory to follow.
The apartment reminded Rory of an old school building, high ceilings and big industrial looking windows evenly spaced along the outside wall. The main room was an open floor plan divided by a large granite topped island, the backside of which was lined with barstools. He didn’t see a table and chairs and the only other furniture in the room was a grey leather sectional and a giant flat screen TV mounted on the wall. Everything looked sleek and modern, but there were hints of coziness peeking out here and there: a soft looking quilt bunched in one corner of the sectional, the plush rug covering the hardwood under his socked feet.
Open Wounds: The Boxed Set Page 30
