“Hard to be late for something in my own home,” he said stiffly. “Pretty sure we didn’t confirm family dinner for this week.”
Family dinner was a staple, even with their father moved halfway across the country for his retirement—and to not be as readily reminded of the loss of their mother by staying in the city—but that didn’t give Steven permission to just come over.
Andrew had gotten caught up in work for other clients after the alley. He’d called Kevin, who’d left Avalon after looking over Dalton’s research, and they decided to reconnect on Monday. He hadn’t had the chance to come home yet and shower.
Ford’s scent must be all over him.
“When we don’t confirm, at least one of us still makes sure it happens,” Steven said, taking his seat and staring expectantly at Andrew to join him, who hadn’t moved from the entryway.
“You know I hate the records without singing.”
“Your bad taste is beside the point, but if you hate them so much, why not let me have them?”
Never. They’d split the records evenly, what Dad hadn’t taken for himself, and that’s how things were going to stay.
“Come on, quit being a brat. What would Dad say if he heard we skipped a week?”
Low blow, but at least he hadn’t evoked Mom.
“Forgive me if I don’t like people breaking into my house,” Andrew said, which made him blush when he passed by the sofa, remembering Ford’s presence there as well. He’d Febrezed it multiple times since Christmas, but he still worried he smelled like Ford—like salt and sweat and sandalwood from his cologne.
Cautiously, Andrew moved into the dining room and sat down, praying Steven wouldn’t notice and thankful for the beer that he took a long pull from.
“You didn’t have to cook,” he said, grabbing the tongs for the noodles.
“Before you dish up half the pan without asking…” Steven looked at him accusingly.
“I just…” Andrew halted with the tongs about to release over his plate and promptly returned everything to the serving dish. Once again, he felt twelve years old in his brother’s presence just from a look and his tone. “I am a heathen with no manners, sorry.”
“They need to cool. Grab a meat bun,” Steven said, doing so himself and taking a swig from his own beer.
Andrew bit into a bao with relish. Store bought or not, it was still delicious. “Learn anything new on the Avalon case?”
“If I had, I’d tell you. I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Andrew mimicked his evasiveness.
They munched and drank and filled their plates with vegetables until Steven finally said, “The noodles should be fine now. Let’s dish up,” grabbing for the tongs first this time.
“You made too many,” Andrew said, eyeing the mound Steven added to his plate, and taking just as much himself, but there was still a ton left over.
“Mom’s recipe serves four. They don’t turn out right if I half it.” There was a flick of his eyes to the two empty chairs at Andrew’s table, and a quiet moment passed between them.
“Mom would say we could fix that if we each had a date,” Andrew said, and they shared a rare, commiserating chuckle.
Steven rarely dated, and he’d said good riddance when Andrew dumped Olivia. He was married to the force, which Mom had always given him a hard time for, since he was older and could have given her grandchildren by now.
Which weirdly made Andrew think of Dalton, and just…no.
“Must have been working hard on a Saturday to be out so late,” Steven said. “I was hoping we’d throw the hockey game on after dinner.”
“We can do that,” Andrew said. There were times when he and Steven could just be and not butt heads, and he tried to cherish those moments. “This job is a big one. Success and an endorsement from Avalon could really help make some headway for me.”
“That’s good. Really. I know I can be a dick sometimes,” he said earnestly, which made Andrew look at him in surprise, “but I just want what’s best for you.”
“You sound like Dad.” Andrew smirked at him.
“Now, who’s being a dick?”
They laughed again, but the mirth was interrupted by Andrew’s phone buzzing. He pulled it from his pocket to check the text, but all he saw was that it was from Dalton before Steven snatched it from his hand.
“Hey!”
“No cell phones at the dinner table. You know the rules.” He might not have meant to look at Andrew’s screen, but his eyes drifted there anyway, and he saw the name, pulling the phone closer rather than setting it aside. “You’re getting texts from Wellesley?”
“He’s my friend, remember?” Andrew tried to grab it back from him. “Don’t—”
“And what does he mean by this?” He turned the phone toward Andrew, and he could finally see the message.
Thanks again for today and for being so cool about working with my dad.
“Who’s his dad?”
Andrew had no way around this but the truth, and he stared at his plate of noodles in longing as he let his hands drop back to his lap. “Isaac Ford.”
“What?”
“We’re working on this job together.”
“Are you kidding me? That kid is Ford’s son?”
“Steve—”
“At what point were you going to tell me that we have two obvious suspects in front of our faces?”
“It wasn’t either of them.” Andrew jerked forward. “Dalton checked out, and Ford would not do that to his son.”
A nasty huff left Steven in disbelief. “You ever stop to think they might have planned this together?”
“They are helping me with the case.”
“Or maybe you’re just putting blind faith in a man who should be back in prison.”
“You helped him cut a deal.”
“For the greater good. That doesn’t mean he’s reformed.”
“So what would? Immaculate conception?”
He saw the steam about to pour from Steven’s ears and rushed on to keep the upper hand.
“Vallancourt is in on this too. You want to berate her next?”
“She trusts Ford?”
“She trusts Dalton. And me. It’s a shame you never do.”
Silence settled over the table, the brief respite of good will that had existed between them long since squashed.
Steven was the first to break the quiet. “I thought we didn’t keep secrets in this family.”
“We don’t. I wasn’t…” Andrew trailed off when he had to admit that he had been keeping secrets, and he had a lot more he hoped his brother never learn about. “I was trying to protect a friend.”
“Who? Wellesley? Or Ford? He’d still be in jail if you hadn’t gone easy on him.”
“Easy? I did everything I could to prove the rest of those thefts were his, but the classifieds weren’t enough, and you know it.”
“Then why defend him now? He’s your competition. You can’t tell me that wasn’t purposeful, and now you’re working with him?”
Andrew bit back his next retort. He’d always assumed it was purposeful too, but he didn’t believe that anymore. Ford had changed—for Dalton—and security was the only thing that made sense for him. “He’s different. And you met Dalton. He’s a good kid. If you saw them together, you’d understand. You’d want to give Ford another chance too.”
“You really believe that?”
“I do.”
“Then you won’t have a problem inviting them over for dinner.”
“What?” The combative adrenaline drained from Andrew’s body.
“If Ford’s so worthy of a second chance, you should feel comfortable having him under this roof. Or is that not true?”
Technically, Andrew had had Ford under this roof—by the fireplace.
And on the sofa.
“It…is,” Andrew said hesitantly. “I am comfortable. It’s just…there’s one small problem—and th
is is not me backtracking. I trust Ford. There’s just something you should know.” Collapsing back into his seat, Andrew tried to tell himself that keeping this between only a handful of people was never going to pan out anyway. “Dalton thinks Ford and I used to date.”
Steven looked in desperate need of another beer.
“Which we didn’t. It was the first thing that came to mind when Dalton asked how we knew each other. Ford doesn’t want his son involved in his past or his current security business, so he didn’t want to admit I was his arresting officer. We sort of blanked on the obvious competitor’s angle. So, for Ford’s sake—for Dalton’s sake—I went with it.”
“Do the lies just take on a life of their own with you?”
“Ford started it! I just…” Andrew did not want to tumble back into being confrontational. “I trust him. I trust Dalton. I will invite them over to prove to you that I’m right about Ford. He’s a good man deep down. Mostly. Now he’s trying to be a good dad.”
Silence settled over the table again. They’d need to reheat the noodles at this rate, and that was sacrilege.
“Fine,” Steven conceded. “Invite them. I mean it. Whole family affair. Kevin and Candace included. I want their opinions on Ford and son too.”
Ford and son. For family dinner.
When Candace didn’t know any of this.
Ford was going to be so pissed.
“And since when do you wear such woodsy cologne?”
Andrew took a bite of noodles to keep from answering.
* * * *
Monday morning, Andrew beat everyone to the office. He was scheduled to meet with Ford and Dalton early and did not want to be caught unprepared. Originally, he’d planned to take Kevin with him again today and continue keeping Candace in the dark, but if family dinner was in their future, he had to come clean about Ford. He just needed to figure out how.
His building was different from Ford’s in that instead of a large, renovated warehouse, he rented space with multiple businesses, including laser hair removal and a spiritual healer who sold essential oils. Not ten minutes after he arrived, sitting at his desk, working through scenarios in his head about Candace, his office line rang.
“Wen Security, Andrew Wen speaking.”
“Aren’t you adorably professional. Don’t you have a secretary?”
Ford.
Andrew couldn’t help but smile—and since when did Isaac Ford have that kind of instant reaction on him? “All lines redirect to my phone until Candace gets in. And if you ever call her my secretary to her face, she will punch you.”
Ford chuckled.
“I’m just waiting for Kevin,” Andrew said. “We’ll be on our way soon. And…” How exactly did he transition to—and my brother wants you over for dinner to prove you’re a no-good criminal and always will be?
“Don’t bother. We’re coming to you.”
“What?” Andrew spun in his chair to face the window, like keeping a dirty secret with the blinds closed. “I thought we were meeting at your place.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Kevin said Dalton—”
“Is trying to undermine me? I’m aware. I don’t like him at my offices where anyone who might be watching could see him.” The faintly plaintive tone caught Andrew’s attention.
“I’m sorry, Ford. Of course, you can come to my office.”
“What?” a new voice swung Andrew around again.
Candace, standing in his doorway.
“Thank you,” Ford said, not having heard her. “We’ll be there in thirty.” Then he hung up, leaving Andrew to deal with the aftermath.
“Uhh…” he fumbled as he replaced his phone. “I can explain.”
He did, though messily, with Candace never once taking the seat in front of his desk but standing there, arms crossed and brow pinched, which looked especially severe on her since she shaved her eyebrows and drew them in.
“Please don’t walk out and quit,” Andrew pleaded. “You know I can’t run this place without you.”
“As if I would,” she said, her steely expression softening. “You’re my best friend, and I have just as much at stake with this firm as you do. I can’t go back to marketing. Which is why I can’t believe you would put all this on the line for Ford. He’s the reason we’ve been floundering. We had no direct competition until he came along.”
“I know. But nothing is on the line by working with him on one case. It’s for Dalton. Remember? The guy you like.”
A corner of her mouth twitched, because it really was impossible to not like Dalton. “Him I trust, and I’m glad we’re helping. For Dalton. And because it’s huge to work for Avalon. But trying to be a good dad or not, do you honestly believe Ford will play nice all the way through to the end? He needs your help now, but he’ll get what he can to screw us over later, and not bat an eye about it.”
Andrew hadn’t thought of that. He hadn’t thought much about anything other than his next private encounter with Ford, since even one day of not seeing him had made Andrew ache for what might come next.
But this was Ford. He’d made Andrew spin his wheels when they were thief and detective, and even more so lately, constantly stealing business from him and having admitted and proven that he had Andrew’s work line bugged. Working together opened all sorts of ways for him to run Andrew into the ground when this was over.
“He wouldn’t…”
“Are you sure? You want to work with him? Fine. For Dalton. But then we act first to make sure that, next time, we’re the ones doing the screwing.”
Andrew looked up from where his eyes had fallen to his desk. While ‘screwing’ might have sent his mind to the gutter, he felt powerfully sober at the thought of betraying Ford first, because they’d promised, hadn’t they? He’d called for a truce, and Ford had agreed, that they’d share information going forward.
“It’s Ford. I get it,” he said, “but he’s also a friend’s father—”
“Who’d do it to you and is probably already planning to,” Candace said firmly. “All I’m saying is that if you’re going to work with him, then pay attention, learn everything you can, and next time, we’ll be the ones stealing from him.”
Andrew thought about that all throughout the remaining minutes while waiting for Ford and Dalton to arrive. Kevin joined them first, with a box of assorted donuts in hand that he’d intended to bring with them as a peace offering—or because he didn’t trust any treats that might have been at Ford’s—and set them by the coffee maker.
“Are you seriously watching the entrances?” Andrew asked, after Kevin had shooed Candace away from her desk to view their surveillance from a central location.
“Why not? I don’t want Ford doing that creeping from the shadows thing again. He enjoys sneaking past defenses way too much.”
“Nonsense,” Ford’s voice made Kevin yelp and lose hold of the fritter he just barely managed to catch again after it flew into the air. “If there were defenses here, then I’d enjoy it.”
While it might not have been as grand of an entrance as Avalon, appearing from the main hallway behind them was still impressive.
“How?” Kevin pointed his donut at him.
The tilt to Ford’s head and crook to his smirk was insufferably sexy. “Back door to the underground garage doesn’t have a camera,” he said, sidling up to the front desk with Dalton in tow, where Kevin sat, and Andrew stood to the side. “One would think you’d have attended to that hole in your security by now.”
“I wanted to,” Andrew protested, trying not to think about how, the last time he’d seen Ford, he’d been inside him. “The building wouldn’t let me put a camera there.”
A squeal interrupted any snide remarks Ford might have made as Candace came in and moved swiftly to tackle Dalton. “Look at you!”
“Candace!” he exclaimed with equal fervor, squeezing tightly in reply. “You’re even more gorgeous than I remember.”
“Oh hush. You look
amazing. And here I always wondered where those dazzling blue eyes came from.” She turned her attention to Ford with impenetrable boldness.
“Miss Stone.”
“Ford. Decided to try things on the winning team?”
“Always. My own.” He extended a hand, and they shared a chilling shake.
“Now that you’re both here—” Andrew tried.
“How about Kevin and Candace give me a tour?” Dalton broke in.
Again with the parent-trapping? If only he knew what they got up to when they were alone.
Suddenly, all Andrew could picture was lifting Ford up that alley wall and sucking his cock down his throat.
Or not.
“Sure!” Kevin jumped at the chance to get away from Ford. “Andrew can—”
“He and Dad will be fine. I’m sure Dad already knows this place inside and out.” Dalton physically pulled the other two down the hall, and they were gone.
Andrew swallowed when Ford immediately moved closer to him. He had to remember that he was a professional, not some horny degenerate, but that swagger was seriously unfair. “I, umm…think Kevin likes Dalton more than me. Candace too.”
“He’s easy to like,” Ford said, practically trapping Andrew to the desk with how close he got. “You seem tense again. Is that your default setting, or do you need more excuses for…release?” The drag of his eyes down Andrew’s body made him shudder.
“Dalton is easy to like. You’re…”
“Even easier?”
“Easy does spring to mind.”
“Would you prefer I played hard to get, Andrew?”
“Maybe when we’re not technically alone.” He gave Ford’s chest a gentle shove but let his hand linger before pulling away. He needed to think about something other than Ford and sex.
Like Ford possibly conning him.
No, he didn’t want to think about that either.
Dalton’s laughter carried from somewhere deeper in the office, and Ford glanced back with a fond smile. He really did care about his son, no matter what else might be going on.
Public Enemy, Undercover Lover Page 9
