Connor look dumbfounded but had enough sense not to argue. He managed a quick nod and then Zane dragged him up for another kiss before he released him. As he left the bathroom, he grabbed Connor’s shirt and underwear and took them to Connor’s room to dump them in the hamper he’d seen by the closet. He was just reaching for Connor’s jeans when he heard Connor’s phone vibrate. He pulled it out of the back pocket and placed it on the nightstand. It went silent after just a couple of rings but as he turned to drape the pants across the chair in the corner, the phone began vibrating again. He glanced at the screen and saw that it was an unidentified number. During their outing, he’d only seen Connor check the phone once early in the day and then he’d presumably put it on vibrate and Zane hadn’t given it a second thought. But now as the phone began vibrating yet again, his mind went back to their second encounter in the motel a few weeks earlier. The phone had rung endlessly then too and that had also been an unidentified number.
Zane knew it was none of his business but he couldn’t make himself move as the phone went quiet. A notification popped up on the screen to indicate the missed call and Zane’s heart nearly stopped when he saw that Connor had more than thirty missed calls from the same number. When the phone rang for a fourth time, Zane snatched it up.
“Hello?”
There were several long seconds of dead silence and then the line disconnected. Zane scrolled until he found the voicemail option and felt the anger start to burn in his gut as he saw the notification that said the voicemail box was full. He hit play and put the phone to his ear but there was nothing but the same silence. Every message was exactly the same.
Zane’s fingers tightened around the phone as he fought his instinct to rush into the bathroom and confront Connor about the mysterious calls. But something held him back and he put the phone back down on the nightstand instead. As his mind began to race with thoughts, Zane left the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen so he could figure out what to pull together for dinner instead of obsessing over the realization that Connor was keeping secrets from him.
Chapter 8
“Jesus Christ,” Zane muttered as Jagger’s weight dropped into the passenger seat of his Audi.
“I’ve been called lots of things-” Jagger began to say as he closed the door.
“What the hell are you doing here, Varos?” Zane snapped as he tried to get his heart rate back under control. The fact that the huge man had been able to get halfway in his car before he’d even realized it was proof that Zane was beyond just distracted. He was fucking obsessed.
“Same thing as you I’m guessing,” Jagger said as he leaned back in the seat and got more comfortable. Like Zane’s, his eyes were focused on the apartment building across the street.
“The phone calls?” Zane asked as he glanced at the man sitting next to him. Jagger’s jaw hardened.
“Took me a while to notice,” he admitted. “I finally put it together when I was driving him back to his place the other morning after he told me about you two.” Jagger scrubbed his hand over his face. “He switches it to silent mode instead of answering it, his voice mail box is always full…” Zane felt Jagger’s eyes shift to him. “When did you figure it out?”
“Last night,” Zane said.
“You talk to him about it?”
Zane shook his head. “It’s not that kind of relationship,” he said tiredly. “He doesn’t owe me any explanations.”
Jagger was quiet for a long time before he said, “If it’s not that kind of relationship, then what the hell are you doing here?”
Zane didn’t have a response – at least not one he wanted to try to understand. “I answered it last night,” Zane admitted.
“He say anything to you?”
“You know he’s too smart for that,” Zane murmured. “Just like he’s too smart to use a traceable line.”
“You remember the number?” Jagger asked as he pulled out his own phone.
“Just the one from last night. There was another one a few weeks ago but I didn’t memorize that one.”
Jagger began typing into his phone and Zane couldn’t help but notice how long it took him. He recited the number when Jagger asked him for it but was surprised when Jagger held up the phone.
“This right?” Jagger asked.
Zane scanned the text and nodded.
“I’m dyslexic,” Jagger murmured as he hit the send button. “I usually use an app to convert voice to text but I’m trying to learn…” he said quietly as he kept his eyes down on the phone.
The admission surprised Zane, more so because Jagger had voiced it to him of all people.
“We’ve got some really sharp people on our tech team at the office,” Jagger explained. “They should be able to tell us pretty quickly if it was a burner phone and if there’s any connection to Sutter.”
Zane knew Jagger worked for Barretti Security Group as part of the security personnel they contracted out to various firms and private customers throughout Seattle. He hadn’t even actually met the co-founders, Vin and Dom Barretti, but he’d heard good things. And the fact that they’d dumped Lionel Sutter as a client after hearing what his son had done to Connor told Zane that not only were Vin and Dom good people, they were fucking powerful ones.
“How’s Ren?” Zane asked idly as he kept his gaze on the apartment building entrance.
“Good,” Jagger responded. “He’s thinking about starting his own business restoring cars.”
Zane smiled as he remembered the sweet GTO Ren Barretti drove. It was exactly the type of car he and his father had always talked about restoring one day. They’d even managed to find the actual car at a junkyard in the days before his father was arrested. “Good for him,” Zane murmured as the expected, overwhelming feeling of loss overtook him.
“Declan’s good too,” Jagger ventured and Zane felt his insides clench. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his former lover with the man’s current lover.
“You mind not kicking my ass while we’re in the car? Blood and Valcona leather don’t mix.”
He was surprised when Jagger didn’t take the bait.
“Declan told me about your client and his wife. I guess he was assigned to investigate the case. I’m sorry,” Jagger said. “At least the asshole didn’t go after his kid.”
Jagger’s phone chose that moment to indicate a new text and Zane was saved from having to come up with a response. Zane had heard that the kid’s aunt and uncle were going to take the boy in so at least there was that.
“He paid cash, right?” Zane said when Jagger didn’t say anything.
“Yeah,” Jagger muttered. “Only thing we’ve got is the store it was purchased from.”
“Where?”
“An electronics store at the mall in Bellevue. Three other phones were purchased at the same time but it was nearly two months ago.”
“Before Sutter was released from jail,” Zane observed. “Smart.”
Jagger’s silence had Zane glancing over at him and he was caught off guard by the disappointment on the man’s face. “He lied to me,” Jagger murmured.
“Who did?”
“Connor. He told me Sutter hadn’t tried to contact him since he was released.”
Zane sighed. “Because he knew what you would do if he told you the truth.”
It was the same thing he’d been contemplating doing since he’d parked his car across from Sutter’s apartment building. The rage that flowed through his veins at the thought of the man who had abused Connor - fucking raped him – had Zane considering both the best way to end the man’s life and the defense he would present in court when he showed the world why the worthless piece of shit didn’t deserve to breathe the same air that people like Connor did.
Zane forced himself to focus on the present and looked over at Jagger. “Any chance you can get me a meeting with your bosses?”
“When?” was all Jagger asked.
“Now.”
***
; “Here, I heated it up for you,” Mags said as she slid the plastic container in front of him.
Connor could smell the food long before Mags even lifted the lid off the container. From the way the two men who were sitting at the bar quickly moved to a table in the far corner of the small space, Connor guessed they could smell it too.
“Mags,” he began to say but the woman shoved a fork into his hand and watched him expectantly.
“One bite,” she ordered in that no nonsense tone of voice that reminded him so much of his mother’s even though the women had absolutely nothing in common.
“Mags, you know I love your cooking but Haggis?” he muttered as he poked at the brown ball of nastiness in front of him.
“Oh God, I love you but I don’t think I can do this,” he choked out as the overwhelming stench assailed him again.
Mags crossed her beefy arms and Connor bit back a groan. She’d been threatening him with this since the night Jagger had outed him and told Mags that Jagger’s mother had been cooking her specialty dish for him every week since he’d moved to Seattle. The news hadn’t gone over well since Connor had been avoiding many of the dishes from Mags’ Scottish roots for nearly just as long. He finally forced himself to stab his fork into the food but when he tried to take just a small portion, Mags snatched up the fork, got it nice and full and then handed it to him.
It wasn’t completely terrible but since the smell was making his stomach roll, Connor had to make himself swallow the food. “It’s good,” he managed to get out and the smile that spread across Mags’ lips was totally worth the little white lie he’d told. She planted a big kiss on his cheek.
“I’ll make it when you bring that man over to meet Gemma,” she said, though her emphasis on the “that man” part meant she wasn’t thrilled at the prospect.
“You were the one who invited him,” Connor murmured. Connor couldn’t say if he’d been more surprised by the invitation or the fact that Zane had said yes when Mags had made the offer this afternoon when she’d walked in on Zane pressing him back against the bar as he kissed him goodbye.
“I was just the messenger,” Mags said grumpily. Connor smiled at that since he knew the invitation must have come from Mags’ wife.
“Well, it’s your fault for telling her about him. I told you, we’re just friends.” Mags snorted and then looked at the food he’d put on his fork but hadn’t yet eaten. He was saved by the door opening as a couple more customers walked in. He quickly grabbed the container and shoved it behind the bar and then motioned to the customers when Mags gave him a dark look.
“You sure you don’t need me to come back at closing time?” she said as she glanced at the crutch he was leaning on. It made his work a lot more difficult but he knew if he didn’t give his leg a break, it would just end up costing him in the long run. And as much as he’d enjoyed having Zane take care of him last night, he didn’t want it to be the norm. And he definitely didn’t want to give Zane any excuses for leaving the relationship even a second earlier than he was planning to.
“Zane’s coming to pick me up,” he said. Hopefully so they could pick up where they’d left off before they’d been forced to leave his bed so Connor would make it to work on time.
Connor was caught off guard when Mags cradled his face with her hands and studied him for a long moment, ignoring the two men who’d sat down at the bar. “That man…maybe he’s not so bad for you,” she murmured before releasing him and turning to head back to her office.
He realized as he took the men’s drink orders that he couldn’t easily describe what Zane was for him. But every word, every feeling he came up with hinted at a future with Zane…a future he wanted more than anything but one he knew Zane would fight at every step. Learning about Zane’s devastating childhood had given Connor some insight into Zane’s need for control and his drive to succeed but it left him no closer to figuring out if Zane would ever consider trying for something beyond a physical relationship. Connor almost laughed at the irony of it all. He’d finally found the mind-blowing physical connection he’d always considered beyond his reach but it still wasn’t enough. He wanted it all and he wanted it with Zane.
***
Zane glanced at the clock on his phone as he shut down his computer. He had a good half an hour before he was supposed to pick up Connor but since he hadn’t been able to actually get any work done in the last few hours, he figured it wouldn’t hurt just to head to the bar and give Connor a hand with closing up the place. As he walked towards the elevator, he nodded his head at the janitor who was cleaning the office suite.
By the time Zane reached his car, he was feeling the way he typically did when he knew he was going to see Connor – raw, needy, hungry, excited. But he was also on edge because he knew he’d stepped over a line today with Connor and when Connor found out, it would likely change whatever it was that they had between them.
Ever since he’d answered Connor’s phone last night, he’d become obsessed with the knowledge that Jason Sutter was continuing to torment Connor. And his obsession had turned to fear as he realized that not even the threat of being returned to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence for assaulting Connor seemed to be enough to deter the man. Physical intimidation hadn’t done the trick either since both his and Jagger’s beatings hadn’t seemed to change Sutter’s focus at all. At most, they’d slowed him down. At worst, they’d enraged him further by keeping him away from the object of his obsession. It was that thought that had had Zane asking Jagger to set up a meeting with Vin and Dom Barretti.
Jagger had been true to his word and within fifteen minutes of asking to meet the men, he was sitting in Dom’s office. Although Vin hadn’t been available since he was at a doctor’s appointment with his wife, Dom had been receptive to his request and an hour later Zane had left the corporate offices of Barretti Security Group feeling secure in the knowledge that in less than twenty-four hours, Connor would have round the clock protection. Even better, Jason Sutter was going to be monitored as well and Dom had assured him that they had the technological resources to dig up the evidence they would need to prove Sutter was the one behind the phone calls to Connor. But to Zane’s amazement, when he’d gotten his checkbook out to cover what he expected would be a hefty deposit, Dom had waived him off with a comment about Connor being part of the family now. He’d tried to argue but Jagger had cut him off and told him it was time for them to go.
At this point, Zane didn’t care who was paying for what. All that mattered was that Connor would be safe. But he also knew Connor wasn’t going to be happy to find out what had been done behind his back. If he knew anything about Connor, it was that he was fiercely independent despite the challenges he faced every day and he absolutely refused to be a burden to anyone. And of all the people in his life, Zane had the least to say about things since he couldn’t get past his own shit long enough to be the man Connor deserved. Fuck, he couldn’t even find the strength to leave Connor alone so he could find a guy who would jump at any crumb of affection Connor offered.
As if on cue, his cell phone rang and he smiled at the ring tone he’d picked out for Connor’s number. It was the same song Connor had been bumping and grinding to in his kitchen the other morning.
“Hey,” Zane murmured huskily as he hit the hands-free button on his car’s steering wheel.
“Is this Zane?”
Zane’s whole body shot to attention at the unfamiliar voice on the other end and his stomach bottomed out when he heard what sounded like a siren in the background. He barely managed to remember to pull his car to the side of the road before he slammed on the brakes.
“Where’s Connor?” he yelled.
“My name is Tony. I’m a paramedic with King County EMS. Are you a friend of Connor’s?”
“Yes! Where the fuck is he?”
“Zane, I need you to stay calm. I don’t have all the information but Connor was involved in an altercation tonight and he’s asking for you. Can you meet
us at Seattle Med?”
“I’m on my way,” Zane managed to get out but his hands were shaking so bad that it took him 3 tries to get the car in the right gear. “Can I talk to him?”
“Connor, can you hear me buddy?” the voice on the other end said. “Come on Connor, wake up. Zane wants to see how you’re doing.” There was some shuffling and then Tony was back and saying, “I’m sorry but he’s lost consciousness. We’re pulling into the ER now.” And with that the line was disconnected.
Zane let out a hoarse cry as he slammed his hands against the steering wheel. A horn blared from somewhere as he jerked his car back into the street and pressed on the gas. It was in his head that he needed to call people but he was too focused on getting to the hospital to try to fumble with his phone long enough to find the numbers.
Unconscious. Connor had been awake long enough to give the paramedic his name but that was it.
“Fuck!” Zane roared as tears began to roll down his cheeks. By the time his car tore into the ER entrance, he was in a near panic that he’d be too late. Someone shouted at him about moving his car but he ignored them and slammed through the main doors. He bypassed the people standing in line at the counter and yelled, “Connor Talbot - where is he?”
The nurse behind the desk was surprisingly calm as she began punching something into her computer. It was probably only seconds before she asked, “Are you family?”
Zane didn’t bother to stick around to hear the argument he knew would be coming so he strode down the hall and began looking in all the curtained off areas. He grabbed every person dressed in scrubs and asked them where Connor was but they either looked at him like he was crazy or told him to check with the front desk. Frustration went through him as he reached the end of the corridor and nearly slammed into two guys pulling a gurney through the electronic doors at the end of the hallway. It took several long seconds for it to register that they were paramedics.
Freeing Zane (Barretti Security Series, Book 4) Page 12