This he could talk about. “Very. We’re almost through with them, and then we have the paperwork and home studies and that’s it. They are taking up a lot of time, though, and as you know, I’m busy getting ready to open In Good Time.”
“Snow burning up your phone with questions?”
Ian laughed. “Not today, but he has been. Man should have just given in already. He needs to either hire a professional wedding planner or just let me handle it. He’s probably driving Jude up the walls.”
One corner of Lucas’s mouth turned up. “Jude likes walls, so I’m sure he’s dealing just fine. Never met anyone more perfect for our Ash.”
“Isn’t that the truth.”
“If it’s not the classes or the new restaurant, what is it?” Lucas folded his hands on the table and regarded Ian closely.
He thought of spilling everything that was happening, but he didn’t want to talk about it yet. It would make it seem too real. So, he shrugged. “Just stressed from so many things going on.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes; then he nodded. Ian had a feeling Lucas didn’t buy it for a second, but he was letting the subject drop. Lucas learning to be less controlling and interfering was either Andrei’s positive influence, or Lucas was realizing that he had his hands full already with a husband and a baby.
Thankfully, their food arrived, distracting them both. Ian took a bite of the crisp pancetta and smiled as Lucas dug into his food. He probably should have told Lucas about other items on the menu rather than let him have something so full of fat, but he knew the man mostly ate healthy at home. He’d had high cholesterol at one point, but all of them had ridden his ass until he did something about it and was now fine. He had that precious baby girl and gorgeous husband to be there for, so he hadn’t argued too much. His friend was happy and he showed it every day. He hardly ever frowned, and he normally cut his working hours back. Little Daci couldn’t have asked for better daddies.
“I’m thinking of having some kind of splashy Christmas party here in December. Maybe even serve some turkey specials through Thanksgiving. Something to give the restaurant a bump. Play up the holidays.”
Lucas looked around, his gaze settling on the line of people still waiting to get in. “Looks like it doesn’t need the bump.”
“Gotta keep things fresh, you know. Keep people coming.”
Lucas watched him closely, and Ian decided to change the subject before he lost his cool and started rattling off all the real worries he had about the restaurant. Those green-gray eyes probed like Lucas could tell he was holding back.
“How close are you to moving into the new place?” Ian asked.
“We’re about two to three weeks out.”
Ian looked up as Johnny dropped off their coffees. “Thanks,” he said before picking up his mug to take a sip. The strong roast burst over his tongue and he sighed in pleasure, realizing it was his first cup of the day. He’d been so busy, he’d forgotten. And that would explain the slight headache he’d been dealing with. Well, other than the stress of the health inspection.
He looked back at Lucas. “Did Andrei show you the furniture we picked out?”
Lucas nodded. “It’s nice. I like it. But I’m more interested in what’s going on with you. You can say different all you like, but I can tell something’s wrong. You’re…agitated.”
Ian sighed. He should have known he couldn’t get anything past Lucas. Even with a husband and a baby, Lucas was all about taking care of his family. “We had another surprise health inspection this morning and apparently, there were complaints of food poisoning. I’m upset because one, I haven’t heard any of those complaints myself, and two, we just had an inspection a few weeks ago. So, that was just one more thing on top of all the other things I have going on.”
“So we were right to keep you from planning Snow’s wedding. I knew you had a lot on your plate right now. In Good Time is what? Months from opening and you still pull full hours here.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it next to his plate. “You do know that when there are children involved, hectic becomes a way of life, right?”
“Of course! I’ll scale back by then. Just like you have.”
“It’s worth it. None of my businesses matter nearly as much as Andrei and Daciana. I know you, Ian. You’ll fall in love with the first kids you foster.”
“Don’t tell me, there’s a pool going on that.”
Lucas cracked a grin. “Of course. Rowe started it.”
“So, who thinks I won’t fall in love with the first kids?”
“None of us—the pool is about how long it’ll take. My money is on twenty-four hours.”
Ian’s laughter felt good. And Lucas was probably right about how long it would take him to get attached. He loved kids. He reached out and laid his hand on Lucas’s arm. “Thanks for coming by today. I know you’re supposed to come over Thursday with Snow for dinner, so it’s a treat getting to see you twice this week.”
Lucas patted his hand. “The treat is mine.”
Ian relaxed back in the booth with his coffee and worked to shove his worries aside. It would all be okay. It had to be.
Chapter Six
Hollis was reading the most recent reviews of Rialto when Ian returned home that night. The clock on the far wall said it was nine p.m. He should have made dinner, but he’d gotten distracted by the reviews, which were truly awful. Some held a sort of vicious glee he couldn’t get past. Anger simmered inside him as he read another that was outright false. It was as if someone was just throwing out every complaint he could think of. Even though all the reviews came from different posters, they felt too much like a calculated move. The attack felt personal.
Worry for Ian gnawed at his stomach. This had to be hitting him so damn hard. He’d sounded defeated on the phone earlier, so Hollis planned to give him a nice evening at home with lots of cuddles.
The front door shut, and the keys hit the bowl before his husband walked into the kitchen where Hollis sat at the breakfast bar. Ian’s shoulders, in his white button-down, were slumped and his hair was disheveled. Hollis set his phone aside, turned, and held open his arms. Ian set some sacks down on the counter and walked into them with a heavy sigh.
“Now that’s what I’ve needed all day,” he said into Hollis’s neck as he wrapped his arms around his husband.
Hollis smelled his hair, taking in the familiar scent of food and coffee. He loved the way Ian smelled after a day at Rialto. And as usual, there were good scents coming from the bags on the counter. Something with a rich sauce. He nuzzled into the soft strands of his hair, then kissed his ear. “You doing okay, GQ?” he whispered.
“It was a long day.” Ian tightened his arms. “I had a nice lunch with Lucas, though, and that made it better. But my employees are all spooked. Word of the bad reviews got out on top of the health inspection. And all this after the raid. I don’t blame them for being nervous. If I wasn’t so furious, I’d be a lot more nervous myself.”
“I was reading the reviews, and I can tell some of them are completely fake. And there are so many coming in, they can’t all be legit. Your idea that someone is out to get the restaurant is right. I’d like to look into this myself.”
Ian pulled away to stare at him. His sweet face looked drawn, and there were shadows under his brown eyes. “As long as you keep me in the loop. I want to be one hundred percent involved.”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because everyone seems to think I’m better off being left out of things. Do you know how many times my friends have left me out of their fun adventures? Not that this is fun, but you know what I mean.” Ian stepped back and plopped his hands on his slender hips. “I’m tired of being overprotected.”
“You mean you wanted to hang out in a nightclub while a bunch of hired hoods tried to kill Lucas and shot the place up? Or you wanted to ride along to DC with the Masters of Mayhem and take down a group of mercenaries?”
Ian rolled his eyes at Ho
llis’s incredulous tone. “If Gidget hadn’t shown the news footage, I would never have believed Rowe and Noah brought down an entire building.”
Hollis dropped his head back and groaned. “Rowe even sounded disappointed that it was only a little building.”
“Oh yes, only a few stories tall.” Ian giggled and Hollis found himself feeling lighter. Talking about his “brothers” usually brought Ian some happiness and relief. He turned serious, but the smile still lingered on his lips. “I don’t need the danger and excitement that others seem to crave, but I want to be in the middle of things if it’s about my restaurant.”
Hollis brushed a lock of Ian’s hair off his forehead. “Since this involves your business, you’ll be party to anything I find. I promise.”
“So, what can you do?”
He pointed to a notebook on the breakfast bar. “I’ve made a list of questions for you. Feel up to answering them now?” He eyed the sacks of food. “Want to wait on dinner and help me fold some clothes first? I know how you hate when I leave them too long and they wrinkle.”
Ian nodded and chuckled. “Sure. Dinner will hold.”
They walked into the living room where Hollis had left several baskets of laundry on the hunter-green couch. He flipped on a lamp and heard Ian sigh. He had to bite back a laugh. Yeah, he technically could have already folded the clothes, but most of these were Hollis’s and he didn’t give a shit if they weren’t perfect. The other baskets were full of towels and sheets, and surely it didn’t matter if those were wrinkled.
“We should probably start with the obvious,” Hollis announced as he picked up one of his T-shirts. “Any past harassments or arguments with customers?”
Ian tilted his head and frowned before he shook it. “I can’t think of anything. I mean even the few customers who had complaints were happy when their dinners were comped or they got free desserts. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to come up with anyone who left that angry, and I am hitting a blank.”
“What about employees? Any that you had to let go or who quit? Anyone you interviewed and didn’t hire that could be angry?”
Ian folded a towel just so before he set it on the coffee table. He picked up another and tried to smooth the wrinkles out of it. “I did have to fire one employee. Ginger. She was disrespectful to my other employees. She was pretty pissed when she left, too.”
“Ginger who?”
“Ginger Roberts.”
Hollis stopped folding to write down her name. “So, that’s one person who could be doing this. I’ll see what I can find on her.” He tapped the notebook with his pen. “What about rival restaurants? Ever hear any rumors that would give us a lead?”
Ian shook his head.
“Ever get into a scuffle with another chef over an ancient secret recipe? Old enemies from your cooking school days?”
Ian glared at him and Hollis couldn’t keep his shoulders from shaking with mirth. While Ian was very serious about his cooking, Hollis couldn’t imagine him ever getting into a fight with another chef.
“Have you been secretly watching those cooking reality shows again?” Ian teased. “You do know that crap is all staged. It’s not real.”
Hollis gasped loudly. “What? Are you serious? Not real?”
“Ass,” Ian muttered, but it at least sounded like he was trying hard not to laugh at Hollis’s ridiculousness.
“But I thought Anthony Bourdain had all these rivalries. And I thought there were a bunch of chefs who would get into fistfights on the proper way to prepare duck.”
Ian relaxed even more. “Yes, chefs can get territorial, and there are a lot of us who can be…strongly opinionated on how to prepare certain dishes. But there aren’t any chefs that I’ve started kitchen wars with. I actually don’t know that many, and we’re just on very light, passing-acquaintance terms.”
“So…you’ve not pissed off any customers, you’ve got one potentially disgruntled ex-employee after being in business for four years, and you haven’t started any wars with other chefs or restaurant owners,” Hollis recapped with a wink.
“You’re correct.”
“Didn’t Rowe set up security cameras?”
“I have outside ones in both front and back, but it would take forever to watch all that footage.” He paused his folding. “I wonder if Gidget could work some of her tech magic. Figure out a way to go through those tapes without having to watch every second, though I don’t know what we’d be looking for.”
“Anything that stands out. Anyone leaving pissed—that sort of thing. Or anyone who returns to the area frequently but doesn’t go in. And if we’re going to use Gidget, then we could get Quinn to look into the IP addresses of these bad reviews. Maybe he could find something. I’ll see if I can get Shane to sweet-talk his boyfriend into helping us.”
Hollis noted that Ian had gone still, his hands tightening on the towel he was in the middle of folding. It was clear that some new thought had occurred to him, and Hollis was waiting for him to finally voice it.
“If we ask for help from Gidget and Quinn, Rowe is going to find out about what’s happening,” Ian started, his voice low and thoughtful. “And if Rowe knows, then you know it’s going to be only a matter of minutes before Snow and Lucas find out.”
Hollis stopped in the middle of reaching for another shirt and straightened. Ian wasn’t one to hide things from Rowe and the others, except for maybe his poor sleeping habits. All four men leaned heavily on each other and were always eager to help each other out. They’d want to know that Ian was having trouble. “You don’t want your family to find out? You know they’d be happy to help.”
“And you know their form of ‘help,’ ” Ian said irritably. “I would get pushed to the side where it was safe while they handled everything.”
There was absolutely no argument Hollis could give to that. It was the truth. Everyone in the family was incredibly protective of Ian. They did whatever they could to keep Ian as far from danger as possible.
And Ian had just wrangled a promise out of him to keep Ian at the center of their investigation. There was little chance of them getting the same promise from Rowe and the boys.
A slow, wicked smile spread across Hollis’s lips, and Ian arched one brow at him in question.
“What are you thinking?” Ian asked.
“Shane could ask Quinn not to tell Rowe about his little research project,” Hollis suggested.
“You mean co-opt Quinn to work secretly for us? That’s devious. I love it!” Ian gave a wicked little laugh and rubbed his hands together.
“What about Gidget? Do you think you could talk to Gidget without Rowe knowing it?”
Ian straightened and crossed his arms over his chest for a moment before starting to tap one finger against his pursed lips as he thought. It took only a few seconds for a smile to spread across his lips. The wicked thing was sending blood straight to Hollis’s cock. Ian didn’t have a damn evil bone in his body, but when he was in the mood to be a little sneaky…fuck, Hollis lost his freaking mind every time.
“I was just thinking that I haven’t brought food to the Ward Security team in a few months. Maybe it’s time to try out a few new recipes.”
Hollis shook his head as he chuckled. There was no better way to distract all the employees of Ward Security than to have Ian bring in trays of free food.
They both returned to the piles of laundry in front of them, smiling to themselves.
“There’s no way to track down who reported you to ICE or who got the health inspector on your ass today. I already looked into that.”
Ian nodded. “Okay, but at least Quinn and Gidget could give us some good leads. We’ve got a starting point. And that’s way better than just sitting here, waiting for the person to strike again.”
Ian stacked more towels on the coffee table, then reached for the basket of jeans. Hollis learned to wash those all on their own now after he’d ruined a couple of Ian’s shirts. He used to just throw everything in toget
her, but Ian had been absolutely horrified. A smile crossed his lips as the memory drifted through his brain. He picked up another T-shirt and quickly folded it, noticing it was mostly rolled up. He saw Ian eyeing the shirt and chuckled. He refolded the T-shirt the way Ian liked that time.
Ian grinned at him.
He couldn’t keep his hands off his man then. He yanked him close to his body and kissed him. Ian’s lips were soft and warm and he lingered over them. “You’re so fucking cute. You want to redo everything, don’t you?”
“No,” Ian mumbled into his mouth. “Maybe just a few of those shirts…” He looked up at Hollis. “Thanks for doing so much laundry. Were you off today for some reason?”
“Because we’ve been pulling some night shifts—both of us—I took off this afternoon to catch up on things around here.”
“I still don’t know why you can’t fold things as soon as they come out of the dryer when they’re nice and smooth.”
“I was preoccupied with what’s going on with you. I hate seeing you so upset.”
Ian hugged him, then stepped away to grab a sheet. This time, no matter how much he smoothed it, the wrinkles weren’t coming out, and he was obviously holding back a scowl.
So. Damn. Cute.
“You really think this could be Ginger? She was definitely pissed when I had to fire her, but she was such a…horrible person. She fooled me completely during her interview, and I still feel bad about that.”
“What kinds of things did she do?”
“She was rude to the other servers and especially to the kitchen staff. At first, she didn’t do it in front of me. But I caught on pretty fast when she started slipping up. Plus, people started putting in complaints about her—even some of the customers. She would take too many breaks and not get to the tables fast enough. Mostly, she just pissed off people who work for me. She was constantly picking at them. But she was only there a month. This seems like a lot of anger for such a short time.”
“You never know with people. Maybe she pissed off a customer enough for this.”
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