by Max Hudson
“Yeah, I know him.” Killian nodded with a sigh.
Jared butted his two cents into the conversation. He had a lot to say about it. He wanted to scream in rage when he recognized the man, but he managed to keep himself in control. “It’s a guy that came by to get his crappy play put on. Killian turned him down.”
“I never got turned down.” The man fought against the cuffs that the cops had put on him. “He just had me on the list to look at.”
Killian snorted. His hands were shaking in rage, balled up into fists. He was beyond angry. And Jared couldn’t blame him for feeling that way. He was pretty upset too. “You weren’t ever getting a play put on here. There’s no way I would ever show the crap you tried to give me.”
Jared frowned. He had been right. There was something wrong with this guy if he was going to do that. “I don’t get why he would do something like this.”
He screamed at the pair of men in the office. He was angry. “Because you need to put on our play, damn it.”
Killian shook his head. “You’re never getting this play done.” He was frowning. “Not after something like this. Even if one of the places was considering hosting your play, it won’t get done now.”
“You can’t do this to me. I’m a talent, a rising genius.”
Killian shook his head. “You can’t honestly believe that. If you were a genius, someone would have noticed with all the work that you’ve been doing.” He snorted in frustration. “I can’t believe you honestly think that.”
“You’re going to regret turning my play down. It’s going to be something big and famous and there’s nothing that you can say now that’s going to make my play show at your house.”
“I’m not the one attacking people and bringing guns.”
“You should have taken my play earlier,” the man spat. Jared realized that the guy had to be a special level of crazy. “It’s a great play. You would have made a fortune on it.”
“That’s bullshit.” Killian shook his head. “You can’t have honestly thought something this ridiculous would actually work.”
The cops were done and dragged him outside, shoving him into a car.
Killian and Jared were left to make statements and patch up the glass doors at the front of the building. It was like the world slowed down and everything became clear, including the fear that they should have felt the entire time the break-in was happening.
Chapter Twelve
Jared’s hands were shaking. The man was clearly upset as he finished putting the boards up over the broken glass. “He knew we were in here. He must have.”
“I know.” Killian frowned, watching the man carefully. “That must have been why he brought the gun.” The actor wanted to wrap his arms around Jared. To hold him close and make the man feel a thousand times better. There was something about this rage that Jared was clearly feeling. It got to him. “Are you ok?”
Jared shook his head. His hair was a mess and his shoulders sagged. The man was starting to look a little tired. “I’ll be fine.”
Killian wasn’t sure that he believed it but knew that he would respect the man’s wishes, even if he just wanted to take Jared home with him. “Do you want me to take you home?”
The man sighed. His face looked like it had aged at least five years. It was a common thing that happened when coming down from that sort of stress. At least that was what Killian had read before. Jared just needed some time to get himself back together. That was how Killian comforted himself. Jared would feel better after a short period of time. “I’ll be fine getting home. Are you going to be able to make it home?”
“I should be able to.” But Killian paused. He thought for a second about actually going home.
Jared looked at him carefully. “Do you live alone?”
Killian nodded. He tried to at least look calm even if he was screaming inside. “I’ve got an apartment in a decent building. We’ve got a doorman and it’s pretty safe.”
“His partners are still out there.”
Killian sighed heavily. “I know, I’m sure it’ll be fine. They weren’t really professionals.”
“They weren’t professionals, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Maybe it’s just my mind playing tricks on me.” Jared shook his head, talking to himself a little bit.
“What do you mean?” Killian asked again. “Are you worried about something?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Not sure about what?”
This was starting to be rather circular, and Jared seemed to notice that. He sighed.
“Why don’t you talk to me?” Killian asked.
“I’m not sure how to say it.”
“Take your time.”
“You don’t think that they’ll want some sort of revenge?”
“Why would they want revenge?”
“We got one of their guys arrested.” Jared shrugged. “I mean, we know that he did that to himself, but those guys weren’t exactly sane. And you can’t claim to know what crazy people are going to do.”
“I guess. Maybe you’re right.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be fine.” Killian refused to let this get to him. If he did it wouldn’t end well. He would easily give in to the panic and fear. And he couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t give in to the fear.
“Can you handle being alone tonight?” Jared frowned slightly. He looked very worried. And the man certainly didn’t believe that Killian was going to be just fine.
“Don’t get all sorry for me.” Killian shook his head. “I’m fine.” He forced himself to smile. It was going to make things a lot worse if he made Jared feel even worse than he was.
“Are you sure?”
“Are you worried about me?”
Jared smiled softly. “Maybe I am, at least a little bit.”
“I’m fine. I promise.” Killian nodded, moving closer to Jared. He wanted to feel some sort of physical contact. He wanted to be close to another human being, but he didn’t want to beg for the company. He already knew that Jared would have someone to help him through the release of adrenaline that was going to be happening.
“I can stay with you tonight if you want me to.”
“Are you sure?” Killian was hopeful at least. The offer had been made. And he loved hearing the offer from the man.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.”
He knew that he was going to hurt the next day. He had taken a hit on the face when the guy had burst into the room. It was definitely going to bruise. “Me neither.”
And Jared looked a lot worse off. Tackling and grappling with the man had clearly caused the carpenter to take some hits. A lot more than Killian had. “You’re going to hurt tomorrow.”
“Think I can get my boss to give me time off of work?”
Killian laughed. “Pretty sure you can.”
“Great. If I can get tomorrow off of work, I think I can get myself together.”
“You sure? If you need more time, you can have it. I get that this kind of thing can be pretty upsetting.”
“Absolutely.”
Killian grinned.
“You sure you don’t need someone to take care of you tonight?” Jared made the offer once again.
Killian shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind the company, but I don’t think I need it. If you want to come over, I certainly wouldn’t tell you no.”
Jared thought about that for a second then nodded. “Yeah. Let me call Harry, let him know that I’m doing all right.”
Killian nodded and let the man walk out of the office. He wasn’t gone for long, but before Jared could come back, Erika pulled up in a cab to the theatre. “Are you all right?” She looked worried.
“I’m fine.” Killian was shaking slightly. He could feel himself starting to relax.
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Jared got a little beat up. I only got hit once.” Killian shook hi
s head.
“Oh my God. I sent him to talk to you.”
“You sent him?”
She nodded. “You had been so distracted by everything that was going on, so I asked him to try to get you feeling better.”
“He didn’t say that.”
“It’s my fault you two were even there.” She looked like she was nearly in tears. “I knew what was going to happen. And those guys. They broke in and one of you could have died. Both of you could have died. Oh my god.” She shook her head.
Killian walked over to her and wrapped her up in his arms. “Relax, Erika. It’s fine. We’re both fine. And the cops are going to get the rest of them. I’ll close down the shop and cancel shows for a couple of days while repair work gets done. Can you take care of that?”
“Yeah, first thing in the morning.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“You should take some time off. Start getting a little better.”
“I told Jared he could have some time off. Make sure he gets paid for the time.”
“Yeah. I’ll get the Worker’s Comp taken care of for it.”
Killian nodded. “Thanks.” Bringing it back around to business, he noticed that she managed to get herself in control.
“Don’t worry about it. This is why you pay my bills.”
“I don’t pay you to show up in the middle of the night.”
“You’re still my friend.”
Another car pulled up, the foreman immediately walking over to check on Jared. “Did you call him?”
“I called him, yeah.” She nodded. “So, he could come to check on stuff.”
“Is he going to get all upset?” Killian frowned. “That Jared was here? I know he wasn’t happy about it.”
“I think he’s just relieved that everyone is alive. I mentioned the gun to him.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
More and more people were showing up. Several members of the crew were there in no time. Everyone was worried and checking out the place.
It was like everyone that worked there had arrived, along with several of Killian’s friends. “Did you call everyone in my Rolodex?”
“Not everyone.” She smirked. “Just the people you trust and happen to be in town.”
“That feels a little dirty.”
“Just trying to make sure everything is all right. I think we’re going to keep an eye on the place until morning when we can get the doors fixed.”
Killian nodded.
“But you should go home.” She gave the command as people started to gather around.
In no time, Killian and Jared had been fussed over and sent home so that they could rest.
There were no questions asked. It was as if they already knew what was going to happen. Killian caught a cab to take him to his apartment and Jared climbed into the back of the vehicle with him. They were going to go together, spend the night together. And probably a good portion of the next day.
And that’s what they did, slowly making their way up to the apartment, stripping out of their clothes and falling into the bed, drifting off into a deep sleep.
Killian woke up first, looking over at the man that was in bed next to him. Jared was sleeping peacefully, but he could see some bruises starting to appear on the man’s flesh. Jared must have taken more hits than he had originally thought.
Killian thought about whether or not Jared needed to go to the hospital but figured Jared would know whether or not he had to go.
He hadn’t walked like there was anything broken the day before, but the carpenter occasionally grimaced when he shifted in his sleep.
The actor frowned. Jared was likely in pain. That wasn’t something that Killian relished.
The actor climbed out of the bed. Jared just grimaced again. But the carpenter didn’t wake up.
The theatre owner couldn’t help it. He walked over to the other side of the bed and leaned in, placing a soft kiss on the man’s brow. “I’ll be back.” He whispered the words, careful not to wake the sleeping man before he walked out of the room. The apartment was silent, but it didn’t feel empty. He had hated being home before this, hating the solitude that he lived in. But he wasn’t alone in this life at this moment. He had someone that was here with him. He had Jared in his bed, sleeping as peacefully as the man could.
He started a pot of coffee and pulled out some over the counter pain killers. He had a feeling that the man was going to need both of those things.
Then he got on the phone. Ordered breakfast to be delivered. Normally Killian would cook breakfast, but he just wasn’t feeling it at that moment. Then he started making calls, checking on the work that had been done already. The clock revealed that it was already ten o’clock in the morning, so there had already been quite a bit done.
Erika answered the phone and quickly explained that she had ordered tempered glass for the doors. “Should be bullet-resistant and stop bricks from being tossed into it.”
“A little safer, then?” Killian nodded even though the woman couldn’t see him.
“I want the alarm system upgraded too.”
“I can get that done right away.” She sounded so put together at the moment. “Anything else?”
“Nothing, I don’t think.” He frowned, feeling like he had forgotten something.
“What’s wrong now?”
“Nothing.”
“Do you want me to call and check on Jared?”
He shook his head. He knew that she was fishing for information. He couldn’t help but smile about that. “No. That’s not necessary. He’s just fine.”
“I guess you would know that.” He could hear her smirking over the phone.
He shook his head. “Don’t go gossiping. Nothing happened here. We just passed out.”
“Sure. We can stick with that story.” She laughed.
“I’m not going to be in but call me if you need something.”
“Or if I want to check on you.”
“Or if you want to check in on me.” He nodded, laughing a little bit. “It isn’t so bad if you want to do that.”
“I mean, if you’re busy, don’t answer. And I promise I won’t give you a hard time.”
“You’re teasing me now.”
“Just take the day and enjoy yourself.” She assured him. “It’s going to be fine.”
“Promise me you’ll take good care of the place,” he spoke slowly. “I don’t want to lose it.”
“You’ll be happy to know that they didn’t even get into the back and didn’t have a chance to destroy anything other than the front doors.”
“That’s good. Cancel the shows until things can be fixed.”
“Already done. You told me that last night,” she admitted. “I don’t blame you for not remembering.”
“Maybe I’m still a little out of it.” He sighed heavily. “I’ll let you guys get back to work.”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you. You’ve got to still be a little rattled.” He could almost picture her shaking her head, that small smile on her face. It was that knowing smile that she got sometimes. “Just take care of yourself.”
“I’m going to let you go. I don’t know when he’s going to wake up.”
“Is he doing all right?”
“He seems to be in pain.” Killian frowned. “Lots of bruises this morning. He may need more than one day off.”
“And you’re going to stay home and take care of him?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“You should do it.” She spoke. “Rumor is that he kept you safe. Take care of him. And don’t worry about you two working together. If there’s anything that proves you should be together, this would be it.”
“How do you know this stuff?”
“I heard one of the cops talking last night before they left.”
Killian sighed. “That’s going to be a hell of a rumor later.”
“I think it’s beyond being a rumor.”
“Thanks to yo
u, I suppose.”
“I guess I’m happy for you. Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe there’s something to what happened between the two of you. Maybe it’s something more than what it seems on the surface.”
“He tackled the gunman to protect me. Took him to the ground. Completely fearless. He could have died. He could have been shot.”
“And you love him.” She finished.
“Yeah. I love him,” he agreed with her. “He’s something really special.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jared groaned as he walked out of the bedroom. He had woken up alone. Killian must have gotten up before him and gone to do something. He took note of how the man was so diligent.
Then he smelled the coffee and looked over at the kitchen counter. Killian was there talking on the phone.
It was probably Erika. Or somebody about the damage that had been done to the theatre. But when he heard the words were being said over the phone he froze.
Killian had said it. The man had admitted that he loved him. He had said it. And Jared knew that it was true. It was the only thought that he could have. He loved Killian too. He had already discovered this, figured it out when he had protected the actor. He knew that Killian meant the world to him. He wasn’t going to trade this opportunity away. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let Killian go and not know what he felt about him.
He started to move, making his way into the kitchen as Killian hung up the phone. “How are you feeling?” Killian turned around as Jared got to the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining area.
“I’ve had worse.”
Killian squinted at him. “I’m not sure I want to know when you’ve had worse than that.”
“Is it that bad?”
“All the bruises came up.” Killian indicated his direction. “You didn’t sleep well either.”
“I didn’t mean to keep you awake.”
“You didn’t. I was exhausted too.”
“Did you make coffee?”
Killian grinned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you with the smell.”
“I don’t mind that at all.” Jared smiled back at the man across the counter. “Set me up with some.”
“I got you some acetaminophen too.” Killian slid the pill bottle across toward the carpenter. “Figured you could use that.”