It was two weeks after
Declan had taken him to the mineshaft and Nicky was getting restless. He wanted
to ‘try his hand’ as he thought of it at helping his lover with a kill but it
seemed it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Declan had been put in charge of
the newest venture for his company and seemed to be spending all of his time at
either the construction site in the city or the second one up north in Santa Fe. It left him
with no time for either his mother or Nicky.
No quality time anyway. Nicky sighed as he prepared to leave work. Declan
had called half an hour ago to say he was running late, again, which had
definitely soured his mood. So when Declan’s mother marched through the front
door of the store, looked around and spotting him stalked in his direction
Nicky stood his ground.
“Young man, I want a word
with you,” she declared.
“Yes?” He smiled as if she
was just another customer. “Are you looking for something for your husband? I’d
be glad to assist you.”
Ignoring his words, she said
with some venom, “You are to stay away from my son.”
“He’s the only one who can
make the decision whether he wants me around or not. For damned sure it’s not
up to you,” he spat back.
“I am his mother.”
Nicky smiled broadly. “And
I’m his lover.”
“You are nothing but…”
“Mrs. Kensington,” the shop
manager broke in as he hurried up beside her. “Is there a problem?”
“This young man was insolent
and insulting to me. He should be fired on the spot.”
The manager looked at Nicky.
“Mr. Saunders, in my office now.”
Nicky began to protest but
the expression on the manager’s face brooked no argument. He turned on his
heel, heading to the office. As he did he caught the look of triumph on Delores
Kensington’s face. This isn’t over by a
long shot, he thought, smiling to himself.
* * * *
“She what?”
Nicky pulled the phone away
from his ear until Declan stopped swearing and then explained what had
happened. When Declan asked where he was at the moment Nicky told him he was at
home.
“Pack some clothes and
whatever else is important; I’ll be by in half an hour. You’re moving in with
me.”
“Do I get a say in this?”
There was a brief pause then
Declan said, “Of course you do. If you’d rather not…”
“I’ll be ready when you get
here, so hurry babe.”
Half an hour later, on the
dot, Nicky was down in the lobby of his apartment building. He saw Declan pull
up in front, picked up his two bags and went out to the car, tossing them into
the back seat before sliding into the passenger seat. Declan immediately pulled
him close enough to kiss him, murmuring, “I’m sorry, Nicky.”
“For what? It wasn’t your
fault.” Nicky straightened, putting a hand on Declan’s thigh, giving it a
squeeze as he studied him.
Declan stared back briefly
then pulled out onto the street. “Yes, we’re going hunting tonight,” he
growled, the gentle man of a moment ago replaced by an angry one.
Nicky nodded slowly. It was exactly
what he wanted to do; he just prayed he’d really be able to carry through when
the time came so he wouldn’t disappoint Declan, or himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Snow Cat' is out today
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