Page 27 of Roman

“I know.” Soren’s pale eyes glinted dangerously. “That’s why I like it.”

And with that, he grabbed Danny’s brother’s hand, pulling him to the back door of the bar.

Pleased that the distraction was handled, Roman turned to Danny. The boy was looking slightly stunned to see his older brother led away so easily. “Um, your friend isn’t going to…eat him, is he?”

“A dainty nibble at the most,” Roman teased. He could possibly be more concerned with the fact that Soren had latched onto his mate’s brother, but Roman knew his friend wouldn’t seriously injure the man, and he was frankly tired of all these other people taking up so much of his lovely mate’s time and attention.

Danny was his.

“That’s not actually reassur—” Danny started.

“You forgive me?” Roman interrupted. “For the thoughtlessness and the—as your brother would put it—‘creepy following’?”

“I guess so.” Danny tilted his head to study him. “The phone number part is what it is. And the following…I know itshouldbother me, but…I’ve never had anyone watching out for me before. Not since I was a kid, at least. It’s…kind of nice?”

“I would watch out for you always, if you would let me.” Roman meant every word.

Danny pointed at him accusingly then, his hand a little unsteady. “See, that’s the part that feels a little unreal to me. You barely know me. You’ve lived over two hundred years, seen so many places and things, and I’m just…me. I’ve barely done anything, or seen anything. I’m just Danny.”

Before Roman could counter and explain to Danny just how special he found the boy—his obvious kindness and caring, his sweetness mixed with strength—they were once again interrupted.

Roman just barely kept his demon from roaring out its frustration for everyone to hear.

Soren, no longer grinning, was leading a very pale Gabe back to the bar. “Rome, buddy, we’ve got a problem.”

Oh merde. “Did you…?” Roman’s eyes darted to Gabe. Maybe his friend was more careless than he had thought?

Soren glanced over at the man’s white face. “Oh…no. Jesus. Time and place, Rome. We found something outside. Doctor Highness is in a little bit of shock.”

“What did you find?” Danny asked, jumping off his barstool to look his brother over.

“A body,” Soren replied. “A very…messy…body.”

Roman knew what that meant, if only from the look on Soren’s face.

Luc was here.

Goddamn it.

seven

Danny

Dannyonceagainfoundhimself at his kitchen counter, Roman placing food in front of him. Plain toast this time.

“Eat,” Roman urged. “It will soak up the alcohol. Settle your stomach.”

Danny didn’t feel like he needed anything to soak up the alcohol—turned out surprise murder did wonders in sobering a person up—but it was true his stomach was roiling at thinking of the mutilated body Soren had shown them. It wasn’t the gore itself—Danny had seen plenty bad enough at the hospital—but the fact that the corpse’s face had been familiar.

His would-be mugger.

When the police came, Roman had urged him not to mention his connection to the body. “No one but us knows what happened the other night. No need to get yourself further involved for no reason,” he’d counseled.

So Danny—along with Soren, Gabe, and Roman—had answered their questions about his role in finding the body honestly but had offered up nothing else about his history with the dead man.

Still, Danny had to ask, as Roman drove his car back to his house, if Roman had anything to do with the man’s death. Roman, expression bank, seemingly unsurprised and unfazed by the question, had looked him in his eyes and said he hadn’t killed the man. That he’d never even tried to track him down after that night.

And Danny had believed him. Just like that.

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