Glenn-Stormy-Love-&-Spaghetti-on-Aisle-Eight (16 page)

“Well, they should!” said a loud voice from the doorway. “I’m

putting in my bid for the psych ward.”

“Nick.” Seth was never so glad to see someone in his life. He was

even happier to see Ivan standing behind the man. “Which one of you

guys were up on the roof?”

Ivan raised his hand. “I thought you saw me.”

“I did.” Seth was pretty damn proud of himself that he hadn’t

given it away either.

“What happened here?” Nick asked as he glanced down at Sirus

Brown’s body. His eyebrows rose as he pointed at the knife sticking

out of the dead man’s throat. “Do I even want to know?”

“Ask the Samurai
warrior over here.” Frank gestured to Seth with

his thumb.

“And the bullet hole in your chest?” Nick asked.

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Stormy Glenn

“Frank saved me,” Seth said. “Sirus went nuts when he found out

that Gideon wasn’t going to be here. Frank stepped between me and

the nut job. When Sirus shot Frank, I caught him and then threw the

knife at him.”

A grin spread across Nick’s face. “You threw the knife?”

Seth rolled his eyes. “Long story.”

“I have a question.” Ivan raised his hand in the air until everyone

looked at him. “If the bullet was a through and through and Seth was

standing behind Frank, where did it go?”

Seth frowned in confusion when everyone turned to look at him.

“What?”

* * * *

Frank was ready to kill someone by the time they finished

bandaging his shoulder. It was a clean shot that went right through

him. He had worse injuries shaving. People needed to stop worrying

about him and start worrying about what he was going to do if he

didn’t get some information about Seth.

He was going to pull out his gun and shoot the next person that

sent him a sympathetic smile. Vinnie was shot. Frank was shot. And

now Seth was shot. That was way too many people getting shot in his

book. The only one that should have been shot was Sirus Brown, and

Seth had taken care of him, fairly effectively, too.

Frank was still a little stunned at how Seth had taken care of Sirus.

He never knew the man could throw a knife like that. Frank’s angry

frown deepened when he realized there was a whole lot he didn’t

know about Seth. They had known each other less than two weeks.

And yet, they had lived a lifetime in those few days.

Frank wanted to insure that they had a lot more days to discover

every last little thing about each other, and to do that, he needed to

make sure that Seth was okay. That was really hard to do when no one

would give him Seth’s status.

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113

Frank waited until the paramedic was looking the other way then

darted out of the ambulance and across the pavement. He scanned the

area as he walked, looking for anyone that could tell him where Seth

was.

Nick
. Frank hurried in Nick’s direction. He was standing off to

one side of the commotion, Ivan standing right next to him. The two

men seemed to be deep in conversation. Frank didn’t care. They could

finish talking later.

“Where’s Seth?”

“Jesus, Frank,” Nick swore, “You shouldn’t be out here. You’re

supposed to be on your way to the hospital so the doctor can look you

over.”

“Seth first,” Frank ground out between clenched teeth.

Nick paled. “The bomb wasn’t a dud, Frank.” He nodded down

the road where a black truck sat. “They’re trying to get the vest off of

Seth now.”

Frank felt fear climb up his spine and wrap around his heart. He

could see Seth sitting on the tailgate of the truck, a man in a bomb

blast suit standing in front of him. Even from where he stood, Frank

could see the tears streaming down Seth’s pale face. The area around

Seth was vacated and a clear wall was set up. Frank knew that the

wall was to protect anyone if a blast occurred.

“Have the paramedics seen to him yet?” he asked.

“No.” Nick shook his head. “No one can go near him until the

bomb comes off.”

Frank growled. He spun around and marched over to the waiting

ambulance. “Give me what I need to stop the bleeding,” he demanded

of the paramedic, “and to make sure Seth’s not in pain.”

“Sir, I can’t—”

“Now!” Frank snapped, just barely keeping himself from reaching

out for the man. “If he passes out, that bomb can go off and two

people will be dead, one of them the man I love. Now give me what I

need to make sure he stays alive.”

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Stormy Glenn

The paramedic just started at him, a mutinous frown on his face.

“Now!” Frank clenched his fists as he shouted.

“Do it,” the second paramedic said. “Give him what he needs.”

“You know the rules,” the first paramedic protested.

“Just do it, Jerry,” the second paramedic said.

Jerry grumbled but gathered up the supplies, placing them all

inside a clear, plastic bag.

Here,” he said as he handed the bag to Frank. “If my supervisor

questions me, I’m throwing you under the bus.”

“Tell him Detective Frank De Luca of the 34th Street Precinct

refused to take no for an answer.”

The man paled. “De Luca?”

Frank frowned at the fear he could hear in the man’s voice.

“Yeah.”

“As in Manny De Luca?”

“Manny is my baby brother.”

“Dude, I never saw you.” Jerry instantly turned and walked away,

disappearing around the side of the ambulance.

“What was that all about?” Frank asked of the other paramedic.

The guy chuckled, clearly amused by his partner’s reaction to the

De Luca name. “Seems your baby brother belted Jerry in the mouth

last week when Jerry started going off on some nurse because she

wouldn’t go out with him. Jerry had been spreading nasty rumors

about her for a couple of weeks and Manny didn’t like it.”

“Huh.”

The paramedic shrugged. “Jerry was too embarrassed about

having his ass handed to him by Manny to press charges.”

Frank could see that. Manny was a skinny little college student.

He had yet to fill out like Vinnie or Frank. But he had a temper that

was legendary even in the De Luca family. No one liked to piss him

off.

“Stay close by,” Frank instructed the paramedic. “The second they

get that bomb off of Seth, I want him taken to the hospital.”

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

115

“I’ll be here.”

Frank nodded and then started down the street toward the man he

hoped to keep in his life for many years to come.

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Stormy Glenn

Seth’s heartbeat started to pick up when he saw Frank walking

down the street toward him. Didn’t the moron understand that there

was a live bomb strapped to his chest? Frank had to be insane.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Bomb Guy?”

The man in the padded blast suit glanced up at Seth.

“Detective Frank De Luca is walking down the street toward us.

Should he be doing that?”

The demolition expert turned, and he had to turn his entire body

because of the blast suit. He stepped back from Seth and waved his

hands back and forth. It was kind of like watching the Pillsbury

Dough Boy wiping windows.

Seth almost laughed.

“Hey, babe,” Frank said as he walked around the clear wall and

right past the bomb guy. Frank marched right up to the tailgate of the

truck Seth was sitting on. He had a plastic bag in his hand, which he

sat down next to Seth. “I came to take a look at that bullet wound of

yours.”

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Seth was starting to get past the point of

being surprised by anything anymore.

Seth watched as Frank pulled some gauze out of the bag and

started wiping at the blood on his arm. It hurt but just a little. Before

the bomb squad took him away, Ivan had told Seth that his gunshot

injury was merely a flesh wound. He would probably need a few

stitches, but that was it.

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

117

“Almost dying makes a person see what is really important in

life,” Frank said out of the blue after several minutes of complete

silence. “It’s made me see what is important, Seth.”

“Oh yeah?” Seth heaved a sigh. “And what is important to you,

Frank?”

“
Mio amore. Ti amo con tutta l’anima
. I love you with all my

heart.” Frank’s hand cupped the side of Seth’s face, tilting it up.

“
Voglio passare il resto della mia vita con te
. I want to spend the rest

of my life with you.”

“Frank,” Seth breathed.

“Am I too late, Seth?” Frank’s eyes shined with fear and unshed

tears. “Did I fuck up too much?”

Seth swallowed hard, his eyes filling. He didn’t know what to tell

the man. He had given Frank a number of chances, and each time,

Frank had left. Granted, presenting him with a ready-made family was

a pretty damn good reason for the man to take off in fear, but still…

“I want us to be a family, Seth. You and me and Sophie, and any

other children we decide to have. I want us to watch them blossom

into adults, and I want you and me to sit on the front porch and grow

old together. I’m tired of running, Seth.” Frank’s fingers nudged

Seth’s face up. “I want us to get married. I want to be your husband,

to help raise Sophie with you.”

“If you don’t marry him, I will.”

Seth gaped at the bomb technician. He had forgotten the guy was

there. He frowned and dismissed the man from his mind, turning his

attention back to the man standing before him, the man he had to

decide if he was ready to take another chance on.

Seth was head over heels in love with Frank. He knew that. He

pretty much liked everything about him. He even liked Frank’s

dedication to keeping the streets safe no matter how much it put the

guy in danger. Frank was an honorable man.

“If I marry you, will I ever get that spaghetti dinner you keep

promising me?”

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Stormy Glenn

Frank blinked rapidly as if trying to keep his tears at bay. “I’ll

write it into the marriage vows,” he said, his voice husky and broken.

“I really like spaghetti, so I suppose I’ll have to marry you.” Tears

prickled Seth’s eyes as he looked at Frank, hoping everything he was

feeling and not saying was there for the man to see. Seth wanted to

hug Frank, but he had to get this damn bomb off of him first.

Seth’s breath hitched as he could feel his body sweating when the

bomb guy cursed.

“What?” Frank asked. “What is it?”

The technician shook his head, and Seth could see the man was

sweating as well. That wasn’t a good sign. Frank’s hand gripped

Seth’s.

“There’s a hidden wire behind the vest. I almost pulled the damn

thing off.”

“What does that mean?” Seth asked, panicked.

The technician gave him a look that chilled Seth. “Nothing good.”

The guy shook his head. “Just sit still. I have to work to get the trip

wire deactivated before I can do anything about your vest. The man

who put this on knew what he was doing.”

Seth’s head snapped up to Frank, but he kept his body completely

still. “You should go. It’s too dangerous for you to be here.”

“Not leaving you.” Frank placed his hand on Seth’s cheek. “I still

owe you a dinner.”

The man had to be certifiable. “Frank—”

Frank’s mouth set into grim lines. “I finally know what I want in

life.”

Seth grinned. “That would be me?”

Frank chuckled even though Seth could see the fear swimming in

the man’s eyes. “Yeah, that would be you. I’m not leaving your side

because I have every confidence in the world that our man here will

get this thing off of you.”

“Damn right,” the technician said. “I’m not about to ruin my

perfect record.”

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

119

Seth sure as hell hoped not.

“Ready?” the technician asked. Seth had ever been more terrified

in his life, but nodded. Frank gripped his hand tighter as the tech

unstrapped the vest and quickly dropped it into the bomb disposal

container.

Seth was so relieved that he fell into Frank, damn near crying.

Frank scooped Seth up from the tailgate and ran around the clear wall,

racing toward the ambulance.

“Frank, it’s just a flesh wound,” Seth said as Frank set him down.

“I wasn’t running for your wound.” Frank glanced behind him. “I

was running from that damn bomb. Sorry, but I’m not taking any

chances when it comes to your safety.

Seth gave a soft laugh. “Do you know how much I love you?”

Frank’s eyes began to smolder as he leaned in and kissed Seth on