Promises: Part I (Bounty Hunters Book 1) (14 page)

Duke separated his mouth from Vaughan’s neck, albeit begrudgingly. The gorgeous man smelled so fucking good and tasted like the finest wine, which was crazy since he was so young. But as he got to know Vaughan and spent more time talking with him, he was noticing how much of a man he truly was. Mature and strong. Fearless had been added to Duke’s long list of Vaughan’s admirable qualities. And the man loved him. Loved him enough to put his own life on the line to save him. Seeing those scars, exactly like his own, had completely undone him. Despite his suspicions, he wasn’t prepared to actually see the physical proof. How the hell would Duke even consider walking away? He’d wanted reassurance and he guessed he’d gotten it. This beautiful man intended to be with Duke forever.

“I guess the cat’s out the bag,” Quick said drily, as he strolled past, looking at his son’s open shirt, his surgical wounds on full display. Quick’s thickly corded forearms were loaded up with packed grocery bags as he made his way through the rest of the house.

Duke let go of Vaughan, but the man held on to him, still looking into his eyes, his hand still caressing Duke’s cheek. He had a bone to pick with his best friend. He wasn’t letting him off the hook as easily as he did Vaughan. He pulled Vaughan’s hand away and kissed a couple of his knuckles before dropping it and turning to follow Quick into the kitchen. “You asshole!” Duke thundered as soon as he turned the corner and saw his friend casually posted-up against the counter drinking a bottle of water.

“Here we go,” Quick mumbled under his breath.

“Seriously.” Duke gaped. “How the hell could you allow him to do something like this? It was dangerous and foolish, Roman. What if something had happened to him? You would’ve lost your best friend and your son, but you would’ve hated me. Probably wouldn’t have attended my funeral if Vaughan had died on that table. I can’t believe you let him do it!”

Quick’s green eyes flashed with anger before he took a breath to try and reel it in. “Have you fuckin’ met my son? Huh? What the fuck makes you think he asked for permission? He’s a grown man, Duke! He made a decision and that was it. No matter how much I disliked it, especially the part about being anonymous; I had no say! All I could do was pray for both of your lives, so that’s what I did.” Quick finished his piece and turned back to putting away the groceries.

Duke pushed his knuckles into his eye sockets. “He made the decision with his heart, not his logical mind.”

“That’s why nothing on this earth would’ve changed it. Not me, his momma, you, or any other thing on this planet. He’s in love, Duke.” Quick turned back, and Duke noticed his pal was looking over his shoulder, meaning Vaughan had to be standing there behind him. “He would’ve gave you both his fuckin’ kidneys.”

Jesus
. He was in love with his best friend’s son. This was like a story out of a bad episode of
To Catch a Predator
. Duke had to shut down that thought. He hadn’t fallen for Vaughan when he was a teenager. Had never looked at him sexually for even a second. But before him stood a man who knew what he wanted and kept his own counsel. He was a good man for Duke. Quick must’ve seen a look on Duke’s face because his friend came over and guided him to one of the chairs at the small table in Quick’s eat-in kitchen. Duke looked out the bay window over the luxurious backyard he’d help his friend design.

“You remember what I said to you in the hospital before we got the bad news?”

Duke blinked.
Remember… Remember what? Oh shit. Quick said he would’ve been proud to have Duke as a son-in-law.
A coffee mug with piping hot tea was placed in front of him and he looked up to see Quick watching him, waiting for an answer. “Yeah, buddy. I remember.”

“I wasn’t blowing smoke, Duke. You’re my man, fifty-grand and all. We’ve been through so much together. Now here’s another. We beat this thing, man. All of us together. Let go of the anger and be happy. Be happy with my boy because he deserves it. He went through hell, Duke when he found out about you getting hurt so bad. It took him a while to calm himself down, but when he did, that brilliant mind of his went into solution mode. That’s what he does.”

“I’m lucky,” Duke whispered, sipping his tea.

“Well,” Quick drawled. “You’re dating my son now, and this is my first time getting to interrogate his boyfriend.”

Vaughan groaned from in the doorway, having been silent while Duke and Quick hashed it out. Now he was looking mortified. Duke laughed, but Quick had a deadly serious expression on his face. He watched his best friend sit down in the seat across from him and clasp his large hands together. “So Mr. Morgan. What are your future plans? Where do you see yourself in… say, ten to fifteen years? Long-term goals if you would.”

Duke tried desperately not to laugh but it was ridiculously hard. “Um. Since I’m headed towards fifty soon, I’m thinking of retiring around that time, then applying for Medicare. I figure having a lawyer boyfriend will be helpful filling out those long ass forms.”

Vaughan spit his water across the room as he exploded with laughter, but Duke held his in and so did Quick. He watched as his friend took another drink of his water; nodding his head like Duke had given a great answer.

“What about employment? Do you got a job, boy?” Quick said, pulling up his old drill sergeant tone.

Duke stayed composed.
Boy, huh?
“Yeah. I got a job. A pretty thriving business. I’m thinking of firing a couple employees soon, though.” Duke grinned evilly.

“Okay, enough about employment.” Quick feigned nervousness. He knew damn well that Duke would never fire him. Quick and Judge both were practically co-owners.

“What are your intentions with my son, Mr. Morgan?”

Duke shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know yet.”

“You don’t know!” Quick barked. “Damn. I thought you were gonna say you were getting ready to propose right before I came in.”

“Propose.” Duke choked on his tea.

“Heck yeah. Damn, Duke. What the hell does my son have to do, man… give you a fuckin’ kidney?”

Duke dropped his head into his hands as Quick and Vaughan had a good laugh at his expense. “So how long have you two been working on that joke, huh?”

“It’s all mine. I thought of it a few days ago,” Quick said humorously. “Was a pretty good one, wasn’t it?”

“Whatever,” Duke muttered. “You gonna be here all week with that act?”

“Now. On to more important shit. One: What the hell are you doing out of bed? Two: How did you find out?” Quick demanded as he rattled around pots and pans, looking for a specific one. When he found his griddle, he placed it over two of the gas range’s burners and turned on the flame, placing some raw chicken breasts on it.

Vaughan stood behind Duke, rubbing his shoulders. He hadn’t realized they’d slumped with fatigue until his boyfriend put his hands on them. Boyfriend.
Wow, that was fast.
He wanted to bask in the attention, but it felt bizarre with his friend in the same room. He tapped on Vaughan’s hand and he lowered his head, kissing Duke gently on the cheek as he did. “Babe. It’s a little weird doing this with your dad in the room, don’t you think?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Quick jumped right in, flipping the chicken breast, his back still to them.

“I told you,” Duke confirmed.

Vaughan went to his father and clapped him a couple times on his shoulder. “He’s not uncomfortable. Are you, Dad?” 

“Little bit,” Quick deadpanned.

Duke laughed. That was Quick’s sense of humor at its finest and Duke loved it. Always had. It wasn’t slapstick or ironic comedy, simply that impassive, matter-of-fact, dry wit. They were best friends, and now they were… they were… they were something special. He was Quick’s best friend and hopefully one day, his son-in-law. They were a modern family to say the least.

“Judge told me,” Duke finally confessed.

Vaughan and Quick exchanged confused looks before looking back to him to elaborate. “Judge’s boyfriend, Austin, saw you at the hospital when you went in for your check-up earlier. He’s a detective. From what I heard, a pretty good one. He easily put two and two, ya know.”

“Damn,” Vaughan whispered.

“Well thank goodness. I was sick of the ducking and dodging anyway. Flittering around lying and covering up your tracks, boy,” Quick grumbled, pointing at his son. “Next time, Vaughan, you’ll handle your own skeletons. I’m a grown ass man.”

Duke and Vaughan both huffed and stood up to leave Quick to his one-man rant. He did make a mental note to have a good, long conversation about his friend’s sexual orientation soon, because he had a feeling that it may have altered a bit. Duke hadn’t forgotten that look in Quick’s eye when he argued with the doc.

“Duke come in here and get comfortable on the couch. We were gonna watch a movie while we eat dinner,” Vaughan said, taking his palm in his.

“Well, I don’t want to intrude. That’s gonna be important to me. You and your dad need time together. He’s missed you something terrible and I don’t want—”

Vaughan placed his index finger over Duke’s lips to silence him and he immediately obeyed. Vaughan groaned and inched in closer, his shirt now half buttoned back up. Duke couldn’t help but drop his eyes to Vaughan’s soft, pinkish lips. “What about what I need? About what I want?”

“I’ll do anything you want,” Duke whispered, and his immediate compliance didn’t have a damn thing to do with his recently discovered intel on the origin of his new kidney. He’d felt like that from the moment Vaughan turned up the heat on them.

“Good.” Vaughan grinned. “Stay and eat. Relax. Then come to bed with me.”

Duke grimaced, looking over his shoulder. “Not in your father’s house. Not cool at all. Besides. My medicine is home. I can bypass a pain pill but I can’t skip my immunosuppressants.”

“I’m sure Dad wouldn’t mind picking them up for you.”

“I’m not sleeping with you here, with your old man only a few feet away. I respect my friend too much to do that.”

Vaughan wrapped his arms gently around Duke’s waist, careful not to apply too much pressure on his ribs. He leaned in and kissed Duke first, before pressing their foreheads together. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m not gonna make love to you tonight. Not until we’re both feeling better and healed. I couldn’t take that sweet ass like I’d want to, so I’m gonna wait patiently like I’ve been doing. Right now, you being alive is enough for me. Plenty.”

“Okay.” Duke blushed. He was actually flushed like a schoolgirl.

Vaughan watched the deep rouge color creep up Duke’s face, his ears turning bright red under Vaughan’s attention.
Perfect
. It did amazing things to Vaughan’s heart and his ego. He wished he could take his man right away, but Duke already looked tired as hell and if his grimacing was any indication, he was in significant pain, too. He’d take care of his love. He could do nothing else.

“Sit, sweetheart. I’m going to get you one of my pain pills, okay, then we’ll get your other stuff.”

“Yeah. It’s been a long day.”

“I can’t believe you came over here. I don’t think you should be exerting yourself like this.” Vaughan went over to the credenza and shook a Vicodin into his palm and took it back over to the couch. Duke quickly took the pill with Vaughan’s glass of water and sat back.

  “I had to see for myself. I had to look at you.” Duke didn’t bother mentioning he’d called Vaughan’s job too. There was no need.

Vaughan sat next to him, releasing his own weary sigh as he did. “I’m sorry. I just… I couldn’t risk you saying no. And after the conversation you just had with my ʻold man’ as you so eloquently put it, it appears I made the right decision. You would’ve denied me.”

Duke’s eyes were getting heavy. “I don’t know. Maybe. I can’t say for sure. I wasn’t scared of dying; I was just disappointed as hell. Before you came, I might’ve been able to make my peace with it. But since I’d got a brief taste of you, I felt like dying before I really got a chance to be loved by you was pretty shitty.”  

Vaughan made to turn and kiss Duke, but yelped at the pull on his incision. Duke’s eyes flew open and he sat up too fast, releasing his own cry of pain. They both looked at each other and chuckled.
This is going to be interesting.

“Freakin’ dumb and dumber over here. You two are gonna be the death of me. Tell me. Who’s going to donate me a new heart when you both give me a goddamn heart attack?” Quick barked, a deep frown on his face. He placed the tray on the coffee table and Duke’s mouth watered at the delicious-looking salads. “From the sounds of it, there’ll be no movie tonight. I’ll go get Duke’s other meds from his place and we can watch the flick tomorrow.” Vaughan put Duke’s plate on one of the TV trays and pulled it close to him before taking his own and placing it on his lap. He ate quietly because Quick was updating Duke on the business. When he came back in with his homemade banana pudding, Vaughan had to control his eagerness. Oh, how he loved it when his dad made that for him. Obviously it had been a special treat that he’d wanted to surprise him with, but he was glad he’d shared it with Duke.

“I’m gonna go and get the room ready. Come up in a few minutes, okay?”

********

“Sure.” Duke smiled slightly, then turning to gauge his friend’s reaction.

Quick paid them little attention as he put the dishes in the sink for the morning, locked up the house, and closed all the shades. Vaughan winked at Duke right before he disappeared up the stairs.

“You going to the office tomorrow?” Quick asked after everything was done.

“Hadn’t planned on it.”

“Good.”

“Excuse me?”

Quick gave him a stern look. “You heard me… Good. I need you to get better, man. Stay here and rest. Make sure my son doesn’t overdo it on the exercising again. You watch him and he can watch you. I know it’s the blind leading the blind, but I have work to get done now that I’m not playing you two monkeys’ game anymore.”

“Okaaay,” Duke drawled. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Are you going upstairs to sleep with my son now?”

“Oh, god. Come on, Roman. You know I’m not—”

Quick put up his hands in surrender. “I’m just fuckin’ with you. Go on up and rest, dude. I’ll run over and get your stuff and be back in a few.” Before Quick could get out the door he added, “I got an early bond hearing tomorrow, then I’m going to the office. I’ll see y’all tomorrow night. I’ll call before I walk in the door though,” Quick said mockingly.

“Rome,” Duke griped tiredly.

“Okay. Okay, I’m done for real now.”

“Good,” Duke mumbled, walking towards the landing for the stairs.

“Son, a man’s coming up to your room,” Quick bellowed loud enough to wake the dead. Duke rolled his eyes so hard he thought he’d never see his irises again.

“Oh happy day, Father,” Vaughan crooned from somewhere upstairs. His voice way too sexy and deep to pull off a fair maiden’s tone. “A gentlemen caller of my very own.”

“You two are idiots,” Duke murmured, taking each step carefully.

“Night.” Quick laughed. “Hey! Remember, these walls are thin. Just to let you know.”

“Then keep your porn on mute and jerk off quietly, I need to sleep,” Duke bitched back right before he reached the top of the stairs. But he heard his best friend’s grumbled “Fucker,” before he got down the hall.