“You want to stroll through the Warehouse District?”
It wasn’t a very serene or safe setting.
“Walking will help the circulation in your blood.”
The man was lying through his pretty white teeth. They weren’t walking for their health. Justin felt the tension thick in the air. Something was going down. “You know, you don’t have to lie to me. If someone is following us, just let me know so I’m aware of what’s going on.”
Demetri gazed down at Justin with a quizzical frown. “Why would you think someone is following us?”
“I’m smarter than the average bear,” Justin answered and was pleased to receive one of Demetri’s rare and beautiful smiles.
“That you are, young Justin.”
“You know, I’m twenty,” Justin said, pricked that Demetri had referred to him as young.
Demetri’s overcoat flapped in the light breeze, and his dark hair ruffled slightly. Justin couldn’t help but stare at the man. He was like some kind of savvy king waiting to go into battle. That was how Justin saw him at this moment.
“I’m well aware of how old you are, Justin,” Demetri replied as his polished shoes clicked along the sidewalk. “You’ve been coming to my home since you were ten, correct?”
Justin nodded.
“And I’ve been watching over you from the first day.”
“Why is that?” Justin blurted out. His skin heated with embarrassment. He’d wanted to know the answer to that question for years, but he had damn near shouted the question at Demetri.
“Because you are—” Demetri grabbed Justin’s arm and stopped walking, glancing around. If the guy said “like a son,” Justin was going to walk over to the lamppost and bang his head into the metal.
Justin stilled, watching as Wulf moved in closer. “What’s going on?”
“Hush, pup,” Demetri held his hand up. Justin canted his head to the side. Demetri had never called him that. Why did the guy call him a pup? Was Justin that scrawny and needful? Was that how King Frost looked at him, like some peasant who needed a handout? That stung deeply.
“I’m not a pup,” Justin said tartly. “Thank you for helping me at the hospital, but I think I can make my own way home.” Justin’s pride was crushed. After all this time he’d thought Demetri looked at him differently, not some needy man who required anyone’s charity.
He turned and begun to walk back toward the hospital when Demetri grabbed him by his upper arm and walked Justin quickly down the street.
“Hey!” Justin protested as he tried hard to keep up. “My legs aren’t as long as yours.” He was panting and feeling a bit lightheaded.
When Demetri stopped, Justin thought the guy was considering his protest. But then he caught sight of two men emerging from the side of one of the buildings. They began toward Justin, Demetri, and Wulf.
“Get Justin out of here.” Demetri shoved Justin at Wulf. Justin slammed into the bodyguard’s chest and nearly toppled to his ass. But Wulf caught him and turned him around. “Guard him with your life!”
If Justin hadn’t been so terrified, he would have questioned Demetri’s demand. But he didn’t have time to think of anything as Wulf hauled him back the way they’d come. If he thought Demetri had long legs, that was nothing compared to the bodyguard. Justin’s feet barely touched the ground he was walking so fast.
“I can’t keep up,” Justin said as he became winded. Instead of slowing down, Wulf turned and scooped Justin off his feet, slinging him over his shoulder like a large sack of potatoes.
This is so undignified.
“Put me down!” Justin felt emasculated being carried like this. He might not be a large and powerful man like Wulf or even Demetri, but he was still a man.
“Hush,” Wulf said irritably. “Too much noise.”
“Are we going to just leave Demetri?” Justin asked as they rounded the corner and lost sight of Demetri. His heart thumped wildly as he thought of leaving Demetri with those strangers.
“Yes.”
Justin struggled to get free, but Wulf’s hold was like a vise grip. The guy’s fingers were crushing into Justin’s thighs. He was going to have bruises. “We can’t just leave him,” Justin protested as he shoved at Wulf’s back, trying to get the bodyguard to release him. “We have to go back.”
What if those two men had been muggers? Some bodyguard Wulf was. He’d left his boss to fend for himself. “You brute. Put me down, or I’ll start screaming that you’re kidnapping me.” Justin had to get back to Demetri. He wasn’t sure what help he could be, but he couldn’t leave the guy alone to fend for himself.