even with the cane, and I was about thirty pounds underweight, and I was a mess. But John still loved me. Can you imagine that? Surrounded by some of the prettiest men in the world, and he still loved me.”
“He’s got good taste,” Ellery said, feeling his eyes sting for some reason.
Galen inclined his head modestly. “You are too kind. Anyway, I was working, not just on rehab, but also on physical therapy. So I could walk around the house without the cane. So I could drive in an emergency. So I could be the best man I could be for a guy who professed to be a porn mogul with no conscience. Do you know why?”
Ellery had met Galen’s boyfriend, and he was goofy and awkward and sweet, and he put 60 percent of his profits into things like health insurance and college funds and financial counseling and job placement so the kids who were young and sexy and excited to be naked and free with their sexuality when they started the business weren’t old and used up and cynical when they left it, usually a year or two later.
“To make him proud?” Ellery hazarded.
Galen shook his head. “To be good enough for him,” he said. “So mid-July, he and all those beautiful men are having a picnic by the zoo, and here he comes with his niece, wearing zinc oxide and a hat and carrying a giant gorilla, and I was there waiting for him, and it was the best moment of my life.”
Ellery swallowed hard. “A year ago,” he said gruffly, “sometime this week—neither of us remember the day—after Jackson and I had danced around each other for nearly seven years, pretending to hate each other, sneering when we passed each other in the hallways, making snarky comments when we knew the other one could hear….” He smiled slightly. “We finally gave in.”
“Ah,” Galen said, nodding. “That’s a good day to remember.”
“So much has happened since then,” he said, feeling this in his chest. “So much. You’ve seen part of it.”
“And researched a lot more,” Galen said with a half laugh.
“Yeah. And it all comes down to that moment, I guess. When we gave in. And I knew I wouldn’t ever go back. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep him. He was mine in all the ways that counted, whether he knew it or not.”
Galen gave him a luminous smile. “So this is a very good day,” he said. “Happy anniversary, Counselor Cramer. May your celebration be lusty and good.”
The heat that had threatened Ellery’s cheeks washed over him completely. “Thank you, Counselor Henderson,” he said, suddenly very grateful for this man who had pretty much declared himself Ellery’s business partner and then made it so. “Our lives are very much richer because you’re in them.”
Galen’s cheeks washed pink as well, and he grimaced. “You are a gentleman, sir. Now kindly get the fuck out of the office. I do believe I need to see my boyfriend.”
Ellery laughed and limped away.
Fishy-versary
JACKSON HAD been prepared to try to cook, but Ellery had insisted on takeout. Fancy, fancy takeout that they actually put on plates and ate with silverware the moment they got home.
Neither one of them had been in a restaurant mood, although Jackson had offered.
“No,” Ellery replied, shaking his head. “Sometimes all I want is you and me.”
Jackson made sure Ellery had some of his favorite wine, and he drank pinot grigio to keep Ellery company. He cracked wise about getting the sweetest wine he could find for his unsophisticated palate, but the truth was, he was starting to appreciate other tastes too.
It was like cooking or classes in law or getting used to letting Ellery have enough control to let him feel comfortable about the times he wasn’t in control and Jackson had to be Jackson; it took practice, it took getting used to, and it took effort.
They’d put in both over the last year.
Their dinner conversation wasn’t profound. They chewed over the case, making all the pieces fit. At the end of dinner, as they shared a piece of divine cheesecake—a thing Jackson had never ordered before Ellery—he could sense Ellery’s exasperation.
“We’re not going to get Dima, Jackson. We’re not going to get Dietrich and Karina. I mean, we might. They’re out there. Dima can rebuild. Dietrich and Karina know how to make money gambling. They’re going to be a problem.” He shrugged. “But it’s nothing we haven’t faced before.”
Jackson had felt it