Headlines (Prime Time #3) - Ella Frank Page 0,53

I was dead-on. It also made my cock really damn excited.

“Fuck, okay. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

We slipped inside and made our way to the elevator, careful not wake his parents, and when the doors slid shut, Xander moved into my side. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and breathed in the intoxicating scent of his cologne and shampoo, and I swear, it was the best thing I’d ever smelled in my life.

A lot had happened here tonight. Some of it good. Some of it not so good. But with Xander this close, and his head on my shoulder, I couldn’t find it in myself to regret a single part of it. Not when I knew it had led us here.

I loved this man, more than I’d ever known was possible, and I’d do whatever it took to make him happy. Including tracking down Bailey and handcuffing his stubborn ass to a chair so we could talk. Because no matter what Xander had said tonight, he shouldn’t have to pick between the two men he loved, and Bailey was just gonna have to get on board with that.

28

Sean

“HE’S NOT HERE.”

The sound of Boudreaux’s voice made me look up from my cell phone to see him coming down the hallway to his office—alone. It was early Monday morning, and I’d decided to go and plant my ass outside of Bailey & Boudreaux Private Investigators in an attempt to launch a sneak attack on Bailey. It appeared my plan was in vain, however.

“I assume you’re here to see Bailey. Not take me out to breakfast.”

I shoved off the wall and slipped my phone into my pocket. “He’s not coming in today?”

“He’s…taking a personal day.”

“A personal day.” I crossed my arms and eyed Boudreaux. “What’s that mean? He’s getting a pedicure? A massage?”

“It means he’s taking a day for himself. Minus you.”

Boudreaux stepped around me and unlocked the door, and it was clear I was going to have to work on him a little to get the information I wanted. Shouldn’t be a problem, though—I’d been working Boudreaux for info the entire time we’d known one another.

“This ’cause of last night?”

Boudreaux tossed his keys on his desk and walked over to open the blinds. “What do you think?”

“I think for someone who said he was going to help smooth things over with Bailey, you’ve done a pretty shit job.”

Quick as a flash, Boudreaux was around the desk and in my face. “After what you two pulled last night, you’re lucky I haven’t broken your damn jaw. That was some classy shit, Dick.”

“It was the truth.” Not about to back down or apologize for Xander standing up for him or myself, I plowed headfirst into the argument Boudreaux was looking for. “Something Bailey was in desperate need of hearing if he doesn’t want to lose one of the people he loves more than anything else. And no, I don’t mean me.”

Henri’s eyes darkened as he tried to bore a hole through me.

“You know I’m right. He loves Xander. That’s why this is killing him. They’re hurting right now. Are you really going to stand in the way of me trying to fix that?”

“I did my piece,” Boudreaux snapped, and turned away from me. “I got him there last night. It’s not my fault your man went and blew things up.”

“Xander tried to reach out before then, you know that. He wanted to talk—”

“Well, sometimes you don’t get what you want. Sometimes you hurt the people standing in the blast zone and can’t take it back.”

I scoffed. “So what are you saying? Xander should just let him go?”

Boudreaux turned back and locked eyes with me. “What I’m saying is that sometimes it doesn’t matter what you want. Sometimes it happens no matter what.”

“Got a lot of practice blowing shit up, huh?”

“No. I got caught in the blast zone.” The seriousness of Boudreaux’s words resonated with something deep inside me. They were far off, distant, as though he were remembering something particularly painful in his life, and I knew I didn’t want that for Bailey or Xander.

“Then you of all people should know how important it is that I do everything I can to fix this. Tell me where he is, Henri.”

The use of Boudreaux’s first name wasn’t lost on him. He eyed me closely. “He went to see your parents. Your mom. Said he needed space to think.”

Of course he’d gone there. Mom had always been the one Bailey turned to when