would only privately admit to also doing some drooling.) He was…cute. Brannigan hadn’t expected the man to be cute.
He also looked to be at his wit’s end and was obviously exhausted. The panda eyes were serious enough to look like bruises. Brannigan felt like apologizing for wearing him out, but really, it was Kyou who had taken everything on. He’d never listened to Brannigan.
It still felt strange and surreal that he could reach out, run a hand up and down the man’s back. “Hey. Breathe. I’m okay, aren’t I? And the guys are coming.”
Kyou let out a long sigh. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
“Why?” Brannigan firmly stamped any trace of amusement out of his voice.
Turning his head, Kyou stared at him steadily. “You’re enjoying this.”
“I’m really happy right now,” Brannigan said, mostly apologetic. “I know that you moved to protect me, but you still came for me yourself. I’ve been wishing for this day for years. You finally trust me enough.”
Kyou’s expression twisted up in a grimace. “It was never about trust. Hell, Bran. You’ve never betrayed a person in your life. I know that. But I’m not a safe person. People know me—I’ve got enemies. If you’re known to be with me, that makes you a target too.”
“Is that what this has been about?” Brannigan’s overall picture of the situation took a sharp dip and twist. “You’ve been keeping your distance this whole time to protect me?”
“Did you really think it was because I don’t trust you?”
“You never gave me any other reason for it.”
The grimace turned into a wince. “God, I didn’t want you to think that. I just…worried. I’m still worried. And I know you’re happy to meet my family, but they’re crazy. Ivan especially is crazy. You really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Excuse you. I deal with wealthy, empty-headed socialites most of the time. You know exactly how ridiculous most of those people are. I’d much prefer your brand of crazy over that. Either way, die’s cast now. No changing the situation.” Brannigan slipped out of the Jeep and around to Kyou’s side, opening the door and drawing the man out. “Come on. We’ve got, what, twenty or so minutes until they catch up with us here?”
“Probably closer to thirty.”
“So that means you can have a thirty-minute nap.”
“That obvious I want a nap, huh?”
“You’re exhausted. You were obviously asleep before this shit show started.” Brannigan felt pangs of guilt about that. “Come on, inside. Is this place furnished?”
“Bare necessities,” Kyou said with a long sigh, allowing Brannigan to tow him in. “But I can’t rest until they get here. I won’t be able to. This place is secure, but we need to warn your family and people about what’s going down.”
“Shit, with all that’s happened, I didn’t think of it. I’ll call them.”
Brannigan stepped through the garage door, his hand still on Kyou’s. The hacker seemed amenable to being led along, and Brannigan wasn’t going to let go until he had to. Kyou’s hand was soft, yes, but curiously there were some calluses here and there. He did something on a regular basis to put those on his palms. He ran a little cold, too.
The house was white on white with black accents. The walls, ceilings, even the floor was a shade of white. Only the backsplash of the open concept kitchen had any hint of color to it—grey, in this case. It looked very modern, not really matching the Victorian concept going on outside. Kyou was correct that it had bare necessities, as there was a table in the kitchen, a sectional in the living area, and a TV, but not much else. It looked like a showroom.
Kyou’s phone rang in his hand, and he answered it with a grunt. “Ari. Yeah, we’re here. I don’t think we were followed, so we have a few hours to figure this out.”
Who was Ari? Brannigan only knew their code names.
Pulling out a chair at the table, Kyou dropped heavily into it, still answering questions and getting his own in. Brannigan left him to it and went to the other side of the room, carefully away from the front window, and made his own calls. First to Gideon, to apprise him of the situation.
His head of security was, needless to say, less than thrilled. Somehow telling him that K had Brannigan well in hand failed to reassure him.
With that difficult call out of the way, Brannigan went on to the next not-so-fun call he needed to