“Nope,” Dimitri said, swinging the back door open to the warm night air.
The heavy door slammed shut behind him, and he stopped short. A tall man leaned against Dimitri’s Toyota, arms crossed over his chest. Even obscured by shadow, he looked familiar.
As he moved closer, he realized he knew him. Another Mulvaney. One of the twins. And he wasn’t alone. There was a thinner man beside him, with blond hair and large wire-rimmed glasses that shouldn’t have looked good on anybody but looked right at home on him.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening? Why did you stop?” Arlo asked. “I’m getting dizzy.”
Dimitri carefully set Arlo on his feet before turning him to see their guests. Arlo gasped, backing directly into Dimitri, who put an arm around his chest to steady him.
“What are you doing here?” Dimitri asked.
“We need a favor,” the twin said.
Dimitri squinted. “Which one are you?”
The man moved forward until he was no longer in the shadows. “Asa. This is Zane. We need your help.”
“What kind of help?” Dimitri asked.
“Does it matter?” Asa countered, the question weighted.
Dimitri gave a heavy sigh. No. No, it didn’t. When somebody’s family helped you get rid of a body, that family had the right to ask for favors. “Have you cleared this with my mom? I really can’t afford to get on her bitch list again.”
Asa’s responding grin was unsettling. “My dad cleared it with your mom. All parental units are in the loop. Let’s go get some food. I’m starving.”
Arlo glanced over his shoulder at Dimitri. “Are we really doing this?”
“What choice do we have?” Dimitri shrugged.
Asa nodded. “Exactly. Glad we’re all on the same page. We’ll take my car. It’s right over there.”
As they watched, Asa snaked an arm around the waist of the other man, Zane, who didn’t look thrilled about the gesture, but he didn’t protest either.
“What do you think their deal is?” Arlo asked.
“I think it’s none of our business,” Dimitri whispered, lacing their fingers together.
“So much for getting fucked tonight,” Arlo said, forlorn.
Dimitri tugged Arlo up under his arm, their fingers still intertwined. “Oh, we might still get fucked tonight, but not in the way either of us was hoping.”
“Christ, you two are giving me a toothache with all the cuteness,” Asa crowed from ten paces ahead.
“Then go kidnap two other people,” Arlo quipped.
Dimitri grinned at Arlo’s bravado. He’d definitely come a long way.
“Oh, don’t tempt him. He loves holding people against their will,” his companion grumbled.
“Don’t be sassy, Lois Lane,” Asa said, dropping his hand to the other man’s ass. “They might think you don’t like me.”
Zane wiggled out of Asa’s grip. “I don’t like you.”
Asa scoffed. “The scratches down my back say otherwise, sugar britches.”
“Gross,” Arlo groaned, earning a laugh from Asa.
He gestured to the backseat of a large black SUV. “Chop-chop, young lovers. There’s fuckery afoot.”
The Mulvaneys were a strange fucking lot, and the twins seemed the weirdest of the bunch. It was odd seeing them away from each other. Even in pictures, he’d never seen the two photographed apart. It was weird. Like seeing a teacher at a strip club or a dog walk on its hind legs. Asa and Avi Mulvaney were never separated. Except, now, they were.
The two of them climbed up into the bench seat, squeezing together in the center. Up front, Asa buckled Zane’s seatbelt, then glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Jesus, relax, you two. I just need some information. I’m not here to rip off your toenails with pliers.”
“Well, that adds a whole new layer of horror to this,” Arlo muttered.
“Don’t worry, baby. I will keep your toenails safely where they belong,” Dimitri promised.
“That is both gross and romantic,” Arlo said, a smile spreading across his face.
“That’s me. Grossly romantic.” Dimitri leaned down to drop a kiss on his forehead. “And for the record, there’s nobody else I’d rather be kidnapped with.”
Arlo looked up at him with soft eyes. “Aw, me neither. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Dimitri crooned.
“And I love noise canceling headphones,” Zane said around a groan, glaring at Asa. “Can you put some music on or something?”
Asa winked at him. “Anything for you, darling.”
Zane sighed in exasperation, but Dimitri grinned. There really wasn’t anybody else in the world Dimitri would rather be kidnapped with, and that really was as close to love as a psychopath like him would ever get.
the end