Embracing His Syn (23 page)

“
You’re damn right I
don’t. I will not be your dirty little secret, Syn.” Furi pointed
his finger in Syn’s face. “When
you
asked
me
out, I told you to be ready, and I meant that.
I’m not in the closet, haven’t been in over fifteen years and I’m
not going into one for you or anybody else.”

“
Furious, I'm not in the
closet and I don’t want to be either. My team is a good group of
guys and I should’ve known they wouldn’t act like asses, but I’m
still the new guy to them. I’ve always kept pretty much to myself;
that’s all that was. I really didn't know how to act in that
situation.” Syn noticed Furi’s anger slowly dissolving so he took
the chance and put his arms around Furi’s waist. Furi tried to push
Syn off but he didn't put very much force behind it. Syn buried his
face into Furi’s hair. “Forgive me, Furi.”

“
Just take me home,” Furi
mumbled and moved to the passenger side of the truck.

The drive home was deathly quiet. Syn
wasn’t sure if Furi was going to forgive him or not, he was
certainly hoping he would. Syn really did like Furi. He was the
type of man he’d want to spend hours talking to because the deep
sexiness of his voice did funny things to Syn’s groin, listening to
him laugh was like the sweetest music to his ears. He wanted to see
Furi's gorgeous face when he came home from working a shitty case,
knowing he would make it better. He wanted to get into bed with him
after a hot shower and bury his face in Furi’s soft hair and just
lose himself in the erotic scent that lingered in those gorgeous
locks.

Syn fought the urge to apologize
again; he’d done it at least five times now. He looked over at
Furi, wishing he would turn and look at him. “Are you going to say
anything?”

Furi did look at him then, but what he
said wasn’t exactly what Syn wanted to hear, “Your truck needs a
tune-up.” Then he turned his head back toward the window. Syn
pulled up to the curb opposite Furi’s apartment and shut off the
engine. Furi didn’t say anything; he just opened the door, got out
of the truck and walked across the street. Syn jumped out calling
to him, “Furi, please wait.”

Furi stopped in the middle of the
street and turned to face him, looking completely exasperated.
“What?”

Syn was just making his way around the
truck when he heard tires screeching and bright headlights headed
directly at Furi. “Furious!” Syn yelled, but he saw there was no
time. He ran at full speed, leaping and slamming his body into
Furi's, the car’s front end just missing them. Syn rolled with
Furi, a messy tangle of long limbs, hitting the curb hard. Syn kept
one arm around Furi while craning his neck to try to see where the
car was. All he could see was the make of the dark vehicle and two
letters of the license plate. Syn pulled his S&W from behind
his back just in case they circled back around.

Syn jumped up and pulled Furi up with
him. “Inside, now.”

Furi moved quickly, Syn right behind
him. As soon as they got inside the apartment, Syn turned Furi to
face him. He looked him over and determined that he was okay for
the most part. Furi looked like he was in shock, and rightfully so,
someone had just tried to kill him. Syn put both his hands on
Furi’s flushed cheeks. “Furious look at me.” Syn waited for those
now haunted eyes to look at his. When Furi finally focused on his
face, he had to slip into cop mode and ask his questions while the
details were fresh in his mind. “Does your husband drive a BMW or a
Mercedes?”

“
What?” Furi
whispered.

“
That car that just tried
to run you down was a Mercedes or BMW maybe. Is that what your ex
drives?” Syn tried to speak as clearly as he could.

“
No. He doesn’t drive at
all. He has drivers.”

Syn pulled out his cell and called the
precinct. He watched as Furi slumped down onto his couch and
scrubbed both hands over his face. Syn was giving the operator his
badge number when Furi’s head popped up, looking startled. “Wait.
Did you say a dark Mercedes?”

Syn told the operator to hold on,
“Yes. Do you know someone that drives a black Mercedes?”

“
Yeah.” Furi looked up at
him. “Sasha Pain from Illustra has a black Mercedes.”

Syn got back on the phone. “I need a
BOLO on a black Mercedes headed east bound on Clifton Road, in
Emory Point. The first two letters of the plate are Bravo, Tango.”
Syn finished with dispatch then called his first officer. While
waiting for the phone to be answered he told Furi to pack a bag
with whatever he would need for the next couple of days. Furi
didn’t move.

“
Furious,” Syn growled. He
wanted to get the hell out of that apartment just in case Sasha
wanted to come finish the job.

“
I’m not leaving. She is
not going to run me out of my own damn place.” Furi jutted out his
chin in defiance.

Syn forgot about his phone call and
came to stand directly in front of Furi. “Go and pack a bag now.
That crazy bitch is not going to get a second chance if I have
anything to say about it.”

“
You don’t have anything
to say about it.”

“
The hell I don’t,” Syn
barked. “Your foolish pride will get you killed. Let's deal with
her and then you’re more than welcome to come home. Don’t let your
stubbornness make you an easy target, because that’s just
stupid.”

“
You calling me stupid?”
Furi snapped right back.

Syn rolled his eyes in frustration.
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? Furious we don’t have time for this
Mickey Mouse bullshit right now. Go get your shit and let’s move.”
Syn went over to the only window in Furi’s apartment and stood
watch while Furi threw some clothes, toiletries, books and a laptop
into a bag, grumbling curses the entire time. Syn let him say
whatever he wanted to, as long as he was doing what needed to be
done.

Furi had a large duffle draped over
his shoulder when he came to stand in front of Syn. “Done,
Detective. Anything else you want to order me to do?”

Syn took a quick calming breath. He
took Furi’s duffle off his shoulder and set it gently at his feet.
He put his arms around Furi’s waist and pulled him to him. “I’m not
trying to order you around. I just can’t let anyone hurt you.” Syn
squeezed his eyes shut. “I wouldn’t handle it well if you were hurt
when I knew that I could’ve done something to prevent it. I have to
go with my gut. I've always trusted it and it’s gotten me out of
more than a few jams. My instincts are telling me to not leave you
here alone tonight, so you’re coming home with me. I’ll have Sasha
picked up by morning and a restraining order issued for your ex.
Then if you never want to see me again, I’ll understand." Syn was
so relieved when Furi leaned in and hugged him back.

“
This is too much ya’
know? I’m a nobody, a goddamn mechanic. Why the fuck is she after
me?” Furi’s breath ghosted over the damp skin of Syn’s
neck.

He pulled back to look
into Furi’s frightened eyes. “Fuck that. You are not
a nobody
. Don’t ever say
that shit again. You’re ... you’re ..." Syn didn’t quite know what
he was ready to admit yet, or if he could voice what he was feeling
for Furi.
You’re important to me.
One thing was certain; while his protective
streak ran deep for this man, there was something else there, lying
just beneath that. He wasn’t going to say love, that was too much
too damn soon; he’d never even been in love so he wasn’t going to
start slinging that word around. But he wasn’t ready for Furi to
check out of his life permanently. That thought made Syn
sick.

“
I’m what Syn?”

Syn blinked. He needed to finish what
he was saying. “You’re strong enough to handle this and come out
victorious.” Syn squeezed him back. “Come on. We got to
go.”

When they were back in the truck and
headed back to his place, Syn radioed for a unit to patrol the area
around Furi’s apartment because he was worried about his landlady.
By the time Syn made it back to his side of town, Ronowski called
and told him that their BOLO would be in effect for twenty-four
hours, but no one had picked up Sasha yet.

Syn unlocked his door and let Furi
into his place for the second time that night.

“
Shouldn’t I be in witness
protection or something, in a secure location?” Furi fired off
indignantly.

Syn flicked on the lamp in the living
room and turned to look at Furious, shooting him a look that said
‘really?’

“
Would you rather I take
you down to the station, where a detective can question you for
five hours before they take you to the shittiest hotel in the next
city? While some cop that’s ridden a desk for the last ten years
sits on his ass the entire time he's so-called guarding
you?”

Furi dropped his duffle bag to the
floor and shook his head. “I guess not.”

“
Yeah. That’s what I
thought.” Syn grinned. He removed his coat and draped it over the
back of his new sofa. It was nice, but he hadn’t had the chance to
enjoy it yet. Furi walked backwards until the back of his legs hit
the couch. He flopped down like he had the weight of the world on
his shoulders.

Syn rubbed the back of his neck,
wincing at the tension there. He needed to say something to Furi
... anything ... but what? Bad people, crime, guns blazing, cars
running you off the road, all this was normal for Syn, but Furi was
just trying to live his life. Syn sat down next to the beautiful
man, his hand hovering over his knee before he moved it and placed
it on his shoulder. The gesture was meant to be comforting but
didn’t look like it was helping. “Are you okay?”

“
No, no, Syn. I’m not
okay. That crazy bitch just tried to kill me, and for what? Because
I wouldn’t fuck her.” Furi’s voice was rising with each word. He
vaulted off the couch and started pacing in front of Syn, pulling
on the ends of his hair. “Is that cause to kill someone? Jesus
Christ! I wasn’t trying to make her fucking look bad, I didn’t want
to fuck her because I’m fucking gay!”

Syn’s eyes widened and he put his hand
out to stop Furi’s pacing. “Furious, please quiet down.”

Furi spun on him, a hard scowl
twisting his gorgeous features. “Oh yeah. I forgot for a second.
You’re not gay! We sure wouldn’t want the neighbors thinking
that!”

Syn’s head snapped back at Furi’s
rant. “Alright. You’re upset about what just happened and you’re
projecting. I’m gonna give you some alone time. There’s beer in the
fridge, guest bath is down the hall. Make yourself at home.” Syn
turned to go to his bedroom. He’d be damned if he was going to let
Furi turn this into a fight about him accepting who he
was.

“
Fucking coward,” Furi
mumbled.

Syn halted at his bedroom
door.
Did he really just fucking say
that?
Syn pivoted on his heels and hurried
back into the living room. “What the fuck did you just call
me?”

Furi’s eyes bulged at Syn’s anger. He
rose slowly from his seated position and eased around to the other
side of the couch. The fear on his face quickly turned to anger.
“You want to fight me? Beat me up, Detective?”

“
What?” Syn gasped at the
absurdity of that question. He faced Furi head on and held his
angry, black glare with his own. “First of all, how dare you even
think for a second that I would put my hands on you in anger? Just
because the bastard you chose to marry did, doesn’t mean
all
men hit.” Syn
pointed at his chest. “I’m not a coward, Furious. In case you
forgot, I just saved your goddamn life.”

“
Oh no, I haven’t
forgotten, but yes you’re the worst kind of coward. You’re not
scared of being shot at or throwing yourself in front of two tons
of speeding metal, but you’re afraid to hold a man’s hand, a man
you
claim
to
like, in public. Such a badass in the fucking street, but too pussy
to admit what you really are.”

Syn wasn’t sure how long he stared at
Furi before turning walking to his room, slamming the door behind
him.