Warrior's Cross (6 page)

Talk about a paper trail.”

“What’d you do with it?” Blake asked in amusement.

“Burned it when I got home.”

“Well, lessons learned,” Blake replied easily. “Will you be here next week? It’s a holiday, you know. I’ll be out of town.”

“If you’ll be out of town, why do you care where I’ll be?” Julian countered.

“I don’t want to think about you sitting in that mausoleum of a house alone on Christmas Eve,” Blake answered sincerely.

“How sweet,” Julian responded flatly. He sighed softly and looked out at the falling snow. “But since you won’t be here, regardless, again I ask: what do you care?”

“Jackass,” Blake accused fondly.

“Yeah. There’s always Christmas Mass,” Julian muttered.

“That doesn’t count as company,” Blake pointed out.

“Yes, well, it’ll do,” Julian assured him, thinking to himself that if he could muster the nerve, he could probably find himself some of Blake’s brand of company. His mind turned again toward thoughts of a dark-haired, blue-eyed waiter.

“Take care of yourself, Julian,” Blake advised knowingly. “Unless something breaks, you’re free ’til Christmas. Good night.”

“Sweet dreams, you bastard,” Julian offered with a small smile.

“Of course they will be. Emily’s back from Paris,” Blake said with a laugh, and he hung up.

Julian smiled and shook his head. He folded his phone and tossed it onto the nearest piece of furniture, wondering what in the hell he was going to do with himself for the next several days without any jobs to 34

Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

work or research. He stared out at the snow, pondering the memory of the way the waiter’s lips had curved into a smile when he’d watched the snow falling outside of Tuesdays.

He growled slightly, shaking his head in defeat. He thought about that man far too much for it to be healthy. He couldn’t help but wonder, though, if Cameron would respond favorably if he made a move.

Julian cocked his head and stared out the window, letting himself wonder and think about a man he didn’t really know.

Warrior’s Cross 35

CAMERON stood at the greeting stand cleaning off the board that listed the evening special in artistically rendered colored chalk. Keri had begged off early so she could be at home with her kids on Christmas Eve, and he was the only one working the floor. After the two early evening parties cleared out, the restaurant remained deserted, and he’d sent everyone home but the sous chef and a couple other guys on the kitchen staff. Most people were at home with their families by now, and the weather didn’t help business. It had snowed heavily all day.

He hummed along with the holiday string concerto playing in the foyer, not yet tired of the Christmas music that inundated people everywhere this time of year. Since he had plenty of time, he pulled out the wait staff list for the next week and started working on the schedule.

A slight whoosh of air warned him of someone coming in.

Surprised, he shifted off the stool and stepped around the stand to see how many were in the party. He stopped still and stared for a moment before he could compose himself.

It was
Julian
.

The man stepped into the foyer, unwrapping the scarf from his neck as he looked around. When his eyes landed on Cameron, he stopped and cocked his head slightly to the side. “Merry Christmas,” he greeted.

Cameron blinked stupidly in response. “Happy holidays,” he answered finally. Was it Tuesday? Yes. Yes, it was.

Julian glanced around the restaurant and moved closer, appearing to glide as his long overcoat swirled around him. “Thank you for what you did,” he said as he got closer.

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Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Cameron knew exactly what Julian was talking about; he’d thought about it for the past several days, wondering what it was about and what had happened. “You’re welcome. Did—” He paused, aware that he was about to be very rude. “Did you want dinner?” he improvised.

“It worked out fine,” Julian answered without looking away.

Cameron suppressed a shiver, feeling those black eyes focus totally on him. He clasped his hands behind his back. “Good,” he said quietly. “I… wondered,” he said, shifting his eyes sideways before raising them to look at Julian.

Julian nodded, ducking his head as if trying to keep Cameron’s eyes on him. “How much longer would I have to eat?” he asked.

Julian’s eyes were so intent, Cameron tried not to shuffle under his gaze. He glanced at the elegant wrought-iron clock on the wall. “About an hour,” he answered shakily. What would he do with no one in the restaurant but Julian?

“So you’ll be free in an hour,” Julian ventured as he tipped his head to one side. It seemed that he could never get enough power behind his voice to speak at volume. It was an intriguing trait in a man so big.

Cameron slid one hand into a pocket, trying to hide the slight tremble in his fingers. His pulse was already racing as he peered at the other man. “Yeah,” he answered without even wondering about the purpose of the question. If he let himself wonder, he wouldn’t be able to form coherent sentences. Then he tacked on, “I was actually getting ready to close early. You’re the first customer in almost two hours.”

Julian tilted his head the other way and then nodded curtly, letting his eyes travel over Cameron thoughtfully. “So if I were to leave, you could, in theory, meet me in the lobby in fifteen minutes,” he surmised.

Subtle disbelief filtered into Cameron’s eyes. “In theory,” he agreed cautiously. Was the man coming on to him? How crazy was this?

Warrior’s Cross 37

Julian continued to look him directly in the eye for a long moment before nodding thoughtfully. “I’ll wait twenty,” he announced in a bare whisper.

What
was
this? Julian wanted to meet him for… what? A sizzling jolt shot through Cameron. His first impulse was to jump at the chance even though he knew absolutely nothing about the man or what he had planned. Was he really going to do this?

There was no question. Yes. Yes, he was going to do this even though it was insanely foolhardy. “I better get moving then,” Cameron said, unable to tear his eyes away.

The corner of Julian’s mouth twitched in what might have been a smile. He turned without another word and left, moving slowly and deliberately as he exited the restaurant. He always seemed to move in measured bursts like he was putting a lot of effort into reining in his stride.

Cameron wasted thirty seconds staring at the door and pondering the way Julian moved before he lurched to activate the locks and turn down the lights. He hurried through the restaurant and back into the kitchen, telling the sous chef to close up shop. By the time he’d finished locking up what needed to be secured, twelve minutes had passed. He swore, grabbed his heavy coat and scarf, and took off, pushing through the doors and loping toward the elevators.

Julian stood in the lobby, his big shoulders squared in his heavy wool overcoat as he stared out the glass front of the building and waited. The sound of the elevator as it arrived in the lobby was a tiny chime in the quiet of the marble floors and high ceilings. He glanced over his shoulder as Cameron stepped out of the elevator. Julian turned around and inclined his chin, visibly surprised that Cameron had actually come.

Cameron shrugged into his long, charcoal-gray coat and pulled the scarf slung over his arm around his neck, licking his lips nervously.

Had the man not expected him to show up? Then why even ask?

Julian began walking slowly toward him. “Do you have someone to get home to on Christmas Eve?” the big man asked as he moved closer, his low voice carrying across the marble.

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Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Cameron’s hands stopped on the coat buttons as he watched the other man approach, and he spoke before thinking it through. “No.

That’s why I always volunteer to work.”

It had already occurred to him that Julian might be dangerous. But leaving alone with him, late at night, and admitting no one was waiting for him? It was not a very good idea at all.

“I wouldn’t want to keep you,” Julian murmured as he stopped several feet away. It was as if he could sense Cameron’s sudden unease and was trying not to alarm him by being too close or too loud.

Cameron was torn between a silent wave of longing and a tingle of apprehension. He waited until he was sure what he wanted to say would be what actually came out of his mouth, unconsciously licking his lower lip. “No one’s waiting.”

Julian nodded slightly. “I was going to suggest we talk while we walk, but it’s begun snowing again,” he said as he glanced at the window. “Do you mind?”

Cameron couldn’t stop the smile. “I love the snow.”

Julian smiled slightly and held his hand out toward the door, inviting Cameron to lead the way. Moving ahead, Cameron walked out into the snow, immediately stopping and grinning as he lifted his face to the big, fluffy flakes for a long moment before turning to move down the street. The snow was almost two inches deep, and he left tracks behind as he trekked through it.

Julian was soon beside him, walking with his head down. “She was trying to have her husband killed.”

Cameron glanced at Julian in surprise as they made their way down the sidewalk. He had no idea what to say to that. Should he ask?

Was it appropriate? “And you…” he ventured after several yards.

“Had been hired by her husband,” Julian answered, his frozen breath billowing out in front of him. “For a slightly different purpose.”

“To keep him alive, I’m guessing,” Cameron said.

Warrior’s Cross 39

Julian shrugged noncommittally and turned slightly to look behind them. “I do this and that,” he finally answered. “I’m sorry I involved you.”

Cameron’s mind started racing, his imagination shifting into overdrive. He’d been hired to do this and that… maybe something that would get the wife mad enough to want to kill her husband?

Remembering the conversation between the woman and Julian, he wondered if Julian had been catering to the husband instead of the wife.

His cheeks heated a little at the thought, and he pushed the idea aside.

“Why
did
you involve me?” he asked curiously.

“Because I trust you,” Julian answered bluntly. “And I couldn’t do it myself.”

“How can you trust me?” Cameron asked in surprise. “You don’t even know me.”

“I consider myself a decent judge of character,” Julian answered as he lowered his head, watching where his footsteps fell.

Would this man never stop surprising him? Cameron mused over a reply. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“That’s an odd thing to thank someone for,” Julian observed.

Cameron stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “You complimented me, didn’t you?”

Julian finally turned his head to look at Cameron. “I suppose I did.”

Cameron gave another shrug. “Then it’s not odd at all.”

“What do you think of me?” Julian asked him, changing the direction of their conversation without warning.

Blake had asked him the same thing. It was a question Cameron still had no idea how to answer. Julian seemed to do that to him a lot: ask something, say something, whatever something knocked Cameron off balance. He thought back over the months of seeing Julian in the restaurant, wondering if he’d ever truly drawn any conclusions.

“I think you’re mysterious,” he admitted haltingly.

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Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Julian started in obvious surprise. “Really?” he asked, the first word he’d spoken that didn’t seem measured.

“Yeah,” Cameron said with a shrug as they paused on the street corner. “Ten minutes total of near-silent interaction a week doesn’t offer a lot of information,” he pointed out. “So. Mysterious.”

Julian turned to face him as the snow began to fall harder. “Is that all you think of me then?”

The tone of Julian’s voice made Cameron shift to look at him. The other man had several inches on him, and Cameron remembered the shift and pull of muscles under expensive shirts and jackets, the black of his eyes as they focused on nothing but him. “No,” he murmured distractedly. “I think…”

Julian raised an eyebrow as Cameron trailed off. “I ask because I think of you,” he told Cameron quietly. “Quite a lot.”

A look of complete shock covered Cameron’s face, and he blinked stupidly as they stood on the street corner. He’d
never
expected to hear that. Hadn’t even dreamed it. “You think of
me
?” he asked with a near squeak. “Why?”

Julian merely tilted his head and smiled as he watched Cameron.

Cameron stuttered a few incoherent words and then swallowed. “I did think about you,” he admitted after regaining some of his composure. “Especially after the first time you missed dinner. I mean, that first time you talked to me and then didn’t come back the next week.”

“You’re talking about the night I was hurt,” Julian supplied with an easy smile as they crossed the street and got to walking again.

“Oh. Well, I hope it wasn’t bad,” Cameron said awkwardly, remembering the sling Julian had worn.