Page 16 of Kill Shot

Watching a Professional

Seb

“We should leave right now,” Frederick, one of the bodyguards repeated, but Seb just shook his head and watched in awe, his lips still tingling with the ghost of Nico’s kiss.

He’d taken more of an effort to learn the names of the men who guarded his life recently.

Frederick, the head of his security detail, was leading the bodyguards tonight, and he was still sitting in the driver’s seat of his SUV while Seb stood within arm’s length.

He was the only one of his guards that had agreed to let him stay for even a moment longer.

“Do you have any idea what kind of business that man is up to?” Frederick pressed. “Your father will have a heart attack once he hears of this.”

If he was being honest with himself, a big part of Seb wanted to flee, but he also didn’t want to look like a coward, and he definitely didn’t want to leave Nico to the wolves that he was presently berating.

They were too far away to make out any of the words, but the fact that Nico was alone against however many dozens of them had shown up spoke volumes.

But there was one other reason why he was standing there rooted to the spot, and it was a reason that he could never admit to anyone: Sebastian was hard .

He had no idea why. His cock had twitched to life when he and Nico kissed, but something about the sight of Nico oozing confidence and walking to put those men in their place had Sebastian on the very edge.

There was an easy mastery to his every motion, to every little gesture.

Even from this distance and squinting against the harsh headlights, Seb could see the other men cringing away as Nico laid into them.

All of that, Seb could likely admit to Nico if the circumstances were right, but it even went a layer deeper than that, into territory that even frightened Seb a little.

He wanted Nico to be a dominant force of nature around everyone else in the world, but behind closed doors, Seb wanted to be the only man who could make him come undone. His pants became painfully tight at the thought.

“What the hell are they doing?” Frederick murmured under his breath, snapping Seb out of his reverie.

There was indeed some manner of commotion where the negotiations had just been taking place. But before Sebastian could even fear for Nico’s well-being, a loud and resounding crack split the night air.

Sebastian flinched, and the only reason that he did not cry out was because Frederick was still intently watching the scene and not drawing his own firearm.

Only then did Sebastian realize that he hadn’t heard a gunshot. Rather, it had been a brutal slap, and one of the men was now down on the ground below Nico, who still had his hand raised.

“Are we clear?” he demanded, his commanding voice easily carrying across the entire parking lot. “Or will you need me to come back and clarify things again? If that happens, then I certainly won’t let you off so easily.”

And then, to Seb’s shock, Nico turned around and walked away, heading to his own car. He had his back to men that he had just insulted, and it would take nothing at all for one of them to put a bullet in his back, but they didn’t dare.

Seb couldn’t help but be awed and, therefore, horribly turned on.

“If you’re done with this foolishness,” Frederick said, “then let us go back home and be glad that nothing went terribly wrong tonight.”

Seb wanted to argue, but then he realized that getting back in that car with Nico might force him to admit exactly what he was feeling for the older man.

If nothing else, he might accidentally say something incredibly foolish in his current state, and that was if the tent in his pants didn’t give him up straightaway.

“Alright, I’ll go tell him I’m leaving with you,” Seb told Frederick, which earned a sigh of relief.

Seb hurried over to the car just as Nico was getting in. On the other side of the lot, cars were racing away in embarrassment.

“Going home now?” Nico asked.

“How did you…” Seb trailed off, his words fading under Nico’s stare, the memory of their kiss still hot on his lips. “Yeah.”

“Smart. I hope you learned your lesson and don’t want to spend any more time in places like this.” Nico’s gaze was intense, as if this was some secret test for Seb to pass or fail.

“Not at all!” Seb cried out before managing to catch and compose himself. “I mean, it wasn’t that bad. As long as I don’t take needless risks, then I think it’s important to see this kind of thing.”

“Why?”

Seb blinked, waiting for Nico to clarify, but the older man said nothing further. He just leaned against his open door and waited right back.

“Why?” Seb repeated.

“Yep. Why don’t you think on it and let me know when we meet again? I want you to tell me how this experience in particular is going to prepare you for the future and what you think you learned here.”

Nico watched Seb through a narrowed gaze. “Or are you just trying to prove you can play tough?”

“That’s not it.” Seb shifted on his feet. “Well… I’m learning, aren’t I? There’s a lot I haven’t seen.”

“Sounds more like an excuse to justify your love for reckless adventure, Sebby. You don’t need the experience to learn that following a guy like me out here is not a good idea.”

Seb hesitated, not sure what to say to that.

It wouldn’t be a good idea to tell him that the reason he wasn’t afraid of coming out here with Nico was that he trusted him to keep him safe.

Which in itself didn’t even make sense. There were cars full of bodyguards who’d take a bullet for Seb, but for some reason, whenever he was with Nico, whether walking through sketchy alleys at night, or driving out here to meet seasoned drug dealers, and how this could’ve easily escalated in the worst possible way…

When he was with Nico, he felt the safest.

But that would be weird to tell him. Wouldn’t it?

“Think about it,” Nico said, pushing off the doorframe.

And with that, Nico got into his car and closed the door. One wave out the window, then his engine surged to life once more, and Sebastian was left alone with men paid to be his company.

He had no idea how long he stood there, staring into the dust rising into the dark night sky, before finally getting into the seat behind Frederick.

All he knew was that he had a great deal to think about when it came to Nico. His feelings were quickly becoming too much to bear.