Page 46 of Pistols and Plush Toys

That desire was immediately followed by guilt like ice water trickling down his spine.

He’s dependent on you. Relying on you. You want to be like Vitale? Huh? Is that the man you want to be?

“What’s, um, what’s your favorite part?” Elliot asked, unaware of Nikolai’s inner turmoil. “About running your own business?”

Nikolai was grateful for the new line of conversation. “Picking new artists to sell in our stores,” he said easily. “We sell plain jewelry, gold and diamonds, simple. But also many artistic pieces. More unique pieces.”

“Like what?” Elliot asked, smiling at him.

“You want to see?” Nikolai asked.

Elliot nodded so Nikolai pulled out his phone. Once he’d found the folders with this year’s creations, turned his phone for Elliot to see. Nikolai had no hand in shaping what the artisans made once he hired them, but he still felt proud of finding them in the first place.

He watched as Elliot browsed the photos.

“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Elliot said. He was looking at a set of snake-themed jewelry. Serpentine rings and necklaces. They were carefully crafted, the bodies of the snakes serving as the bands with inlaid jewel eyes.

“Angelique Ferrero. She makes animal jewelry. All very fine. Meredith has several pieces.”

Elliot went through the photos slowly, zooming in on different places. He seemed genuinely interested, not just flattering Nikolai, and Nikolai loved to see his enthusiasm.

“This is really cool,” Elliot said as he went back to the previous screen and started looking through the other artists. “There’s so much.”

“We have twenty years of business,” Nikolai said with a shrug. “Is lot of time.”

“This looks familiar,” Elliot said as he looked through a folder of sun and moon themed jewelry, done in gold.

“Rafi Kev,” Nikolai said. “He work now for Isadore. Maybe you see their billboards, or maybe commercials? Artists graduate sometimes from us to their own lines or fashion houses.”

“Wow,” Elliot said, eyes wide as he looked up at Nikolai. “So you give artists their first big break?”

Nikolai had never thought of it like that. He was only mildly adept at picking out burgeoning artists fresh out of school or just starting their career, Gerard and Meredith also had say in who they worked with too. Nikolai funded people, sure, but their skill and craftsmanship was all their own.

“If artists do good work, people should know,” Nikolai said.

“That’s so cool,” Elliot said. Then he stopped at a set of necklaces. They were pendant necklaces, gold edging with a diamond suspended in the center. “Oh wow, how…” he zoomed in, bending over the phone to peer down at it.

“Floating diamond,” Nikolai said, smiling. He pointed at the clear edging that could be seen zoomed in as far as Elliot was. “Set in enamel, see?”

“The snake ones were cool, but I think this one’s my favorite,” Elliot said, looking closely at the necklaces. “They’re simple, but I’ve never seen anything like them. It really looks like it’s floating. And it’s so pretty.”

“Very pretty,” Nikolai agreed, watching Elliot admiring the jewelers that Nikolai had hand picked.

He leaned forward in his seat.

A voice came from the left. “Elliot…? Oh my god, Elliot! Hi!”

Nikolai turned to look, brow furrowing, at the waiter who’d been walking past their table who’d stumbled to a sudden stop.

He looked back to Elliot, who was staring at the waiter in shock.

“Xander?”

“Wow, hi!” The waiter, Xander, had vibrant box-dyed red hair and several piercings in each ear. He wasn’t as slight as Elliot, but looked around his age, youthful with round features. “I haven’t talked to you since—I mean, it’s been a while. How are you? What’ve you been up to?”

Elliot opened his mouth, but no words came out, and his expression of surprise was warring with misery.

Nikolai sat up straighter. Was this because of Xander? Or because of… how Elliot had been, up until very recently? Which was, to say, not good.

Then Xander’s eyes moved off of Elliot to Nikolai, and he visibly realized he was interrupting their meal. “Oh man, I’m so sorry. You’re at lunch, this is so rude. I’m so sorry, Elliot, Sir.” He bobbed his head at each of them and then started to turn and leave.

He got two strides before Elliot got a word out. “Wait—!”

Xander paused and turned back around.

“Sorry,” Elliot said in a rush. “I was… I was just surprised.” His smile was tentative. “But it’s good to see you. I guess you work at Blue Snake now?”

“Yeah,” Xander said with a big smile of his own. “You were always saying I should just go for it, and, well, eventually I took your advice. I… I would have told you in person but—I mean, I’m—I’m really glad to see you.”

“Congrats on the job,” Elliot said. “I’m… I’m sorry I wasn’t around for you to tell.”

“No big deal,” Xander said quickly. “Really, I get it. Sometimes stuff happens. Water under the bridge.”

Elliot glanced Nikolai’s way. “Oh, um, sorry, this is… Nikolai. Nikolai, this is Xander, someone I used to work with at Melrose.”

“Nice to be meeting you,” Nikolai said with a nod.

Xander’s cheeks were pinking. “I’m so sorry for interrupting your meal. I just didn’t expect to see Elliot.”

“Is no problem,” Nikolai said. “Melrose is restaurant, yes?”

“Yeah,” Elliot said as he turned back to Xander. “One of the places I worked at the longest.”

“That’s because we were so desperate to keep you!” Xander said with another big smile. It lit up his face. “Elliot’s a fantastic chef, but he’s also great at keeping the peace, which is so important in a busy kitchen.”

Nikolai was watching Xander, so he saw the way he looked Elliot over, his brows pulling together as he scrutinized Elliot’s face. The coloring of the bruising was mostly hidden by the concealer, but there was still some swolleness to Elliot’s face if you knew what you were looking for.

“Is that so?” Nikolai asked.

“Oh,” Elliot said, ducking his head. “I don’t know–”

“No way, you always minimize your contributions, but you were totally the glue in the kitchen,” Xander went on with exuberance.

He was bouncing on his heels, like he couldn’t contain the excitement of seeing Elliot.

It was endearing. “I mean, when you left, Melrose took a turn for the worse. Part of the reason I got brave enough to actually apply here.”

“Oh,” Elliot said, but softer, like hearing that upset him. “Sorry.”

“No, hey—I didn’t mean it like that,” Xander said, shaking his head. “If leaving was what was best for you, that’s totally okay. Sometimes we have to prioritize other things.”

Now Elliot was looking even more uncomfortable, shifting in his seat. Nikolai could guess just what other things Elliot might have had to prioritize.

“Still, I’m sorry for disappearing,” Elliot said. “I should’ve… made time for friends.”

“Hey, I mean, do you have more time these days?” Xander asked eagerly. “I’d love to catch up.”

Elliot was wide-eyed now, blinking up at him like he didn’t expect to be forgiven so easily. But it was clear how happy Xander was to reconnect. Sweet even. Then Elliot’s eyes turned to Nikolai, as if seeking permission.

It killed him a little. The way that Vitale had created this outcome, but also how Nikolai had failed —failed to assure Elliot that he didn’t have to run his choices by Nikolai. There was nothing he could do about it now but try to course correct.

“I’m thinking that would be good idea,” Nikolai said softly, trying to be encouraging, “You are having more free time. And friends are good, yes?”

He could practically see on Elliot’s face how much he wanted to ask if it was okay. For further permission.

Nikolai was going to make Vitale pay for it. For all of it.

“Okay yeah, that would be—that would be great,” Elliot said, with tentative excitement. He licked his lips, but his cheeks were pink with pleasure.

“Awesome!” Xander grinned. “I’ll text you, and we can make some plans! And I’ll let you go back to your meal, the food here is super good and you don’t need me blabbing through it—”

He turned to go, but Elliot held out a hand to stop him. “Oh, um, I have a new phone. And new number.”

“Oh yeah? Okay sure, no problem,” Xander said. “I’ll give you mine and then you can text me. Sounds good?”

“Okay.” Elliot’s shoulders dropped, loosening, as he pulled out his phone. “What’s your number?”

Xander rattled it off as Elliot punched it into his phone. A second later there was a ding from Xander’s pocket.

“Awesome!” Xander said again, with the same amount of enthusiasm as the first time.

“Man, this is so cool that I ran into you.” Then his eyes flickered up and he caught sight of something.

When Nikolai looked, it was their waitress coming with their soup and salad.

“Okay your food is coming, so I’m going!

Enjoy your meal— so nice to see you Elliot. And nice to meet you Nikolai!”

“Nice meeting you,” Nikolai said before the man zipped away.

The waitress delivered their food and left. Elliot was pink all the way through his ears, but he looked pleased.

“An old friend?” Nikolai asked.

For some reason, Elliot stiffened back up. “Yeah, sorry. I–he–” he bit his lip as if uncertain where to go from there.

“No biting,” Nikolai said softly. “And no being sorry. I’m glad you’re reconnecting. I’m guessing… Vitale was maybe not happy about friends?”

Elliot cringed. “Is it that obvious?”

“Men like him, all the same,” Nikolai said darkly. “They’re thinking people are toys they’re not wanting to share.”

Elliot was still looking down, fiddling with his salad fork. “Yeah. Um, yeah.” He sighed. “When we were together and I’d answer a text from Sam or Xander, Mattia would get so annoyed. He’d say I wasn’t appreciating his time. Or he’d question why it was important to answer them during ‘his time.’”

“Is not right,” Nikolai said.

Elliot shrugged. “It was easier just to do what he wanted sometimes. I didn’t want to fight. It’s… it’s why I ended up quitting Melrose. We were always fighting about my schedule. Mattia didn’t like that I was so busy. That’s how I lost touch with Xander.”

Nikolai frowned. Speaking of…

“I’m should have say before, but while you stay with me, you should have friends. I’m glad you’re reconnecting with Xander. I’m only asking you to be taking bodyguard if you go out. Is for safety, but will be discreet.”

Finally, Elliot lifted his head to look at him, face colored with surprise.

“I’m not controlling what you do,” Nikolai said, just to drive the point home. “You’re your own person.”

“Okay,” Elliot said after a long moment. “Then I’ll—I’ll text Xander.”

“Good,” Nikolai said. “He seems nice. Like puppy.”

That got a little laugh out of Elliot. “You know, he is a little kind of like a puppy. Like a golden retriever? Have you seen those videos where they trip over their own feet because they’re so excited?”

“I have not,” Nikolai said, picked up his soup spoon. “You show me later?”

Elliot smiled. “Okay.”

“For now, I’m check if American leek soup is good,” Nikolai said.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll make you a better one this week,” Elliot promised.

“Now I’m saying is bad just so you will make better soup,” Nikolai declared at once.

Elliot laughed again, and Nikolai was proud of himself. “You haven’t even tried it. The chef here is a big deal. I’m sure it’s good.”

“Maybe chef here big deal, but my chef best chef,” Nikolai said with a sniff. “I’m try so many, so I’m expert.”

“I still hope you like the soup,” Elliot said shyly, picking up his salad fork. “I’d like you to enjoy the restaurant I picked.”

“Fine,” Nikolai grumbled, dipping in his soup spoon. “He can be best chef after you.”

In the end, Nikolai had to admit, the soup was pretty good.