Page 19

Noe heard the door open behind him as he slotted building plans into the correct shelves. Far as he knew, he was the last one in the building, aside from the runners who weren’t quite free yet—another hour on the clock before they were done for the day. Noe turned to look and was a little surprised when his fiancé came strolling in.

“There you are,” Luca said with a smile as he quickly closed the door behind him, reducing the draft.

It was always heady, that smile. Luca didn’t mask his delight whenever he saw Noe, and the steady accumulation of those moments kept piling up in his heart. Noe felt a bit drunk off this man’s affection, especially because—

Luca ducked enough to chastely kiss him hello.

—he kept doing that .

Noe had never in his life had someone who was so confident, so solid in their affection, greet him like this. It wouldn’t have mattered if this office had been empty or crammed with people, Luca would have acted the same. Noe knew this for a fact because Luca hadn’t stopped kissing him hello since they got engaged. He wasn’t sure why Luca did this, and he didn’t think it was solely for Noe’s sake, as the man clearly enjoyed kissing him. Dare he hope this meant something more?

No matter the reason, it thrilled Noe right down to his toes every time. How could you not love someone for that alone? Noe had no chance to even try and guard his heart. He didn’t want to, of course, but the constant kisses and affection were ensuring he fell for Luca sooner rather than later.

He also had a feeling Luca kissed him more once he cottoned on to Noe’s reaction. His delight in how Noe sort of melted every time was obvious.

“You,” Luca murmured above his mouth, “should not be working at this point. Practically everyone has begged off already.”

The festival would officially start in two days—at the beginning of the week—but the weekend loomed ahead of them, and people were definitely taking advantage.

“I’m putting plans away before tea gets spilled on them. Again. Just one more minute. Wait, why are you here? We’re supposed to meet for dinner in an hour.”

“I”—Luca fished something out of a pocket—“got a surprise delivery.”

For a second, the glint of gold in the man’s fingers didn’t make sense, until Luca pulled Noe’s hand up and slid his engagement ring neatly on. Noe made a happy sound and bounced on his toes once, unable to contain himself. The ring was precisely as he had designed it—a mostly plain tungsten band with a strong gold line through the middle. The goldsmith had done a fantastic job.

“I’m amazed he got it done so fast. It’s perfect.”

“He told me he wanted it done so he could enjoy the festivities without it hanging over his head. I agree he did an amazing job. I wanted to deliver it myself and see your reaction.”

Noe lifted the ring to be more in the light coming from the nearby window. “I love it. Yours too?”

Luca lifted his hand to showcase the plain golden band with a single sapphire inset into the ring. Also precisely as Noe had designed.

“Perfect fit, too,” Luca assured him. “Yours?”

“Yes, it is. Well, now I really do want to celebrate. Two more seconds.” He turned and quickly shoved things onto the right shelves and then called it good. “Done. Let’s—”

Ren blew in like a storm, spotted Noe, and strangely enough seemed relieved. “Noe. I need your assistance. Now. Scovian interns have arrived.”

For a long second, Noe stared at him, waiting for his words to make sense.

“Wait, what? We’re not expecting students for another eight months at least!”

“No, not the exchange students. You were given six engineering interns. I did get the message from Princess Alexandria saying six incoming—”

Ohhh right, he’d mentioned it at their engagement dinner.

“—and apparently it really was people, as there are six students precisely. Anyway, I sent them to your ryokan because I think it’s the only one that still has some open rooms, so meet them there. I’ll get a message off to the language tutor letting them know we need them here as soon as possible.”

Seemed having dinner with his fiancé had hit a delay. “I’m on it. I’ll at least get them settled in for tonight.”

“Thanks muchly.” Like a whirling dervish, Ren was out the door again and gone.

Noe had to ask. “Does that man ever move at a normal walking pace?”

Chuckling, Luca said, “No. Go on. I’ll meet you at the ryokan shortly.”

“All right.”

Noe felt some urgency, so he also put some pep into his step as he left the office. Fortunately, it wasn’t far to the ryokan, and he barely got a warm-up in as he jogged for the building.

He spotted a group of six standing at the ryokan’s doors, suitcases sitting on the ground at their feet. One of them was a veritable giant, and Noe could see hints of tattoos on his neck and hands peeking out from the winter coat. Those were sure to bring their own brand of trouble, as to the Shiirei, tattoos usually had a criminal connotation. Well, hopefully they gave him a pass because he was clearly not Shiirein with his ice-blond hair and rosy skin.

“Hello, everyone,” he called in greeting as he crested the hill. “I’m Noe Keller, lead engineer on this project. We were not expecting you.”

The tall, bearlike man turned and offered a hand, his smile wide. “The company and Princess Alexandria both wanted to get more engineers on the project, mostly to learn from it. We weren’t supposed to come until the end of the month, really. We were too excited to wait, so we came early. Figured we could get some culture lessons in with the New Year’s celebration, maybe get our feet wet with the language before we started working. You don’t need to dance attendance on us yet, Mr. Keller.”

Noe internally groaned. No, no, no, that was not the point, and he very much needed to keep an eye on them. There were all sorts of pitfalls these fellows could fall into, and they didn’t even know where the pitfalls were.

From the back of the crowd, someone hastily moved forward, and Noe barely got a look at his face before his younger brother launched at Noe and got a hug in.

“Noe! Long time no see.”

“Petar?!” Since when was his brother part of any sort of internship? Yes, Noe wasn’t on the greatest terms with his family, but someone should have said something!

He gave him a quick hug but also set him back. “You and I are going to talk after this, but let me get you rooms first.”

“Sure.” Petar seemed quite pleased over the surprise.

Noe’s head was already cramping. Why, why, why did his brother have to show up now? Noe was finally happy! He’d finally found a man to marry, and a good one at that, and of course his brother showed up with this impeccably bad timing. Petar had always taken great delight in thwarting Noe’s dating efforts, and he could just see his brother screaming the city down until he managed to do it here, too. Noe felt heartsick at the strain this would put on his budding relationship, and Petar hadn’t even started yet. This was all shades of not good. His little brother had been one of the most vocal when Noe came out to the family. Petar hadn’t liked it, not one little bit. Which had hurt, as Noe and Petar had been very close growing up. His brother was younger by two years, making them the closest of the siblings in age, and they’d been playmates…until Petar decided Noe’s inclination for men was abhorrent and wouldn’t talk to him.

It frankly stank, his brother being here, and Noe didn’t trust it.

Putting his thoughts aside for a second, he squeezed his way toward the door and inside, toeing his shoes off. He left them right there since he’d be gone again in a few minutes. Hopefully.

“Okami-san?” he called out.

A little room behind the front counter served as her office, and she came out quickly, her skirt flapping noisily as she moved.

“How may I help you, Keller-san?”

“Do you have any rooms free, Okami-san? Some of my countrymen have arrived as part of a work internship.”

“I do, I do. Please bring them in.”

“Wonderful, thank you,” he said as he turned for the door. Sliding it open, he called, “Come in. Take off your shoes and put them in the cubbies here. Shoes stop at the door. Good. Now, let me introduce you to Okami-san. She is the owner of the ryokan—”

Big bear guy shot a hand into the air. “What does ryokan mean exactly?”

“Hmm, it’s both an inn and a hostel, as you can stay here for some time.”

He whipped out a little notebook and jotted the information down.

Well, someone was taking learning the language seriously. Noe picked back up on his explanation. “Both breakfast and dinner are available here through the ryokan. You can have it served to your room. Baths are also here, in the very back of the building. There’s a placard to use if you want to keep the private room to yourself. Be aware, men tend to talk business in the onsens, so if you want to chat with people, that’s a good way to do it. Anyway, Okami-san said she has enough rooms for all of you to stay here. I’m also staying here, so feel free to ask questions and such.”

Okami-san gestured toward the desk and he followed her, encouraging the student interns to come up one at a time. She registered them with Noe’s help, then one of her employees led each man to a room. Noe tried to get names and room numbers memorized, as he had a feeling he’d need all that information shortly.

Petar held back, seemingly deliberately so he could have Noe’s attention. Noe did feel like they had to talk, before things went completely overboard, but he also didn’t want to at the same time. Talks with Petar inevitably turned into shouting matches. Noe didn’t like confrontation, didn’t handle it well, and wasn’t looking forward to it.

Why was Petar even here? It made no sense for him to follow Noe. The last time they’d talked, which had been almost a year ago, Petar had raked him over the coals and told Noe not to talk to him unless he agreed to change his ways.

The memory of their conversation still smarted, and Noe wasn’t remotely over it yet. He didn’t see how they could talk again until Petar apologized, to be honest. Being greeted with all smiles, like nothing was wrong, conversely hurt Noe more.

“Nathan Asen.”

Noe snapped back to the moment, realizing the big bear guy was up at the counter now. Okami-san was maybe a third of his size, and the way she looked up, and up, and up at him with wide eyes made it clear he intimidated her.

Oh dear. This was a General Brahms scare all over again.

“Asen,” Noe directed, “just as a warning, your tattoos and size are going to intimidate people here.”

Asen wilted a little, blinking sadly. “Really?”

“It’s something you can overcome,” Noe promised. “It’ll just take a little time. First, let’s get some basic words into you. Okami-san speaks some Trader, but she’s the only one in the ryokan who has a handle on the language. So, first, to politely ask for something, you can point and say kudasai .”

Out came the notebook, and he immediately wrote that down.

Noe took the pen out of his hand and corrected the spelling. “Shiirein words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled.”

“Oh! Well, that’s smart. Wish our language did that.”

He’d spoken in Trader, which was for the best. Okami-san had a chance of keeping up with the conversation.

To her, Noe explained in Shiirein, “He’s very eager to learn the language. He wants to know some words to help things along.”

“Oh.” She blinked up at him and then did a reevaluation. “He is not criminal?”

“Tattoos are quite common in Scovia,” Noe explained patiently. “They’re almost a rite of passage. Even I have one.”

Her jaw dropped a little and she spluttered. “This is…news to me.”

“I bet.” He gave her a quick grin. “I realize Shiirei is not used to tattoos, but if you see one on a Scovian, odds are he worked at sea at some point. That’s how tattoos happen for us. Usually. Anyway”—he switched back to Trader—“Asen, give me your pen. This is how you say thank you, help, and I’m sorry. We’ll get you more words later, but this should help you get by for now.”

“I sincerely appreciate it.” Showing he was a quick study, he dipped his head to Okami-san. “ Arigatou .”

She blinked up at him and then visibly relaxed. Evidently, the eager puppy vibes were too much for her and ambushed her guard. “ To itashimashite .”

“You’re welcome,” Noe translated for him. “Now, take your key, follow Shimo-san, and she’ll show you to your room.”

Asen happily did so, both of his massive suitcases like pillows in his hands. Noe would bet anything he’d worked shrimp boats as a child.

Finally, down to his brother. “This man is my little brother, Petar.”

“Oh, welcome!” Okami-san seemed to think this was something to celebrate. “I do not have room next to brother. Sorry. I put you one floor above.”

“That’s fine,” Petar assured her. “I’m glad to be in the same place.”

She didn’t seem to understand most of what he said but got the gist and nodded.

“I’ll show him to his room,” Noe offered. He knew she had a great deal to settle in a few minutes with this many guests coming in all at once. Plus, he wanted answers sooner rather than later.

He accepted the room key, and the second he had it, she was off in a flurry of skirts again. Poor woman was going to be run off her feet today.

Once she was gone, Noe turned to his brother and hissed, “What are you really doing here?”

Petar didn’t seem the least bit surprised at the tone or the challenge. He rocked back on his heels and shrugged. “I have my reasons. I think we need to mend our relationship. Working together should do that.”

“No, working together isn’t going to do a damn thing when you can’t respect what I tell you.” Noe ran a hand over his face. “I can’t believe you signed up for a company internship just to fight it out with me.”

“I don’t want it to be a fight. That’s the point.”

But it would be. Noe knew it would. The very second his brother learned about his engagement, Petar would hit the roof, and it wasn’t going to be pretty afterward. Petar did not have a good control over his temper—he never had—and this was a hell of a place for a family argument.

Two warm hands he knew well landed on his shoulders. Noe barely had the chance to turn his head before Luca, as usual, dropped a hello kiss on his lips.

Shiiiiiit. Normally he didn’t mind, of course he didn’t, but his little brother was right here and…fuck.

Noe scrambled to get the three of them into his room before Petar exploded. This impending shit show called for privacy.