Page 330 of Sticks and Stones

Hearing his name, Blackhawk peeked out from around the corner.

That’s when he warned his man.

“Don’t be angry with me,” he said, catching Gene off guard.

He lifted a brow.

“Uh, why would I get angry with you? Did you get me low-fat cream cheese on my bagel?” he asked, not quite sure where this was going.

Ethan stared at him like he was insane. That was his first thought?

A bagel topping?

“First, why would I do that? I don’t want you losing weight. I like you big and bulky. In fact, I got extra, extra, extracream cheese, and second, with this city, that’s where your head went first? Breakfast?”

Gene couldn’t imagine what the problem was then. WhilePhillywas a minefield, how much trouble could Ethan get into with Javier Hughes still locked away?

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why am I going to be…?” he began, and stopped when Ethan stepped out with Will.

Well, that answered that.

He knew he was going there, but he had no clue he was going to bring him back.

“Oh, boy,” he said, getting it now. Someone was trying to get in trouble.

The whole time, Ethan kept his arm around Will’s shoulders.

“Hear me out,” he said. “Corbin isn’t thinking straight, and you’ve always told me that when someone is on a collision course with a wall, sometimes, it’s best to intervene so they don’t knock themselves out. You’ve also told me love heals everything, and that it can work miracles. I’ve seen it do that with me, and I want to make sure we make up for our mistake of letting the baby detective out of our sights.”

He lifted a brow.

“And that’s our mistake?”

Ethan went there because they’d made a few since coming here. First was not babysitting, and the other dealt with the man’s relationship.

“We told Corbin not to get married for a while, and that threw off the balance of fate. So, I’m making that right, and not really interfering now. It’s more like…getting things back on track by bringing Will here. Also, Will is going to watch him while we’re out. Greyson isn’t around right now, and he needs company.”

Gene explained.

“Greyson has to clean up something at the office. He’s not available unless we’re not able to handle something. He’s likely updated Gabe, and is running interference for us.”

Blackhawk suspected as much. As for interviews, they could handle that part alone.

Only now, Ethan had to know.

“How pissed is Corbin going to be, and are you angry with me for getting involved?”

Yeah, his man had a huge heart. Honestly, when he was showering, he’d been thinking about a way to get Corbin to stop hiding and talk to Will.

His partner just beat him to it.

He smiled.

“EJ, I’m not upset. The‘oh, boy’was more because Corbin is going to be pissed that we interfered. He told us not to, so buckle up for that.”

Ethan would take the anger if that was what happened. This felt right.

“As for you telling Will, and bringing him here, I planned on going to his place and giving him my key to the condo when we headed out. How can I blame you for interfering when that was my intent?”