Nothing happened.
“Oh, well, that would have been easier. Well done, Cam,” Julian said in a pleased voice.
The door opened before Ty could scramble away, smacking him square in the cheek and sending him sprawling backward.
He lay on the tile floor, holding his face as Livi walked into the condo. “Oh my goodness, Ty! I’m so sorry!” the woman said as she put both hands to her mouth and bent over him. Livi was a beautiful girl, possibly less so just then since Ty could see two of her. She had intelligent robin’s-egg-blue eyes and hair so blonde it seemed white when the sun hit it. She was lithe and athletic, everything Ty thought a yoga instructor would probably be. She also led with her shoulder when she opened a door.
Zane took his arm and hefted him to his feet. Ty shook his head to clear the gauze. “So nice to see you again,” he muttered to her. She still had her fingers over her lips, staring at him with big blue eyes.
She turned and looked at Deuce, giving him a helpless gesture. “What the hell is going on?”
“Livi, you remember my brother, Ty. This is his partner, Zane Garrett.”
“Hi,” Zane offered in a low voice that sent a shiver up Ty’s spine.
“And these are their… friends, Julian and Cameron,” Deuce said as he waved at the other two men.
“Nice to meet you,” Cameron mumbled.
She greeted them each, overwhelmed by the surprise, then looked at the doorknob and the string of straws, shaking her head. “What is all this?”
“It was a security measure. We’re running from the CIA,” Ty told her, not even attempting to spare her. “They’re trying to kill us.”
“Well, kill him, specifically,” Zane added as he pointed at Julian.
“I sell antiques,” Julian said, monotone.
She narrowed her eyes, looking amongst them and then at Deuce. “Is this some sort of boys’ weekend that I’m not supposed to intrude on? Because I can totally leave before they hurt themselves trying to lie convincingly.”
Deuce gave her a warm smile and shook his head. “I think the only one lying is him,” he said, pointing at Julian.
“SO, I’M… I’m sorry, tell me again?” Livi stuttered as they all sat in the living room of Deuce’s condo.
“We’re serious,” Ty told her. “The CIA is trying to kill us.”
“Him,” Zane muttered.
“Would you stop that? Come on!”
“It’s more accurate to say they’re trying to kill him.”
“Zane!”
Julian rolled his eyes. “I believe what Agent Garrett is trying to point out is that you are likely in no danger because of our presence here.”
Livi nodded, looking at him dubiously.
“They’re lying,” Cameron said, his voice remarkably offhand. “You are in danger because we’re here, they’re trying to protect you so you won’t worry. They do that.”
“Cam!” Julian said, stunned into gaping at his lover.
Ty smacked his forehead and covered his face with his hand.
“Wow, you guys are… I could make a mint off your therapy,” Deuce muttered.
“I’m sorry—I really am—I’m just tired of this macho bullshit!” Cameron said as he waved a hand at them. He turned to Julian. “Can you honestly look at me and tell me you’re not scared?”
Julian tried to respond, but his mouth was still hanging open.
Cameron looked at Ty and Zane where they sat together on a square ottoman. “And you two, you’re just ridiculous! You’re so busy bitching at each other and trying to look like you don’t care that you don’t realize you’re throwing your lives away waiting for it to be the right time to admit you’re in love.”
“Cameron!” Julian finally managed to say, waving at Deacon and Livi as if Cameron might not remember they were there.
Cameron cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”
Livi glanced over at Ty and Zane, then looked at Deuce. “So when you said partner, you meant like working partner? Because that didn’t really come across so much as they were a couple.”
Zane pinched the bridge of his nose, but he appeared to be smiling.
“Really?” Ty asked, sounding concerned.
“You scream ‘we’re screwing’.”
“Huh.”
“Well, now that we’ve got that cleared up,” Deuce said as he stood. “What are you going to do?”
Ty and Zane looked at each other, and then both men glanced at Julian. Zane was shaking his head, but Ty’s eyes moved from Julian to Cameron.
“What do we do, Cam?” Ty asked in a soft voice.
“Excuse me?”
“Look, you’re right. People like us, sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees. We were all trying to figure out how to dismantle that freaking doorknob when none of us thought to just pull the plug.”
Cameron nodded.
“We haven’t asked you, not once, what you thought we should do,” Ty continued.
Julian tore his eyes away from the FBI agents and looked at his lover. Ty was right. They’d been pulling Cameron along without so much as a thought to what he might want or think.
Cameron met his eyes, uncertain.
“Go ahead, Cam.”
“Well… we can’t fly or ride a train. You’ve been saying that driving into DC is suicide. So why not get there another way?”
“Another way,” Julian repeated.
“Oh God,” Ty muttered.
“Water,” Zane said, sounding surprised and irritated that none of them had thought of it before.
Julian slid his arm around Cameron’s waist, squeezing him.
“Getting our hands on a boat won’t be easy,” Ty said, sounding grim. “We’d have to take a smuggler’s line down the coast.”
“Avoid the Coast Guard, and slip into port without a course plotted or papers,” Zane added. “That’s if we can find a boat.”
Livi perked up and smiled. “Daddy has a boat.”
Deuce cleared his throat. “I think they’re thinking more inconspicuous than your dad’s yacht, honey.”
“Oh wait, I think they took it to St. Vincent.”
“Yacht?” Ty said with a smirk at his brother.
“She’s smart, beautiful, and loaded. What’s not to love?” Deuce drawled, matching the smirk with one of his own.
“I’m a trust fund baby—both of you shut up,” Livi said.