Brooklyn Sinners 3 -A Sinner Born (26 page)

Kane eyed Pablo Castillo from across Gabe and Rafe’s dining room. The other man and his partner, DEA agent Shane Ruskin, were posted up in a shadowed corner, watching the rest of the people in the room and occasionally whispering into each other’s ear.

They weren’t touchy-feely. They simply stood next to each other, but one look at them and you knew they were together. Something in their stance gave it away. Or maybe because Syren had shared Castillo’s story with him, Kane knew what to look for. Still, he wanted to punch Castillo in the face every time he remembered the kiss he’d witnessed between him and Syren.

He controlled himself, however, with a sip on his rum and coke. A little over twenty people filled the room, mostly Gabe’s friends down at the youth center where he volunteered and a few neighbors, mingling and talking. A large-screen TV was on and though Kane couldn’t hear, he glanced at it every now and then as everyone in Times Square prepared to usher in the new year.

He was damn ready for a new year, a new start. Ready to put the past year, with all its mistakes and false starts behind him. He could let all the shit he’d been through turn him into a certified cynic, and he had every right to be, or he could pick himself up, dust himself off and try again. Try harder with Vince. He owed him that.

Spinning away from the crowd, he pulled his cell from his pocket and walked out onto the back porch through the kitchen. A cool breeze stroked his nape as he dialed Vince.

“Hello?”
“Hey, where are you?”
“Hey, you.” Vince chuckled in his ear. “I’m on my couch with a bottle of wine,

watching the countdown.”
“I wish I was there with you,” Kane confessed. He shouldn’t have left, Vince
deserved more from him.
“Me too, but we’ll see each other soon.”
“Yes.” Kane cleared his throat. “We’ll talk when I get home, about us.” Vince
remained silent and Kane rushed to assure him. “Nothing bad, I promise.” “Okay.” The smile was definitely back in Vince’s voice.
“Happy New Year, Vince.” Kane leaned against the porch and stared out over the
dark waters of the private beach below him.
“Happy New Year. I love you.” He hung up.
Kane stared at the phone. He’d known, but hearing the words said aloud
was…different. They chilled him. He was nowhere ready to reciprocate, and in the back
of his mind he couldn’t help the runaway thought that wished someone else had said
the words. Someone with weird-colored eyes filled with darkness and secrets. That time
was done and he had to stop thinking about him, thinking about asking Rafe if he’d
heard from him. His brother-in-law hadn’t broached the subject of Syren since that day
he’d come by, asking Kane’s forgiveness.
The day after.
Kane took a deep breath then went back inside. His brother grabbed him before he
stepped back into the party area.
Kane frowned at him. “What’s with the rough treatment?”
Gabe glanced over his shoulder then back at Kane. “Shit.” He pulled Kane into the
pantry and closed the door, locking them inside the cramped space. “Rafe invited Syren
to come tonight, after you declined our invite.”
Kane blinked at him. “What are you saying?”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “He said no, but like you, has obviously changed his mind
because…he’s here.” Gabe waved a hand at the door. “In the living room.” “Motherfucker!” Kane twisted away from his brother and banged his forehead on
the door. “Why? Why is he here?”
“Who knows?” Gabe shrugged. “That pint-sized fool is a glutton for punishment.” Not from Kane. He wasn’t going to cause a scene, or speak, even acknowledge
Syren. They were grown men, they could avoid each other in a room full of people. “It’s
okay.” He faced Gabe. “I’m man enough to deal with an ex during a dinner party.” “Atta boy.” Gabe smacked his shoulder with a grin.
“I’ve moved on.” Kane shoved his suddenly cold hands in his pants pockets. “I’m
with someone else, so obviously I’m over him.”
“Uh, yeah.” Gabe’s grin fell away and he peered at Kane with sympathy in his eyes.
“One step at a time, right?”
Kane ignored him and opened the pantry door. “Let’s go.” He straightened his shirt
and walked into the living room. He didn’t even try to deny he immediately searched
the room. He found him quick enough.
Syren was dressed in a shiny gray tux, one hand in his pocket, one holding a glass
of something. Maybe sparkling water because he didn’t drink. He held court with Pablo
Castillo, his partner and Rafe. His body faced the room, but his gaze was on the men he
spoke to. Kane ate up the sight of him, his hair falling into his eyes, his stance giving the
appearance of being relaxed when in reality Syren balanced on the balls of his feet. Ready for flight.
Kane couldn’t take his eyes from his face, so beautiful. He couldn’t be sure with the
lighting, but Syren’s skin seemed to be a bit darker than before. Tanned. “Yeah, I can see how over him you are,” Gabe, at his elbow, whispered. Kane pinched him in the side.
“Ow, damn it.” Gabe pushed him away. “Don’t hurt the messenger.” He stuck his tongue out at his brother, but not for one second did Kane take his
eyes off Syren. Because of that, he knew the instant Syren caught sight of him. The
giveaways were subtle, the swallow, the way he licked his lips and the way he shifted
his weight from his left to his right foot.
No one else would know, but Kane did. Fuck, he knew this man. He knew him.
Syren’s gaze locked on his and Kane couldn’t move. He felt that stare like a touch. The
graze of Syren’s knuckles on his cheek. The brush of his lips against Kane’s. Familiar
and eliciting the same reaction, a knot in his gut.
“Fuck.” The word trembled on his lips.
“Yeah.” Gabe remained by his side, probably giving Syren the evil eye. Syren leaned over and said something to his group then walked across the room
and disappeared out the back door. The only thing out there being the beach. Before
Kane knew it he was moving, running behind Syren. Except, he wasn’t running. He was
a grown man, therefore he took really long strides, escaping the small crowd. Outside
he made out the small figure pacing down on the beach. Kane scaled the stone steps
and went down there.
With no plan.
Syren’s back was to him and Kane grabbed his arm. “Why are you here?” He
yanked Syren around. “Why did you come?”
Syren’s eyes blazed back at him. “Don’t ever touch me like that again.” Kane dropped his hand at the explicit threat in those words.
“I was invited so I came.” Syren eyed him up and down, something like disgust on
his face. “Not that I owe you an explanation.”
No, he didn’t. “Like you’d give a truthful one?” He couldn’t help the jab. Hurt
bubbled to the surface, feelings he thought he’d long buried.
“You know what?” Syren got in his face. “Fuck you.” He turned away and Kane
lashed out.
“Are you still with him? Still fucking him even though he shot me?” The punch caught him right in the solar plexus and he doubled over, coughing. “Who I fuck is no longer your concern, just like who you fuck isn’t mine,” Syren
spat. “But I bet I can guess who you’re throwing it to now. Couldn’t wait, could you?” Kane straightened with a wince. “At least I waited until we were done. Can you say
the same?”
Syren stared at him, the bright moon making his eyes glow with a preternatural
light. Kane thought he saw pain there, hurt, but Syren blinked and it disappeared. “I gave you more of me than I ever thought I could,” Syren whispered, “but now I
see that was a mistake. I loved you. Who’s loving you now?”
Kane stared at him, mouth open.
“Vince is your choice?”
Kane shook his head. “He was better, he is better, than someone who won’t share
himself with me.”
Syren threw his head back and laughed. When he finally met Kane’s gaze, his was
profoundly sad. “All I thought about was forever. With you. What about you, Kane?
Did you think that far ahead for us or was it all about your beloved Bailey?” “Don’t bring Bailey into this.” Kane balled up his fists. “I gave you many chances,
you were the one who fucked up.”
Syren nodded. “And now, you’re the one who has moved on.”
“Yes. Vince and I are together.”
“Uh-huh.” Syren turned toward the water, expression suddenly bleak. He hugged
himself. “Does he love you?”
“Yes, he does.” Which was what Kane wanted. Vince was who he needed. He
swallowed. “He loves me.”
Syren sank to his knees in the sand and Kane followed suit. They sat together, side
by side. “Do you think about me?” Syren asked.
Kane took a minute to contemplate whether he should go with the truth or lie.
“Yes.” He didn’t look at Syren. “Yes.”
“Because I think about you,” Syren said. “And I remember you and us. Your touch,
I still feel it.” His voice dropped to a thread of sound.
Kane dug his fingers into the sand, struggling to hold on to something before he
grabbed Syren, the person he shouldn’t. He kept silent and let Syren’s throaty words
lull him back to another time. A time he hadn’t really left, in all honesty. “The marks you left on my skin, they’re gone.”
As Kane watched Syren touched two fingertips to the inside of his left wrist. Kane
licked his lips.
“The thing between us we could never put a name to, I remember it.” Syren pushed
his hair behind his ears. “I can’t forget it.” He glanced at Kane. “But you have.” No he didn’t. “Syren.”
Syren touched his face, tentatively. He ghosted the pad of one finger to Kane’s
bottom lip. “I’ve been thinking about you, about this.” He leaned forward and pressed
his mouth to Kane’s.
Kane inhaled.
They both froze in place.
Until Kane parted his lips and Syren dove in. Hungry and rushed and wet. They ate
at each other’s mouths, tongues twisting, teeth banging against each other. Kane made a
harsh sound and grabbed Syren’s jacket, pulling him closer.
Syren broke the kiss. “Where is he?” He nipped Kane’s bottom lip and Kane chased
after him, brain fogged with lust and memories.
A roar went up in the house above them and Kane barely made out people
chanting, “Ten, nine, eight…”
“Where is he while you’re here kissing me?” He sank his fingers in Kane’s hair and
held him steady, kissing him deep.
“One. Happy New Year!”
“Still needing me, loving me?”
Kane groaned and sucked on Syren’s tongue until his last words registered. He
jerked away. “I don’t love you.”
Syren’s wet lips twisted. “No?”
“Hell no.” Kane scrambled to his feet, swaying only a little. “We’re done and I—” Syren stood and dusted off his hands. “You what?”
“I love Vince.”
Something flashed in Syren’s eyes. “That’s your failing, isn’t it? Want to know what
mine is?” he asked. “I love you. Then and now. Still.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Goodbye, Marshal.” He walked down the beach and Kane stared after him until he
disappeared and even then he continued staring.
When he went back up to the house the party was winding down. He bade
everyone goodnight and went up to bed, avoiding his brother’s questioning eyes. He’d
deal with Gabe when the sun came up.
The house fell silent with everyone gone, but sleep eluded him. He couldn’t get
Syren out of his head. Finally, Kane got up and padded down to the kitchen for some
water, he could at least get the taste of Syren off his tongue.
That felt like the thing to do. He kept thinking about Vince and how it wasn’t the
same. The kiss. The chemistry. They weren’t the same.
Back in his bedroom, he opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the deck that
wrapped around the entire upper floor. He sat there in the dark with only his boxers on,
head thrown back and sighed.
“Fuck, cop.”
A moan jerked Kane’s head up. He frowned and looked to his left.
“Jesus.” A shaky gasp followed the word. “Deeper.”
Kane squinted then froze. Well shit. His brother and Rafe were out on their deck
and judging by the way Gabe had Rafe backed against the wall and Rafe’s legs
wrapped around Gabe’s waist, they hadn’t noticed him.
Knowing his brother was with a man and seeing him have sex with said man were
two entirely different things. Kane pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn it. “I love you.” Gabe held Rafe at his throat with one hand and it did not look like
anything else but what it was, a claiming touch. A possessive hold. Gabe’s other hand
was on Rafe’s ass as he thrust into his husband. “I love you.”
Even from where he stood Kane made out the shudder that shook Rafe from head
to toe.
“
Yess.
” Rafe threw his head back. “I love you too. So much.”
After that, wasn’t much talking as much as indecipherable sounds. Thank God the
fuck-fest didn’t last long. Kane made a note to talk to his brother about the public sex
displays when he had guests over. When the two lovers came down off the high, they
sank into one of the lounge chairs on their deck, wrapped in each other. “Happy New Year,” Rafe told Gabe. “Thank you.”
“Hmm, back at you.” Gabe kissed Rafe on the side of the neck. “Why are you
thanking me?”
“For loving me.”
Kane had never heard that much emotion from Rafe before, it was unnerving. “For taking a chance.”
“Like I had a fucking choice.” Gabe chuckled. “I love you. Any chance, I’ll take it
with you. For you.”
Goddamn. Kane couldn’t take them and their sweet shit anymore. He eased out of
his chair and crept back into his bedroom. He needed sleep and a clear mind. When he went downstairs the next morning, Rafe was seated at the dining table, on
his computer. “Morning.” He glanced up with a serious expression. “Great show last
night?”
“Ugh.” Kane shuddered in remembrance. “You two need to keep that shit behind
locked doors when I’m staying here.”
“It’s our house.” Rafe shrugged. “If I feel like being fucked on my dining room table
in the middle of a dinner party, I’m afraid you’ll simply have to deal. Besides, you
stayed for the whole show. Must have seen something you liked.”
“Cut that shit out.” Kane sank into a chair. He took an apple from the bowl on the
table and polished it on his t-shirt. “At least now I know which position you play.” He
gave Rafe a slow grin as he bit into the fruit. “Always wondered about that.” “Don’t let last night fool you, bro. I play all positions.”
Kane made a face.
“Did Syren talk to you last night?” Rafe asked.
“Why?”
Rafe shrugged. “Just found myself wondering why you’re not freaking out and
why you’re not with him right now.”
“Why would I be with him?” Kane growled. “And why did you invite him
anyway?”
“He’s my friend.” Rafe got to his feet and sized up Kane, storms gathering in his
eyes. “He comes clean to you, opens up and you still let him walk away? How heartless
can you fucking be?”
Kane gaped at him. What was with the attitude? “I have no idea what’s got you all
worked up, but I don’t appreciate the bass in your voice. Check that.”
“He loves you and even after he tells you the truth, you turn your back on him?”
Rafe shook his head. “Cold, really cold.”
“I didn’t turn my back on him,” Kane corrected. “He cheated on me. Besides, that’s
all old news now. Vince and I are together and we’re happy.”
“What are you talking about?” Rafe exploded. “He was assaulted, raped and you
continue to blame him?”
Huh? Kane blinked at him. “No.” He shook his head. “No, he’s lying to cover up
the fact that his lover shot me.”
“What’s going on?” Gabe appeared and took a seat next to Rafe’s.
“Your husband,” Kane sneered at Rafe, “thinks that Syren was raped. How naïve
does he think I am?” As if Kane would fall for any more of Syren’s lies.
Gabe looked from Rafe to Kane and back. “He doesn’t know the truth?” “What am I missing?” Kane stared at them. “What truth?”
“Fuck.” Gabe banged the table with a fist.
“He didn’t tell him,” Rafe told Gabe.
Kane leaned forward. His brother didn’t meet his eyes. “What’s going on?” Rafe and Gabe glanced at each other, communicating silently then Rafe spoke. “He
was raped. Thiago drugged him and raped him.”
‘That’s crazy,” Kane snapped. “And untrue. I would definitely know if—” “Kane,” Gabe said sternly. “He was raped. We walked in on him being assaulted.” “No.” Kane shook his head. He would know. Kane would know if something like