Chapter 9: Once More with Feeling
Nick's eyes scanned the binder and saw the time Greg had requested off for his California vacation.
He stared at the dates, debating. Should he surprise Greg and take those days off too? Maybe show up on the beach and go surfin' with G? How would he react to that, he wondered. Happy? Irritated? They were still in the awkward boyfriend/ relationship stage. Hell, he still wasn't even sure what happened last night, other than blissful sex and lots of it.
Nick just wished he knew what was on Greggo's mind. He needed to know if it was him he wanted. Not just the sex. And if Greg actually wanted a relationship. All Nick knew was that Greg sorta liked the idea of them together. But seemed to hesitate at the last minute.
Nick ran a frustrated hand over his face, feeling his calloused palm push into his temple. Why was he more invested in this than Greg? What exactly did he feel for the younger man other than lust? Nick glared down at the empty dates on the calendar, mind ticking away. It was more than lust, Nick knew that instinctively.
There had always been more between him and Greg. And Nick felt it in his gut that there always would be more between them. Nick was positive he was head-over-heels in love with that former lab-geek. He just wasn't sure Greg felt the same about him.
"Hey," Catherine's voice rang out from the doorway.
Nick looked up from his desk and closed the binder for requested time off. "Hey, back."
She smirked, noticing the binder. "Askin' for time off?"
He shrugged, "I dunno- haven't really decided yet."
Catherine eyes went straight through him. She always had the uncanny ability to read him especially when his emotions were involved. And right now, his emotions were quite involved.
"What's up, Nicky? You seem…" she trailed off, "like you're on another planet."
He smiled thinly, "Aw- c'mon, Catherine. I'm just lookin' for a couple days off in a few weeks or so, nothin' big."
"You're not going back to Texas on me?"
He smiled sheepishly, "Nothin' so radical."
"Well, then if it's just vacation you need. Go ahead and take it. You deserve a few days off. Especially after these past few weeks."
Nick glanced down at the binder, "yeah…"
"How's the case coming?"
He contemplatively folded his hands across his lap as he leaned back into his chair. "Alright, I guess. Brass is lookin' for the wife right now. We think she might have snuffed the vet off in a jealous rage when she found out about him and the secretary."
"You know what they say, Hell have no fury like a woman's scorn."
"I'll let you know if that ends being the case this time."
She smiled, "Okay- stay cool." Catherine sauntered off, leaving Nick alone in his office, dwelling on vacation and now the case.
Screw it, he thought as he flipped the binder back open and requested the same days off as Greg. He didn't have to go to California with Greg. But just in case, Nick believed in being prepared. Greg might ask him.
A loud ringing chime interrupted his thoughts. He glanced down at his cell phone. It was a text message from Brass: Interrogation room with wife. Come watch the show.
Nick opened the door to the window that spied in on the interrogation. The room was fully loaded with tech equipment to use for prosecution later. He stared out of the two way mirror, studying the people on the other side of the glass.
Martha Fowler sat straight legged and high backed against the hard metal chair in the interrogation room. Her face pensive and her eyes narrow. She looked on edge and the questioning only just got started. Nick wondered why they didn't see her before as a possible suspect. She was clearly hiding something from them. Brass seemed to sense this too as he stepped forward and took a seat across the table.
"So, Mrs. Fowler- you're alibi for the night in question in regards to the secretary's death is a bit flimsy." He hesitated slightly, letting his words hand in the air and consume a heavier meaning by the wait. "You wanna really tell me what you were doing two days ago when Tiffany Desend was killed?"
Mrs. Fowler stared coldly back at Brass.
Brass stared back, "cause we've got your prints all over her cell phone and purse. We know you were there, Mrs. Fowler. The evidence tells us so."
Mrs. Fowler's cold stare finally became unnerved. Brass further pushed her by slipping photos of the young dead female onto the table. "Left her in a pretty gruesome state…"
"I didn't mean to hurt her," Mrs. Fowler blurted out defensively, shying away from the graphic, bloody photographs.
"Oh- so she was just collateral then. You were after the hubby," Brass clarified.
Martha Fowler said nothing to this. Her face becoming impenetrable.
Greg stepped forward from the back wall of the interrogation room and slipped another picture on to the table top, sliding it to her, "We found your heel impression at your husband's office."
"I always go there," she countered irritably.
"This one was in blood," Greg replied coolly. Nick watched him closely. Greg rarely interrogated suspects. Brass mostly did. So Nick considered it kind of fun watching the duo. Especially since he got to watch Greg.
Mrs. Fowler's eyes finally wavered slightly and she looked down at the picture than back to Greg. Nick saw the fear there. But also the wiliness to open up to Greg, unlike Brass who sometimes came off hostile by simply doing nothing.
"Have you ever loved someone who you knew, with absolute certainty, that couldn't love you back?" She sneered yet her lips trembled and her eyes filled with unshed tears. "Michael… I loved him. And every day I listened to the lies he told me. How he loved me too… while he was screwing his stupid secretary and whoever else! I was blinded by my love for him… he wasn't."
"So you showed him the light, is that right Mrs. Fowler?" Brass asked flatly.
Her brimming eyes cleared and she glared hotly at him, "when I accepted that Michael never loved me… it was easier to pull the plug on our marriage. I got into it with that whore at the office and before I knew it she was dead. But I wasn't after her. I wanted Michael. So I screwed with his second love. That damned car of his. I loosened the wires to his steering wheel, knowing they wouldn't break right away. He made me help him enough on that car that I knew it better than him by the time he flipped it down the side of a mountain."
"Sounds like true love to me," Brass said. "Get her outta here," he instructed the police officer by the door, who cuffed her and began leading her away.
"Mrs. Fowler?" Greg asked suddenly.
She turned to look at him, the police officer still holding her.
"How did you know Michael didn't love you? He married you."
She shook her head in contempt. "Love isn't about commitment. It's about sacrifice. Michael never gave up anything for me."
"Yeah, just his life," Brass countered.
And with that, the police officer escorted her out the door and down the hallway. Brass patted the back of Greg's shoulder, "Good work. Case closed in my book."
Greg smiled at him, "Yeah, I think so too."
Brass strolled out of the interrogation room and back to his office.
Nick watched briefly as Greg gathered the photos and case file. Nick felt that it was time to do his own little interrogation. He flipped off the video surveillance and microphones before striding determinedly into the adjoining room with Greg. He firmly shut the door behind him, which drew Greg's attention to him.
"Hey," he said automatically. "Did you see?" he asked indicating to the mirror. "Mrs. Fowler confessed."
Nick nodded, "Yeah, I saw. Good work, Greggo."
Greg smiled weakly, "the evidence was there."
Nick nodded again, biding his time. Greg would crack sooner or later. The interrogation room had that funny effect on people.
When Greg finally noticed Nick wasn't saying anything, he frowned slightly. "So… what's up?"
"Why'd you ask Mrs. Fowler that question? About knowing when someone loved you."
Greg shifted and pursed his lips, "it was just a question. I wasn't hinting at anything."
"Who says I am?" Nicked countered.
"I'm not. I just thought you were."
Nick continued to stare, waiting. He wanted to hear Greg tell him the truth. He wanted to know why he hesitated. Why he wasn't ready to jump into this relationship with both feet. Because Nick sure as hell was ready; he'd been more than ready. It took him too long to realize it. And he wasn't about to waste another second waiting for Greg to realize it to. So if he had to force it out of him, he would by any means necessary.
"All right, Greg… I've decided to come clean." Nick said, glancing around the room with a knowing smile. "Interrogation room and all…"
Greg shifted uneasily again, this time staring uncertainly at him as though he were about to drop a bomb on his head, or worse, crush his heart.
Nick took a breath, "I love you. I have for a while now. I just thought you should know." He then quickly exhaled, feeling the weight immediately shift from his shoulders. Damn, he thought, that felt good. He would feel even better if Greg told him the same thing. But when Greg didn't instantly respond, Nick began to get nervous.
"I know this is happening fast and you might not have… I don't know- expected this." Nick was getting desperate now and took a step forward, needing something to indicate that Greg felt the same- anything! "I don't want to rush you- but I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to be honest with you, Greg. I care about you."
Greg's beautiful eyes softened then. Nick's heart fluttered in hope. Desperate, fleeting hope that he knew Greg could smash with just a word.
But Greg didn't say anything. He rushed him. One second they were standing feet apart, the next, Greg was devouring his lips with a soul-wrenching force that nearly made his knees give. Nick groaned in bittersweet agony. Yes! He thought triumphantly. Now he just needed to hear the words to give this kiss the meaning it deserved. Nick felt Greg's tongue slip into his mouth and warmth flooded his limbs.
Nick pulled away quickly, curving his palm against Greg's handsome face. "G… I need to know," he searched his eyes in earnest. "Do you feel the same?"
Greg suddenly laughed, his face filling with utter happiness, "yeah- I do. I just didn't think you ever would… I was afraid. God, I'm so stupid sometimes," he muttered, laughingly, holding Nick close to him, unable to keep his hands off him. "Yeah, I love you… I love you…" he whispered painfully now as he enclosed his lips over his once more with feeling.
Nick fought back the tears of joy and instead gleefully opened his mouth to the onslaught of Greg Sander's scorching hot kiss.
A few seconds later, they pulled back panting. They both knew they couldn't be doing this at work, even if Nick wanted to drag him to the nearest supply closet and ravish every sexy, delicious inch of him.
"We can talk more tonight," Nick breathed out, not wanting to let go of his lover so soon. He wanted to hold him all day if he could.
Greg nodded, his eyes foggy with mutual sexual feelings, "we just have to last that long."
Nick sighed with a smile before stealing one last kiss. It was hard and unforgiving. Greg gripped the back of his neck, digging his fingers into the muscles. Nick instantly felt the tension build around his cock. If they kept this up he really would drag Greg into a nearby closet.
He pulled back, though reluctantly and practically staggered to the closed door.
Before Nick left, Greg's happy voice stopped him. "Hey- I'll have a surprise waiting for you when you come over."
Nick cocked an eyebrow and glanced downwards towards Greg's crotch. Greg laughed, "Not that kind of surprise."
Nick chuckled, "okay. I just hope it doesn't involve leather or latex."
"Don't knock it tell you try it."
"I don't plan on trying it," Nick said firmly.
Greg shrugged innocently, "I dunno… the thought of handcuffing you has crossed my mind once or twice."
Nick felt a shiver of excitement suddenly race down his spine. Where did that come from, he wondered vaguely as he opened the door, feeling the urge to retreat before he did something he would regret later, like kiss Greg until they both went up in flames. "I'll see you later tonight, Casanova."
Greg's boyishly handsome smile haunted him all the way back to his office. Nick couldn't help but smile too.
TBC
**plz comment! I've got only one more chapter left with the boys! Thanks to those who have followed the story so far! ^_-
~kidneythieves