Hidden Devotion (Trinity Masters #5)(27)

“It’s like a stool,” Franco said.

“Excuse me?”

“A stool needs at least three legs. Two legs aren’t enough.”

“Exactly.” Devon hit the button and asked for another round.

“Rum and coke, and water,” Franco yelled towards the place he hoped the mic was.

“Water isn’t a bad idea.” Devon stood, removed his jacket and even loosened his tie. When he sat, he looked relaxed.

“Good.” Franco, too, relaxed. “You’re not going to kill me.”

“Er, what?”

“You seemed as though you were just waiting for me to ask the wrong question then you’d kill me and leave my body propped up here. It would probably take days for them to report me as dead. But you took off your jacket so now I know you’re not wearing a gun.”

“If we wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”

“Juliette said the same thing. I’m going to pretend you’re both joking.”

“I just finished telling you that there are plenty of people who know about us and aren’t members. The consequences for divulging secrets are enough to keep people quiet.”

“Good to know.”

“But I won’t lie. We would kill to keep the Trinity Masters safe.”

“We? Are you an enforcer?”

“Enforcer? No. But there are members very capable of killing someone.”

“SEAL Team Six—are they members?”

“I don’t know. They might be.”

“You don’t know who all the other members are?”

“No.”

“Oh, then how do you and Juliette know each other?”

“We…grew up together.”

New drinks and a tall bottle of imported water were set down, along with crystal goblets for the water. When the server was gone, Franco shook his head. “Dev—can I call you Dev? Listen, we’re friends now, right?”

“Uh, no.”

“Sure we are.”

Devon blinked then burst out laughing. “Okay, sure. We’re friends. You can be my weird friend.”

“I’ll take it. But back to my point—you and Juliette, there’s something going on there. I can tell.”

Devon knocked back his entire glass, grimacing as he swallowed. Franco’s eyebrows crept up his forehead.

“I’ve known Juliette since she was a baby. Our relationship is complicated.”

“Have you slept together?”

“I’m not going to answer that.”

“Fair enough. But speaking of sex—”

“Which we weren’t.”

“—If you join when you’re, what, twenty? And you know that you don’t have to try to date and fall in love…” Franco trailed off, losing the train of thought as he flashed back to his last disastrous date. Apparently mini-golf was only a cute date-night activity for people under the age of sixteen and characters in romantic comedies.

“Was there a question in there somewhere?”

“Right. What do members do before they’re, uh, called to the altar? Do they remain celibate? Do they date but keep it casual? Hire prostitutes? Juliette mentioned sluttiness.”

“Prostitutes? What the hell…no. There are no specific rules, but once you join, you know you’re only asking for trouble if you start a serious relationship. Most people continue to date casually. Some take advantage of the situation and indulge themselves.”

“You mean no-strings-attached sex?”

Devon grinned. “And freaky sex.”

“Freaky sex. Yeah, I can see that.” Franco had a brief and vivid fantasy of Juliette wearing nothing but an apron making empanadas. His subconscious was a chauvinist *.

“What other questions do you have?”

“Huh? I’m still thinking about the freaky sex.” Franco eyed Devon. He and Juliette were like a matched pair of beautiful people. Barbie and Ken but not so cheap. If that was their connection—they’d indulged in freaky sex with each other pre-marriage—Franco doubted the freakiness involved baking.

“Then can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Franco replied.

“Are you going to join?”

That caught Franco off guard. “What?”

“If the Grand Master offers you membership, will you join?”

“Yes.” He should probably take a few days to consider it. He should probably wait and see if he had any more questions. But now that he knew this was real, there was no chance he was going to turn his back on it.

“Are you sure?” Devon seemed dubious.

“Absolutely. And you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I f*cking hate dating. If joining means I don’t have to do that, then I’m in.”

Devon laughed so hard he had to hold his stomach. After that, Franco gave up on his list of questions. It wasn’t until they stumbled out of the club to a sky that was already starting to lighten that either man realized how long they’d spent talking.

They called for cabs, and once Franco climbed in and gave the hotel address, he realized that he felt comfortable with Devon. The kind of comfortable that was normally reserved for family.