Will said calmly, firmly, “What he did was not your fault, Tay. Don’t take responsibility for Sugimori’s decisions.”
“No, it’s just —”
“No.”
“No.” Taylor flicked him a smile. “Thanks.” He sighed. “Anyway. I found out a few months later than he killed himself not long after I left Japan. The word was, he’d left some note about family honor and not wishing to live with disgrace, but that was all I heard. If my name had been mentioned —”
“Your name was never mentioned in connection with Sugimori’s suicide.” Will said carefully, “There were rumors about the two of you, but no one chose to investigate them.”
“Jesus.”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
Taylor pinched the bridge of his nose, hard. “I guess not. It’s just… It was true about the old poison. All that time that hurt and betrayal were festering.”
“You could have told me, you know. I wouldn’t have thought any less of you,” Will said slowly.
“You wouldn’t have thought any more of me.” Taylor was kidding. Only not really.
Into Will’s silence, he said, “I should have told you. It’s just…sometimes…” He didn’t finish it, and Will didn’t push.
Taylor let his eyes drift closed again. Neither of them spoke. Taylor felt Will take the coffee mug from his hand and set it on the table.
“I’m awake,” he murmured. And he mostly was. It was very pleasant lying there with Will’s strong arm around him and his head on Will’s broad shoulder. He listened to the peaceful, steady beat of Will’s heart.
“I’ve been thinking,” Will said eventually.
“Yeah?”
“It really doesn’t make sense keeping two separate houses. It’s not very practical.”
Taylor’s heart jumped. He said carefully, “What about Cooper? No way is he going to believe we’re just roommates.”
“He might let it go. Or he might decide to reteam us. I guess we deal with it when it happens. The bottom line is, I want to wake up beside you every morning, and I want to go to bed with you every night. I don’t care who knows. And I don’t care what we have to do to make that happen. I like my job, but I love you. There’s no question of what takes priority here.”
Taylor stared at him. Will stared back at him, steady as a rock.
“You’re sure.” It wasn’t a real question; the certainty was right there on Will’s face.
“I’m sure.” Will smiled. “Partner.”
About the Author
Bestselling author of over sixty titles of classic Male/Male fiction featuring twisty mystery, kickass adventure, and unapologetic man-on-man romance, JOSH LANYON has been called “arguably the single most influential voice in m/m romance today.”
Her work has been translated into nine languages. The FBI thriller Fair Game was the first Male/Male title to be published by Harlequin Mondadori, the largest romance publisher in Italy. The Adrien English series was awarded the All Time Favorite Couple by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. Josh is an Eppie Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist for Gay Mystery, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads All Time Favorite M/M Author award.
Josh is married and lives in Southern California.
Find other Josh Lanyon titles at www.joshlanyon.com
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If you enjoyed this story, check the following titles, also by Josh Lanyon:
Novels
The ADRIEN ENGLISH Mysteries
Fatal Shadows
A Dangerous Thing
The Hell You Say
Death of a Pirate King
The Dark Tide
Stranger Things Have Happened
The HOLMES & MORIARITY Mysteries
Somebody Killed His Editor
All She Wrote
The Boy with the Painful Tattoo
The ART OF MURDER Series
The Mermaid Murders
Other novels
The ALL’S FAIR Series
Fair Game
Fair Play
This Rough Magic (A SHOT IN THE DARK Series)
The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks
Mexican Heat (with Laura Baumbach)
Strange Fortune
Come Unto These Yellow Sands
Stranger on the Shore
Winter Kill
Jefferson Blythe, Esquire
Murder in Pastel
Novellas
The DANGEROUS GROUND Series
Dangerous Ground
Old Poison
Blood Heat
Dead Run
Kick Start
The I SPY Series
I Spy Something Bloody
I Spy Something Wicked
I Spy Something Christmas
The IN A DARK WOOD Series
In a Dark Wood
The Parting Glass
The DARK HORSE Series
The Dark Horse
The White Knight
Snowball in Hell (DOYLE & SPAIN Series)
Haunted Heart: Winter (HAUNTED HEART Series)
Mummy Dearest (XOXO FILES Series)
Other novellas
Cards on the Table
The Dark Farewell
The Darkling Thrush
The Dickens with Love
Don’t Look Back
A Ghost of a Chance
Lovers and Other Strangers
Out of the Blue
A Vintage Affair
Lone Star (in Men Under the Mistletoe)
Green Glass Beads (in Irregulars)
Blood Red Butterfly
Everything I Know
Baby, It’s Cold (in Comfort and Joy)
A Case of Christmas
Short stories
A Limited Engagement
The French Have a Word for It
In Sunshine or In Shadow
Until We Meet Once More
Icecapade (in His for the Holidays)
Perfect Day
Heart Trouble
In Plain Sight
Wedding Favors
Wizard’s Moon
Fade to Black
PETIT MORTS (SWEET SPOT Collection)
Other People’s Weddings
Slings and Arrows
Sort of Stranger Than Fiction
Critic’s Choice
Just Desserts
Merry Christmas, Darling (Holiday Codas)
Old Poison
Revised Edition, June 2016
Copyright (c) 2011 by Josh Lanyon
Cover by L.C. Chase
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-9847669-6-3
Printed in the United States of America
JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
3053 Rancho Vista Blvd.
Suite 116
Palmdale, CA 93551
www.joshlanyon.com
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
