I should have insisted we have this conversation alone, and I should have told Henri who X really was, but I had a small hope that Henri wouldn’t recognize him.
The four of us made small talk for a few moments, then a team of servers arrived at our table and took our orders for drinks and appetizers. I ordered Henri a sangria and chose a very fine whiskey for myself. X ordered the same, and Emilio chose a margarita on the rocks.
When our drinks arrived, I ordered for Henri and myself, and X and Emilio placed their orders.
“So how did you two meet?” Emilio asked after the servers left.
Henri tensed and looked at me for help.
“I was doing reconnaissance on some… businessmen we’ll be discussing later, and Henri gave me some invaluable assistance. The moment I saw him, I knew I had to have him.”
I glanced at Henri, and he was watching me with such admiration that, for the first time, I wondered if it would’ve been better to just let him go. I wanted him too much. It would be easy for the lines to get blurred between us. Ours was a professional relationship, nothing else, except I felt like there was more, and I liked how Henri made me feel.
“Awww,” Emilio said. “That’s, like, sweet if you like possessive men.” X looked at him with arched eyebrows, and he added, “Which I do.”
The fond smile X gave him made something in my chest tighten. He was a man who did what he wanted. He ruled an underground organization so well he struck fear in most people he met. When he wasn’t playing vigilante, the power and money behind his family had people in awe of him. Yet he’d found a man he so obviously loved, and they were making it work.
Emilio had already been part of his world, though, working for him as a hacker. Henri might be putting himself in danger by taking clients off the street, but I was sure he wasn’t used to being around people who killed easily. Even where he’d been, he was obviously in way over his head. No matter what happened between us, I was going to make sure he didn’t go back to the streets. No one was going to pay for what he should bestow as a gift.
The fact that I was paying for it didn’t escape me, but that was different. I was trying to help him.
Our servers returned with our first course. I’d insisted everyone have the turtle soup, and for once, X seemed willing to defer to my judgment. No matter how many times he’d visited my city, he couldn’t possibly claim more expertise about New Orleans than me.
The way Henri’s face lit up as he tasted the soup made the whole dinner worthwhile. Seeing him so happy made me hardly care if I got the information I needed out of X, and that was a dangerous attitude. The situation with the gunrunners was the first mission where my father was deferring completely to me. I could not fuck it up.
The soup was followed by a crisp romaine salad which featured bacon crumbles, gruyere, and a creamy black pepper dressing. Henri loved our main course of stuffed quail as much as I’d hoped he would. It was one of my favorites. The stuffing was a spicy mix of cornbread crumbs and boudin, and it was served over tangy roasted cabbage and root vegetables. It tasted like heaven.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” he said after a few bites. X was smiling at him and at me. I found that unsettling.
“Is this your first time at Commander’s Palace,” he asked Henri.
“Yes, I haven’t had the pleasure before.” I pressed my thigh against his under the table. He was handling himself perfectly. It was like I’d told him, he had a natural grace, and he could fit in anywhere he wanted to. I wanted him to fit into my life. I knew that was crazy. I’d known him for a day, and I was definitely not looking for a relationship, but he was… beautiful in every sense of the word.
His red hair shone in the low candlelight, and his skin looked even smoother and creamier than usual. As much as I was enjoying every bite of the incredible food, I wanted to taste Henri even more. This wasn’t the sort of establishment where you dragged a man to the bathroom and fucked him as he bent over the sink, though I couldn’t help but consider it.
As the evening went on, Henri relaxed, possibly because of the excellent wine our server had selected to go with each course. Commander’s Palace was one of the few places where I had absolute trust in the sommelier. While the wine had surely helped, I hoped some of Henri’s ease was because of the company. X was amazingly easy to talk to. Years of training by his wealthy family had certainly done its job. He knew how to converse with anyone and how to make people feel comfortable. Emilio seemed to feel as out of place as Henri did, so the two of them were getting along just fine.
I knew that soon we would have to turn our talk to business, but I was enjoying our interaction. I could honestly even imagine X becoming a friend, something extremely rare for me. I had family, I had enemies, and I had short-term lovers. That was it. In my line of work, I could never fully trust others.
When it was time for dessert, our server asked what we would like. Henri and Emilio had just been discussing their love of chocolate, so I made an inquiry. “I know it’s not on tonight’s menu, but Henri is quite fond of chocolate. Would it be possible for him to have the chocolate lava cake?”
“Of course, sir.”
“I’d like that too, please.” Emilio said.
“Excellent, and for you, sir?”
