Page 32 of Hard as Steel

Krystof shot him a thankful smile. “I know you do, and you have no idea how much I love you for it.”

“I love you too.”

Krystof’s smile couldn’t have gotten brighter if he tried. “Told you he was expensive, didn’t I?”

Diesel laughed. “You did, and you weren’t wrong.”

Kuba feigned offense. “Hey, wait a minute. I’m not that bad.” He puffed out his chest and deflated. “Never mind, I totally am.”

They laughed all the way to the foot of the stairs. The moment the boys made it up the stairs and out of sight, Steel’s entire demeanor changed. He looked ready to drop.

Krystof took his hand. “Come on, baby. You need to rest.” He shook his head as he headed down the hall. “You’ve always been entirely too adept at hiding your emotions. It’s okay to go to bed and be rude when people are visiting if they’re tiring you out.”

“I wasn’t allowed to show any emotions growing up, and no, I needed to chat with Diesel. I have no intention of going back to working at the office. Bridger needs someone to train him to manage the place. Diesel has worked directly with me enough times to guide him.”

Krystof stopped and turned. “You’re not going back to the office.”

Steel shook his head. “I tried to tell you the other night, but things were pretty heated.” He swayed on his feet. “Can we finish this talk during our bath?”

“Our bath?” Krystof didn’t think Steel had the energy to do anything but go to bed.

Steel steered him toward their bathroom. “Yes, our bath. I hate smelling like a hospital.”

As much as Krystof knew he should argue, he wanted that tub time with Steel. He forced Steel to sit while he got the water and bubbles going. When he finally settled in the tub between Steel’s knees and leaned back against his chest, Krystof had to admit this was much better than going back to bed. They would likely fall asleep the second their heads touched their pillows. Krystof needed to know this plan Steel had kept from him.

“You were telling me about your office.”

Steel wrapped his arms around Krystof and sighed as if he had come home after a long day. “Yeah, I had lunch with Bridger. He told me his fiancé was ready to dump him if he kept taking all the out-of-town jobs. Since he needs to stay local and I want to work from home the way I used to do when we were first dating, he gave me the perfect opening. I offered him a job managing the office here. At first, I’d plan to spend a couple of weeks training him. You know the rest. You have no idea how much I miss the days of just walking away from work to spend time with you anytime I want. I need that back.”

Krystof closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe he had showed his ass, only for Steel to already have a plan. “I almost killed us both for no reason. Typical me, I guess. Always destroying things.”

Steel kissed his ear. “Enough of that. I deserved that ass-chewing. Anytime you feel as if I’m not treating you the way you deserve, feel free to do it again.”

“No, I’m not doing that again. I need all the years with you I can get. I won’t risk this bullshit happening twice.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll never give you a reason to feel that way again. You have no idea how deeply I love you. I would close my business tomorrow if that’s what I have to do to keep you.”

Krystof ran his hand over the arm across his chest. “None of that. You employ way too many people to even consider such a thing. I’m one man. You likely have hundreds of men depending on you. I’d never be that selfish.”

Steel kissed his shoulder. “I know. You put everyone else ahead of yourself to the detriment of your well-being, wants, and needs. I need you to stop doing that. My heart literally can’t take it.”

“Anything for you.” Krystof snuggled deeper into his hold. He had never meant that string of words more in his life. Krystof would do anything and everything for Steel. The thing was, he knew and had always known, Steel was only a phone call away. Despite the cold shoulder Steel had given him over the years, he hadn’t blocked Krystof. Steel was a good person. He showed up when anyone needed them. Bent over backwards to solve everyone else’s problems. When he loved, he loved hard. Like Krystof, he knew their relationship had never fully ended. Finding each other again had always been inevitable.

Chapter Twelve

Krystof answered on the first ring. “Hello?” He sounded oddly desperate. Steel didn’t know what to think about that.

“I hate to ask, but can we talk for a while? If it’ll upset Ana in any way, just say so.”

“No. She doesn’t mind if you call.” There was a smile in Krystof’s voice.

God, his chest hurt more than usual tonight. “Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure.”

Krystof huffed, making Steel smile. “For goodness’ sake, Steel. You know I’m always here to listen.”

Yeah, he did, and that was the problem. He needed Krystof to stop answering his calls. “I lost a client today.”

“Oh, Steel. I’m so sorry. That’s a tough break. I know how hard you’ve worked to accrue your clientele.”