“No beer?” He fought to get the cap off, then realized he was turning it the wrong direction. “Left to loose, right to tight. Unless it’s a piercing… or a countersink.”
Rafe waited a moment, and Quinn shot him a curious look. Grinning back, he said, “Just waiting to see if you kept going before I answered. And yeah, no beer. Not before a gig. We don’t want to go all Good Ole Blues Brothers Boys on the tab.”
Quinn searched his brain, then shrugged. “I don’t know what that means. I don’t think I’ve seen that one.”
“Oh, babe,” Rafe gasped, playfully clutching his chest. “Your brothers done did you wrong. I’ll take care of that this week, then. Probably something we can all popcorn and beer at Miki and Kane’s place.”
“Kane. I was going to ask Kane about William. He said something about an evaluation—”
“William’s never going to see the light of day, Q.” Rafe made a face. “Let’s leave him in the dark hole they tossed him in, okay?”
“Five minutes, guys!” A squirrelly, thin man shot through the band and their lovers, his headset sliding back on his sparse hair. “We’re good to go in five!”
Damie began to bounce even more, and Miki rolled his eyes, detaching from Kane’s arms. After giving Kane one last kiss, Miki shoved him to the front of the house. “Go find the family. Time for me to go be a rock star.”
“Take care of my Miki, you hear?” Kane stabbed a finger in Damie’s direction. The guitarist flipped him off, and Kane laughed. “Break a leg, Mick. I’ll be in front. Screaming your name like some fourteen-year-old girl.”
“Don’t think you can get your voice that high.” Sionn cut by Connor and Forest, tapping his cousin on the back as he went past. “I’ll be happy to be kicking you in the nuts if you really want to be giving that a try.”
“Thanks. No.” Kane shook his head. “Con! Come on. Brae’s holding tables for us.”
“Do good, a ghra,” Connor murmured through a kiss, then reluctantly let Forest go. “Have fun. Even if it’s work. Have fun with it.”
“It’s not work, Morgan,” Damie sneered. “This? This is as close to flying on your own wings that you’re ever going to get. Gonna be more than fun. It’s going to be awesome.”
“I better get going. Da’s probably trying to run herd on Mum right now. He’ll need backup.” Quinn squeezed Rafe’s hands gently. “Take care of you out there. Look for me if you can.”
“Can’t ever see a fucking thing because of the lights.” Rafe chuckled. “But I’ll do my damned best.”
“On in one! One, people!” The stage manager bustled back, nearly knocking Quinn over before righting himself.
Quinn stepped to the side, taking one last look at the man he’d fallen for so many years ago. Rafe stood shoulder to shoulder with his band, the three men he’d come to trust and love as much as he did the Morgans—maybe even as much as he loved Quinn.
Forest nudged Rafe in the elbow, their smiles more in comforting than anything else. They would be the new part of an old equation, pieces fitted in between a pair of brothers soldered together in both tragedy and joy. Rafe slung on his bass, adjusting it slightly while Damien hooked his guitar strap over his neck. Miki’d taken up Damien’s bounce, a slower beat but still a roiling of his body on the balls of his feet. Their fingers grazed, a brief touch between singer and guitarist and obviously a ritual performed before every gig.
The lights in the house flashed, and a deep, Italian-accented voice rumbled through the club’s speakers, urging everyone to get up onto their feet to welcome the best fucking band to come out of Chinatown and Dino’s.
Quinn was stepping off of the last step from backstage to the floor when the stage lights splashed up to full, and Dino’s voice yelled over the tightly packed crowd’s screaming.
“Make some noise for a band that’s here for the first time—again—at Dino’s Bar and Grill! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you—Crossroads Gin.”
There’s a dead man in Miki St. John’s vintage Pontiac GTO, and he has no idea how it got there.
After Miki survives the tragic accident that killed his best friend and the other members of their band, Sinner’s Gin, all he wants is to hide from the world in the refurbished warehouse he bought before their last tour. But when the man who sexually abused him as a boy is killed and his remains are dumped in Miki’s car, Miki fears Death isn’t done with him yet.
Kane Morgan, the SFPD inspector renting space in the art co-op next door, initially suspects Miki had a hand in the man’s murder, but Kane soon realizes Miki is as much a victim as the man splattered inside the GTO. As the murderer’s body count rises, the attraction between Miki and Kane heats up. Neither man knows if they can make a relationship work, but despite Miki’s emotional damage, Kane is determined to teach him how to love and be loved—provided, of course, Kane can catch the killer before Miki becomes the murderer’s final victim.