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“Be careful with that!” Keegan snapped at the henchman operating the pulley. The pulley that was currently hoisting an industrial laser (I.L.) that was close to a thousand pounds. “It’s a very sensitive piece of equipment that costs more than you’ll ever make in a lifetime to build!” That was only half true, but the buffoon didn’t need to know that.
Keegan and Sergei had quarreled something fierce this morning, he couldn’t even remember what the argument was about, but he was positive it was Sergei’s fault and he sure as hell wasn’t apologizing first, which left him in a piss poor mood, and he wasn’t above taking his frustration out on the undeserving henchmen. Maybe not ‘undeserving’. They probably deserved it for one reason or another.
Why Sphinx felt the I.L. should be attached so high was beyond Keegan, but he’d agreed when his uncle had asked him to oversee the procedure.
Sergei was there too, of course. Disagreement or not, he was Keegan’s second and though he was able to mask his anger behind a blank face, his foul mood seemed to surround him like an aura causing the henchmen to give him a wide berth and when one needed to speak to him, they ‘rock, paper, scissors’ed to see who the sacrificial lamb would be. Keegan would have found it amusing if he wasn’t seething at the man.
In all honesty, if Keegan had his way, he’d be somewhere, anywhere else. But the conversation he’d had with his uncle still rang in his ears. A relationship in the workplace could not interfere with the work needing to be done. Keegan had readily agreed. It made perfect sense. Apparently, however, he’d forgotten completely about the fact couples argue, and in such cases, you really didn’t want to see the other one.
A commotion started amongst the henchmen adding to Keegan’s annoyance. What was the problem now? Couldn’t they handle something this easy?
“What’re you idiots?!” He was cut off by something that sounded like a back firing car. Several back firing cars. From above him.
He tilted his head back. The I.L. no longer looked secure. In fact, it kind of looked like it was…oh no!
Keegan’s whole body froze. The damn thing was going to fall right on him, and he couldn’t move.
“Keegan!”
Something grabbed his bicep and yanked him to the side pressing against a mass of muscle and flesh. Sergei.
With honed reflexes, the Russian had wrapped an arm around the other man’s waist and raised the other to block the falling I.L.
There was the ear-splitting sound of metal hitting metal and the groan of it bending. Sergei grunted not only from the impact, but the pain that shot up his forearm.
It took all the henchmen present and Sergei’s inhuman strength to shove the I.L. the rest of the way to the floor with a horrific noise.
“You useless, wastes of flesh and bone! Are you all so incompetent you lack the intelligence to do a simple job?!” Sergei roared at the henchmen.
“Sergei.” Keegan called to get the man’s attention. He was relieved to hear his voice sounded steadier than he felt. It took a second call of his name to obtain it. “You’re speaking Russian. They can’t understand you.”
Sergei’s mouth shut with an audible ‘clack’. His jaw was clenched so hard his teeth ached and a vein pulsed in his neck. If the henchmen weren’t afraid of him before, they definitely were now.
The dark-haired male extricated himself from the other glad he wasn’t shaking like a leaf. He wasn’t willing to admit Sergei’s presence helped. “You incompetent morons!” Shouting at them helped calm his nerves. Shouting at them helped a lot. “I want to know exactly what the fuck happened. The responsible ones will be found, and you’ll get to explain to Sphinx why his new industrial laser is destroyed. If you think being fed to sharks is bad, you’ll be surprised when he drops you in the middle of the Mojave Desert!”
He continued to rant and threaten, but Sergei had stopped listening. His heart was still racing. His body had just reacted on its own out of fear and panic. When he’d seen the I.L. start to fall, his heart had shot to his throat. Best case scenario, it would have severely hurt Keegan. Worse case…
His coat being forcibly ripped from him brought Sergei back to the present. Keegan had tossed it aside and was pushing the sleeve of the arm used to block the I.L. up. His fingers gently probed the surface. “You idiot. I can actually feel the damage through the exterior. What were you thinking?” He pulled the small tool kit he started keeping on his person from an inner pocket.
Sergei chose to counter that question with one of his own. “Why were you standing there like a deer in head lights waiting to be crushed?”
Keegan scowled at him jabbing the scalpel through the exterior. “You could have easily caught that with both hands and saved yourself an injury, yet you didn’t.”
They both knew the other was right and they equally hated it.
The ex-KGB agent had been through all kinds of dangerous situations he shouldn’t have been able to come back from, but he always did, and he’d never panicked. He’d always kept his cool even when he’d almost been killed. It was all part of his training, so ingrained that it was as natural as breathing.
Yet, all of that had gone out the proverbial window when he saw Keegan in danger. So many times the young man had caused him to ignore what he’d been taught was rational. The thought of losing him like his parents and once his sister was incomprehensible. He’d become so important in his life in such a short time. He, he loved Keegan.
The realization caused Sergei to jerk his arm back.
“Hey!” Keegan snapped. “You want me to fuck this up more than it already is? Because that’s what’s going to happen if you move like that.” He grabbed his wrist and yanked the arm closer. “We can go back to being mad at each other after I fix this.”
Sergei scowled but didn’t respond as Keegan went back to assessing the interior damage.
Nothing was broken to the point of needing to be replaced, which was lucky. He could easily make the repairs here and with the tools within reach. The only problem was the damaged arm was tensed.
Keegan tried not to sigh. Sergei knew fully well that he had to relax for this to work properly. A small smile crossed his lips as an idea came to him. “Tell me about Russia.”
Sergei furrowed his brow in confusion then smirked. “Why? So you can tell me how bad it is?”
“So you can tell me how good it is.”
An understanding pasted between them, an unspoken apology.
When Sergei smiled at him, Keegan felt his heart flutter. If they’d been alone, he would have kissed him.
“What the hell happened here?!” A very angry Sphinx stood at the door, the two panels closing behind him.
Keegan and all the henchmen present pointed to the culprit. It had been the pully operator. He couldn’t remember the man’s name. They should really have to wear nametags around the lair. Poor guy looked like he was about to piss his pants as Sphinx stomped over to him.
“Get this mess cleaned up!” Keegan barked at the ones standing around watching. “Your useless asses aren’t entirely blameless!”
The rest scrambled to do as instructed.
“Morons.” He muttered retuning his attention to Sergei’s arm.
“Is Sphinx really going to drop him in the desert?” The Russian asked.
Keegan nodded. “One time he left a guy in the Australian outback. He didn’t last very long.”
Maybe being taken out by your fellow KGB agents wasn’t so bad after all. There were clearly worse punishments.