"You're not supposed to be hosted for so long. If you show him meals like this, he won't let you go so easily," the male answered before beckoning at Rowan. "Do you know how to select wine? I'll show you to his cellar. His collection is wonderful, so you will find everything in there."
Rowan was tempted, but he shook his head slowly. "Sorry, I can only stay here in the kitchen. I'm not supposed to enter rooms without Duke's permission."
The slender male grew quiet. He then backtracked to the door and yelled, "Duke! How dare you make a prisoner cook for you? He could have poisoned you, you know?"
"I can take it." Duke laughed in response. He walked into the kitchen a few seconds later, the other man backing off to let him see the roast beef. "Impressive. Am I looking at a chef's masterpiece?"
"N-No, I'm not a chef. I just cook for… the household. Duke just had a lot of good-quality things in the kitchen." Rowan took in the compliment and regurgitated it.
Duke and the slender male stared at Rowan before cracking up into laughter. It was nothing hysterical; neither was it ridiculous. The slender male then just reached out to pat Duke's shoulder. "Where did you find this guy? He's so adorable."
The man who rescued Rowan only smiled in response. He took a quick glance at the food. "Reeva, you find us good wine to go with it. If it tastes bad, I won't let you eat here for the whole year."
"How cruel." Reeva, the slender male, waved and left the kitchen to fetch a bottle of wine from the cellar.
"Sorry, that must have embarrassed you in front of your friend…" Rowan looked away and balled his fist tightly. It's just that Duke picked up his hand slowly and soothed it into an open palm. "…? Duke?"
"Don't use force unnecessarily. Do you think that is embarrassing? I have other friends, and they're more humiliating than that." Duke laughed and carefully held Rowan's head to test the pain Rowan felt upon touch. "They're still my friends, though. No need to feel awful."
Rowan only nodded and felt strange at the touch. Before he could say anything, he felt his stomach grumble. It didn't make a loud noise, but he still blushed at the fact that he got so hungry. Would he have to eat like a pig now?
Duke let go of Rowan and hummed. "You must be hungry at the smell of the finished food. Let's find a way to make a decent dinner in the lounge. I… don't have a dinner table."
…
The dinner was quiet and only filled with Reeva's occasional questions about how the food was done. Rowan could figure out that Reeva was also cooking for someone else, but the man didn't seem to be a family person. Was Reeva cooking for a girlfriend? Didn't he look more like the girlfriend instead?
Ding! Reeva looked down at the phone on the side of the center table. After all, he didn't want to miss anything, he said. He picked it up, and his expression grew bitter and sour at the same time.
He glanced at Duke with cold eyes. "They're expecting the shipment tomorrow morning. Are you anywhere near finishing them?"
"It's the bare minimum, but it's hard to make them pretty." Duke laughed in hopelessness. He looked at his hand. "Steadiness is all I need? Trig should be ashamed."
"That child knows nothing helpful." Reeva shook his head before leaning against the chair. He then responded to the message with just a few presses. After that, the phone was tossed onto the couch behind Rowan. Reeva didn't want to see it anymore.
Rowan glanced to the side and saw the phone that slid past him. He was tempted to look through it for clues about the shipment, but that was beyond him. As Reeva said earlier, he was just Duke's prisoner and shouldn't be too nosy.
When Rowan turned to the table again, he noticed how Duke was staring at him from across the table. His eyes lifted to meet the other man's gaze, and Duke smiled at him.
He didn't say anything and just continued eating after.
"I want to eat some more, but I'm getting full. Can you finish that on your own?" Reeva hummed as he scarfed down everything on his plate.
"I have a fridge." Duke reminded him.
Rowan gazed at the huge platter of classic roast beef on the center table. By any means, the size was not for two people only. He even forgot to portion appropriately. He just saw the whole thing and cooked it without caring about the next few days. He must have cooked a week's worth of beef.
It made him embarrassed again. He wondered how long Duke was willing to keep him around if he kept on messing up.
"Rowan, you gave the recipe and all, but…" Reeva leaned closer to the man who was on the other end of the couch. "Can I take some home? My hubby will surely love a classic roast beef for a midnight treat."
"Hubby?" Rowan turned to the slender male, and Reeva nodded enthusiastically. His entire body froze.
Rowan then asked without missing another beat, "He lets you bring home someone else's cooking?"
Reeva's brows rose. "That's as good as a to-go meal from a restaurant, right? Even his comfort pizza is made by someone else…"
"…uh, I…" Rowan looked away and hoped to come up with an answer. However, his nervousness would always get in the way. His mind didn't even know how to redeem his vanishing intellect.
Right, he acted like his brain fell out as soon as Reeva mentioned his husband. His brain went like this: So Reeva also lived with another man who was supposed to be in love with him. Wouldn't that make Rowan Scott's hubby as well?
Someone was not supposed to shoot their husband dead. Rowan wasn't the cheater between the two of them, so why was he the one shot? Was it because he did something very wrong?
Reeva shouldn't break the rules, then. He should cook all the food served to his husband… just as Rowan did. Or else…
"That injury on your head…" Reeva laughed as if coming up with a joke. "Did you hit your head so much that it's interfering with your mind?"
"He was shot in the head, but the gun is too weak for the bullet, so it didn't pierce through the other side." Duke hummed as if they were not discussing a potentially dangerous situation. "Forgive him a little. In fact, this might be his new personality now."