Pretty Little Predator

An FBI Romance/Thriller/Flashback

Book 62

By Morgan Kelley

 Copyright © 2025 Morgan Kelley LLC

All rights reserved. Without limiting rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, introduced into a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including without limitation photocopying, recording, or other electronic or technical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. For permission requests, email author.m.kelley@gmail.com.

Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains explicit sexual activity between various couples. This is considered an erotic thriller. If you are offended by sex or prefer no sexual details, you should stop reading now.

© Copyright 2025 cover by Celeste Abraham

~~~~       About the Author    ~~~~

Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books.  She put them both together and began her career as a writer.  Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.

Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Redemption is Here (9), Dead Shall Speak (10), Pledging to Die (11), Slay Bells Ring (12), Past will Haunt (13), Choices will Destroy (14), Blood shall Run (15), Act of Blood (16), Stalked by the Past (17), Dying to Love (18), Revenge has Come (19), Discarded by Fate (20), Dawn of Evil (21)Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Unthinkable Games (3), Truth is Found (4), Haven of Nightmares (5), Forbidden Secrets (6), Kiss of Souls (7), Lost Souls (8), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Heaven is Weeping (5), Hell is Burning (6), Justice is Dead (7), Dark Justice (1), Lost Justice (2), Paid Justice (3), Wedding of our Dreams: Dante and Steele (3.5) Dangerous Revelations (1), Dangerous Choices (2), Dangerous Misery (3), Dangerous Retaliation (4), Dangerous Influence (5), Dangerous Sacrifice (6), Sinner Repent (1), Sinner Realized (2), Sinner Reborn (3), Oracle Rising (1), Oracle Seeing (2), Oracle Saving (3), Oracle Haunting, (4), Atonement (1), Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1), Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2), and Holiday Reinforcements (Anthology 3), It’s Good to be the Boss (1), plus many, many more…

Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her at

author.m.kelley@gmail.com or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com or her website at www.morgankelley.com.

Dear Reader,

Since my books crossover a great deal, I recommend reading them as they are written. I tend to mention characters in books they don’t generally occur in, and later in the series, there are full crossovers.

Some readers have contacted me for this list, and I figured I’d pass it on to the rest of you.

While you can read the books by series only, it only enhances the reading experience if you go in order of how I wrote them. I tend to give away secrets…

I’m sneaky like that.

On the next page, I’ve given you the list. 

MK

Here is the reading book order:

The Killing Times (FBI) ☐ Start here!
Sacred Burial Grounds (FBI)
True Love Lost (FBI)
Deep Dark Mire (FBI)
Fire Burns Hot (FBI)
Celestia is Falling (Croft & Croft)
Darkness of Truth (FBI)
Vegas is Dying (Croft)
Devil hath Come (FBI)
Christmas is Killing (Croft)
Blood Red Rage (Littlemoon)
Consumed by Wrath (FBI)
Sinner Repent (Carter trilogy 1)
Love is Bleeding (Croft)
Lost & Broken (Littlemoon)
Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1)
Redemption is Here (FBI)
Sinner Realized (Carter trilogy 2)
Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2)
Heaven is Weeping (Croft)
Unthinkable Games (Littlemoon)
Dead Shall Speak (FBI)
Sinner Reborn (Carter trilogy 3)
Pledging to Die (FBI)
Hell is Burning (Croft)
Truth is Found (Littlemoon)
Slay Bells Ring (FBI)
Holiday Reinforcements (Trilogy 3)
Oracle Rising (Oracle)
Past will Haunt (FBI Flashback 1)
Choices will Destroy (FBI)
Justice is Dead (Final Croft book)
Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon)
Blood Shall Run (FBI)
Oracle Seeing (Oracle)
Dark Justice (New Croft Series)
Forbidden Secrets (Littlemoon)
Act of Blood (FBI)
Oracle Saving (Oracle)
Stalked by the Past (FBI Flashback 2 )
Dying to Love (FBI)
Lost Justice (Croft)
Kiss of Souls ( Littlemoon) (FBI/Littlemoon crossover)
Oracle Haunting (Oracle)
Revenge has Come (FBI)
Paid Justice (Croft)

Wedding of our Dreams: Steele and Dante (Croft)
Lost Souls (Littlemoon)
Discarded by Fate (FBI)

Atonement (Hunter Mercenary)

It’s Good to be the Boss (Romance Anthology 1)

Dawn of Evil (FBI)

Dead are Forgotten (FBI)

Love Knows No Bounds (FBI)

True Justice (Croft/FBI crossover)

Mob Justice (Croft Mob)

Found Curses (Littlemoon)

Absolution (Hunter Mercenary)

All the King’s Henchmen (FBI)

Honor Thy Anger (FBI flashback)

No Justice (Croft Mob)

Secret Shame (Littlemoon)

All the Queen’s Men (FBI)

It’s Good to be Loved (Romance Antho)

Amends (Hunter Mercenary)

Angel of Death (FBI Flashback/Christmas)

Taker of Life (FBI/ Christmas)

Cause of Death (FBI Flashback)

Time of Death (FBI)

L’Amour of Death (FBI Flashback)

All Justice (Croft)

Choice of Despair (Littlemoon)

Apology (Hunter/FBI crossover)

Manner of Death (FBI)

The Final Orpheum (FBI Flashback)

City Justice (Croft)

Threat of Exposure (Littlemoon)

Blood of my Enemies (FBI)

Oracle Hunting (Oracle)

Rage of Heaven (FBI Flashback)

Rage of Hell (FBI)

Rage of Love (Littlemoon/FBI crossover)

Bad Justice (Croft)

Acrimony (Hunter)

Sacred Truth (Littlemoon)

Rage of Revenge (FBI)

Enter the Truth (FBI Flashback)

Advantage (Hunter)

Blood Moon Rising (Littlemoon)

Eye for an Eye (FBI)

It’s Good to be Bad (Romance Anthology)

End is here (FBI)

One for the Family (FBI Flashback arc 1)

Apparition (Hunter)

Haunted Visions (Littlemoon)

Savage Bayou (FBI)

Two for the Fun (FBI Flashback arc 2)

Avenge (Hunter)

Altar (Hunter novella)

Maze of Damnation (Littlemoon)

Sinner & Saint (FBI)

Blind Justice (Croft)

Bashing Through the Snow (FBI)

Three for the Glory (FBI Flashback)

Addiction (Hunter)

Dead Wrong (Littlemoon)

Of Flesh and Blood (FBI)

Deep Blue Nothing (FBI Flashback)

Abdication (Hunter)

All The Stolen Valor (FBI)

Dirty Justice (Croft/Hunter)

Snow Body’s Business (FBI Flashback)

Stripped of Dignity (FBI)

Allegiance (Hunter)

Here Come the Brides (Wedding Antho)

Mark of the Dead (FBI)

Shock and Awe (FBI Flashback)

Abduction (Hunter)

Icy Cold Death (Littlemoon)

Hallowed Eve (FBI)

Blood Justice (Croft)

Silent Night, Unholy Night (FBI)

A Blackhawk Family Wedding Novella

Judge and Jury (FBI Flashback)

Here Come the Grooms (Wedding Antho)

The Protective Gryphen (Ravensmire Castle)

To the Bone (FBI)

Truth and Consequences (FBI Flashback)

Assassin (Hunter/Croft Mob crossover)

Sin So Deep (FBI)

Pretty Little Predator (FBI Flashback)☐You are here.

Harcourte books do not crossover and can be read anytime.

Dangerous Revelations
Dangerous Choices
Dangerous Misery
Dangerous Retaliation
Dangerous Influence
Dangerous Sacrifice
Dangerous Destruction

The Antiquities series also doesn’t crossover. It should be read after the Dangerous series.

Wicked Hunt (Antiquities Series)

Darkest Angel (Antiquities Series)

Harshest Queen (Antiquities Series)

Cruelest Undead (Antiquities Series)

* * *  Blackhawk & Cantrell  * * *

A letter to my readers,

Hey, just Morgan here. I thought I’d leave you guys a little update as to what is going on in my world, since I’ve been getting emails lately. We had fewer books this year, simply because of family issues. Going into next year, I will have more books, but I’m not sure what ones will be released. I’ll make that decision in January. I’ve gotten lots of emails over the last few months, asking where the Crofts are, and the Littlemoons.

Because I write all of the series to basically be on the same timeline, I have a storyline for the Crofts that needs to happen first, so you aren’t confused. They will be back later this year—around November.

Also, I’ve been getting emails regarding updating the reading book order on my blog. That’s only a guideline. The only ACCURATE information is at the front of each book in a list, and then the COMING NEXT at the end. You can also go to the series pages on Amazon, and find the upcoming books and order. The blog is updated twice a year, and it’s more a projection for me of what I want to release and when. If you need an updated list, the latest book is the place to look.

Lastly, I’ve gotten a few emails regarding the male sex scenes, and I’ve addressed this last book, but more emails have come in. First, let me say this. I write EROTICA. That is what these books are classified. If there is too much sex, I’m not the writer for you. I don’t write thrillers with a touch of sex in them. I write down and dirty erotica with threesomes, foursomes, and gay couples that happen to have a storyline that is crime related. I write love stories first, and the crimes are secondary to the love and characters.

I’m building a whole world here with many different kinds of people, relationships, and storylines. The last thing I’m going to do is pretend that these books aren’t made for people who like erotica, reverse harems, etc.

I’m one hundred and fifty books in. I haven’t changed a single thing. So if you’ve found yourself squeamish, or the man-on-man makes you not feel so good, there are plenty of other authors out there who write a straight romance or thrillers. I’m simply not one. I never want to offend, but I believe LOVE IS LOVE, period. Each book comes with a warning, telling you that you’re going to get M/m or m/f/m or M/f. I give those warnings so those of you who don’t want to read Ethan and Gene’s story, Ethan and Callen’s, or Gryphen and Ian’s, etc. don’t have to. Most of my books are eight hundred pages. There are generally five sex scenes with twenty pages each.

That’s low when it comes to erotica, so maybe that’s where the confusion is. I have no clue since it seems to just be the last few months. By now, I think you guys know what I’m like so there should be no surprises.

I’m going to push you, and make you think, but the bottom line is that these are the kinds of books I like to read. I started them with the intent of writing a shit ton of them so when I retire one day, I can sit back and relive all of the character’s lives.

That being said, I hope you stay on the journey with me, but if it’s one where you’re under the impression that I’m going to keep it clean, not have it be kinky, or peppered with moments of sex, this is definitely the wrong journey for you. We’re sixty-two books into this series, and I’m not close to being done with telling their stories. Like it had a beginning, it also has an ending, and I already know what that’s going to be.

So, if you’re good with a little mystery, a little crime, and a lot of love and some spicy sex, stay for the journey. We have a lot of fun coming in the next year.

As always,

with love, mayhem, and murder,

Morgan.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

I love Christmas so much, that all I want is a day where we get to be a family, and in love. Murder isn’t ruining that.

—Gene Cantrell

Gene couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Prologue

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

December

Nighttime

It was the most wonderful time of the year, and also the worst time of the year for so many. Oblivious people didn’t seem to realize that during the Christmastime holidays the rates of depression and anger were at an all-time high.

If you wanted to see people at their worst, just look at the craziness all around the place.

You could see it in the streets, and you could feel it in the air.

It was as if it was contagious. One miserable person, one asshole with a chip on their shoulder, and it was a free-for-all.

All you had to do was watch, listen, and see the madness happening all around you.

It.

Was.

Everywhere.

If you wanted to see angry people, go into any mall or shopping location, and you would be bombarded with rage, viciousness, and downright selfishness.

So why was that rage there?

It was there because people had no self-control. They were bad people by nature, and they needed to act out like spoiled children.

They didn’t think about anyone but themselves, unfortunately.

Honestly, they believed themselves to be good people, and just because they behaved badly at Christmastime, they thought that it was justifiable.

Because of other’s actions.

Blah.

Blah.

Blah.

Apparently, anything was perfectly acceptable when it came to getting gifts for your kids, your spouses, or the people you loved.

Unfortunately, that was a cop-out.

Where had the times gone, when people were good decent people, and they treated each other like human beings who mattered?

Where were the times when a promise stuck, and a vow mattered?

That was the question.

Truly, some people were sick of it, and they had been burned for the last time.

This person particularly.

There was nothing more left that they were going to take, and that was the last straw.

When all you were inundated with each and every day were shady people, it affected you, and made you do crazy things yourself.

Hey, if they could be shitty, so could everyone, right?

Was taking your rage out on them a good idea to get revenge?

No, probably not, but it was what it was.

Actions had consequences, and shitty people got what they deserved.

When you reached your end, you reached the end, and you had no choice but to take care of business.

So as the darkness fell upon the city, Philadelphia came to life at night. It was called The City of Brotherly Love for a reason, but during Christmastime there was no love.

There was only bullshit and rage.

In fact, there was betrayal, pain, and shittiness galore that would simply break your heart.

PERIOD.

Being spurned by love by lying, sick, and horrible people changed a person.

For.

The.

Worst.

Now, someone was at their wits’ end. With one last act of betrayal, limits were met and tempers flared.

It was time to take out the lying trash.

And that was why this particular woman had to die. Lines were crossed, and hearts were at risk.

Oh, some might say it was insanity to take a life especially during the holidays, but a person could only take so much shittiness before they slipped into the mire and became that themselves.

That was the case.

Now that rage was there, and it had to be put to use constructively. There is only one way to do that.

Let it out.

Oh, and let it out like it had never been let out before.

One might say some people were mentally deficient because of their lack of impulse control, and that they were born to be killers, but others might just say things that happened in their lives made them into the people they were today.

Absolutely.

That was indeed the case.

Looking back at life, had someone said that it would be so easy to take a life and destroy a human being, that would be met with laughter and amusement.

That would be met by skepticism.

But the bottom line was that killing simply felt good when you got to get your goddamn revenge.

Oh, and it was best served cold too.

Yeah, that might make someone a bad person, and that was understood.

Perspective mattered.

Only, why should she suffer in silence?

The answer?

She shouldn’t.

It was time to stir up the past, dig in, and raise some hell. So much so, that the assholes feared what was coming.

Because it was coming now.

Oh, this woman’s death had nothing to do with buying the last toy, grabbing that cashmere sweater from her hands, or being rude as she waited in line getting coffee.

Not.

Even.

Close.

No, this was about dirty deeds that this person did and reveled in.

Oh, she knew her secrets, and she knew everything about her. In fact she knew all of them.

Intimately.

They were so easy to find out. They were so easy to research. Now, she’d be sorry.

They’d all be sorry.

Mark.

Her.

Words.

So maybe that was why she decided to take back this Christmas season, once and for all.

Maybe it was why she was giddy for the first time in her life over the prospect of being the mighty…

NOT the mouse.

Maybe that was why she was fed up with the foulness, the nastiness, and the downright shady behavior that some people believed to be acceptable.

Or maybe, it was mental illness.

Either way, it was time to take back the power.

This horrible human being was going to die for making that one fatal mistake.

Yes, this woman would pay with her blood and life.

Because of that, she was going to die a painful death at her hands.

Why couldn't women stop being such shitty human beings?

Well, that was about to come to an end.

Their reigns of terror were just about over.

Oh, this one was a Pretty Little Predator, but that was not happening anymore.

For women everywhere, forced to spend the holidays alone, thanks to a whore who couldn't mind her business, she was taking that power back.

Here.

And.

Now.

To get the holidays started, she tracked this particular woman through the city to set the scene in her little crime spree. It had been a long day, but well worth it.

What else was she going to do?

Maybe she was bad Santa's little helper, but this woman was about to learn her lesson.

Here.

And.

Now.

Oh, and what a lesson it would be.

As she pulled into her driveway after her long day of shopping for her man’s presents, and began getting out of her car to gather her packages, she waited in the shadows ready to strike.

Locked and loaded.

Once that trunk was opened, the killing spree began, and she made her move.

With the silenced gun, she crept up behind her, and place the nose of the gun to the back of her head.

Oh, God.

That felt so damn good.

What would feel better?

Seeing the fear in her eyes. She wasn’t a coward, and they would do this face-to-face.

The woman immediately paused, that fear overwhelming her as terror shook her body. She began shaking a little bit.

“Please. What do you want?” she asked, as she slowly raised her hands. “You can have my purse, the keys, and the car. Just don’t hurt me.”

Fuck that.

She wanted to hurt her real good.

“I want you to know what you did. Now, turn around, because we have to have a conversation,” she said, her finger on the trigger.

The voice sounded so familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

At first.

When she turned, slowly, she saw who was standing there with the nose of the gun now to her head, and it caught her off guard.

There was satisfaction in that for the killer.

“Oh, no,” she whispered.

There was joy in her terror.

“Yeah, that’s what you should be doing, fearing what you’ve done. Was what you did worth it?” she asked.

Tears filled her eyes.

“No,” she whispered. “It wasn’t…”

“Shhhhh,” she said, hushing her. “No, you’re not sorry. Not even close. You made stupid choices, and now, I’m going to be your judge. You didn’t have to do what you did, and then be an asshole about it. Because of you, you brought pain to the world.”

The woman was panicking.

As she let her eyes dart around, she tried to come up with the best outcome for this situation.

Only, no one was outside, and she knew guns well enough that the woman had a silencer on it.

She.

Was.

Screwed.

No one would hear the shot.

“Please. It was a mistake,” she said, lying to save her ass.

That made her laugh.

“Oh, I know you absolutely are not sorry for what you’ve done. I’ve been following you, Dorris. I’ve been following you for days. I know everything about you and how you continued to perpetuate that shittiness.”

The woman began crying.

“I’m sorry,” she begged, knowing she was screwed. “It’s Christmas. Please.”

That made her laugh.

“Oh, Princess, you’re sadly mistaken that I care what time of the year it is. You’re shitty year-round. Being merciful to you is not happening. You’re a cunt, and I only have one thing to say to you.”

Dorris’ lower lip quivered, and the woman with the gun didn’t care. Instead of feeling sympathy, she felt nothing but rage.

This woman was a shitty human being, and now, she was going to pay her back.

“Please.”

She smiled.

“Merry Christmas, Dorris.”

And with that, she pulled the trigger, and the bullet slammed into her skull, jerking Dorris’ head backward.

It all seemed to move in slow motion.

Her brains exploded from the back of her head, slopping against the inside of the trunk, and running sickly down it.

The woman fell backward, landing on all of the prettily wrapped presents with all of the colorful bows and tags to gather her blood below her.

On one of them, she saw his name and a big chunk of brain matter.

Well, that was poetic justice.

And she wasn’t done.

There were more that needed to pay. For her Christmas list this year, it was all depravity.

Naughty.

Naughty.

Naughty.

And she was taking out the trash.

She hoped this holiday sucked for each and every single one of them too.

As she closed the trunk, leaving her legs sticking out, she backed up, and carefully walked toward where she’d parked her car.

Honestly, there was only one thing that would make this better.

She hoped that he found her.

Truly.

Why?

So his heart could be ripped from his chest in pain and torture. She hoped when that foul piece of shit showed up, he found the woman, and it destroyed him.

This was about pain for everyone.

That was their gift this year.

Since this was going to be her final Christmas, she was going to make sure that she really did it up good.

With blood.

With death.

With destruction.

That was her Christmas present to herself.

Revenge.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

A Few Days Later

Philadelphia, PA

Shadows Of The Night

Eleven P.M.

Thank God all of the stores had late hours this close to Christmas. It made the hunt for them so much easier.

If anything, they were consistent, out there looking for presents for their loved ones.

After killing the first one, she felt exhilarated. It felt so damn good that she couldn’t believe how having that power made her stronger.

It made her happier.

It made her angrier.

Killing that first woman gave her the ability to keep killing and spreading her kind of Christmas joy.

It was only the beginning. Her naughty list had more horrible human beings on it.

And now, she wanted this Christmas to be memorable for all of the wrong reasons.

She was broken in ways that no one could even imagine, and this was the proof.

Every person who ever had their heart broken by someone who treated them like they didn’t matter, should feel this once in their life.

It was going to be vengeance and that was always best served cold—in this case in time for Christmas.

So, she found this one, and she was just as guilty of ruining someone’s holiday. She was a horrible human being, and deserved what she’d done.

She’d broken a home.

Her own.

She was the lowest of the low, and she deserved whatever karma brought her.

In this case, it would be death.

As she watched her shopping, and doing all of the things that a wife would do to make a holiday bright, she couldn’t help but think about how her husband must have felt.

Broken.

Damaged.

Destroyed.

He’d been loyal, and loved her more than anything, but that woman just couldn’t help herself.

She had to think the grass was greener on the other side, and because of her actions, she was going to make her pay.

With.

Her.

Life.

There was no room in life for a partner that couldn’t do their best to be one.

None at all.

There was no room in this world for someone who acted like that, putting their needs over their own goddamn marriage.

Now, it was time to give her husband the best Christmas present of their lives.

PEACE.

Yes, there would be peace in that household for Christmas this year.

As she watched the woman loading her presents into the vehicle, she closed the trunk, and started the car. Stepping out of the alley, she moved toward the car, and tapped on the window.

And waved.

When she did, the woman in the car waved and smiled, recognizing her.

Then, rolled down the window.

When she did, it was over in seconds.

Oh, it was fast.

It was a quick pull of the trigger, and the bullet hit her in the head, her brains splattering on the window behind her in a spray of karma.

Then, it was time to move fast.

Opening the door, she rolled up the window so no one would think it was suspicious, and turned off the engine.

Suspicion was the last thing needed.

As she stood back, she watched as the snow began falling on the car, and would soon cover it and her.

In her new tomb.

Oh, they’d find her, but it would take some time, and while she was ‘missing’, the next one would be picked.

Now, she had a few days until someone figured out she was dead.

Now, her husband would be free.

He would no longer be trapped with this piece of shit.

That was the best part.

His Christmas came early.

And Santa’s little helper brought him the best gift.

Freedom.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Luxury Condos

A Week To Christmas

Greyson Croft tried to get her to stay, but Sasha Harper wasn’t a ‘stay-the-night’ kind of a girl.

That wasn’t her thing.

Period.

Yeah, she liked the man, and yeah, they had fun going out, and having a good time, but sleeping in a man’s home…

Pass.

That was something that didn’t make her comfortable.

Why?

She had a job to do here in Philly, and that meant getting bodies autopsied, and then heading back to Seattle.

Truth be told, she wanted to go home.

That was the one thing she wanted for Christmas, and she’d do anything to get there.

These two years would look great on her resume, but she wasn’t building a life here.

She was a West Coast girlie.

Besides, with men, as soon as you moved your things into their space, the man changed. He became someone you couldn’t recognize, and tried to own the woman.

Sasha was her own person.

Her own human being.

And Greyson Croft…

While hot as the flames of Hell, and slick as spit, she knew he was trouble.

She could tell by that wicked smile, and those gray-silver eyes.

A man that gorgeous and perfect had to have some underlying issues.

Why was he still single?

That was the big question, and until she could answer that, she wasn’t getting attached.

Why hadn’t some eligible bachelorette swooped in and grabbed him up?

His body was to die for, and he knew how to use his dick in ways that would make a woman swoon in orgasm, but he was alone.

It raised questions.

Yeah, it made her nervous.

Besides, again, she had a job to do here.

Coming here was about working, and being loyal to the FBI—not her libido. The last time she spoke to Gabe, he told her that she’d only be there a year or two—possibly shorter if she did her job.

There was no way she wanted to start something serious if she was going home.

Because she loved Washington.

She loved Seattle.

While the East Coast was nice, Philly wasn’t her home, and this man…he loved it here.

His family was here.

His brother was here.

His roots were here.

There was no way he was going to leave this area. Once an East Coaster, always an East Coaster. He might leave temporarily, but he’d be back.

And where did that leave her?

Yeah, pass.

So when Gabe asked her to do the job here, she said yes, in a heartbeat. It just might get her out of here sooner.

As of that moment, she was struggling. Sasha was fighting temptation and risking her heart for something that likely wouldn’t end well.

“You know you can stay,” Greyson said, standing in the doorway shirtless, and with his jeans unbuttoned at his waist. “I have a perfectly good bed that we already rumpled up.”

She stared into his silver eyes, and tried not to do anything she’d regret.

There was too much on the line.

“I’m aware of that, Grey, but I’m more comfortable at home,” she said, trying to think of anything to get away from this temptation.

That didn’t sit well with Greyson. Normally, women flocked to him.

Keeping them was the problem, thanks to his work hours.

Honestly, he was having a good time with the doctor, and the sex was off the charts hot.

Only, he couldn’t get her to commit to sleeping over, let alone seeing him exclusively if his life depended on it. There was something holding her back, and he couldn’t solve that mystery.

And it was annoying.

He’d tried to be a gentleman.

He’d tried to woo her.

Still, she was fighting him every step of the way.

And he didn’t understand why.

In fact, he had no freaking clue what he was doing wrong. She came countless times, he was a gentleman, and he tried to behave to the best of his wicked behavior.

NADA.

Now, he was beginning to think something was wrong with him. His last girlfriend cheated on him, and now he couldn’t get this one to sleep at his place.

Hell!

It was a nice place.

It was private, at the top of the apartment building. He paid extra to have that location, and it didn’t even impress her.

On top of that, she wouldn’t let him sleep at her place. They fornicated in her bed, and she kicked him out.

She had a townhouse not far away, but she just wouldn’t spend the evening with him past riding his dick.

Honestly, he was getting tired of the fuck and run, and didn’t see a way to change how she related to him.

What he wanted was a relationship. He was the kind of man who thrived on having a partner. He wanted nights in on the couch, sex in the shower, and breakfast together.

Greyson craved someone who would laugh with him, and go grocery shopping to pick out food to make together.

He needed a person who was his own.

And for the life of him, he couldn’t seem to convince her that he was worthy, unless it was for sex. That was all she was thinking about.

Granted, even he could admit it was great sex.

She came plenty, and so did he.

Only, he couldn’t push the issue to get her to stay one single night. She’d rather walk home in the snow than sleep all night in his bed.

WHY?

What was she hiding?

He was beginning to feel used, like all she wanted was his dick.

“See you at work tomorrow?” she asked, buttoning up her coat so she could make the walk home.

Well, that said it all.

This night was over.

“Yeah, Sasha, I’ll see you there. Want me to walk you home?” he asked. “I can…”

She stopped him.

“No, I’m good. I don’t mind the cardio after the cardio,” she said, smiling.

He felt off.

Only, he didn’t know why.

So instead of arguing, he plastered a fake smile on his face.

What else was he supposed to do?

Hold her hostage?

“Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe, okay?” he asked.

She could do that.

“Absolutely,” she said, leaning in to kiss him. “Thanks for a great night.”

Oof.

That was insulting.

Why not just slap him on the ass, and drop a fifty on his nightstand while she was at it?

Yeah, he felt cheap.

Because his mother raised him to be a gentleman, and not a domineering asshole, he just nodded, and closed the door when she walked away.

This night was a crash and burn. There would be no cuddling in bed, or waking up tangled together like lovers.

He was spending it alone.

Jesus.

Why was he attracted to redheads? They just wanted to fuck and run. When would he find the one who wanted to stick around by his side?

Somehow, he felt like that was going to be a lesson that took years to answer, if ever.

After he locked his condo door, Greyson leaned on it to contemplate his night.

And he sighed.

Why did the universe hate him so goddamn much?

It clearly did.

Because he couldn’t find a nice lady to like him if his life depended on it.

Oh, he found sexy women.

He found available women.

But he couldn’t find THE woman.

Something needed to change.

Unfortunately for him, it was another Christmas alone, and he hated every single second of it.

BAH.

HUMBUG.

Chapter One

Philadelphia Home

Private Residence

Three Days To Christmas

Holy, murderous holiday but this year was turning out to be one hell of a mess, even as it concluded. As the holidays got closer, the nuts were really out in full force in the city.

That was for damn sure.

Detective Corbin Price knew that the closer it got, the wilder it got in the city.

It wasn’t just Jingle Bells, and holly leaves.

It was also murder.

Oh, and he also knew that he wasn’t going to be getting any downtime for the holiday.

Absolutely no detectives were cleared for time off if they had an active case on their desk.

And he had three.

No, now, he had four.

Shit.

He wasn’t going home for the holidays with his parents. That was for damn sure. It appeared he was going to be stuck in Philly for the holidays.

It had been a rough year, and now, the universe hated him. Then again, at least he wasn’t dead because it had been that kind of a year.

Now, with Maggie Goodman, his body count was at four, and his boss was about to ride his ass into overtime at Christmas.

Yippee.

They officially had a serial killer.

The first victim had been found outside of her house, one shot to the head, and her body left hanging outside of the trunk, the Christmas presents beneath her, soaked in blood.

It had been gross.

Someone took out Dorris Stettner weeks ago, and disappeared into the night without leaving any trace behind them.

By the time her boyfriend, Jack Venst, found her, the next day, she was a corpse-cicle.

Rock.

Solid.

It made TOD challenging for their ME.

To say the least.

Only, it didn’t end there.

Not.

Even.

Close.

The second victim, Caprice Gressman, had been found dead in her car, a single GSW to the head after a snowstorm two weeks ago.

Unfortunately for her, the luxury SUV she’d been found in had tinted windows. She’d been in there two days before anyone located her.

The DPW found her when they were trying to plow the streets. The one man opened her door, and a frozen solid victim fell out, her brains no longer in one piece.

Let’s just say that the dude was also having a really bad Christmas.

Imagine reaching out and catching a dead body when all you wanted to do was move a car. That had been quite the scene since she was the wife of a high-priced defense attorney in the city.

His boss had crawled up his ass, and made his whole day miserable on that one.

Then, as if it could only keep getting worse, the next victim popped up.

Their third victim was Francesca Berlove, and they found her in her backyard, feet from the garbage cans.

Apparently, she’d been taking out the trash when someone took her life.

Francesca had been found with a single bullet hole in her forehead and a bad case of frost bite.

Who was the unlucky person who found her?

Well, Francesca’s girlfriend found her when she got home from work at the hospital. She saw her foot sticking out on the sidewalk, and believed she’d fallen.

Oh, she’d fallen all right, and she wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

Now, here he was, standing in someone’s home, and he was gifted another victim.

And Maggie made four.

Four women, four dead bodies, and in almost four weeks. The media was having a field day with this case, calling this asshole The Christmas Killer.

They.

Were.

Sick.

What he was calling it was a travesty.

Already, he could see the MO changing, and Corbin knew well enough that this was bad.

VERY.

VERY.

BAD.

This killer was brazen now, since this victim was found in her bed, a single shot to the head.

Yowza.

Corbin had a headache.

A huge one.

As he stood there, Doctor Reed Peterson was doing the preliminaries like he always did on the crime scene.

Liver temp.

Bagging of the hands.

Yada-yada.

He was processing another victim, and the look on his face said it all.

Corbin was shit out of luck.

Why?

There was never any trace. It was like the killer didn’t touch anything, but instead took a life and moved on. Only, as a cop, and investigator, he knew how difficult that was. All they needed was a hair.

A fingernail.

Some spit.

Yeah, this was frustrating and for a plethora of reasons.

“So, another one,” Reed said, finally breaking his work-silence.

“Yeah, Doc, another one,” he stated.

“That sucks,” he admitted.

Yeah, it did.

Reed pulled the probe from her body, and he did the math.

“Well, at least this one isn’t frozen, and I might actually get an accurate TOD. Who found her?” Reed asked as he scribbled on his clipboard.

Corbin flipped through his notes.

It didn’t take long to find the answer.

“Her boyfriend, Lester Danyelle. He came by to pick her up for a date, and he hadn’t heard from her all day. Unfortunately for him, when he got here, she didn’t answer the door. It was when her car was still in the garage that he got worried.”

And he should have worried too.

Someone took her life.

“So he broke the window on the door, and entered the house to find her dead in bed.”

“Why didn’t he call the cops?” he asked, knowing that the man gave them more work by breaking a window.

A killer also would break a window.

“He did after he found her.”

Corbin was curious.

“So, when did she die?” Corbin asked.

The man told him.

“TOD is last night around eleven. She’s been here all day,” he admitted.

Corbin stared at her body, and she was on top of the bedding, not below it.

He began figuring it out.

“She wasn’t in bed sleeping. Do you sleep with your slippers on?” he asked.

Reed laughed.

“Not normally. There’s some dirt on the bottom,” he said. “It looks like she was outside or on the sidewalk. Maybe it’s salt—you know, to melt snow.”

The CSIs continued taking pictures.

This whole thing felt off to him. Why were the first three killed outside, and then this one inside?

Any deviation was usually a flashing neon sign.

“Anything else you can tell me?” Corbin asked.

He nodded.

“Her COD is an easy one. It’s the gunshot to her head unless toxicology and my autopsy says otherwise. Merry Christmas,” he stated. “Don’t say I don’t give you presents,” he added.

He laughed.

“Get me a tie next year. Transport her in, and I’ll be by later for the results,” he said.

That worked for Reed.

“I’m going to walk around, and see if I can figure out how this woman ended up in her bed dead. Oh, and what’s on the bottom of her shoes.”

Reed didn’t mind. He was just about done there, and ready to get the body loaded up.

“Good luck, Detective.”

Corbin headed out, and when he started walking through the house, everything was in its place.

It was a nice house too.

Nicer than his brownstone.

Oh, don’t get him wrong. He had a nice place, but she had a fancy TV, coffee system, and some tech too.

As he kept taking it in, Corbin found the garage door from the kitchen into where she parked her car, and that was a top-of-the-line SUV.

Was that a clue?

Their second victim had been a wealthy woman also, but then how did the first and third tie in?

They were middle class.

Carefully, Corbin walked around the dead woman’s ride, and that’s when he saw what he believed was how the killer got in.

There was a side access.

With gloved fingers, he turned the garage door handle, and it opened without him having to even touch the lock.

Uh-oh.

He believed he’d found how the killer snuck in and ambushed the woman.

Peeking his head out, he saw a sidewalk with lots of salt, and ashes.

It was the kind from a wood burning stove or coal stove—which she had the latter of inside her home.

Maybe the killer didn’t change the MO. Maybe the killer caught her outside. She had ashes on her slippers, after all.

So, he followed the ash like he was Hansel looking for a snack.

When he rounded the corner of the garage, he found a big container there. Lifting the lid with his gloved fingers, he saw stored ashes.

Yeah, and beside it on the ground was the bin that slid into the coal stove to catch them.

He was beginning to piece it together.

Maggie Goodman had come out at night to empty the coal ash before going to bed, and she’d encountered a killer out here.

That was the same MO.

It was all about women being accosted outside.

Corbin would bet his next paycheck that this was where she was confronted, and that explained why she had her shoes on in bed.

The killer must have walked her inside, at gunpoint, and to her room.

Where she was killed.

Damn it.

This was going to be the same killer.

His ass was grass.

Looking around, he found a spot under the trees where it was most likely where this person stood. There was no snow there, since it was tucked into the pine trees, but he could see some indentation in the ground.

He wouldn’t get prints.

Why?

There were wet pine needles.

And no footprints.

Damn it.

Corbin knew one thing.

This killer was incredibly smart, and he or she was driving him batshit insane.

So at least he knew two things.

Going back to the spot where the ashes were, he backtracked himself into the house, and once inside, he found one of the CSIs.

They had another scene to process.

That would be what led up to the murder scene.

He’d bet on it.

“There’s evidence outside the garage, and not far from where the door is. Follow the ashes,” he said.

The woman headed that way, and when Corbin turned, his boss was there.

Oh, SHIT.

This was bad.

For him.

Captain Oliver Guy, the new Philadelphia Homicide Captain, was on his scene, and he already knew what that meant.

He.

Was.

Fucked.

There would only be one reason he would show up to the scene, and that meant the media was applying pressure, and now, he was about to be boned good.

“Sir,” he said, bracing for it.

The man just nodded, and went there.

“Detective, what do we have?” the man asked, scanning the scene for anything that seemed out of place around the room.

Oh, boy.

Corbin didn’t mess around.

“We have Maggie Goodman. She was found dead in her bed this morning,” he said, not even going there with what he found outside.

The man walked right past him, and headed toward the woman’s bedroom.

Inside, he focused on the coroner and went there. He only had one question, and he knew what he needed to hear. If he did, this man was done.

Oliver had been wary of letting this young detective handle a multiple body case, but they were short staffed with injuries, and other issues.

“Reed, was it the same caliber bullet as the others?” he asked, cutting to the chase.

The man glanced up, and did what he had to do.

He made Corbin’s life hell—oh, not intentionally, since he had to answer, but still…

Corbin saw the door closing on him.

Reed tossed him a bottle with the spent bullet in it. They’d dug it out of the wall a few minutes ago.

“Yes, Captain. It appears to be the same caliber bullet that killed the other three women. We’ll compare when we get back to see if it matches them.”

Corbin could see his chances of working this case dissipating faster than drunken crowds running from the police at Saint Paddy’s Day.

He was about to be pulled.

To add insult to injury, it was either for more seasoned detectives, or for Federal assistance.

Oh, but it was coming.

He could bet on that.

“So we have four victims, and they all seem to be killed for what reason?” he asked, hoping the young detective could give him an answer.

Without warning, he turned to face Corbin.

When he hesitated with an answer, the man held up his hand.

“Son, you’re in over your head. This killer is giving you nothing, and we need to get this handled.”

Yep.

He’d been right.

Here it came.

“The media is up the commissioner’s ass, which means I have to be up yours since he’s currently up mine.”

Corbin said nothing.

What could he say?

He saw this coming the day he got the third victim, and promised he’d get it handled.

And hadn’t.

“I’m calling for help. If we’re lucky, maybe we can get the FBI to help us out—if they aren’t swamped like we are. But as of now, I have to take this case from you.”

Corbin knew if he did that, then he’d lose momentum with his career.

He’d gotten some decent street cred by helping close some cases, and he wasn’t Alice’s son, but Corbin Price. Now, that was slipping through his fingers.

If that happened, he wouldn’t be making a name for himself.

This would set him back.

WAY.

BACK.

Only, he’d promised to handle this, and here he was, his dick in his hand, and not a clue to be found.

When he didn’t speak, Captain Guy focused on the body.

“I’m going to make a call,” he said.

Reed was curious.

“We all know this time of the year is shit, and the Feds are stretched just as thin as we are. What if they can’t help out on this?”

Corbin had an idea.

Oh, it was a long shot, but he was out of options currently.

And desperate.

Yes, he was a desperate fool.

It was the only way he was going to be able to stay on this case, and put that next notch in his belt.

Now, he had to hope for a Christmas miracle.

A.

Big.

One.

“I happen to be good friends with two Feds, Captain,” he said. “We worked together on a couple cases and closed them fast. I can call them, and I can see if they can do it as a favor.”

That had his attention.

He knew Reed was right when he said the Feds were likely just as busy. When he’d called the other day, the guy running the office said they were so short staffed they had to draw straws for time off.

That was bad.

“Really?” he asked, feeling hopeful.

The man nodded.

Oh, Corbin was making a big mistake volunteering them when he didn’t even talk to them the last couple of weeks. For all he knew, they were swamped too.

Still, he kept digging the hole out of desperation.

Sue him.

The holidays made you crazy.

“What if I asked, and went from there? I could help them, and I could keep working it. I’ve been over the files for weeks, and I know the cases,” he suggested, making sure to keep himself in that equation.

Gene and Ethan were going to kick his ass.

BIG-TIME.

The man considered it.

“Well, if they agreed to handle it, yes, but if they can’t you’re off the case, Detective. We don’t have a lot of choice. Remember, if my ass is a target for the commissioner. Your ass is then grass too.”

Well, shit.

Corbin knew he was screwed.

His two Fed buddies were going to bust his balls.

Only, they were friends, right?

It appeared it was time to drop in, and see if they could save their old buddy Corby’s ass.

Because he was in over his head.

And he hoped they meant it when they said call if he needed them.

Oh, because he needed them.

IMMEDIATELY.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Condominium

Wednesday

Days To Christmas

There was nothing like the holidays to terrorize a person, and that was exactly where Ethan Blackhawk was with this whole thing.

He was scared stupid this year.

Why?

Shopping.

Oh, he’d bought Christmas presents before, but never for someone he was in a committed relationship with and loved.

That upped the stress for him, even though he knew for a fact that Gene would cherish anything he got him. The man was the most amazing of lovers, and so caring.

He’d never met anyone in his life who worked so hard to protect his heart.

Ever.

That was exactly why he was scared.

He couldn’t fuck this up. What were the chances he’d find another person like Gene if he left him?

SLIM.

TO.

NONE.

Last year, he bought a present for the woman he’d been dating, only because he had to keep the charade up about him being with someone.

It was a sweater.

Nothing special, and nothing that said, ‘we’re in love’ because he hadn’t been. He used Melanie to stay under Gabe’s radar, but Gene…

He was stupid in love with the man.

Everything before his partner had been simple for Ethan. He’d hide, lie, and pretend, but then he and Gene went fishing, and here he was, in a holiday panic.

Why?

Well, because he didn’t think a sweater was going to say, ‘I’ll love you forever’.

It was too much like the gift he gave Melanie, and he remembered how disappointed she’d been.

What made this worse was there was no one he could talk to and get any kind of advice on it.

What he wanted to do was call a friend and ask what you gave your lover for Christmas when you were three months from your one-year anniversary.

What did you give your boyfriend when he did everything in the world for you, and you felt like you were going to lose him because you had no freaking clue?

Only, there was no one to call.

PERIOD.

The man he was sleeping with, and building a relationship with was his only friend. He was the ONLY person who liked being around him.

So, he was on his own.

Gene was so jazzed about the holiday. Maybe more than any other person he knew in his whole life. The man was Christmas crazy.

How did he know?

Well, on December first, they went out, bought a real tree, and trimmed it.

All Ethan hoped was that they could keep it alive. That tree had become a pet, of sorts. They were feeding it water daily, and some sugar concoction that Gene promised would keep it alive.

Apparently, the Midwest had some weird traditions that he’d never been privy too.

What the hell was a Christmas hot dish?

He was still trying to figure that one out.

Only, that wasn’t it.

He insisted they decorate the tree.

Like lights weren’t enough?

And with what?

With popcorn they strung while sitting on the couch watching holiday movies. It took forever, and he bled a few times, but Gene insisted it was fun.

When he suggested it, Ethan had wanted to laugh, but something about it just tickled a part of his soul.

He grew up poor, so there were no big holidays, and he knew Gene was pulling these traditions from his childhood.

So he wasn’t shitting on it.

Period.

Besides, who was he to judge. He went hunting on Christmas with his grandfather and brother to kill things.

If anything, that was bizarre as fuck.

Gene’s traditions seemed a little saner, come to think of it.

After leaving the rez, he went into the FBI, and lived alone.

He never owned a tree before, let alone decked the halls with boughs of holly.

Who knew that was a thing.

It was.

Now, their condo looked like someone threw up holiday all over the place.

And he liked it.

God help him, but it made him giddy believing he had finally left that past behind, and had a god-honest chance at being a normal person.

This whole thing gave him so much pleasure, and watching Gene have a good time…

It was contagious.

The man was so Christmas crazy that they had matching pajamas.

What?

Who was this man?

And who was he for doing it?

Let’s just say Christmas pajamas didn’t come in black, much to his dismay.

They were colorful reds, greens, and silly—as he found out when pairs of them appeared. In fact, Gene came home from shopping, and tried to sneak them inside without Ethan being any the wiser.

It was probably the tiptoeing and giggling that gave it away. At first, he thought he’d been drinking.

Only, Gene was drunk on the holiday spirit.

He was like Bob Cratchit, and Ethan was like…

Yeah…

Ebenezer Scrooge.

So, when he saw him being sneaky, he had to find out what was going on. Let’s just say that locking a bedroom door while giggling was only going to make Ethan pick that lock.

Sue him.

Ethan was suspicious on a good day, and finally caught Gene trying to wrap them for later in the month.

What was Ethan’s punishment?

Gene made him go try them on, and by Santa’s bells, he did it too.

Why?

Because a man he was crazy about was just too happy for him to shit all over it. So, he did, and Gene took him on a merry little ride.

To bedlam.

There he was, standing in their shared bedroom, and he looked insane.

The pajamas?

They were candy cane striped, and he looked ridiculous. At first, he was pretty sure someone had lost their mind, until he came out of the bathroom and Gene was in the same ones.

They were matching.

And in that moment, it did something to his belly.

It flipped in absolute love.

That this bear of a man, who was tough, a Fed, and incredibly badass, had this side to him—astounded him. He loved Christmas so much that he wasn’t afraid to be silly, and have a good time.

Yeah, no one in his life ever got him matching holiday pajamas.

That was the purest love he’d ever been offered, and Ethan took it, willingly. He was going to live like Gene during the holidays, in hopes he could give him a good Christmas too.

So, after he jumped him, and they had spectacular sex, just because he dug those damn silly pajamas, they began another tradition.

They watched White Christmas.

And had cocoa.

And ate popcorn.

Nothing in his life had ever prepared him for the love he felt, and how he couldn’t help himself.

He was so overwhelmed with a feeling of happiness that he never wanted it to end.

Ethan.

Was.

Jolly.

He couldn’t control that joy. It was like it overwhelmed him, taking him to his knees for this man.

And he never wanted it to end.

Blackhawk wanted Christmas pajamas every year, and to make hot cocoa with those silly colored marshmallows as he watched Bing Crosby get the girl.

God.

He was gay as fuck.

And he loved it.

That was exactly why he needed to nail this Christmas. Gene had made this about the whole month of December, and Ethan wanted to give that back.

Here he was, stuck trying to give the man what he deserved.

Everything.

Gene had gone above and beyond for this holiday, making sure that he spoiled him with love and the Christmas spirit.

And that scared Ethan.

What did he give him to reciprocate?

What?

If he failed, would he lose Gene?

That was a lingering thought each and every day. Already, he didn’t decorate, or make cookies that apparently all you had to do was open the package and put on a cookies sheet.

Why did they own a cookie sheet?

That was the next question, along with how long?

The man was just setting the bar high, and Ethan feared he’d come home and be like…I’m outta here.

Sue him.

He was a broken mess.

Shopping was easy, but relationships were difficult at best.

Blackhawk had bought him a few cashmere sweaters for work, a new belt, and some of the pricey cologne he liked.

He got him some chocolate coal, as a joke for their matching stockings, and a gift card for books.

Only, the man needed more, and he wanted to make that wish come true.

Then, he actually booked them a vacation to Puerto Rico for after the holidays when they had their next vacation.

They’d been cleaning up Philly, so Gabe was actually clearing them for a vacation now, and later.

Crazy.

When they hit the beaches, they were going to drink beer, sit in a cabana, and have hot sex when the sun went down.

The old him would have checked out the babes in bikinis, and try to sleep with as many of them as he possibly could, but now…

He didn’t want them.

He wanted Gene.

Ethan wanted to feel that love every second of his life, so that’s why he got them this trip.

So Gene would see him never look at another person again, and know he was it.

Plus, it was Puerto Rico.

When in the islands, party like your life depended on it. Drunken cabana sex was lit.

Still, that didn’t feel like it was enough. It wasn’t special. It didn’t scream ‘I love you’. It screamed ‘let’s fuck’, and they did plenty of that.

It wasn’t unique, and he was scared.

God.

This relationship stuff was damn difficult, and he chased killers for a living.

You wouldn’t think it would be.

What if he couldn’t do this?

On top of that, he was nervous it was already too late for them.

For the last two days, Gene had been off his game. He’d noticed him not being interested in cuddling, or having sex last night, or this morning.

Which was odd.

The man liked guzzling cum, and rolling around naked more than anyone he knew.

Plus, now he had a ‘cold’.

In a full year, he had never seen Gene get sick one single, solitary time. He took vitamins, drank orange juice, and washed his hands compulsively.

Ethan was pretty sure he was faking that cold, since he seemed fine when they were working their case, but now that they’d wrapped it, and were off until after Christmas, he was not around.

There wasn’t a sneeze.

There wasn’t a cough.

Hell.

He didn’t see him take any medicine.

And that morning, Ethan woke up to a note, and now, he was freaking out.

Where was his man?

Had he changed his mind about being in a relationship with him? Because since last night, they didn’t watch a movie, or cuddle.

Someone was not feeling Ethan this Christmas after all.

He came home earlier, dropped off some groceries he bought for their holiday feast, that Christmas hot dish, and then hauled ass again.

With a quick kiss that was it. He headed back out and said he forgot a present.

He’d be back.

So Ethan had time to think, and that was adding to Ethan’s freakout.

Maybe Gene was telling him to try harder.

So, he would.

Blackhawk was going to try to make it a good night. The sun was down, and he wanted to surprise Gene with some dinner, and maybe some romance.

There was Christmas music playing softly on the stereo, and that was the first thing he’d hear when he came in.

Hopefully, setting the scene would make up for his inadequacies when it came to buying Christmas presents.

God.

He hoped so.

Turning on the tree lights, he started some sauce, knowing that Gene loved pasta.

It was his favorite food, and they ate it more often than not. They ate it in all forms.

A lasagna.

Bolognese.

Alfredo.

But when Ethan put on the sauce, nothing made Gene want to ditch his clothes quicker than the prospect that they were having it for dinner.

So, that was going to be the start.

The way to his man’s heart was through his stomach, and Ethan loved feeding him. It gave him that warm fuzzy feeling when Gene was happily eating pasta.

After they ate, Ethan had more plans.

He’d put on a movie, and maybe they could make out on the couch.

If you both ate the garlic, no one noticed during the kissing—or that was what Gene said.

Up to that point, he hadn’t noticed anyone having garlic breath.

So as he listened to some Christmas music, he waited for the man to come home as he tried to salvage his mood and pretend he wasn’t about to get dumped for being a holiday wet blanket.

God.

He was so scared.

It had to be about an hour later, when the sauce was almost done, and all Ethan had to do was drop the pasta when the door opened.

Immediately, he heard Gene’s keys being placed into the bowl at the door before he headed his way.

Gene looked fine, but when Ethan came around the corner, he jumped.

“Hey!” he said.

Ethan was wary.

He smelled like…something. What he knew was there was a scent on his man that hadn’t been there when he left.

What was this?

Was that cologne?

What?

It smelled…masculine.

Oh, Jesus.

Was his man out with someone else?

All of those insecurities overwhelmed him, and that panic began. He’d had the best nine months of his life. Yeah, Javier Hughes was out there, trying to find him.

And work was a mess.

But Gene…Gene had been his stability.

Gene had given him nine months to remember, and that had changed him from angry and miserable to a productive member of society.

“Oh, hey, EJ,” Gene said, not expecting his man to be lingering.

But he was.

Ethan moved closer. As an investigator, he needed to make sure what he was smelling was what he was smelling.

When he reached him, he gave his man a kiss.

Gene kissed him back, and that seemed normal enough. Okay, maybe this was all his imagination, and Gene was just being…himself.

When Ethan broke the kiss, he tried to figure this all out. When he was confused, he asked Gene, but he couldn’t do that in this case.

What he did know was that this didn’t seem like a good time to accuse him of shady behavior.

Until he had proof.

“So, you’ve been gone all day,” Ethan said, not sure how to ask anything at this point.

The man smiled, and it didn’t reach his eyes.

Truth be told, Gene dreaded coming home, because it was getting harder and harder to keep his Christmas surprise hidden.

At some point, Ethan was going to figure out he was keeping something from him, and he knew he was an idiot to do this to him.

Only, in for a penny.

In for a pound.

“Oh, I had some shopping to do,” he admitted, lying his ass off. The bulk of his shopping was done last night, but he’d had to go back out to pick up one more thing he’d forgotten.

Ethan lifted a brow.

Were they really doing this? And was he really this big of an idiot for ruining their relationship with jealousy?

Yes.

Yes, he was.

“Oh, where are the things?” he asked, continuing to question him, and having no goddamn control. He smelled something masculine on his man, and that screamed one thing.

Cheating.

Oh, and Ethan knew what that felt like to his soul because he’d been to this rodeo once before, and it changed his whole life.

From where he stood, Gene knew this was going to be problematic. Only an idiot tried to keep a secret from a fellow Fed—who they were sleeping with and in love with.

“Tucked away,” he said, toeing off his shoes. Then, he changed the subject. “Is that sauce I smell?” he asked, grinning.

Nope.

That wasn’t happening.

Blackhawk knew a diversion when he heard it. Someone was forgetting he played in the minds of the guilty every single day of his life.

Now, Ethan was full-blown suspicious.

As for the presents, there was no place to ‘tuck away’ things. They had his car, and Gene’s truck. There was no trunk for his truck, so that felt…

Like a lie.

All of their presents were wrapped and under the tree already.

So, the game began.

Ethan began trapping his prey.

“Yeah, I’m making dinner. We’re off until after Christmas, and I thought we could have a nice night on the couch.

He moved at him, and wrapped his arms around his neck.

Gene smiled, and again, it still didn’t reach his eyes. Something was going on right under his nose.

He’d bet on it.

So, he went there.

“It’s not ready yet. We have some time. By any chance do you want to go get naked with me?” he asked, tugging on the man’s earlobe.

He wanted to see if he was going to fake being ill again. If he did, with the scent of someone else on him, he knew for a fact…

Gene had to be cheating.

Blackhawk knew his man. Gene wanted to have sex nonstop. He wanted to always be naked with him. Now, for two days, nothing? The man was consistent if anything.

With that evening suggestion, Gene knew he was out of options.

“I’m still a little under the weather,” he admitted, trying to put space between them. “Maybe we should put that off for a bit. I don’t want to get you sick.”

Too late.

Ethan was feeling sick at that very moment.

When he’d been against him, Ethan could smell that scent on him, and it was definitely not from him.

This was off.

WAY.

OFF.

“Oh,” he said.

From the tone of that, Gene knew he was fucked. He had the perfect Christmas gift for Ethan, but it was so damn hard to keep it from him.

He knew the man was suspicious. He was his partner, so he knew him best.

Only, he’d gotten a tattoo yesterday afternoon, and now, he couldn’t get naked with the man.

It would be easily spotted or felt under his shirt.

Trust him.

Not having sex with Ethan was virtually impossible for Gene. All he thought about was taking the man to bed, and spending hours naked with him.

That was how he wanted to die.

In bed with Ethan.

Even now, Gene was hard, his balls ached, and all he wanted was to toss the man over his shoulder, go to their bedroom, turn on the fire, and hump him like a bear in the woods in front of the fireplace.

But then, his big gift was ruined.

As soon as he said that, Ethan began backing up to put space between them, and the look on his face…

Uh-oh.

Gene just did something really bad. So he tried to cover, making it better.

“Maybe we can have dinner on the couch, and…”

Ethan didn’t know what was going on, but he knew something bad was happening. When Gene didn’t want to have sex, or didn’t want to be intimate or near him, this was a problem.

Two days in a row?

No.

This was off.

Blackhawk knew to trust his gut.

It had been nine months of nothing but sex. They had sex in the shower in the morning. They rolled around in bed at night, and they even found time while working to take a lunch break just to fornicate.

It had been nine months of pulling off each other’s clothes to get off.

And now, nothing.

Ethan had that sick feeling he was about to be dumped for Christmas. It was all his fault too.

He was broken and couldn’t behave like a normal person. He was so damaged that what seemed like his best attempt was always going to be minimal.

“EJ,” Gene began, seeing that hurt in his eyes.

Only, he didn’t get to say anything.

Ethan did.

“That’s fine,” he admitted. “It’s for the best,” he said. “We don’t belong together.”

Holy fuckity!

What?

Gene blinked.

Those words came out of nowhere and caught him off guard.

“Wait. What does that mean? What do you mean we don’t belong together?” he asked, regretting this Christmas present now more than ever.

He hurt him.

From where he stood, Ethan was overwhelmed. He felt like his happy world was closing in on him, and he couldn’t breathe.

He’d lost it all.

Again.

For the second time in his life, he’d been cheated on, and that sucked.

He was losing Gene.

No.

He lost Gene.

The man was the only thing keeping him afloat. His whole world was…him, and now, it was ripped out from under him.

“EJ. Explain,” Gene said, his pulse thumping.

So he did.

“It means you are making pathetic excuses, so you don’t have to be intimate with me. I’m not dumb, Gene. I can tell when I’m being given the blow off. You don’t want to be with me anymore. I’m about to be hurt in ways I never saw coming from you.”

Yeah, and this had been Ethan’s fear that one day, he’d wake up and be tired of how exhausting loving him was.

And he’d leave too.

Now, Gene was so regretful that he’d planned this present. He had inadvertently ignored the ramifications that might happen by sneaking around to make it happen.

Ethan was suspicious on a good day, and Gene knew he’d been damaged before.

Uh-oh.

This was bad.

Ethan wasn’t done.

“On top of that, you disappeared yesterday and today. Now, you’re blowing me off.”

Yep.

He’d fucked this up.

Gene tried to salvage this without telling him what he’d been doing. It was the only way to salvage Christmas.

“I was really out buying you something,” Gene said, and that was the truth.

He was.

He’d gone shopping today and he found a gorgeous St. Michael medallion. It was gold, and he’d gotten it engraved too.

On the back, he’d had it lovingly marked for the man he was crazy about.

It was a talisman of sorts so that the man who carried his heart was always protected.

‘Stay Safe, Love Gene’.

Yesterday was the tattoo, but legitimately, he had gone shopping to pick up the last things, and then remembered he’d forgotten the gift certificate he’d gotten for Ethan to get some more ink.

Now, they were tucked away under the seat in his truck—where the nosy man couldn’t find his gifts.

Ethan wasn’t done. With each step Gene made toward him, Ethan retreated.

“And you smell like someone else two days in a row. You smell like patchouli, and I don’t wear that. I thought maybe you went looking to buy cologne, but two days in a row?”

Again, that was because he had to go back to the tattoo shop, and get the gift certificate he’d bought and forgotten. The shop had that shit burning the whole time he’d been in there.

“EJ,” he said, moving toward him again.

Only, Ethan was in full panic mode.

He wasn’t in control, and he was unable to be rational. He’d tasted happiness and love, and now, it was being stolen again.

Like with Callen.

“If you’re not happy with me, and have found someone else, you’re going to break me,” he warned, his voice barely over a whisper. “I told you not to break my heart when I gave it to you. You promised me.”

Oh, holy fuck.

Did he really think that he would cheat on him?

HIM?

The man was fucking drop-dead gorgeous, smart, and the perfect man. He’d have to be so goddamn dumb to cheat on him.

Oh, and Gene wasn’t dumb. When they went somewhere, everyone stared at the man he was with. From the dark silky hair, to the cheekbones that were the envy of models everywhere…

There was no doubt that Gene had dated up on that scale. He was average, but Ethan was spectacular. That was why Gene worked so hard when it came to keeping him.

Ethan Jackson Blackhawk was a treasure, and he wasn’t giving it up.

That wasn’t ever happening.

He could bet on that.

“Ethan!”

But it was too late.

The demons were back, and now, he had to put space between them. He turned and headed away, walking past the stove to turn it off before he stormed toward their room.

The one he wasn’t sharing anymore.

Gene began freaking out.

Oh, this was exactly what he didn’t want to happen. Now, he had to stop Ethan from hurting when he was the reason Ethan was hurting.

“Ethan!” he said, following, only to reach the bedroom door and have it slammed in his face.

And the door lock.

“Come on, Ethan! Open the door,” he said, resting his head on it. “I’m not cheating on you. I’d never cheat on you! I love you!”

Yep.

Silence.

Gene knew he’d fucked this up. He knew Ethan had that fear, and that terror of being abandoned. Gene knew he couldn’t keep secrets from him, or be suspicious.

And he’d rationalized it to himself that it would be okay since it was for Christmas presents.

This was the one time of the year you did sketchy shit to surprise your loved ones.

Well, he’d been off the mark on this one.

BIG-TIME.

In his defense, he didn’t think the Christmas present shopping would set this off in him. Gene believed he’d put two and two together, and realize that lovers did secret things this time of the year, and you didn’t question it.

Oh, Gene had been wrong because he’d forgotten that Ethan never celebrated Christmas like a normal person. He’d been trapped in a life before that was a prison to happiness.

Well, now, he had to fix it.

And fast.

“Ethan!” he said, banging on the door.

He heard the other door close, and he knew the man was in their bathroom—locked away from him.

Well, that wasn’t happening.

It was time for him to explain.

Pulling out his wallet, he grabbed a credit card, and shoved it into the crack in the door.

And slid it down.

When the lock popped open, he headed toward the bathroom and heard Ethan being sick.

Oh, Jesus.

He’d fucked this up.

He’d fucked this up good too.

The last thing he wanted the man to suspect was there was someone else.

There.

Was.

Not.

He was madly, stupidly in love with him, and now, he’d made a horrible mess.

Of everything.

Gene knew he was going to have one chance to fix this, or he was losing Ethan forever.

And that would kill him.

Ethan was his whole heart.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Javier Hughes

Home

Across Town

Oh, he was a rich but desperate man, and there was nothing he wanted more than to find Ethan Blackhawk.

Well, maybe find him and make him his.

Apparently, the two men were going to play hide-and-seek, and Agent Cantrell was going to try and keep his prize hidden from him.

See, Javier didn’t spend much time in jail after the raid on SYN, but he did spend a night in the clink, only to get out and find his gilded bird had flown the coop.

He.

Was.

Gone.

They had moved out of their rental, and slipped away. Honestly, he wasn’t sure the man was even in Philadelphia.

And that pissed him off.

He would have blamed Diesel, but he was in jail alongside him, and they didn’t get to keep an eye on the man.

By the time his attorney got him and his security out, Ethan had flown away.

And tucked himself somewhere.

They’d been smart to hide their vehicles, and he couldn’t find them. The city was big, and Javier was getting angrier with each passing day.

It had been too long.

MONTHS.

He hadn’t had his muse in months.

Well, he was going to find him, and change that if it was the last thing he did.

It was only a matter of time.

Javier would have his security find him, and then have Diesel follow him home.

If he could find him, but the man was being sneaky.

Every night, he drove a different federal vehicle home, or that was what he suspected. The FBI had no address on file for either man, and he knew that because he owned a director.

Yeah, he couldn’t find him.

There was no sign of his Mustang, or the man’s truck, and that had to mean he was eluding him.

Kudos for him.

Only, it made him want the man even more. It made him desperate for him, and when he did finally get him, he was going to punish him severely.

That would be what happened when someone wasted his time. His bird would be caged, and he’d never play again. In fact, he had a cell for him in his basement, just waiting for him.

He loved it when his birds played hide-and-seek. It made finding him all the sweeter, and punishment would be swift. He’d chain him to a wall for a few days without food and water, and that bird would sing a different tune.

They always did.

Now, he had only one question.

“Diesel, did the private detectives find him yet?” he asked.

Oh, boy.

Diesel dreaded that one question.

The man asked it multiple times a day.

“No, Mr. Hughes, they haven’t found him,” Diesel admitted, hoping the man’s patience didn’t run out. He’d been borderline obsessed with him.

He laughed, chortling out of control.

“He’s magnificent, Diesel. He found a way to stay off my radar. I also have been cockblocked by Gabriel Rothschild, the Deputy Director. I have to give my gilded bird credit. He loves playing hard to get.”

Diesel said nothing.

He needed his job, and now that Syn was caput, he really needed Javier to pay his salary.

“We’ll keep looking.”

The man nodded.

“I need to buy him something for Christmas. Something that will make him happy.”

Diesel was curious.

“What would you like me to get for him, Mr. Hughes?”

He contemplated it.

Well, it was more a gift for himself, but eventually, Ethan would understand that sometimes, when you didn’t play by the rules, people got hurt.

PEOPLE you loved.

“I want you to put a bullet in his worthless partner’s heart, and end his life.”

Oh, fuck.

This was bad.

“Mr. Hughes?”

He turned in his chair, taking a break from watching the video of the one Fed shaking his ass in the club. It had been on a constant loop for months.

Javier watched it over and over again.

“You heard me. Don’t hit my sweet Ethan, but put lead in his disgusting ogre of a bedfellow. Then, when he’s dead, the next chance you get, bring me Ethan Blackhawk. I don’t care how much you hurt him to get him to me. He deserves it. I’m having him altered. I’m taking his manhood from him for taking my time and wasting it.”

Oh, boy.

Diesel crossed his legs.

That was harsh.

Even for this man.

“Mr. Hughes, the attorney said…”

He cut him off.

“Do you like your salary, Diesel?” he asked, alluding as to where that was going.

He swallowed.

“Yes, Sir.”

Javier was to the point.

“Then, how about this? If you hit him with a bullet, you get it doubled. If you make him bleed, you get three times the salary. If you kill him…”

If he killed him, he was going to jail for killing a cop and then the money wouldn’t matter. He’d never see his kids again.

He was going to the chair.

“Your wife and children will have an endless supply of money for a new house, college educations, and cars. I will take care of them.”

Well, crap.

“Do you know what I’m asking you to do?” he asked.

The man nodded.

It looked like he had no choice. He was going to have to find the agent, and end his life so that he could give his wife and children the life they deserved.

“I understand, Mr. Hughes.”

That was all he had to hear.

Javier pushed play on the video, and watched Ethan give the man head, in his now destroyed club.

“I want to give him the gift of freedom from that man,” he stated. “And give myself the gift of Ethan Blackhawk chained to my bed to never to be free again.”

And Diesel knew.

He was holly, jolly fucked.

Chapter Two

The Condominium

Repair Time

Wednesday Night

To Gene, the most important thing on his list of holiday priorities was to fix what he’d inadvertently broken with his man. He felt horrible too, since he knew that his mate had to be handled with kid gloves.

Ethan was fragile when it came to his heart, and his trust, and Gene knew he’d taken a few missteps while preparing for Christmas.

It was a lesson learned for next Christmas, but until that time, it came down to the here and now.

It was up to him to make it right.

If he lost Ethan over this, he’d never survive either. That seemed to be something Ethan was forgetting. They were intrinsically tied together at the job, and forever at the heart. Those bonds wouldn’t break or fray.

They’d always be there.

For now, all he wanted was to have a really special first Christmas together so they could build on that, making a unit for themselves.

They were a family now, or had been until he snuck around, making the man suspicious.

Honestly, Gene knew that he should have just told him the truth, and then let the surprise be WHAT tattoo he picked out.

Now he knew that Ethan saw and noticed everything, so there could be no sneaking around for presents.

Lesson learned.

When his credit card wouldn’t open that bathroom door, he got a screwdriver and popped the lock, not giving a shit if it never worked again.

Oh, well, but the FBI wasn’t getting that security deposit back.

Not.

At.

All.

When he went in, Ethan was sitting on the floor, after tossing up everything in his belly.

The second he saw Gene, he turned his head, tucking himself into a small ball in the corner like he could disappear and not be seen.

It was very reminiscent of a child who had been hurt in unimaginable ways.

The scene broke his heart.

Because this was on him, Gene moved toward him, and Ethan shook his head.

“Please don’t. You broke me. I trusted you and you hurt me in ways you’ll never know. I won’t recover from any more betrayal. It’ll be my end,” he whispered.

That made him ill himself.

Someone was struggling, and this was on Gene to make it right.

So, he got down on his knees in front of him, so that they could talk.

When he touched his leg, Ethan flinched, and all Gene could hope for was what they’d begun building wasn’t destroyed.

Over a misunderstanding.

A holiday one.

“Baby,” he said, getting Ethan to look at him. “Let me explain. If you just listen, you’ll understand. When you hear what’s going on, you’ll not hurt anymore.”

Ethan stared at him, tears dripping from his lashes. He didn’t even have any fight left in him.

It was gone.

Losing Gene would break him all over again, and here he was, lost.

And scared.

Honestly, as he puked up his stomach contents, he was contemplating his next move.

There was only one.

Ethan Blackhawk, the man who wanted to climb the FBI ladder more than anything in his life was going to turn in his badge and tuck tail to head home.

What choice did he have?

He couldn’t deal with this pain anymore. Gene had been the ONLY thing that made him forget about his whole past, and now, he couldn’t deal with being so empty.

His dreams…

They were dead.

They were killed by trust.

Murdered by love.

When he went to turn his head, so he didn’t have to look at the man who did him in, Gene took his chin in his fingers and forced him to look at him.

“No. You’re going to listen to me. I’m not going to let you hide on me, Ethan.”

He stared at him.

“Why?” Ethan asked. “Why break me? I’ve tried so hard to be what you need.”

Gene knew he didn’t have much time.

The mire was getting deeper, and Ethan would go under at some point. Then, once he hit the anger part, he’d never get him back.

Ever.

“EJ, I’m not having an affair. I’m not sleeping with anyone else. I only want to have sex with you. I want to be naked with the man I love.”

He didn’t understand.

Clearly, he wasn’t ‘under the weather’.

“Then why are you avoiding touching me?” he asked. “It just turned off yesterday. You don’t want to touch me anymore.”

Gene knew he didn’t have a choice.

His big Christmas present was shot to shit because he’d done this wrong.

There was a myriad of ways he could have done this that would have been far kinder and not as damaging. He knew that with Ethan, he couldn’t keep secrets, even if it was a Christmas present.

He’d been too damaged by his past for that. Gene was good at thinking on his feet.

He’d figure how to do next Christmas a little better.

So, he explained.

“I wanted to give you a special gift for Christmas,” Gene said. “That’s why I smelled like patchouli.”

Ethan didn’t understand.

Gene continued.

“I went and got a tattoo. So I couldn’t let you touch me or see me naked.”

In that second, it began registering, and there was that tiny glimmer of hope coming back.

Ethan blinked.

“Wait. Really?”

It looked as if Christmas was coming a little earlier. It was time for the reveal.

Gene pulled off his sweater, and then his t-shirt so that he could show him the ink on his ribs.

Ethan was caught completely off guard.

“I got it for you for Christmas. It’s one of your Christmas presents. The shop had patchouli burning inside, and that’s why I smell like it. I really was shopping today. I went back to get you a gift certificate so you could get another tattoo if you wanted, and I was back in the smelly shop again.”

Ethan was staring at the plastic bandages over Gene’s ribs. It hit him hard.

No one but Callen had ever given him the gift of a tattoo. He’d worked a summer job to afford one, and then surprised him.

He hadn’t been expecting this.

Gene’s body was pristine. He had absolutely no ink whatsoever, until now.

He looked up at him.

“Oh.”

Gene wasn’t done. It was clear Ethan was putting the facts together, and he was realizing that he’d jumped to the wrong conclusions.

Granted, Gene was to blame for planting those clues instead of being upfront and completely honest with him.

“Then, I really was shopping for you. I put your other gifts I got today in my truck under the seat. It’s damn hard to hide presents from you, and I can see that I did this all wrong. I made you think something that is horrible, when I was just trying to make this Christmas special.”

That sat there.

It caught Ethan off guard again, but this time, in a good way.

“So you’re not in love with someone else and don’t want me anymore?” he asked.

Gene heard that hurt, and he knew he had to make this right.

This man’s heart had been damaged so many times that he automatically went with the worst-case scenario, and he didn’t blame him.

They had very different childhoods.

VERY.

DIFFERENT.

Gene lifted his chin, so he was staring at him again.

“I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that I am incredibly attracted to you, madly in love with you, and would have to be out of my goddamn mind to cheat on you. Ethan, you’re perfect. There is absolutely nothing that would make me have an affair. I’m a monogamous kind of a guy. If I, for some cockamamie reason, fell out of love with you, I’d come to you and tell you. I’d never betray my partner. Ever.”

He sat there, and felt so dumb.

This was just one more reason he believed he didn’t deserve this man. He was good, kind, and…Ethan forgot that. He’d assumed, and he was wrong.

VERY.

WRONG.

“I thought you really were tired of me.”

Oh, well, that was never happening.

Not in this lifetime, anyway.

Instead, he held out his hand, and when his lover took it, he pulled Ethan to his feet.

“I’m not tired of you, EJ. I’m more in love with you every day. I just wanted to surprise you, but I miscalculated, and I didn’t think that you’d assume me not wanting to get naked with you would be me cheating on you. I thought I could go two days, and not raise suspicion.”

Ethan’s heart felt so much better. That sadness disappeared, and instead, he felt whole again.

He wasn’t losing his only anchor to the light. He wasn’t losing his Gene.

This man was the only person who had ever protected his heart.

Before Gene could say anything else, Ethan was on him, and holding onto his body. He hugged him, holding on for dear life.

Immediately, Gene wrapped his arms around him to protect the man.

“It’s okay, my love. I’ve got you,” Gene said, soothing him. He was shaking and that proved how terrified he was that he was losing him.

That was huge.

Ethan was a Fed.

He walked toward the killers.

For him to be this scared told the tale. That was absolute love, and Gene never had to doubt it.

“I’d never cheat on you, EJ. I love you far too much to do that. I’ll love you until the day I die. Nothing in this world will stop that. Even if you stopped loving me, I’ll always love you. You have my whole heart.”

As he listened, Ethan took in the scent of his skin, and how strong he was. He’d put on some weight, and it only made him sexier. That bulk really got his juices flowing. He truly hoped Gene always stayed big and bulky.

It was incredibly erotic and hot.

This man was his type.

Because he knew Gene wouldn’t hold it against him, he began by leaving kisses on his neck.

Then, he apologized.

The only saving grace was Gene was the calmest person he knew in the whole world. He didn’t get angry easily.

“I’m sorry I assumed the worst. It just scared me.”

Gene didn’t care.

He wasn’t angry with Ethan.

He got it.

As long as they were good now, and he’d learned that they couldn’t take this path again, he could figure out a new way to surprise him at Christmas.

Blackhawk set him free.

“I am really sorry. You’re consistent, and when you’re not consistent, it makes me go insane, clearly.”

Gene smiled.

Well, now he knew.

Being with Ethan was a privilege but it was a learning experience. He was working on a curve here, but he wouldn’t change that for the world.

He was worth it.

It was time to make up, and that was always the best part of a disagreement.

“Well, since I’m half naked and we’re almost in the bedroom, do you want to maybe make it up to me in bed?” he asked.

Ethan wiped his eyes but before he could say anything, Gene took over.

Thank God.

He needed a strong person to help him survive, and Gene was it.

Gene took his face in his hands, and stared into his eyes.

“Baby, I’m never cheating. I was just being Christmas present sneaky. We’ve been through so much that I think you can let me have the two weeks before Christmas to act bizarre and strange in the name of shopping. That’s all it will ever be. I’m trying to woo my man with Christmas presents.”

He actually laughed.

Yeah, that sounded like a good compromise.

“I think I can let that happen if I get the same accommodation. Now, I know I have to up my game. A tattoo, Mr. Cantrell? So sexy.”

And they’d navigated another minefield.

Successfully

“Well, I have a man who is covered in sexy ink, and I wanted to join the club. I figured my first tattoo should be about the most important person in my life.”

Ethan’s heart skipped.

God.

That was so sweet.

“Now that we’ve compromised, that’s our deal. The two weeks before Christmas, I can do sketchy shit in the name of buying you presents. I swear on my heart and soul, it will only be about shopping. I promise.”

And Gene had NEVER broken a promise to him, so he could give him trust.

Honestly, Ethan was just so grateful that the man wasn’t cheating on him that he’d meet him halfway on just about anything.

His heart had hurt so bad when he thought Gene was tired of him. Now, he had hope again, and it made him want to do better himself.

“Deal, Mr. Cantrell,” he offered.

Well, that was a disaster adverted.

Because he needed it, Gene nuzzled him with his cheek as he held onto him. That had been far too close.

For comfort.

Only, now, Gene had another problem.

“Can I see it?” Ethan asked, curiously.

Gene laughed.

Yep.

He was down a Christmas present.

“Yeah, Baby, you can see it,” he said, smiling at him. “I hope you love it, since I got it for you.”

When he stepped back, Gene pointed.

“Go ahead. Unwrap it.”

Ethan slowly peeled the plastic edges off of the bandages, and started to reveal the tattoo. It was done in black ink, like ALL of Ethan’s ink.

What astounded him was the location. It was on his ribs, quite possibly the most painful place to get ink.

When the plastic was off, he found a raven. Only, this raven was tribal looking, and made with three numbers in its body.

It was a nine, a six, and a nine.

That’s when it hit.

“That’s our brownstone’s address back in Georgetown,” he admitted.

Gene smiled.

“I wanted to remind you that we will get back there, and that I carry you and our home with me wherever we go.”

He missed home.

He missed their bed.

He missed DC.

That this man was so cognizant, even as they fought for their lives here, that touched him.

Ethan Blackhawk’s heart was so full of love that tears filled his eyes.

He’d been so stupid.

This man was pure goodness and love. No one had ever cared about him like this. The only person who ever got a tattoo for him was his brother, and that had ended.

But Gene…

He.

Had.

Gene.

“It’s beautiful,” he said, thinking about his own raven tattoo, and how he now had a tie to Gene forever. They were linked at the heart, and ink.

Gene palmed his cheek with his big hand.

“I want you to know that you’re loved and cherished. Wherever this relationship goes, I want you to know I was invested from the start. You are the one, Ethan. You’re my person.”

Ethan stared into his eyes and saw nothing but the absolute truth.

He was honest.

“This is a really special gift. I don’t need anything else for Christmas. I have you and this reminder of our home together.”

He had bad news for him.

“Oh, I’ve shopped. You’re getting more presents, but now, let me give you one more.”

Ethan stood there.

“Uh, okay.”

Holding out his hand, Ethan put his fingers in Gene’s and the man tugged him forward. When he did, Ethan landed against him, and Gene’s mouth found his.

HUNGRILY.

He devoured him, kissing Ethan like his life depended on it, because it did. He couldn’t stand the idea of not having this man in his world.

He loved him.

As he kissed him, their bodies came alive and there was a very big difference in how Ethan felt twenty minutes ago and now. That fear was gone, and now, all he wanted was Gene.

He needed him.

He craved him.

He couldn’t live without him.

As he was locked to the man, his mouth sealed to his, and his body was on autopilot. Oh, he knew this pleasure well, and it called to him.

He craved Gene.

Slowly, he broke the kiss, and both men were breathless.

“I need you, EJ. It’s been two days. I hate not being with you every second of the day. It’s been hell not letting you touch me, or tasting you.”

He understood that.

Ethan relied on him so much.

“Yes,” he said, as he found his mouth again, and this time, they began walking backward toward the bedroom, bumping into things along the way.

Gene’s hands were in his hair, and Ethan’s hands were down the back of his lover’s jeans, as he had handfuls of his ass.

God.

He loved his ass.

There was no doubt he’d forever be an ass man because of Gene.

“Hurry,” Ethan whispered into the kiss as that fire was back, and it was consuming the both of them.

They were both going up in flames.

Oh, and they never wanted anything less.

When the back of his legs hit the bed, Ethan began pulling his own shirt off to get free of his things. He wanted to be naked with his man.

Gene helped.

He needed his man naked, so he could worship his body like he craved.

Like he desired.

Like he needed to survive.

He helped Ethan get his shirt off, only breaking the kiss to do that.

“God, yes,” Ethan whispered, as Gene tugged at the button on his jeans. “Get me naked. I need you.”

Oh, well, the feeling was mutual.

He could bet on that.

Two days without having this man under him in bed and in him was two too many days for Gene. He was feverish from the lack of nakedness.

He couldn’t contain himself.

That desire had him by the throat.

Together, they got their pants open, shoved down, and somehow out of them, only to be back on each other again.

Hands wandered, and Ethan was careful of the man’s ribs. He wanted to protect him, and show him how much he cared about him.

Oh, but the rest of his body was free game, and he was going to prove it.

As for Gene, he couldn’t wait any longer.

He pushed Ethan backward, and they tumbled onto the bed, naked, horny, and ready for each other. The storm was hitting, and it was going to be a wild, frenetic one.

That was for sure.

The battle began.

It was a battle of mouth and need.

Desire and heat.

Lust and love.

The kisses were scorching hot, and both men succumbed to that desire.

It was when Gene had Ethan’s erection in his hand, that the man moaned.

“Please,” he begged. “I need you,” he whispered, his body wracked with so much lust that it was consuming him alive.

Oh, well, Gene knew how that felt. He needed Ethan, too, but this was going to be slow, meticulous, and to show him how he would never not need and love him.

He was going to torture him with pleasure.

Ethan’s body shook as that trail of hot, openmouthed kisses began their trek downward to his dick. They took a detour across his abs, around his belly button, and right toward his erection.

Blackhawk shook in anticipation, as his lover destroyed his control.

He’d been so scared of losing Gene, but now, his heart felt full again. He felt so alive, and Ethan wanted to always feel that.

As Gene reached his erection, he took him deep into his mouth, and began blowing him.

This was the best way to celebrate the holiday.

With head.

Blackhawk moaned, and his body shook as Gene was blowing him and jerking him off at the same time. He was working over his erection, knowing he was weak when it came to the man blowing him.

Yeah, Ethan knew he wouldn’t last long.

He never did.

When you loved someone, you fell into that pleasure and trusted they’d keep you afloat.

And Gene always would.

Ethan believed that.

As he tormented him, Ethan’s body crisscrossed with a plethora of goosebumps, so much so, that he warned him.

“Gene, if you keep that up, I’m cumming,” he muttered, as his fists were clenched in their bedding, and he tried to not slip and fall.

Only, Gene wanted that.

He wanted to watch him break apart, and he wanted to watch him take that tumble into pleasure. It gave Gene the greatest thrill to take care of his man sexually.

On top of that, a rumpled Ethan was a sexy Ethan.

Driving him down his throat, he let his fingers wander, and the second they touched Ethan intimately, the man broke apart, shouting his name.

“Gene!” he said, his whole body reacting to the probing and oral pleasure.

As he came, Gene swallowed the copious amount of cum from his lover, nearly choking on it. Two days of not cumming was always a belly full of cum.

Because he loved it, Gene gulped it down, and he couldn’t get enough.

He wanted more.

Gene wanted all.

Moving up his body, he left a trail of kisses, as he waited for Ethan to surface from the pleasure.

When he opened those sexy blue-black eyes, he was focused on the man.

“Thank you for the Christmas present,” he said.

Gene smiled.

“I’m glad my first tattoo is one I’ll have that ties me to you forever,” he admitted.

It was just a raven, but it was part of Ethan, so part of him.

When Ethan rolled, getting Gene on the bottom, he straddled his lap, and stayed focused on his eyes.

Ethan wanted to give him something.

For the first time in his life, he wanted to say the words out loud. Oh, he’d said them to Callen, and his grandfather, but never a lover.

“Gene?”

He lifted a brow.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“I have something for you too.”

Gene didn’t know where this was going, but he loved being on this ride.

“What?” he asked.

Ethan opened his heart, and let the man have all of him. He trusted him. It took nine months, living through hell, and fighting tooth-and-nail for their survival, but the man had earned it.

Gene had proved he meant what he said, and would always be there for him.

“I love you.”

It was a punch to the chest.

Those words hit him so hard that he couldn’t even breathe. Yes, he’d heard him say the words in his sleep, but now, he was saying them to him.

Tears filled his eyes.

“That’s the only present I ever wanted or needed,” he whispered. “EJ, that’s all I ever wanted from you. Now, my whole world is complete.”

They had been hard to say not because he didn’t love him, but because he was afraid he’d break him.

But Gene earned them.

He’d proven he’d protect him and his heart.

He’d proven he could be trusted with the only thing Ethan had left after losing his whole world so many times.

Love.

“I love you so much, and thank you for being mine,” Ethan added.

Gene sat up, and they were mouth-to-mouth, and there was so much love between them.

How much?

He kissed him again, and it made his whole body vibrate with pure joy.

He.

Was.

Loved.

For the first time in his life, he found his other half, and he would fight to keep him.

Their tangle of mouths told the tale, and it was when Ethan broke the kiss, pushed him back, and went down his body that Gene wanted to celebrate.

He’d never forget this Christmas for as long as he lived.

Ethan was finally his.

All of him.

As Blackhawk gave his lover head, he worked him hard, knowing what Gene liked. From the moans, whispers, and begging, it was crystal clear that he was lost in the pleasure.

Exactly how he wanted him.

Just as Ethan was about to push him over the edge, he backed off, and changed it up.

Gene whimpered from the torment, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Please, I need you,” he admitted. “Fill me. Take what’s yours,” he offered.

Well, if that was what his man wanted, so be it.

He’d take that present too.

Setting his dick free, Ethan placed his thighs over his, and got into position.

He knew that Gene didn’t cum yet, and he would.

With him.

At the nudge of his dick to his ass, Gene shook. It was always so goddamn hot to feel the man take him.

“Yes, God! Please, EJ. Fill me.”

That was the plan.

His body was heated, and all Ethan wanted was to do just that. He wanted this man to know how much he cared and loved him.

So, slowly, excruciatingly so, he slipped into his ass, burying himself balls deep in him. He claimed his lover, and knew Gene would always own this part of him.

No.

Matter.

What.

Gene shook at the invasion, and he loved how he felt. He loved how his lover was giving him everything he’d ever craved.

“Please,” he whispered, as Ethan began moving in and out of his ass.

His hips did the work, and the whole time, he was above Gene, staring down at him.

They were locked to each other, and the pleasure was mind-blowing. Gene never wanted it to end. What began as a fishing trip of fucking, had come to a beautiful place of joy and love.

He was home.

Ethan was his happy place.

“Oh, God,” Ethan whispered, as the man was milking his dick with the muscles in his ass. He was making it so damn hard to hold on.

“Harder,” he begged, and he was given that.

Gene stroked his dick, needing to cum. He wanted to explode, and be filled at the same time.

“I love you,” Gene whispered. “I love you so much,” he vowed, as if the man needed to hear that.

Because he did.

Ethan moaned.

“Not. Lasting. Long,” he whispered, as Gene’s body rippled with need, and his ass was almost too much to handle. It was hot, tight, and perfection.

Gene could feel his own balls tucking up into his groin, and he knew he was just about done.

With one deep, long stroke into his body, the angle just right, he hit Gene in that perfect spot, shoving him off the edge.

He.

Came.

Hard.

His dick exploded, and his body pulled Ethan over the edge with him, making him cum deep within his bowels.

“Oh, fuck,” Ethan whispered, as his vision wavered, and Gene’s cum splashed against his neck and chest. That wet warmth had become something he craved.

And he loved every second of it.

Lowering his body, Gene took him in his arms, and held him as they both rode out the wave of pleasure, getting dirty together.

Ethan was tucked against him, and there wasn’t a better place to be.

This man was his happy place.

“EJ, so good,” Gene whispered as he felt his erection slipping from his ass, and he nestled into his side to cuddle.

God.

He loved cuddling.

Never before in his life had it become so vital to his happiness and joy. Gene had learned that with Ethan. This was essential to being a couple.

Cuddling mattered.

“Mmmmhmmm,” he muttered, his body still experiencing that wave of pleasure.

This was how he loved to live.

Like this.

When Ethan felt the tender kiss to his temple, he looked into his lover’s eyes. Gene was watching him, and he knew he was thinking.

“Just say it,” Ethan said. “I’m good,” he admitted, not sure what he was going to say.

“Did you mean it?” Gene asked.

Ethan smiled.

“I absolutely meant it. It wasn’t the heat of the moment or making up. It was the truth. I love you.”

That made his night.

This was the best present he could ever get, and he’d cherish it. He knew how selective Ethan was with those three words, and he knew he’d only ever give them to someone he truly loved.

HIM.

This man loved him.

“I love you too,” Gene vowed. “I’ll love and protect you for the rest of my existence.”

And Ethan believed him.

As they lay there, they were watching the snow fall outside their window of the condo on the fifth floor.

Life was good.

They had each other.

No matter what the world did, the bottom line was they were connected at the heart.

They were soulmates.

“Want to have some dinner on the couch, and maybe some wine with a holiday movie?” Ethan asked, knowing what his man liked.

Gene grinned.

“I can smell the sauce. Hello, garlic bread, here I come,”  he joked.

Ethan went up on one arm and smiled.

“Well, since you put out, the least I could do is get you some pasta and bread.”

He wiggled his eyebrows.

Then, it hit him in the feels.

“We made a family, EJ. Us. We’re not alone in the world anymore. We’ve created something so beautiful that I know will forever withstand the test of time.”

He smiled.

And healed.

“I know. I love our family,” he said. “There’s no one I would rather be with than you.”

And that was miraculous.

It took nine months, but finally, Ethan Blackhawk was in a good place in their relationship, and Gene didn’t have to worry anymore.

They.

Were.

Home.

In each other’s arms.

“I love our life,” Gene admitted. “I’ve never been happier.”

And that was the truth.

Ethan could say the same thing.

Who would have thought he enjoyed Christmas present shopping, and wrapping gifts to put under a tree?

He never thought he’d hum Christmas carols, and like stringing popcorn.

“I think next year, we should put a tree in our bedroom,” Ethan admitted.

Gene grinned.

“Who is this sexy man with the Christmas spirit?” he asked. “Another tree? Mr. Blackhawk, sign me up.”

And he wasn’t done.

“I think we should start collecting Christmas ornaments too. Maybe one in each city we travel to, when we start that again. I’d like to look back when we retire and remember the journey with you.”

Now, it was Gene with tears in his eyes.

“That would be something so special and beautiful,” he admitted, wanting to do that.

In fact, he already got him an ornament. It was wrapped under the tree.

From where he lay, Ethan grinned.

Christmas was fun, and he was learning that finally. The smell of pine was nice, and it felt…homey.

He wanted a home with this man.

Yes, he planned on climbing the ladder, reaching the top, but when he saw himself coming home at night, after a long day at work, it was always to Gene.

This man changed him in ways he’d never understand. He was ambitious, still, but he was always mindful of his joy.

Gene.

Cantrell.

The love of his life.

Because he wanted to spend time with him, regretfully, Ethan pulled free from his lover’s arms, and he padded naked back into their bathroom.

There, he got a washcloth, and cleaned off his neck and chest. Then, he headed back in, to do the same for Gene.

Lovingly, he took care of him.

And Gene loved it.

He had an ass full of cum, his lover had made him dinner, and he was going to ride out this holiday season the best way possible.

Not working.

When Ethan handed him unfamiliar fuzzy pajamas, Gene lifted a brow.

“Uh, where did these come from?” he asked. “I bought us candy-striped ones and green elf ones.”

Ethan shrugged nonchalantly.

“Maybe I kind of like seeing my man in matching pajamas. It’s my new kink,” he said, knowing he purchased the buffalo plaid pajamas in a moment of silliness that he absolutely did not regret.

That was all Gene had to hear.

He giggled in glee, and pulled them on, happily matching his partner.

His man.

Now, this was the holidays.

This.

Right.

Here.

“Well, lead the way,” he said, slapping Ethan on the ass as he simultaneously checked it out.

How could he not?

The man’s ass was spectacular.

Later, he was going to get him out of those plaid fuzzy pajamas, and back into bed. There, he was going to give him one hell of a night of pleasure.

Christmas style.

Yeah, Gene planned on jingling his bells all night long—if he had anything to say about it.

Sue him.

Their phones were off, and the holidays were on for a change.

Truthfully, Gene knew one thing.

It couldn’t get any better than this.

As they made the pasta, and filled bowls full of fragrant food, Gene was in his happy place.

Yeah, he’d gained ten pounds over the last nine months, but Ethan liked him the way he was, and he was kinda in his glory being able to enjoy food and not fear it. As long as the man in his bed liked his bulk, sign him up.

There was more cushion for the pushin’.

And that worked for him.

On the couch, they turned on the fireplace, the TV, and the lights that Gene had strung on the balcony.

Together, they ate their dinner while watching a crazy man chase a squirrel through his house in the movie.

And Ethan laughed so much.

There was joy and happiness in his eyes, and for the first Christmas in his life, he had everything everyone else had.

Peace.

Love.

The Christmas spirit.

Gene had the best night because he was able to see Ethan enjoy Christmas for the first time in his whole life. This was a first that he deserved, and they would remember forever.

It couldn’t possibly get any better than this.

When the movie was done, they made out on the couch and christened it for the hundredth time over the last few months.

And it was a good night.

Why?

They had each other.

They had a holiday fast approaching.

Oh, and most importantly, they were off from work, and safely tucked away where Javier Hughes couldn’t get to them.

It didn’t get any better than this.

Gene was positive of it.

Chapter Three

The Condo

Thursday Morning

Early

TOO EARLY

Special Agent Gene Cantrell knew one thing for a fact. He was going to murder whoever was at their door knocking at seven in the morning. The person was officially dead.

He was going to put his big hands around their neck and shake them stupid. No one should be up at this time of the day on vacation.

That’s what he was on.

Well, that and in his dream, he’d been ON Ethan.

Up to a minute ago, he’d been under the covers of their feather comforter, naked, cuddled against a hot Native man, as the snow fell outside.

Now, he was heading toward the door, plotting murder at that time of the day.

This wasn’t funny.

He was legit committing homicide if this wasn’t something so important that it needed two Feds full attention.

The murder list was short too.

Since only two people knew where he and Ethan lived, this was either one of them, or some delivery gone awry. If there was a food delivery by mistake, that would be his only reason not to kill a man.

In the back of his mind, Gene was worried it was going to be Javier Hughes popping up again, and that was why he was carrying his gun.

The scumbag was out of jail, and on the hunt.

FOR.

ETHAN.

On the daily, Gene was doing everything in his power to make sure that man got nowhere near him.

PERIOD.

To ensure his man’s safety, they took work cars home at night so they couldn’t be followed, and they’d even snuck home with Greyson a few times, tucked down in the back seat of his car.

It had been months since they’d had an encounter, and he’d like to keep it like that if possible.

If this was a flower delivery from Javier, the messenger was going to leave battered and bruised—eating some roses.

And they would be moving.

AGAIN.

As he peeked out the hole, there was some relief, and still irritation.

Opening the door, he stared at the man.

“Corbin. WHAT? THE? HELL?” he asked. “Do you know what time it is? Do you have nothing better to do this close to Christmas but come here in the morning?”

The man laughed.

“Of course, I do. I have work today. You don’t?” he asked.

Yeah, well, no, they didn’t, and now they were both up, and not in the fun way they liked to start the morning. Gene’s idea of a wakeup was giving his Native head to get the day started right.

A few times.

Gene sighed.

“What do you want?” he asked, as the man walked in, carrying a bag of breakfast and a tray of coffees.

Yeah…

This didn’t bode well.

Corbin smiled.

“I needed to talk to you guys. Where’s the sexy one? Mr. Cranky is killing my holiday mojo. I’d like to talk to the more pleasant of the two Feds.”

Oh, he used the ‘F’ word.

This was going to be work-related. He was willing to bet on that.

Gene crossed his arms over his chest, and didn’t let the man get away with the sass.

Coffee or not.

“Get laid yet?” he asked.

Corbin rolled his eyes.

“I’m looking for Mr. Right—not Mr. HIV, you whore,” he handed right back.

That made Gene actually laugh.

Yeah, he was a masochist, but he missed Corbin. He was entertaining.

“Ethan’s getting up now. By all means, make yourself at home,” he said sarcastically as he closed the door and followed him into their condo.

Corbin was looking around.

“Look how festive it is in here. Someone went all out to make it Christmas-y.”

Gene shrugged.

“A gay man who can decorate. Who knew? Now, what do you want, Corbin? We haven’t seen neither hide nor hair of you in three weeks. Now, you pop up? You’re either in trouble, or you need something. I don’t see a fruitcake and eggnog, so this isn’t about a holiday get together.”

Corbin smiled.

“Maybe I just missed you two. Can’t a guy come by his friends’ condo with breakfast before he heads to work to see them?”

NO.

Not at seven in the morning.

They never put out that welcome mat.

Unfortunately, before he could say anything, Ethan came out, he was in Pajama pants, and nothing else.

Immediately, Corbin glanced over.

“Jesus. H. Christ. How do you not stare at him all goddamn day long? He’s covered in tattoos, he’s fine as fuck, and he’s wearing Christmas pajamas. This is my dream for the holidays. When is Santa delivering him to my place?”

Gene slapped him on the back of the head.

“Stop ogling my Christmas present,” he said. “I’m not sharing him with anyone.”

Corbin just grinned at Ethan and mouthed, call me.

Ethan laughed.

Someone wanted to die.

“Hey, Corby. What’s up?” he asked, as the man handed him a coffee and breakfast sandwich as he sat down at the table where the man was parked.

Immediately, before he could answer, Ethan knew they had a problem.

“Uh-oh. He brought food. He wants something.”

Gene pointed.

“See, Corbin?” he asked. “We’re Feds. We see shit coming. Learn that.”

The man just laughed.

Well, so much for a sneak attack.

“Come on, guys, let’s have something to eat,” he stated.

Gene wasn’t falling for it.

A Corbin never changed its habits.

“Nope. Talk to us. What do you need? Did Alice kick you out of your apartment for renovations? Did your father disown you and now you’re looking for new parents? What?” he asked.

He found him amusing.

“Okay, maybe I do need some help.”

Ethan shook his head.

“Corbin, your delivery is too obvious. We can smell a setup a mile away.”

Well, he did need help, so he figured he’d try. It was his only way of staying on this case.

Basically, if they said no, he was fucked.

And not in a fun way.

“I’ve been busy working. Sorry I haven’t stopped by. How are you guys doing?” he asked, trying to distract them with banter.

Only, Gene wasn’t having it.

“Just get to the point, Corbin. We know something is up. We solve things for a living. On top of that, it’s too damn early. Had you showed up after you called and asked to hang out, we wouldn’t have seen this coming.”

Damn.

Next time.

Since the jig was up, he went there.

“I have been working on a few homicides. They are all tied to each other, and now I caught my fourth body. My new captain said he’s calling in the FBI, and I may have said I knew two people in the FBI.”

That did one thing.

They both began laughing.

And laughing.

And laughing.

The man stared at him.

“Hey!”

Oh, Gene shut that down.

“First, Corbin, we’re on vacation, and not on your payroll. You can’t call us up like you own us. Second, the FBI is backed up. No one in this city is getting help from our office. If you need help, call DC. They might be able to send you a desk jockey to keep you company.”

Yeah, he didn’t like that.

NOT.

AT.

ALL.

He was honest.

“If you guys help, I can stay on the case. I really need this case to keep making my career. Word on the street is that there are some good undercover stints coming up, and unless I get the upper management’s attention, I’m not going to be doing it.”

Ethan pointed one thing out.

“Maybe undercover is a bad idea. You’re a baby detective.”

He didn’t miss a beat.

“Flip that and call me detective baby, and I’m all yours,” he said.

Ethan laughed.

How could he not?

Corbin was incorrigible.

“I give up,” he said. “Gene, talk sense into him,” Ethan suggested, sipping his coffee.

Why?

The man was a little too gung-ho for danger.

That was going to bite him in the ass at some point. You had to learn the ropes, and while he was a good cop, he was riding Alice’s reputation into the detective division.

He still hadn’t learned.

When Corbin faced Gene, he was to the point.

“No. We’re on our vacation. We won the coin flip in the office, and Gabe gave us this weekend off. We aren’t due back to work until Monday. If you wait until then…”

He protested.

“It can’t wait,” he said. “What does a guy have to do? Beg? Okay. I’ll beg.”

He faced Ethan and went down on his knees.

Once there, he grinned.

“I mean, the view is spectacular,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows as he stared at the sexy man’s goodies.

That got him reprimanded.

Gene slapped him on the back of the head.

Again.

“Mind your manners. That’s my holiday gift package, and we all know I get mean. You don’t want to go there, Corbin. I’ll call Alice.”

He sighed.

Jesus.

What did a guy have to do to get some Federal help? He paid his taxes.

“PLEASE HELP ME,” he begged. “I’ll owe you one. I’ll babysit your cat. I’ll clean your apartment. I’ll…”

Ethan pointed out a few things.

“We don’t have a cat, and our condo is clean.”

He was beginning to feel like this wasn’t going to go well for him.

Shit.

There had to be a way.

“I have to meet with the captain at eight-thirty, and I promised that I’d bring my favorite and very best FBI agents in to get started on this.”

Gene shrugged.

“You shouldn’t have lied to the man. That’s not going to make him like you, Corbin.”

He was not happy.

“So no? You won’t help me climb this ladder?” he asked. “I’d help you. We’re friends.”

Gene was to the point.

“The only thing we are climbing is back into bed, where I am going to let that sexy man climb all over me. Then, he’s going to climb all over me on that couch. After, we’re going to shower, and climb all over each other there. You’re on your own climbing that ladder.”

He stared at them.

“Really? Isn’t that overkill?”

Ethan laughed.

The man was funny.

He’d give him that.

Gene didn’t back down.

“No, Corbin, it’s not. I’d be climbing Mt. Saint Ethan right now if you weren’t here. I’d be giving that spectacular specimen of a man one hell of a blowjob, and in my world, that is always going to be my priority.”

The man tried one more time.

“Please?” he asked. “I really need your help. I’m four victims in, and…”

Gene pointed.

The conversation was done.

They were on vacation, and he wasn’t going to risk a case that ruined Christmas.

THEIR.

FIRST.

CHRISTMAS.

Gene held his ground.

“No, Corbin. We RARELY get time off. We NEVER have Christmas off. That’s a miracle in itself. Baby Jesus was born, so this gay man could have a whole day to rock that man’s world. Now, go forth and spread tidings of comfort and joy—to another man who wants to get naked with you. We aren’t your personal FBI agents. Friendship has limits. You volunteered us, without asking first. That breaks the rules of friendship each and every time.”

He actually looked sad about that.

It looked like Corbin had no choice.

He shrugged.

“Okay, guys. Have a good Christmas. See you later,” he said, leaving the coffee and sandwiches and heading toward the door.

He didn’t even put up a fight.

When he walked out, and closed it, Gene locked it so he couldn’t come back and ruin what he had planned for that day. They were going to fornicate, go grab lunch at the bistro not far away, and then, come back and fornicate more after a nap. It was going to be non-productive.

That was his only plan.

Unfortunately, when he turned around, rubbing his hands together and knowing what he wanted to do next, he stopped dead in his tracks.

He saw the look on Ethan’s face, and it didn’t bode well for him.

“Oh, shit. Don’t tell me you felt sorry for the Crotch Goblin. Don’t tell me that he convinced you to want to assist him.”

He shrugged.

Deep down, Ethan knew that with each case, he made that climb, and earned a chance at getting back home. On top of that, Corbin was a baby detective.

They called him that for a reason.

He was going to get his ass in trouble and die. He was running without a partner, and needed someone to wrangle him.

Case in point, he nearly died last time.

“Gene, he can’t handle four bodies. He can’t handle a naked male body in bed with him. Four dead victims on Christmas?”

He wasn’t happy.

Not.

At.

All.

Gene was to the point.

“EJ, we aren’t here to clean up HIS mess. We’re here to clean up the city.”

Which they both knew was kinda the same thing.

Ethan explained.

“What’s going to happen is we’re either going to get this case on Monday anyway, or he’s going to screw up and do something ridiculous—like get hurt. He nearly got killed last time. He doesn’t have the street cred to stay alive on a tough serial killer case. If he dies, Alice is going to be hella pissed, and you like the food there.”

He laughed.

That was insanity, but he was right. Not about the food, but about Corbin getting his ass hurt AGAIN.

Well, shit.

Ethan was about to do something insane, and of course, he was going to fall down that hill with him.

“You want to work this case?” he asked. “Really?”

Ethan was honest.

“It’s Christmas. He came here and tried. If we needed help, all we’d have to do is call him, and he’d show up no matter what. He’s right. He was the only friend we had here, and he always had our best interests in mind. Sex can wait. Friendship, as you’re teaching me, can’t.”

Damn him for having a valid point.

And using his own lessons against him.

Oh, and he also already told his boss that he’d have them help, WITHOUT asking them first. That was hella annoying, but they didn’t want him to get his ass in a pinch at work.

“EJ.”

Ethan sweetened the pot.

“How about this? You and I help the baby detective, and when we get finished, we can have a little fun.”

He lifted a brow.

Did he say fun?

Oh, he liked fun.

“What kind of fun?”

Ethan knew the way to the man’s heart. It was right through Kinky-ville.

“You, me, strangers hooking up in a bar, and maybe with a side of bathroom fucking, or we can take a little trip out of the city to a strange place, and really have a dirty sexual encounter. Maybe I fuck you in an alley this time.”

Oh, hell.

That was right up his…alley, and Ethan knew it too. He had him there.

To prove it, his dick stood right up as he was picturing being manhandled by his sexy Native in a dirty alley. He pictured a bar and a bathroom. Then, he sighed.

“Corbin was right,” Gene said.

Ethan lifted a brow.

Where was this going?

“About what?” he asked, curiously.

He was honest.

“I’m a whore. Fine. We’ll help the Crotch Goblin, but when this is over, you’d better be fucking me stupid in some dirty bar bathroom as I beg for your cum. I want so much kink, we can’t get it out of our clothes.”

He laughed.

Only, now, thinking about it did one thing. Ethan had an erection too. When he moved at Gene, and rubbed against him, the man was definitely interested in what he was thinking.

“He said he’s meeting his boss at eight-thirty. We have time,” Ethan said. “What me to fuck you in the shower? Maybe bend you over, take you, after I make you blow me until your jaw hurts?”

SOLD.

He didn’t have to ask twice. He wanted to be this man’s cum receptacle in the worst way.

NOW…

That was how you started the day.

Instead of saying anything, Gene scooped him up, and carried him to the shower where he planned on getting down and dirty with a hot and sexy man.

There was no way he was turning that down.

Gene wasn’t an idiot.

A slickery Ethan was a hot Ethan.

It looked like the baby detective was about to get the help he wanted.

This had better be an easy case.

So help him god.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

The Police Station

Captain Oliver Guy’s Office

Eight-Thirty A.M.

As Detective Corbin Price sat there, he was trying to find a way to talk the man into letting him keep the case and not tossing him off of it.

Only, he was betting that wasn’t going to happen.

Call it a hunch.

His boss was tough, and the last thing he did was bend the rules for his detectives. He was nothing like his replacement. You wouldn’t find him buying male hookers.

That was for damn sure.

Not that he should be...

On top of this mess, now, Corbin was bummed that his friends couldn’t help him—wouldn’t help him, but he understood.

They each had someone for Christmas, and they wanted to spend that time together.

It was their first one as a couple, and it was kind of shitty to expect them to ditch that for him. Friendship only went so far, he guessed.

What he did know is if it was them, he’d work on the holiday to be near his friends.

Now, Corbin wouldn’t hold a grudge. Instead, he’d drop off some fruitcake on Christmas Eve before he lied to his mother and father to get out of going back home for the holidays to see family.

When he was alone.

Yeah, that was how he was spending his holiday. Off the case, and by himself. That was the story of his life.

At exactly eight-thirty, his boss walked in, closed the door, and was ready.

When his boss sat, he knew he was off the case. This was it.

“Corbin, did you speak to your associates at the FBI?” he asked, not mincing words.

He nodded.

“And?”

Corbin tried to stall so he could come up with something to save this case. He knew the information, and he really believed that he should be working on it.

Only, how did he get the man to give the ‘baby detective’ his shot?

He was a good cop, and not his mother’s child.

Right?

“They are really busy at the office,” he began, and his boss shut that right down.

He wasn’t playing.

Time was ticking.

“Are they helping you or not, Detective? If not, I have to get someone with more experience on this. You’re a damn good detective, but street time matters. You just don’t have the years under your belt to work a serial killer case. We have a few detectives who might have a little more…wisdom.”

Ouch.

Why was it nicer to call him a baby detective than all of that?

Jesus.

He knew what he wasn’t getting for Christmas.

A NEW EGO.

When he opened his mouth to try one last time, there was a knock on the door.

The man held up his hand, and stopped him.

“Give me a second, Son,” he said. “Come in,” Captain Guy called.

As the door was opened, Corbin wasn’t paying attention. He was scrambling for a backup plan, and didn’t see them walk in.

“Yes?” the captain asked.

Gene went there.

“We’re Agents Cantrell and Blackhawk,” Gene said. “We’re here because you requested help from the FBI. Detective Price is our friend, and he asked us for assistance. We’re here to work your four-body case.”

When Corbin heard them, he looked up, and he actually wanted to weep with gratitude.

“Oh,” Captain Guy said, staring at the one Fed. He looked so familiar.

But from where?

“Corbin, are these the agents you worked with before on the other two cases?” he asked, staring at Gene.

Truthfully, Corbin was going to kiss both men as soon as he got a chance.

Believe it.

“Yes, Sir!”

Corbin was so damn happy.

As he was celebrating that he wasn’t going to get booted from a case, the cop was staring at Gene.

“I’m sorry, but do I know you?” Oliver asked Gene. “You look familiar. I know we’ve crossed paths before,” he admitted.

Come to think of it, the man looked familiar too.

That’s when it hit him.

Oh, and this was bad.

REALLY BAD.

Gene had slept with this man before. It was a one-night stand, in a sleazy bar, when he’d been working a case—all before he’d started working with Ethan at the beginning of his career.

Oh, Jesus.

What the hell?

Corbin had inadvertently fucked him good.

REAL.

GOOD.

“Buffalo,” Gene said. “You were a detective there, remember?” he said, keeping it very lowkey.

Gene had gotten shitfaced drunk after wrapping the case, and he went down on the man in a bar. The sex had been okay, and then, he headed back home to DC.

Before.

Ethan.

Yowza, now, he was going to have to explain this at some point.

Of all of the shit messes his dick got him into…this was quite possibly the worst one. Ethan was not going to enjoy this at all.

Oliver laughed.

“Yes! You were very memorable. How are you, Agent?” he asked, shaking his hand after getting up from his desk. The way he checked him out made Gene uneasy. He was going to have to cop to this one.

ASAP.

Gene played nice, only because he was working. That night in the bar, he’d not been working as a Fed. He’d been working as a cum-guzzling slut.

So much had changed since meeting Ethan.

Yep.

Corbin was right.

He was a whore, and it better not cost him Ethan.

“Not as good as you. You’re a captain now,” he said. “Good for you. Like I say, it’s always good to move up and on,” he stated, hoping the man would get it.

He laughed.

“I’m a glorified babysitter,” Oliver admitted. “It’s real good seeing you again, Agent,” he stated.

Gene didn’t even make a babysitter comment about Corbin. That’s how rattled he was.

Only, Corbin noticed.

Something was going on.

Gene was tense, and he’d not been a few minutes ago. He was looking back and forth between the men, and Gene was giving him the hairy eyeball.

Only, he was so damn happy that he could kiss the men.

Well, Ethan.

He could kiss Ethan.

Whatever Gene was stressing didn’t matter. He was staying on the case.

Corbin took over.

“These are my friends,” he admitted, and then focused on Gene. Thank you, he mouthed.

Oh, the baby detective owed them one.

Oh, he owed him big-time.

Now, Gene had to evade his past right before Christmas, when he knew Ethan could read a room.

Case in point, was last night’s fiasco.

At some point, he was going to have to come clean and hope to God that Ethan understood.

Sex before was only sex. It had been just getting off to quench that biological need.

Now, he was in a relationship.

As for helping him, the only reason he was doing this was because Ethan wanted to do it, and he’d had some pretty spectacular shower sex twenty minutes ago.

His balls were empty, and he was calm.

Well, he was calm until he came in here.

“We appreciate your assistance. I’m glad you could help Corbin on this. As I’m sure he’s told you, we have a mess,” the homicide captain said.

Gene hoped the man kept it business-like—until he was able to talk to Ethan.

PRIVATELY.

As for helping, Gene knew NOTHING about this case except that he was aware that there were four victims. What they needed was to get caught up and fast.

“Well, Captain,” he began.

“Oliver,” he said, smiling at him.

From where he stood, Ethan was watching the interaction between the two men. The captain was definitely checking out his man.

Why was he getting the feeling that something had happened when they met once before?

Was it just his imagination?

Gene kept the conversation going.

“Oliver, my partner and I need to be caught up to speed, since Corbin just asked if we’d help. This morning, we didn’t have time to hear about the whole case. Ethan here is my profiler, and he needs to get a baseline. Can we get read into the case?” he asked, making sure he kept it professional.

The last thing he wanted was this man thinking that the night they had was ever repeating.

It wasn’t.

His heart and body belonged to Ethan.

Forever.

The man nodded. That request was easy enough, and honestly, Oliver was shocked to see the man again. That night in the bar and seedy hotel had been nuclear hot.

His balls ached just thinking about it. The universe was doing him a big favor with this reunion.

“Pull up some chairs,” he said, and they did just that. Then, he focused on Corbin. “It looks like you’re staying on this case, so clue them in.”

Corbin was thrilled.

There was nothing he liked more than working with these two men, so he did exactly that.

He information dumped, knowing how Ethan and Gene worked.

“About three weeks ago, give or take a day, a woman was found murdered outside her home. She was shot up close and personal with a nine-millimeter caliber bullet to the head. Then, she was left inside her trunk. Well, halfway inside her trunk.”

That was interesting.

Ethan was making notes for both him and Gene, but already, he was profiling it in his head.

Corbin continued, going onto the next victim.

“Then, a week later, another woman was found, but this time, she was shot inside her car and left on the side of a busy street for a few days.”

Yikes.

That was cold.

Ice cold.

Gene lifted a brow.

“No one saw her there in her car?” he asked, wanting the full picture.

Corbin explained.

“We had that snowstorm that dumped over a foot of snow on the city. Remember?”

He nodded.

They did remember that storm. They’d been working a case, and had worked from home that night.

They’d been in their PJs, and had hot chocolate. It was one of Gene’s favorite memories.

Corbin continued.

“Her car was covered with snow during the storm. The only reason she was found was because the DPW needed to plow, and when they saw the doors were unlocked, they’d planned on seeing if they could move it. Only, when they opened the car, she fell out.”

Ethan was curious.

“Same MO?” he asked.

Corbin nodded.

“Yeah, it was another shot to the head, and like the first one, no one heard a thing. We’re befuddled how someone can kill a person on a busy street, and never be seen.”

Ethan knew.

This screamed silencer.

Someone was coming to that party prepared. He’d bet on it.

What else he knew was that a street killing that wasn’t a random drive-by meant one thing. Someone was stalking some people.

They had a person who likely blended in, and was able to assimilate with the crowd.

“Go on, Corbin,” Ethan said.

The man did.

“Next up, a week later, another woman was found feet from her garbage cans. Same MO, but this time, she was left in the yard. Again, it was one shot to the head and not a single neighbor reported it. She was found by her girlfriend.”

The captain was listening and watching Gene.

When the man glanced over at him, he winked, and immediately, Gene began panicking.

This.

Was.

Bad.

Someone wasn’t being lowkey with the looks. There was no freaking way Ethan would miss another man winking at him.

He.

Was.

Dead.

Never let it be said that he shouldn’t go with his gut when it came to not working a case.

He was getting a boning for Christmas, and not the sexy kind.

Corbin kept talking.

“Then, yesterday, the fourth victim turned up, and this time, she was found dead in her bed. Her boyfriend found her when she didn’t answer her door, and he broke in to check on her.”

Ethan was taking it all in, and he had a slew of questions for them.

What he needed was a direction to take this profile.

“And do we know if they were the same caliber?” Ethan asked. “You said nine-millimeter for the first, but not the rest.”

Corbin shared.

Reed had emailed him the reports this morning, and they could answer that.

“Yeah, Ethan. We had the cross-comparison of all of the ballistics done. We don’t have DNA back yet, but Reed made sure we tied the cases together with ballistics. It’s all the same gun. They match. It’s four for four, and why I needed your help on this.”

Oliver was curious.

“Does this sound like something you guys can handle?” he asked. “I mean, I’ve seen Gene work before, and I know that he’s good at his job,” he admitted, grinning.

Oh, boy.

Ethan knew for a fact that this man was flirting. Now, he was almost positive that someone wanted a piece of Gene—or had a piece of Gene once before.

Well, that was too bad.

He was his.

Still, the paranoia began going off, and he was pretty sure that Gene was going to have some explaining to do.

So much so, that he focused on the room and anything in it that would tell him about the man grinning at his boyfriend.

Because he was giving off a vibe that made Ethan uncomfortable.

A gay vibe.

Uh-oh.

Gene went there.

“Yeah, we’ve got this. Ethan will work up a profile, and I’ll help Corbin find the person behind this,” he admitted, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

He was beginning to feel uncomfortable, and now, he was definitely questioning every hookup he’d ever had. Maybe Corbin had been right.

Oliver smiled.

“Well, I can’t wait to hear all about it,” he said, grinning.

Corbin stared at his boss. The entire time the Feds were in the room, the man was only focused on Gene. He knew how wild that was, since normally, people tripped over their tongues to look at Ethan.

Apparently, someone could be nice. The captain was showering the man with that shit.

One would have never known.

Yeah, something was up. He was getting a totally different feel from the man. When he looked over at Ethan, he was seeing the same thing he was.

He’d bet on it.

Someone was attracted to Gene, and the fact that they knew each other gave him the sneaking suspicion that Gene might have treaded into that territory before.

Oh, boy.

Ethan was going to kill him.

Oh, this was going to be a wild one. Corbin could tell. Ethan didn’t look amused, and Gene was tense. Baby detective his ass. He was going to say someone hit that.

And someone was going to be hit by his boyfriend.

The whole time, Gene was polite, and all he really wanted was to escape.

FAST.

“We’ll keep you updated, Oliver.”

Corbin wanted to giggle. Oh, ‘Mr. Get Laid Corbin It’s Good For You’, was about to have some serious issues.

The shit was about to hit the fan.

His boss was gay, and he was sniffing around a man who already had a sexy, armed partner.

This looked like ass-busting material to him.

Oh, and he was ready. Someone liked to ride his ass a little too much.

Because he wanted space between them, Gene stood and shook his hand.

Ethan did the same.

“We’re going to go to the conference room and have Corbin share all of the files that he has,” Gene offered. “We’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Yes, please do, Gene,” he said.

Then, the captain scribbled something on his business card, and handed it to Gene.

“If you need any help, or something comes up that you need me to handle, that’s my number. Call. Oh, and if my detective doesn’t pull his weight, call. I’ll handle him.”

Gene was borderline panicking.

He could feel Ethan’s gaze boring holes into his back, and he knew one thing.

His man had figured it out.

Gene would bet his gun and badge on it.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be in contact,” Corbin said, enjoying the fun.

Gene gave him a look, and he ignored it.

Sue him.

He was going to bust ass.

BIG-TIME.

The look on Ethan’s face…someone’s ass was grass as soon as they got out of there.

“Thank you, Oliver,” Gene said, holding the card in his hand like it burned his skin.

Yeah, he needed to toss this.

ASAP.

Because Gene needed space between them, it was time to get down to work. If he was lucky, Ethan wasn’t going to make a big deal out of this, so he could explain.

If he wasn’t lucky…

Jesus.

He was a dead man.

Not far away, Gene knew that Corbin was chomping at the bit to bust his balls, and he got it. That was their thing, and he did it to him all of the time.

Only, this might just cost him Ethan since last night planted that fear.

As they headed out, Corbin led them to the conference room, and when they were inside, he smiled a little too brightly.

Only, the other two men were full of tension.

Oh, but for different reasons.

While he liked seeing Gene riled up, he didn’t like the look on Ethan’s face. He was pretty sure he was going to make the man cry.

Goodie.

This was payback for this morning.

Friends had to bust your ass. That was a rule in Friend Club.

“First, thank you for showing up. I owe you both one, and I’m grateful.”

Gene shrugged.

“You can thank Ethan. He wanted to help you. He talked me into this,” he admitted.

Oh, and he wished he hadn’t.

This little reunion was one he didn’t need in his life. Ethan was silent, and a quiet Ethan was a thinking Ethan. When Ethan was lost in thought, bad shit was about to happen.

TO.

HIM.

From where he stood, Corbin grinned.

Finally, he had something to use to bust this man’s ass. He was always riding his, and payback was a bitch.

“Speaking of someone being grateful, someone has my boss’ attention and made him much happier today. He was definitely grateful to HOOK UP with you, again. Someone has an admirer.”

That was all he had to say.

You could hear a pin drop as the room got uncomfortably silent.

“I noticed,” Ethan finally said.

Immediately, Corbin felt horrible. He saw the tears in Ethan’s eyes, and he regretted it. The last person he wanted to hurt was Ethan. Corbin and Gene had a thing.

They busted ass.

They also had another thing.

They both protected Ethan, and Corbin just fucked that up.

Clearly.

“Babe,” Gene began, fully expecting to have to bail himself out from the hole Corbin just put in his relationship.

Yeah, he was killing him later.

Ethan held up his hand to stop him.

“Don’t. If you’ll excuse me, I need a moment,” he said, walking out the door, leaving them behind.

It was the slam that had them both jumping.

When Ethan was gone, Gene stared at the man like he’d lost his goddamn mind.

“Jesus!” he said, horrified.

“What?” he asked. “I was joking. That’s what we do! You guys bust my ass, and I bust yours back. You know…me always hitting on Ethan. You always calling me Crotch Goblin. I didn’t know he was going to get upset. I figured he’d call you out and ride your ass. I didn’t see that coming. What did you do to make him upset?”

Oh, Jesus.

It had to be last night’s mess and that this had now kicked Ethan’s feet out from under him again.

“I had a one-night stand with your boss.”

Corbin shook his head.

“And that is exactly why I don’t fuck everyone, because at some point, Spanky, you’re going to run into someone you boned and Ethan’s going to be upset!”

He sighed.

“Yeah, I’m well aware. Now, I have to fix this,” he stated. “I was going to tell him after. Only, you had to go there. Thanks, Corbin,” he said, irritated as he headed out to go find Ethan.

What Corbin didn’t seem to get was Ethan had a sore spot.

Being cheated on…

Losing his lover…

Being blindsided two days in a row…

Christ.

They should have never said they’d help the Crotch Goblin.

This was a colossal pain in his ass.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Driving Around

Philadelphia, PA

Same Time

The hunt was on.

Diesel knew he was in a sticky predicament when it came to his boss.

What he wanted was to keep his job, and not end up boned seven ways to Sunday. Before, he could blame Tank, and call it a day.

Now, he was on the Titanic, going down alone.

Killing a Fed…

That.

Was.

Bad.

Even he knew that. Even he was wary of that, despite how much he hated those two particular Feds.

What he knew Javier was asking…that was something that would make his family rich beyond anything he’d ever seen before.

His wife would have pretty things, and his kids could go to good schools.

Oh, he was paid well, but three times his salary for making him bleed?

They could buy a bigger house, and have a good future. All he had to do was take a Fed’s life, and hope he got away with it.

A few years in jail to have his wife and kids taken care of?

Hell!

He’d take the plea deal and run with it. He’d turn on Javier, and then get the hell out of town if push came to shove. Hopefully, he’d get the money first, and then run later.

Money made the world go around, and he’d grown up poor.

That was the last thing he wanted for his kids. They deserved a father who could make them proud, or at least pay for name brand snacks.

That wasn’t too much to ask.

So now, as he was cruising the city, he was checking the favorite cop spots.

The FBI building.

The cop precinct where the one cop worked.

The coffee shops where they had the best donuts.

Oh, not because cops liked them, but because he liked a snack when working.

Sue him.

When he was scared and nervous, he ate sugar to calm him the hell down, and at this rate, it was going to take a couple dozen donuts.

There was so much to do.

He needed to find the Feds first, and then, he needed to steal a car.

God.

This was tricky.

At some point, their paths would cross, and when they did…

Diesel knew he’d take the shot.

That much money…

It was life changing.

It could set them up for the rest of their lives, giving his wife and kids an easy one.

No.

Freaking.

Doubt.

What did he care if the man died, or Javier got his hands on Ethan Blackhawk? Who was he to kink shame his boss for having a boner over the guy?

Then again, that was a bad choice of words. There wasn’t a boner to be found.

That was for damn sure.

Only, Javier deserved to have a little happiness. He was lonely, and his ‘caged bird’ would keep him from doing dumb shit.

Or making him do dumb shit for him.

Wasn’t that the truth?

Let him castrate him for all he gave a shit.

His kids had to come first.

In the end, that was all that mattered to Diesel. If Javier Hughes wanted the one man dead, and the other chained up like an animal, he was giving him what he craved.

A naked Native in his bed.

A naked, ball-less Native in his bed.

Because what Javier Hughes wanted, Javier Hughes got.

Screw that.

Chapter Four

Police Precinct

The Hunt

For Ethan

What the detective knew was that he made this mess, and Corbin was going to clean it up. He honestly hadn’t meant anything by the comment, but apparently, he hit a nerve with it.

Now, he saw that his words had most definitely hurt Ethan, and set off one hell of a mess. That was the last thing he wanted.

Ethan and Gene were his friends, and he didn’t want to be a reason they had a fight.

So, while Gene went one way in his hunt for Ethan, he went the other, and by some miracle, he was the one who found the man.

Where was he?

Well, the sexy devil was closer to the morgue, and at a coffee machine getting some fuel.

It was crystal clear he was thinking.

Corbin knew the look, and his face said it all.

There was now trouble in paradise.

That upset him because Corbin had fucked up.

Royally.

Yeah, this was on him to clean it up. He had no right to stir the shit pot when it came to their relationship, and now, more than ever.

So, he approached, and Ethan didn’t even hear him in the hall. That told Corbin all he needed to know about how distressed he was.

Someone was distracted.

Someone was upset.

Corbin knew the man well enough that when he wasn’t good, the resting bitch face came out, and his spatial awareness was out the window.

“Hey,” Corbin said, getting his attention.

Ethan glanced over, and he actually looked relieved to see him, and NOT Gene.

Oh, boy.

This was a deep hole, and he contributed to it.

Clearly.

“Hey.”

The man pointed at the machine.

“If you wanted coffee, I could have made you some. This shit is swill and will burn a hole in your gut. We all avoid it. Want to come with me back to the room and I’ll make you a pot of fresh coffee?”

He shrugged.

Honestly, Ethan didn’t care about his gut. He was all stirred up. For a brief second, he saw Gene in the world without him, and he realized something devastating.

He would be fine without him.

The man could move on, have relationships, and thrive. The captain was throwing him grins, flirting, and giving it his best.

Honestly, Ethan didn’t blame him. Gene was hella attractive, and sexy. The man oozed virility, and that was one of the sexiest things about him. It was his big, bulky body, his big hands, and that presence when you stood beside him.

Clearly, they had sex at some point. The man was coming on way too hard to be strangers. On top of that, Gene looked scared.

It was in that moment that he realized that his reaction to things scared Gene, and was detrimental to their relationship. Now, he was questioning if Gene would be better off without him.

God.

His emotions were a rollercoaster.

“I just needed the time to regroup,” Ethan admitted.

Yeah, about that.

“What are you regrouping about? You know I was kidding, right? I was just busting ass since that’s kind of our thing as friends. I don’t know that the man was flirting with Gene. He might just be really friendly.”

Ethan went to a bench and sat down. While he appreciated Corbin’s attempt to sugarcoat it, he knew the truth.

Blackhawk knew when someone was sexually attracted to his man, and to be that homed in, meant the man likely had been on that ride.

Truthfully, Ethan wasn’t a silly schoolgirl. He knew his man had sex before him, but it was that realization that he could have a good life without him that shocked him.

Now, they hid from Javier.

That was his fault.

They’d been sent to Philly, and that was his fault too.

Not Gene’s.

The man he loved seemed to be getting the shit end of the stick when it came to their world.

And that was his fault.

Corbin sat beside him and put his hand on his leg to comfort him.

“Talk to me. Why are you so upset? Surely, you don’t think that Gene would get off the Ethan ride for some homicide captain. You’re hot like lava. That dude has nothing on you. It was clearly a random hookup.”

Ethan didn’t want to go there. This was his problem, not Corbin’s.

Maybe he needed to let Gene go. It would kill him, and end his career, but if he’d learned anything from the man he loved, it was sacrificing for your partner was the main point.

God knew he loved Gene so much that he’d let him go so he could have more than he would ever be able to give him.

He never sacrificed for Gene.

The bottom line was that Blackhawk felt like he only took.

That was the problem.

He was struggling, and it hit him hard in the gut as he was flooded with insecurity.

“It’s not important.”

Corbin disagreed there.

“Clearly, it is because you look like you saw a ghost, and you disappeared. Are you and Gene okay? Are you having a rough time? Do you need a break from him? You can come stay at my place, and I won’t even put the moves on you. I know I can be captivating so that’s your burden to bear.”

He laughed.

Or tried.

“I told him I love him,” he finally said.

Corbin wasn’t sure why that was problematic. That was pretty much normal.

Right?

“I’m not getting it, Ethan. I kinda need more. Can you help me out here?” Corbin asked.

Ethan was honest.

Corbin was a friend. Other than Gene, he was the only one he really had. It just occurred to him that he could have called Corbin to help with Christmas presents.

And he would have come too.

“I’ve never said it to another person before other than my mother, brother, and grandfather. Gene is the only person I’ve ever told that to that I’ve been in a relationship with.”

Oh.

Okay, weird, but who was he to judge?

“So you told him you love him, and you changed your mind?” he asked.

Yeah, that would be a problem.

Not far away, Gene was at the end of the hall. He’d searched far and wide, and he’d not found Ethan. Finally, when he did find him, Corbin beat him to it.

If the man made this worse, he was seriously kicking his ass back to Alice and John’s pub.

Waiting, he began listening, because he needed to know how to handle this. It was rare ANYONE flirted with him or hit on him, and it was just a really bad coincidence that he came across a one-night stand.

Normally, gay men doing down and dirty hookups in bars kept that shit to themselves.

The homicide captain, not so much.

Clearly.

Honestly, he knew how he felt. Normally, it was all Ethan, all of the time when it came to being the center of attention.

Then again, it didn’t surprised him that Ethan was upset. He was pretty sure that they were good, but the man could read a room like no one’s business. There was no doubt he saw Oliver making the moves.

Damn it.

“No, I’ve not changed my mind. I love him so much, that the idea that maybe someone else might be better for him than me caught me off guard. I saw the look on the other man’s face. Gene could have a decent life not chased down by Javier, or trapped here. He could start a life, and be happy in Philadelphia or any other city. He only stays because of me.”

Corbin was hella confused.

Ethan was a catch.

He could see that. If he was dating Ethan, he’d never let him go. The man was smart, attractive, and compassionate. He left his vacation to work this case. If it hadn’t been for him, the two of them would be off for the holiday.

“I don’t understand.”

Ethan sipped his coffee. His arms were on his legs, and he was staring down into the coffee.

He explained.

“I’m a mess, and he deserves better. He deserves someone who isn’t paranoid, suspicious, and broken inside. What can I give him, Corbin? Anxiety? Stress? Pain? When that man was watching him, the demons told me to let him go so he’d have a chance. They might be right. I don’t think I’m enough for him. I’m barely enough for me.”

Corbin touched his leg.

God.

Someone was broken if he thought like that.

“He loves you. Like ‘kill Javier Hughes for you and rot in jail’ loves you. That’s adoration, Ethan. Don’t worry about the man who was flirting with him. That dude is a nobody to Gene. Even if they had something at one time, he’s with you. He sees your heart, and that’s what he wants. You.”

It was clear that Corbin didn’t have demons chasing him every second of his life, or he’d get it. When they screamed so loudly in your ear, they were hard to escape.

Look at last night.

“But am I good enough for him? What can I give him? I put myself first, and I make him take second. He sticks by me as I climb through the FBI, and not once did I ask him what he wanted in his career. I’m selfish, I’m myopically focused, and for a second there, I wanted him to have a chance. I’m a bad bet. What if his person is out there, and I’m the reason he never has that wholeness? What if I’m the obstacle, not the goal?” he asked, his voice above a whisper.

Corbin fought for him.

It was clear Ethan was accustomed to being hurt, and that was heartbreaking. He knew the man wouldn’t give up on him if Corbin was the one telling him this.

“Maybe you should let him make up his mind about that. Gene seems pretty smart to me, and he seems to know what he likes and dislikes. I don’t think he’s confused about who he should be with in life.”

Blackhawk said nothing, so Corbin continued.

“What if you’re the goal, you push him away, and then everything fails for him in the process? While your suggestion could be right, so could mine. You have to have faith in Gene and know that he is happy. I’m going to bet that the captain was some hookup that I bust his ass about. If it was important, do you think he would have quit on the man? He’s never quit on you.”

Ethan let him talk.

“I watched him plow through a metal gate for you. I watched him take on two thugs in that house, and then in the alley to get to you. I think he’s made up his mind on who he loves, and it’s you. Don’t listen to the voices in your head. Listen to the ones in your heart.”

Ethan was trying.

Gene was his North Star, and it never occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, he had aspirations too. He’d never even asked him what he wanted in his career.

It was him, him, him, him, him.

“He’d be better off without me. I’ve already nearly ruined this, and I just feel like maybe I should give him a fighting chance. He’s stuck here in Philadelphia because of me, and…”

That’s when Gene was done.

He wasn’t letting Ethan give up on him. There was no way. He wanted to believe Corbin was right. If Ethan pushed him away, no one would last because he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was meant to be with Ethan.

The heart knew when it knew.

Together, they heard footsteps. They were the very familiar sounds of Gene heading their way.

When Ethan looked up, he tensed.

Corbin saw the big man coming in hot, and he didn’t look amused.

“Uh-oh,” he said.

When Gene reached them, he knelt in front of Ethan, and stared into his eyes.

“Then ask me what I want. Ask me what my aspirations are, and I’ll be honest with you,” he said, staring into the man’s soul.

There were tears in Ethan’s eyes.

“Am I the albatross, Gene?” he asked, knowing he wasn’t a good bet.

Gene touched his face.

“No. Ask me. Don’t think about the man you just met. I don’t. Yes, I had a one-night stand with him on a job in Buffalo. Yes, it was sex, but it was nothing else. It wasn’t you. Now ask me what I want, Ethan Jackson Blackhawk.”

He swallowed, and found the courage to somehow face down the inevitable.

“What do you want in life?” he asked.

Gene didn’t hesitate.

“You. I want you. I want breakfast in the morning, and that car ride to work where we fight over the music we listen to. I want to watch you in your impeccably ironed suits and with your severely starched shirts.”

Corbin listened, even though he should be smart enough to give them space.

He couldn’t.

He was learning from them.

One day, he’d need to man up and be strong for someone.

Like Gene.

One day, he’d have to fall in love, and make the hard choices to trust someone.

Like Ethan.

Gene wasn’t done.

“I want to feed you the pork from my Chinese, and have ice cream with you in bed. I want you because you like me as I am, and I don’t have to diet to be better. I don’t have to starve to feel sexy. I want to go to bed at night knowing you’ll be there in the morning. That’s what I want, Ethan. That’s all I’ve ever wanted with you.”

Ethan put his hand over his on his cheek.

“What about our careers? You’re following my career when you could have the same thing. Am I crushing your dreams, Gene? If I am, I can’t deal with that. I’m not as strong as you or as good as you.”

He stopped him.

He stopped him because that wasn’t true. They were working a case he said no to because of Ethan’s kindness for others. He was misunderstood, not a bad person. In fact, he’d never met a more loving person.

Someone just had to peel back the layers and give him a chance.

“Ethan, you live to work, and I work to live. We’re opposites. When you become the top of the food chain, I’m going to be right there with you. One day, I want to look at you and remember our journey. It has been so beautiful, and I can’t wait to see you find your dreams and meet them. I’ll be your biggest cheerleader because I’ll know when you come home after running the FBI, you’ll be mine and only mine. We’ll have our family.”

God.

Corbin wanted a love like this.

It was clear they were each other’s best friends and soulmates.

“The only thing I want is one day, when you’ve achieved all you need to achieve, and we go to retire, you and I get married. That’s my only one dream. When we can, safely, I want to be your husband. One day, I want to ask, and I want you to say yes. That’s my only goal in life. When I found you, I found me, Baby, and no one I’ve ever been with, or had sex with, was ever that person. I knew the second I kissed you that first time on the fishing trip. I knew you were my goal.”

A tear dripped from Ethan’s lashes.

“I don’t deserve you, Gene.”

He kissed that tear away.

“Yes, you do, Ethan. You deserve all of the good things in life. You’ve been conditioned to think you don’t, but you do. If I can make you see anything, it’s that I want you to know that leaving me so I can have a better life, won’t do that. Leaving me for my sake will damn me. Staying with me and fighting by my side will give me the life I want so very much.”

Ethan closed his eyes and Gene rested his forehead against the man’s.

“I love you, EJ. It’s okay to have the voices, and the intrusive thoughts, but acting on them will break us both. I’ll keep you safe. Just trust in me to know what I want, and to be able to see what you need. We’ll make it to the end. I promise. We’re soulmates. You love me, and I believe we’re the only way we’ll both survive.”

Gene took that moment to lean in, and kiss him, and he didn’t care who saw.

Ethan wasn’t walking away from them. Honestly, he knew last night brought these demons back, and add in the captain flirting in the office. Now, Gene would help him get through them.

Because he knew Ethan needed to feel safe, Gene wanted to hold him.

When he stood up, and pulled Ethan to his feet, he deepened the kiss. He held him tucked into his body, and showed him.

He showed him how he was the only person in the whole world who he loved like this.

From where Corbin sat, he just shook his head.

“When you two bitches get married, I had better get an invite. No. I better be someone’s best man. Maid of honor. First Lady or fairy godmother. I don’t care which, but something. Because I’m the third wheel in this shitshow.”

It made Gene laugh.

So much so that he broke the kiss.

“We’ll talk about it later, Corby. Don’t worry. When we’re getting married, you’ll be there to be the flower girl.”

The man just laughed.

Oh, well, the joke was on him. He’d hold him to it.

“Are we good?” Gene asked Ethan, making sure the man he loved was back on stable ground.

Ethan was curious.

“Did you mean it?” Ethan asked.

Gene wasn’t sure which part, but yeah, he meant it all. He’d never love anyone like he loved Ethan. He’d die for him.

In.

A.

Heartbeat.

“What specifically?” he asked.

The part that hit him so hard in the feels.

“That you wanted to marry me when we retire?” he asked.

He kissed him softly on the lips.

“I’d marry you now if we wouldn’t get our jobs taken from us. We could dress the flower girl here up in a tutu and have her walk you down the aisle. Wouldn’t he look pretty?”

Corbin snorted.

“Your kinks are a little out there. Don’t drag me into them.”

Ethan rested his head on his shoulder.

He wanted that too.

Well, not the Corbin in a tutu part. That the whole world could do without. The idea that when he’d resigned from the FBI, reaching his goal, they could settle down and just be Ethan and Gene?

That tickled him.

Gene ignored the detective. He was just lucky he’d heard what he said to Ethan to help him. That saved his ass for digging the hole for him.

“We’ve got this,” Gene admitted. “I’m not your past, EJ, but I can be your future if you’re willing to believe in me. If you’re willing to believe in us.”

He was.

Because he wanted to, he took Gene’s hand in his, and he held it. That told the man all he needed to know.

His partner was going to be okay.

“Can I hold Ethan’s hand next?” Corbin asked, busting their asses like he normally would.

Gene dug in his pocket, and handed Cobin the card that his boss handed to him.

“Here. You can be the intermediary. If it makes Ethan uncomfortable, I don’t need to have contact with the man.”

Ethan took the card back.

“No, you keep it. I trust you. I just felt like you would be better off without me. I know you won’t cheat on me. We covered that.”

“I wouldn’t be better off without you, EJ. Ever.”

Because Gene knew he needed to explain, he was honest and up front.

Honestly, this worked out in his favor. Gene really believed he was going to have to have issues since he fucked someone else.

“It was a case right before I was assigned as your partner,” Gene said, clueing him in. “I was in Buffalo with my old partner, and we closed the case. We both went back to our hotel rooms, and I was restless.”

Ethan let him share.

“I snuck out, and I went to the ONLY gay bar in the city. It was rough. I’m talking, brawls and shit going down. So I was just some dude on the hunt for dick, and I found it.”

Corbin loved hearing this.

Why?

When his captain was busting his balls, he’d remember this story and it would keep him from getting too upset.

Gene ran his thumb across Ethan’s lower lip.

“We saw each other there, and it was amusing. He never thought I was gay, and I didn’t think he was. He plied me with alcohol, and we got a seedy motel room, and we fucked for hours.”

Corbin leaned in.

“Care to tell me more about that? When you say for hours, do you mean one, two?”

He stared at him.

“Six, Corbin. It was six. I don’t know how that matters to this conversation, that you’re not even part of, but here we are in cuckoo land and I’m entertaining it.”

Ethan laughed.

Corbin stopped him.

“Six hours? You had sex for six hours?” he asked. “Was that straight? Did you stop to hydrate?”

Gene shook his head.

“You need to get better at the sex thing. Ethan and I have sex for hours all of the time. You take a break in between, have a snack, and go back to work. This is why you’re single, Yenta. You need a manual.”

Ethan laughed.

He felt better. This big, strong, virile man was all his, and Gene really did believe they were meant to be. Well, then, he was letting him lead the way.

“There’s no way you go for that long.”

Ethan stopped him.

“Corbin, he goes for that long. He’s not exaggerating, my dude.”

Corbin stared.

“And you wanted off that train? You’re insane.”

Gene slapped his man on the ass, and grinned at him because he was all his.

Forever.

“He’s a little loopy now and again. Like how he thought he could actually walk away from me. I’d stalk him more than Javier Hughes.”

Blackhawk snorted.

Because they were better, and that meant work, Corbin looked at his watch.

“We should get back to the conference room,” he said, as Ethan threw his coffee away and followed the man.

Blackhawk was back on track.

“Thanks, Corbin,” he said, knowing the man would understand.

“Like I said, wedding invite, and someone find me an eligible bachelor. I need to see if having sex for six hours is humanly possible. Oh, and vitamins. Someone get me vitamins.”

Gene sighed.

“You found out that your boss likes dudes. I mean, start there. Flirt with him a bit, and see if he likes skinny ass twinks.”

Corbin gasped.

“If you keep that up, I’m telling Alice that you’re picking on her skinny-ass-twink son.”

That made them all laugh.

When Ethan stopped in the hall, they both looked over at him.

“I’m going to call Greyson quickly. He thinks we’re on vacation. I have to tell him we caught a case, and the ME that he’s all over is about to be busy.”

Ruh-roh.

That was bound to make someone cranky.

“Good. He likes you more,” Gene said. “He knows I cause more shit. He’s still bitter over the whole paperwork thing with crashing Javier’s gate.”

That amused Ethan.

Because he was a ball buster, Corbin didn’t miss a beat.

“I’m betting that happens a lot,” he stated. “It’s that attitude of yours.”

He laughed.

“Good. I try.”

Because Greyson hated being blindsided, as most Feds felt, Ethan pulled out his phone, and dialed the man’s cellphone. Greyson answered on the second ring.

“Croft,” he said.

“Hey, Greyson, it’s Ethan.”

He laughed.

“Thank God you’re on vacation, so I know this isn’t going to cause paperwork. I was planning on heading home for the holiday at some point, and I wanted to have a clean desk by noon tomorrow.”

Uh-oh.

Yeah, well, about that.

“We caught a case.”

There was a pause.

“How is that possible? First, I hand out the cases, and second, you guys are on vacation. You won the drawing. Both of you should be in your condo, making merry and staying low to avoid Javier Hughes.”

Ethan quickly explained, and the whole time, he had the phone on speaker. When he was finished, Greyson whistled.

“You guys can’t stay away from trouble, can you? I’m going to blame Gene. I know he’s behind this somehow.”

“HEY!” the man said. “I am not behind this. I’m innocent, this time.”

Uh-huh, he didn’t buy that.

“Are you sure you want to take a case this close to Christmas? You are back on the clock as of Monday, and I’m sure Gabe will have something for you.”

They were aware.

“We’ll get the detective on the right path, and if we have to jump to another case, we can balance both,” Ethan promised.

Greyson relented.

Why?

Well, that was easy.

Over the last four months that they’d been on the team, they closed everything. They ran circles around most of the agents in the office, even if they made the most paperwork.

There was no way he wasn’t letting them continue to do what they did best.

It worked for them.

If Greyson ever wanted a main office as a director, he needed to let the agents get him there.

“Okay, I’ll give Doctor Harper the heads-up that she’s got four bodies coming in for re-autopsy.”

Well, there was good news.

So they shared it.

“The city coroner, Reed Patterson, is pretty thorough. You might still be able to monopolize her for the holidays.”

Greyson laughed sardonically.

“That’s a bust, Ethan. She’s not looking for a relationship. She’s just using my dick.”

Uh-oh.

That he’d say that meant it was a sore point, and inadvertently, Ethan hit it.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Is there something we can do? Need some wingmen? We can get drinks if we close this. There are lots of redheads in Philly.”

Yeah, he was aware, and he felt like he’d chased each one with the same outcome.

It still dinged up his ego that he didn’t know how to navigate it.

“Yeah, me too. I thought I found a good one. Now, I’m just thinking of letting that pipe dream go. I don’t know what to think. Anyone want to give me some woman advice?”

Uh, that was laughable.

That was a whole other arena where no one on that side of the phone had any business going.

“Ethan’s the only one who’s dated women,” Gene admitted. “You’re shit out of luck if you ask my help on this.”

That was damn sure.

Really, Greyson was good.

“It’s fine. Maybe she’ll figure out that I’m a catch, and wise up. Until then, I’ll tell her there are bodies, and I’m in the office. I’ll be here when they arrive.”

They knew he’d not let them down.

“Thanks, Greyson.”

He didn’t mind.

“No problem.”

When Ethan hung up, he shrugged.

“She seemed into him too. Then again, she was flirting with me, like she was trying to get into my pants too.”

Gene stared at him.

“Oh, I remember. I was there watching her saddle up to the side of you like she was your gun and wanted your hand on her.”

Ethan laughed.

His man was funny.

“Maybe we can figure this out for Greyson.”

Yeah, well, Gene saw this coming a mile away.

“Why do you have that ‘I’m going to get involved in their tangled web’ look on your face, Spider?” he asked.

Ethan snorted.

“Maybe because I’m going to get involved in that tangled web, Gene, and where I go, you go. Greyson is a good dude, and I like him. If we can help, we’re playing wingman one and two. Get ready to flirt with the ladies.”

“Oh, Jesus,” he said. “That wasn’t on my Christmas bingo card for this year. Flirting with you, naked Twister, and drunkenness, yes. Vaginas, no.”

Corbin just laughed.

“Oh, to be a fly on the wall for all of that, especially watching Ethan play naked Twister,” he said, grinning.

Gene growled, and Corbin knew he was done being busted.

“Anyway, if you two are done…”

They were.

“Let’s get this case started. I’ll make us some coffee. I know how you like it, Ethan. With cream and Corby.”

Gene stared at him.

Was he serious?

Right in front of him?

“You’re an idiot.”

Yeah, but he was an idiot with friends.

And that made a guy’s day.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Georgetown

Same Time

Thursday

Mid-Morning

Doctor Anthony Magnus couldn’t believe it.

The people he called family had somehow, maybe inadvertently, ditched him again.

They.

Were.

Gone.

As in they had left the city, and somehow, they had forgotten him.

How did he know?

Well, that was easy.

When Tony headed toward Elizabeth and Chris’ brownstone to have breakfast with them, like he always did, he found that they weren’t there.

The place was empty.

He’d been at work finishing up the paperwork on their case, and she’d headed out. When both she and Chris left, he never suspected they were taking a vacation.

He thought that he’d catch them at their shared home, but he was wrong.

Very.

Wrong.

Now, her fancy Jeep that she’d bought was not outside, and the lights were off in the brownstone.

It caught him off guard.

So much so, that he was going to investigate. Maybe they were just cuddled up in bed, and her car was locked in the underground garage beneath the brownstone.

Well, thankfully, he knew the code to the doors, and opted to take a look to find out.

Was it weird creeping into someone else’s home when they weren’t there?

Not when you were there all of the time.

Besides, what if Elizabeth fell and impaled herself on a dick, and needed help? There was nothing he loved more than driving Chris insane by popping up during their sexy moments.

It was his thing.

Stepping into the townhouse, Tony knew the truth. Even Babylon, his dog, not hers, was gone, and that didn’t bode well for him.

She stole his buddy Babylon for the holidays too?

Okay, it was her dog, but he loved him more. He knew it to his soul.

Now, he was full of questions.

Did they ditch him for the holidays?

Was he spending Christmas alone?

This would be the first in two years, and that made him incredibly sad since he didn’t have a family to visit or see. He was literally by himself for Christmas, and that was a tough pill to swallow.

And now, he was one thing.

Depressed.

As he continued checking for them in the brownstone, on the kitchen island, there was a checklist of things to do, and that meant he was right.

They were off traveling somewhere without him.

Now, his heart hurt.

Maybe they didn’t like having him around, and he was a pain in their asses. His own mother left him alone at four years old to fend for himself, so maybe it was him.

Was he the issue?

Weren’t they family?

Apparently, not.

Closing the door, he locked up, and pulled his coat around him a little tighter. It looked like he’d be staying alone for Christmas.

Normally, he’d chase them, but he was pretty smart. It was clear they didn’t want him around them, so he would give them what they wanted for the holidays.

Peace.

It wasn’t like he’d been excited to wake up Christmas morning and have a family, or to exchange gifts, and have breakfast with the people he loved.

Okay, he was totally excited about that, and now, he was disappointed.

It hurt.

It hurt him really bad too.

They were likely off to an island since Chris liked watching Elizabeth in a bikini.

Charlie and Sam would be with them too.

He wasn’t shocked.

Elizabeth closed a case that morning before dawn, so of course Chris was going to get her out of there to take advantage of the two days off that coincided with Christmas.

God.

Damn.

It.

Anthony Magnus was reminded just how alone he was in the world.

Walking back to his place, Tony was so damn sad that he didn’t have anywhere to be for the holidays. It was crazy because he just assumed it would be with his family.

Now, he wasn’t sure if he was part of one or not. For the first time in his life, he’d felt connected, and now…

Well, it didn’t matter.

He had his bugs, and he’d just head into work on Christmas. There was a room full of unidentified remains that needed him.

Someone needed him.

At his place, he unlocked the door, and headed in. The place was so quiet.

When he reached the kitchen, there was a note on his counter.

‘Check your mailbox, nut.’

When he saw the handwriting, it was definitely Elizabeth’s. He’d know it anywhere.

A part of him almost didn’t do what it said. Why should he when they ditched him, knowing they were the only people in his life?

Like Babylon, Tony was like a German Shepherd. He was loyal for life.

And left behind.

Going to his mailbox, there was a Christmas card inside. The pretty red envelope was addressed to him.

So, he opened it.

‘Anthony, we’re getting the hell out of Dodge for the holidays. Merry Christmas. We left your present in your closet behind you. Love, Elizabeth and Chris.’

Oh.

He’d been right.

If they thought leaving him a present was going to not make this sad and miserable for him, they were wrong.

While he knew they had every right to go away without him, he thought they understood.

He loved them.

Now, they were gone, and he was going to get a present to open alone on Christmas morning.

He probably should have gotten a tree. Then again, what was the point? There was no one to decorate it with. He helped Elizabeth and Chris decorate the one at their place as Sam made them dinner. The whole time, Charlie bossed them around as to where to put the ornaments.

That was his Christmas.

With his family.

Besides, he had their presents ready for Christmas morning, and now, they’d not get them.

Maybe it was meant to be.

Again, he hesitated, almost not going to the closet to see what they left him. Only, something made him do it. He just didn’t know what.

Opening his closet door, there was his suitcase that he used when he traveled, and on it, there was a note.

He opened it.

‘Anthony, the jet leaves as soon as you get here. We got you a trip to Tahiti for Christmas this year, since we can’t go back to Fiji. Meet us there. We’re waiting for you. Love, Elizabeth and Chris.’

In that moment, everything changed.

Holy shit!

They didn’t forget him.

They were just waiting to give him his Christmas present and surprise him.

All that hurt disappeared, and suddenly, it made him damn giddy.

He.

Had.

Family.

Pulling out the suitcase, he ran through his brownstone feeding all his spiders and bugs, so they would be fed for the holiday.

They’d be okay alone, but he wouldn’t. Unlike them, he wasn’t a solitary creature anymore. He’d come to rely on his friends and had bonded with them.

They made a clan.

Anthony Magnus, abandoned boy, wasn’t abandoned by his new family.

It gave him so much joy.

When he quickly got changed, putting on a Hawaiian shirt with Santas dancing on it, he grinned.

Now, he was ready to go to Tahiti.

Then, he got his ass to his SUV and headed toward the airport. As the snow fell, and he navigated the roads, there was nothing but joy in his heart.

He sang Christmas carols, and grinned like a freaking idiot.

But he was an idiot with people who loved him. This was the proof.

It didn’t take him long, and as he cleared the gate, giving them his name, he was allowed access to where the private jets were parked.

A big, black Leonard Industries jet was there, and he knew that this was going to be one hell of a Christmas for all of them.

He.

Could.

Bet.

It was nice to be remembered.

As he ran up the stairs to the jet, dragging his suitcase behind him, it was when they let him in that he could hear the Christmas music.

As he entered the jet lounging area, he saw his people.

HIS.

FAMILY.

They were drinking eggnog, and smiling.

“Let the party begin!” he said, as he bum rushed Elizabeth, and kissed her on the mouth.

Then, he kissed Chris.

And Sam.

It was when he tried to kiss Charlie, that the big man wasn’t having it.

“Uh, kiss the dog. I’m good,” he said, and was still hugged anyway.

Despite the man and his insanity, Charlie hugged him tight, and gave the man some love. Tony grew on you, and he loved him like a son.

A crazy son.

A son with zero common sense.

A son with no self-preservation.

“What took you so long?” Chris asked as the flight attendant on that private flight took Tony’s jacket and handed him an eggnog.

He shrugged.

“I thought you guys left without me. I went to your place to have breakfast with you, and you guys were gone.”

Elizabeth laughed at the shirt.

How could she not?

Tony was like a toddler in his downtime.

Now, though, they were about to have some freaking fun. The last six months had been brutal. She’d done eight cases, closing them like a boss.

Which was good because her boss was on her ass and trying to get rid of her.

Now, she had a few days off, and her phone was staying in DC.

Fuck Director Moore.

Fuck him good.

Only, at his tone, she heard the hurt, and she never wanted Tony to feel that. She knew about his childhood, and she couldn’t imagine.

Charlie never left her side.

Case in point, he was up in her business with the cases she closed.

“Are you insane, nut? How can we leave without you?” she asked, as he sat down, and Babylon practically laid on top of him.

Tony was a good guy.

Crazy, but good.

Besides, her dog loved him, and dogs were damn good judges of character.

“I just figured you were off doing a family thing.”

Charlie slapped him on the back of the head the second that nonsense came out of his mouth.

“HEY!” he said, almost spilling his eggnog.

Charlie set him straight.

“You’re part of our family, Tony. Don’t be a dumbass. Of course, you were coming too. I also need to talk to you about what we found in your dresser drawers.”

Tony grinned.

“My drawers?” he asked, playing along. Now, he knew who had packed his suitcase. Thank God, it wasn’t Elizabeth.

That would be embarrassing.

Sam laughed.

Oh, they found way too much.

“Never mind,” Charlie said. “I’ll get heartburn,” he said, drinking his nog.

Tony was so happy.

He held Elizabeth’s hand in his, and clung to her.

Because she loved the nut, she kissed him on the cheek, and rested her head on his shoulder, showing him some love.

“Merry Christmas, Anthony,” she said.

And he just smiled in absolute joy.

“To our Christmas break,” Chris said, holding up his eggnog, as they clinked the crystal glasses off of each other.

And Tony was at peace.

The people he loved understood how much he needed them in his life.

They were his tribe.

His clan.

His people.

Now, they could have a Merry Christmas, and have so much fun.

Together.

Chapter Five

Police Precinct

Thursday

Ten A.M.

Day One

After the coffee was made, and they were all poured some, the three men began getting down to work, breaking down the case. The clock was officially ticking on this.

If they wanted to have any kind of holiday, they had to get their asses moving.

Because this was his case, or had been, they let Corbin lead, since he knew the most about the victims, and the crime scenes.

They weren’t going to be privy to the first three, so they needed his information regarding them.

Once they’d been introduced…

It was their game.

The local law would have to let them take care of business. That was how they rolled.

Oh, they’d let him play, but Corbin would play by their rules for this one.

That was the bottom line.

The baby detective, while their friend and ally, was still green, and for a four-body killing spree, you couldn’t be that particular shade.

You had to be balls to the wall, and ready for anything to come your way.

ANYTHING.

“Okay, let us have it,” Gene said, his notebook out so he could make the notes for their case file that he was going to have to put together for the FBI.

They didn’t need Greyson or Gabe riding ass because the file was missing anything.

They got into trouble all on their own.

Corbin went there.

He couldn’t even tell them how grateful he was that they were helping him.

They saved his ass.

AGAIN.

“First, I really do appreciate you guys helping me with this. Seriously. I know I should have asked first before just dumping it on you, but thanks.”

Uh-huh.

Gene reminded him of one thing.

“We are not your personal Feds, Corbin. We aren’t at your beck and call when you hit a roadblock. You need to learn how to do this without a net so you’ll be safe in the streets when you work.”

He understood that.

That’s why he wanted to solve this, so he could go undercover. That was what he wanted to do to build up even more street cred.

Many of the detectives called him ‘Alice’s Cop’. He didn’t want his mother’s name tied to his reign in the police department.

This was all him.

All of the time.

Gene wasn’t done.

“This was a one-time deal. Don’t get accustomed to us running in to boost your street cred. What saved you was we weren’t busy, and Ethan happens to have a soft spot for baby detectives, apparently.”

Blackhawk laughed.

“And the fact that we weren’t working our own cases,” he added.

Oh, Corbin was well aware.

“I know. Just thank you. I was handling it until the captain wanted the media to not ride our ass. You know how it is.”

That they did.

You were good until the media put the pressure on, and any bad press was a problem for the upper management. Gabe got downright bitchy.

Ethan pointed to the pile of papers he had.

“Start going through them with us. We have to get this case handled by Monday.”

He was honest.

“I hope it won’t ruin your Christmas. I know that it’s your first together.”

Gene reassured him.

“Christmas will be fine. Don’t worry about that,” he said. “I get to work with my boyfriend, and my partner in life. Wherever we are together, it’s a good place to be,” he said, winking at Ethan.

Oh, he knew they’d make time for making merry.

Bet.

On.

It.

Gene was curious.

“What are you doing for Christmas?” he asked.

Corbin shrugged.

“We don’t really do Christmas day. My parents are Christmas Eve people. Since I’m in the middle of the case, they are going to spend it with family. They are heading out tomorrow to go North to get to my dad’s brother’s house in Scranton.”

Corbin glanced over as he was putting the papers in order so he could make this as seamless as possible. Hopefully, they’d see something he didn’t.

“What are you two doing for the holiday?”

“Apparently, this case,” Ethan said.

Gene knew.

“We’ll get up on Christmas, and work if need be, and then open our gifts to cuddle on a couch with some Christmas movies and Chinese takeout. They’re always open on Christmas, thank God,” he admitted.

Then, he added one more thing.

“We aren’t working a full day on Christmas, regardless. That’s not happening. That was the only way Ethan could talk me into this. We’re cutting out early, at some point.”

Corbin didn’t blame them.

“Sounds like fun,” Corbin said, grinning at them.

Immediately, Gene knew where that was heading, and he shut that shit down.

Fast.

“Oh, no, third wheel. Not in this lifetime. Christmas is for lovers. I’m spending it with mine, and him with me. You gotta get your own sexy man. I’m unwrapping mine on the couch.”

He laughed.

Oh, Corbin loved riling him up.

“I’m kidding. I’ll drop off the gift I have for both of you, and then, I’ll bail. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of you defrocking your Christmas present.”

Ethan laughed.

“I feel cheap. The Christmas present is a living breathing human.”

Gene patted his leg.

“Please don’t change that. It’s hot.”

They all laughed, and finally, Corbin was ready. He pulled the first paper, and gave them everything he had. They’d done a preliminary breakdown in the boss’ office, but now, he was ready to dig in deep.

“Victim one was Dorris Stettner, age thirty-two. She was a nurse at the local hospital. Like I mentioned in the captain’s office, she was shot in the head. To add insult to injury, she was then left dangling out of her trunk as she bled out onto the presents she had bought for her boyfriend, Jack Venst.”

“Well, that ruins a person’s Christmas,” Ethan admitted.

That was damn accurate.

Corbin continued.

“He is a cop, and he’s the one who found her. When she didn’t show up for work that morning, he swung by her house out of concern. He was pretty distraught when we arrived on the scene. He touched her, and moved the body, so we’re fully expecting his DNA all over her and that trunk. The car too.”

Gene shook his head.

When would people learn?

A cop of all people should know better, but then again, he’d do the same thing if it was Ethan.

God forbid.

“Oof. Touching the body is a good way to end up a suspect,” he admitted. “If he hadn’t already been a suspect.”

That was the truth.

“Well, he was distraught. Would you have moved the body if it was say…”

Gene pointed at him before he could finish. He’d just thought that, and he didn’t want to go there again.

“Don’t say that and put it out in the universe, Corby, or I’m going to kick your ass if he gets shot at.”

He laughed.

Someone was angsty today.

“You’re superstitious? You? The big, mean Fed believes that the universe is listening?”

He shrugged.

Everyone had to believe in something. All he knew was whenever someone said ‘it’s quiet’ or ‘it’s slow’ the shit always hit the fan.

It was best not to summon the crazy.

“I said what I said.”

Corbin shook his head, and continued.

“I questioned him, and he was cooperative at the time. He’d been with her for a little while. Six months, and this was their first Christmas. He puked on the scene, and finally, his fellow cops got him out of there after the questioning.”

Ethan was curious.

“Did you check his firearm? The man is in a relationship with her, and he carries a gun.”

He nodded.

“The bullets didn’t match, and he didn’t have GSR on his hands. Granted, he could have worn gloves and used another gun. I ran the man’s name, and he doesn’t own a personal firearm. Just his work one.”

Well, they crossed that off the list.

“And their relationship?” Gene asked.

Corbin went there.

“He said everything was perfect between them. There were no issues, no fights, and from the mountain of presents I saw at his place for her, it appeared the honeymoon phase didn’t end.”

They both made notes.

“And at work?” Ethan asked.

“All of his co-workers said he was annoying because all he did was talk about Dorris. He was stupid in love, and at her place of employment, she did the same. There didn’t appear to be any problems between them. They weren’t married, so they each had their own money and places. I couldn’t find anything that said he was the killer.”

Still, Gene liked to be sure.

“Did you get his DNA and all that jazz?” Gene asked, as Ethan was making notes.

“Yeah, and it’s taking forever to get it back. You know how the labs are this time of the year. We’re still waiting on them, three weeks later.”

Oh, that was why the FBI had its own labs. The wait time on DNA was MONTHS. They couldn’t do their jobs if they had to wait that long.

“Do you have extra samples?” Gene asked.

He nodded.

“I’m sure we do. Reed is pretty good when it comes to covering all of the bases. When I sent the paperwork to Reed telling him to transport the bodies to your facility, I asked he do the same with any backup trace we had pulled.”

Good.

They could have their lab run it.

“Okay, so nurse and cop are the first couple affected by this killer,” Ethan said. “Who is next?” he asked.

The man flipped the page.

And continued.

“We had Caprice Gressman as our second victim. She was twenty-two, and she was married to Patrick Gressman of Gressman, Hull, and Spencer,” he said. “The husband called her in missing, and filed a report the day after she was gone.”

Gene was curious.

“Was this the one found in the car?” he asked, making notes now. He hadn’t taken any in the captain’s office. He’d been too busy trying to get the fuck out of there.

He nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Again, the DPW found her right after a snowstorm. Apparently, she went out for presents, and never came home. She paid cash, so no one could electronically track her. It took a while for her to be found.”

They both listened.

Corbin continued.

“And again, that was the night we got twelve inches of snow,” he said. “The car was covered, and when DPW went to move snow, they went to the car, and opened it. She fell out. It was a single GSW to the head, brains on the door.”

Yeah, so he’d said.

Only, now, Ethan was curious.

“Do you have the pictures?” he asked. “I need to see them so I can tell how the killer is getting to them. This is way too up close and personal for me.”

He did.

“Sure.”

When he slid them to Ethan, he began looking at them. Then, he studied the first one in silence.

Corbin was watching him.

“What do you see?” he asked.

Ethan was to the point.

“She had her back to the trunk,” he said. “It wasn’t to the back of the head.”

He shook his head.

“No, the entrance was middle of the face. Between the eyes. This person was a good shot, and it did the job one and done. There were no defensive wounds. No one put up their hands in front of their face.”

Blackhawk kept studying it.

He saw how she fell into the trunk.

Why wouldn’t you defend yourself?

That was the question.

He knew that if someone was going to pop him in the skull with a bullet, he was fighting for his life. If a stranger came up to him, he’d be on alert.

So that told him something.

It wouldn’t be a stranger.

It was someone the first one knew, but he kept that to himself, for now.

Because he was done with that crime scene, he flipped to the next picture of the woman lying on the ground, in a seated position, her body frozen solid.

He knew when this happened, since he recalled the big snowstorm. They’d worked from home that day, and the next one since it was so bad out.

Ethan kept studying the pictures.

“The window has frozen brains and blood on it. The blowback is on the driver’s side, and there’s no holes in any of the windows.”

Corbin let him talk.

He was learning from him. One day, he hoped to be the kind of investigator they were.

“And the doors were unlocked?” Ethan asked.

Corbin nodded.

“Yep.”

That was interesting.

“From these two pictures, it looks like they knew or saw the person.”

Gene agreed.

“With victim one, she’s getting her things out of the trunk, and someone gets her attention behind her. She turns and is caught off guard, but she doesn’t fight. She knew them.”

On that, Ethan agreed.

He tapped the next one.

“See how her head is turned to the side? She was looking toward the passenger seat, and was shot in that direction. I’m willing to bet that the woman had someone in the car with her, OR someone got her attention outside the car.”

Gene picked up where Ethan had left off.

“Maybe someone tapped on her window, and she rolled it down. The person leans in, and with a silenced gun, takes her out. That sounds like a hit to me. No one heard anything, and the killer was obstructed by the car.”

Blackhawk was thinking that.

“You told us in the captain’s office that no one heard anything. That says only one thing. This was definitely a silenced gun. This person knows how to use one. So, leaning in to talk, he or she could hold the person at gunpoint, and no one would be any the wiser.”

Corbin shook his head.

“That’s ballsy,” he admitted.

Gene laughed.

“That’s a hitman or someone who doesn’t have anything to lose at this point.”

Ethan agreed.

“Someone is hella angry,” he said.

Now, he was curious.

“And you definitely had the CSIs sweep that whole car, right?” he asked. “Like the windows, the door handles, and the inside?”

He nodded.

“Yes. Like I said, trace isn’t back yet, and we even collected the DNA and fingerprints of the DPW workers. They were wearing gloves, but I covered my bases. Just in case.”

That was good.

The baby detective was learning, and learning fast.

Ethan was done with the pictures, and now, he was ready for more of the information that Corbin gathered. In his head, he was putting together a strong profile.

“What else about the Gressman family did you learn? What did she do for a living?”

He continued.

“Nothing that was suspicious other than that she liked to shop. A lot. She was a stay-at-home wife, and is younger than Patrick Gressman. He’s at least fifty-two. She bopped about her day, and he went off to work at the law firm.”

They all knew what that meant.

“So a kept woman with a credit card, and a penchant for spending her husband’s money?” Gene asked.

Corbin nodded.

“Yep, and he didn’t seem to care a single bit either. From his finances, he was pulling in a lot of money, and his wife was happy spending it. They were financially set with no money issues.”

Curious.

It was brought up this could be a hit, and that sat in the back of their minds.

“And when you questioned him?” Gene asked. “Because if a woman is going to die, and she has a man in her life, chances are, that’s the best place to start.”

He was aware.

“Mr. Gressman was NOT happy with being questioned by the police.”

Oh, well, no shock there.

They never were.

Corbin continued.

“He basically said to talk to his lawyer, which is his one partner. I was doing that dance when the third victim came in, and I had to switch focus.”

That was expected.

You had a better chance with a fresh victim than a victim past the forty-eight-hour mark.

That was the rule of policing. After that time had passed, you had less of a chance of solving it.

“I’m going to say that the cop, and the lawyer, were not happy with talking to me,” Corbin admitted. “I put the pressure on them.”

Gene was curious because he needed to see how difficult his job was going to be going forward.

“Did you make it seem like they were guilty of something?”

He laughed.

“Well, not at first, but I was able to tie the cop and the lawyer together. He’s questioned him a few times during trials, and when I brought that up…”

Oh, they knew.

“Yeah, they get mean when you insinuate that they teamed up to kill their women,” Gene said.

Corbin laughed.

“Yeah, they do. Let’s just say that when I asked if they’d killed each other’s women, that was met with a couple of ‘fuck yous’ and ‘talk to my attorney’.”

No surprise there.

“How about the third victim?” Ethan asked, as he was building a profile regarding the killer.

Corbin could do that.

“The next victim is Francesca Berlove. Like we mentioned earlier, she was found next to her garbage cans. It appeared she was taking out the trash and that’s where she was ambushed.”

He slid Ethan the pictures of the crime scene and victim, and he studied them.

He noticed the scene looked average. There was no fighting and no defensive wounds on the victim.

“Again, to the front of the face,” Blackhawk admitted, tapping the photo.

“Is that significant?” Corbin asked.

“That tells us that the killer was either not worried about being seen since the victim was dying, or that they knew the person. That’s the case for the first two, and the third one…not sure. I’ll need more to keep working on it.”

Gene was curious.

So, he went there.

“Refresh my memory. Who found her?”

He did just that.

“The woman’s girlfriend,” he admitted. “Francesca was found by her live-in girlfriend, Perri Farrah. Francesca was a teacher, and Perri is a nurse.”

That set off bells in Ethan’s mind.

Now, he was curious.

“So Perri is a nurse. Does she by any chance work with the first victim, Dorris?” he asked.

He shook his head.

Oh, he’d thought the same thing, and he’d made sure to cross all his T’s, and dot all his I’s.

“They both work in the same hospital, but in different departments. Dorris was in the ER, and Perri works in Oncology, I believe.”

Ethan made notes.

So they could have known each other.

What he needed to do was find a way that all of the victims connected. Once they found that, they were likely on the trail of the killer.

Criminals had a pattern.

You just had to find it in the chaos.

“So she was found dead outside by the garbage, frontal face shot, and did you recover anything from the scene?” Gene asked.

The man nodded.

“One nine-millimeter shell casing. It matched the caliber of bullets that did the deed. That’s the only one we found on all of the scenes. The killer made sure to clean up, but missed this one.”

They knew why.

They were likely in a hurry.

Gene made notes.

“What happened when you questioned the girlfriend?” Gene asked.

“She had an airtight alibi. I checked the hospital. I even spoke to both Dorris’ and Francesca’s co-workers. Not one could ever remember either woman coming in contact with each other or having beef.”

Interesting.

“Then, I spoke to Perri, and she’s a nice lady. She was heartbroken, and grieved appropriately. She didn’t hold anything back, and she was helpful. She worked the second shift, and was home by eleven thirty. The victim was still warm.”

That told them a lot.

“That might be why the killer didn’t police his brass,” Gene admitted. “When did the victim die?”

Corbin was to the point.

“They all died around the same time. Reed put it between eleven and twelve-ish for the ones he could give a TOD for. He wouldn’t venture with Caprice. She was dead too long for his liking.”

Yeah, this was all coming together.

“And who is victim four?” Gene asked, ready for that one next.

This was where it changed, and that had befuddled the hell out of Corbin. It was also why his boss wanted him to pass this off.

If the MO changed, the killer could have changed. They’d not released a lot of information to the media to keep the sanctity of the case.

“This one is a little different,” he admitted.

They both remembered what he said in Oliver’s office, but they let him talk.

“Maggie Goodman, the victim, age twenty-nine, was found in her bed, in clothes, slippers on, and dead with a gunshot to the face, again. There was brain splatter on the wall behind her.”

They were curious.

“Why is that different? Because it was inside?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, we only figured that out because Reed found ashes on her slippers. So I was curious. I walked outside, and down the back of the house. I found an ash bin for coal ashes. People save them to sprinkle them on the driveway and sidewalks instead of salt.”

They were familiar. Their last case had a victim who had that same ash on his boots.

Corbin continued.

“There were footprints there. We couldn’t get a good one, since they were on pine needles beneath her trees, but it looks like she was caught off guard there, and brought inside. Then, she was brought to her room, and shot there to be left in bed.”

They both waited.

“What?” he asked. “You don’t think so?”

Ethan shrugged.

“Or she wasn’t alone when she took the ashes out. Is she married or…?” he asked.

He flipped through pages and gave them the information.

“Her boyfriend found her. He was supposed to take her out for a date that night, and he hadn’t heard from her all day. He went to her house, and broke in to find her dead in bed. The cops were called, and I showed up.”

Yeah, they recalled the breaking in part. Apparently, they’d both been distracted in the captain’s office. It was a good thing they were going back over everything.

“So maybe she wasn’t alone outside,” Gene said. “Maybe he was there, and they were taking the ashes out. They had a fight, and he followed her back in. Then, he shot her in the face in the bedroom.”

He paused.

“I don’t know about that. Why break the window?” he asked.

Yeah, a baby detective.

“To give him an alibi. He’s not going to admit if he was there or not, so we have to figure that out, to rule him out. Right now, the only person you could rule out by alibi is Perri Farrah,” Ethan said.

The man looked hesitant.

“What?” Gene asked.

Corbin was honest.

“He’s a kindergarten teacher. He didn’t seem like a killer to me—anything but.”

Oh, that amused both of them. So much so, that Gene had to explain it to Corbin. They couldn’t let him turn into the Mr. Rogers of investigators—all sunshine and rainbows.

“My dude, anyone can kill when they have that overwhelming need to do so. Evil lies within, not always on the outside.”

He guessed.

“What did she do for a living?” Gene asked.

Corbin didn’t miss a beat.

“She was an exotic dancer. The boyfriend supported her career.”

He stared at him.

Then, laughed.

Oh, Gene didn’t consider himself cynical, but in this case, he was taking that route. When you were solving murders, you had to not eliminate any possibility.

“What’s funny?” Corbin asked.

Gene shook his head.

“Ethan, do you want to tell him, or do you want me to tell him?” he asked.

Ethan waved.

“All you. You’ll pull the bandage off fast. I’ll try to keep him from getting his feelings all butthurt.”

Corbin looked confused.

“What am I missing?” he asked.

Gene focused on their baby detective and broke it to the man.

“Son, that last one sounds like jealousy. His babe was shaking her ass for men, and then she gets offed in the face in the bedroom. That’s more often the thing. Are we sure they’re all connected?”

“I haven’t gotten the bullet diagnostics back yet,” he admitted, but Reed said it looked to be the same caliber.”

Uh-huh.

“Again, stripper gets off in ANY scenario, and the top suspects are the men she’s grinding on who couldn’t have her, and the man she’s sleeping with who got sick of other people seeing what was his.”

Corbin thought about it. Honestly, he was rethinking his life choices.

Maybe he should have been an art major?

It seemed less stressful.

Now, he needed to know.

“But how do they all connect? Doesn’t a killer have to have a pattern?” he asked. “If the bullet does match the others, wouldn’t we have to be able to tie him to all of the victims? The schoolteacher?”

Ethan shook his head.

“Not really. I mean, in theory, they do, but if someone’s trying to hide the reason behind the murders, they might pick victims they can easily access like the woman in the car shopping, and the woman taking out her trash.”

Gene agreed.

“This could be random, or it might not be. At this point in time, we don’t have enough to answer that. We’re going to have to re-interview. We don’t have a choice.”

The detective didn’t like this.

Had he screwed up?

Now, Corbin was doubting himself.

“Did I miss something?” Corbin asked. “I hope I didn’t miss something and that’s why I haven’t solved this.”

Gene reassured him.

“We’re going to have to start at the very beginning with the first victim. While I appreciate your notes, and we’ll use them, we’re going to go back over everything to make sure that you didn’t miss shit. We can’t, or we won’t solve this if the slightest thing was missed. Don’t take it personally. This is what we do when we’re called in. It’s our process.”

He sighed.

That sucked.

Here, he’d thought he’d had it under control. Oh, he knew how to work a homicide. He did it all of the time, but they were usually drive-by shootings, convenient store robberies, or domestic violence cases.

“Okay. What do you want to do first?” he asked, knowing that the case would be in good hands.

Corbin was ready to dive back in and help out. In the process, he’d learn.

Gene was driving the bus now.

“Well, the bodies are on their way to Doctor Harper, so we’re going to revisit the most recent crime scene, and we’ll go from there. The first three are going to be useless to us now. The car was likely brought in for both the first two victims, and you already canvased, correct?”

He nodded.

“No one heard shit, and there were no cameras getting footage.”

Then, that told them all they needed to know. The most recent scene was their only hope.

“We still have Maggie’s home taped off. I can get the car where Caprice was found, shipped over to you. The husband has been trying to get it back, but we’re holding it as evidence.”

That worked for them.

“Do it,” Ethan said, texting Greyson that it was on the way. He’d get the techs started on it.

“We’ll have to reinterview, and go from there,” Gene stated. “Again, Corbin, you are NOT to take it personally or take it as us saying that you didn’t do your job. Do you understand? The last thing we have time for is you getting pissy because you have hurt feelings.”

Oh, he understood.

Truth be told, he planned on watching and taking it all in. These guys were damn good at what they did, and he had to hope they could pull it off again.

For his sake.

The upcoming undercover investigations were contingent on him closing this case, and he was desperate to work one to build his street cred with the other detectives.

“Know what’s not going to be fun?” Gene asked, as he tucked away his notebook.

That had the detective’s attention.

“What?” Corbin asked.

He went there.

“The three of us having to go into the place of employment for the last victim. I love bringing pretty boys into the lion’s den with ass shakers.”

Ethan laughed.

So did Corbin.

That seemed to be the story of their lives in Philadelphia.

“Blame Corbin,” Ethan admitted. “He dropped this case in our laps. I had nothing to do with this.”

Gene stared at him.

Oh, hell, no.

His lover had EVERYTHING to do with this mess, and he wasn’t letting him forget it.

“You told me to help him. You said you wanted to make sure the Crotch Goblin didn’t get hurt or do something stupid.”

“HEY!” Corbin said. “I’m a freaking cop! Not you guys too. It’s bad enough my mother thinks I’m going to get hurt, but my buds? My friends? My compadres?” he asked.

They both stared at him.

“Compadres?” they asked at the same time.

“You know what I mean,” he said, laughing.

Ethan shook his head, and pointed one thing out to his partner.

“I’m just the profiler. When did you start listening to me? I’m insane. That’s crazy of you.”

Gene laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

God.

This case…

Already, it was ridiculous.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

The Morgue

Same Time

Intake Room

The bodies kept coming, and Greyson Croft had just gotten a text from Ethan saying a car would be arriving soon.

Well, they weren’t wasting any time, now were they?

They were up to their necks in work, and now, the doctor had even more.

When the fourth body was wheeled in, Greyson was not sure how Cantrell and Blackhawk were going to wrap this by Monday.

This seemed like a whole lot of trouble that had to be handled before then.

Between the two of them, Greyson knew one thing for sure.

They clearly really liked cleaning up other people’s messes.

Oh, and they certainly loved a tough case.

That was for damn sure.

Now, though, he had his own distraction to worry about, and she was five foot eight—and a redhead.

As he stood there, Sasha walked past him, her clipboard in use, and fully focused on the job at hand.

It was like he didn’t even exist.

After four months of regular sex, she didn’t even bat an eye when it came to him being nearby.

That did one thing.

That annoyed him.

Big.

Time.

What also annoyed him was that she didn’t start any conversation, like they only had a business relationship. While he understood work at work, and play at home, they were alone in the room.

There wasn’t even a smile.

What the hell was this?

She’d just been in his bed not that long ago, and now, he was getting the cold shoulder.

What was happening to make her go the other way and try to give him the brushoff?

Was the sex that bad?

Really?

Honestly, he believed that he’d given his best performance each and every time. From her responses, she’d been enjoying it too.

A LOT.

Only, now, he was beginning to question everything he’d ever learned about pleasuring a woman.

He got her off multiple times.

She came screaming his name.

Then, and only then, he got off himself.

Did he somehow screw that up?

Yeah, he was questioning everything.

As she walked past him again, still ignoring him, he started some small talk to get the conversation going. He was on the cusp of throwing in the towel, and calling it a day.

Oh, and never dating another redhead for the rest of his goddamn life.

This one was as cold as ice, and she wasn’t giving him receptive vibes.

Greyson could take a hint.

He wasn’t wasting his time on someone who, clearly, didn’t want to progress in a relationship.

It was time to bail.

His mind was made up.

That was going to suck for him, since his mother was on his ass about getting married, and having kids. His father wanted that too.

Honestly, he hoped Dante would come home from his tour of duty, and get married already.

If he began popping out kids with a woman, they’d get off his ass.

Hopefully.

“Will you be able to get through all four of the re-autopsies?” he asked, breaking the silence.

She nodded but didn’t look up from her clipboard.

“Yeah, I should. It’s going to take all of today though. If I’m lucky, I should be done tonight. I will say that from the notes from the city coroner, he looks to have been incredibly thorough. That’s always reassuring that I’m not going to open them and find a mess.”

He guessed.

This wasn’t his arena.

He put bullets in people in the army. He didn’t peek inside to see the damage they did.

That didn’t seem appealing.

At.

All.

“Well, hopefully, you’ll be able to get them done. Cantrell and Blackhawk are crazy to take a four-body case this close to Christmas.”

Still, she wasn’t looking at him.

“They seem to like a challenge, that’s for sure,” she admitted.

This whole thing was boggling his mind.

She seemed fine, but she didn’t want a relationship with him. He wasn’t sure how someone could roll in and out of bed with someone and not be fully focused on starting something.

Was it him?

Was he clingy?

Needy?

What the hell?

Was he the only person on the planet who was trying to find someone to be his forever?

It sure as hell felt like it.

“Oh, they definitely like a challenge, that’s for sure. Some people do, and others don’t,” he admitted, hoping she’d get the hint.

He hated the whole playing hard to get.

If that was her plan, he was out.

When the last of the victims and evidence came in, Greyson locked up the intake bay doors, and was grateful that they were finished getting the bodies from the city.

The whole time, Greyson tried to keep the chitchat going, as he tried to figure out what game she was playing.

And it wasn’t easy.

“What are your plans for the holiday?” he asked, nonchalantly.

Okay, he was asking because he wasn’t one hundred percent sure he was the only person she was seeing.

Could that be it?

Was she already in a relationship, and that was why she wouldn’t sleep in his bed?

That screamed bed hop to him.

She didn’t hold back.

“Nothing, unfortunately. There’s no way I can get a flight home, and then come back in time for Monday morning. Now, I especially can’t since the agents are hellbent on keeping me busy. Plus, Gabe wants me here in case the local coroners can’t keep up with the crime.”

She glanced over, and it was so damn difficult to work. The man was watching her, tracking her around the room, and she was thinking about him and his body.

Sue her.

When he asked her out that first time, she expected a boring date, and it had been anything but. Greyson Croft was an interesting man with shadows and dark corners.

That made her curious.

And curiosity killed the cat.

Meow.

She had a purpose there, and that was the only thing on her mind.

Sasha wanted to go home at some point.

“What are you doing for the holiday?” she asked.

Well, at least she was engaging him in conversation. That was a start.

“My parents live just outside the city. My brother’s coming home on leave, and I’m going to stop in and see them since I don’t have any other plans,” he offered.

Hint.

Hint.

Four months ago, he’d planned on seeing if she’d come home with him for the holidays, but that definitely didn’t work out.

Not at all.

She was making him work for it, that was for damn sure.

He’d asked her out every single time, and he’d made every single date. She’d yet to even suggest anything for them, and he was curious if this was going anywhere at all.

When she didn’t react, he’d reached his limit.

“Are you annoyed by me? Or bored with me?” he asked, catching her off guard.

She was surprised by that question. Was that what he thought?

“What?” she asked.

“You know. Bored. Unamused. Irritated. Because we’ve been seeing each other for almost five months now, off and on, and you’ve not once planned a date, or asked me if I wanted to do anything. You won’t sleep at my place, and you run from my bed like you’re on fire as soon as we’re done fucking,” he said, all of that exploding out from him in a wave of fast-talking panic.

Oh, boy.

He’d not meant for that to come out, but he was so goddamn curious what was wrong with him.

She blinked.

Oh, Jesus.

He sounded angry, and that was the last thing she wanted. She liked sleeping with him, and she enjoyed the sex. There was no way she could let that end.

Now, she had to regroup.

FAST.

“Really, this isn’t the place, Greyson. We have work to do here…”

He pointed.

“That’s exactly it. You’re evading the question, and me. I investigate for a living, Sasha, and I can tell when someone is trying their darndest to avoid me.”

She blinked.

“I’m not avoiding you, Greyson.”

“Then what?” he pushed.

They were alone, and it was making him insane. He didn’t know what the hell he could do to get her to loosen up, sleep in his bed, and actually participate in the relationship.

The bottom line was that it was annoying him.

And making him suspicious.

She focused on him, put down her clipboard, and was blunt, since that seemed to be what he wanted in that moment. On top of what she needed to do.

“You’re icy.”

He blinked.

What was this?

“You give off this hostile vibe, and like you’re unhappy with anything I do,” she admitted.

He was so confused.

She was moving around the room, and the whole time his silver-gray eyes tracked her.

“I’m icy? Doctor, I think I’ve been pretty warm considering you’ve used me plenty the last few months, and then ran for your life.”

Oh, his voice had some testiness to it, and she could tell. That was exactly what she meant.

“Used you?” she asked. “Is that really how you want to make it seem?”

He didn’t.

Greyson backtracked.

He genuinely liked her, and the sex was off the charts hot. It beat being alone, miserable, and having blue balls every night of the week.

“I think you know what I mean.”

Did she?

“We had sex, Greyson. It was mutual. I didn’t ‘use’ you, like you just said. Every time you asked me out, I was at work. You came in here, caught me off guard, and suggested a date. You didn’t give me an opportunity to ask you—OUTSIDE of work.”

He went there.

“And you never once stayed the night. You refuse to let me sleep at your place. You keep me at arm’s length, and I am left wondering what I did wrong.”

She sighed.

Yeah, this was going bad. She had to reel this one in. She had to get back in control of the situation. He was genuinely upset.  

“Greyson.”

He stopped her.

“I get it. It’s just sex,” he said. “If that’s the case, I’ll back off. I don’t date in order to just get laid, Doctor. I was under the impression there was more to this, and we were actually starting something.”

Yeah, this was going off the rails. Sasha didn’t want what they were experiencing to end. So, she tried again.

To fix it.

“Greyson,” she said, again.

Only, he didn’t let her finish.

AGAIN.

“It’s all good. I think I’m going to get off the ride though, Sasha. I’m not looking for bed hops. I’m looking for more.”

Oh, was he?

Because he opened the door, she walked right through it.

“You can stop being angry at me, Greyson Croft,” she stated.

He wasn’t angry.

Okay, he was definitely angry.

She was gorgeous, smart, fun, and he’d really thought he’d found a good one.

Instead, she was keeping that wall up. It was like she was hiding something that he wasn’t privy to see.

What was it though?

Why couldn’t he find someone who meshed with him? Maybe he was a bit too caveman-ish. Maybe she liked to be the man in the relationship.

Hell!

What did he know?

What he did think was she was definitely keeping a secret that he wasn’t privy to.

But he couldn't even get close enough to peek behind that curtain.

“I just don’t understand why you’re holding back. Is it me? What? It’s driving me insane trying to figure out why you’ll sleep with me, but that’s it. We come to work, and you don’t even smile at me anymore. What did I do?”

She was honest.

She liked him a lot.

Maybe too much.

Only, there was a big pink elephant in the room, and he was ignoring it.

“I’m going back to Seattle when my time here is done,” she said, hinting. “I want to go home, and Gabe said I will at some point when the work here is done.”

He stared at her.

Honestly, he didn’t understand what the problem was since he didn’t ever say that he had a problem with that. In fact, he understood that.

“And?”

She tried to explain so he understood. It was clear he wasn’t.

There was definitely a miscommunication between them that needed to be cleared up.

Here.

And.

Now.

“What then? We start something that we both get attached to, and then I’m gone. What do we do then?” she asked, being genuine.

He laughed.

“For the right woman, I’d move to Hell and bring my own air conditioning. You underestimated me, Sasha. I really thought we had a chance. Maybe I’m just an optimist. I believe in love. I went into this to see what we could build, not put conditions on it from the start.”

She stared at him but said nothing.

God.

She wanted to be honest with him, but now, she knew she’d hurt him.

That wasn’t what she wanted to do.

What they had was…complicated.

Genuinely, she liked him. Greyson Croft ran a tight ship, and followed the rules.

She respected that.

Rules saved your ass.

Because she didn’t answer, he continued.

“I’ve been trying to find the real you and see if we fit as a couple. Only, you’ve been stopping that, and not letting me see what’s behind the wall.”

She was curious.

“When did you ask me to sleep at your place?” she inquired.

“Two nights ago.”

“Was that the first time you asked me to sleep at your place?” she asked, digging in so she could salvage this. It was clear she needed to take a different route.

Greyson didn’t get it. He didn’t get anything about this whole situation, and she wasn’t going to tell him outright.

He thought about it.

“I mean, yeah. I told you that you could stay, but that was the first time I asked you to stay.”

She actually laughed.

“What?” he inquired, not sure what was funny.

Sasha went there.

“I really like you. I enjoy spending time with you. If you’re willing to walk through Hell for the right woman, then why aren’t you willing to see the whole picture and fight for it? You literally asked me one time, and now, you’re willing to walk? That doesn’t bode well for any relationship, Greyson Croft. Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe the problem is you.”

BOOM.

That caught him off guard because she managed to turn this all around and land it right in his lap. Somehow, he felt like the bad guy in this, despite only asking a question.

That hadn’t been expected.

Not.

At.

All.

Someone was good.

Too good.

Then, because she had work to do, she walked out of the room to get to her morgue, thankfully, ending the whole conversation.

When she was gone, Greyson was left standing there.

Well, damn.

That didn’t end the way he’d expected.

And now, he was left thinking one thing.

What was wrong with this whole situation? His gut was still off.

Now, he had to figure it out.

No matter what.

Chapter Six

Maggie Goodman’s

Home

Thursday

Ten Thirty A.M.

The stripper lived in a very nice neighborhood in the low crime part of Philadelphia. In their experience, whenever they were dealing with strippers who turned up dead, most of the time, they didn’t have lives like this.

Not.

Even.

Close.

Only, here they were, surprised.

Hopefully, that was the only surprise they were going to get.

When they arrived at Maggie’s home, there was still police tape on the scene, blocking it off. The doors were sealed, and the perimeter was marked off, but there was no cop presence there to guard the place.

No shock there.

Unfortunately, at this time of the year, the cops were running all over the place.

That was also likely why they weren’t alone when they pulled up in Corbin’s SUV.

Sitting on the front porch was a man, and he had his head in his hands as he was crying.

Uh-oh.

They already knew who it would be.

The boyfriend.

As the snow was gently falling around him, he was sitting there in mourning.

Keeping his voice down low, the detective clued them in.

“That’s her significant other,” Corbin admitted. “He’s the guy who found the body yesterday evening. His name is Lester Danyelle, the kindergarten teacher.”

Well, this might just work for them.

They could kill two birds with one stone and get the interview and house walkthrough done at once. That would save them time.

They were already playing catchup.

Getting out of Corbin’s SUV, they headed up the walk toward the man, their badges on their hips.

When the man looked up, he wiped his eyes. It didn’t take him long to recognize the detective.  

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” he admitted.

Gene was a pro at interviewing despondent individuals, so he handled this one.

“Mr. Danyelle, I’m Special Agent Cantrell, and this is my partner, Special Agent Blackhawk. You’ve already met Detective Price.”

He said nothing.

Not that they expected him to.

Honestly, the idea that he’d killed Maggie was already dissipating. There was no way the man knew they were heading here, and he’d been sitting in the snow for a while.

That was genuine mourning.

A killer would put on a show on command, not linger and sit there.

“Can we talk to you for a little while?” he asked. “I know this is hard, but if you can speak with us, we might find out who did this to your girlfriend.”

The man stared at his hands, saying nothing, but they did notice one thing.

He was shaking.

Yeah, it was cold outside, and the man was wet from the snow.

“Do you want to do this inside?” Corbin asked. “I can let us in.”

Gene nodded, knowing that was likely the best plan of action. He wanted Ethan to watch the man inside, to see if he was getting the same impression.

“Please,” he said. “I came here to lie on her couch so I could get some sleep. I can’t sleep at home. I just want to smell her one more time,” he admitted. “I can’t go into her bedroom and see the wall,” he whispered.

Oh, they knew why.

The blood splatter and brains.

“Okay, Mr. Danyelle,” Gene said. “Let’s get you inside,” he stated.

When the man got up to make way for Corbin to cut the tape and access the house, they followed him in.

Ethan was tracking the boyfriend, and he noticed that Lester Danyelle went right to a bookshelf and picked up a picture of the two of them and held it tight.

He held it to his heart, and that spoke volumes.

It was clear he was heartbroken.

Yeah, there was NO WAY he was faking this. If he was, he deserved an Academy Award.

“Come sit,” Gene said, as he sat on the couch and gave the man the armchair across from him.

That way, Gene was able to get more of a view of the room, and take it all in.

The man did as he was asked.

“First, we’re so very sorry for your loss, Lester,” Gene admitted. “We can’t imagine how you’re feeling now.”

The man wiped his eyes on his wet coat.

“I can’t believe she’s dead. Who would shoot her? Maggie was a sweetheart. All of this is a nightmare, and I can’t seem to wake up.”

Ethan was walking around the room, checking everything out. From the looks of her possessions, you’d NEVER suspect that Maggie was a stripper at a club. The place had nice things, and it was well-furnished.

That told him a few things.

She was either working at a decent club, or she was REALLY good at what she did. As in she was likely getting a lot of money in that club.

And prostitution was a big possibility.

Unfortunately, they’d worked plenty of cases with strippers who were murdered, and it always had a seedier or darker vibe to it.

“That’s what we need to find out,” Gene admitted. “We hope you can help us.”

The man nodded.

“Go ahead. I need to help for Maggie.”

That was all he had to hear.

Gene began interviewing him. He had Corbin’s notes, but he needed to do it all from the start.

“Tell me about the day this happened. Yesterday is a good place to start.”

The grieving man tried to compose himself as he hung onto that picture.

Then, he shared what he’d already told the cops yesterday.

“We had a date planned for last night. I had school all day, since it was the last day before Christmas break. I was texting her all day, showing her the cute gifts my students had given me.”

They let him talk, as he purged his memory. The whole time, they looked for tells that he was lying or being dishonest.

So far, there were none.

“When I wrapped up at four, I still hadn’t heard from her, but she worked the night before, so I figured she was still sleeping. When I showed up to pick her up for our dinner date, the door was locked, the lights were off, and her car was in the garage.”

Gene kept peppering him with questions to set the scene for him and Ethan.

“You looked through the window?”

He nodded.

“When I saw the car, I was worried, so I broke the window on the door, unlocked it, and came into the house. It was so quiet. All I could hear was her clock,” he said, pointing at it.

They let him continue.

“I called out for her, and nothing. Finally, I went to go see if she was okay. I went into her bedroom and…”

They didn’t need the rest.

They knew.

That was the moment the man’s life changed in ways he’d never forget.

“I don’t know how to do this,” he said. “We were good. We had a life. I was going to propose to her on Christmas morning. I bought the ring, and she would have said yes.”

He pulled the ring from his pocket and opened the box. It sparkled.

Yeah, this guy wasn’t going to be a killer. Corbin had nailed that. Gene had sat across from plenty of murderers, and the man was not giving him that impression.

Not.

At.

All.

Truly, Gene felt horrible for him.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Danyelle. I wish I didn’t have to make you do this, but it’s for Maggie.”

He nodded and tucked the ring away. He was stronger than Gene would be. If Ethan died, he’d be institutionalized. Honestly, he didn’t know if he’d function.

God.

Gene hoped he never lost anyone to this kind of violence. It was brutal.

“I understand. Just ask. I only wanted this picture. I wanted something to remember her. I need something to replace the visual of her dead on the bed. Her eyes were open, and she was staring up,” he whispered. “God. I can’t unsee it.”

And he never would.

EVER.

When you looked at a deceased person, you added them to your tally in your mind. They added up, and then, you carried that weight with you forever.

You saw them in your sleep, in your dreams, and especially in your nightmares.

They knew that more than anyone.

Gene pushed on as Ethan wandered, and Corbin sat beside him.

“You were good with her career?” he asked.

He looked confused as to why the man was asking him that. Only, Gene needed to.

“Yes, why?” he inquired. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”

This was where it got tricky.

The last thing Gene wanted to do was shit on a victim. Maggie paid the ultimate price, and she was the victim in all of this. Some cops would judge her because of her career, but it was clear she led a good life.

And loved too.

“She was a dancer at a club, correct?” he asked, trying to navigate this.

He nodded.

“Yeah, Puss in Boots,” he said. “That’s how we met. I went there for a friend’s bachelor party, and she gave me a lap dance. She was sweet, kind, and beautiful. I asked for her number, and called the next day. We’ve been dating since. That was a year and a half ago.”

Okay, well, he clearly wasn’t bothered.

“And it didn’t upset you that she danced for other men?” Gene asked. “I know if my girlfriend did that, I’d have a difficult time with it,” he said.

Ethan just shook his head.

Oh, he knew what Gene was doing, but his ‘girlfriend’ had shaken his ass at Syn, and mostly for him.

Lester shook his head.

“Absolutely not. She loved dancing. That was her dream in life to dance. Not everyone can end up a Rockette. She was good at it, and it afforded her a good life. When we started a family, she was going to retire. She told me that when we got married, she would retire so we could have children.”

Gene had to just ask the tough questions.

“Were you jealous of it at all, or did you guys have any fights about it?”

He shook his head.

“No, since it was just dancing. She wasn’t sleeping with any of the men, and she came home to me. She was going to be my wife,” he said again.

Then, he began crying.

Yeah, this guy wasn’t giving off a killer vibe. If anything, he was giving off a naïve vibe that he believed that stripping for drunken men got her all of the really nice things in this house.

Because the man was clearly suffering, he was going to cut him a break. Gene had only one more question.

“Did she mention if anyone was bothering her from work?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“No, she never mentioned anything like that. They have bouncers who really watch over them, and she had a lot of female friends who worked there. They were close.”

Well, that was about all they could do here. The man wasn’t going to give them anything earthshattering. That was for damn sure.

Honestly, he didn’t trust him to be observant enough to know if anything was wrong. Clearly, he didn’t realize that his woman was likely getting money for sex.

Despite that, Gene was crossing him off the top of his suspect list.

Corbin had been right on this one. Score one for their baby detective.

“You should go home, Mr. Danyelle. We’ll call you if something comes up, or we need to see you again.”

He nodded.

“When can I bury her?” he asked before he could leave the place. “I want to bury her with her engagement ring. She should have it, so she knows how much I loved her.”

Gene didn’t have an answer for that.

Unfortunately.

His girlfriend was evidence until she wasn’t.

“For the record, Mr. Danyelle, she knew. If she was going to retire from dancing to give you all of her, she loved you and knew. As for her body, we’ll let you know about that too. Just go home,” he suggested.

He nodded.

Then, the man got up, and he walked out, leaving them behind. When he did, they reconvened at the couch.

“I believe him,” Ethan said. “He was exhibiting the appropriate amount of grief for someone experiencing loss. He didn’t hesitate with his answers, and he gave the exact recount that he gave Corbin.”

Gene had read the notes too.

“Yeah, I have to agree. Only, I have one big problem with what he said.”

Corbin was curious.

“What?”

Gene explained.

“He said he didn’t care that she was shaking her ass for other men because she was only sleeping with him. Look around. That’s going to be bullshit. There’s no way she got all of these things by stripping, and not putting out.”

Corbin agreed.

“I ran Puss in Boots,” he admitted. “It’s not the highest-class place. It’s a normal, run-of-the-mill club.”

And there it was.

Gene wasn’t done.

“On top of that, every man is going to care if his fiancée-to-be is stripping and rubbing her tits all over someone else. I don’t care who you are. There’s going to be a little part of you that cares. Did he kill her? I don’t think so, but he did lie. If Ethan was up there doing that, I can guaran-damn-tee that I’m going to be bitchy as hell.”

Blackhawk reminded him.

“I do recall that when I did shake my ass, you weren’t bitchy at all,” he stated, reminding him of that other case. “In fact, you were VERY receptive to seeing me on that stage.”

Oh, he was aware.

“But that was us undercover. If you were about to marry someone, and they stripped, you’d be okay with it?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“No. I’d absolutely not be okay with it. I’d be the opposite of okay, but I’m hypermasculine and my ego is tied to many things. It would take witchcraft to make me okay with sharing my person. Then again, I’m not in that situation, so maybe Lester’s isn’t tied to his ego.”

That was a point too.

“I guess the only way we’ll know is if we go and interview the people she worked with. Corbin gave us the club name, so…”

Gene glanced over, and he knew he was going to regret this.

“See if they’re open. I want to walk the scene,” he admitted, “and look through her things.”

Corbin did as he asked.

Only, before they could do that, there was a knock on the door.

That was…odd.

Heading that way, Gene glanced out, and there stood a petite woman.

Okay, what was this about?

Opening the door, he was curious.

“Yes?”

The woman looked up at him.

“Hey, I’m Kit Reagan. I’m Maggie’s neighbor…I mean, I was her neighbor. I saw you guys pull up,” she said, pointing across the street. “And I saw Lester leave.”

That worked for him.

It appeared the universe was making his life so much easier by bringing all his interviews to him.

Gene glanced over at Corbin.

“Did you interview Ms. Reagan?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“No, she wasn’t home at the time,” he admitted, still looking for the club’s information.

Gene opened the door and invited her in. He’d do this inside so they could both stay dry.

“Come on in, Kit. Could you answer some questions regarding Maggie’s murder?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I can. I can’t believe she’s gone,” she admitted. “I just saw her the other day. I was coming home from work, and I waved to her as she was shoveling her sidewalk.”

“What day would that be?” Gene asked.

“The night before she died. Not last night, the night before.”

He made notes.

“And you knew her well?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I worked at Puss in Boots with her until I finished my education.”

Gene kept getting a baseline on the woman.

“And you work where now?”

She smiled.

“I’m a teacher. I work at the same school Lester works at.”

Gene made notes, as Ethan moved closer to listen to the conversation.

“I’m going to be blunt,” Gene admitted. “Don’t take this personally, but did Maggie sleep with clients at work?” he asked.

She blinked.

“Um…”

That told them all they needed to know.

That was an affirmative.

“Ms. Reagan, we just need the truth. That’s all. We won’t be telling her boyfriend. We won’t be broadcasting it. We just need a way to find her killer.”

She shrugged.

“I don’t know for a fact. You’d have to talk to someone who was closer to her. We talked, and were friendly, but once I started working at the same school as her boyfriend, she stopped talking to me. It was a wave or a nod.”

Oh, and they knew why.

It was likely because that made Maggie uncomfortable. She likely didn’t want her boyfriend hearing tales from the strip club.

Interesting.

Maybe Lester wasn’t so naïve after all.

“Did you see anyone creeping around here?” he asked. “On the night she was killed, maybe?”

She shook her head.

“No, nothing. I didn’t hear a sound until I heard Lester screaming in the front yard that his girlfriend was dead.”

Well, that wasn’t going to help them, but it also kinda did. Ethan’s profiling said a silencer.

That was likely accurate.

“Thank you, Ms. Reagan. If we have any more questions, can we stop by?”

She nodded.

“I needed to know one thing,” she said.

He waited.

“Are we safe? I saw on the news that this is the fourth victim. Is someone targeting women in Philadelphia?”

Honestly, he couldn’t answer that, so Gene did his best to reassure her.

“There doesn’t seem to be a correlation that the killings are isolated to one neighborhood. You should be good.”

She looked relieved.

“Thank you,” she admitted.

Oh, well, he didn’t want that rumor going around to make this trickier. Already, he could see that the media was across the street.

Someone had been watching the house, waiting to talk to the people investigating.

Since they were done, Gene escorted her out, and then he and Ethan began walking around.

“She knew,” he said, meaning Kit Reagan. “There’s no doubt that she knew what was going on there and participated, or was at least aware.”

Gene agreed.

Corbin too.

“The proof is in her home,” Blackhawk admitted, as he pointed out certain things.

“She liked organization, and she was paid too well for a stripper in a place called Puss in Boots,” he said.

Gene nodded.

“I picture a sleazy place, with a bunch of Pussy in Boots, shaking asses all over the place,” he said, shuddering.

Ethan laughed.

“You are absolutely gay. The look on your face as you said that…”

Oh, he was aware.

He was so anti-tits, he tried to avoid them like the plague. They just were NOT his thing.

He was not a fan of the female body. Oh, he could appreciate when someone was gorgeous, but did he want tits in his face?

Absolutely not.

“Well, she purchased some nice things for a stripper. Pricey things that a normal stripper wouldn’t have access to, and while her boyfriend might have bought her some of these things,” he said, picking up a cashmere blanket, “he was a teacher and doesn’t make that much money.”

That was a good point.

“Maybe they are presents from customers,” Corbin said.

That could be true.

When Corbin had finally found the business hours for Puss in Boots, he had good news.

“Well, they have holiday hours. Apparently, if you’re in the need for some good cheer, you can go get a lap dance before Santa fills your stocking with coal.”

Gene laughed.

Well, that was good to know. Apparently, he was a bad boy this year, because he was spending time at a strip club. He’d rather the coal.

“When do they open?” he asked.

He told him.

“They opened at ten thirty. The ladies are already in full swing—around the pole.”

Well, that was their next stop.

That was for damn sure.

As they were walking down the hallway, Corbin couldn’t help himself.

“So, Ethan, do you want a lap dance for Christmas?” he asked, and the second he did, he regretted it.

Gene shoved him into an open doorway, and they kept walking as he landed with a thud.

Blackhawk laughed.

“Was that necessary?” he asked. “You don’t need to shove him. I can do that myself.”

Gene grinned.

Oh, he knew Ethan could take care of himself, but still…someone was too big for his britches.

“That was my Christmas present to myself,” he admitted, as they reached the dead woman’s room. “It’s just too easy.”

When Corbin caught up, he wasn’t nearly as amused as them.

“That was the bathroom! Do you know how many household accidents happen in there?”

Gene didn’t miss a beat.

“Do you know how that’s a higher percentage for you when you picture him in that kind of fantasy? It’s like you don’t know me well enough by now, Corby.”

He snorted.

God.

He loved busting Gene’s ass.

It was so much fun.

Oh, he knew how protective he was of Ethan, and that just added the entertainment value to making the man growl or go red.

As they reached the bedroom, the bed was cordoned off, but the rest of the room was fair game. Ethan already had gloves on, and he began moving through the room, looking for anything that might give them a clue what happened.

Gene took the closet.

That left Corbin to handle the attached bathroom nearby.

It didn’t take long for Gene to shout out to them.

“I found all of her stripper outfits,” he said. “There have to be about fifty of them. They run from fantasy to not much left to the imagination. I’m sticking with my theory that the boyfriend was jealous. Half of these are freaking topless, and there’s a whole bin of pasties.”

Corbin was in the bathroom, and he wasn’t finding anything odd.

“She was organized,” he said. “She was on birth control, and that makes sense if she was fucking around at work.”

They agreed there.

“I’ll hit the desk next,” Corbin said, doing just that.

It didn’t take him long.

“Here are her bills, and there’s nothing odd in the ledger like her mentioning she was hooking.”

They both listened.

“Oh, wait.”

That had their attention.

Both men glanced over at Corbin.

“She kept a running tally. She budgeted all of her expenses and Christmas presents. Get this. Last month, she made seventeen thousand dollars.”

Gene whistled.

“Holy shit. That’s over two hundred K a year. I’m in the wrong job,” he admitted.

Corbin busted his ass.

“You’d spend half of that getting electrolysis, Bear Man.”

Gene flipped him off.

“Don’t bust his ass, Corbin. He’ll shove you into a closet and lock it,” Ethan admitted. “And I like my bear. He’s only got chest hair, and it’s one of my favorite things. Don’t make him think I want him shaved.”

Gene smiled.

Oh, and the look said it all.

“Looks like he told you. He likes his bear.”

Corbin just laughed.

How could he not?

These two were exact opposites, and he didn’t get how that worked.

Oh, Gene was attractive, but Ethan…

Jesus.

He was off the charts hot.

Someone got damn lucky.

When Ethan found a box under the bed, inside, he found something.

It was pretty big.

He alerted the men.

“Uh, we have the treasure chest,” he said, putting it on the bed for them to see.

When he opened it, they were all confused by the contents.

Inside, it told a tale.

There had to be five hundred condoms.

Easy.

“Why would she need that many condoms?” Corbin asked. “If she’s a dancer, and with a guy for over a year, he had to be going bare. Right?”

Gene nodded.

“There’s too many, and way too many kinds. Magnums? Ribbed for his pleasure? Flavored?” he asked, picking them out of the box.

Ethan knew why.

This was definite confirmation for him.

“We can safely bet that she was sleeping with other people,” he said. “Maybe not at home, but at work. If these were for Lester, why wouldn’t these be in the nightstand and instead, tucked away—hidden?” he asked, opening the drawer where they should be.

When he did, they saw the stuff.

“Lube, edible undies, and luster dust in peach. That’s a normal girlfriend-boyfriend kit. Fuzzy handcuffs,” Ethan said, holding them up.

Yeah, there was nothing shocking there.

What wasn’t in the drawer?

Condoms.

Lester was going bare.

“I’m willing to bet that those were for work. As in, she was getting paid more than just for dancing. We can pretty much assume that we are on the right track with this.”

Corbin shook his head.

“If he found out…”

Ethan stopped him.

“We have to connect the dots. Don’t accuse him of murder yet. He either just put on the performance of his lifetime, or he really doesn’t know. He’s a kindergarten teacher. I can’t imagine he’s there every night, and we aren’t going to be the ones who ruin his memories of her. Period.”

Yeah, Corbin didn’t want to be the asshole that told the man his girlfriend was fucking strangers in a club. That was shitty.

Let him have the memories—if he didn’t know.

Closing the box, Ethan thought about it.

“She wouldn’t bring people here. This is her façade. She likely is so neat, orderly, and clean here because the other part of her life is chaos, dirty, and wild. That speaks a lot about her sexual desires.”

That made sense.

Corbin was curious.

“You can tell that about a person?” he asked, not sure if he believed that or not. At one time, he thought what Ethan did was guessing.

“Yes. What do you see at our place?” he asked.

Corbin thought about it.

“It’s spotless. You’re both neat freaks.”

Gene laughed.

“Outside of bed, Corbin, yes. In bed, we’re down and dirty. We like our kink, and it’s likely she did too. She didn’t get into dancing for shits and giggles,” he said, pointing to her college diploma over the desk.

Ethan agreed.

“She went to school for psychology. Maybe she started stripping to pay off student loans, but more than likely, it got her juices flowing. From the pictures here, I can tell that she had a very different persona.”

Corbin listened.

“She dressed demurely in all of the photos. She had a kindergarten teacher boyfriend, and she assimilated into a nice neighborhood. That would matter to her.”

“Why?” he asked.

Ethan went there.

“Because when she went to work, she let the other side of herself out. Gene said her costumes were wild, and she likely enjoyed men watching her. She was a voyeur, and the idea of clandestine hookups for cash likely turned her on.”

Corbin shook his head.

“That’s weird,” he said.

Gene shut that down. One didn’t mock anyone’s kinks. If that’s what it took, you had fun with it.

“Your homicide captain left a crisp one-hundred-dollar bill on the nightstand when he walked out. That was his kink, and come to think of it…”

Ethan pointed at him.

“Don’t. He’s incorrigible.”

Gene closed his mouth.

“Come on! Tell me! I’m a baby gay too. You both know you’ve slept around more.”

Again, not Ethan. Not with men.

With women, yes.

Ethan gave up. The man was going to nag the shit out of them.

“Go ahead. Maybe he’ll learn something.”

It was crystal clear that Ethan had a soft spot for the man because he let him get away with a lot.

“We have a box of kink at home. I suggest you make one when you find your partner,” he began. “In it, we have all kinds of sexy scenarios that we will act out. Once a month, we have a kinky date night.”

Corbin stared at them.

“Whores, I say.”

Blackhawk laughed.

“Well sexed, satisfied, and calm whores,” he corrected. “He who has not had sex for six months, shouldn’t throw stones in that particular glass house.”

Corbin agreed.

And it was longer than six months.

MUCH.

LONGER.

“Our glass house is filled with cum. How’s yours?” Gene asked, already knowing.

The man flipped him off.

“Anyway, we have a similar scenario, but not at a strip club. That’s all you’re getting. The point of this, Corbin, is that you’re too uptight. Sex should be fun. It should be exciting, and it should make you content. If you end up with a partner who likes kink, be grateful. Put that condom on, and follow along.”

The man said nothing.

At first.

Then, he clearly had nothing to add to that, so he focused on work instead.

“Or maybe they just liked condoms,” Corbin said. “Maybe we’re overthinking this.”

Gene stared at him.

Lordy, but the man was exhausting. It was like having a kid.

“Do me a favor. Pick out the condom that you’d use if you were banging someone,” he said, opening the box to prove a point.

He wasn’t sure where this was going.

When he picked out a normal condom, Gene glanced over at Ethan.

“What would you pick to put in your wallet if you were going to have sex with someone? What’s in your condom repertoire?” he asked. “Just so you know, I’m killing them in my head,” he added.

Ethan was amused.

Because he’d asked, he picked out one that he liked to use. It was for the bigger than average male.

Then, Gene picked out his.

It was the Magnum XL. It was for men who had bragging rights.

Then, he explained to their baby gay.

“Men are different sizes. If her fiancé-to-be was the same size as you, the rest of these would be useless. Same if he was the same size as Ethan, or me. The Magnum and Magnum XL would slide right off of him. Add in that there were none found just inches from where they were doing the mattress mambo…”

And Corbin stared.

“You’re exaggerating. There is no way that you need that condom. I believe that Ethan would, since we all saw him in those leather stripper pants. Sir, you had my standing ovation,” he added.

Blackhawk was amused.

It was clear what he was focused on, and it wasn’t the case.

Ethan actually laughed out loud.

Why?

They loved blowing Corbin’s mind. It wasn’t all that difficult. While Ethan had no other male experiences, the man should be aware of these things.

“He’s big,” Ethan said. “If we used condoms, it would have to be those,” he stated. “The one you picked would act like a tourniquet and cut off his circulation in his dick.”

At that, Corbin literally looked down at Gene’s crotch.

And Ethan was entertained.

“And that’s why I like a bear. Now, put the condoms down,” he stated, taking it from both of them and putting them back in the box.

Now, Corbin was curious.

Of course, he was.

“So you let him go wild with that monster?” he asked Ethan. “And you’re not walking funny?”

That was a no-fly zone.

So, Gene stopped that then and there.

They weren’t giving him details about their sex life. What happened in their bedroom was their business.

Truth be told, Ethan didn’t let him go ass spelunking, but that was their private sex life. If he was Ethan, he would be worried about it too.

“I think we’re done here,” Gene admitted.

“But I wanna know about…”

Gene shut that shit down.

It wasn’t happening. The man knew plenty, and he wasn’t going to give him more.

“Let’s just hit the club,” Gene said. “It’s going to be a long day. You definitely owe us one, Corbin,” he said, knowing he hated taking Ethan into strip clubs.

Every.

Single.

Time.

The women were annoying—more annoying than Corbin.

And that was saying a lot.

A hell of a lot.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Puss In Boots

Strip Club

Philadelphia, PA

Thursday

Eleven A.M.

The two Feds made Corbin drive, since they were trying to lay low in the city. It was just easier if he toted their asses around than if they switched up rides again from the FBI building.

This was all about keeping Javier Hughes in the dark, and up to that point, why fix what wasn’t broken?

Together, they both sat in the back seat, since his windows were dark, but it was also more than hiding. It was also so they could work.

They had a lot of research to catch up on, and that meant going over the files.

Luckily for them, Corbin took good notes, and that always helped out when you couldn’t visit all of the scenes due to them already being released.

They might get lucky when they went to interview a family member or two, but to assume they’d have access to all of them…

It wasn’t realistic.

Time marched on, and by now, Dorris’ driveway, or the street where Caprice was killed would be a nightmare to contain.

“Did I do okay?” Corbin asked, as they were silently reading over files and passing them back and forth between them.

Gene looked up.

“Yeah, you did, Corbin. The notes are helpful. We appreciate that.”

He was glad.

“Well, I can’t say it enough, but I appreciate you doing this for me while you’re on vacation.”

Oh, well, the man was going to owe them one for this. Right now, Gene was watching Ethan’s hand on his thigh, and praying it went higher.

Sue him.

He understood why the FBI didn’t want you working with a spouse or someone you were dating.

It was distracting.

The man always smelled so damn good too. It was a mix of his skin’s natural scent, and cologne.

It got the juices flowing.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gene said. “If I ever need a kidney, I’ll come calling.”

The man laughed.

“Deal,” he said, turning off into the parking lot. “Welcome to Puss in Boots,” he said.

When they checked it out, one thing was for sure. The place was jumping.

They didn’t appear to be slowing down for the Christmas holiday. Men were coming and going, and that was going to make this tricky.

The second they went in with badges, they knew the patrons, and dancers were about to shut up or run like the wind.

This meant being tricky.

It looked like the three of them were going to have to do this in the least conspicuous way possible. That meant posing as willing men who wanted a shit ton of coal in their Christmas stockings this year.

This was Gene’s least favorite part of his job. Oh, not because he was afraid of some stripper glitter. He just didn’t want to dangle temptation in front of Ethan.

It scared him shitless.

Yeah, he knew the man said he loved him, but there was nothing more terrifying for Gene than the prospect of losing his mate to a woman.

It was also why they were playing hide-and-seek with a cuckoo named Javier. Both sexes were after his man, and it was exhausting.

“I hope you have ones on you, Detective,” Gene said to Corbin.

He turned in his seat and genuinely looked confused by that statement.

That was amusing that he didn’t see this coming.

“Why?” he asked.

Gene explained it to their baby detective. What was crazy was he wanted to do undercover, but didn’t understand how to do undercover.

The irony.

Gene stared at him.

“You’re about to get a dick rub by a stripper’s ass, Son. Why do you think? Because I have a penchant for snacks from a vending machine?”

Blackhawk actually laughed. His partner amused the hell out of him.

From where he sat, Corbin looked disgusted.

“Why do I have to be the rub-ee in this scenario?” he asked. “There are three of us in this vehicle who have perfectly good dicks that can be rubbed by hot pants and syphilis.”

This man was too much.

Oh, well, there was really only one reason. Gene was to the point.

“Two of us are in a relationship, and one of us isn’t. Postulate what happens if Ethan has one lady in his lap. Oh, wait. Let me tell you what will happen. I’m going to be bitchy, and no one likes me bitchy. I just might decide I prefer vacation instead.”

He rolled his eyes.

Corbin was being blackmailed by a Fed. That was absolutely insane, but here he was, two days to Christmas, and not a fuck to be found from the Fed.

Instead, he chose his battles.

“One day, you’re going to respect me as a detective and not make me do the shit jobs when we work together. I can’t wait to get to that day.”

They both laughed.

Oh, well, they had bad news for the man.

That was never happening.

“You’re like the kid brother. You’re always doing the shit jobs, Corbin. Fed trumps Detective. Always. We will never let you forget that either.”

He sighed.

There was no way he was winning this one, so he was going to suck it up, and do what they wanted. They were burning daylight.

“Fine. I love pussy. Yay. I can’t wait to feel a woman’s ass in my lap,” he said, monotone. “I hope I don’t get so excited I can’t control myself when I learn that I’ve been fooled since I was fifteen and realized I liked boys.”

The man amused them.

Endlessly.

Getting out, they tucked their guns and badges to the back of their bodies, and pulled their clothes over them so the bouncer would be none the wiser.

Then, they headed toward the club to assimilate with all of the other men heading inside.

At the door, Ethan paused to look at the dancers on the wall display. As he was there, he made sure to talk loudly and he pretended that he was already drunk.

At eleven in the morning.

“Oh, she’s pretty,” he said, slurring his speech a little to add emphasis.

The bouncer looked over to see who he was talking about.

“Oh, that’s Sparkle. She’s sweet,” he admitted. “Only, she’s not here today.”

Ethan feigned disappointment as he realized that they must not have heard that she was dead yet.

Well, this was the time to use that to their advantage. Word would reach them as soon as she missed a shift.

“It’s our buddy’s birthday. Did Sparkle have a friend who he might like?” he asked. “She was recommended by another dancer. Last time we were here, Kit did our dance. I can’t remember what her dancing name was.”

“Cleopatra,” he said. “She left a year ago,” he added, giving them information without even realizing it.

The whole time, Gene had his arm over Corbin’s shoulders. Not to be friendly.

In case he tried to run.

“Who knows Sparkle? We want one of her friends,” he admitted.

The bouncer didn’t seem to realize he was being played, and that worked in their favor.

He thought about Ethan’s question.

“Uh, her best friend is on today. As for Electra, she’s the one with the lightning bolt pasties. You can’t miss her,” he said, winking at them.

Because he’d been helpful, and because he didn’t want the big man beating on them later when he found out they were not patrons, Gene tipped him.

The man tucked the fifty away.

“You can skip the entrance fee,” he said, pocketing the money.

The whole time, Corbin was horrified, and he let them know it, the second they were out of earshot.

“You guys do this way too easily,” Corbin said. “Degenerates,” he added.

Oh, they did this a lot. When in the FBI, be prepared for anything. That meant slipping past a bouncer or five to get the job done.

Corbin needed to learn that.

“Uh, it’s called undercover. You’d better perfect it before you try doing any. You stick out like a sore thumb, Corbin. You look like the posterchild for a milk ad.”

Ethan laughed because he knew what was coming.

“Wholesome,” Gene said, proving him right.

Corbin didn’t believe that for a second. He knew he could pull it off.

He hoped.

Once inside, they saw the redhead on the stage, swinging around a pole, and she, indeed, did have lightning bolt pasties.

It was damn hard to miss her and the size of her tits. All three men were betting that’s why Electra was a fan favorite. Men were shoving bills into her G-string left and right.

It looked like they needed to lure a woman in, and that meant using their boy next door. He looked innocent and like he’d just rolled off the corn field on the family farm.

“Okay, Corbin. We need you to get her attention. Try not to look gay and desperate.”

He looked over at Gene.

“I am desperate and gay. Maybe let me have a few hours with Hotness here, and I’ll be…”

Gene squeezed that arm around his shoulders, so it looked like he was hugging him.

Only, he wasn’t.

“OR NOT.”

Jesus.

Someone was edgy and not in the mood. Clearly, Gene was just as tense as him.

And mean.

Ethan took a seat, and got them beers. When the waitress put her tits right in his face, Gene was watching, and it was exactly what he expected.

The man smiled, but it was his fake one. He wasn’t even interested.

That made him jolly.

It also calmed him down a bit. As long as no lines were crossed, Gene would be able to control his temper.

MAYBE.

“What can we get you?” another woman asked, as she sat in Gene’s lap.

He played along, since another woman was in Corbin’s, and he looked lost how to do this. This man was NOT ready for undercover.

This was the easiest kind. You just had to fake being interested and these people weren’t trying to kill him.

“Well, my buddy here has a birthday,” he said, pointing all of the attention at Corbin, so the guy could get the hint.

It worked too.

The girl in his lap bounced, and tried her best to get him hard.

Yeah, good luck.

Corbin had a close encounter with tits and vagina once, and it ended with him puking on the poor girl. There was no freaking way he was going to get hard unless they put Ethan in his lap.

It was clear to Gene that he had to keep the show going. Corbin was of no use. He was staring at the girl in his lap, and looked horrified. Gene hoped that came off as him being a strip club newbie—nothing else.

When Gene slapped the one in his lap on the ass to distract the attention from Corbin, she purred for him.

“You feel like a big man. Want a dance and maybe we can have some fun?” she asked.

Ick.

He shrugged, proving to Corbin that it was possible to pretend not to be gay when a lady was in your lap.

It was time to get Electra over here before this went haywire.

ASAP.

“My friend really likes that one,” he said, pointing at the woman on the stage. “He’ll take a dance from her. Can you get her to head this way?” he inquired, hopefully.

The woman sighed.

It was clear she wasn’t happy that they were being rejected, but that was life in the club.

Clearly.

Without another word, or ass shake, thankfully, the three women got off of their laps, and did just that.

“You’re getting a lap dance,” he said to Corbin. “We need a good reason to question her about this place. We know she’s Maggie’s friend. They don’t know she’s dead yet, so work your undercover magic.”

He stared at him.

Gene continued.

“You know. Get her to offer up sex.”

He blinked, and his brain tried to process how to do that. In Syn, it was easy. There were oiled up men, and not scantily clad women.

“I don’t think that’s going to end well,” he admitted. “I have an innie. I don’t like lap dances from ladies. I like dick. Shouldn’t it be someone who likes tits in case he has to touch them?”

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

They didn’t have time to fool around. They were only going to keep their cover for so long before the girls alerted the bouncers that they weren’t patrons, but cops.

Ethan sighed.

“Pussy. I’ll do it,” he said, seeing Electra heading their way. “For the record, Corbin, you are NOT ready for undercover alone. You can’t even fake interest in a woman.”

He was honest.

“I don’t think drug dealers are going to offer me women. Meth maybe, not tits and ass.”

Ethan rolled his eyes.

“I can’t with him,” he admitted. “Make sure you follow,” he said to his partner.

Oh, Gene would.

Ethan didn’t have to worry about that.

As Electra headed over, she went to sit in Corbin’s lap, and when she did, Ethan only had to smile at her. He whipped out the Blackhawk grin, and when he did, the woman was focused on him.

“Oh, hey,” she said, smiling and moving toward him instead, and he wasn’t even holding money in his hand. That said it all. Someone oozed pheromones.

And wielded a lethal smile.

Corbin shook his head.

He’s a whore, he mouthed, joking.

Oh, and Gene liked him that way.

“What can I do for you? The ladies said it was someone’s birthday.”

Ethan took over, teaching their baby detective how you faked it until you made it.

“He’s shy, and wants me to go first. Can you give me a little something special for his birthday?”

She winked.

“For you, handsome? Let that hair down, and let’s have a party,” she stated.

It was when she put his hand over her tit that Ethan kept smiling, and grinning.

From where he sat, Gene watched and was horrified by the whole thing.

Yeah, he was a little too good at this. In fact, all that security that Gene had was slowly slipping away. He was constantly reminded how lethal Ethan was around the opposite sex.

It was the grin.

The cheekbones.

Those dark mysterious blue eyes.

When he whispered in her ear, and she giggled as he cupped her full breast, someone’s blood pressure went up.

Oh, yeah, he didn’t like this.

What the hell were they thinking putting him in that room? This was dangerous.

For Gene.

From where Corbin sat, he realized this was a bad idea. He should have just played along, because Gene was getting red, and not from the atmosphere.

He kicked him under the table, and he was pretty sure he growled.

Oh, not at him.

When Electra wrapped her hand in his tie, and pulled Ethan’s mouth toward hers, Gene actually flinched.

It was a punch to the gut.

It was hard to watch because that territory was supposedly his.

When she kissed his man, he kissed back, and it took everything Gene had to keep that cover. He deserved an Academy Award for not breaking the role, and not grabbing the redhead by the hair to drop kick her to Kalamazoo.

When she broke the kiss, Ethan was still grinning, but he was feeling absolutely nothing but grossed out. The kiss was way too far, and he knew it.

He wasn’t sure where her mouth had been, and now, it was on him.

Goddamn it.

The things you did for your job.

“Lead the way,” he said to her, hoping Gene stayed calm. He could see him, and he looked like Vesuvius.

Ready.

To.

Blow.

At his words, she got up, took his hand, and led him toward a private room.

In that moment, Gene knew he had to get his ass in there before this whole thing went any further. She’d been kissing what was his, and he lost all rational thought.

Rage did that to a person.

“Breathe. He’s acting,” Corbin said, really wishing he’d just taken one for the team. Both men had been covering for him, and now, there would be backlash.

This man had driven through a steel gate to get to Ethan, so who knew what he’d do next?

At Corbin’s words, Gene wasn’t sure he was acting. That kiss…

It was a little too real.

Suddenly, Gene got sick.

REAL SICK.

There was always that fear that something would switch him back over to being a hetero man, and he’d be forgotten.

It was time to stop this here and now.

“See that bouncer?” Gene asked, knowing he had to get past him to reach the private rooms.

“Yeah, why?”

Well, it looked like Corbin was paying him back for this, here and now.

“I need you to get kicked out of the club. Go fondle a girl.”

He blinked.

Did he just say…?

“WHAT?” he asked. “Absolutely not.”

Gene held nothing back.

“Corbin, you owed me one. Remember? I need you to take your twink ass over to those strippers, and get up close and personal with breaking a few rules. Hell, I don’t care how you do it. Fucking trip on a chair and land on a tit. Do something! My partner is in the back alone with someone who could be a killer!”

He stared at him.

“Is this the favor you want to recall? Ethan’s going to be fine. He’s faking it. He wasn’t hard.”

He stared at him.

“We’ll discuss why you’re ogling my man’s junk later. Go get kicked out of this club or I’m stopping work on this case, which means you are too. I’ll call Oliver and tell him we got pulled.”

Well, shit.

There was that blackmail again.

He should have just taken the lap dance. This was far worse than that.

The man sighed.

“This is a shit birthday party. I expect a better one next year,” he said, and Gene didn’t laugh.

Well, so much for calming the big guy down…

Tough room.

Gene watched as Corbin headed right for a blonde, and slapped her on the ass.

HARD.

She gasped, and turned.

That was all it took.

When she spun for being manhandled, the bouncer left his position at the doorway protecting the room.

Yeah, it was time.

Gene had to get back to that room. He slipped past the ridiculously big man, who was watching the interaction, and made it to the room where Ethan was with the woman.

And when he opened the door, she was grinding in his lap like a lunatic.

And Gene Cantrell, the calmest Fed anyone knew, nearly lost his damn mind.

All over the place.

Chapter Seven

Puss In Boots

Private Room

Thursday

Almost Noon

As the club door was flung open, the woman grinding and gyrating in Ethan’s lap gasped, standing up. It was clear she hadn’t expected a big man like Gene to practically kick in the door.

Oh, and it worked in their favor.

It was time to have a little talk, and for her sake, Ethan really hoped she didn’t screw around. Someone looked hella pissed, and his partner had clearly had enough. There was no amusement in his eyes.

Only anger.

Gene closed the door with the heel of his shoe, and headed in.

“SIT,” he said, irritated.

Oh, he wasn’t angry at Ethan. He was annoyed by anything with tits at this point.

Being smarter than she looked, Electra did as he said but still protested the other man getting into the room to interrupt her job.

“How did you get back here?” she asked, staring at him. “The bouncers don’t let more than one person in a room.”

He pulled out his badge, and showed her. The second he did, the temperature in the room changed.

Someone wasn’t so thrilled to be wearing those pasties now.

When she looked at Ethan, he did the same thing, much to her dismay.

He went there.

“Sorry, Electra,” he said. “We need to talk, and this was the easiest way to get you alone in the club,” Blackhawk admitted.

She blinked.

“Uh, about?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t going to jail.

Because Gene was not in control of his emotions, he sat on the arm of the couch, and he tried to calm down as quickly as possible.

Only, Ethan couldn’t miss the look on his face, and honestly, he wasn’t sure why he was so upset, since he’d done exactly what he’d asked him to do.

This had been the plan, and they’d executed it without Corbin.

The big chicken.

When Gene looked away from Ethan, so he didn’t say something stupid, he focused on the woman.

“Do you know a woman by the name of Maggie Goodman?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Yeah, she’s my best friend. We started working here together ten years ago when we were in college. Why?” she asked.

He didn’t answer her question.

This was his investigation.

“What’s your name?” Gene asked, continuing with the questioning.

“It’s Electra.”

He stared at her, and his patience was slipping.

“NO. YOUR BIRTH NAME! You know, the one your parents gave you,” he stated.

When she hesitated, Ethan went there.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. We can walk you out of here in cuffs. You offered up sex. I’m a Fed. Just answer for us.”

That seemed to register.

“Dora Barbosa.”

Well, that was better.

“When was the last time you heard or talked to Maggie?” Gene asked. “Or Sparkle, if that’s easier for you,” he admitted.

Now, she looked worried.

“Did something happen to Maggie?” she asked, trying to stand up, but Gene just pushed her back down to sit on the couch.

Ethan lifted a brow.

Someone was aggressive, and that normally wasn’t the case. Of the two of them, Gene tended to play the role of good cop.

Blackhawk was almost always bad cop.

Except now.

Gene didn’t hesitate to drop the bomb. Normally, he had more gentleness, but now, he wasn’t feeling it. This place pissed him off.

That kiss pissed him off.

Some things should be his only. While he got the lap dance, since that was the plan, Ethan didn’t have to kiss her. That was personal.

That was a gift.

Now, it was the fuel that fed that raging fire.

“She was found dead yesterday evening in her bed,” Gene stated, emotionless.

That hung there.

The woman looked over at Ethan, and he nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “She was murdered.”

That was all he had to say.

“Oh, no,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “Maggie is dead?” she asked.

Before he could say anything, there was a knock to the door. When he opened it, expecting it to be Corbin, it was the bouncer.

“What the hell is going on in here?” he asked, trying to move his way into the room.

This was not the time or place. Gene would love a fist fight right about now to burn off some rage.

Instead, he stayed in control and showed him his badge.

The second he did, the man backed up.

He put his hands up, and took three steps back. It was either the badge, or the gun that Gene moved to his hip as if daring him to start some shit.

“My bad. On second thought, I think I’m going to go mind my business,” he said, leaving the occupied sign on the door to escape.

“Good plan,” Gene said, knowing the man likely had a felony or five that he didn’t want being discussed by two Feds in a lap dance room.

When the big man was gone, Gene closed the door with a slam.

Ethan was patting Dora on the back. She was crying pretty hard, and he felt bad for her. Whatever was up with Gene wasn’t her fault.

The woman was just trying to survive in a shit world. He understood that.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” he said, giving Gene a look.

Oh, he saw it, but he didn’t care.

His man kissed someone right in fucking front of him. Like it wouldn’t matter.

Like it wouldn’t set off this red, seething rage in him.

Sue him.

He was the jealous type when his man was doing the tongue tango with a WOMAN.

“What happened to her?” she asked.

Gene explained.

“Someone shot her in the head, and we were pointed in this direction. She was dating Lester, but she had a big old box of various size condoms under her bed. Why?” he asked. “And if you lie, I will get mean.”

Ethan was just trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

Did Corbin piss him off?

Where was the man?

Luckily for Dora, she wasn’t playing games.

“I promised her I wouldn’t say anything outside of the club,” Dora said. “She made me promise.”

Okay, well, now he needed to know.

“Promise what? And I’m asking because someone killed her. It’s our job to find out why. We know you guys are prostituting out of this club. Luckily for you, we’re not vice. We’re homicide.”

She closed her mouth, and then, Ethan tried.

“She’s gone, Dora. Lester is broken, and we’re hella confused regarding who did this to her. Three other women are dead too. Something is going on, and we have to figure out what.”

At his gentleness, she softened.

“Maggie was addicted.”

They were curious about that. Could this be about drugs? Were the women buyers or sellers? Could this be something bigger that would need to go to vice?

Then, Gene could stop this merry-go-round of crazy and go back to his scheduled vacation of fun?

Corbin would be out of luck.

“What was their drug of choice?” Gene asked.

Only, the answer caught him off guard.

“It was sex. Maggie had to have sex like four times a day to be able to function.”

Both men blinked.

“Sex?” Gene asked. “Really?”

Well, so much for this going to vice. It was still their bucket of fun.

The woman nodded.

“She loved Lester so much, and he was her Prince Charming, but he was a one a day or once every few days kind of a guy. He wasn’t getting her off enough, and it was making her a mess. She’d worked in this club for ten years, and that’s a lot of sex to get accustomed to. It wasn’t about the money for her. It was the rush.”

Jesus.

She was banging a lot of men over ten years.

That explained why that box of condoms was so damn big.

“So he was monogamous, and she wasn’t?” Gene asked.

She nodded.

“Maggie tried to stop. She really did, but she went through withdrawal, and then, that lust was pointed at Lester, and he couldn’t handle it. To save her relationship, she had to do what she had to do.”

Well, that was a damn good reason to kill a person. Maybe they were wrong about Lester, and he was a damn good actor.

But how did he connect to the others?

They had four victims, and nothing to tie them together, yet.

“Did he know about her infidelity?”

She shook her head.

“No, and Maggie was very careful that he never found out. She only did sex with clients she knew were safe.”

Gene kept going.

“We spoke to Cleopatra,” he said, taking a shot at using the neighbor’s stripper name.

She blinked.

“Oh.”

He kept going.

“She mentioned that Maggie was giving her the cold shoulder after she began working with the boyfriend.”

She explained.

“Kit knew too much about Maggie. Honestly, she was afraid the woman might say something to Lester. As far as I knew, she didn’t. Maggie never mentioned that Lester was aware. Only that she couldn’t let him find out.”

This was a tangled mess, and why Gene believed in monogamy. When you were banging a bunch of people, it got messy.

Granted, he slept around, but not when he was in a relationship. That was a hard no for him because he wasn’t the cheater type.

From where he sat, Ethan had an idea.

Pulling out his phone, he had taken notes on the husbands and girlfriend of the victims.

“If I show you a few pictures, can you tell me if you’ve ever seen any of them in here?” he asked. “I know it’s not going to be easy, but we want to find who hurt Maggie.”

It was clear Dora wanted to help her friend too.

“I can do that,” she offered. “Am I in trouble?” she asked.

They weren’t here looking for Vice-related crimes. They were here for a serial killer.

“No,” Ethan said. “I asked for a lap dance, and that’s what you gave me. Yes, you offered more, but I’m not busting you on that.”

She looked grateful.

“What did she offer?” Gene asked, staring at his man.

Ethan wasn’t sure it was a good idea to tell him, since he was riled up, but they were FBI partners too.

“A blow job.”

Oh, hell, no.

He stared at the woman.

“Shit like that is going to get you into trouble. I suggest you make better choices, or next time, you will be arrested. If I have to come back here, I’m going to make sure you do time.”

She was pale and scared.

It was clear that she didn’t want that to happen.

“I’ll stop. I’m not addicted to the money. I just like to survive,” she admitted.

Oh, they got it, but it was illegal.

And dangerous.

Look at Maggie.

When Ethan showed her the first victim’s boyfriend, Jack Venst’s driver’s license photo, she nodded.

“He’s been in here, but not as a client. We had a fight go down in here about a month ago with two of the dancers. One shanked the other, and the cops were called. He was one of them.”

Ethan looked up the next person’s name to get the picture ID for her.

“How about this gentleman?” he asked.

He showed her the lawyer who was married to Caprice.

She didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, I’ve seen him in here. He used to come with his work friends to celebrate a big case win. I’m pretty sure I’ve given him a lap dance, and I know that Maggie did a private dance too.”

They wanted to make sure.

“As in sex?” Gene asked.

She nodded.

“She would bring in a handful of condoms a night, and tell me she wasn’t stopping until they were gone. She was trying to get help,” she admitted. “She was seeing someone to get this handled. She wanted to marry Lester and be a wife in the worst way. She didn’t want to lose him.”

They understood, but this just might have contributed to her being lost to him.

Maggie didn’t do anyone any favors by hiding this. It sounded like she needed therapy a long time ago.

Like ten years ago.

“We’re not judging,” Ethan said.

She pointed at Gene.

“He is. He’s being an asshole. He wanted to make me cry, and just blurting out that someone I loved was dead was cruel.”

Well, that was for a whole other reason and Gene knew it.

The bottom line was his man was kissing another person. His lips didn’t belong on anyone’s but his.

PERIOD.

Oh, and they were going to discuss that. For Christ’s sake, he came home smelling like incense and they nearly broke up.

A kiss?

There were lines, and Ethan had crossed one. Granted, they were doing some undercover work, but that didn’t matter to Gene.

A kiss was personal.

“Roughly, how many ‘special lap dances’ was she selling each time she worked?” Ethan asked the woman.

Yes, she said a handful of condoms, but that didn’t quantify a number for them. They needed facts.

“At least five. They paid her well.”

That they knew because she kept a ledger with all of the information in it on how much she was pulling in.

Ethan pulled up Francesca’s girlfriend, and showed her.

“Has she ever been in here?” she asked.

She didn’t hesitate.

“No. We only get men. We don’t get the ladies too. A lot of the dancers are uncomfortable with that, or they just like when a man gets hard. You can’t tell with a woman if you’re doing a good job.”

In a way, that kind of made sense, if you were a stripper.

Ethan had gone through all of the pictures, and they had a pretty good idea as to where they were going to focus next.

Lester had said he’d been in here for a bachelor party, and now they needed to make sure he wasn’t a lying sack of shit.

“Did her boyfriend come in or visit after that first time he met Maggie?”

Dora was honest.

“He only ever came in that one time,” she said. “That’s how they met,” she offered. “He came in for a bachelor party, I guess. When she met him, she told me he was sweet, kind, and she liked that he loved children. Maggie wanted kids with him.”

That was sad.

Then again, murder always was.

“Do you think someone here killed her?” she asked, getting scared. “Is there a killer here?”

Honestly, there was only one way to answer that for the woman, and she wasn’t going to like it.

“We don’t know.”

She wiped her eyes.

“I think I’d like to be done,” she said, talking to Ethan. “My best friend died, and I want to go home,” she admitted, tears falling. “I need to go home to take this all in. We were supposed to have dinner on Christmas. She was my family. Lester was my family.”

Ethan understood.

“Okay, Dora. You can. Thank you for answering my questions,” he said.

She got up, and kept a wide distance from Gene—with good reason.

And Ethan didn’t blame her.

When she was gone, he was curious about what had the man all riled up to the point he’d be cruel. That wasn’t his style.

Ever.

“What was that about? Normally, you’re the nice cop, and I get to be the bad cop.”

He rolled his neck.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he offered, when he absolutely knew exactly why he was irritated. Only, he didn’t want a fight.

Or maybe he did.

Gene was still upset, and his partner didn’t get why. Oh, maybe it was because Ethan had been smiling. Had he looked miserable the whole time, and had he not kissed the woman back, he would be fine.

Now, he wasn’t.

“Gene.”

He knew it was going to go south. There was no way he could keep his temper in check, so that meant it was best not to discuss this here and now.

“Stop, Ethan, if you know what’s best. I’m not ready to do this with you,” he said, getting up from the arm of the couch.

When he went to walk toward the door, Ethan grabbed his arm, and the man spun so fast, it caught him off guard.

Sometimes, he forgot how quick Gene was for a big man.

Ethan gasped, and Gene grabbed him back, knotting his hand in the man’s hair that the stripper had dared to touch. The hair that she’d dare to run her fingers through when it belonged to him.

Ethan’s eyes were wide.

Gene was to the point.

“She touched what was mine,” he said. “She was having a good time bouncing in your lap, and you were too. Then, as if you had no goddamn sense, your mouth was on hers. Kissing another person, Ethan, is not allowed. Your lips are mine, and mine are yours. Do you understand what has me so upset? You kissed her back. I know what that feels like, and now so does she!”

As his fist tightened in his hair, Ethan’s body woke up unlike before when he had a stripper all over him.

God.

This man did this to him every single time.

“A kiss is a very intimate act,” Gene admitted. “You belong to me, Ethan. I own all of you, including your mouth,” he added.

Ethan’s body vibrated with need, and he got hard. There wasn’t a single part of him that was scared. There was trust between them, even in anger.

“Do you understand what I’m saying to you?” he asked.

Oh, Ethan did.

And he liked it.

“Yes, I understand. My mouth is yours,” he whispered, driven wild by the man and his virility.

“MINE,” he demanded.

When Gene pulled him closer, their bodies bumping against Kevlar, he still held him locked to him, and kissed him.

He devoured him.

Instead of fighting him, Ethan went with it. He loved when this man kissed him. It woke him up, and brought him to life.

As Gene was kissing him, Ethan’s arms went around his neck, and he opened more for him. He was able to release his hair, and take all he wanted in that kiss.

Oh, and now, he wanted it all.

He was riled up.

As Ethan was pressed to him, Gene could feel his erection, and the man was hard. They were now dick to dick, and the heat was going up in the room.

In that private lap dance room.

Someone moaned, and when Gene broke the kiss, he stared into Ethan’s eyes.

In them, there was desire and heat.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan whispered. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have let her kiss me.”

Well, at least it wouldn’t be a fight.

“It’s not good enough, Ethan. You were a little too eager for me. This makes me want to show you what I can be,” he admitted. “I let you lead in our relationship most of the time, because I’m willing to swallow my ego for yours. Only, don’t forget that I have one. I have a big one and when it’s insulted, it wants to come out to prove a point.”

Ethan said nothing.

He was horny, and he wanted this man. He loved it when this side came out.

He craved it.

It had been a few weeks since he’d dominated the hell out of him.

“Do you understand, Tala?” he asked, as if reading his mind.

Ethan slowly nodded.

“You’re mine, and while I’ll take Corbin’s jokes, and teasing, I’m very possessive of what is mine. That’s you,” he admitted.

Ethan said nothing, but his body was practically vibrating in need. Whenever this man opened the door, Tala came running through it.

WILLINGLY.

Finding his hair again, he wrapped his fist in it’s silkiness.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Again, not good enough for Gene. That kiss had nearly pushed him over the edge, and Gene didn’t like being provoked.

It annoyed him.

“Show me, Tala,” he ordered, shoving Ethan down to his knees in that club.

As he did, Ethan didn’t fight.

Instead, he eagerly gave him what he wanted. Whenever he went into bottom mode, he couldn’t help it. Tala was his to own.

As he got his fly open, Gene’s dick popped out, and it was hard and ready for his attention. There was that bead of precum on the tip.

“Make me cum, Tala, and later, when I get you home, it’s about time we revisited what I can do to you. It’s been too long, and you’ve forgotten.”

Oh, he did.

And he wanted that.

He wanted that in the worst way.

Ethan had put Tala away because their lives moved on, but he’d never forget Bull’s Biker Bar, and how he felt helpless and wildly horny.

Because of this man.

As he began giving him head, Gene controlled the glide in and out of his mouth. He fucked his face like he deserved it, for daring to tempt that rage in him.

Gene wasn’t going to let this man slip away, and he knew what he needed.

Domination.

That switch was flipped, and the gentle went away, and now, he was gagging Ethan on cock.

When he took his spare hand, and put it on the back of his neck, Ethan knew he was about to be choked good.

Gene’s dick was lubed up with his spit, and he knew the man well.

Slowly, he worked him down his throat until Ethan’s lips were wrapped around the base of his cock.

And he did, indeed, choke.

The whole time, Gene kept his mouth locked there, even as he stared up at him.

“Later, Tala, your body is mine. Now, make me cum, and swallow all of me. If you miss a single drop, the punishment tonight will be brutal. I’m in no mood, and you went beyond the rules by kissing a stranger in front of me. Now, you’ll put your ego away for mine to come out.”

He moaned around his dick.

Ethan wanted that.

It was the gift that kept on giving.

There was nothing better than being topped by this man when he was in a mood, and he was, indeed, in the mood to share this with him.

How could he not be?

Ethan felt safe, and that always made him happy.

Because he needed to, Gene set him free, and Ethan pulled his mouth away from his dick to breathe. There was a long, thick rope of saliva from his mouth to Gene’s erection.

“My Tala is a dirty boy,” he said. “He’s on his knees again in a strip club. I’m beginning to think you like this a lot.”

He whimpered as his mouth was pulled back down his dick, and his face was fucked.

Gene could feel his balls tighten, and he loved the choking and gasping noises that were coming from Ethan. There was nothing hotter.

Oh, if that woman thought his man was getting head in this room by her...

She was mistaken.

He was giving it.

“I’m going to put marks on you later, Tala,” he admitted. “Your friend the ass plug is coming out, and he has a bigger friend.”

His eyes went huge.

But he kept blowing him.

“Fuck, but I love you on your knees for me, Tala. I love watching you swallow my cock.”

Ethan did too.

When Gene couldn’t hold it anymore, he let that cum go, and it exploded from him without warning, choking Ethan on it.

The man fought to swallow every single drop, but he couldn’t. It was too much, and it had surprised him.

As soon as Gene finished cumming, he looked down and saw that Tala had disobeyed him.

Now, it was the beginning of punishment time. Who could wait until later?

Certainly, not him.

Gene pulled him up, flipped open his pants, and shoved him against the wall, face first.

He reached into his man’s pants, and Ethan was rock hard.

He began jerking him off, talking dirty in his ear.

“I’m going to play with you for hours later,” he whispered. “That’s my Christmas present, Tala. You’re going to swallow so much cum, and be tied to that bathroom door so I can torment you all night long.”

Ethan moaned.

“Please, yes,” he begged, his dick so hard that his balls ached to be treated like this. He could shut off his brain, and let Gene give him immeasurable pleasure.

“Say my name and ask for my cum later, Tala,” he said, his lips by his ear.

“Please, Daddy. I need your cum,” he begged, as his dick was being abused, and he loved it. His body was shaking, and he desperately needed that orgasm.

He’d struggle all day if he didn’t get him off.

“How bad do you want to cum?” he whispered, knowing he had NO intention of letting Ethan do that. He wanted him thinking about it until later.

He wanted him to suffer.

He wanted him punished for making out with a woman in front of him when he knew that was his fear.

Tonight would be brutal.

Gene would make sure of it.

Because he knew there would be more punishment for not answering, Ethan did.

“Badly. God. I need to cum. Please let me cum,” he begged, turned on by how this man had no qualm with fucking with him in a strip club.

He loved it.

That freedom…

Gene grabbed his wrist, where his hair tie had been, and immediately, Ethan knew.

He was going to make him suffer.

“Please. No,” he begged. “Please let me cum. I’ll be hard all day,” he admitted.

Oh, he knew.

“Oh, no, Tala. This is your punishment. I’ll have that visual in my head forever of you under a stripper as you smiled, and that kiss. You know that’s my hard limit, and you crossed it. Be lucky I’m not putting you over my knee first.”

He moaned.

And Gene handled that hair tie and dick situation.

Because he was sadistic, Ethan wouldn’t cum, and if he was lucky, he’d marginally get softer, so he wasn’t thinking about it all day.

Maybe.

It was going to be a long day, either way.

Truth be told, Gene had never done this to him before, and Ethan loved it. He wanted to see what it felt like to have this secret and know his dick was Gene’s.

He craved later, when he was going to be punished in all of the good ways the man had promised.

Sign.

Him.

Up.

When he kept jerking him off, just to make sure the hair tie was tight enough and he couldn’t cum, Ethan whimpered and moaned.

“Please. Please just use me here,” he begged. “I can’t do this all day. I’ll be out of control.”

Exactly.

“By the time we get home, you’ll be ready to hump anything I put in front of you,” he admitted. “This is nothing,” he said. “Later, I’ll torture you in ways you never expected. Tonight, Tala, your whole body is mine. I own you.”

He moaned, and it was so loud and desperate.

Gene was glad.

“Now, you pay for what you’ve done.”

Ethan was breathless.

“Please don’t,” he begged. “Please let me cum. I’m sorry.”

Gene stared into his eyes, and already, Ethan was rubbing against him wantonly. This was going to be a lesson in control for Gene.

If he went there now, he was mad enough to fuck his ass, and he’d promised Ethan that he’d protect him.

Gene was doing him a favor by giving himself time to calm the hell down.

“You’re not sorry enough. I missed Tala, and he’s here to stay until I let him go back to where you hide him. Tonight, you’re my fuck toy, and my cum dumpster. This is nothing, Ethan. What I can do with your body…”

“Please,” he begged, his dick aching.

Gene gave him one chance.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, his voice low and whiskey warm. Even though Ethan never wanted a safe word, he always gave him the opportunity to turn it off. Even angry, he protected him out of love.

Ethan opened his eyes, and looked at the only man who would ever do this to his body.

“Never stop. I’m yours. I’ve missed Tala too. I deserve this for doing something that hurt you. Punish me, but love me forever.”

And that was all he had to hear.

He would NEVER stop loving him.

Ever.

“Zip up. We have a job to do, and unfortunately for you, you’re going to be doing it horny as fuck, and hard as a rock,” he said, grabbing him through his dress pants.

He whimpered.

“Yes, Daddy,” he finally got out.

Yeah, Ethan knew that was going to be borderline difficult. His balls ached, he couldn’t jerk off, and his dick was not going to go down anytime soon.

Someone was sadistic.

Someone was angry.

Someone knew him all too well.

God.

He wanted so much more of this man.

It hurt so goddamn good.

And Ethan Blackhawk was thankful for that.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

In The Parking Lot

Waiting For His Partners

Well, it looked like Corbin could add one more thing to his life’s resume.

He’d actually been kicked out of a strip club for manhandling a woman’s ass.

Who would have seen that one coming?

Certainly, not him.

Oh, if his mother found this out, she’d laugh herself to death, or piss her nosey-ass britches.

He knew it.

The things he did for his career.

Yeah, he was absolutely crazy, and he needed to get a grip on reality. The two men he admired were afraid he couldn’t do undercover, but he managed to do it just fine.

Seriously.

They were worried about nothing.

Clearly.

As he watched the club, the people coming and going were all over the place. So, he stayed in his seat, waiting for the two Feds to come out.

What struck him as odd was he saw the dancer that they’d been pointed at come out, but no Ethan and Gene.

What was this?

He looked at his watch, and he would give them a few more minutes before he flashed his badge, and started a stripper riot.

When ten minutes went by, he finally saw the two men leave the building. Gene was in front, and Ethan was behind him.

Now, he could relax.

Maybe they questioned someone else, or were talking out what they did find.

As they ducked into the car, he turned in his seat.

“Well?” he asked.

Gene did all of the talking. Apparently, Ethan wasn’t able to focus and get a whole lot of words out quite yet.

Good.

An erect dick being held in an elastic chokehold would do that to a person.

He knew.

This was a trick he’d learned from the man himself, and turnabout was fair play.

“We talked to Dora,” Gene said, ignoring his partner beside him. “She was surprised about her friend dying, and get this…”

Corbin waited.

“She had a sexual addiction. She was trying to break it and stop jumping every Tom, Dick, and Harry.”

He was curious.

“Is that a thing?” he asked, curiously.

Oh, well, he should ask Ethan. He was tense beside him, and he was rock hard.

Gene kept focused on the man.

“Apparently, she had to have sex at least five times a day to calm down. Her boyfriend didn’t know about it either,” he admitted. “This is what happens when your partner can’t keep up,” he said.

Corbin couldn’t imagine having sex that many times in a day. Oh, not that he wouldn’t try it, and probably like it, but apparently, there weren’t too many gay nymphos out there who wanted dick.

As for this information…

HOT.

DAMN.

“That points it at him.”

Gene stopped that runaway train before Corbin went too far with it.

They chased facts.

Not speculation.

“Before you get on that bandwagon, Ethan showed the stripper the pictures of the spouses, girlfriend, and boyfriend. She recognized the cop who was dating Dorris, and Caprice’s husband, the lawyer. They came in there. One on a call, and one to get his rocks off. He used Maggie’s services as Sparkle.”

That was good information. The men really did the job in there. Thank God, he had them helping him. Already, they had more than he had gotten in three weeks.

“Oh,” he said, grinning, excited to keep working on this case. “And the boyfriend?” he asked.

Gene had bad news there.

“She confirmed that he came in that one time, and she wanted to marry him. Thus, why she was getting help for her addiction. We confirmed what Kit Reagan said, AKA Cleopatra. Nothing was inconsistent.”

He considered it.

“So now, we have three people who connect to Maggie, AKA Sparkle, and all we have to do is figure out if Francesca possibly does. Do they get the ladies in here?” he asked.

Gene shook his head.

“No. I don’t know how we can connect Perri Farrah to this, but we are only just starting. This was a good information haul,” he admitted.

Corbin gave him a fist bump.

When he went to give Ethan one, he was sitting motionless.

“Uh, are you okay?” he asked the man. “You look red. Are you feeling sick? I hope you’re not coming down with something. I pride myself on never getting the flu.”

Ethan tried to focus, but he was so hard, and he wanted to have sex in the worst way.

His whole body was alive with desire, and Gene was purposely touching his leg as a reminder of who owned him. The punishment for his crime was making him absolutely insane.

Finally, he spoke when Gene glanced over at him and lifted a brow.

“I’m good,” he admitted, even though that was anything but the truth.

Honestly, Ethan wanted to climb all over his man, and it was taking all of his focus and control to keep his dick in his pants.

Gene went there.

“He’s thinking about how he was a bad partner,” Gene said, turning up the heat.

Corbin blinked.

“What’s that mean?”

Gene stared at him.

“Someone was a little too into the lap dance when I found him, and we have a rule that you don’t go kissing just anyone you meet. I had to have a stern talking to him.”

“Uh, you’ve kissed me.”

Gene rationalized it.

“That was a test. I had Ethan’s permission. He was tonguing a stripper. That’s a hard no in the relationship rules. I had to clarify that for him.”

Corbin blinked.

Oh, and he was confused.

“A stern talking to him? What next? You going to spank him?” he asked, turning in his seat to start the car.

Gene glanced over at Ethan, and nodded.

Yeah, he absolutely would.

Mark his words.

This man beside him would never kiss another person again without at least asking.

If Ethan was dominating him, he’d expect the same punishment.

Corbin turned on the heat in the car. It was chilly in there.

“It’s almost noon. Do you guys want to do one more interview, or grab something to eat? I promised Alice and John that I’d swing by and say goodbye before they left to go to the family’s house for Christmas. If you don’t mind, we can eat there.”

Gene looked at his watch and worked out the timeline for the day in his head.

“We have three interviews left, and we still have to get to the morgue for an update from Sasha on the bodies. I say we do one more interview, and then pause to regroup and eat. Let’s deal with the first victim’s boyfriend, the cop.”

He figured as much.

“While I was kicked out of the club, I was doing some work. Currently, he’s on duty. I can call dispatch and have him meet us to talk.”

That worked for him.

As the man made the call, and was focused on anything but them, Gene placed his hand over the swollen bump in Ethan’s pants.

And gave it a squeeze.

Immediately, Ethan shook from that single action.

Please, he mouthed as he pushed his hips up so Gene was really touching his dick. I’m sorry.

The man just smiled.

Oh, later, they were going to have some fun. It was time to play with his sexy fuck toy all day long.

As in winding him up before they got home.

Ethan Blackhawk was going to be wild and out of control tonight.

And honestly, Gene was here for it.

Merry Christmas to him.

He was having Ethan as his present, and it was going to be the gift that kept on cumming.

Chapter Eight

The Coffee Haus

Philadelphia, PA

Thursday After Twelve

The traffic was brutal in the city, and on top of that, the weather was getting sketchy as hell. The snow was falling, and people, who were out and about, most of them on their last day of work, were making it annoyingly congested.

Navigating it was a pain in the balls, but they didn’t have a whole lot of choices. The cop was patrolling his area, and couldn’t leave for an extended period of time.

So, they had to go to him.

The bottom line was that Gene was grateful that Corbin was driving. While they were accustomed to traffic, he was busy doing lowkey things to make Ethan insane.

He was currently texting him filthy plans he had for him when they got home, and how he was going to enjoy playing with his body for hours.

Half the fun of getting your lover riled up, was doing it lowkey. It made it all the hotter.

After teasing him, unmercifully, Gene had only gotten one text back.

‘Yes, please.’

That said it all.

It was safe to say someone was horny for the holidays, and that was the gift that kept on giving.

For.

Them.

Both.

Gene was multitasking, listening to Corbin, and driving the pleasure bus toward the cliffs.

“I’ll ask the cop the questions,” Gene stated, knowing Corbin had his shot at him already and mentioned that Jack Venst had gotten angsty.

The man looked up at him in the rearview mirror.

“Uh, then what will I be doing?” he asked. “Ice skating?”

Gene laughed.

This cop…

He was entertaining.

Since this was his holiday, and his vacation, he was going to take liberties with Ethan, and boss Corbin around.

Why the hell not?

“You will be listening. Just like Ethan is listening and coming up with a profile. I’m going to need a direction,” he said, again, lowkey fondling the man’s junk to make sure he was still hard.

Oh, he was.

The best part of tormenting Ethan was he was so open to it. When he went bottom, he trusted him, and that was vital in their relationship.

Vice versa, when he did the same thing, Gene put all of his faith in Ethan to keep them both safe.

When Corbin opened his mouth, Gene went there.

“You told us that when you interviewed Jack and the lawyer, they both got pissy. People hold grudges. I need to be the fresh eyes on this, and maybe Jack won’t be bitchy. We might get something and solve this.”

Corbin sighed.

“Fine, Mr. Bossy Pants. I guess I have no choice, so I’ll lie and say that works for me,” Corbin admitted.

Gene elbowed his partner.

“Me too,” Ethan admitted, watching Gene’s big hands, and wishing they were all over his body. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t concentrate, and all he wanted was to have this man give him so much pleasure all night long.

Now, he regretted helping with this case.

They could be at home, and he could be tied to a bed being tormented.

Damn it.

As they pulled up, there was a squad car not far away, signaling that the man had beaten them there. Someone was already inside the coffee place.

It was time to work.

As they got out, the ground was slippery, and Gene held out his hand to Ethan to help him navigate the parking lot.

Gene was in boots, but Ethan was in dress shoes.

The man took his hand, and he helped him to the salted curb.

“Thank you,” Ethan said, his balls aching.

“You’re welcome. Tomorrow, you should lose the suit and wear jeans. We’re going to be out in this,” he said.

Corbin was walking ahead of them, and Gene had a little window.

“Because someone’s going underwear less all day tomorrow so you can rub against the denim. I want you ready for me at any time. Understand?”

He whimpered.

Ethan wasn’t sure he was surviving tonight, let alone tomorrow. He was burning up with lust and dirty, dirty thoughts.

When he didn’t answer, Gene gave him the second opportunity to stop this. They didn’t have safe words, but he wanted to make sure Ethan wasn’t out of his comfort zone. It was a short trip to Turned-Off-Ville.

And no one wanted that.

“Too much?” he asked.

Ethan was honest as he regretfully wasn’t holding his hand any longer.

“God. No. It’s not enough.”

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. So, he grinned and gave his ass a squeeze when no one was looking. Half the fun was riling each other up so later, they could go shit wild in the bedroom.

And they would.

At the door of the coffee shop, they went in, and grabbed some coffee. They could see the cop not far away, and he recognized Corbin.

They picked up their drinks and headed his way to get this done. Already, they knew this was going to suck.

He.

Looked.

Miserable.

Well, that was to be expected. The man had just lost his girlfriend not that long ago.

As they approached, he was sitting there silently, and only looked up when they approached him.

“Officer Venst?” Gene asked, getting his attention.

The man stood.

“Yes,” he said. “That’s me. Are you the FBI agents?” he asked, seeing the cop with him. “Detective.”

He did the introductions.

“I’m Special Agent Gene Cantrell, and this is Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk,” he said. “You know Corbin.”

The man gave the detective a dirty look, but said nothing to him as he sat down.

Well, Gene called that one.

It was time to do the job.

“We’re sorry to bother you while you’re working,” he admitted.

Corbin sat beside him at the table, and Gene and Ethan were across from him.

“It’s fine. Dispatch is taking it easy on me,” he admitted.

No one blamed them.

This man didn’t appear to be holding up.

“We’re very sorry for your loss, Jack,” Gene admitted. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

Yeah, he did too.

The cop was curious.

“Do you have the killer yet?” he asked. “Did you find who did this to Dorris?”

Gene wished he had a better answer for him, but he didn’t.

“We haven’t yet, but we’re working on it,” Gene admitted. “We’ll find who did this, but to do that, we have to ask you questions.”

He figured as much.

There was no way this was a social call.

The man sipped his coffee, and then finally focused on them.

“Sure. Go ahead,” he said. “I’ve got nothing but time now that I’m alone and empty inside.”

That said it all.

Gene tried to learn as much as he could, and verify the information Corbin had put in the official case file.

“How did you and Dorris meet?” Gene asked, easing into it. The guy was struggling and back at work. He’d give him a break.

Because he’d want one.

The plain hard truth was that he wouldn’t be working a month after Ethan’s death, if he went down in the line of duty, or Javier got his hands on him, he’d crumble too.

He’d be broken.

That was for damn sure.

Jack was to the point.

“I brought a suspect into the ER, and she was there. It was love at first sight. Any other woman I ever met before her disappeared. She’s it, or she was until someone took her from me.”

He wiped his eyes.

“Tell me about the night she died,” he said.

Jack was on autopilot, unable to feel or think about anything. He wouldn’t have come back to work, except the silence at home was killing him.

He just wanted to be with Dorris.

The love of his life.

“She went out shopping. She was buying Christmas presents, and was off from work that night. I wasn’t. I picked up a double to make some extra money to buy her something really nice for Christmas.”

They let him talk.

“We texted all of the way up to when she got home around ten thirty that night. She said she was in the driveway, and home, and going to shower and go to bed, so I didn’t check back in on her. I should have. Maybe if I did…”

Gene was making notes, and so was Ethan.

Well, he was trying.

Blackhawk reassured him.

“It’s not something you could have stopped. It’s not your fault,” he admitted.

Unfortunately, as a man, he hadn’t protected the woman he’d planned on marrying. That was something he’d carry for the rest of his life.

He kept going, just to get it done.

“So I put my phone away, knowing she had work in the morning, and I’d see her when I got off shift. Only, when I showed up at the hospital with breakfast and coffee for her, the other nurses said she didn’t make it in.”

They listened.

“I went to her house, thinking she overslept, and found her hanging out of her trunk, frozen and dead,” he whispered, his whole body shaking. “Whoever did this left her hanging out of her trunk like she was nothing. She was everything to me!”

The dam broke.

The cop began crying.

The man was definitely emotional, and no one could blame him.

Only, Gene knew they had to get through this.

“Was anyone bothering her at the hospital, or at work, or…?” he asked.

The man shook his head.

“She never told me anything. I thought she was good, but someone had to have had a problem. Could this be because I’m a cop?” he asked.

They broke it to him.

“There have been three other victims. None of the other people who seem to have been targeted were police officers, but I do have one thing that might tie them together.”

The man looked hopeful.

“What do you know about a place called Puss in Boots?” he asked.

Jack looked genuinely confused.

“That club out on Ash?” he asked. “The strip joint?”

They nodded.

“Have you ever been there?” Gene asked, already knowing the answer to that.

He thought about it.

“I had a call there maybe two months ago. A stripper grabbed a knife from the bar, and shanked another. I arrived there with another cop.”

Okay, well, that was another consistent story, so far, and it didn’t give them anything to work with either.

Gene kept questioning him, in hopes of finding anything out that would help.

“And that was the ONLY time you’ve gone there?” he asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t go to clubs. I certainly didn’t go to places like that STD fest. Once I found Dorris, I settled down. The wildest I’d get before her was me and the boys would grab a beer after shift.”

They understood that.

“I stopped partying because we were working to save up our money because we were looking for a house to buy in the spring. I have an apartment, and she only has a two-bedroom house. We wanted to have kids. I was going to propose to her.”

He went there.

“Who did she date before you?” Gene asked, needing to know more about the victim to see if they connected.

He thought about it.

“I’m not sure, honestly. We didn’t talk about it, but she said to me once that her ex broke up with her because of her work hours. She was the one who was dumped.”

Gene kept going.

“And she never said she was feeling followed or…?” he asked.

The cop shook his head.

“I swear if she did, I would have moved her into my place, and called it a day. I would have escorted her home from shopping in my police car. I would have…I would have done anything not to have this hole in my chest.”

They all got it.

Death tore you to pieces.

Violent death decimated you for the rest of your life.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you,” Gene admitted. “Here’s my card, and if you hear anything else, or think of something, call me.”

He took it.

“I don’t like being on this side of the grief,” he admitted. “I don’t like how this feels.”

They all understood that.

Unfortunately, Fate was a bitch, and liked to blindside you in life.

“I’d say it gets better,” Gene admitted, “but I don’t think it does. I’ve never lost anyone like this, but I am so sorry for you. I hope time heals your heart a little bit.”

Jack was curious.

“Are you in a relationship?” he asked him.

Gene nodded.

“I am.”

Jack went there.

“Hold onto that person tight because the second you stop being focused, that’s when it happens. Never let them go,” he said. “I wish I never let her go out alone.”

Gene glanced over at Ethan.

“I won’t let my person go. I can’t. The love I feel is so staggering. Thanks for the reminder. I’m going to take your advice, Jack.”

The man nodded.

It looked like their interview was done.

Corbin patted him on the back in sympathy, and then, they headed outside to the car. When they got in, they were talking about the case.

“He’s pretty broken up about it.”

That was to be expected, honestly.

Only, now, Gene was curious.

“Can you get us the cases he’s worked on, Corbin? I’m talking about any traffic stops that went sideways, or something that was ugly in his past regarding work?”

Corbin was curious.

“I can. Why?”

Gene explained.

“Well, she was the first, and if it wasn’t someone from work, or it wasn’t at him directly, maybe we have one of those situations where the killer is mixing the order up to mess with us.”

Gene looked over at Ethan.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Blackhawk was to the point.

“This is someone who is very angry. The victims died by gunshot wound to the face. The killer faced them down, put a gun to their heads, and shot them. That’s rage.”

They listened as he continued since this was Ethan’s area, and the beginning of a profile.

“That tells me that whoever did this was hella pissed. Someone did someone dirty. That’s my gut. As to what…? I’m not quite sure yet. I’m going to need more information to extract that.”

Gene knew that was pretty much the norm with Ethan. He never had a solid profile on day one.

Now, day two…that was a different story.

It looked as if they ticked off one more interview for the day.

Looking at his watch, Corbin knew they had some time to take a break.

“How about that lunch now, Gene?” he asked. “Feel up to it?”

Yeah…

Gene could do that.

Plus, it would give him time to torment Ethan, and that was always a good moment for him.

“I could eat. How about you, Ethan? Feeling hungry?” he asked, grinning at him.

Oh, he had a belly full of cum, and that was what he was thinking about.

“Sure. Sounds great,” he admitted, somehow able to actually articulate a full sentence.

That was all Corbin had to hear.

“Great. Alice will stop texting me to come get fed. She thinks I can’t feed myself. You know how she is. I think she just wants to see you guys.”

Likely.

Honestly, they didn’t mind. Alice was one hell of a hoot, and kept them entertained.

Because he could, Gene put his arm over Ethan’s shoulders, and enjoyed how tense he was. He was still sporting one hell of an erection, and that was half the fun.

Maybe if he was a good Top, his sexy Native would punish him next, and he’d be the one tortured with pleasure. Now, that was a good Christmas in his book.

God.

Life was good.

Leaving a kiss on Ethan’s temple, he thought about what Jack had said because it resonated with him.

He planned on holding on damn tight to love.

Because no one was stealing this man from him.

NO.

ONE.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Not Far Away

Watching

Diesel was scared stupid.

Yeah, while he didn’t mind doing dirty deeds, this was pushing his limits.

If he got caught…

Diesel knew he was fucked.

Still, deep down, he knew that he needed to take the shot to set up his wife and kids for life. As a husband, and father, it was his duty.

If he kept telling himself that, he was hoping he wouldn’t chicken out.

In the ‘borrowed’ car, he was taking it all in. He’d caught up to them, using the media as his guide.

Only, when he followed them, and he saw the police car, it freaked him the fuck out. The last thing he needed was a high-speed chase in the snow.

No, now, wasn’t a good time to take a shot. That was for damn sure.

Later.

Diesel would have to do it later when there weren’t patrol cars around.

If he fucked this up, he was a dead man. His boss was tired of him doing stupid shit, and he had to make him happy too.

There was no doubt that Javier was tired of him not delivering.

The last thing he needed was for his boss to lose faith in him because he was never finding a job like this again, and then, he couldn’t support his family.

He wasn’t exactly an angel who would pass the interview and background check.

So, he would pick the right time, and make sure it counted.

Javier could count on him.

This man was a goner.

Christmas wasn’t coming for the one Fed.

He could bet on it.

Chapter Nine

Alice and John’s

Pub

Thursday

After Twelve

There was nothing as crazy as the retired Navy man’s pub all decked out for the holidays. In front, there were two fat inflatable snowman dancing in the wind and falling snow. The craziest part was someone drew Navy tattoos on one’s inflatable body, and the other had a police badge.

Never let it be said that Alice and John weren’t batshit insane, but they ran a tight ship, and served some good grub.

It was always a good day when Gene and Ethan could have lunch or dinner there.

It had been a while, since Corbin had been MIA for the last three weeks working the case, but they were back together again.

When they walked in, the place wasn’t too busy, but it was only a little after twelve. The lunch crowds were likely checking out for the day, not heading for lunch.

It was the season to cut out early from work.

As Corbin walked in, his father headed around the bar, and hugged him.

“Hey, Son,” he said, setting him free, and hugging the other two men affectionately.

They let him because they were close. They had saved Alice’s Crotch Goblin, and ate for free whenever they wanted. Plus, the two made them feel like they were home in the city.

“Hey, John,” Gene said.

He hit him in the chest.

“Body armor? Son, your life is suspicious,” he teased, busting him.

Oh, well, there was a good reason they were both packing body armor.

Javier Hughes was a little too quiet.

It was better safe than sorry in his book, and he’d actually like to see the holidays.

When they went to sit down, Alice popped up, scaring her son.

She found that funny.

As always.

“Alice! I’m armed,” he stated. “Do you always have to be ridiculous? You were once a cop. You’d think you’d know better.”

She just hugged both men, and then kissed her son on the face.

“I can’t help myself. You’re so jumpy, and seeing you puts me in a damn good mood.”

Uh-oh.

Corbin immediately went to Suspicion-ville.

“Why are you in a good mood, Alice? I know it’s not the weather. You hate the snow. I know it’s not Dad, you barely tolerate him.”

“HEY!” John yelled, laughing.

Alice smiled sweetly at him.

“Can’t I just miss my Crotch Goblin?” she asked, winking at Gene and Ethan.

Both men were amused. Then again, whenever she called him that, they were entertained.

Hell.

They called him that too.

Corbin wasn’t having it. He knew his mother was up to some shit. He’d bet on it.

“Spill it, Alice, or we’re going to that nice taco place down the street.”

She rolled her eyes.

He was so suspicious.

Yeah, he got that from her.

“Fine, Corbin. See that guy over there?” Alice said, pointing toward the young man not far away, trying desperately not to look like he was listening to the whole thing.

He looked.

“The one in the nice suit?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Yeah. Well, it just so happens he’s gay and looking for a man. I told him my son was a detective, and he seemed interested.”

Corbin sat.

It was like his legs went out from under him, and thankfully, there was a chair beneath him, or he was parking that can on the floor.

“Oh, Jesus Christ, Mom,” he hissed, as both Gene and Ethan laughed at the whole interaction.

How could they not?

It wasn’t like they were shocked. Everyone was trying to get Corbin laid, BUT Corbin.

Apparently.

Alice kept talking.

Despite Corbin’s horror.

“You should go over there and introduce yourself. In fact, I’ll do it for you,” she said, turning to leave to go do just that.

Only, she didn’t get a chance. Corbin grabbed the back of her jeans so fast and shoved her into the chair beside him.

That’s when he threatened his own mother.

“If you do any such thing, Alice, I’m divorcing you. Are you out of your goddamn mind?” he asked.

Okay, the guy was attractive.

And kind of sexy.

But the last thing he needed was his mother getting him a date. Then, she’d want to know everything.

And that wasn’t happening.

She stared at him.

“What? You said you were gay. I found you a gay man in a suit,” she said, pointing at Ethan as if he was the one thing on Corbin’s Christmas list.

Little did she know, it was.

Only, Alice wasn’t done.

“His type seems to be the rage these days. I liked a soldier, but what do I know?”

Gene helped torment Corbin.

Why?

Because it was fun.

“I mean, you like dick too, Alice. You and Corbin have a lot in common.”

The man stared at him.

“I will steal your man right out from under you,” he said. “Test me.”

Gene just laughed.

Oh, that was never happening.

To prove it, he leaned over, and Ethan found his mouth with his in a kiss. Yeah, when he was in Tala mode, he was very much all his.

When he broke it, he smiled at Alice.

“See? Just do what he did,” Alice said. “Walk over to him, and kiss him. How hard is that?”

Oh, Jesus.

“Do you hear yourself?” he asked. “You want me to orally assault a complete stranger. You’re out of your goddamn mind, Alice.”

Gene could tell Corbin was interested. He was flushed red, and he kept glancing over at the man as he tried to get little sneaky peeks.

It was time to help the guy out.

“What’s his name?” Gene asked.

Alice didn’t miss a beat.

She leaned toward Gene, and kept her voice down.

“That suit-wearing man is William. He works as an attorney in the city. Not only did I find him a professional man, but one that is basically in the same line of work.”

Ethan laughed.

“I mean, she does have a point.”

“Jesus,” Corbin said.

His mother focused on him.

“Hey, he’s attractive, he likes his job, and he’s not a serial killer. Go pick him up, Corby.”

He closed his eyes.

First, she didn’t know he wasn’t a serial killer. Second, she was out of her mind, and she wondered why he hid from her on a good day?

Seriously?

“It’s not bad enough I’m gay and have to deal with that cross to bear, but you’re trying to hook me up with men who come into your bar?” he asked, a little too loud.

Why?

The man heard him and looked his way.

Alice began pointing at her son in case there was any question as to who she was offering up on that silver platter.

“He’s getting up,” Gene said. “Heads-up, Crotch Goblin. You’re about to meet the man your mother picked for you to marry.”

He must not have believed him.

“He’s not coming over here. No one does these kinds of thingssssssss,” he said, hissing like a snake when he looked up and the man was there.

Oh, fuckity.

Apparently, they did.

“Hey,” William said. “I’m the guy your mother is trying to set you up with.”

Corbin stood.

Oh, Jesus.

What now?

“Hey,” he got out.

“Your mom was telling me all about her time as a cop, and I said cops were hot. She mentioned her son was one too,” he admitted. 

Oh, holy shit.

Because he needed help, Ethan nudged his back, signaling he needed to say something.

And he did.

“She said you’re a lawyer. Big question. Defense or prosecution?” he asked.

Immediately, the man laughed.

“Prosecution, always. Want to have lunch with me?” William asked, taking his shot.

Corbin looked horrified.

“I wish I could, but I’m actually working. We’re handling a case,” he admitted. “They’re Feds,” he blurted out, amusing them.

Gene stood and shook his hand.

“Gene. That’s Ethan, and he’s actually right. We are Feds,” he stated.

Corbin didn’t know how to do this. It always seemed easy for everyone, but it was like he had the manual, and the beginning pages had been ripped out.

Burned.

Blown into the wind…

When there was a lull from Corbin, the man smiled and pulled out his business card.

“Well, Mr. Detective, call me sometime, and we can get a raincheck on a meal,” he said, handing it to him.

Corbin just stared.

Was he hitting on him?

HIM?

Was this legit happening?

It couldn’t be.

Not far away, Alice was watching them, looking back and forth, almost like a tennis match.

Beside her, Gene was struggling not to laugh. It was so freaking funny to see her get this excited to get her son get laid.

Granted, he really needed to, so he could stop hitting on his man and get his own.

Corbin took the card, and when Ethan tapped him again, he remembered he also had a card.

Pulling off his badge, he handed him one of his, and the man tucked it into his breast pocket.

“Hopefully, I hear from you, Corbin,” he said, winking and going back to his food. “Sooner rather than later,” he said loud enough for them to hear him.

As soon as he was gone, Corbin sat down.

He was flushed red.

“Well, he seems nice,” Alice admitted.

That’s when Corbin stared at her. Oh, and the look said it all. Someone had definitely crossed some lines, and she was on his shit list.

Alice was getting coal this Christmas.

“Please just go get us our food. I’m not speaking to you right now, Mom.”

She was confused.

Legitimately.

Okay, granted, the guy didn’t just wander in here, but that was neither here nor there.

William was smart, handsome, and eligible. He was a freaking lawyer, who locked up criminals. That was pretty much a gift from the gods for her son.

“What did I do?” she asked.

He stopped talking to her.

Gene intervened.

“Alice, give him a few. He needs to regroup. You blindsided him, and he needs to calm down.”

She shrugged, and when she walked away, Gene tried to calm him down.

“Chill out, Corbin. I only wish my mother tried to get me laid as a guy. She tried to get me to go to church and was the reason I’m afraid of tits.”

Both men stared at him.

So he explained.

“So that girl in the car was her best friend’s daughter, and I was compelled to try out the babes, even though I preferred checking out dicks in the locker room after football practice.”

Ethan was so goddamn horny.

“Oh, tell me about you all padded up and playing football,” he said, intrigued.

Corbin stared at him.

“Really? Now? In the middle of my crisis?” he asked Ethan, who laughed.

“Okay, later on that one, Babe,” he admitted. “I can’t help with this situation. My mom died young. My grandfather couldn’t control me or my brother. I had a lot of sex. This is all new to me with a mom setting her son up.”

Gene stared at him and lifted a brow.

“Lots of sex?” he asked, already knowing about it, but still, he didn’t have to like it.

Ethan backed that truck right up.

“But it’s not about me,” he admitted, his dick still aching over the man tormenting him. “Let’s focus on Corbin.”

The man in question was honest.

“It’s humiliating. I don’t need my mommy to get me a man. What crazy-ass world is that normal in?”

Ethan shrugged, and then tried to calm the man down. He was still red, but now, he doubted it was because of a sexy man hitting on him.

“She loves you and meant well. He’s not exactly a homeless guy. She has good taste, and got you a lawyer. Not only that, but a prosecutor. Those are the only lawyers we actually like.”

Still, he wasn’t having it.

“I’m not calling him,” he said, going to rip up the card, only to have Gene pull it out of his hands before he could.

They both stared at him.

“You always say you’re not getting laid, and when a guy shows up, and you have the perfect chance to get laid, you don’t want to. What’s up with that?” Gene asked.

He explained.

“It’s not always about sex. You two aren’t always trying to hump each other. Maybe I want more than just sex. Maybe I want someone who sees me. Maybe I want someone to have a meal with, and not think about fornication through it.”

Gene laughed.

Ethan laughed.

Corbin, not so much.

Oh, Gene had bad news for him.

“My dude, I’d hump him right now if I thought anyone wanted to see that. Hell, I’d take him into the men’s room and get down and dirty. Just because I’m sitting here all civilized doesn’t mean I’m not picturing him in my lap. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Ethan chimed in.

“I mean, I want to see it. Funny, I feel like going to the bathroom now,” he said, and he meant it.

Gene’s hand was on his thigh, really close to his dick, and every now and again, he’d squeeze his leg, reminding him of the close proximity.

Corbin stopped them.

“Again, I want more than sex.”

Gene broke it to him.

“Corbin, in order to get to the more part, more times than not, it starts with the sex part. Do you think John looked at Alice and thought she’ll make a good waitress and mom? No. He thought, I’m going to shoot my shot with the lady because she’s hot.”

Someone agreed and spoke his mind.

They heard him chime in from across the bar like he owned the place.

Maybe because he did.

“Damn straight, I did,” John said, heading their way and putting the drinks down for them. “She had these legs that looked so good in jogging shorts. That’s how I met her. She was running in the park, and the second I saw her, I was following. The last thing I was thinking was ‘I want a Crotch Goblin’,” he joked. “Or I’m in the mood for pizza.”

Corbin stared at him.

“Really? Do we have to talk about you and Mom? It’s horrifying as said Crotch Goblin. I have a right to not have my mother try to marry me off.”

John shrugged.

“Newsflash, Corbin. My humping is how you got here. Listen to the men. They know. Your way is keeping you alone at night, and you’re young to be a spinster. These two are ogling each other. You need a partner to ogle.”

He said nothing and John took that as his cue to get the hell out of there. The only reason he appeared was Alice sent him over.

When he was gone, Gene leaned in.

“What’s going on? You can tell us.”

When his father was not in earshot, he was honest with them.

“I don’t know how to do it. I’m bad at it, and you guys made me feel like I’m really bad at it—not intentionally, but I don’t know how to do it, clearly. I’ve only hooked up with a few guys. Let’s face it, Gene’s a whore, and I don’t know how to get to this,” he said, pointing at the two of them.

Ethan laughed.

“I mean, his technique though,” he said, earning a really rough squeeze to his dick that sent shockwaves through his whole body, making him rock hard again.

Jesus.

He loved his life.

Because he felt bad for the guy, Gene knew what they could do for Corbin.

“Want help?” Gene asked.

The man stared at him warily.

“Why so you can bust my ass?” he asked. “So you can tease me?”

He was being legit.

“Like Danny Kaye said in White Christmas. I want you to get married. I want you to have nine children. And if you only spend five minutes with each kid, that’s forty-five minutes, and then I can get naked with my man then.”

Corbin stared at him.

“Uh, creative license?” he asked.

Gene shrugged.

“You get the point. As for helping you, I understand what you’re saying. I can help you get to that point, but you’re going to have to do the work. I can’t date the guy for you.”

Ethan laid down the law.

“You absolutely can’t do that. Your current partner won’t put up with nonsense.”

Honestly, Gene was good with that. His current ‘partner’ was perfect.

Now, Corbin was curious.

“How?”

He held out his hand.

“I’m not paying you for dating advice, even when I’m curious as hell how you got and keep Ethan.”

He laughed.

“Your phone, crack ace detective,” he said. “As for our relationship, don’t be an idiot. I dominate the fuck out of Ethan, and spank him for shits and giggles. That’s how I keep him. Then, I let him tie me up and use me. That’s how he keeps me.”

Ethan choked on his soda, and it nearly came out of his nose.

“See?” Gene asked, grinning as he patted him on the back. “He likes me like this.”

Oh, Ethan really did.

Only, someone was spicy today, and that was always a good thing. Not for his dick, currently, but most of the time.

Corbin shrugged.

“Okay, that I get. I’d like to spank Ethan too,” Corbin said, considering it, and finally giving in. “Okay, I’m in,” he admitted, doing what the man asked him.

Ethan shook his head.

These two.

As Gene typed up a text message, he sent it to the man sitting not far away. Luckily, he couldn’t see who was doing the messaging.

When he hit send, he showed Corbin.

‘I’m still thinking about you. What would you say to dinner at my place? Sushi, some talking, and getting to know more about each other? Is that soon enough? I really am working a case, but I really want to work on getting to know you.’

Corbin looked at it.

He stared.

It was cheesy.

“That’s not going to work,” he said, and when the phone chimed not one minute later, he picked it up and read it.

And by golly, it had seemed to work.

Apparently, Gene had the front of the manual and had read it.

‘I’m thinking about you too. Your mother said you were a good guy. Since you’re a cop, I guess I don’t have to bring the handcuffs. I’m interested and would love dinner.’

He showed them and honestly, he was dumbfounded that this simple technique of text flirting had worked.

Who would have known?

Certainly, not him.

“What do I do next?” he asked, needing help from the man.

Gene took the phone, and did the deed for their baby gay. Someone needed a wingman because it sucked that Corbin was wasting away the fun years.

‘Here’s my address. I’ll meet you there at eight. I’ll pick up dinner. You bring dessert. I’m up for anything. I’m curious what you look like out of a suit.’

He hit send, and Corbin read it.

“Oh, Jesus, I sound like a whore,” he said, horrified. Only, he could see he had an incoming message, and that superseded his feelings.

He might actually get a date.

Who would have seen this one coming a mile away?

Not him.

‘I look naked out of the suit. Bring the cuffs home. I’ll be dessert. See you later, Corbin. I’m curious and looking forward to it.’

Gene saw it, and whispered.

“Now, look over at him, and look really, really hungry like you want to consume him alive. Like this,” he said, and Ethan gave him the look that said it all.

It was the ‘please let’s get naked look’ because he did want that.

Ironically enough.

Corbin tried, and he hoped he didn’t look like a clown. When the man flushed red, and winked at him, he knew he’d managed to do it.

William got up from his seat, walked past them, and smiled.

“See you later, Corbin. Don’t be late. A punctual man is one of my kinks.”

Then, he was gone.

Ethan gave his partner a fist bump.

Gene nailed it.

From where he sat, the other man was shocked as shit that the big man had not only gotten him a date, but likely gotten him laid.

“Oh, holy shit,” Corbin said. “How did that work?” he asked.

Gene laughed.

“Corbin, it’s fairly easy. He came over here, showing interest. That’s like the female bird shaking out her feathers for the male. He asked you to join him, back in his nest, the table. You declined, playing coy. Only, the dance continued thus him warning you ‘sooner rather than later’. He gave you his number, expecting you to use it, and you did. You got the date because you learned the dance. That’s all it is. You just have to read the signs, and respond appropriately.”

He was befuddled.

Truly.

Now, he was curious.

“Seriously, how the hell did you get him?” he asked, pointing to Ethan. “That’s insane.”

Ethan laughed.

“He’s sadistic and incredibly good in bed. The sex is mind-blowing. That’s how. It started with sex, and now, it’s about love,” he admitted. “He was right about that. What began as carnal is now cuddling and pasta for dinner.”

Gene just smiled.

“Told you.”

They sipped their drinks, and then, it was as if Corbin was hit with a ton of bricks.

He gasped.

Both men put their hands on their sidearms.

“What?” Gene asked, looking around.

“Oh, no,” Corbin said. “We’re working a case. I don’t know if I’ll be done in time. He told me punctuality is his kink. I should cancel…,” he began, and Gene smacked his phone off the table and halfway across the room.

It skittered to a stop three tables away.

“HEY!”

He pointed.

“You’re not working this case. We are, and I can cut you loose later. You need to get your shit handled, and by shit, I mean get your dick touched by someone other than you. You’re too far up in our relationship for it to be healthy. I don’t do threesomes.”

It took him a second, but then, he looked at Ethan.

“Are you free to touch…?”

Gene growled.

They both heard it.

“Okay, down, bear man. I get it. I just hope I can do it,” he said.

“Sex?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, sex. I already told you I’m missing some of the context clues on how to get a man to chase you home. I don’t have brothers and I sure as shit ain’t asking John.”

Speaking of parental units...

Ethan cleared his voice, signaling they had a mother incoming.

She put their food down, and apologized to Corbin.

“I’m sorry that I got up in your business. I won’t do it again. I understand that is going way too far. Do you forgive me?” she asked.

Actually, since this wasn’t a disaster, he was feeling a lot more magnanimous toward her.

So, he got up and kissed her on the cheek.

“Yeah, I forgive you. Just stop doing it, okay? I can handle my own sex life.”

She conceded that point.

And changed the subject.

“Ethan looked like he needed some meat,” she said, “So pot roast with veggies.”

Gene smiled at him.

Why?

He definitely wanted meat.

HIS.

“Gene looked like he was kinda in the mood for fish, so that’s stuffed flounder with a mountain of fries. And you, Corbin, need to stop being angry with me, so you got pulled pork, your favorite. On that note, I’m going to go clean up some tables, and not find my son a lover.”

That was all she said before she walked away.

The other men were curious.

“You’re not going to tell her that you got a date with the man she picked?”

He laughed.

“Hell no,” he said. “She’ll gloat. We’re saying nothing to her,” he demanded. “I legitimately don’t want my mother thinking about me having sex with anyone. That’s weird.”

If he said so.

Only, everyone had sex. That was how the species kept going.

Instead of going there, they all began eating.

Gene was just about to bring up the case when Corbin went there.

Apparently, they were not working and eating today despite what he told the lawyer.

“Okay, what do I do?” he asked suddenly.

They were curious.

“About?” Gene asked.

He stared at them like they were insane.

“About getting laid?” he stated. “Help me read the room,” he said.

Gene shook his head.

“This isn’t my area,” he said. “You need the profiler to read the room. I go by instincts and solve shit. That’s how I solved the big mystery of ‘is my partner into dudes’?”

Ethan grinned.

“Which I would like to remind you the simple fact was that your instincts were off, and you just happened to get damn lucky that I was intrigued, drunk as fuck, and horny all at the same time.”

Hey, he’d take whatever the universe handed him. It all worked out, and he’d won the man prize on that one.

“Please?” the detective asked.

Honestly, Corbin needed help, and they did like their Crotch Goblin.

“Okay, ask,” Gene said.

And the man did.

“Do I go hard, or do I let him make the move? What?” he asked.

Gene explained.

At one time, he was in the same situation, but he had to learn on his own. He didn’t have anyone to ask either, being a gay man from the Midwest.

If they waited for Corbin to figure this out, they’d be in the retirement home before he ever got laid again.

“Well, you told him he’d be dessert, and he brought up the handcuffs. Chances are, he’s going to be a bottom. I’d ask him,” he said.

Ethan agreed.

“Go right to the source.”

He stared at them.

“Are you two insane? You can’t just ask. How do you ask someone that?”

Ethan proved it was possible, and that the man was overthinking this. He knew because he tended to do the same, except with sex with Gene.

He just let that shit happen, and his libido was happier for it too.

“Are you a Top or bottom?” he asked Corbin.

He didn’t hesitate.

“I’m a top,” he said, realizing what they just did, so, he stared at him. “I can answer with you guys, because we’re friends.”

Gene stopped him.

“In a gay bar, you’ll get asked as people try to find their partner for the night. If you’re a straight Top, you’re going to need to ask him, so you get it right. If he’s a top, and you can’t switch, you’ve got issues. Then, that’s a battle you don’t want to have in bed with a stranger.”

He considered it.

“I don’t know if I can switch,” he said. “I’ve never been in that position before.”

Gene shrugged.

“You’ll learn over time. I can switch, and Ethan can switch, so if you are that into him, and you really like him, you’ll be more into switching.”

Corbin had so many questions.

“But how will I know what he likes? What if he shows up, and I end up in handcuffs and can’t get it up because that’s not my thing?”

Okay, well, that said everything.

He definitely couldn’t switch.

If losing your erection was what happened when a sexy man cuffed you to a bed, you were a straight Top, and weren’t taking dick for the team.

“You’re not a bottom then, and likely won’t like it,” Ethan admitted. “I love when he cuffs me to the bed, the door, the wall, the floor…”

He stared at him.

“I thought you were the pure one.”

Blackhawk laughed.

“Oh, Corbin, I’m thinking about sex, Gene, and still pondering the bathroom right now. There’s nothing pure going on in my head at this moment. Only, pure porn.”

Gene glanced over.

“The bathroom, huh. That is intriguing,” he said, staring into his eyes. He’d brought it up twice now, and that was a cue if he ever heard one.

Yes, yes, it was.

Blackhawk was all riled up, and wanted to be this man’s plaything in bed more than anything.

Corbin cleared his throat.

“Uh, my problems first. Gene’s a sure thing, as we all learned repeatedly since he’s a whore.”

He flipped him off.

“Seriously. How do I figure this out? You two can fornicate later. You don’t need help. Your buddy, Corby, does.”

Gene sighed.

But he took care of the situation.

Gene got up, and went over to where Corbin’s phone was laying on the floor. He opened it, and he sent a text.

Then, he handed him the phone.

And Corbin was horrified the second he read it over. Oh, boy, now he had issues.

‘I’m a Top. I don’t switch. Is that a problem, William?’

He wanted to throw up.

Until the man answered back, and proved that once again, Gene, while insane and questionable, was right on the mark.

Maybe he should listen. It was clear the man knew how to pick up a bedmate.

And keep one.

‘I’m a Top at my job, and a very dirty bottom in bed. It’s not a problem. I like a dominant man. It sounds like we should work out just fine.’

He stared at the phone.

“You can just ask a man, and he’s legitimately going to answer?” Corbin asked.

“Yep.”

He was so shocked.

“How did I not know that? Why is it that simple, and yet, I’m not capable of figuring that out?”

Ethan answered.

“Two people here overthink shit. One of the people does not. We’re the ones at a disadvantage, Corbin.”

Gene laughed and ate some of his fish. He dipped a fry in ketchup, and fed it to Ethan since they were alone in there. It was when he palmed his cheek, so the man knew he was thinking about him too.

A great deal.

After that tender moment, he focused on the other man, their baby detective in gay training.

“How else will you know?” he asked, keeping it simple. “Our jobs entail asking questions. That’s what we do. Why wouldn’t that be the first line of defense for you in catching a man?”

Ethan agreed.

“We were drunk and disorderly, and I told him immediately that I don’t get fucked. I fuck. We figured it out as we progressed in the relationship,” he stated.

He stared at him.

Then at Gene.

That didn’t make sense.

“Uh, but how does that work when you’re in leather pants and on the back of his motorcycle, Ethan, because I’m betting that flips the script.”

Gene smiled.

“Like we said, you work it out. You ask so you have a baseline. Now, you work from there to see if you can switch. When you want to be with someone more than you want to breathe, you put in the effort, and find a way. We can switch. When you find the one, and they want to switch, you’ll try it, and if they are the ONE, you’ll make it work.”

“That easily?” he asked.

He explained.

“Last night, we made love, and it wasn’t about top or bottom. It was about giving each other pleasure. This morning, we had sex. Ethan was the Top, and he was in control of the whole situation, in and out of the shower. When we get home, he isn’t going to be the Top, are you, Tala?” he asked.

The second he said his name, Ethan flushed to the roots of his raven-black hair.

Holy shit.

He was horny all over again.

This man knew how to keep that momentum going until they could get home and get naked.

Corbin watched them, and Ethan was leaning into Gene, as if he was definitely giving him the role of Top. He was watching him with his midnight-blue eyes, and in them, there was pure, unadulterated lust.

“Tala?” he asked.

Gene didn’t look away from his mate. He couldn’t. He was the most attractive man he’d ever seen in his whole life, and he was his.

He was his gift.

“It’s from the undercover stint we did on that case we helped you with. When I want to have at him, and make him bottom for me, I call him that. It’s the switch, and it turns on the game, so to speak.”

Corbin was curious.

“Why is he all worked up now?” he asked.

Gene shrugged.

“Because he’s thinking about when we get home, aren’t you?” he asked.

He laughed.

“Oh, I’m definitely pondering it,” he stated, his whole body dying to get this day over so he could be Gene’s bottom. His dick ached, and the only way it was going to stop aching was if he was draining his balls.

God.

He needed it.

Corbin ate some of his food.

Then, he was back at it.

“Okay, tell me how to do this tonight. I’ll pick up sushi, some wine, and thank God I have time to get the clean sheets out.”

Gene helped him.

Because really, the man needed to get laid because it was starting to be pathetic.

There were horny gay men everywhere in Philadelphia. All he had to do was pull his dick out, and someone would show up.

It wasn’t called The City of Brotherly Love because of the food.

He laid it out for him. It was what he would do if he was trying to catch a man.

Well, Ethan.

He was the only man he wanted, and would ever want.

“You’re going to go home, put on some music that’s seductive. You’re going to light some candles, and get dinner set up. When William gets there, you’re going to take his coat, and then give him a glass of wine, immediately.”

Corbin was listening.

So far, he could do that. It seemed pretty straightforward.

“Then, you’re going to sit down to eat dinner, and ask ALL about him. Don’t talk about you unless he asks. You want to make him the focus of the evening. He’s told you he’s a bottom, so he’s going to let you lead the WHOLE night. A dirty bottom doesn’t get bossy. They get compliant.”

That made sense.

“I can do that.”

He continued.

“When you’re done eating, invite him to the couch for more wine. I’m not talking so much wine you’re sloppy drunk, but enough that the edge is off, and everyone feels good. Two glasses max. Pace yourself because you get one chance to make a first impression, and a limp wine dick isn’t the impression you want.”

Corbin could manage not to fuck that up. He wasn’t a big drinker, especially when he was working.

“Then, you’re going to have to put the moves on him because, again, he’s a very dirty bottom. You’re going to kiss him first, and make sure that you focus on him. He’s a bottom, and he’s going to want to please you, but you need to get him off a few times first.”

His partner agreed.

“That’s important,” Ethan said. “Write it down and memorize it. Drain. His. Balls.”

He literally did.

On a napkin.

“Then, you need to ask him if he wants to join you in bed. As a bottom, if you’ve wined and dined him, he’s going to bed with you. He’s going to want to see what you’re bringing to the table, and if what you show him is spectacular, he’s going to be everything you want in bed, and more. His ass, literally, will be yours for the taking.”

Corbin was curious.

“And you know this for sure? I’m not going to make a fool of myself?”

Gene laughed and fed Ethan more fries.

“Corbin, look who I’m sleeping with. If I didn’t have a clue, do you really think I would have landed this man? He’s gorgeous, smart, and Jesus…in a suit. It makes me want to weep tears of joy,” Gene said, not exaggerating.

Ethan got that warm fuzzy feeling because this man always made him feel like he was a treasure. That was the secret.

He was loved.

Gene clarified.

“Because when I’m in bottom mode, I’m telling you exactly what Ethan has done to me to get me in the mood, and what I do when I want him in the mood. This is my playbook, Son. I’m giving you a peek inside of it.”

Oh, and Ethan was definitely in the mood. He was taking the fries, and staring into his eyes. Under the table, his hand was on his thigh, and he was moving it up Gene’s leg. He was definitely putting out the ‘take me’ vibe.

Damn work always got in the way.

“Okay, I got that,” he said.

Gene leaned in.

“And this is very important.”

Corbin was all ears.

“What?” he asked.

“Once you are sure he’s going to bed with you, you kiss him with all you have, and get this reaction,” he said, turning his head, slipping his hand into Ethan’s lose hair, pulling him to his mouth, and kissing him like he was trying to crawl into him.

Corbin watched, and Ethan’s whole body language changed, and then, there was a breathy moan as he kissed him with so much need.

Gene broke the kiss, and the whole time stared into Ethan’s eyes.

“Once you get that moan, you ask the most important question of your whole life,” he said to Corbin.

He needed that question.

“What is it?”

Gene told him.

“How many times can you cum?”

Corbin watched Ethan’s eyes dilate the minute he said that to him.

Jesus.

The man was onto something. He just watched a human react to that heat and lust.

He was getting it now.

It was all about the mind.

Ethan knew he wanted an answer, so he gave him the one he was feeling.

“As many times as you want me to,” he said, still focused on Gene and meaning every single word.

Gene ran his thumb over his lower lip, and Ethan’s body shook. Yeah, he was stupid about this man.

“I think I get it now,” Corbin admitted. “It’s more mental than physical. There’s physical involved, but you have to mentally get the partner there first.”

EXACTLY.

The mind fuck was just as hot as the real fuck.

Because he was talking to him, Gene looked back at him.

“A very dirty bottom will say that. A moderate bottom will say a number. Whatever that number is, Corbin, you hit it. I don’t care if you get fucking lockjaw, and you have to duct tape popsicle sticks to your erection to keep it up. You hit that number or he’s not coming back. That’s why you’re not getting laid more. You have to make a guy cum many, many times to have him want to come back.”

Well, fuck.

That sounded like fun, actually.

Corbin was watching as Ethan stared at Gene, mesmerized still.

One thing was clear.

“You practice witchcraft, don’t you?” he asked.

Gene laughed, and gave Ethan’s dick a squeeze under the table.

He shook, and it wasn’t missed.

“Goddamn it! I want an Ethan. How do I make that happen? I want someone to look at me like that.”

Gene pointed out the obvious.

“You can get one if you really work at it. You gotta perform. As the Top, your job is to get the bottom going, get them off, and in the game for as long as you can.”

Corbin was sure he could do that.

Gene wasn’t done.

“If you want an Ethan, you better learn really fast how to get a man to cum ten times. This man looks like a fallen angel, and any person on this planet would crawl for him. To keep an Ethan, you have to crawl, and carry him when you need to.”

He stared at him.

“To have what you guys have, I’d take lockjaw and dick jam. Seriously. It would be worth it.”

Oh, Gene knew.

What was even better was Ethan was the same way as a Top. They worked really well together.

Blackhawk was honest.

“I switch, so, you probably don’t want a me. I suggest getting a William.”

That was the plan.

For the first time, in a long time, he had a roadmap of how to be a great partner in bed, and he was going to use it. He really owed these two. They didn’t have to share any of this with him.

But they did.

Corbin leaned in.

“He brought up handcuffs. Do I use them? Do I give him that? Or was that some metaphor for something I have no clue about?”

Gene finished his fish, and shared his fries with Ethan, who in turn shared his stew.

“That’s good,” Gene said.

Ethan agreed.

Corbin snapped his fingers.

“Over here. Desperate man who needs a roadmap to get himself an Ethan. Do I use the handcuffs or not?” he asked again.

Gene was curious.

“What toys do you have at your place?”

He looked confused.

“Toys?”

The second he said it, they knew there was trouble. This newbie was really a NEWBIE.

“Oh, boy,” Ethan said, laughing. He knew where this was going.

Gene sighed.

“Remember the whole conversation we had about the penis pump, and the sexy toys in all of the perverts bedrooms?” he asked.

He nodded.

“Be a pervert, Corbin. Get toys. Very dirty bottoms like something very dirty in their bottom, thus their name.”

Ethan laughed.

How could he not?

“Hit me with some of them. Not literally since I know where they’ve been.”

Gene snorted.

The man was insane, but they liked him.

“You know, cock rings are your friend, Corby. Get two. One that will stop the cumming, and one that will make the cumming nonstop. They are your basics.”

The man looked overwhelmed, but they kept going for his sake.

“Get a butt plug. A big one. It’s fun, and you’ll not regret it, but whatever you bring to the table, make sure the partner is good with it. If you’re going ass spelunking, most of the time, the plug isn’t terrifying.”

He listened and Gene tutored him.

“Use your ties. A man loves being tied down to a bed with some ties,” he stated.

He looked at Ethan for confirmation.

“He’s not wrong. Plus, every time you see your man in that tie, you think about that moment. It gets the juices flowing, and is healthy in a relationship.”

He had lots of ties.

Ethan was to the point.

“Get the cock rings, Corbin. There’s something so dirty and hot about them. Then, you can spice it up.”

He was confused.

He knew what a cock ring was.

How did he spice that up?

Seriously.

“And do what with it? Ring toss? I know what you do with one, but how do I spice one up? What am I missing?”

Alice walked by.

“He doesn’t get it from me. I’m a wild cat in bed. Ask John,” she said, horrifying Corbin.

His father laughed outrageously from behind the bar, proving both of them had heard the whole conversation.

“Jesus. I need therapy. I’m asking my friends about how to top a dirty bottom, and my mother starts talking sex. Today is one of those days.”

Gene laughed.

Then, to help him out, he explained.

“To spice it up, you make him go to work with one on, and you make him keep it on. A horny man is a very bad boy once you set him free.”

“To work?” he asked.

Then, he looked at Ethan, and finally got it.

“And that’s why you came out of that strip club compliant, and after the stripper had already left. He put a ring on it.”

Blackhawk laughed.

At that moment, he was very compliant.

“I don’t wear my hair down often outside of home. Deduct, as to why, Baby Detective.”

Oh, he did.

“Can I come over and ask more questions? Will you show me stuff?”

Gene stared at him.

IN HORROR.

“Absolutely not. You are not watching us do ‘stuff’. You need to learn like we did. By doing it. The good part is you have a very dirty bottom. You can do ANYTHING you want and he’s going to eat it up like cake.”

Oh, he hoped so.

“Tie him up, tie him down, wax the shit out of him, and torment him. William will love it. You just have to do the dance to get him in bed that first time, and it will get easier.”

Well, that was good.

When Alice came back around, she turned a chair and sat.

“What are we talking about, Besties?” she asked, busting his ass because she was well aware.

Gene didn’t miss a beat.

“Your son is getting sex toy advice from the experienced gays.”

She didn’t even flinch.

“Oh, well, if you want to know the best one,” she began, but Corbin stood up.

“We’re done. I’ve learned plenty while having lunch here. We have work to do, and I definitely don’t want to know that my parents have sex toys.”

“WE DO!” shouted John. “Have some fun, Corbin. You’re like an old man.”

She laughed and shrugged.

“We were your age once too. Do you think nipple clamps were just invented.”

He stared.

HORRIFIED.

“I’d get those too,” Ethan suggested. “They make a person crazy.”

That they did.

“Check please,” he said, needing space between him and Alice. You never knew what was going to come out of her mouth.

She reminded him of one thing.

“You haven’t paid for food since…ever. I grew you. Get yourself some wrist cuffs, and ankle cuffs,” she said. “No one’s ever said no to those.”

Now, this was out of hand.

Completely.

Gene and Ethan were laughing, and Corbin was nauseous. He didn’t need these pictures in his head.

EVER.

“DAD! Help! Mom’s flirting with men!” he called, getting his father to come over.

Only, he was just joining in on the fun.

Alice wrapped her arm around her husband, and busted her son’s ass. She was going to miss him for Christmas. All she wanted was for him to find his person.

Like she had.

“I was telling him about wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs,” she offered.

John smiled.

“A few little hooks on the bed, and they aren’t going anywhere, are they, Alice?” he asked, slapping her on the ass.

Corbin gagged.

This was all his fault.

He asked his friends in the proximity of his ex-detective mother. That was on him.

Gene had one question.

“How are you NOT like them?” he asked, pointing at the man’s parents. “You’re the complete opposite.”

Corbin didn’t miss a beat.

“A miracle?”

Ethan laughed.

How could he not?

It was turning out to be a good day, after all.

And tonight, for Corbin, it might even be better.

Chapter Ten

The Pub

Thursday

One P.M.

As they were just about to leave the pub, after busting Corbin’s ass, John stopped them dead in their tracks. Apparently, something needed their immediate attention.

They had been at the door, putting on their coats, when the news came on, and there was something that they had to see on it.

It was about them.

Oh.

Holy.

Shit.

It was a media free-for-all on the news. Someone had decided to update all of the media about the four dead women victims.

Who?

Oh, a shitty captain.

The second they saw who had called a press conference, outing them, Gene was pissed. They’d been burned by the new Homicide Captain seven ways to Sunday.

How?

By announcing that they were going to be taking over the case, and using their names.

Granted, he didn’t post their faces, but the fact that he told them their names…

It was problematic for Gene.

Why?

They were trying to lay low.

As in not being seen out while Javier was roaming around. He was out of jail, and that sucked for him because if the man appeared near Ethan, Gene was going into the clink for homicide.

“I don’t like this,” Gene admitted.

He wasn’t alone.

“Me either,” Alice stated. “I like you both, and I consider you both my sons. Javier is a sicko, and this worries me. Now, I have to worry about the three of you working this case.”

Yowza.

Ethan had been quiet, and there was one big reason why. He had a different opinion on the whole matter.

“I don’t think Javier is our problem right now. We have a bigger issue,” he said.

They all looked at the profiler.

“We just had the police tell the whole world that we’re working on these cases. This person took out four people, point blank range, with a gun, and we don’t know who it is. That they took weeks to do the job means they’re patient, and not playing around.”

Oh, holy shit.

He was right. Gene hadn’t thought about that and now that he was…

Yeah, Gene really didn’t like this.

Not.

At.

All.

“You’re going to have to be careful,” Alice said, walking behind the bar, and grabbing Kevlar. She tossed it at her son. “They are wearing, and you’re not,” she said. “Get accustomed to it if you’re playing with these two.”

He actually pulled it on.

“Do I want to know why you have body armor behind the bar?” he asked.

John shrugged.

“It keeps the sawed-off shotgun company?”

All three men stared at him.

“Kidding?” he asked.

Yeah, it was best they didn’t ask any questions. Instead, Gene had to figure this out.

He was about to say something, when his phone rang, and he looked down at his cell.

It was Greyson.

Well, maybe they had some good news about the bodies they’d had transported there.

“Hey,” he said, answering it.

The man didn’t hesitate.

“Did you just see the news? The cops just put you and Ethan back in the spotlight. They’re talking about how you two shut down Javier and are cleaning up the city once and for all.”

Oh, he was aware.

Unfortunately.

Only, that sounded much worse than what he saw. Clearly, it was on multiple news stations.

Crap.

“Yeah, we saw it, regrettably,” he said, looking at his watch.

Gene had to plan out the rest of their night. He knew that a cuckoo got testy when called out on the news, and he needed to get them in.

ASAP.

“How’s Sasha doing with the autopsies? Can you check on them? We really need the updates, and before the day is done. Ethan can’t give me his profile until we have at least COD and TOD. I don’t want to be out here much longer either.”

He could do that.

“Sure. I can see if I can get her moving quicker. Are you guys coming in where it’s safe? Or do you have more interviews?”

Oh, he wished.

There was no place he’d rather be than home or the safety of the FBI building.

Now, he kinda wished they didn’t waste time eating. They could have been almost cleared.

The bottom line was that they had to get the interviews done today. Most people called it a day tomorrow by noon, and left town for the holidays.

They were working on a time crunch here.

They still had to hit a law firm. There was no way it would be open tomorrow.

“We still have two more interviews. I need to get them done before we can hide out. We’d have to work off of Corbin’s notes, and while I’m okay with that, I have to make sure we have everything. Once the city shuts down tomorrow afternoon, we’re out of luck.”

Yeah, that was the issue with cases this close to the holiday. They made the timeline skewed, and harder to keep. Even for agents like them.

Greyson got it.

“Just be careful, and get those interviews done. Call if there’s a problem. I’m clear, and I can come help you. I can do whatever you need.”

Oh, he would.

Definitely.

He was grateful for the man.

“Or if you need backup. If you see Javier’s goon, let me know.”

Fortunately, they had restraining orders thanks to his creepy commentary to the judge.

Thank God for that too. Someone was his own worst enemy in court, and that worked to their advantage.

Javier ran his mouth, against his lawyer’s advice, and that bit him in the ass.

Big.

Freaking.

Time.

Imagine the judge’s horror when the man told him that Ethan liked being stalked, given presents, and kidnapped. That he’d asked for it because he was so handsome.

Literally.

He used those exact words.

It had been one of those moments that shocked and horrified everyone—not Gene, since he knew how sick the man was to begin with anyway.

Oh, and it didn’t stop there.

He also uttered the words along the lines of ‘meant to be mine’, and ‘soulmates’.

The judge didn’t think that was healthy, and no sane person would when someone fixated on a person like that, so he’d slapped the man with a restraining order.

It proved Javier was cuckoo.

When the man’s fancy lawyer tried to get them fired from their jobs, they had an ace in the hole.

Gabe made sure he stepped in to protect them as much as he could, and got that tossed out too.

Now, though, they were on their own for the holidays unless they could put the crazy back in jail. Only, Javier was too smart for that.

Or so Gene was betting.

“I’m going to get us to the next interviews, and then, I’m going to get us inside the office. Can you give us a ride back to the condo tonight?” he asked.

His fingers were crossed.

Greyson was good with that. He’d be heading there anyway, and he wanted to help the men out. The bottom line was they made him look damn good.

“Sure thing. Call when you’re coming back. I’ll go shake down the ME for you to get some information.”

That would be perfect.

“Thanks, Greyson.”

He reassured him.

“No worries. Just get in safe. The cops put a target on your backs. This killer is also watching, and we know they can handle a gun.”

Great.

His day was even more stressful.

When he hung up, he glanced over at Corbin.

“We gotta go. Pull up to the front, and we’ll get in,” he said.

John had a better idea.

“Take our Jeep,” he offered, tossing his son the keys to his four-wheel drive vehicle. “I’ll take your car up to Scranton to see the family. You use ours, so no one sees you leave here.”

Alice was worried.

“Maybe we should stay,” she suggested. “If our son needs us…”

He tossed his dad his SUV keys to make the swap.

“Thanks, Dad,” he said, ignoring his mother, and doing his job.

Once more, she forgot who the cop was, and who the retired one was.

He had a case to handle, and he’d make sure he kept an eye on Ethan and Gene, so they survived this mess. It was kind of his fault anyway.

“Merry Christmas,” Ethan said, kissing Alice and hugging John. “Thank you for lunch.”

She patted his cheek.

“You be safe.”

Oh, that was the plan.

“Thanks, Mom,” he joked.

Gene hugged them both, and promised them he’d make sure their Crotch Goblin didn’t get shot before Christmas.

He was on double babysitting duty.

Apparently.

Together, they walked through the kitchen, and hopped into the man’s Jeep that was waiting outside.

Well, at least they weren’t getting stuck in the snow anytime soon.

That was for damn sure.

As they headed out to interview the lawyer, the husband of Caprice Gressman, Gene was hoping for the best.

But expecting the worst.

Why?

That was the nature of their jobs when you played mind games with lunatics.

Weren’t they the lucky ones?

Yeah, they really weren’t.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Philadelphia

Somewhere

It was lunchtime, and even an angry person had to eat. So, that was what she was doing.

She grabbed a sandwich at the corner deli, and while she was in there, she saw the news.

What was this?

The reporter was talking about how the Homicide Captain of the Philadelphia Police had handed over the four murders to the FBI to be handled, and even mentioned who it was.

Oh, Crap.

This was bad.

She now had the attention of the Feds.

That couldn’t be good, now could it?

Instead of panicking, she pulled out her phone and looked them up.

There was an article about Ethan Blackhawk, and how he and his partner, Gene Cantrell, had closed some big case back in Washington, DC.

They were smart.

They were damn good agents.

Oh, and they were supposedly cleaning Philadelphia up.

That didn’t bode well for her.

But now, she knew what they looked like, and that would work to her advantage.

So she could be ready.

It appeared her cleaning up of the trash had gotten some attention, and now, it was really going to be a race to the finish line.

Well, now, she’d have to make sure she did what was needed to protect herself and take care of the remaining mess that was left behind.

The bottom line was that she’d been hurt too many times, and there was no coming back from that.

Not then.

Not now.

Not ever.

Before this was all said and done, the foul, foul assholes who didn’t care about anyone but themselves would pay.

The ultimate price.

She was taking out the trash and getting rid of the shitty humans.

They were why people couldn’t have nice things in the world.

And they had to go.

It was her season to SLAY.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Tahiti

Same Time

Sun And Sand

When they got into the limousine, they were whisked away, and soon would be arriving at their vacation spot.

It was secure.

It was private.

Oh, and his mother would be none the wiser. How did he know?

Well, maybe because the company jet was heading somewhere she’d look first, and he’d already booked that same company home in Fiji.

When she pulled up the company records, and tried to play ‘where in the world is my son’, she’d be out of luck.

For now, they’d be good.

They were off of her radar.

To be doubly sure they were hidden, Chris had rented this place, using Elizabeth’s information, and by transferring money around to make sure they weren’t found.

There was no way he was having his woman and mother collide in the streets of DC.

Screw.

That.

Janet had been staying in DC, and going to his home on the regular in hopes of finding him. She was making a spectacle too.

Well, the lights weren’t on, and no one was home there, so she was out of luck.

She had to be frustrated, and from the cameras he’d had installed, to the security that his own company made, he knew she was pissed.

It was a successful mission for him.

When she showed up at the FBI building, and tried to get in, he’d already had security warned. His mother was dead.

Well, dead to him, so that had to be some crazy woman stalking him.

Listen…

He’d told her to stop talking shit about Elizabeth, or she would never see him again, and Chris was petty enough to make sure that happened.

Besides, there were rumors that the new director was going to send Elizabeth to a satellite office for a while. Gabe had given them the heads-up, and honestly, he was good with that.

It would get them out of the city.

Because they weren’t sure if that was accurate or not, and they had time off, why not take a little break and hide away on a beach?

His woman in a tiny bikini…

Holy fuck.

That was his Christmas present to himself.

Little did she know he unpacked half of the bikini tops, so she’d have to spend some time topless for him.

That was his other gift.

So to enjoy the holiday, he’d rented a house in Elizabeth’s name, paid cash for it, and had all of their Christmas presents, and a tree, shipped down.

Why not?

Christmas was special to them, and he went all out for it. They had their family all together, and they were going to bask in the sun until Sunday night when they had to head back.

Besides, Christopher wanted his woman to have one hell of a holiday, since she’d been running herself into the ground.

William Moore was throwing all of the shit cases at her, and the last one had been close. She’d nearly gotten shot by the maniac, and that made him want to close ranks and protect her.

And he was.

With all he had.

Now, as the car pulled up the driveway, and the sun was shining on the bright green foliage, they were in a good place.

A safe place.

They were home for the holidays.

“We’re here,” he said, getting everyone’s attention as the car came to a stop.

They all looked up from their books, phones, and whatever else they were doing to bide time until they got to the location.

Chris wanted to surprise them, and they were.

In front of them was a big, white-columned building, and it looked plantation-like.

Before Elizabeth could question his sanity, Charlie beat her to the punch.

They were cut out of the same flannel cloth, after all.

“Jesus, Christopher, this place is ridiculous,” Charlie said.

He smiled.

Oh, he knew.

“What were you thinking?” Charlie asked, staring at the man. “Were you watching Gone With The Wind, and felt like you had to one up the set?”

He was amused.

“My girl said she was craving pineapples. So, I booked us a holiday on a pineapple plantation.”

She laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“You could have just bought me a pineapple,” she admitted.

Yeah, well, no, he couldn’t. Chris wanted to get them out of DC, and he was really praying they got transferred to another office for a while, until his mother got bored.

And left.

It was a matter of time before she’d find a younger gigolo and head out.

As for picking a smaller place, he could have, but why?

This was so much better.

“The ocean is across the street, and the back fields are filled with pineapples. I’ve got a craving too.”

Only, not for fresh fruit.

For his Sweetness.

He could picture her wandering among the plants, picking a sweet fruit, as she had no bikini top. He loved her tits out, and nipples tanned.

That was his holiday kink.

As the car parked, they all got out, and the limo was emptied out with all of their suitcases.

As they walked to the door, he entered the code, and they were granted access to the home.

There was another surprise waiting for his woman, and his family.

Inside, it was decorated for Christmas. The whole place was over-the-top decked, and there wasn’t a hall left bare.

Elizabeth gasped.

The colors were staggering, and the ornaments hanging all over the place glittered. It was like something out of a holiday movie.

Only on a plantation.

Not a ski slope.

There was one thing for sure.

It.

Was.

Gorgeous.

“Oh, Christopher,” she said, walking into the living room to find a twelve-foot Christmas tree with presents underneath, and so many twinkling lights.

The place smelled like pine, not pineapple.

“Holy shit,” Charlie said, looking around. “This is gorgeous,” he added, knowing the man was stupid in love with his girl, and he was grateful.

This was how he wanted his baby girl treated.

Like.

A.

Queen.

He basically feigned horror when all he wanted to do was whip out their marriage license and celebrate.

His baby girl’s husband was a damn good man, and he genuinely was happy with him.

Tony touched the tree.

“It’s real. How did you find an evergreen conifer tree in Tahiti?” he asked.

Chris shrugged.

Let’s just say that money talked.

“Maybe I’m just lucky?” he asked, knowing exactly how difficult that had been, but again, he made it happen for his sweetness and family.

It wasn’t Christmas without a Christmas tree. His woman loved them, and that meant they were having one. The biggest problem was a normal sized one in a room this big looked off.

So, he went big.

Elizabeth was curious, and almost afraid to ask.

He saw the look, and went there.

“What’s wrong, Sweetness? Aren’t you happy?” he asked.

Oh, she was, but she was worried.

“You don’t own this house, do you?”

He actually laughed.

“No. We rented the plantation. Leonard Industries doesn’t have a house here. Fiji, yes, but Tony killed that vibe, didn’t you?”

The man shrugged.

“Tahiti is safe. I like safety,” he said, shuddering. “They were big dudes.”

That they were.

Charlie pointed.

“Is that the view?” he asked.

When they headed to the one balcony that overlooked the pineapple fields, he whistled.

“Well, you wanted pineapple. Don’t ask for a unicorn,” he said. “He’ll have a factory built, horses abducted, and start gluing horns on them for you.”

She laughed.

Chris did crazy things for her all of the time. This was no different, but she wouldn’t challenge him because he loved a challenge.

When someone headed their way, carrying a tray of pineapple, they all jumped.

Chris forgot to warn them. Thankfully, the sheriff and his bad ass daughter weren’t armed.

“The house came with staff,” he said. “Relax.”

A warning would have been nice.

Before anyone could say anything, the woman offered them drinks, and pineapple. Of course, Elizabeth ate some.

And it was so good.

There was something so perfect about a pineapple that had been in the sun five minutes ago.

Yeah, now, she was officially happy.

She’d closed a shit ton of cases, her phone was off, and they were about to get naked, eat pineapple, and sit on the sand.

That was her kind of a day.

Oh, and to spice it up, at the last moment, she’d snuck into her bag and left some bikini tops at home to lure in a doctor.

Wouldn’t he be surprised when she went tits out for him?

Because he was curious, Charlie grabbed his suitcase and wanted to check the place out.

Then, he was going to chase Sam around a room somewhere. It had been a rough case helping his daughter, and they’d been in close quarters.

“The rooms are upstairs,” Chris said. “The master is ours, and there are eleven others to choose from. I suggest the ones facing the water so you can watch the sun come up.”

He didn’t have to tell them twice.

Charlie and Sam headed up, leaving the three of them and the dog alone.

“This place is nice,” Tony said. “Thank you for bringing me with you. You didn’t have to,” he admitted.

She stopped him.

“Yes, we did, Tony. You’re our family, and it’s the holidays. If you couldn’t come with us, we would have stayed home.”

He stared at her.

“Really?”

She nodded.

“Absolutely, but don’t get us kicked out of Tahiti,” she warned.

He hugged her.

“I love you guys.”

Oh, they knew.

“We love you too, Tony,” Chris said.

As the man wandered around the room, Chris focused on his woman.

She was in a loose-fitting kaftan, and looked like she fit in with this plantation. She had her hair on top of her head, and bangle bracelets on her wrist.

She looked perfect here.

God.

He was so in love.

They were climbing the ranks, taking the FBI by storm as a team, and in the end, the most amazing part was they had each other.

To.

The.

End.

“What do you want to do first?” she asked, glancing over at him.

The look said it all.

He wanted to do her.

Since Tony was around, he kept it clean. The man was incorrigible.

Unfortunately.

“There’s a hot tub in our room. What if we started there?” he asked. “Then, we move to the beach. I do want you to get a tan. Nothing gets me wilder than tan lines when you’re naked.”

That wasn’t the truth.

There weren’t going to be tan lines if he had anything to say about it.

She lifted a brow.

“Mr. Leonard, are you trying to tell me that you’re in the mood to go sit in a hot tub and maybe get me naked? Maybe it’s a good time to mention that I unpacked some of my bikini tops.”

He stared at her.

“You did?”

She grinned.

“Yes.”

Oh, well, she was in for a surprise since he’d done the same thing. It looked like they were going to have to find a place to hide on the sand as he molested his topless babe.

Yeah, this holiday was exactly what he wanted.

He hadn’t gotten to molest his sexy woman that morning, since she’d finished her paperwork, and so had he. What he craved was her, and a nap on the beach.

Topless.

“I mean, if that’s what you think I’m saying when I offer up a soak in the hot tub…”

Only, Chris didn’t get to finish his devious sexual holiday plans.

From around the corner, a certain someone heard him.

“I like a hot tub,” Tony said, peeking into the room. “Did someone say hot tub?”

Oh, Jesus.

Was he serious?

He stared at Tony.

There was no way he was joining them. Elizabeth had no bikini tops. That was never happening on this big blue ball. Tony could bet on that.

Elizabeth’s gorgeous breasts were for his eyes only.

It appeared someone couldn’t read a room.

“Do you see we’re in the middle of something. My hand is on Elizabeth’s ass, and she’s nibbling on my ear. Surely, you can put that together and figure out what is about to happen, Tony.”

Oh, he could, but he was so happy to be invited on this trip, and to not wake up alone on Christmas. Well, he’d wake up alone, but they’d be here when he left his room.

That was all that mattered to him. Elizabeth and Chris would never abandon him.

EVER.

He had a family, and loved it.

“Mating. Humping. Doing the dirty. Yeah, I get that. For the record, you guys do that a lot. Are we going in the hot tub?” he asked, completely glossing over it because it annoyed Chris, and he was like his brother.

Clearly, this wasn’t going to work.

Chris had to be tricky.

Basically, they had to lose Tony.

Oh, and ditch the dog.

“Yeah, you can come in the hot tub with us,” he said, sighing.

Elizabeth stared at him like he’d lost his damn mind. She was against Chris, and she could feel his erection throbbing.

Someone wanted her, and Tony was not seeing that shit.

Ever.

“YAY!” he shouted. “Where is it?” he asked, looking around.

Chris smiled.

“It’s on the lanai downstairs. Can you keep an eye on Babylon while we get into our swimsuits?” he asked.

That was all Tony had to hear.

He nodded, pulling off his shirt, since he was already in board shorts.

“Later, can we go surfing?” he asked, like a kid on vacation.

“Yeah, we can.”

If Chris could have sex with his woman, he’d tolerate surfing with Tony. He just wanted her beneath him, and screaming his name.

A guy had needs, and this was his vacation too.

“Thanks!” he said.

“Don’t let the dog in the hot tub!” Elizabeth warned. “He sheds and will destroy it!”

Oh, well, that tub was toast, and she knew it. Tony shouldn’t be left in charge of anyone or anything. He was a menace.

His response?

He smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

“Meet you in the tub, bub,” he said, running off with Babylon chasing.

He.

Was.

Gone.

Chris shook his head.

“He’s like a toddler.”

She laughed.

“Yeah, but he’s our toddler. Now, where were we?” she asked, rubbing against him.

Oh, he knew.

There was no doubt what he wanted to do.

HER.

He and his girl were about to go get their sex on in a locked room where Tony couldn’t bother them.

For now, he’d have to wait for them.

Because it was sexy time for them. He’d worry about the missing bikini tops later.

They could always go buy ONE.

But only for when they were with family.

Scooping her up, she gasped as he carried her up the stairs and to the master suite. The whole time, he was whispering plans of debauchery to kick off their third Christmas together.

When he kicked the door closed, she was in her happy place.

Beneath Chris.

Naked.

Oh, and because he was thorough, he jingled her bells.

A few times.

Chapter Eleven

Autopsy Room

FBI Offices

Philadelphia, PA

Yeah, after their confrontation before, Greyson was dreading even having a conversation with Sasha. Only, he told Gene that he’d help him out. So, he was putting on his big boy panties to head to the autopsy suite to talk to the ME.

While it was only going to be about the dead bodies, he was not a big fan of dealing with sexual confrontations.

Why?

He felt stupid.

When he’d talked to her, she had a point. He did quit easily, and that was anything but what he was normally like. Only, he was getting that weird-ass feeling.

He’d been a soldier, and he’d fought in rich men’s wars, killing people for oil and big businesses who lined the pockets of the people who sent him, and this was the same feeling all over again.

There was bullshittery afoot.

Only, why?

That was the question. What Greyson knew was that he was good at reading a room.

And something was off.

On top of that, now, he was hiding from a woman.

Why?

He liked her.

A LOT.

He was a sucker for a redhead, and if they were bossy, brash, and could hold their own, even better.

No one wanted a doormat.

He wanted a feisty woman who wouldn’t betray him, or cheat on him.

That seemed to be his downfall.

Greyson couldn’t pick a good one if he fell on her. That was making him incredibly cranky too.

Women liked how he looked, and his masculinity, but when they got a taste of his work hours, that was the big turnoff.

And dating a cop…

That was never good.

Not.

Even.

Close.

So, instead, he was forced to choose between his career, and his love life.

Blue balls it was.

Apparently.

While he loved sex, he wanted to climb the ladder. He always felt like he was meant for great things, and he wasn’t giving that feeling up. Greyson trusted his gut, and it told him to push forward to get the prize.

Maybe to be a director one day.

Maybe to be the head of the FBI.

Who knew, but he couldn’t give up on his dream. In the military, he’d lay in those covered holes, tracking his target, and he’d think about getting out.

Wearing suits.

Not smelling from being in a hole for five days and not showering to do the job.

Helping people, not taking lives.

That was what he craved.

Greyson wanted to make the Croft name famous, and hopefully, for doing good deeds and being a hero.

It was how he’d been raised.

The bottom line was that Greyson Croft wanted more from life than a bullet to the brain, and that was exactly why he got the hell out of the military.

He.

Ran.

Fast.

Serving in the Army as a sniper was too damn dangerous. Granted, he was clearly cutthroat enough to do the job, but he wasn’t going to think about that.

Pass.

Maybe the better word was ruthless.

Instead, he had other goals. Give him a condo, a sweet girl, and maybe a dog.

That was about it.

He was going to light the world on fire, but just not the way he used to.

Speaking of fire…

Now, he had to go face down a pretty woman, who could have been the one he started something with for the long term, before he’d humiliated himself.

God.

Women needed to come with manuals. They ran hot, and then cold, and then hot again.

All she had to do was be honest and tell him what she wanted. For the right woman, who wouldn’t betray him, he’d do anything.

Would he move for her?

Yes.

Why?

Because if it was real love, he’d move across the country, set up shop, and keep doing what he was doing.

But he needed to make sure, and his gut was telling him that Sasha was holding back.

But what?

That was what he couldn’t figure out.

For him to make that kind of sacrifice, she had to be ideal, and that meant more than just sex. It meant being able to be a couple.

That had been why he wanted her in his bed, so he could see what she was like in the long term.

To see if she fit in his world.

Yeah, sue him, but he was taking the woman for a trial run.

People said you’d know when you knew, and he wasn’t sure he believed in that.

Because no one just stood out and he ‘knew’. Not yet, anyway.

But now, it really didn’t matter because he’d embarrassed himself when she explained why she wouldn’t sleep at his place.

They’d been bitchy with each other, and that always meant no sex, no relationship, and no communication. That redheaded train left the station, and he wasn’t on board.

Not.

Even.

Close.

Yeah, he’d fucked this up.

Well, it was time to face the music.

Walking into the autopsy room, he saw the tables, but not the doctor.

When one of the techs looked over, he was curious as to where she could be. He’d already talked to her once, so that she made sure the autopsies were done.

“Is the doctor here?” he asked, as the tech dropped off something on the counter and was heading for the door.

She pointed.

“Yeah, everyone’s on lunch. She’s in the office going over the results. I think she’s taking her lunch break now until the agents get in.”

That worked for him.

He’d get in, and get out just as quickly.

It was for the best.

Really.

“Thanks,” he admitted.

The tech headed out, and he went to the door and knocked.

It didn’t take her long to answer.

“Come in,” she said.

When he went in, she was in a skirt, a white blouse, and had on ridiculous heels. Gone were the scrubs.

God.

He was a sucker for legs.

Damn it.

“I hope I’m not bothering you,” he said, regretting all of his life choices lately. The biggest one was where he opened his mouth earlier.

Damn.

It.

When Sasha saw it was him at her door, she put down her files.

“You’re not, Greyson. What can I do for you?” she asked, seeing the tension.

Someone was still angry about the conversation they had about her sleeping over.

She could tell.

Sasha knew she needed to chill out, and do a full one-eighty if she wanted to sleep with this man anymore.

So she would.

Greyson went there.

“Agents Blackhawk and Cantrell want to know how it’s going. They’re down to their last two interviews, and they’ll be heading in soon to talk to you.”

She figured as much.

They had impeccable timing.

“I’m done with three of them. The original autopsies were pretty much well done by the city ME. Honestly, I didn’t find any discrepancies. I’m going to assume that the same will be true with the last one too. Doctor Peterson is really meticulous, and that is a welcomed thing. I can’t tell you how shitty city coroners tend to be. I was just taking a break before I handle it.”

He nodded.

Well, that was done.

“Okay. Thank you,” he said, turning to head back toward the door.

At his dismissal, she wasn’t happy.

Again, she had regrets.

“That’s it?” she asked. “You have nothing else to say to me?”

At the door, he turned.

And stared at her.

“What more do you want? You said you’re leaving in two years, and you don’t want to stay at my place with me. That pretty much tells me that you’re not interested in being with me. I put it out there, and you put me in my place.”

Well, shit.

There had to be a way to fix this.

Sasha genuinely liked the man, but they all had a job to do, including her. They all answered to Gabe, and after work was…after work.

That’s why there were rules.

So, she said nothing at first.

Then, took a shot and rolled the dice.

“Okay, Greyson. I was wrong about you. I took you for someone different. You quit way too easy for me. You’re running, and the last thing I want is a runner. I like someone who will stick when the times are tough.”

What?

The?

Hell?

Was she batshit insane?

What was this full turnaround about?

Did she forget that he was the one who asked her to sleep over? He was the one who confronted her.

What did she want from him?

Rage?

Because, he was on his way to Angry-ville, population him.

“Did you just call me a coward?” he asked, translating what she said into something he would understand.

She shrugged.

“I mean, I called you a runner. If that’s what you took from it, then…”

Oh, hell, no.

He wasn’t a runner.

Yeah, that wasn’t true, and now, she’d hit a sore spot with a barb he didn’t appreciate.

Clearly, she’d forgotten that he’d been a soldier. He’d never once run from the shit. In fact, he ran toward the danger. He ran toward opportunity.

He didn’t run from a woman.

EVER.

The opposite was true.

They ran from him.

There was no freaking way that she was going to make this about him.

Fuck.

That.

Locking the door, he made sure she heard it, and that she realized she was now trapped in the room with him. That man, the provoked one, was there, and he was about done with being her plaything.

Not in his world.

He was the man, and he was about to show her what happened when he was jerked around.

He.

Got.

Dangerous.

As he stalked toward her, Sasha’s eyes went huge, and she took a step backward.

Only, he was right there, blocking the door and blocking any escape.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He laughed.

“Oh, you’ve poked the bear now, Sasha. I’ve been calm, quiet, careful, and a gentleman. I’m not feeling like a gentleman anymore.”

She gasped, and she hated that her panties were wet. It was the fire that flashed in his eerie silver-gray eyes. Well, she wanted to get back in his good graces, and it looked like he was going to take control.

It annoyed her that he looked so virile and strong.

She knew he was since she’d slept with him a few months now. His body was perfection, and his dick…

Let’s just say he was magnificent with it.

Only, this was a part of him she didn’t see before, and she hated to admit it, but she liked it.

God.

That was a bad sign for her.

She needed to get out of here.

“I did no such thing,” she said, her body against the wall, and him moving closer.

Truthfully, she was curious.

Had she found a way to make him react? Would pushing him lead to this?

Sasha would be lying if she said she wasn’t aroused. In her head, she was begging for him to put his hands on her.

There was no doubt she’d cum and be satiated by this man.

He was terrific as a lover.

As she stared up at him, he shoved his knee between her legs, pinning her to the wall with her own skirt.

“Say it to me again. Tell me I’m a coward,” he said. “Tell me I’m the one who is running, when you keep pushing me away because you’re scared. Something is up with you, and I just haven’t figured it out, but I will. I’m damn good at figuring things out.”

And he nailed it.

He saw it in her eyes.

She said nothing.

At first.

“I don’t know what you mean…,” she said, and he took matters into his own hands.

“Well, then, let’s test that theory. Tell me you don’t want me, Sasha. Look me in the eyes and deny it. Because I’m willing to bet you’re doing war with something. You’re hot, you’re cold, and now, you’re hot again.”

Well, shit.

She was doing war.

With herself.

Her body was vibrating, and she desperately wanted him.

For some reason, this side of him…

It got her wild.

It also got her back on the ride.

Men didn’t treat her like this, ever. They bored her, but now, she wasn’t bored. Sasha was curious where this would go.

On top of that, she was aroused.

She could smell his cologne, and she could feel the heat coming off of his body. He was hard, and she could see that magnificent bulge in his pants.

“You should go,” she whispered, knowing if he fucked her, and gave her exactly what she wanted, leaving would be harder.

He was right.

She was afraid of being trapped here, and him not coming back with her. She was afraid that in the end, he’d hate her for this.

Because she would, if she was him.

“I think you’re confused,” he said, his breath warm on her neck. He could see her nipples had pebbled through her bra, and she was giving off the right vibes.

She wanted him.

She’d yet to say no.

“Tell me to set you free. Tell me you don’t want this, and I’ll let you go. I’ll never touch you again.”

Shit.

She couldn’t do that.

With his finger, he touched one of her berried nipples through her shirt, and she slowly shook. She was so hot that he could feel that heat radiating from her pussy into his knee.

He was all in.

Because now, he’d let that predator out, and she was about to meet the real him. She played games, and she was about to see he was anything but a coward.

“Oh, you have no idea the kind of person I am, Doctor. I’m not easy, I’m not calm, and I’m not someone who lets another person walk all over him. I was kind, compassionate, and gentle, but now that ends. Answer me. Tell me you don’t want me, and this.”

She swallowed, but said nothing.

Her silence was the biggest admission she could make, and he was willing to risk it.

“When you answer, I’ll stop.”

Grabbing her shirt, he pulled it open, sending the delicate little flower-shaped buttons flying all over the room, and bearing her body to him.

She gasped.

“What are you doing?” she asked, horrified that he’d just made her want him even more.

He was to the point.

“I told you. When you answer, I’ll stop,” he said, hoping she had spare clothes, or she was wearing a lab coat and nothing else.

When she said nothing, he tugged on the skirt, and the button on the side opened, and he was able to pull it down.

She stared in shock.

“Greyson.”

That’s when he slid his fingers across her panties, and he could feel the wetness.

“You want me, don’t you?” he asked.

She stared defiantly into his face, and that just made him want to do this even more. She wasn’t telling him to stop, and if she did, he’d walk away, but until then, he was taking what he craved.

Maybe he needed to change how she saw him. Maybe her kink was a caveman.

Well, he could be that. God knew he had it in him—for the right woman.

Now, he’d be a brute.

“Answer me, Sasha. Tell me you want me,” he said.

When she didn’t, he grabbed the delicate lace panties, and he ripped them from her body, leaving her in thigh highs, a bra, and an open shirt.

And she looked so fucking sexy.

She gasped, and knew she was screwed.

Deep down, she prayed he’d understand when all was said and done.

“And that’s exactly what I expected to find,” he said, going to his knees, and keeping her trapped to the wall. It was when he put her legs over his shoulders, and found her clit wet, warm, and welcoming, that he made her beg.

She couldn’t move, and he was feasting on her body.

He was destroying her control.

“Greyson,” she whispered as he drove her up that climb to the top.

He stopped for a second.

“Who’s the coward now?” he asked, before going back to making lazy circles around her clit with the tip of his tongue.

He was purposely tormenting her, so she’d be wild and out of control. He wanted her bouncing on his cock, and filled with him.

Because she’d challenged him.

Because she’d insulted him.

When she was shaking, she began begging.

“Please,” she whispered.

He nibbled and teased, taking his time. He made sure he devoured her, and left her breathless.

Her hands were in his dark hair, as she held on and fought not to cum.

She fought hard, but his mouth was making it so goddamn hard.

When he ripped her bra up, setting her breasts free, so he could see them, she moaned.

He was wild now, but still in control. He wouldn’t lose it, until she did.

“Tell me to stop. If you don’t want me, Sasha, all you have to do is tell me to stop, and I’ll never touch you again.”

That wouldn’t work for her.

And she knew it.

She moaned, as he was now using his fingers to get her off. He was playing with her clit, making her wetter, and even more wanton than she had been.

“I’m not a coward. I’m a caveman, Sasha. I’m a predator when it comes to fucking. You challenged me. Now, you’ll stay like this, suffering until you give me what I want. Tell me to fuck you.”

She whimpered.

“No,” she said, fighting him.

And he craved it.

He needed it.

And this redhead would do just fine.

It appeared he was back in the game.

“Very well,” he said, going back to devour her clit to make her pay. He worked her over, and she came so hard, he got even more turned on.

Only, he wasn’t done.

Not even close.

He kept driving her back up, and he made her pay by cumming over and over again.

And she did.

By the third time, his jaw was hurting, and she was moaning loudly.

He stopped.

“Tell me to fuck you,” he said, playing with her nipples and making her whimper in need. “Tell me to take you to that couch, and fuck you, Sasha.”

She lost the battle.

“Take me to the couch and fuck me,” she whispered, breaking down and giving him what he wanted.

And that was when he won.

And a caveman was born.

Greyson knew he’d never be anything but because this woman let it out of the cage. This woman made him bring that darkness out for the world to see.

And he didn’t understand why.

He put her legs down, and she was wobbly. So, he knew he needed to move fast. He opened his pants, and pointed at his dick.

“I’d get me wet, or you’re going to be sore.”

He wasn’t sure she would, but she didn’t let him down. Sasha did as he asked.

No.

Ordered.

She went to her knees, and he watched as she worked him hungrily in and out of her mouth.

Yeah, Sasha was a smart, tough woman, and she didn’t want kid gloves. She wanted hard rough fucking.

That worked for him.

He was getting his rocks off too.

As she blew him, he enjoyed the show. His hand was in her red hair, and he slowed her down, going deeper into her throat to make her feel him.

“I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before,” he said.

She stared up at him, and she had that look on her face.

It was compliance.

Perfect.

As she took him deep, nearly choking on his cock, Greyson was ready.

Pulling out of her mouth, he reveled in that long line of saliva that had pooled at the back of her throat.

It was time.

So, he picked her up, and walked to the couch, his dick out—slick from her saliva.

When he sat, he pulled her bra up and over her head, tangling it with her shirt and binding her arms behind her. Sasha was effectively trapped, her back arched, and ready for whatever he gave her.

She moaned.

Sasha was now tits out, and all for his pleasure.

So, he enjoyed them, sucking, teasing, and biting her nipples. She was grinding against him, trying to get off.

Oh, she would be.

When he left a mark next to the one nipple, she was heated all over again.

He stared into her eyes.

“You like to be used in bed, and treated like you’re property,” he said.

She blushed. This was exactly how she got into trouble.

This.

Right.

Here.

“Answer me,” he said, slapping her on the ass.

She moaned.

Well, she wanted back into his bed, and she’d gotten her wish.

“God. Yes.”

Well, now, they understood each other. He was a caveman, and he just found his cave babe to warm his bed. Things were definitely going to change.

For.

Her.

She called him coward, and he was about to roll the dice, and take this right to Vegas for the win.

Sasha couldn’t breathe.

She was so turned on.

This man was a brute, and she loved every second of it. She wanted him between her legs, making her scream. While here, she might as well enjoy herself.

Right?

“Ask me,” he said, as he continued to play with her breasts to make her squirm.

Greyson studied his prey, and was pretty sure he understood her.

Yep.

Someone was back to running hot again.

“Please fuck me,” she begged, so humiliated that he found her deepest, darkest secret.

Greyson grinned.

Oh, she’d be sleeping in his apartment with him, if he had to tie her to the bed and fuck her all night long to prove a point.

She’d pushed too far.

Now, she was his.

Until they figured this out, he was taking control, and making sure she understood that calling him a coward was his hard line, and she crossed it.

Lifting her, she was lined up perfectly with his erection, and he dropped her down it, slamming into her, and against her cervix.

She went to scream, but he covered her mouth with his hand.

“You don’t want anyone coming in here,” he said, calmly. “You’re tits out, and riding dick, Doctor. What will people say?” he asked, as she blushed further.

She didn’t want that.

Been there.

Done that.

Then again, yes, yes, she did want exactly that, and she knew it.

Honestly, she felt so free and turned on, and this man made that happen.

As she bounced, moving for him, he enjoyed the show. He watched her breasts, and saw when she was about to get off again.

“Go ahead, Sasha. Cum. Use my dick, because then, I’m bending you over the arm of this couch, and I’m fucking you.”

She came so hard, that he had to keep her from falling off of him.

He was holding on, trying not to cum with her. Oh, he wanted to but he really wanted to enjoy the show.

And he was.

When she opened her eyes, she looked calm, serene, and happy.

Greyson found the key to her. It was to be the dominant one in bed. She was purring like a kitten, and he loved it.

But he knew one thing.

He wouldn’t leave with her in two years.

She wasn’t the one.

Oh, he liked her, and she was gorgeous, but his heart…he trusted it. This redhead wouldn’t be the one he spent his life with, and he knew it.

“Again,” he said, punishing her to get her off one more time. She clearly liked it.

The woman moved, and her arms were still trapped behind her back. She bounced more, making it damn hard for him to hold on, but he did.

When he twisted her nipples, she came again, and moaned.

“Oh, look at the pretty doctor. She has a secret, now doesn’t she?” he asked.

Oh, she had a few.

When she opened her eyes, he knew the truth.

He was right.

“Tell me to fuck you, Sasha. Tell me to take you,” he stated, that need in him growing.

She didn’t fight this time, and that made him want it even more.

She was ready to give herself over to him.

“Please fuck me,” she begged, wanting that. She hated he’d figured it out, but he had, and there was no way he was going to stop.

And she loved that.

It reminded her of home.

He lifted her hips, and moved her to face the arm of the couch. He spread her legs, and her ass was up in the air. With the tip of his erection, wet from her own juices, he began slipping himself through her crack.

“Look at that pretty little pucker,” he said spitting on her asshole.

She gasped.

“No!” she said, but he was already sliding into her. He was already halfway into her body when she bucked beneath him.

He loved watching her breasts hang, and sway with pebbled nipples.

It was when he felt her cum without him touching her clit, that he grinned in success.

He’d tamed the shrew.

“So tight, Sasha,” he admitted.

She moaned, and she was bound, hanging, and he was buried in her ass.

When he began moving, he pulled her up, and put his hand over her mouth since she was moaning loudly.

And he fucked her.

HARD.

He drove into her, over and over again, watching her ass swallow his cock, and he loved it.

They were going to have some fun.

The straitlaced doctor needed to loosen up, and maybe not call decorated war heroes cowards.

Because they would teach her a lesson.

Like this.

As he thrust into her, he could see how wet she was. Her thighs were glistening with her own juices.

“Is this what you need?” he asked, that overwhelming desire to cum building in his balls.

“God! Yes!” she whispered, as he pummeled her body with his dick. She knew he’d be good in bed, but Jesus.

Pulling her up so she was against his chest, he reached around and played with her clit.

She moaned.

“Is this how I should treat you, Doctor? Like a pickup in a bar, and a fuck in a car?”

She moaned.

“Answer me, or you don’t cum again.”

She nodded.

“Yes, please,” she begged.

He bent her over, and he went hard, ready to fill her with his entire load of cum.

“Well, Doctor, I think we have an arrangement,” he said, on the cusp. When she shook, Greyson held on until she was tumbling, and he pulled out, turned her around, and jerked off on her chest.

She moaned, as he splashed all over her.

She was a mess.

She was used, abused, and properly fucked.

Well, Greyson got that out of his system. Tucking his dick away, he was satisfied with the chaos he’d created.

Call him a coward, would she?

Oh, well, he had news for her.

Greyson Croft was many things, but a coward wasn’t one of them.

When she opened her eyes, he was washing his hands in the sink in that room.

Truth be told, Greyson wanted out of there.

FAST.

It was time to make his escape.

“You look good in my cum, Doctor. I’ll drive you home tonight. What I mean by home is my place. We’ll continue this later. I won’t take no for an answer. Clean yourself up because this is unbecoming a doctor,” he said, not caring if that stung.

Being called a coward stung too.

He yanked on her bra, setting her hands free, and then left her there, covered in cum, on her couch with her shirt, and panties ruined.

And Sasha knew one thing.

She’d sold her soul.

For.

This.

Job.

AGAIN.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Gressman, Hull, and Spencer

Attorneys At Law

Across Town

When they showed up, ready to do the interview, the atmosphere wasn’t exactly that of a place of mourning.

It was business as usual.

Granted, Patrick Gressman’s wife had died two weeks ago, and he had time to mourn.

And move on.

Because they were getting the vibe that he wasn’t even thinking about his wife anymore.

How did they know?

Call it a hunch.

When they walked into the office, they were greeted by a younger woman, and that seemed to be a constant in the man’s life.

Someone had a type.

His wife was younger, and all of the staff appeared to be too.

Both Ethan and Gene glanced at each other. They passed that look that only partners got.

The man was a skeeze.

A stripper tasting, dead wife non-mourning skeeze.

“Hey,” Gene said, as the three of them pulled their badges, but it was clear the woman recognized Corbin.

“Mr. Gressman?” she asked, before he could even introduce themselves.

Gene nodded.

“Yeah, is he in? It’s about his wife and her homicide,” he admitted.

She laughed.

Uh, that was odd.

“Yeah, he’s here. We saw the news,” she said, pointing to the TV in the elegant lobby. “He told us to expect the FBI to come knocking.”

Ethan was about to do his job.

The woman was checking him out, and he and Gene had a little angle they played when it came up. Secretaries knew EVERYTHING.

They got all of the good dirt, so if one of them flirted with either of them, they’d take that advantage for the sake of the case.

She was batting her eyes, so he was going in with the Blackhawk grin.

Hell.

Yeah.

It was information time.

“I’m Ethan,” he said. “This is Gene, and that’s Corbin,” he offered, being overly friendly.

The woman shook his hand when he offered it up.

“What’s your name, Honey?” he asked, not seeing a name plate.

When Corbin opened his mouth, Gene elbowed him to shut up.

If you were going to partner up with a man as gorgeous as Ethan, you had to expect the ladies to swoon a little.

More often than not, that worked to their advantage.

His fingers were crossed.

“I’m Lenore Luzzi,” she said. “I’m the front lobby secretary.”

Ethan leaned on the counter.

“You laughed when we said we were here. Why?” he asked, smiling at her.

He whipped out the Blackhawk grin, and it was a thing of beauty. Ethan didn’t have to try with Gene, so he really only used this to get his way.

Hate the game.

Not the player.

Because she must have felt comfortable, Lenore kept talking.

That worked for them.

She was honest—which was refreshing.

“I laughed because the detective didn’t ask the right questions when he came in last time to talk to us,” she admitted.

That was interesting.

Ethan leaned his chin on his elbows, as he kept his voice low.

“What should he have asked?”

She didn’t hold back.

“Mrs. Gressman wasn’t a good person. No one here liked her, or how she treated Patrick. He’s a good guy, and takes care of all of us. We figured someone would want to know that so you could work the case.”

Ethan stood up, and sat on the edge of her desk to continue this little game.

“How did she treat him?” Ethan asked, as Gene said nothing so he could work.

There would be no double-teaming her.

She was willing to talk openly.

“Caprice acted like he was a wallet. All he did was shell out money to her, and she wasn’t appreciative at all. She was a horrible person. Once, she told me I looked fat in my skirt. I cried in the bathroom for an hour.”

He patted her hand.

“Oh, Honey, you look perfect in your skirt. Some women are just catty.”

She smiled.

“Thank you for that.”

He shrugged.

“We see a lot of it.”

She lowered her voice.

“I think the boss regretted marrying her. She was pretty, and all, but she was ugly as the day is long inside. I once saw her kick a stray dog.”

He gasped.

“That’s horrible.”

Lenore sighed.

“Right? She was a gold-digging nightmare.”

Well, no shock.

Patrick Gressman was in his fifties, and she was in her twenties. They were sure he wasn’t with her for her Mensa scores.

From nearby, Gene let his partner continue to do the interview. He was getting some good information, and this was what he had in mind when it came to working undercover. There was no need for kissing to get the deets.

Ethan shook his head.

“That’s horrible,” Blackhawk admitted. “Clearly, she didn’t deserve him,” he added.

Corbin watched, and he wanted to laugh. He hadn’t gotten this much information the first time he was there.

“She sounds horrible, Lenore.”

The woman nodded.

“When she cheated on him, and he didn’t divorce her,” she said, keeping her voice down. “He is a better man than I’d be,” she stated. “If I was a man.”

Blackhawk smiled.

“I can see you’re not.”

From where he stood, Gene lifted a brow, and not because Ethan was flirting. This was about the information he just got from Lenore.

They knew about the husband and the stripper, but the wife had an affair too?

That was new.

Maggie was addicted to sex, and Caprice was catting around. He was getting that feeling about this case.

If it looked like a skunk, and smelled like a skunk, it wasn’t a kitty cat.

When he looked over at Corbin, he looked just as surprised too.

Patrick had never told him, clearly.

“She didn’t!” Ethan said, gossiping with the woman. “She was a gold digger,” he said. “Not that I would talk ill of the dead,” he added, amusing Gene.

Oh, his man was funny.

Too many people didn’t see this side of him. He was playing gossiping Yenta all too well.

She nodded.

“Oh, she was, and he was heartbroken when he found out. I only know because his personal assistant let it slip. Belle was so upset for Patrick.”

Uh-huh.

Somehow, they doubted that it accidentally slipped. Watercoolers had all kinds of gossip.

As for Patrick being brokenhearted…

It sounded more like buyer’s remorse, and they all knew that hiding a killing in the middle of three others was a good way to get rid of a person.

Now, if they could only connect the dots to find the pattern.

“Well, that’s crazy,” Ethan said, only pausing when she answered the phone, and hung up shortly after.

Then, he was right back at it.

“Who did she have an affair with?” he asked.

Only, she didn’t get to tell him. The universe interceded, and not in their favor.

Damn.

When another woman came out, she headed right toward them.

“Lenore, that’s plenty,” she said, and the woman clammed up.

She immediately went back to answering phones, and wouldn’t look at them.

Well, shit.

Ethan had been so damn close too.

“The FBI, right?” she asked, blocking them from Lenore and their fact-finding mission.

They’d been gossip blocked and so close to getting even more.

The interloper introduced herself.

“I’m Belle Kalberer. I work for Patrick, and he’s been told you’re here. I’m sorry that our secretary wasted your time with gossip,” she said, giving the woman a dirty look.

Again, Lenore wouldn’t look at them.

Well, Gene was up to bat.

This one looked like a barracuda, and she wasn’t flirting. It was time to do this the old-fashioned way.

A questioning.

Gene showed her his badge.

“Special Agents Cantrell and Blackhawk, and I’m sure you remember Detective Price.”

She nodded curtly, and didn’t mess around.

Oh, and she was all business.

“We saw the news that the FBI is now handling the case for the police. We’re very glad to hear that since we want the person who killed Mrs. Gressman found,” she said. “As you can imagine, Patrick wants to move on from the grief.”

Oh, they didn’t buy that at all. Mr. Strip Club had moved on a long time ago.

They’d bet on it.

“Can you please follow me?” Belle asked.

That they could.

What befuddled them was Lenore said Belle had gossiped, and now, she was not having it.

Because Ethan felt bad, he waved at the secretary, and she waved back.

Yeah, there were no hard feelings.

Together, they followed the woman to the back of the office where they found the big rooms for the partners.

In the one, an older man sat.

He was behind the desk, and when they came in, he focused on them.

“Gentlemen, I’m Patrick. Please, have a seat,” he said, offering them each a chair that had been set up for them.

Immediately, Belle went to stand behind the desk beside him.

They did as he asked and let her stay. She was giving off that pit bull vibe, as she protected the man. It was time to see what happened when they rattled the dog’s cage.

“This is about my wife?” he asked, emotionlessly.

Gene took over.

“Yes, Sir,” Gene said, introducing them all over again. When he was done, the man steepled his fingers but said nothing. “We’re requestioning everyone. As you heard on the news, there were four victims. Caprice was number two.”

They expected pushback, but that’s not what they got, considering Corbin had told them that the man pulled the attorney card.

“I appreciate that you’re handling this. I want to find who killed my wife. Is it true what the news said that this is a serial killer and that my Caprice wasn’t the only one?”

They nodded.

The whole time, Ethan was watching Belle, not the man. Gene had that one, and he was all over this one.

When Patrick said ‘my’ Caprice, the woman rolled her eyes—inadvertently.

Oh, well, this was fascinating.

Someone didn’t like Caprice either, and Lenore hadn’t been exaggerating.

Gene kept talking.

“We are going to have to ask you uncomfortable questions, Sir, and we don’t mean to upset you or cause issues, but we have to do our jobs.”

The man waved that away.

So far, he was being accommodating.

“Gentlemen, I’ve worked in the justice system for a long time. I know how this is going to go, and I know what is expected of me. You have my full cooperation. I have nothing to hide. I loved my wife.”

Corbin stared at the man like he’d lost his mind, or had a lobotomy. That was anything but the case when he’d talked to him. Granted, it might have been grief talking then.

Not far from Corbin, Ethan saw Belle react, fidgeting where she stood.

He was willing to bet there was something between the two. She had her hand on his chair, and he was letting her stay there for the interview.

Know who was caught off guard?

Corbin.

Their detective never mentioned an affair.

That might have been pertinent to know, all things considering.

It appeared you caught more flies not with honey, but with the Feds.

“I already know where this is going to go,” he admitted. “Detective, I wasn’t forthright with you when you spoke to me two weeks ago.”

What was this?

Gene trusted defense attorneys as far as he could chuck them. This man knew how to play the game, and he wasn’t going to trust him.

Not.

At.

All.

In fact, he was betting that after Corbin hit him once, his attorney told him to cool his jets, or he was going to draw suspicion.

Now, with his words, Gene was curious.

“What did you not bring up?” he asked, like he didn’t know about the whole stripper thing.

Sometimes, it was better to let the person tell you themselves. The guilty always ratted themselves out at some point.

Patrick sighed.

“Caprice, as I found out, married me for my money. She didn’t love me, and she had an affair. We worked through it, with therapy, but it was evident that she had moved on emotionally.”

Gene listened.

It was funny how he wasn’t mentioning that he moved on too.

With a stripper.

“I didn’t bring it up before because I didn’t want to immediately make myself a suspect. I know I didn’t kill her, and I was protecting my business. I have employees to take care of who rely on their income. If I lose business, they lose money.”

Gene had played this game plenty of times.

It was time to call him out, and see what his reaction would be.

“I see, Mr. Gressman. Did you neglect to leave out the partying with the strippers too? Or are we to believe that it was only Caprice who had a wandering eye? Because today, as we re-canvased and asked a lot of questions while flashing your picture, multiple strippers picked you out by name.”

Okay, that was a lie, but since this man set the precedence…

That caught him off guard.

He looked…surprised.

Know who else did?

BELLE.

Oh, what a tangled web this spider wove.

“Yeah, unfortunately for you, Patrick,” Gene said, “One of the strippers ID’d you as being in there, and also getting one hell of a lap dance from our fourth dead victim. Apparently, you paid for more than a lap dance,” Gene said, glancing over at Belle.

He played sympathetic.

“I’m sorry, Miss. I’m about to get crass. If you’d like to leave, I understand.”

She glared at Patrick.

“Oh, no, I want to stay. Feel free.”

So he did.

“The fourth victim sold sex in the club, and you were tagged as buying what she was selling. You were hooking up and getting your celebratory jollies off with our one victim, and you also have a dead wife as another of our victims. That makes you look really bad.”

Ethan was still watching Belle, and she looked homicidal herself.

Gene kept going, as the man sputtered.

They only had one shot at this.

“See, had you been upfront with the detective, we wouldn’t have to be suspicious, but when all of the threads don’t connect, we start pulling.”

From beside him, Belle actually moved away, and they all caught it. Oh, someone was getting diddled by the new widower.

They’d bet on it.

The man went silent.

Then, he spoke after composing himself.

“Like I said, our marriage was degrading,” he finally admitted, glancing over at Belle, only to see she was looking out the window and not at him.

Someone was bright red.

Know who wasn’t getting diddled tonight?

Patrick Gressman.

If they got called here for a body, they knew who the killer was, and who the victim would be.

That was for damn sure.

All three men were willing to bet that the woman didn’t know about the stripper. Which was ironic since they were also willing to bet that Patrick was sticking his dick in his pretty, younger assistant.

KABOOM.

This was about to blow.

Finding out your bed buddy was sleeping around was information that tended to turn people right off. No woman wanted to know the man going balls deep in her was also diddling a stripper in a back room.

That was all kinds of syphilis-y.

Gene didn’t bat an eye.

“Would you care to tell me about the guns you own?” he asked.

The man shrugged.

“Absolutely. I have a few. Some were antiques that my father owned, and now I own.”

Uh, could he be less specific?

“Any nine-millimeter guns?” he asked. “You know, Glock, Ruger, Sig?” he asked.

He nodded.

“But of course.”

This was like pulling teeth.

Gene went there.

“Would you be willing to let us test them for gunshot residue?” he asked.

The man laughed.

“Well, you can, but I shoot often. I have a gun range in my basement. I like to keep sharp.”

Oh, well, that was a loaded statement.

Wasn’t it?

Gene kept going, running with it.

“Do you own a silencer, Sir?” he asked.

The man looked confused.

“I don’t understand,” he admitted. “Why would I own one of those?”

Gene explained.

“Your wife was killed on a public street by someone who was either getting into her vehicle, or someone she was familiar with enough to either open the window or door. No one heard a gunshot. That means someone likely silenced it.”

He looked relieved.

Finally.

“No, I don’t have one.”

Gene made notes.

“Do you know the person your wife was having an affair with?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“I know now, I didn’t know then. It was her yoga instructor. The only reason I knew she was cheating was one of my associates saw her kissing him in his car, and they took a picture.”

Gene was curious.

“Has anyone threatened or made any threat to you or your wife?” he asked. “Before her death.”

He shook his head.

Only, Gene was now watching Belle, and the woman had her fists clenched. Someone didn’t like Caprice Gressman, that was for damn sure.

Now, she didn’t like Patrick either.

“Ms. Kalberer, would you like to add to that?” he asked.

The woman shook her head and said nothing.

To.

Them.

Oh, there was no doubt that the older man was going to get an earful as soon as they were told to leave.

He was betting that would be soon. They’d just made problems for the man and the new woman he was sleeping with at work.

Before Gene could question him further, he saw the look on Patrick’s face.

Here it came.

In three…

Two…

One...

Patrick looked at his watch.

“Well, if you don’t mind, Gentlemen, I have another client in a few, and then, we’re closing down for the holiday. We won’t be open tomorrow.”

Yeah, they figured.

It appeared that the rat was running.

Now, they just needed proof that he was a killer, or could somehow tie to the other two victims. Then, the rat was trapped.

“One last question,” he said. “You know, before we get out of your hair.”

He didn’t stop them.

“When’s the last time you went to the hospital?” Gene asked, taking a shot at it.

Only, he didn’t answer.

His assistant did.

“He went to Temple Medical three months ago for appendicitis,” Belle said. “He had to go to the emergency room.”

And that was where Dorris worked.

Oh, and in the hospital where Francesca’s girlfriend worked too.

Before he could ask the day, the man stood, and it was clear he was done.

“And now, this interview is finished. As a lawyer, I know my rights. If you have anything else to ask me…”

Gene wasn’t letting him say the ‘L’ word.

LAWYER.

“If we need to get a hold of you, or ask a question, how do we do that?” Gene asked.

Patrick glanced over at Belle, clearly done with them, and worried about the mess between him and his personal assistant.

And from the look on her face, and the clenched fists, he should be.

“Can you give them your card?” he asked Belle, and reluctantly, she did just that.

It was clear that the man didn’t want them to have a way to reach him.

Tricky.

Roughly, she pulled one from his desk drawer, and handed it to Gene.

“It has my after-hours number on it, and I can be available then too IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT CAPRICE,” she said, staring at Patrick.

OOF.

That was a threat.

To the man.

Because Gene knew when the shit was about to hit the fan, he took it and thanked her. They needed to get out of there before the fireworks started.

“Again, Mr. Gressman, we are sorry for your loss,” he said, as they hauled ass.

The three men left, and Corbin closed the door behind them. It was about to get heated in there. Someone’s bells weren’t getting jingled for Christmas.

Ever.

Again.

When they reached the lobby, they compared notes before leaving. Since the office wasn’t open tomorrow, this was their one shot.

“She was sleeping with him,” Ethan whispered. “When she found out about the stripper, she nearly lost her shit.”

Gene agreed.

“She’s definitely a suspect. Because we don’t know if her reaction was because she was being reminded of the stripper again, or finding out for the first time. What we do know is if she knew, that would tie her to two victims. He’s tied to three if we assume he ran into Dorris at the hospital.”

That was a good point.

Corbin was curious.

“Do you think that Caprice was really sleeping with someone else?”

Both men nodded.

Only, Corbin knew one thing. If they were going to run with the jealous boyfriend angle, and also go with the cheating husband and personal assistant angle, they needed proof.

A judge wouldn’t buy what they assumed they saw during a conversation.

“We need more than your gut.”

Well, ask and he would receive.

Ethan looked over at Lenore, and knew that was his best option. So, he headed her way.

Belle was tied up, so he took a chance.

“Honey, I have a question, but it’s a delicate one,” he said, being super nice.

She lifted a brow.

“What?” she asked.

He leaned in.

“Is Belle sleeping with the boss?” he whispered.

She stared at him, and then looked down the hall to see if anyone was coming.

Then, she spilled the tea.

ALL.

OVER.

THE.

PLACE.

Maybe Belle should be a little nicer because this woman sang like a freaking canary.

“She’s banging him like a drum in his office. Right after he and Caprice got married, his old PA quit, and he hired Belle.”

Interesting.

Lenore wasn’t done.

“Well, fast forward two years, and Caprice came in one day to surprise him on their anniversary, and she found Belle bent over the desk, getting the old poke-a-roo in the posterior.”

He laughed.

“I’m stealing that,” he said.

She giggled.

“Anyway, she stormed out after slapping the shit out of Belle, who couldn’t chase her because her panties were around her ankles. I will say that Caprice grabbed her clothing on the way out, and someone had to go out and buy her new things—Patrick—so she could leave his office.”

Oh, that told a different story altogether.

Someone cheated first—which fit with the whole stripper information.

He was a dog.

Lenore kept checking to make sure the coast was clear.

“Right after, she cheated on him to be spiteful, and it was with her yoga instructor. That’s why he didn’t divorce her. It was tit for tat. As long as he was keeping Belle, she was keeping the platinum card.”

That made sense.

Only, Lenore wasn’t done.

“I heard Mr. Hull say that it was Belle who took the damning photo to give her man leverage—but I think it was because Caprice laid her out on the floor, ass first.”

And finally, they had the whole story.

It made more sense now.

“Does Belle have a temper?” Ethan whispered, making sure not to get the woman in trouble. She was helping them in ways she couldn’t imagine.

She nodded.

“She’s a wicked witch. All of the associates are afraid of her,” she whispered. “But you didn’t hear that from me,” she admitted, sitting back in her chair. “She yells and makes our lives hell. I wish she’d quit, already.”

It looked like Ethan had more than enough.

“You’ve been a gem. Thank you,” he said, winking at her.

She giggled and waved at him as he walked away. Because she could, she checked out his ass.

Walking back to his partner, Ethan joined them, and they headed outside of the office door to talk. It was clear he’d gotten some good stuff.

“Well?” Gene asked. “Other than you flirting with a woman in front of me, again,” he stated.

He laughed.

“We have a rule. Whoever can charm the secretary is allowed to do that. Remember? I didn’t kiss her, did I?”

Yeah, he had a point.

Corbin was dying.

“Come on! You got something.”

Boy, did he ever.

He dropped the bomb.

“They were having an affair, and before Caprice cheated with her yoga instructor. Apparently, she only slept with her yoga instructor to get even, and Belle was humiliated when Caprice struck her. She was getting plowed, bent over a desk at the time. Oh, and it was their anniversary. It looks like Caprice isn’t the bad guy.”

Interesting.

This changed everything.

“That’s why he didn’t divorce her. He cheated first, and Caprice only did it to get even.”

Married people did crazy shit.

Apparently.

Gene went there.

“What if this isn’t about the wife, as much as it is about cleaning up after a man? The stripper dies, and we don’t know she didn’t know about her. Then, the wife dies, and a nurse he could have been flirting with at the hospital.”

Ethan knew he had a point.

“We need more, and that’s going to entail one more day of work.”

Yeah, they were getting good facts, but there were still holes in this whole thing.

Only, now, the wheels were spinning, and Gene was curious.

“Do you think this could be a woman?” he asked his profiler.

Ethan was honest.

“I’ll know when we’re given the autopsy results from Doctor Harper. I need a bit more before I can go there, BUT a woman is quite capable of this. Look at the facts. There’s no heavy lifting, and it’s with a gun. There are plenty of women who are damn good with one. Maggie was marched into her bedroom, and the rest were left where they fell.”

Gene agreed.

“This feels like a woman to me. It’s cold, calculated, and revenge feeling.”

Corbin agreed there.

Gene wasn’t done.

“In fact, I’d bet my bottom dollar that it is. Men get angry, but they punch people in the face. A woman…she’s going to stalk and hunt prey.”

With all the serial killers they’d chased, he was pretty spot on there. Also, Ethan was leaning that way with his profile. He just needed to know if there were defensive wounds.

“I’m like eighty-twenty it is. After seeing that rage in there…”

Him too.

“Think about it. Women blend in better,” Gene admitted. “If a woman walked up to me on the street, I wouldn’t even flinch. I wouldn’t think twice or worry. A man…not as much. We think Caprice knew her killer, and she might have gotten a tap on the window, rolled it down, and BAM! She gets shot in the head.”

Honestly, they all agreed with that.

“It looks like we have our first suspect,” Ethan said. “You’re right that she could have known about the stripper, and that rage was being humiliated by it or that now, the finger is being pointed at her. Up to now, this killer has been immaculate. There’s no trace, and no evidence. Now, we have to start figuring out more about the other dead woman. The gay one. Where does she come into play with all of this?”

That was a good question.

They all knew the truth.

Not only could these killings be out of order, but being masterminded by someone who was pissed off about cheating men.

Patrick Gressman fit the bill.

Ultimately, they all knew that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

And they just met one.

Chapter Twelve

Washington D.C.

Around The City

Somewhere

While Elizabeth was off doing her thing, taking some much-needed downtime, Axelle was taking care of some work of her own. Spooks didn’t take time off for good behavior.

Not when there was business to handle.

That ‘business’ was an attempt to find out dirt on a man who was causing all kinds of hell in the city.

The Director of the FBI, William Moore.

It had been a few months of tracking his dirty deeds, and for a while, Axelle had to stop looking for information when she needed to do her own job.

Oh, but it was always on her backburner.

Bet.

On.

It.

She wasn’t letting some douchebag man make her friend jump through hoops simply because he was afraid of a woman doing his job.

Fuck that.

She’d been solely focused on taking down William Moore when her boss called. She’d jumped on a little job outside the US. Axelle had been sent out, and she handled a little job in Kosovo.

It was a week’s work, getting intel on a dignitary in a predicament that the US government needed leverage on.

Oh, and she’d gotten it.

As she was heading out, Lewis had disappeared, too, and she hadn’t heard or seen hide nor hair of the man since then.

Reaper was off…reaper-ing.

They were ships in the night, and she missed the nut.

Him being gone for multiple weeks was a bummer for her, but once in a while, she’d get a coded message sent to her.

From the Spider.

Apparently, he was off doing the Lord’s work, or as they liked to call it, CIA missions.

Granted, his messages would just be a bunch of numbers, but she knew how to decode them.

The bottom line was that he was still alive, and that was good.

Because by God, she was attached to him—not the way she was stupid in love with Jack, but she was still feeling something.

And she believed he was feeling it too.

Which was good since they spent all of their downtime together.

God.

She couldn’t wait until he got back.

Honestly, she’d been planning on spending Christmas with him since LaRue had left town, and now…

Meh.

She wasn’t feeling the holiday.

So that was why she decided to pick up where she’d left off working on the William Moore situation.

As the snow fell in DC, her bestie owed her one.

With some downtime, Axelle was back on the hunt for damning information. Now, as she sat in her car, watching the building, she saw the woman heading toward the door after a day out and about, doing exactly what she expected.

Someone was playing Pretty Woman, and hoping to land a rich John.

As she held up the driver’s license photo, Axelle knew she was damn close to getting some intel.

Yeah, that was her.

She’d recognize the stroll of a hooker anywhere.

God knew she played that role plenty of times on jobs in the world.

This particular woman in question was a CIA tip that she’d bought from a person who was selling good dirt on the black market.

Oh, and she fully expected it to pan out.

Call it a hunch.

This returning-home hussy was William Moore’s side piece.

Not his wife of fifteen years.

No.

But his loosey-goosey, who got his rocks off.

It was time to play CIA games, and Axelle knew that she was about to give her the dirt.

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

As soon as the coast was clear, and there weren’t any looky-loos around, she headed toward the building, ready to go.

The snow was falling heavier now, and it was looking like they were going to have a white Christmas.

God.

She really wished Lewis was around to spend it with her.

It sucked to spend the holidays alone.

Only, there was no way she was getting back on the Jack train to heartbreak-ville. She was still madly in love, but common sense said she couldn’t be with him.

Granted, Elizabeth had invited her to Tahiti if she promised not to bring work with her—meaning a side mission. Only, she declined.

Why?

So Lewis wouldn’t be alone if he made it back.

She was a sucker.

Apparently.

As she entered the building, she listened to the woman walking up the stairs so she could track her in real-time.

She knew her real name, so all that she had to do was check the mailboxes to get her door number.

God.

People were idiots when they put their names on their mailboxes. It helped people track them.

When would they learn?

Matching up the name that she had to go with the driver’s license number, she found the floor and apartment.

Great.

It was on the eighth floor, and there wasn’t an elevator in sight—not that this place was that kind of apartment building.

Not.

Even.

Close.

Well, she was hoofing it, too, apparently, and she needed to get her ass moving.

As she moved up the steps, she followed the wet footprints, and finally reached a door.

The numbers matched up, and she knew it was go time.

Someone was about to have a conversation with a spook, and Axelle came prepared with some tricks to go with this interrogation.

Knocking on the door, it didn’t take long for the woman to answer.

Through the door.

Well, at least she had some common sense.

“Who is it?” she asked.

Axelle held up a box, and hoped to god her intel was right, or she was fucked.

“I have a delivery from Pookie. I really hope that makes sense to you, because I really don’t want to go door-to-door asking people if they know someone called that. I feel dumb enough as it is.”

The door opened immediately, and the woman stood there in her working attire.

Yep.

She was a hooker.

It was that or she liked giving her tits some air conditioning.

“I know who Pookie is,” she said. “That’s for me,” she admitted, grinning like it was…Christmas.

Because it was.

She almost felt bad that the working girl was about to get nothing but an ass-whooping if she didn’t cooperate.

Oh, well.

The things she did for LaRue.

“Here you go,” she said, going to hand it to her. As soon as she did, she shoved hard, and was in the door, kicking it shut.

The woman gasped as she teetered in her stilettos and fell backward.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Marisol,” she said, as the woman was on the floor looking shocked.

“What do you want?” she asked.

Axelle pulled off her hood, and shook out her hair. She also pulled on her gloves.

“We’re about to have a little talk,” she said, moving closer.

When the woman went to kick out her feet, she evaded, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her into the kitchen to the table.

When she tried to bite her, Axelle punched her in the face.

HARD.

“Knock that shit off!” she said, handcuffing her to the chair.

The woman pulled at her wrist restraints, and looked scared.

Axelle grabbed a chair, straddled it, and put her CIA badge on the table, and her gun right next to it with the silencer on it.

“Now, looking at those two items that I’ve produced, Marisol, what can you deduce?” she asked, giving the woman time to take it all in.

She should be scared.

Axelle’s DNA and fingerprints weren’t on record. The CIA replaced them with some dead body that was long forgotten.

If she had to kill this woman, no one would know.

The woman stared at them.

“That I’m in deep shit.”

Axelle felt bad for her. As a woman, who was single and trying to survive in the world, she got it. Marisol was pretty, but beauty faded.

So, she cut her a break.

“Here’s the deal. You tell me what I want, and you give me proof, and I’ll not kill you. It’ll be our little secret.”

The woman stared at her.

“For real?”

She nodded.

“I just need intel. I wouldn’t have hurt you, but you bit me. That’s never nice.”

The woman nodded.

“I’ll talk. I don’t want to die,” she said.

Axelle was feeling kind.

“Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to unlock those cuffs in a sign of good faith. You are not going to scream or make a move at me. If you do, I’m shooting you dead. Trust and believe, I’m not playing. Don’t make me spill blood this close to the Baby Jesus’ birthday.”

The woman nodded.

“I understand. I can be civilized.”

Good.

You caught more flies with honey than vinegar, and honestly, she wanted to get the hell back to her home and chill.

Axelle undid her cuffs, and the woman rubbed her wrists.

“Can I get a drink?” Marisol asked.

She picked up her gun, and held it.

“Don’t make me kill someone this close to Christmas when all we have to do is talk about Pookie.”

She nodded, and went to the cabinet.

She got out two glasses, and then the bottle of wine from the chiller. She sat down, pulled the cork out with her teeth, and poured two glasses.

“I’ll pass.”

“Oh, they’re both for me. It’s been a day. I had a guy bite the big one during sex. Then, the cops were all over me like fleas on a dog. Do you know how difficult it is to pretend to be the guy’s ‘niece’ when you’re wearing this outfit?”

Oh, she did.

Axelle had been to the hooker rodeo more times than she could count, and she’d killed a few men in bed—intentionally.

“Oof,” she said. “In bed?”

“Well, let’s just say he liked a little eclectic sex, like Pookie.”

She understood.

“Mistress?” she asked.

“Full on. I had to get him out of the restraints, and dress him before I called nine-one-one.”

The woman chugged a full glass, and refilled it.

“So what do you want to know?” she asked, “And if I tell you, it can never get back that it was me. If your Pookie, and my Pookie are the same Pookie, I need to be protected.”

Axelle nodded.

“I can agree to that. It seems that your Pookie is playing dirty games in his government position.”

Yeah, this was going to be the same man.

“William, huh?” she asked.

Axelle nodded.

Again, because it had been a day, and she was in her own home, she pulled off her heels, dropped them on the floor, and then pulled out a cigarette.

“Mind?” she asked.

Axelle shrugged and put the gun on her lap.

“It’s your place, Honey. Smoke them if you got them,” she said.

Marisol lit up.

“Well, ask away,” she said, taking a long drag. “I’m hoping the lung cancer gets me before I need a four-oh-one-kay,” she admitted.

Axelle was never going to complain about her life. While it was brutal at times, COLUMBIA, for example, it wasn’t this bad. She could go home and not look back.

Axelle went there.

“I need to know some shit. It’s about Pookie.”

She nodded.

“What do you need to know?”

Axelle was to the point.

“Word on the street is that you took a trip with him to Philadelphia. It was an unofficial trip, and it was about a year ago.”

She nodded.

Oh, that was an easy one.

“Yeah, we stayed at The Four Seasons right in Philly, and he had a secret meeting. He went upstairs to the penthouse, and then, he came back down an hour later. He left with nothing and came back with a briefcase. Then, we fucked like he was really happy about something.”

She listened.

“We stayed the night, we ordered dinner in the room, and we had sex a few times. In the morning, we drove back here, and he dropped me off.”

“And did he mention who it was with, the meeting?”

She nodded.

“Will you tell me?”

She leaned forward.

“This won’t get me killed, will it? Because I kinda like breathing. I was kidding about the lung cancer thing.”

Oh, Axelle was aware.

“I just need the intel. Your name will never come up, and if you don’t tell anyone I was here, I’m not saying jack shit.”

Marisol knew this had to be big. The man was the Director of the FBI, liked being tied up, walked like a dog on a leash, and had a tiny dick.

He’d kill her to keep that shit secret.

Because she got it, Axelle pulled out an envelope, and slid it to her.

When Marisol opened it, inside were six crisp hundreds.

Chris had given her a bunch of money to help save his and Elizabeth’s asses from that asshole director.

They were on his dime.

“That’s for your trouble, and punching you in the face. I feel bad. You know…Christmas and all.”

Marisol laughed.

“Honey, if you want to punch me for six more, go ahead. I can take tomorrow and Christmas day off, and get myself a pedicure.”

Axelle found her funny.

“You give me what you know, and we can do business. While I’m in the CIA, we’ll kill, but we’re in the business of information first and foremost, especially while on US soil.”

The woman was good with that.

Marisol sang like a canary.

“His name was Javier Hughes, and I only knew because when William went upstairs, I called the front desk and inquired about the person in the Penthouse. I said I found a wallet outside, and it looked like a big spender had dropped it.”

Axelle listened.

“They immediately asked me if that was the name on the license, and I said no, but I got his name.”

She laughed and decided to have some wine. She didn’t think Marisol was a killer.

She was just in an unfortunate life.

“Mind?” she asked, picking it up.

“No, but hit me with some too.”

Axelle poured them both a glass.

As she did, Marisol kept talking.

“The whole way to Philly, William said the meeting was some big guy and that he had to have a meeting with him about a situation he couldn’t discuss because of national security.”

This was all good news, and she knew it.

“Anything else?”

“No, but when his wife called, he told her she could get that new car. What’s ironic was, I’m the one he’s giving the old pump and dump, and he thought sex was a good present. It never is. Once, I want one of the tiny-dicked cesspools to give me the gift of a Mercedes.”

She laughed.

“Yeah, I understand that, Marisol.”

She sipped her wine.

They both did.

“Anyway, when we got there, he tried to keep me busy, and I ordered food from the restaurant. He said he couldn’t be seen out and about, so we had to stay in.”

Axelle was recording all of this, in the recorder in her pocket. If she had to burn Marisol, she’d help her get out first, and cover her bases.

She kinda liked her.

“The rest I told you about. Oh, and he likes to have a vibrator put in his ass and called names. I’ll spill that because I’m still bitter over the wife getting a present, and I had to play find the teeny peeny.”

Axelle laughed and clinked her glass off of the woman’s.

“I’ve worked the streets for this job, Marisol. I get it. Trust me.”

The woman was chill.

“That work for you?” she asked, meaning the information.

“Yeah, that works,” she said, pulling out more one hundreds, and passing them to her. “That should keep you in pedicures for a while,” she said, standing up, and tucking her gun into the back of her pants, and putting away her badge.

Then, she kicked back the wine.

“That’s it?” the hooker asked, really surprised she wasn’t dying.

Axelle nodded.

“That’s it, Marisol. See? No killing before Christmas,” she offered.

The woman got up and hugged her.

“Thank you for that. Oh, and if you ever need information, come find me. I’ll be more than happy to spill the beans. I won’t bite you first.”

She laughed.

“Then, I won’t punch you in the face.”

That worked for her.

Honestly, Marisol was smart. Axelle could tell. She was a sucker for helping people, and if she could, she’d save this woman too.

“If I need some help…”

“Again, just swing by. I’m in. My life is boring, and I like a little spice. Not the spice that William Moore likes, but if I can fuck a man over, I’m game.”

Axelle gave her a fist bump.

“You’ll be hearing from me,” she said. “Oh, and Merry Christmas, Marisol,” Axelle said, pulling her hood up, and heading back out the door.

As she was leaving, Axelle could hear that the woman had put on Christmas music, and was jamming out to Bing Crosby.

She didn’t blame her.

Tonight had ended well for her, and for Marisol.

That was for damn sure.

Axelle made a connection with a hooker who she could use in the future to sleep with men, and get intel if need be.

That made her life easier, and Marisol would get paid well.

That was a good business deal any day of the week.

As she left the building, Axelle headed back to her car. As she approached, she saw the footprints in the snow, and they weren’t hers.

They were bigger.

Pulling her gun, she opened the back door, and saw who it was.

“Red Queen, is that anyway to greet a Marine who’s been away for weeks?” Lewis asked.

She gasped, and he pulled her inside the car, and into his arms.

“Hey, beautiful. Miss me?” Lewis asked.

She kissed him, and it felt damn good to have him back. Oh, and he kissed her like he’d not touched a woman since he left.

Thank.

Freaking.

God.

When he broke the kiss, he was grinning.

“I missed you,” he said, staring into her eyes. “Why do you smell like a hooker?” he suddenly asked. “Cheating on me?”

She snorted.

Yeah, he’d been celibate, and so had she. It appeared they were doing a relationship thing after all.

Which was funny since she swore she didn’t want one, and he had done the same.

Axelle explained.

“I found William Moore’s side piece. She gave me a hug when she was so grateful I didn’t pop her in the kitchen, and I paid her for the punch to the face.”

He laughed.

“You can’t stay out of trouble. Have you been safe?” he asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“I’ve tried. Kosovo.”

He kissed her on the tip of her nose.

“I understand. Cambodia. I’m glad I made it home in time for Christmas. Want to maybe grab some food, and head home.”

She bit her lip.

“Uh-oh. You’re not leaving are you?” he asked. “Can we at least have welcome home sex, so I can remember what a woman feels like?”

It warmed her heart that he’d not slept with anyone else while away.

She busted his ass.

“I’m sure you were all over the ladies.”

He was serious.

“No. I was waiting to get home to be with you.”

That said it all.

Oh, it hung there too.

Worse, it scared the hell out of him. While he was away, all he thought about was Axelle.

This was a problem, but the universe kept sticking them together, so…

Until it stopped doing that, and the obstacles appeared, he was going to stay content and happy. It wasn’t often that happened in his world.

“Well, I also was waiting for you to get home so I could get naked with a Spider.”

He grinned, and the dimple in his chin made her heart flip.

Then, she had an idea.

“How about this? Chris left me a business credit card, so I could help track William Moore. The hooker said he was in Philly at The Four Seasons. Want to go play undercover married couple, and get a room? I can reacquaint myself with you then, and tomorrow, we can hit the streets of Philly.”

He grinned.

Oh, that sounded perfect.

A Christmas getaway with the Red Queen?

Sign.

Him.

Up.

“I mean, I have a bag in your trunk. You should lock your doors. We should fly,” he said. “The roads are shit.”

She pulled out her keys, and handed them to him.

“Want to drive? I need to head home and grab some things to go. I’m excited about you being home, Lewis.”

He winked.

Yeah, he was too. At first, he’d not believed he’d get the mission handled, but at the last moment, he did. That gave him time to fly home, contact his handler, and get some time off for bad behavior.

And to spend Christmas with his girl.

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

He had a girl.

And it didn’t make him ill.

“You know it, Red Queen. Let’s go hop a flight. I’m sure with those CIA creds, and mine, we can get to Philly and The Four Seasons.”

Oh, she could do that.

“Come on, Marine. Let’s take a Christmas trip to Philly.”

That worked for him.

Honestly, he was just grateful to be home.

FINALLY.

And he was grateful to have someone to come home to for a change.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Perri and Francesca’s House

Thursday

Four P.M.

Calling ahead, Corbin spoke to the deceased woman’s girlfriend, and made arrangements to talk to her.

Tonight.

She sounded hopeful, like they were going to be giving her good news.

They weren’t.

Truth be told, they didn’t have a clue as to who killed any of the women, but they needed to cover their bases—just in case.

The Feds wanted to reinterview, and he was going to make that happen.

They’d already figured out more in half a day than he did in four weeks. Why were people so much more willing to talk to the FBI?

Well, at least it was all working out.

Right?

As the snow was really falling, they parked their car, and headed across the street to the woman’s door.

Gene was checking the place out, and he didn’t see anything that would alert him to Francesca being up to dirty deeds, and someone wanting to hurt her.

The house was normal, and the two women appeared to be living within their means. The cars weren’t fancy, and they didn’t have anything that screamed ‘I’m selling drugs’ or anything else illegal.

Gene was hoping they could connect Francesca to the dead women in some way.

Once there, they knocked, and it was promptly opened by Perri.

“Hey,” she said. “Come on in, and get out of the snow.”

They headed in, and the woman wasn’t alone. In fact, there was another woman there.

“This is my sister, Carrie,” she admitted, introducing them.

The whole time, the woman didn’t look happy.

She.

Looked.

Cranky.

Uh-oh.

What was this about?

Before Gene could say anything, the sister, Carrie, was off to the races.

“I suppose you’re here to tell us about what happened to Francesca,” she said.

Immediately, they heard the tone.

Someone didn’t like Francesca.

That was for damn sure. This was full-on stink face.

Now, they had to figure out why.

“Not quite,” he admitted. “We’re here to talk about what happened,” Gene said. “I’m Special Agent Cantrell, and this is my partner, Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk. You already know Detective Price.”

They all shook hands, and Perri led them into the living room. Once there, they noticed it was like a shrine to Francesca.

Perri had pictures of her dead girlfriend everywhere, and there were flowers all over the place.

“I hope you found who did this,” Perri said, taking a seat beside her sister.

Gene took over.

“Actually, Perri, it’s been bumped to an FBI investigation, and we’re starting at the beginning. I know you’re likely not in the mood to rehash this, but for our interview, we have to go there.”

She looked worried.

“You guys are still going to find who did this to my girlfriend, right? She was the love of my life.”

The whole time, Ethan was focused on the sister. She looked like she’d sucked a bag of lemons when her sister said the words, ‘love of my life’.

And she sucked the whole bag all at once, nonetheless.

His partner kept going.

“We’re going to work on this until we find the killer,” Gene admitted, and Perri looked calmer. “Can I ask you some questions? Maybe that would help me.”

The woman nodded.

“Absolutely. I miss her. She was my everything. I can’t believe she’s gone,” she said wiping her eyes. “Go ahead. I want to help any way I can.”

Gene did just that.

“Was anyone bothering her?” he asked.

The woman shook her head.

“No. She was a schoolteacher, and she loved this time of the year. She was getting her goodie bags ready for the kids, and preparing for their mugs and candle presents from her students. We laughed about how many mugs we own.”

He was making notes.

“What school did she work at?” he asked.

She didn’t hesitate.

“Philly Central,” she said.

That wasn’t the same school as Lester Danyelle or Kit Reagan, so that was a dead end when it came to connecting the deaths.

Perri continued.

“She was happy and good at school. She loved her third graders.”

Gene kept going.

“And she never mentioned that anyone was following her, or made her feel uncomfortable?”

As soon as he asked the question, Carrie made a sound, and Gene looked over.

“Do you have something to add?” he asked.

When Perri glanced over at her sister, the woman shook her head.

“No. I’m good. I’m just worried for my sister, and her mental health over all of this mess. I wish we could just put it behind us, and move on.”

Yowza.

That was an odd thing to call the death of someone. Truth be told, Carrie sounded really pissy.

Because he needed to get through this, Gene continued.

“Do you have anyone who might be angry at you, Perri?” he asked. “And I don’t ask to scare you, but we have to consider all angles that the local police didn’t work.”

She shook her head.

“No, I mean, I’m a nurse, so patients are bitches at times, and I am around criminals when the cops bring them in, but we sedate and do our job.”

Gene lifted a brow.

“You didn’t by any chance work with Dorris Stettner?” he asked.

She thought about it, but honestly, she wasn’t able to tie a name to a face.

“Do you have a picture? I might recognize her,” she admitted. “If she was a nurse, the hospital employs so many of them.”

Ethan pulled up her driver’s license photo to help his partner out.

The minute he showed her, recognition dawned.

“Oh, you mean Dori. She doesn’t go by Dorris at work. Yeah, I know her.”

That piqued all of their attention, and the two Feds were curious why Corbin didn’t connect the dots himself. They were working with the same information.

Yep.

Baby detective.

“How do you know her?” Gene inquired.

She explained.

“I’ve seen her in the ultrasound unit. She has brought people in from the ER that have needed radiology,” she said. “That’s what I do there.”

Gene looked over.

The first victim had contact with the third victim’s girlfriend, and the second victim’s husband had contact with the fourth victim.

This was a tangled web all right.

Jesus.

“What happened to Dori?” Perri asked.

Gene cut to the chase.

“She was also killed.”

The woman looked surprised to hear that.

“Oh, no,” she said. “Was it the same thing that happened to Francesca?”

Did this woman not watch the news? The media was making a spectacle of it.

Ethan explained as they switched it up.

“Yes, we believe she was killed by the same person who killed Francesca.”

She gasped.

“Oh, no. Am I in danger?” she asked, putting two and two together, erroneously, but still very worried, nonetheless.

Gene was to the point.

“We don’t know, yet. It’s our first day with this case, and we’re playing catch up. That’s why we’re here to talk to you about your girlfriend. I can’t imagine how painful this is for you, so thank you for talking to us.”

The second he said that, Ethan saw it.

Carrie rolled her eyes.

Oh, they needed to get Carrie alone without making Perri suspicious that something was going on.

Blackhawk had a plan.

He coughed.

And coughed.

And coughed.

His partner actually glanced over to see if he was okay because Ethan didn’t cough randomly, and he wasn’t sick.

He saw his opening and took it.

“Can I bother you for a drink, Perri?” he asked. “My throat is dry from all of the interviews.”

She didn’t hesitate.

“I can make you some coffee. I’m sorry. I should have asked anyway. Where are my manners?”

Ethan smiled, even as Gene was staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

Hey, he had to keep this going. They were on the cusp of some truth. Blackhawk could feel it in his bones.

Standing, Perri asked the others if they wanted some, but they declined.

As soon as she was gone, Ethan took over.

“What gives? You’ve been tossing out the stink face out every time Perri mentions her girlfriend. You look angry,” Ethan admitted. “What do you know that we don’t?”

Gene was surprised.

He hadn’t even noticed, but then again, he wasn’t watching Carrie.

He’d been focused on Perri.

The woman lowered her voice.

“I didn’t like her, okay? My sister is sweet and kind, and I didn’t like the cunt. She cheated on her, and while they were in therapy, she forgave her, but I didn’t. She made my sister cry, and that makes her a problem in my book.”

The minute she said that, Gene sat up straighter since that was a familiar story they’ve heard before.

Maggie was cheating.

Caprice cheated to get even…

And now Francesca was having an affair?

“Wait. Did you say they were in therapy?”

He looked over at Ethan.

On top of the cheating angle, that was a lot of therapy that they had thrown around this case.

Caprice and Patrick Gressman were in therapy for adultery, Maggie Goodman was in therapy for her sexual addiction, and now Francesca and Perri were also in therapy?

Uh, those two things stood out to him as an investigator.

Because he needed more, Gene looked over at Corbin because he needed a favor.

“Can you call Jack Venst, and see if he and Dorris were in therapy at any time in their relationship?”

The man nodded, and headed outside to do just that. Oh, he wanted to stay and hear more, but he’d handed this over to the Feds. So, he had to do what they asked.

When he was gone, they kept questioning the sister.

“Who did they see for therapy?” Ethan asked.

She shrugged.

“You got me. You’d have to ask her, not that she’ll admit that the woman was a POS. I’ll go on the record and say that I’m not shocked that she’s dead.”

Well, that said it all.

Now, Ethan was even more curious.

“Who did she have an affair with?” he asked, hoping it might be someone on their list so they could connect the dots and find a reason behind all of this.

Unfortunately…

It wasn’t.

That Carrie could give them.

“It was this yoga instructor. She owns this hot yoga place, and apparently, Francesca fell for her. She said it was something she didn’t plan, and that the woman hit on her, constantly. Can you believe she actually blamed the yoga instructor? Talk about sad. She had no self-control, and then blamed someone else.”

Again, another place was popping up that was very much familiar, and that they would have to add that to their interview list. The men would also have to pray that it was open tomorrow.

With the media gunning for them, and now having their names, they needed to get in and soon. Plus, they needed a morgue update.

Just as Gene was about to ask more, they were cut short with this avenue of questioning.

Perri was back.

As the woman came in, carrying a tray with coffee on it, Ethan thanked her and made a cup of coffee.

Then, he sipped it.

“Thank you. This is perfect,” he said, clearing his throat as Gene dove in. They had some information, and now, they’d be able to dig deeper.

To a place Perri obviously didn’t want to go.

“So, you and Francesca were good. There were no issues, or personal problems. I have to ask because the spouse or significant other are always at the top of our suspect list.”

She shook her head.

“I mean, we were in therapy to work on our relationship,” she said. “We hit a few bumps…”

Gene went there.

So as not to out the sister.

“What kind of bumps?” he asked.

She looked flustered.

Oh, and she was hella hesitant to answer him, and that was clear by the look on her face.

“Do we have to dredge that up?” she asked, point blank.

He nodded.

“What if it helps solve this? I can’t leave any stone uncovered, and even if it’s so small it’s not significant.”

She seemed to acquiesce when he added that last part, so she caved.

“Frannie had an affair. In the heat of the moment, she cheated on me, and when she came clean, and told me, I forgave her. We decided to work on our relationship, and not break up.”

He kept going.

The hardest part was trying to get someone to open up, and now, it was about asking the right questions.

“Who was the affair with?”

She sighed.

“It was with the owner of a hot yoga studio that she went to. She would go there after work, and they had a fling. Apparently.”

“What’s his name?” he asked.

She looked confused when he said that. In fact, it took her a second.

“No, it was a woman. Maire Acero. She is the owner. She didn’t hook up with a man,” she said, tears coming. “It was behind my back, and it nearly broke me,” Perri admitted.

From where Carrie sat, beside her sister, she mouthed one thing.

She was a whore piece of trash.

Well, people who cheated generally were in their books.

The woman cried, and when she was being taken care of by her sister, Corbin came back into the room.

“Uh, they weren’t in therapy ever. They had a good relationship where there were no problems.”

Well, shit.

He kept his voice low.

“I need you to call Belle, and ask her two questions,” he said.

The man nodded.

“What?”

“What was the name of the yoga instructor that Caprice was sleeping with, and who was the shrinky dink marriage counselor that Patrick saw?”

He was confused.

“Uh, what did I miss?”

They didn’t have time.

“I’ll explain outside when we’re leaving,” he admitted. “Please.”

That worked for him.

Clearly, Gene was on the trail of something, so he was up again, and back outside.

When he was gone, Gene apologized.

“I’m sorry for putting you through this,” he admitted. “Really.”

She shook her head.

“No, it’s okay. You’re doing your job. Francesca would want me to help. You just keep asking.”

She wiped her eyes, and clearly felt the need to defend the woman.

“Frannie was a good person. She made one mistake, and she owned up to it immediately. She was seduced,” she said. “Maire hit on her, and she pressured her into cheating. The two of them are nothing more than sick predators,” she stated.

He paused.

What?

Was?

This?

“There are two of them?” Gene asked. “What do you mean?”

She explained.

“Maire and her twin, Andrew Acero, are the owners of the hot yoga. They both run it. Frannie told me that she lured her into the back, and then she came onto her.”

Uh, that sounded like rape.

“So she was forced into sex? Like held down and raped?” Gene asked, clarifying.

She hesitated.

Only, Perri didn’t get to say shit.

Carrie did.

“She didn’t hold her hostage,” Carrie said. “There was no rape. It happened multiple times. She cheated and slept with a woman multiple times, Perri. We have to stop sugarcoating what she did.”

Perri stared at her and was angry.

That was crystal clear.

So much so, that she defended her deceased girlfriend, vehemently.

“She made a mistake, and it could have cost Frannie her life. Have some compassion and stop being a bitch. It’s not helping me. Right now, I don’t need your anger.”

The woman shook her head, and it was evident what she was thinking.

Someone put Frannie on a pedestal. So much so, that she believed she could do no wrong.

Yeah, that wasn’t the case.

Clearly.

When Gene saw Corbin coming back toward him, the man was shaking his head.

“What?” he asked, as Perri and Carrie were bitching at each other back and forth like sisters.

“I spoke to Belle, who was spitting mad. Apparently, she wasn’t over the whole ‘slept with a stripper’ thing.”

That seemed to stop the women fighting.

Now, Carrie was curious.

“Who slept with a stripper?” she asked, catching the last part of what Corbin said.

Gene kept it short and sweet for a reason.

“It was a different victim’s husband who had the affair in this case.”

She sighed.

“Cheaters never learn,” she said. “That’s karma, and honestly, they deserved it.”

Perri exploded.

Like a bomb.

It surprised everyone there.

“OUT!” she said. “I want you to go, Carrie! You’re not coming in here and talking about Francesca that way. You didn’t know her like I did.”

The woman stopped arguing. Instead, she saluted her sister with a middle finger, and she headed out. Before she was gone, she said one last thing.

“Whatever, Perri. When you want to talk, and move on, give me a call. I’m going to mom’s,” she said. “Merry Christmas,” she said to them.

Then, she was gone.

As soon as she slammed the door, the woman sobbed and left the room with them in it. It was clear that the interview was DONE.

Yikes.

“Uh, the media is going to put her on the news. They’re parked out there looking for us,” Corbin said. “I saw them when I went out to make the calls.”

Well, great.

This kept getting better and better.

Yeah, they absolutely had to head in before their pictures were all over the news, and Javier could find them.

Since they were left sitting there, alone, they took the time to regroup.

“Well, we learned some things,” Gene said, catching Corbin up to speed. “We know that people were cheating left and right—and needed therapy,” he said.

Corbin added what he knew.

“Yeah, and Patrick and Caprice went to go see Doctor Carlyne Ballman. Belle said she made the appointment for her boss. She was the therapist, and oh, the yoga instructor who Caprice was getting down and dirty with was Andrew Acero. He owns Acero Hot Yoga.”

Bingo.

That matched up.

The brother and sister were banging people tied to their case. They now had two victims they knew.

It looked like Belle wasn’t the only one on their suspect list for being tied to victims.

Now, they had to start comparing things that matched up.

“We should have asked Perri who the therapist was.”

Yeah, they should have.

Well, it looked like one of them had to do the deed, and that was going to be Ethan.

He got up from the couch.

“I’ll go see who they saw. Be right back,” he said, heading away.

In his absence, Corbin sat down.

“Uh, the roads are getting shitty out there, and I’m worried about the media across the street. There’s not a lot of them, so they likely split up and hit all of the crime scenes. We’re sitting ducks for them.”

Well, that sucked.

BIG TIME.

Gene knew it wasn’t safe out there with targets on their backs. That meant one thing.

They were sticking to his original plan.

“We’ll head to the office, and you can drop us off. You have a date tonight, and I don’t want you to be late for it. Someone has to get you laid.”

Only, the man looked worried.

“What?” he asked.

Corbin was honest.

“I’m getting nervous.”

Uh-oh.

He was slowing that runaway train down before it derailed and made a mess. The last thing he needed was to break this date.

“Don’t. You’re going to be good,” he admitted. When the man didn’t look convinced, Gene opted to help him. “Are you attracted to him?” he asked.

“Well, yeah, he’s hot, but you’re dating him,” he joked to deflect.

Oh, Gene wasn’t having it.

He stared at him.

“YOU know who I meant.”

He laughed.

“Sorry. When I’m nervous, I make jokes. Yeah, he’s attractive, we likely have a lot in common, and he’s into me. That’s a new one. It doesn’t happen often.”

Gene reassured him.

“You’re attractive, Corbin. You’ve got that boy-next-door vibe. Some men dig that.”

He lifted a brow, and when he opened his mouth, Gene stopped that then and there.

“If you make a shit comment, I’ll punch you in the dick, and you won’t be using it tonight,” he stated. “That’s for damn sure.”

The man laughed.

“I just hope I can pull this off. I’m not as well-versed in sex as you are, and I don’t have a vast playbook of my own. I’m trusting yours.”

Gene patted his arm.

“You know how to actually do it, right?” he asked. “You know, the sex.”

He stared.

“Uh, no. There’s a way to do it?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

Yeah, those eyerolls were happening a lot in that house.

“Be serious.”

“I just told you. When I’m nervous, I make jokes. I feel a little nauseous.”

This too would pass.

“You’ll be good. No phone, romance the shit out of the lawyer, and we’ll talk about it the morning after.”

He busted ass.

“I don’t kiss and tell.”

Gene slapped him on the back of the head because he absolutely wanted to know all of the details.

Turnabout was fair play.

“Oh, but you’re up in my business all of the goddamn time,” he stated. “You’re using my playbook to learn how to behave like me.”

He shrugged.

“I think your man is hot. I’m learning how to be you so I can steal your man.”

That was funny.

And never happening.

Ethan was HIS.

When Ethan came out, both men glanced over at him curiously.

He didn’t make them wait.

“Guess who she saw?” he asked, smiling.

That alone told Gene everything he needed to know about that answer.

“It was Doctor Carlyne Ballman,” Gene said, taking a wild guess on that one.

He nodded.

“Yeah, and what we have here might not be a coincidence,” he admitted, drinking the rest of his coffee. “We have a few things that are tying together. We have a personal assistant who was banging the boss, might have known about the stripper, and set up the doctor appointment for the shrink.”

They listened.

“We also have a lawyer who slept with the stripper, who turned up dead and his wife died.”

Lastly, Ethan went with the new information.

“We have a pair of yoga instructors who borderline forced sex on people—according to Perri. They slept with two of the victims.”

Gene knew what that meant.

“Well, then, tomorrow, we need to hit Maggie’s house up to see if we can find any tie to the cop, or to the yoga studio. She’s already tied to the lawyer,” Gene admitted. “We can’t get a warrant for financials at this time of night right before Christmas. It’s going to have to be a good old search through her home.”

That worked for him.

Corbin shook his head.

“This is a mess. We have multiple suspects all over the damn place.”

Ethan was keeping track.

“I think we just keep digging, and something will pop out. It always does,” he admitted.

It looked like that was the plan. They were going to regroup for the night, and hit it again, tomorrow.

Gene looked at his watch.

“We should go. I can see the snow coming down. We don’t want to get junior here late for his date tonight with the hot lawyer.”

Gene filled him in, as they got into their jackets.

“Before you ask, he’s already said he’s not going to tell us about it.”

He laughed.

“Like hell he isn’t. He’s up in our relationship so far, I think it’s a threesome most of the time.”

Corbin grinned.

“Is that a possibility? Is Ethan in the mood for two tops?”

Gene wasn’t having that.

He shoved him so hard that he landed on the couch after falling over the arm.

“HEY!”

Instead of helping him up, Gene just headed for the door and opened it.

The second he did, they all heard the shot, and Gene felt the pain as he was hit square in his chest.

It rocked him backward, and he slammed into the wall and slid down.

Outside, the reporters scrambled as a car tore out of there. That’s when Ethan slammed the door to protect them, and went to his man.

Jesus.

Someone had shot Gene in the goddamn chest.

And had gotten away.

Chapter Thirteen

Philadelphia

Perri Farrah’s Home

Seconds Later

As soon as he reached his downed partner, Ethan began frenetically pulling at the man’s clothes and his body armor to see how much damaged had been done to his body.

The whole time, it was beyond terrifying as his mate stared up at him, mouth wide, and no sound coming from his lips.

Ethan was desperately trying to get to his chest to make sure that he wasn’t bleeding-out from that bullet that hit him dead center.

“No!” he said, as Gene closed his eyes, and tried to breathe. Ethan’s whole world flashed before his eyes, and in those minutes, he wished it was him.

Because he couldn’t do this.

There was no freaking way.

He wasn’t strong enough to watch the man die in front of him, and to not only lose the best partner he’d ever had in the FBI, but to lose someone he loved so much.

There was too much on the line, and they had so much more to experience with each other.

“Please, my love, don’t do this to me,” Ethan begged, that overwhelming need to cry coming over him. His world was spiraling, and he didn’t know how to fix this.

Gene would know how.

Blackhawk was lost.

“I love you, Gene. Please don’t leave me,” he begged, trying to get his hand under his vest to feel for blood.

At the sound of him breaking things from his fall backward, Perri came running out of her room, and she immediately went to help him.

“What happened?” she asked, going into nurse mode.

Ethan needed her help. At least he knew who wasn’t the killer. It wasn’t Perri. So he leaned into that.

Not far away, Corbin was by the door, staying low, with his gun out. That could have been him had Gene not opened the door first.

“He was shot,” Ethan said, as he held Gene up to get his shirt off of him.

Finally, the first sound came from him.

He moaned.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asked, sickened by watching what just went down. He took that shot straight to the chest, and it was well-aimed.

Over his heart.

“Can’t breathe,” he whispered. “Need a second. I’m okay, EJ. I’m good. I don’t feel blood.”

That helped, but he was still panicking. He was so goddamn scared that he didn’t even try to go after the shooter. His only concern was Gene.

His love.

Instinct told him to stay there and stay safe so he could protect Gene.

Because she was a nurse, she moved quickly, and Perri got her hands under the Kevlar.

She reassured them.

“I don’t feel blood either. I do feel the plate having a bump in it. I think we’re good and it held up.”

Was he good?

Gene wasn’t so sure.

It hurt like he’d been hit by a bus right in the dead center of his chest.

With Gene’s shirt off, Ethan began un-velcroing him from his vest.

When he did, he saw the bruise already forming, and the inside of the plate.

Perri was right.

It held, but the truth was terrifying. The ceramic had nearly given out.

Holy fuck.

Had the shooter been a little closer, Gene would have been shot dead.

Right to his heart.

Ethan began taking care of his man.

“Can he have some ice?” Ethan asked, as Corbin was calling in the police to deal with the reporters and to close up the road so they could get out.

She nodded and went to go get some.

The whole time, Ethan held him.

“I was so scared,” he whispered, cradling Gene against his body to just be in contact with him. He was terrified if he let him go, he’d slip away, and he’d never see him again.

Gene could feel Ethan shaking, and he didn’t want him to be afraid, but he understood that.

Because the second that he felt it, he freaked out, too, and couldn’t breathe.

He didn’t want to die on this man before Christmas. It would destroy him.

Ethan would never come back from that.

“I’m okay, Baby,” he reassured, finally able to get in some air.

Holy hell!

But his life flashed before his eyes.

When you were shot in the chest, even wearing Kevlar, there was that same burning as when you were shot in the actual body.

It took a full minute to figure out they were NOT the same kind of pain.

“Jesus Christ,” Ethan whispered, kissing him softly on the mouth. His hands were shaking, and he had to just hold the man to make sure he was good.

Gene reached up and touched his face.

“I’m good. That sucked, but I’m good. Don’t worry, Baby. I’m not checking out any time soon.”

Well, that made him feel better.

That was for sure.

Not far away, Corbin hung up his phone as he stayed behind the door in case he had to defend them. His gun was out, and he was worried.

They could see it on his face.

“Backup is coming. We’re staying inside here. They’ll question the people, and look for the shooter. We’re not walking out this door. That was too damn close for comfort,” he admitted.

That worked for Ethan.

Probably mostly because he wasn’t ready to let Gene go, and he didn’t think he could stand up.

His legs felt weak.

When Perri came in, she held a bag of ice in her hand and a kitchen towel. Ethan put it on his lover’s bare chest, and placed the ice on it.

Gene moaned.

“Goddamn it! I hate the cold.”

Yeah, he was going to be okay.

There was no doubt that he was pissed that someone shot him.

“What else can I do?” Perri asked. “I feel like I should do more.”

There was nothing.

Honestly, they were good now that Gene wasn’t dead.

“Thank you for helping me,” Blackhawk said, holding the man and still not letting him go. This was his emotional support boyfriend, and he didn’t want to risk it.

Inadvertently, Ethan gave him a kiss on his temple to soothe him and Gene.

Of course, Perri saw it.

It caught her off guard.

“You’re a couple?” she asked.

Ethan didn’t even try to pretend they weren’t. It didn’t matter to him, honestly. Gene not dying did.

He nodded.

“Yeah, if he’d quit trying to die on me,” he stated. “I’m getting sick of having PTSD every freaking day when it comes to him getting hurt.”

Gene laughed sardonically.

“Oh, what’s that like?” he asked, taking Ethan’s hand in his, and kissing him on the knuckles to soothe him.

Someone was riled up.

The woman understood. She just lost her love, and she was glad this man didn’t die.

“Who shot at you?” she asked.

Truth be told, Ethan wasn’t sure, but it was a single shot.

“I think we pissed the killer off. We need to find out what kind of car that was. I saw it over Gene’s shoulder. It was a red something or other.”

Oh, they would.

The chances were it was dumped after being stolen. They wouldn’t get that lucky that the shooter was the owner. Now, the race was on to find it before it was chop shop material.

In the distance, Corbin heard sirens, and there was plenty of chaos going on outside of that door.

“As soon as they get on scene, we’re getting out of here. I’m not playing Duck Hunt with a cuckoo.”

Ethan touched Perri’s hand.

“Thank you for helping him,” he said. “I appreciate it more than you’ll know.”

She reassured him.

“Just take care of him, and love each other. It’s fragile, and it isn’t always guaranteed. Enjoy each day like it’s the last,” she said. “Because it could be.”

Oh, he knew.

As the cops pulled up, everything went quickly at that point.

Ethan got Gene back into his clothing, sans the damaged vest, and they headed out the door.

They went right by the cops questioning the media and to the Jeep. Since there was no ambulance, they were already speculating that no one died.

That ‘no one’ was Ethan’s everything.

So, he was protecting his body like it mattered because it did.

When it was clear, Corbin was ready to go.

The whole time, Gene was bitchy on the way to and inside the car because Ethan was keeping his body in front of his now that his Kevlar was shot to shit.

Literally.

His man felt the need to hover, and Gene knew he had no freaking say in the matter. If he complained, Ethan would get cranky and tell him he was stripping him of his masculinity.

It would be a fight.

And honestly, Gene was tired.

What he wanted was a drink—a stiff one—and to get somewhere safe.

Lesson learned.

Gene was looking outside leaving an interview from now on.

Screw that.

Before they left the scene, Corbin rolled down his window and spoke to a cop.

“Thanks for handling this one for me, Marci,” he said. “Did anyone see anything?” he asked the female cop.

The woman laughed.

“You’d think they would have, since it’s their job to observe, but apparently, they weren’t paying attention. One person saw a car across from the house, but nothing else. They all ate pavement fast when they heard the shot.”

Corbin introduced them to the cop.

“Guys, this is Officer Marcene Gaumond,” he said. “Marci, these are Special Agents Ethan Blackhawk, and Gene Cantrell. They pulled the homicides I was working. I went through the academy with Marci,” he admitted. “She works with Officer Venst.”

The woman sighed.

“I hope you guys catch who killed Jack’s girl. He’s been a mess since. He won’t talk to anyone, or join us for happy hour. We were tight before, but now…he’s just changed.”

Yeah, death would do that to you.

Since this woman seemed to have a bead on the man, he went there.

Ethan was curious.

“Anyone have beef with Jack?” he asked, hoping for something.

She thought about it.

“I mean, not the kind of beef you’d kill someone over. Jack liked the ladies, and he was a serial flirter. Then, he met Dori, and BOOM. He changed. I think one of the guys owed him fifty on a bet, but that’s all I ever heard about. Like I said. Jack and I were close, and this damaged him.”

Ethan had one more question.

“By any chance did any of you hear about a stolen car or a dump near here?” he asked.

It might be too early, but he wanted to cover all their bases while they were still out.

She laughed.

“Actually, yeah,” she said.

Corbin lifted a brow.

“What did you have called in?” he asked.

Marci told them.

“Two blocks away, we found a red Mercury in the middle of the street, doors open. It’s like they wanted it stolen.”

Yeah, that fit what Ethan had seen.

As for the dumping to get it stolen…

Likely.

So the evidence went with it.

“I need that car,” he said to Corbin, making sure the man got the picture.

They had shit to do with it—as in give it to their techs for Christmas.

Yeah, the man figured as much.

So, he clued Marci in, so they were all on the same page.

“Get it towed in, and put my name on it. We’ll move it later to the FBI office.”

She gave him a fist bump.

“Sure thing, Corby. Hey, if I don’t see you, Merry Christmas,” she added, and then focused on the men in the back seat. “I’m glad you’re okay, Agent,” she said. “Now, drive carefully. It’s shit out here.”

That it was.

It was nearly shit in Perri’s house too when Gene could have been killed instantly.

As the cop walked away, Corbin rolled up the window of his father’s Jeep.

“Any more questions for the cops?” he asked. “You know, before we leave and it’s too late?”

Ethan shook his head.

Gene interjected.

“You know I’m shot not dead,” he said. “I could have asked the questions.”

Ethan kissed him on the mouth.

“You’re cranky.”

Well, yeah.

Someone tried to shoot him and take his life—a life he was currently happily using.

“Never mind,” he grumbled.

Ethan was going to dote on him. His life flashed before his eyes—the part of his life with Gene, and he wasn’t having a good time on this case.

“We’re good, Corbin,” he admitted.

That worked for him.

“Then, I’m bringing you two home. You’re done for the night,” he said.

Mr. Cranky protested.

“I can work,” Gene muttered.

Only, the man who loved him wasn’t letting that happen.

Ethan was already pulling out his phone. Someone was in for a rude awakening. Gene wasn’t getting his way.

Not.

At.

All.

As he started to make a call to the FBI office, he spoke to Corbin.

“Definitely, Corbin. Bring us home. We’re calling it a night. We’ll see if Greyson can meet us there with the autopsy stuff.”

The man offered up help.

“I could cancel my date…”

The second it was out of his mouth, Gene twapped him in the ear.

“You are not canceling on the hot man. You need to get laid more than I do right now. If you get snowed in, do what any sane person would do, Corbin. STAY IN BED. Do the man, and call it a holiday.”

He protested.

“I can’t leave you guys…”

He stopped him.

“We’re going to be fine. If we get a lot of snow, nothing is going to be open for long tomorrow. It’s about to be Christmas Eve, and people will be doing last-minute shopping. We don’t have much to do. You do have something to do. A lawyer.”

He wished it was that easy.

Truthfully, Corbin felt bad.

“I don’t want to dump this all on you guys. I’m the reason you’re working this case and got shot.”

Gene reassured him.

They’d take one for the team.

“This isn’t your fault,” he said, pointing at his spent Kevlar. “You didn’t shoot me. Text us in the morning, and we’ll email you anything we figure out.”

Corbin had a bad case of the FOMO.

Fear of missing out.

“Promise?” he asked.

They did.

He was part of their team on this one, so of course, they’d update him.

“Go and have fun with the lawyer, and make sure you use a condom every time you go dick-deep in his ass. No fooling around without protection,” Gene said.

Corbin rolled his eyes.

“Gee, Dad, thanks. Anything else? Do you want to remind me not to swallow on the first date because it makes me look like a whore?” he asked, sarcastically.

Ethan actually laughed.

Oh, and Gene was amused too.

“You always swallow, Whippersnapper,” he joked. “Oh, and what’s the number one rule?” he asked, quizzing him.

Corbin shook his head.

This man was too much.

But it was his playbook, so he probably should use the rules.

“Ask him how many times he can cum, and hit that number no matter what. Yada yada lockjaw, pass out in pain, blah, blah, blah.”

EXACTLY.

It appeared the man had listened.

FOR ONCE.

Ethan was still waiting for someone to pick up the call, so he hung up and called Greyson’s personal number. He must be out of the office.

As he dialed someone answered.

That seemed to work.

“Yo,” he said. “What’s up, Blackhawk?” he asked fully expecting paperwork.

It had been a good week since one of the two dropped some shit in his lap, and he wasn’t expecting to escape the holiday without more.

Greyson wasn’t that lucky.

Ethan figured he’d drop the news cautiously so as not to freak the man out.

“Are you watching the news by any chance?” he asked.

He wasn’t.

“No, I was filing paperwork in the file room. I’m supposed to head home tomorrow at noon to get out of here for the holiday. Why? What’s on the news?”

Oh, boy.

He told him.

“Gene was walking out of a house, after an interview, and took a shot to his chest.”

That was all he had to say.

The man was worried.

That was never good when someone was taking potshots at his people.

“Oh, holy shit! Is he okay? What do you need from me?”

He caught him up to speed.

“Fortunately for us, he was wearing body armor, or he would have been dead. We don’t need anything, per se, but we’re getting somewhere so we’re not targets.”

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Greyson was worried about them not only because they were his responsibility, as the senior most agent in the office, but because they were his friends.

He liked spending time with the two men.

“Who shot him?” he asked. “Was it Javier’s goon?” he asked. “Or is this case related?”

Truth be told, Ethan wished he knew.

“That’s why I need two favors.”

Greyson sat down at his desk, and got out paper and a pen. He was ready.

“What?”

“I need you to get the car that was used in the shooting. It’s on its way to the impound yard. It’s under Detective Price’s name. It’s a red Mercury and we need to run trace on it. I’m hoping this killer left a fingerprint or two and our techs find it.”

He was scribbling.

“Okay, got it. Next?” he asked.

Ethan hoped he could do this last part.

“We weren’t done working when Gene was shot. We’d planned on heading there for an update from Sasha, but with bullseyes on our backs…”

He got it.

And stopped that right there.

“Head home. Don’t worry about heading into the office. If you guys are drawing fire, your safety comes first. We can regroup and handle this another way.”

Thank God he thought that.

That was the plan.

“Tell me what you need. Do you want me to finish your interviews for you? I can do that.”

That wasn’t necessary, and it didn’t help their case. They needed to follow the trail. They didn’t want to play catch-up later. Not to say Greyson wouldn’t be thorough, but when you were there yourself, you caught more information.

Case in point, how they were further ahead in a few hours than where Corbin had ended up after weeks.

Instead, he had an idea.

“Can you maybe get the autopsy reports and head to our place? We can go over them. We found out some interesting things, and we might have a good lead.”

That he could do.

In fact, he didn’t mind at all. They were good dudes, and he always had a good time at their place.

Greyson lost all his friends with the last breakup, and now, he had friends of his own.

“How about this? I’ll grab some dinner for all of us. Can I bring the Doctor? She’s staying at my place tonight. I know you guys aren’t out, but…”

Ethan looked over at Gene.

He shrugged.

Honestly, it was Ethan’s call. He didn’t care. All Gene wanted was to get in where it was safe. He didn’t want his man taking a shot next.

“Yeah, she can come. Maybe she won’t notice that we’re living together,” he said. “We can say we’re roommates,” he added.

And then, he saw Gene’s face. Oh, it was quick, but it was that flash of hurt like Ethan didn’t want to own what they had.

In that moment, he didn’t want him to hurt, and Ethan had remembered what Perri said.

Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed.

Yeah, fuck it.

“Or better yet, tell her loose lips sink ships, and that Gene and I are a couple, and she can’t say shit or we’re all going down on the SS FBI TITANIC. Because I’m a bitch, and I’ll take her down with me.”

He laughed.

“Uh, I’m also on that ship, Blackhawk.”

Ethan didn’t care.

“Snitches get stitches. I’m from the rez. We have our own justice there. I’ll make her miserable.”

He got it.

One of them held a grudge.

Honestly, she wasn’t that kind of a person, so he wasn’t really worried.

“If she asks, I’ll warn her. She might not notice. Give me a good ninety minutes. The weather is shit, and I have to go tell the doctor. She was doing the last autopsy when I spoke to her last.”

He didn’t mind.

“Take your time. We’re not home yet. I hope this doesn’t fuck up your holiday plans,” Ethan added.

He reassured him.

“My mother is a nagging pain in my ass, and my father lets her boss him around. My brother is always out with his friends when he comes home. You’re doing me a favor. I won’t have to lie. I will actually be working.”

Well, if he was okay with it, so was Ethan.

Before he could say anything, Greyson was to the point.

“Blackhawk, make sure that you both keep your asses in tonight. If this is the killer, or Javier Hughes, you need to be careful. It might be a headshot next time.”

That sickened Ethan, and made him very aware of how dangerous this case was getting.

He was done being shot at today.

PERIOD.

“Thanks, Greyson. We appreciate it. We’ll see you there later. Take your time. We aren’t going anywhere,” he admitted, hanging up.

When he did, Gene grabbed him by the tie, and pulled his mouth to his.

The kiss was spectacular, and it clearly caught the man off guard. Well, he didn’t fight it.

That was for damn sure.

The fear was gone, and now, the heat was back between them.

Oh, look...

Ethan’s perpetual erection was back.

As they kissed, Corbin protested.

“HEY! It’s weird when two people are making out in the back and I’m driving them around!” he said. “I don’t know what kind of taxi this is, but it’s not that kind!”

Gene ignored him, but broke the kiss anyway. He’d save that for later.

When Ethan blinked, he honestly didn’t care what the man was yabbering about.

“Now, that was a kiss,” he admitted.

Gene rested his forehead against Ethan’s, and palmed his cheek.

“Thank you for not denying us. I love you,” he admitted.

Ethan smiled.

“I love you too, my love,” he said, making Gene grin. “There’s no way I’m denying you. Besides, Sasha is banging Greyson. It’s not like we’re not all in trouble if she rats us out. I meant what I said. I’ll take her down.”

Yeah, he understood that, but truthfully, he was focused on what he’d said first.

He loved him.

God.

Gene adored hearing him say it.

As Corbin drove them, Gene rested against his man, content, and glad to be getting somewhere safe.

He didn’t want to die.

Not unless it was during sex with Ethan. That was one hell of a way to go.

Honestly, it had been a long day, and once bullets started flying, Gene wanted off the street.

INSIDE.

ON THE FIFTH FLOOR.

BEHIND A LOCKED DOOR.

Where they were both safe.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Javier Hughes Home

Same Time

Watching The News

Oh, it was all over the media, and the only thing he regretted was he didn’t get to watch the man bleed out on the floor.

He deserved it.

BIG-TIME.

That asshole was the reason he wasn’t able to have the spectacular man as his own.

Agent Cantrell, the barbarian, was in the way—but not any longer.

That had changed.

He would bet that Ethan wouldn’t be saying no much longer, now that he’d eliminated the obstacle to him.

Oh, Ethan could bet he’d be showing up to hold him while he mourned his dead lover.

And then moving into his home.

As his exotic bird.

Why was he so convinced he’d do it?

Because Javier didn’t like hearing no, and he could be very convincing.

Bet.

On.

it.

When the security gate beeped, the man looked at the screen, and saw it was Diesel returning from a job well done. He’d done everything he was asked to do, and that deserved applause.

Well, well, well.

Someone was getting his reward.

He told him if he took him out, he’d get paid well, and he meant it.

While the news didn’t confirm a death, the police had locked that scene down tightly.

That told him that someone had expired.

Now, it was time to celebrate.

When the man came in, he was wet and cold, but he still took his shoes off at the door.

“Mr. Hughes?” he called out.

“In here, my boy!”

The man went in, and he was shivering. He had to walk a mile to a bus stop far enough away, and then had to take the bus to the other side of town to get to his car.

Then here.

This had been one hell of a process.

As soon as he was in the room, Javier met him there.

“I saw the news, Diesel. That was a clean shot to the body. He flew backward and the door was closed. You got him good!”

He knew.

He made sure it was perfect.

“It was to his chest. That was a cop killer bullet. If he was wearing Kevlar, he likely still got hit in the heart.”

That made Javier so happy.

“And the car?” he asked.

Diesel went there.

“I ditched the car, and I left the doors open like you told me to do. Someone will steal it, and by then, it’ll be chop shop pieces and if I missed any fingerprints, they are long gone.”

God.

He hoped he got them all. He had a record, and if he missed even one…he was going to jail.

Period.

Hearing that made Javier so happy. He kissed him on the cheek.

“You did good! I wish I knew if he died, but the news hasn’t said anything.”

He reassured him.

Even if he wasn’t sure, Diesel knew that if he fucked this up, he was done working for the man. He had to keep his fingers and toes crossed.

What he needed was a Christmas miracle.

Yeah, that this man got over his Native fetish, and soon.

“It was a clean shot.”

Yes, yes, it was.

He picked a blanket off the back of the couch, and wrapped it around him.

“I’ll get it dirty, Mr. Hughes. I’m wet and a mess.”

Honestly, he didn’t care.

He was feeling so festive. By New Year’s, he’d be able to have Diesel abduct Ethan, once more, and they’d lock him down in the basement prison.

So he couldn’t run.

His cage was waiting in the basement.

“You did good, Diesel. As for saying anything, my lips are sealed. I hope yours are too.”

Oh, they were.

“I’d never rat you out, Mr. Hughes. You know that. We’re family. I’m glad I could get him for you for Christmas.”

He smiled.

He was right.

They were family. If this went south, as long as Diesel said nothing, he’d keep him safe.

Money bought the best attorneys and judges.

“You absolutely gave me the best gift. May he rot in Hell,” he said.

Now that the unpleasant part was over, it was early present time.

Going over to his desk, he picked up a briefcase. Then, he gave it to him.

On it, there was a red bow.

“This is for you.”

Diesel opened it, and he saw all of the money.

Holy.

Shit.

This was more than three years salary. This was five hundred thousand, easily.

“That’s a lot, Sir.”

“It’s a Christmas bonus. Wink wink,” he said, giggling. “Get your beautiful wife and kids something nice, and buy a house.”

Suddenly, Diesel wasn’t feeling so bad about killing a Fed.

Not.

At.

All.

He could tuck this cash away, and no one would be any the wiser.

“Thank you, Sir.”

He looked at his watch.

“You and the family will be over tomorrow, right?” he asked. “For Christmas Eve dinner?”

He nodded.

“Do you need me here with you in the morning? I can come here…”

He shook his head.

“No, take the day, my boy. Make merry with your wife, and I’ll have time to get the place decked for the holiday. I’ll see you for dinner and presents for the kids.”

And he had plans to make.

When he got his chance, Javier would make sure Ethan Blackhawk showed up.

Bound and gagged if necessary.

Yeah, he’d take him as a belated Christmas present.

It was only a matter of time.

He’d give him some time to mourn the loss of the big, dumb barbarian.

And then, he’d make him his.

If he refused…

Javier had nothing to lose.

And he’d prove it.

Chapter Fourteen

The Condo

Thursday

Six P.M.

Unfortunately, due to shit travel conditions, it took a good thirty minutes to get the men back to the condo. Luckily for them, they’d been in a Jeep because the roads were officially a snow-covered ice-skating rink.

It appeared that they were all going to have a white Christmas, and a treacherous drive tomorrow on Christmas Eve.

It wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t also have a killer loose in the snow who liked taking shots at Feds.

That didn’t make anyone jolly.

Ever.

What did make Ethan happy was getting them inside, so that they’d be safe.

Because they were five floors up, and there wasn’t a big building in front of them, he wasn’t worried about Gene wandering the condo and getting shot from across the street.

So there was that.

There was no place like home.

Corbin said goodnight, and he was off to the Japanese place not far from his townhouse to get ready for his date, and they were rooting for him.

The man needed a good night where he could have some fun and put work aside.

Didn’t they all?

They both hoped he knocked it out of the park—or at least got laid so they could stop hearing him complain he couldn’t get laid.

It was a buzz kill.

Really.

Inside, they headed to the bedroom, and Gene started taking off his clothing.

His shirt was done now that it was sporting a bullet hole in the center. From his closet, he pulled out a new ceramic plate for his Kevlar, and took the old one out. As he held it, he saw Ethan not far away watching him.

When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes, and he knew his man was struggling with what happened.

Honestly, if the roles were reversed, he would be too.

How could he not be?

What had happened had been too damn close. Three inches up, and he would have been shot in the lower throat, and aspirated on his own blood while Ethan had been forced to watch it happen.

They got their own Christmas miracle.

And he was grateful for that.

Because his lover needed it, he reassured him.

“Hey, I’m good, EJ. It’s going to be okay,” he admitted.

Was it?

Ethan was rattled to his core.

He’d been focused on sex, and hadn’t seen this one coming. In his head, he was trying to put the pieces together, but it felt…off.

The killer had moved way too fast.

Instead of saying that, he needed to be held.

So, Ethan moved at him, and wrapped his arms around his waist to rest his head on his shoulder.

That’s when he apologized as Gene held him tight.

“I’m sorry that I waited all of these months to tell you that I love you. I’m sorry I wasted a single second being ridiculous and holding that back. It was selfish, and I see it now. You deserved it the day we moved in with each other in DC. I should have told you then because I felt it then.”

That touched Gene’s heart.

He knew on the boat the first time they had sex. He’d felt his heart open for Ethan. It made him so happy to hear that Ethan had felt it shortly after.

That was the best Christmas present.

HIM.

Lifting his lover’s chin, he stared into his eyes.

“I know how you feel. You show me every day with how you just take care of me and love me. I’m glad you’re comfortable saying it, and that you feel that for me. There’s never been a doubt that you were mine.”

He nuzzled him, cheek against cheek.

“I do feel it. I’m so glad I have you, Gene. What started as drunken fucking is so much more. You’re my everything. I’ve never been this happy, and I’ve never felt this peace at being completely accepted and loved. No one has ever loved me like this.”

Gene’s heart skipped in his chest.

This man had come a long way since the spring. Eight months in, and he was alive and had bloomed. Oh, and he was a magnificent flower too.

He was dark and mysterious, and he was gorgeous.

Ethan had come a long way, blossoming into an amazing partner, and he wasn’t talking in the FBI.

Because he wasn’t hurting, and he wasn’t in a bad mood, he took that moment to kiss the man.

He needed it.

In fact, they both did.

They were back home, safe and sound. Nothing could hurt them here.

As Gene’s mouth found his, Ethan surrendered. It was clear he wanted to be reassured, and loved through this storm.

Oh, and it was one hell of a storm.

Truth be told, it always was, and Gene wouldn’t have it any other way. It was just one more thing about his multifaceted man that he loved so much.

He deepened that mating of mouths, and then, the whole vibe changed. It went from a kiss to hungry desperation.

Gene felt it, and it swamped him.

His man needed him.

It looked as if they were back to their regularly scheduled program.

Debauchery.

Gene held onto his lover, his one hand in Ethan’s black silky hair, and the other on his ass. He understood the desperation. The adrenaline was crashing, and now, someone wanted to let off some of that steam.

Well, he had bad news for him.

They had company coming, and there wasn’t nearly enough time to do this right. When it came to making love to Ethan Blackhawk, he didn’t do it half-assed.

He did it the right way because it mattered.

Breaking the kiss, he stared into his eyes, and that hunger that he saw there always made him happy.

This man wanted him.

“Please,” Ethan whispered, his body taut, and his dick so hard it was throbbing in his pants. He was still being tortured, and he wanted to get off in the worst way. “I need you.”

Oh, well, Gene would always answer that call.

For now, though, he wasn’t rushing through sex because Greyson and Sasha were on their way there. They’d already gotten the text that they’d left the building, and they were only down the street.

“No,” he said.

The minute it was out of his mouth, Ethan looked surprised. Gene never denied him pleasure when he asked for it. That’s why he felt so comfortable with him. He didn’t have to fear being turned down like he wasn’t worthy of that from his mate.

Gene stopped him from going to that dark place the second he saw the hurt in his eyes.

“Breathe. I want to make love to you in the worst way, but when I’m enjoying your body, EJ, I want time to do it right. You deserve everything I have, not me doing it half-assed. When they leave, I’m going to give you so much pleasure. Until then, do you trust me?” he asked.

That made him calm right down. He wasn’t turning him down, he was just reminding him they had a work obligation.

Besides, he’d controlled that lust all day, and Ethan’s body was craving his. All day, he’d been cock teased, and what he wanted was to be used and cum for hours.

Yeah, he was horny.

“You know I do. I trust you more than any other person on the whole planet.”

That’s what he needed to hear.

Gene kissed him, drawing out that pleasure, and making the man ache for even more. When he broke the kiss, he whispered in his ear.

“What if I could make the sex so fantastic that you never forgot this one single moment?”

Ethan’s body reacted.

Who would say no to that?

It was a pretty tall order, and he was incredibly curious.

“I’d do it,” he said, knowing he wanted to live every moment like it was their last. He wanted to know what that felt like.

“And again, do you trust me?” he asked.

He nodded.

“With my life.”

Gene began unbuttoning Ethan’s shirt, and undid his Kevlar. When he dropped it, Ethan was watching him as his heart raced in his chest.

“Take off your clothes. I have a little present to kick off the holiday.”

He didn’t hesitate.

Why would he?

Every single sexual experience with Gene had been spectacular and mind-blowing.

He was sure this one would be too.

Ethan loved when Gene had something sexy up his sleeve. He was experiencing everything, and learning from it so he could give it back to him.

As Ethan got naked, Gene went into their closet, and when he came back, he had something in his hand.

“I got you a new toy,” he said, showing him the vibrating butt plug.

Then, he showed him the remote.

“I can turn it on and off anytime I want.”

It didn’t take long. Ethan put two and two together pretty damn fast.

“Oh, God,” he said, his dick straining against his boxer briefs that he’d yet to take off.

“So get naked, and get ready to be mine for the night. I’m going to teach you control, pleasure, and lust like you’ve never been taught before.”

Immediately, he went there.

“With people here?” he asked.

To reassure him, he turned it on, and it was silent.

“You’re going to feel it, but no one will know unless you react. I want you to know I’m thinking about you all night, and you will be thinking about me.”

Ethan looked down at Gene’s crotch, and he was hard thinking about it. Ethan wanted to know what this felt like, so he could possibly use it on Gene one day.

Yeah, seven months ago, he’d fight this, but now, he was a different person. He was in love, and he trusted this man with his life.

Gene made sure.

“Do I have your permission?” he asked.

He didn’t hesitate.

“God. Yes.”

Gene moved closer.

“Tell me what you want, and address me properly,” he said, now that he had his permission.

Ethan flushed red.

The old him never would have been able to ask for it. It would have embarrassed him. The new him, the one Gene had proven had every right to want pleasure, wasn’t ashamed of his wants and needs.

They were just as valid, and he wasn’t just a machine to fuck his way through people. Ethan was a person who deserved to feel affection, love, and adoration.

Gene taught him that.

“Please put that in my ass and torment me all night,” he said.

Gene smiled.

“And then what do you want?” he asked, fondling his dick and balls that still had the hair tie around them.

Ethan didn’t hold back.

“Then take me to bed and use me, Daddy,” he whispered. “Tala needs you.”

And there it was.

Ethan was in that frame of mind that told Gene he’d be malleable and easily pleasured.

Well, then, it began here and now.

This was his Christmas present to himself.

Ethan.

On.

His.

Knees.

“I need to cum,” Gene said without holding anything back. “Service me, Tala. Make Daddy cum down your throat,” he said. “I want to fill your belly before we have dinner.”

That was all he had to say.

Maybe it was the whiskey warm tone of his voice, tinged with steel and strength, but he couldn’t resist.

God.

He absolutely wanted this.

Yeah, he’d come a long way.

Immediately, Ethan went to his knees, undid the man’s pants, and went wild. He gave him the sloppiest, dirtiest blowjob he could give him.

He worshipped cock like a good bottom would, and he didn’t hold back.

Not.

At.

All.

He gagged himself with Gene’s erection, taking him so deep down his throat that his lips met the base of his dick.

The whole time, Gene moaned.

How could he not?

The man was deepthroating him, his hands on Gene’s thighs, as he face fucked himself for his daddy’s pleasure.

“That’s my good Tala,” he said. “Fuck, but your mouth makes me want to cum so badly.”

He bobbed his head up and down his dick, wanting that cum in the worst way. Tala was intrigued, and he wanted to be at this man’s mercy. He also wanted to push him off the edge, so he could swallow cum.

His.

Cum.

Ethan wanted to feel that pleasure and know that he was that loved.

Someone finally loved him like he needed.

He was a gift, not a burden.

When he choked on the man’s cock, his throat closed down on him, and he knew his Top wasn’t lasting long.

If anything, a man knew how to give head because he’d gotten head.

“Oh, fuck! I’m going to cum, Tala. All of the way down,” he said, driving his dick down his throat and that explosion of cum happening.

Ethan fought to keep his throat open, as he poured down his throat.

It wasn’t easy.

Gene wasn’t a small man, and between the length and thickness of his dick, he needed that saliva lubrication to swallow him.

But he did.

“Mmmmm, I love my little cum swallower,” Gene said, dominating him. “Now, get out of those boxers. I’ve asked twice, I won’t the third time.”

Ethan did as he said.

Why?

Oh, he wanted what was coming next.

“It’s time to prep you for this evening’s fun. We’re going to work, and then, we’re going to play. I think I’m going to keep you horny all night long.”

He finished lavishing attention to Gene’s erection, and Ethan moved quickly. He wanted that vibrating plug in the worst way. That shame was gone, and he needed that pleasure.

Desperately.

He was so hard now that he’d cum if Gene even took that elastic off of his dick.

Because they had little time, Gene went over to the drawer, and pointed at the bed. He needed to get the provisions ready, and that meant lubrication.

God.

How he wanted to fuck that man’s ass so long and hard, but he’d take care of his man first.

“On your back, Tala. We’re going to get you ready to receive your gift. When it’s in your ass, I want you to thank me for stuffing you full.”

He moaned.

Ethan loved how Gene talked to him when they were in this mode. It was incredibly hot. It reminded him of Bull’s Biker Bar, and how he felt there.

Powerful.

Watched.

Dirty.

It took him all of these years to understand why sex never satisfied him.

He’d been doing it wrong.

He was man enough to admit that he liked it down and dirty. Ethan loved being used by Gene like this. A desperate part of him wanted someone to take care of his needs and pleasure, because he needed it.

That person was Gene.

Gene grabbed the lube, and enjoyed how Ethan sat on the bed, waiting for him.

“Pillow under your hips,” he said, smiling wickedly. “Oh, and take off the hair tie.

Ethan thought that meant he was going to get to cum, finally.

So he did, quickly.

When he was in position, Gene dropped to his knees, and began stroking Ethan’s still hard dick. His whole body shook the second Gene wrapped his big hand around Ethan’s cock.

He actually moaned.

“Yes, please,” he whispered.

Gene smiled.

“I bet you want to cum so badly.”

He whimpered.

Oh, he could say that.

“Tell me what you want,” he added. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

Well, that was easy.

“I need to cum. I really need to cum,” he said, almost begging. “My balls hurt because I need to cum so badly,” he muttered, as Gene focused on them next.

He played with them, rubbing, massaging, and toying with the man.

“Oh, fuck,” Ethan whispered as he was being toyed with in a way only a Top could master.

It was when Gene tugged, that the bead of cum dripped from the tip of his dick.

“Oh, presents for me,” Gene said, keeping Ethan’s legs spread wide, as he licked his dick to catch that drop of cum.

Sue him.

He loved a belly full of cum too.

When Ethan’s hips involuntarily moved, Gene backed off, so he didn’t get any relief. Tonight was about torture.

It would be the first time Gene went this hard, and it would be the first time they saw if Ethan loved or hated it. This would help set the pace for their sex lives.

It was the perfect balance, and had to be. Now, all he had to do was take the cues from his very dirty bottom.

Gene loved being tormented and forced to abstain, but that was him. He was a ‘night of pain and morning of relief’ kind of a guy. Ethan, on the other hand, was a ‘cum nonstop, and keep giving more’ kind of a guy.

They had different sex styles, but they meshed.

Gene grabbed some lube, and he put it on his fingers. When he started rubbing it into his asshole, Ethan gasped at the very new sensation.

He felt it immediately, as he was probed by his lover.

“It’s mint,” Gene said. “You’re going to feel this all night long, and you’re not going to cum. This is about training and control.”

Blackhawk moaned.

God.

He wanted this so badly.

Desperately.

He was honest.

“I don’t know if I can hold off from cumming,” he whispered. “Please put a ring on it. PLEASE, so I don’t disappoint you.”

Oh, well, yeah.

He wasn’t letting him cum over and over when people were in their condo, and he couldn’t enjoy it.

Screw that.

When Ethan looked down at him, Gene was smiling.

“I think I need to get you ready,” he said, right before he began rimming him.

The torture continued, and Gene knew how much Ethan loved a good rimming.

“Oh, fuck!” Ethan shouted, as his body bucked. It was the most intimate act, and it got him wild.

And Gene knew it.

As he was writhing in pleasure, as the man’s mouth drove him wild, Gene began stroking him.

He was roughly jacking him off, in an attempt to take him over the edge.

Ethan shook.

“I’m going to cum,” he muttered. “You’ll make me blow if you keep touching my cock!”

That’s when he felt it. The ring was on, and the cum wasn’t happening.

He moaned in frustration and relief that he wouldn’t slip and disappoint the man.

God.

He wanted to please him in the worst way. Before Gene, he never understood how this felt, but he craved it to his core.

“YESSSSSSS! I want to feel this all night,” he whispered. “Make me beg for it. Make me suffer for your pleasure.”

Tala was here in all of his glory. The cum slut had entered the building, and now, the fun began.

When he stopped rimming him, he held up the vibrating plug. His lips were minty, and he craved doing this all night.

Ethan watched, but instead of fear, there was pure, unadulterated lust in his eyes.

“It’s bigger than the other one. We have to keep getting bigger. So you can handle me eventually,” he explained.

Ethan would let him do anything.

That’s how desperately horny he was.

“Please,” he begged, as his lover prepped him for a night he’d never forget.

Gene dripped the lube on the tip of the plug, and Ethan couldn’t wait. He couldn’t wait to feel it entering him. He was learning to love his body, and how things made him feel.

“Let’s get it all slickery.”

Oh, and he did.

“Hold those legs open for me, Tala. Daddy’s about to put this plug in your ass.”

He whimpered and did what he asked.

When Gene started sliding it in, he played with him, tormenting him.

“Oh, God,” Ethan whispered, as Gene rubbed it against his tight, puckered asshole.

“Oh, Tala, the things I want to do with you,” he said, slowly beginning to slip it into his body.

Gene enjoyed the show, watching his lover’s ass open to take it deep. Someone was going to be wearing this plug a lot.

He could bet on it.

Gene needed to buy a year’s supply of batteries. He was going to ass train his Tala until he begged for this daily.

As the toy began slipping into his body, Ethan tensed. It was a tight fit, and at first, he was scared it would really hurt.

And it did.

But it was a good kind of pain. Still, he was concerned about the size.

“It won’t fit,” Ethan muttered. “Oh, God! It’s not going to fit!”

Gene reassured him.

The ass was a magnificent thing.

“It will. Relax, and think about how good this is going to feel in a minute.”

He let the man do his thing, and when he felt the pop, and it sliding into place, he relaxed.

That was until Gene turned it on, and his whole body jerked in pleasure. It was so big and long that it was resting against his prostate, and sending vibrations of pleasure all through his body.

His nipples pebbled.

His flesh rippled with goosebumps.

And his dick dripped more precum.

Now, that was the reaction Gene wanted.

“Oh, God. That feels so good,” he whispered, as he bowed in pleasure.

Gene was enjoying watching him discover himself. It was so sexy to see him open up and share pleasure with him. The old Ethan was gone.

The new Ethan was whole and beautiful.

Sex was supposed to feel good and make you happy. Not ashamed.

Because he wanted him to know what was to come, Gene turned it up.

Immediately, he reacted. Ethan clenched the bedding in his fists.

Then, he turned it up again, and he couldn’t focus. Ethan couldn’t think. His body was in control, and his balls were so far up into his sack that he knew if that ring came off, he was cumming all over the place.

“How does that make you feel, Tala?” he asked, stroking his rock-hard dick.

He opened his eyes.

“It makes me want to do more things with you,” he admitted. “I feel free. I want you to do everything to me. I want to experience it all.”

Good.

That was the plan.

Gene clicked the discreet remote again and Ethan gasped.

“If that ring wasn’t on, I could make you cum over and over again. Tonight, we use the ring, and in the future, Tala, we’ll try it without it. I’ll make you go out to dinner with me, minus the ring, and try to make you cum in public. Would that make you happy?”

He nodded.

God.

He wanted more.

He wanted all.

Ethan got off on the voyeur experience. He always fantasized about Bull’s Biker Bar, and how he’d given Gene head there.

He wanted to give him so much more.

Gene was opening doors up for him that he never knew existed.

“Now, sit up,” he said.

Ethan did.

It felt odd to have something in his ass as he was sitting like a normal person, but it also felt so damn good too. The vibrations were making his nipples tight little berries.

Gene saw them, and leaned in, to play with one. He bit it, and used his tongue. When he was done, he looked up at Ethan, who looked raptured.

That was the only word for it.

His man was in so much pleasure, that he knew later, he’d be wild.

Turning it off, he gave him a second to adjust. When Gene turned it back on, Ethan flinched, slightly.

And he immediately looked at Gene’s dick and licked his lips.

“Oh, that’s my horny little cum slut,” Gene said, moving closer.

That was what he was.

Ethan knew it too.

He wanted to give him head again. He wanted his dick down his throat. This man made him into this person, and he was forever grateful.

Sex was fun.

And he needed it to survive.

“Watching you like this makes me so goddamn horny, Tala. I could lose control just enjoying you find new pleasures.”

Ethan looked up.

“I want to find all of the pleasures with you. I want you to give me all of them.”

Oh, that was the plan.

He wanted to do the same, and have Ethan use them on him. He was showing him what he loved, in hopes Ethan would pull these tricks out later.

Granted, Ethan had tied him to a motel bed and made him cum all night with a plug in his ass.

But this variation…

So hot.

When Gene’s phone chimed, he saw it was Greyson messaging him, and he knew it was time.

“It looks like our company is heading here after picking up dinner. I want you in jeans, and no underwear. I want to see that cum wet the front of your jeans when you’re dripping for me.”

Oh, fuck.

That was beyond hot, and Ethan knew it.

He whimpered.

Gene walked over to the drawer and dug around. When he pulled out something else, Ethan watched him.

He hoped it was something that would make him even wilder.

He was finding that toys were fun.

Sex was fun.

When Gene headed back over to him, he made him stand, and he had two nipple rings that tightened on.

Ethan moaned.

They were tight, and you couldn’t forget they were there, especially if you liked someone tormenting your nipples. Those alone could make Ethan blow.

Now, he was going to withstand his ass full, his nipples aching, and company.

Fuck.

He was sadistic, and Ethan wanted more.

“Not them too,” he whispered.

Oh, Gene knew how much the man LOVED his nipples to be played with.

He could cum just from that.

“I want them to rub against your shirt, and make you crazy all night. I want them to remind you that you’re mine, and I control your body, Tala.”

Well, tonight was going to be a long night.

“It’s going to be torture,” he whispered as Gene tightened them to the point it was almost painful.

They made his hips jerk.

When Gene saw that, he smiled.

“It’s training, Tala. I’m training you to be my deliciously wicked cum slut like you wanted. This is the easy part. Wait until we go out and have some fun.”

He did want that.

Ethan was having the best time finding himself, and it was because he could trust Gene to protect him.

“Now, shirt and jeans. I want to enjoy my Tala and get some work done. You won’t know when I’m going to turn the plug on, so be ready.”

Ethan couldn’t wait.

He was excited to experience this.

“Now, kiss me, and get ready for our guests.”

Ethan didn’t hesitate. He went into his arms, and he rubbed enticingly against the man, trying to lure him in.

Oh, and he did.

Gene wanted to fuck in the worst way. Only, this wasn’t only about teaching him control.

It was about learning it himself too.

There was nothing hotter.

As the kiss was broken, Gene stared into his eyes and was honest.

“You make this damn difficult,” he admitted.

Ethan smiled.

Why?

Because he had all of the control.

And he loved it.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Damascus

The Reservation

When he was clocked out for the night, Callen Whitefox had every intention of heading home, taking a shower, and crashing on the couch.

He was working doubles the next couple of days, and he wasn’t in the mood to do anything but take some downtime before work.

Only, his father had called him, and left a voicemail on his cell phone.

That was never good.

Why?

Because it was from his sperm donor father.

Not his chosen father.

That always alarmed him, and he didn’t like when the man called out of the blue.

Why?

Because it was always trouble.

It was almost Christmas, and he was working the next two days so that the cops that worked under him could spend it with family.

He didn’t have children, or a wife, so he took one for the team.

Tonight, he had been planning on just eating some pizza and going to bed to be ready for the marathon heading his way.

He wouldn’t be home for two days, instead, catching some sleep in his office between calls.

Christmas on the reservation wasn’t like it was in normal homes. The poverty kept it from being fun, and it was always a constant reminder to him that life wasn’t always fair.

So why celebrate it?

Bah humbug.

The twelve Christmases with nothing but poverty and abuse, plus watching his druggie mother get high, left a bad taste in his mouth.

But now, his father needed something.

When didn’t Wyler?

A part of him felt bad for letting it go to voicemail and not answering. It was that he just didn’t have anything left in him to babysit the man.

Still, he was going to make sure everything was okay—not for Wyler, but for Timothy.

His REAL dad might need him.

When he played the message, he was worried.

‘Callen James, I’m at your grandfather’s cabin. I stopped in, and he needs to see you. Can you please come here? I wouldn’t bother you at work but it’s important.’

Yeah, that worried him.

Timothy was his everything. Now that he didn’t have Ethan anymore, and instead was angry with the man, he felt very alone.

Granted, Timothy had given him the phone number to reach him, but that anger of being ditched in NOLA was still there.

Maybe he wasn’t the only one who could hold a grudge.

Their genes were fucked up.

That was for damn sure.

Instead of heading toward his cabin, he went the opposite way, and when he pulled up, the lights were on, and the snow was falling.

It was pretty, and depressing all at once.

Getting out, he walked past his father’s truck, and his grandfather’s too.

At the door, he heard music.

When he opened it, he wasn’t sure what the bloody hell was going on.

There was a tree.

Music.

And food.

Callen stood there.

“Merry Christmas, my boy,” Timothy said, smiling and heading his way.

Callen just looked surprised. First, it wasn’t even Christmas yet, and second…the old man looked just fine.

“What is this, Granddad?” he asked.

The older man took his hand.

“You’re working on Christmas, so your men can have the day off. This is our holiday. Come in and let’s celebrate together.”

He blinked.

What?

Was?

This?

“We’ve never done it up like this. What is going on?” he asked.

That was simple.

Timothy knew his boy needed to heal his heart, and forgive. On top of that, Ethan had sent presents, and was trying to stay connected to the family.

It was tenuous, but his eldest grandson was healing. The new man in his life was helping him find himself, and once he did, and he grew, he’d be able to find his way home to them.

“I felt like celebrating,” Timothy said, as Wyler poured some store-bought eggnog into a cup, and dumped rum into it.

When Callen opened his mouth to point that out, he was surprised when Wyler handed it to him.

He just poured plain eggnog for himself.

Okay, this was…oddly nice.

Did he hit his head at work? Because this was something he’d never seen before.

“Something smells good,” Callen admitted, not willing to shit on Timothy’s celebration. The man always tried to make it special, and he wouldn’t be a jerk. That wasn’t his thing.

“We have your favorites. There’s pasta, and some shrimp, and…”

Okay, now, he was sure he was either dead or unconscious.

“Really?” he asked. “Not venison?”

Because his grandfather once said, ‘if I was meant to eat foods that we didn’t hunt and grow ourselves, I wouldn’t have been born Native.’

Last Callen looked, the woods were not teeming with shrimp.

The man shook his head.

What Callen didn’t know was Ethan had sent money to him, and told Timothy to have Christmas. He told him to celebrate, and that he was doing good.

Clearly.

Callen headed toward the tree, and when he did, it was a sucker punch to his chest.

It was filled with homemade ornaments that he hadn’t seen in a very long time.

One was a wreath that he had made for Ethan one year. It had glitter on it.

Reaching out, he already knew the words on the back because like many things on the rez, they haunted him.

‘I love you, EJ.’

Still, he touched it, flipping it over to remember a time when they had love.

Not hate.

While he knew his grandfather was trying to help, what he didn’t seem to realize was this hurt his heart.

God.

It hurt so bad.

Turning, his grandfather was watching him with those wise old eyes, and he knew what he was thinking.

“Don’t,” he said. “Stay out of it, old man.”

Well, that wasn’t happening, but because this was about healing Callen, he simply nodded and ate a shrimp.

“Do you want to open presents or eat first,” he said, trying to keep this boy afloat.

Callen honestly didn’t care.

“I didn’t bring your presents over. They’re at my house,” he said.

Wyler smiled.

“I got them for you.”

Oh, well, then, he didn’t have to worry about that. Now, he had to worry about hating this holiday with all of his heart because he felt so damaged inside.

SO alone.

It was so much worse now that he was angry with Ethan. When his brother hated him, there was always hope. Now, he had nothing.

He was empty.

“Presents will be fine,” he said. “But you didn’t have to do this,” Dad,” he admitted.

Timothy knew he did.

Callen was taking that dark path in anger, the same one his brother took. Now, Ethan survived it, and he had to help Callen.

“I was feeling festive this year. Let’s do that, and then we can eat. I have cake too. Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. Are you interested?”

He laughed.

“Dad. Cake? Come on. You know I’m interested. When have I ever said no to cake?”

He patted him on the back, and smiled. Oh, well, he was well aware.

“Let’s see what Santa brought.”

He snorted.

“Bills, Dad. Santa always brings bills,” he admitted.

Timothy ignored him, and instead, they went to sit by the tree. When they did, he pointed.

“That one is from me. Open it,” he said.

Callen unwrapped the paper, and when he opened the box, it was a buckskin quill that had beautiful beading on it for his arrows when he was hunting.

It was gorgeous.

It was also very similar to Timothy’s own quill. Callen had always admired it.

“Oh, Dad, it’s really nice,” he said, touching it and smiling.

His grandfather spent all year making their present, and he loved every single one he made. They were all so beautiful and special.

“It’s the family colors, and one day, you’ll be able to give it to your eldest son.”

He held it, pretty sure that was never happening. He was destined to die here alone.

That was how he felt, anyway.

“Thank you. This is very beautiful, and I’m grateful to have it.”

Wyler pointed.

“That one is from me, Callen.”

He picked up the box, and shook it. Something rattled around inside.

When he opened it, he found a brand-new hunting knife with a gorgeous carved wooden handle. It had a fox and a raven on it.

Once more, it was a punch to his heart.

There was his brother again.

The man was all over this holiday season, and it was annoying.

Why?

Because he wanted to hate him with all of his heart.

“I carved it myself. I hope you’ll use it when you go hunting.”

He smiled.

“Thanks, Wyler. It’s really nice. You did a good job. I’ll use it when we go out hunting next.”

The man smiled.

“I’m glad you like it.”

He actually did.

When Timothy pointed, Callen picked up the last box, and it was heavy.

When he began opening it, he could see the tissue paper inside was from a business.

“What’s this?” he asked, confused.

Timothy pointed.

“There’s a card,” he said, when Callen saw it between the box lid and the paper. “Read it.”

They watched.

When Callen opened it, he found a Christmas card inside. It was when he saw the writing that his heart skipped in his chest.

Oh, shit.

He knew who it was going to be from the second he saw the penmanship.

His brother.

And there was Ethan again.

‘Dear CJ,

Merry Christmas. I was shopping and I saw this. It made me think of you. First came the boots, then came the bike. Now you have the last piece.

The leathers.

I’m in Philadelphia for the next two years working, and I just wanted to give you something to know that I love you.

Be safe, and think of me when you ride your bike.

Your brother,

Ethan.’

Callen held the card in his big hand, and he was so goddamn angry.

“Who is it from?” Timothy asked.

Callen stared at him.

“You know exactly who this is from, old man. You always have to meddle. I have no doubt this is because of you.”

How did he know?

His brother didn’t love him anymore. That died a long time ago when Callen broke them.

From where he sat, Timothy said nothing. His grandson was filled with rage, and he knew that was dangerous for him.

Instead of saying more, Callen pulled back the paper, and he saw it. It was a riding jacket. It was black, and it was made of the softest, buttery leather.

As he ran his hands over it, tears filled his eyes.

Then, he pulled it out and tried it on.

Wyler whistled.

“That’s gorgeous. It’s handmade,” he said, as Callen proved it fit perfectly.

“That’s a nice gift,” Timothy said.

That rage overwhelmed him.

When Callen pulled it off, he dropped it onto the box, and headed for the door without saying a word.

It was the slam to the cabin door that made both men stand up.

“Uh-oh,” Wyler said, planning on going after him.

Only, Timothy stopped him.

“Let me. Someone needs to kick this boy’s ass, and it’s been a long time coming. He is already angry with you. It’s time he’s angry with me.”

Wyler knew not to question the Shaman.

You just didn’t do it.

Well, and not have your ass kicked. His father might be older, but he was definitely not afraid to throw hands.

And he would.

Timothy followed his grandson outside, and caught Callen as he was getting to his truck.

“Stop,” he said.

Callen did, but he turned, angrily.

“Why do you have to meddle? Why do you have to do this?” he asked. “Seriously? Can’t you leave well enough alone?” he snapped. “We hate each other, and I’m not falling back into this. Ethan left me, and he’s never coming back. He’s never going to be that man again!”

Callen was pissed.

So pissed he kicked his truck tire.

“He left, and then he left me again. I’m not opening the door, so he does it again! He can fuck off!”

Oh, hell, no.

Timothy gave it right back.

“He is your blood. He is your brother, and he is someone who will always be part of you.”

“I don’t care,” he admitted. “He left me behind again, and I’m done!”

Timothy knew his grandson was in a bad place. He never raised his voice to him.

He knew better.

“Well, someone has to stop you from being an asshole, Callen James, and I’m the last man standing who can do this.”

Callen exploded.

“He abandoned me!” he raged. “He broke me.”

Timothy stuck his finger in his chest.

“And you did it first, and made this mess thinking with your dick instead of just telling him the truth about how you felt about him!”

Callen said nothing.

Why?

That the old man knew what he felt…it was unnerving. That he knew Callen had been madly, stupidly in love with his brother…

Timothy wasn’t done.

“He forgave you. He’s healing, and he’s finally back on a good path. Only, you, the one I thought had more common sense and compassion are now on that path. You’re filled with rage. You’re filled with hate. What is it getting you, Callen James? What? Misery? He’s reaching out to you, and you have the audacity to be bitchy. You cried for years wanting him to come home, and he’s beginning his path here, and now you’re angry.”

Callen said nothing.

“You are at the crossroad. You can choose compassion or hate. I lost him when they took him to the foster home. I lost that boy, and I’m the reason he’s broken. Not you. Not Catherine dying. Not you sleeping with that whore. ME. I didn’t protect him, and now, I can’t protect him from you.”

Callen stood there.

“I’m drawing the line. HERE and NOW. Yes, life sucked. I know what you endured, and since saving you, I’ve given you everything. I’ve loved you the most, and Ethan fell to the wayside. I lost him, Callen James, and I want him back. If you can’t forgive, you’re not the man I believed I raised you to be. He’s your flesh and blood, and he’s forever had your heart and you his—until you let rage be your bedfellow!”

Callen closed his eyes.

“I love him more than you’ll ever know, Timothy,” he said. “When I lost him, I lost me.”

Timothy was to the point.

“Then find him again. It’s going to take years, but it’s possible. You’re angry, well, so am I. My years are limited. I had hope I’d see you both as brothers again, or more. Now, I’m seeing that you’re just as stubborn as him. Maybe worse. You had it bad, but he had it worse, and still, then, he protected you. He was your guardian, and he took the pain for you. He laid his world down for you because you’re his brother, and he’s never forgotten that. He keeps fighting to reach back to you. He keeps trying to build a bridge. Which is worse? A man who tries and fails, or a man who doesn’t even try at all?”

Tears filled his eyes.

“That cancer of hate is filling you. I’m disappointed in you, Callen. I’ve never been disappointed in any of my boys before now, but I really am. I’ve failed. Clearly. I adopted you to save you. I didn’t adopt Ethan, and lost him. You have NO idea what he lived through in those foster homes. One day, I hope you ask him and he forgives me enough to tell you.”

Timothy began walking back to the house.

And Callen stood there.

He watched his grandfather walk away, and he did what he needed to do.

He got into his truck.

And headed home.

Why?

He needed to think.

And be alone.

Because Callen was fighting a demon that was even bigger than him.

He was jealous of his brother. He was finding love, and leaving him behind.

Again.

Chapter Fifteen

The Condo

Work Time

Thursday Evening

Before their work guests arrived, Gene turned on the Christmas lights, got the fireplace going, and hit the lights for the trees. There was Christmas music playing, albeit low in the background for ambiance.

Ethan was getting dressed, and it was time for him to make an appearance.

“Babe,” he called. “Ready to work?” he asked, amused and giddy with the fun he was going to have.

Oh, tonight was going to be amazing for both of them. When their company finally left, Ethan was going to be a very dirty bottom.

Gene was betting on it.

When Ethan came into the room, after Gene called to him, he was wearing a black shirt that buttoned down the front. It was flowy and loose, and he knew exactly why he’d chosen it.

So it didn’t rub against his nipples.

What fun was that?

“Come here,” he said, and the man did. Immediately, he went into his body, and Gene kissed him.

It was a hot, wet tangle of tongues, and it proved the man was at a nine on the turned-on scale.

Well, they were breaking that scale tonight, and tossing it out the window.

When he broke the kiss, he purposely rubbed against Ethan’s body, inciting that desire in him. His whole goal this evening was to give the man so much pleasure that when he was set free, he went wild.

That was a gift to both of them.

“I’m so hard,” he whispered, as his body was wracked with need.

Gene cupped him through his jeans, and found that statement to be absolutely true.

With his lips by his ear, he made sure to send shockwaves through the man with just his breath.

“How horny are you?” Gene asked.

Ethan could feel that plug in his ass, just waiting to be turned on, and the slide of the fabric of his shirt against his pinched nipples was maddening.

When Gene began the torture, he knew he would be out of control. The old Ethan would fear that freefall, but this Ethan trusted his partner.

With his life.

With his pleasure.

With his perversion.

“I’d blow you in front of them if you told me to, and I’d not think twice,” he admitted. “That’s how fucking horny I am. I’d let you fuck me on our coffee table.”

Well, that was the level he was looking for, and that was the goal. Not the fucking in front of their company, but the man’s desperation to have sex.

A horny Ethan was a wild Ethan.

“That makes me want to do it,” he whispered, turning on the vibrator to the lowest speed.

Ethan whimpered in pleasure and torment.

“Oh, God. Please just fuck me. I need your cock,” he whispered. “Just take my ass. I don’t want to be trained. I want to be broken in.”

He knew he was desperate to go there, but he also knew that when Ethan wasn’t wild, he was more restrained, and Gene had to protect that.

Gene clicked the vibrator remote again, and Ethan’s body shook.

He warned him.

“You’d better control that reaction, Tala. They’ll know what is in your ass,” he whispered just as there was a knock to the door. “And my goal is to make you break.”

Gene smiled wickedly and turned the vibrating plug off, wanting Ethan to come back down so he could take him back up again.

To Horny-ville.

Population two.

“Let my fun begin, Tala. It’s time to train my deliciously-wicked cum slut. This will be the first of so many times.”

Ethan wanted to go to bed in the worst way. He didn’t want company. He wanted to be at Gene’s mercy, and tied to their bed for his enjoyment.

He didn’t know how much more he could take.

Slowly, he fought to regain control as Gene headed toward the door.

When he opened it, Greyson was outside holding two pizzas, and their ME was with him.

“Hey,” Gene said, smiling.

Greyson was concerned.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “How’s the chest?” he inquired, immediately going there.

Gene backed up and let them in, and then helped Sasha with her coat.

“It’s a bitch, but I’ve been to this rodeo before,” he admitted. “I’m just glad the vest held. That was a particularly vicious bullet. The cops bagged that, and it was inside the front seat of the car they absconded when it arrived at the lab.”

Greyson was glad.

“I’ll have them run that too.”

He knew the killer was likely careful. They always were.

Sasha had been told what happened, and she was concerned.

“Want me to look at it?” she asked. “To make sure you’re good?”

He led them into the living room, and shrugged.

“If you want to, Doctor,” he said, clicking the remote once, just to watch Ethan fight for his life.

Oh, he was so horny.

Gene pulled off his shirt, and immediately, Sasha poked and prodded him. When she checked his ribs, she was satisfied.

As her hands moved over Gene’s chest, Ethan moved closer out of being territorial. He didn’t want anyone touching his man.

It made him feral.

“You’re good. There’s nothing broken.”

He was aware.

What he was also aware of was Ethan was watching him topless, and licking his lips like he was going to climb up his body and try to mount him there.

Yeah, this was a good night in his world, and well worth a little chest pain.

Greyson put the pizzas down.

“Hope you’re good with pies,” he said. “Everything else is closing down. It’s going to be a mess tomorrow. We’re going to be running low on staff because of the holiday, and now the weather.”

They were aware.

Because Greyson asked a question, Gene wanted his very horny partner to answer.

“We’re good, right, Ethan?” Gene asked, knowing for a fact, the man was NOT good.

He was fighting for control.

“Yeah, I’m good with pizza,” he stated. “I can eat pizza anytime.”

Sasha smiled as she walked around the condo.

“It’s a nice place you have here. Someone likes the holidays.”

They both said thank you at the same time, and that was likely what led to the next question.

“Which one of you lives here?” she asked, as Gene began pouring them all wine.

Gene looked over at Ethan to make sure he was okay, and when he saw he was unbothered by the question, and instead was tracking him around the room, he answered.

“Actually, we both live here,” he said.

The woman took a seat on the one couch, and Greyson sat beside her. The whole time, she was watching Gene.

“Go ahead, ask,” he offered, already knowing what was coming next.

Two cops in a well decorated condo?

That was a no brainer.

Sue him.

He liked a festive place.

“As in…?”

Gene nodded.

“Yes, Doctor. We’re actually a couple. Ethan and I are happily entangled with each other at work, and in our downtime.”

They both waited for the response, and it was actually pleasant and refreshing.

She smiled.

“Well, then, I guess this is a double work date,” she stated. “That’s fun.”

Greyson laughed.

“She knew, guys. She’s busting balls. She told me she saw you playing grab-ass in the hallway after you left the morgue a few weeks ago. She was just curious if you’d actually come clean.”

Gene laughed.

Why wouldn’t he?

Look at the man whose ass he was grabbing.

“Guilty as charged. Ethan can’t keep his hands off me,” he joked.

And clicked the button back on, so there was a low buzz in the man’s body.

Ethan tried to act as normally as possible, but it was so goddamn difficult.

He was fighting to keep his face neutral, and his hips from taking over and trying to air hump around the room like a psychopath.

That would take explaining that he personally didn’t want to have to do.

Holding on, he took the wine from Gene, and sat on the couch. His lover parked it right beside him and dropped his arm over his shoulders as they sat.

Immediately, Ethan moved into his body since the cat was out of the bag.

Blackhawk could smell his cologne, and he wanted to be all over him.

This was a fight for patience and control.

It was torture.

Oh, and he fucking loved it.

“Thanks for grabbing dinner and coming here,” Gene admitted. “We’re not safe out there, and my spent Kevlar proves it.”

Greyson clued him in as Sasha opened the boxes, and put pizza on the plates that were next to them. She left them on the table for each of the men since they were talking.

“I got the car shipped to the office. The techs will have it done by tomorrow afternoon-ish. I already got the memo they ran the bullet, and it’s not coming back to anything in our database.”

“Prints?” Gene asked.

He sighed.

“No. The brass likely landed in the car, and the killer policed it when they dumped it. As for the rest, they are working overnight since the roads are shit. That’s the good news. The bad news is once the clock strikes four tomorrow, the techs are abandoning shift. They got their forty hours in already.”

Yeah, that was to be expected.

Because Ethan was slightly shaking beside him, he turned the plug down, and handed him a plate with pizza so he could distract himself.

Then, Gene took a bite of his pizza.

“I’m just grateful we got to it before it was stolen again. What do we know about it?” he asked.

Greyson took a plate from Sasha.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling at her.

The woman was very compliant and easy going since their little fuck fest in her office. For a while, he thought he’d crossed a line, but she was anything but angry.

In fact, she was a little too compliant. Like she’d done a full turnaround, and was now completely off a little bit.

And he wasn’t living for it.

For some reason, he couldn’t enjoy it. He just didn’t know why, but he knew at some point, he would.

It was a matter of time.

“It was stolen this morning from across town. The owner parked at the one garage, and headed into work, and didn’t realize it was gone until he got out of work at three.”

Yeah, they figured as much.

“Is it by anything significant?” he asked. “The dumping point or stealing point?” Gene asked, covering his bases.

“It was taken from a city lot next to the courthouse. That’s all I can tell you. Where it was dumped, it was in the hood.”

That didn’t give them much and he wasn’t shocked. Someone was smart.

Greyson put his arm around Sasha, and enjoyed dinner. It was nice to have friends again, even if he wasn’t so sure about the woman beside him.

This wasn’t the first time he came here to work and have dinner. He genuinely liked the men.

Because Ethan was silent, and he had to participate or it was going to look odd, Gene elbowed Ethan, and got him to talk.

“Thank you for going over the reports with us here, Doctor,” Ethan said. “We really appreciate it.”

She stopped him.

“First, it’s not a big deal. I live not that far away,” she stated.

“And she’s sleeping over,” Greyson stated, reminding her.

She winked at him.

“I certainly am,” she admitted. “You can learn a lot about a person when you sleep in their bed,” she joked. “Anyway, call me Sasha,” she offered. “Don’t be so formal since we’re off the clock. You can chill out,” she stated. “It’s all good.”

Oh, he was anything but good. He had a napkin on his lap for a reason.

He was hard.

He was ROCK-HARD.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Blackhawk could feel the precum trying to soak into his jeans as he rubbed against the inside of them. His whole body was on fire, and Gene was sadistic.

Truthfully, he wanted more.

He loved this.

He’d never felt so powerful, happy, and free in all of his life. Yes, his dick was locked down by a ring, and his nipples ached, but he wanted him to go further.

Blackhawk loved this new experience because it was with Gene.

“Thank you, Sasha,” he said.

She was curious before they began.

“How long have you been a couple?” she asked, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Gene didn’t mind.

“Nine months now. We’ve been partners almost two years,” he added.

She smiled.

“I bet that’s handy. You guys can watch each other’s backs at work.”

It was.

It was also terrifying.

“We have a place together in DC,” Gene said, as Ethan was silent. He was fighting for his life, and Gene was here for it. He could tell he was horny. “We’re here for two years and then hopefully, we’re going home,” he admitted.

“Or longer,” Greyson added. “You know how sadistic our boss is,” he admitted, clinking his glass off of Gene’s.

“Oh, we know. He’s so far up our asses, that if we yawn, you’ll see him,” Gene said, hitting that button to give Ethan one hell of a jolt in the pleasure zone.

Ethan fought hard.

He was chewing his pizza, and all he wanted was to suck the man’s cock.

Jesus.

He loved his life.

It was crazy, but he wanted more.

“My life got vastly better when Gene moved into it. Let’s just say it is stimulating,” he admitted. “At one time, I was straight, and now, I’m anything but,” he stated.

Gene actually laughed.

And winked at him.

“Oh, you were straight?” she asked. “So bisexual?”

He nodded.

Apparently, that was what he was, but he didn’t seem to be able to muster any attraction toward women. He didn’t know why that part of his brain shut off, but he was glad it did. He was experiencing so much in life.

Gene was amazing and he was lucky.

“Yeah,” he said, as Gene leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips.

Sasha pointed toward their balcony.

“You have a great view,” she said. “You can see work from here. I know Greyson’s condo gives you a panoramic of the city.”

It was nice. What was even better about it was that they were safe from Javier.

“We like being up high.”

“Amen,” Greyson said, sipping his wine. As an ex-sniper, he needed to be up high to feel safe. On the ground, he felt like a target.

Because they had plenty of chitchat, he wanted to talk shop. He was sure the men wanted to decompress.

“Want to get started? I’m sure you’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

Gene laughed.

“We lost our police escort,” he said, but didn’t go into the reason why they really did. “We told him if the weather was shit, catch us later. Tomorrow is looking like a shitshow when it comes to the roads.”

Greyson didn’t want them out there alone.

“I can ride along. I’m not going home until later in the afternoon, and honestly, like I said earlier, I don’t really need to. I can call my brother and see him here in the city. Dante will come to me.”

Gene protested.

“We don’t want to make you miss family for the holidays...”

He stopped him.

“You guys are family, too, and if you need help, I’m here. That’s what friends are for,” he admitted.

That was really nice of him. Since coming here, they’d felt alone, but now, they could see they had made a family here.

From Corbin.

To his parents.

Now, Greyson…

They had a tribe.

Sasha was thinking about the man next to her. He smelled so damn good, and after that afternoon, she was grateful that she was back in his bed.

To have fun there.

It got her wet just thinking about it.

“Well, we’ll take you up on your offer. Let’s work,” Gene offered, putting down his empty plate to pick up his notebook. “We really need those autopsy updates. I need to lock this down as to what we’re dealing with.”

Greyson was curious.

“You said you had some good stuff.”

Oh, they did.

“We’ll share it with you since you’re going to be helping tomorrow.”

Sasha reached into her messenger bag, and pulled out the files she needed.

Then, she sipped her wine and started sharing what she had.

“I went back over the victims, and first and foremost, the city coroner did a good job. He didn’t miss anything. It made my life easier.”

That was good.

That wasn’t always the case, and they knew it.

Reed seemed to be on the up and up, even if he hated the FBI’s guts after that last case.

“Your first victim, Dorris Stettner, nurse, age thirty-two, was killed by a single GSW to her head. There were NO other signs of struggle, and no defensive wounds. It was one and done.”

Gene was making notes, and so was Ethan. His mate was sitting beside him, and looked a little too comfortable. So, he made it more difficult for the man.

His body flinched when he clicked the vibrator up a notch, but he managed to control it.

For the most part.

Now, Gene could see his nipples through the shirt when he moved his arm, and someone was happy.

REAL.

HAPPY.

That pleased him.

“Okay, so she didn’t fight back,” Gene said. “What does that tell you, Ethan?” he asked, wanting his input.

Ethan was fighting for his life. His dick was so hard, and his ass…he wanted to cum in the worst way, and couldn’t.

He was trying to focus.

“This is leaning more and more toward a woman behind this for me,” he said.

“Why?” Sasha asked. “Not questioning, just curious.”

He explained.

“Someone is trying to do this with very little effort. If we think about all of the bodies, none were lugged, lifted, or carried anywhere. Where they dropped, except for the last victim, was where they stayed. You said victim one had no defensive wounds. Is that the same for all of them?”

She nodded.

Ethan continued.

“That tells me that a woman is likely behind this. Men are stronger, and will risk carrying a victim to transport. This person isn’t. She’s using her brain, not brawn. That’s also likely why we can’t get any DNA tied to her. She’s not touching them, and she’s likely wearing gloves since it’s cold outside.”

She got it.

“That’s very logical.”

“I try,” he said, as Gene turned it up a little higher, making his body tingle.

The only thing saving his ass was that cock ring or he’d be spontaneously cumming in front of company.

“So she was shot in the head, left in the trunk, and had no drugs on board?” Gene asked.

She nodded.

“That I was able to process because I still had her organs. She was clean. No booze, no drugs, and likely just high on the shopping.”

That sucked for her.

AND THEM.

“Next,” Gene said, wanting to get through this so he could get to the best part of the evening.

The fuckery.

“What do you have for contestant number two?” Gene asked, as Greyson had more pizza.

She flipped pages.

When he offered her a bite, she took it.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling at him.

He was trying to navigate his way through this. He’d been pissed she wasn’t all over him, and now, she was doing a full one-eighty, and he wasn’t happy either.

What was wrong with him?

The woman next to him wanted to be ravaged, and he was meh.

Jesus.

He was a mess in the head.

She went back to her file.

“Well, we have Caprice Gressman, a homemaker who was twenty-two years old.”

Gene laughed.

“Homemaker is funny,” he said. “Try arm candy for an older man.”

She focused on him.

“Really?”

He nodded.

“The husband is in his fifties, and she was barely twenty-two. They’ve been married for four years. Do the math, Doctor.”

She did.

“Ewww.”

He nodded.

“Yeah, they were married at eighteen and forty-eight. Someone has daddy issues.”

She laughed.

“Don’t we all?” she asked.

Ethan actually snorted in amusement.

“Oh, that’s a factual statement. I could write a book on my daddy issues. Past and present.”

Because he was sassy, Gene punished him, so he recalled that Daddy was right beside him, and controlling his whole body with a small remote.

He turned it up, and that shut him up, and made his eyes dilate from the pleasure overload.

Greyson looked over at her.

Uh, was he the daddy in question? They were the same age. He hoped she was joking.

“Anyway, Caprice had one GSW to the forehead, like Dorris. No sign of fighting or trauma. It looks exactly like what it looks like. She was in her car, and she got shot in the head. Her tox was done, and again, it was clean. She wasn’t on anything or drunk at TOD.”

Ethan was curious.

And he was trying to add to the conversation to distract himself from what was going on in his pants. He now had a wet spot, and his balls were wet too. He was precumming like a champ.

God.

The things this man could do to his body. Ethan never wanted off this ride.

Ever.

“Again, this plays into my woman theory. She walked right up to the car, and Caprice wasn’t afraid.”

Greyson was curious.

“Could it be because they knew their killer?” he asked. “Maybe that’s why they didn’t fight?”

Ethan nodded.

“That’s a possibility.”

They clued Greyson in.

“When we interviewed the husband, it seems he’s playing slap and tickle with the secretary, who also did the wife dirty by getting photos of her banging the yoga instructor.”

He lifted a brow.

“Pardon?”

Gene kept it simple, until it was their turn to explain what they had dug up on day one.

“We have cheaters in most of the situations. We just can’t figure out the first one yet.”

He whistled.

“That’s insanity. I hate a cheater. Betrayal is my big ick.”

Oh, they were aware.

Theirs too.

“You guys have the fun job,” Sasha admitted. “I just give you the facts, but you get to run with them.”

Yes, yes, she did.

“What else do you have?” Gene asked.

She flipped the pages of her files, and kept going.

“We have your third victim, Francesca Berlove, teacher, age thirty-one, and she was also shot in the front of her head. The shot entered her forehead, and out the back. She was pressed to the gun, and from the circular pattern, which was wider, I’m going to say she was shot with a gun with a silencer. The gunpowder burn is bigger with a silenced gun. Again, tox was clean, and no sign of struggle.”

That also fit.

Gene acknowledged that.

“We assumed. These people were all shot in public places. They had neighbors, they were on a public street. No one heard a thing.”

She was glad she nailed that.

“How about our last one?” Gene asked, turning off the vibrating plug to give Ethan a moment of peace, and he actually sighed. Thankfully, Gene was the only one who heard it.

Sasha found the next one, and did just that.

“Your fourth victim, Maggie Goodman, was shot in the same way. She was the one found on her back in bed. Nothing was in her tox, and there was no sign of struggle. What I will say about all of the victims is that their TOD, according to the other doctor, were between eight at night, and midnight. They were all during evening hours.”

Ethan profiled it.

“That tells me that the killer likely worked a nine-to-five job, or something like that. During the day, they were safe. At night, they were stalked, hunted, and tracked down.”

Greyson considered that.

“Uh, then, we have a problem,” he said.

They both waited

“What?”

He reminded them of today.

“You were shot in the middle of the afternoon,” he said to Gene. “If that’s the case, you weren’t targeted by the killer. You were targeted by a whole different problem.”

Well, shit.

He was right.

Oh, boy.

That sucked.

Gene sighed.

“Well, that makes me edgy. That means that Javier Hughes found us, or at least tracked us. He’s the only one who would gun for us, and if it is him, Ethan won’t be the target. I was intentionally shot at.”

Yeah, that was bad.

REAL.

BAD.

Ethan was the voice of reason because he had to be. There was that fear welling up, and he wanted to freak the fuck out.

If Gene got hurt because of him…

That wasn’t going to fly.

“Let’s get the information from the car back first before we panic. We’ll have that by tomorrow afternoon, and then we can go from there. We have restraining orders, and someone tried to felony you off the planet. If we can prove it was that sick fuck, we’ve got him,” Blackhawk admitted. “The bullshit at Syn wasn’t as serious as an attempted murder, or murder for hire—because we know he wouldn’t take a shot himself. He’d have Willis, his dumbass thug do it.”

That was the truth.

Now, for Ethan, he had to be aware of their surroundings at all times.

Deep inside though, he was worried.

If Javier Hughes was making an attempt on Gene, he was coming undone. It made sense though, since Corbin had been outside making calls, and no one shot at him—the cop who had this case first.

Only, he didn’t want to freak Gene out.

Not yet.

It was time to distract Gene.

“Tell them about our side of this,” Ethan said, pointing him in a new direction.

That worked for him.

“Yeah, we found some stuff too,” Gene admitted.

Greyson focused on that.

“What?”

“First, we were able to tie Patrick Gressman to Maggie Goodman. Apparently, he was getting his dick rocked at Puss in Boots.”

He shook his head in disgust.

“He was cheating on his wife? The young one he married at eighteen?”

He nodded.

“That’s suspicious,” Sasha said.

Oh, she could say that again.

He wasn’t done.

“That’s not the only tie we made. The first victim, Dorris, worked at the same place Perri Farrah, the girlfriend worked, and the cop met his girlfriend there. So we technically can connect Jack Venst to them.”

Greyson considered it.

“That last one is a stretch. We all know cops. People get stopped by them all of the time, and they bring in injured criminals before they head to jail.”

He was aware.

“What do you think?” Gene asked Ethan, as he clicked on the remote he was hiding beside him.

He blinked, and tried to articulate, but it was difficult. He went right to high, and caught him off guard.

Finally, he composed his thoughts.

“I think that our stronger link is the shrink angle,” he admitted.

Both Sasha and Greyson were curious.

“What shrink link?” he asked.

Gene clued them in.

“We also found out that some of the couples were in therapy,” he said. “Maggie, the final victim, was going to a doctor to cure her sex addiction at work. Her boyfriend didn’t know.”

Sasha was curious.

“How did you find out if the boyfriend wasn’t aware of it?”

Ethan told her.

“Her stripper friend at work spilled it with a little pressure. We hit the strip club for a backroom interrogation,” he admitted, as Gene put his arm over his shoulder.

His hand went to his thigh, connecting them, but mostly to have something to hold onto. Ethan’s balls were so far up into his body, and his dick was dry cumming.

Oh, he was being tortured, and he hoped Gene remembered that one day, he would be using this to torment him.

AT.

WORK.

He kept going.

Somehow.

“We need confirmation it was the same doctor as the rest, but I’m betting it is.”

“Oh,” she said.

Gene continued as Ethan rested his head on his shoulder. He was cuddling up next to him and he knew why. He was horny as shit, and needed to cum.

Well, he was going to make him work for it tonight. He was going to make it a night he never forgot.

For now, though…

It was nice to be able to be out with co-workers. He only hoped it didn’t bite him in the ass.

“We also found out that there was no cheating with the first couple, so they have no ties to the doctor, but the second couple, ‘Mr. I Married An Eighteen-Year-Old’ and his young bride were seeing her too.”

“So two sets?”

He nodded, and kept going.

“Oh, that’s not all.”

They waited.

“Then, the third couple, the girlfriends, also visited the same doctor. The dead woman cheated, and they were doing relationship counseling.”

Shit.

“Three out of four couples? That’s not going to be a coincidence,” he admitted, “if that one also saw the doctor.”

They agreed.

Tomorrow they’d solve that mystery when they headed to the doctor’s office.

Ethan added more.

“And we also found out that one victim, Caprice, had been sleeping with her yoga instructor. While Francesca had also been sleeping with the other yoga instructor. They are siblings, and Perri, the still-living-girlfriend, said that the instructors forced themselves on Francesca.”

Sasha’s eyes went huge.

“So rape?”

Both men shrugged.

“Possibly, but that could also be the woman covering her ass for being caught cheating on her girl. We won’t know until we know.”

That was interesting.

“So we have a few avenues to chase tomorrow,” Ethan offered. “But we’re going to have to do them lowkey. Especially since Gene got shot at once already.”

No one blamed them.

“So what’s the plan?” Greyson asked, assuming he was riding shotgun.

Or driving it.

“We’re going to likely hit Maggie’s first and go through her things. She was meticulous with her stripping records, so we’re hoping to find financials,” Gene admitted.

That made sense to Greyson.

“We also want to lock down if she saw Doctor Carlyne Ballman. If she did, then, we can question the doctor. We’ll call ahead and see if she has hours.”

“That’s a good plan,” Sasha said. “Most things are closing early tomorrow.”

He was aware.

While he loved Christmas, he didn’t like working a case close to it. The nightmare was almost always having to locate people to interview.

Most people took a holiday around the holidays.

“We’ll have to move fast, and we want to check out the yoga angle.”

Greyson was curious.

“How are you going to get the owners into a questioning?” he asked. “They don’t have to answer anything you ask, since the victims are both dead, and it’s their word against theirs.”

Gene wasn’t sure yet.

They’d have to work on that.

“Honestly, I was going to walk in and shoot from the hip,” he admitted. “I was hoping I could get them to trip up and bring them in for more.”

Ethan knew the truth.

“We need something to tie their hands. If they’re involved, they are lawyering up the second we go at them—if they don’t make us leave their business.”

He was right.

“I mean, I guess I can take a yoga class,” Gene admitted.

They all laughed.

He stared at them.

“What?” he asked.

It was time to break it to him.

“Babe, you don’t look like a yoga guy. You look like a ‘rugby on weekends’ kind of a guy with a side of ‘hockey in the winter’ type of a dude.”

Gene smiled.

“That’s not an insult, EJ,” he said, giving him a quick kiss. He partially expected him to be embarrassed in front of people, but he wasn’t. “You just stroked my ego,” he added, amused when his partner rolled his eyes.

Ethan had a better plan.

“I’ll do it. I’ll go to yoga, and I’ll get them to come onto me, and hopefully, we can trap them while they think they’re trapping me.”

Gene stared at him.

“Alone? Now, I don’t like that.”

He also didn’t like the idea of two people being all over his man.

A man or woman in this case.

That freaked him out a bit.

“I mean, I’m a Fed, so I think I can fight my way out of a yoga studio,” he admitted, sassily.

Gene punished him.

He turned on the plug, and stared into the man’s eyes so he knew what he was thinking.

“Can you now?” he asked.

Honestly, Ethan wasn’t sure. He couldn’t put a thought together. All he wanted to do was straddle the man’s lap, and enjoy what happened after. He was nearly to his breaking point, and it was almost too much.

He was in overload, and he didn’t have much left before he began making up safe words left and right.

From where she sat, Sasha raised her hand. She was up for helping, and they seemed to have so much fun.

“I actually do yoga and like it. Want me to go with you?”

Now, Greyson laughed.

“NO,” he said, stopping that then and there. “Gabe will kick my ass if he knows I let the ME out in the field. You wouldn’t be the first to try to do that, and it never ends well,” Greyson added.

She pouted.

“But it sounds like fun.”

And Greyson didn’t care.

Not on his watch.

If she was a trained field agent, he’d be fine with it, but not as an ME. What was she going to do? Slap someone with a colon?

Gene pointed out the obvious.

“I got shot at today. We don’t know by whom. It isn’t fun. It’s dangerous, and most of the time, we question our sanity and why we do it. Greyson is right. You’re not going to be in the field.”

Still, she tried.

“I mean, I can play spy,” she admitted.

And still, they all shook their heads.

She sighed.

“Fine, I’ll stay in the office. Bah humbug.”

Now that the ME realized she wasn’t playing spy to help in a yoga studio, they could continue.

Greyson went there.

“Well, then, it looks like you have a plan for tomorrow. Maybe we should be going so you can get a good night’s sleep and recover from that gunshot.”

Oh, Ethan wanted that.

Unfortunately, for him, Gene wasn’t done playing, and the man’s night wasn’t over.

Oh, they went over the case, but he was going to stall so the man was even wilder.

“Actually, how about some Christmas cookies? My mom sent me some for the holidays since I’m not going home.”

Greyson smiled.

“I love Christmas cookies.”

“And wine,” Sasha said, holding up her empty glass to celebrate being done with work.

It appeared they were going to wind down and socialize together.

That worked for him.

Not so much for the man next to him. In fact, Ethan was all stirred up, and had no way to vent off some sexual tension.

Oh, when they switched roles, he was screwed, and he couldn’t wait.

“Babe, go grab the cookies,” Gene said, turning off the plug to give him a moment to function, “and I’ll refill the wine.”

Ethan stared at him, and Gene’s eyes flashed with amusement and mischievousness.

“Sure, BABE.”

Gene waited as he walked away, and when he was in the kitchen, he hit that button, cranking it to the highest setting.

They heard the top of the tin hit the floor.

“Here,” he said to Greyson. “You pour. I’ll go check on him. That sounded like something fell. I’ll also grab another bottle.”

Greyson took the wine and did just that.

When Gene went into the kitchen, Ethan was leaning on the counter, breathing heavily. When he looked over at him, Gene’s heart kicked.

He looked wild and feral.

Like a Native in the woods.

“Hey,” he began, but Ethan moved at him so fast, dropping to his knees, ripping open Gene’s pants, and pulling his dick out.

To devour it.

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

Someone was out of control, and he liked him like that.

“Come on, Daddy’s little cum slut. Milk me. If you make me cum, I’ll turn it down,” he whispered, as Ethan was hungrily blowing him. “If you can’t get me to cum, it stays on this level until you beg me to fuck you on the coffee table.”

That was all Ethan had to hear.

He went to work.

Gene moaned low, and already, his hips we moving as the man gave him one hell of a sloppy, dirty blowjob.

“You want more wine?” Greyson called.

“YEAH!” he shouted back. “Pour both of us some. We’re just cleaning up some spillage.”

Cum spillage.

Fuck.

Yeah.

From his knees, Ethan couldn’t stop. He craved this man for doing this to his body and making him feel like a million fingers were touching him.

He wanted relief, and then, he didn’t.

He’d never felt so awake and alive.

And trained.

His head bobbed, and he swallowed Gene deep down his throat, trying to get him to cum for him.

“Oh, Tala,” he whispered. “Catch that cum and show Daddy,” he ordered, as the man had his balls in a death grip to make him explode.

With one last tug, Gene couldn’t hold out. He’d been horny, and needed this.

Ethan on the other hand was about to suffer.

MORE.

Ethan caught his cum, and nearly choked when it almost came out his nose.

“Show me,” Gene whispered.

When Ethan opened his mouth, he indeed has all of his cum there.

“You’re my dirty little cum slut, aren’t you?”

Ethan moaned.

“Swallow,” he ordered, and he did.

When Gene pulled him up to his feet, he whispered in his ear.

“I’m not turning it down. You didn’t ask permission to suck my cock. Now, we have some fun,” he whispered, taking the remote, and removing the battery. “Later, you’ll be over my knee for being a bad Tala.”

Then, he handed it to Ethan.

“It’s going to be a long night, Tala. Know that you’re mine, now.”

When he zipped up and walked away with the tin of cookies, Ethan wanted to weep.

Now, he had to lowkey figure out how to get rid of their company.

Before he died from pleasure overload.

Chapter Sixteen

Eight P.M.

Corbin’s Home

Not Far Away

Oh, Corbin got lucky. He had just enough time to pick up a sushi platter, grab some wine, and get it into the freezer to get cold—fast. Then, he was able to jump in the shower, manscape, and get his bedding changed.

Yeah, he was assuming they were having sex, but when you picked up someone, with the intent of wining and dining them, you had to make sure all your bases were covered.

If they didn’t, he was fine with that, but he knew he wouldn’t be good with it if he didn’t clean up his nest.

Truth be told, Corbin changed his sheets monthly, but it had been a while since he changed them for a man.

Way.

Too.

Long.

It kind of made him giddy and nervous at the same time.

As he was stressing out, and straightening up, he was thinking about all of the things Gene and Ethan told him he needed to do.

So he pulled out the napkin with the list, and began doing them.

What did he have to lose?

It wasn’t like he was knocking this out of the park on his own.

So, he lit some candles, set up the table, and put on some low Christmas music on the stereo.

Thank God his mother came over and set up some Christmas decorations, so he didn’t look like Ebenezer Scrooge—pre-ghost of Christmas yet to come, living alone.

Going into his bedroom, he pulled on a pair of dress pants, tucked his shirt into them, and spritzed all of the man places with some cologne.

That might be overkill, but it was in case he sealed the deal, and he had a lawyer with his head in his lap.

He stared at himself in the mirror, and prayed it was going to be enough.

That was going to be seen.

He guessed.

That’s when he heard someone at his door knocking, and he knew it was now or never. As an alpha male, and cop, he could handle anything. As a gay man, he always had that lingering fear.

People like him were pulled into alleys and killed for their sexual orientation.

It was terrifying.

Well, let’s hope this didn’t end with him in the morgue. This was, after all, his home.

Yep.

Here went EVERYTHING.

Heading toward the door, he opened it, and standing there was a very sexy man.

It was clear he went home and changed too because he wasn’t wearing the same thing he had been sporting earlier. In fact, they thought alike.

He was in a very similar outfit.

Gay man couture.

Apparently.

“Hey, Will,” he said, opening the door and giving him his best smile. “Come on in,” he added as he kept the list of things to do in the back of his head.

If they didn’t work, he knew it was him, and not his man-catching game.

“Let me assist you with your coat,” he offered, helping him slip it from his body.

And he checked out his ass.

God.

It looked good in his dress pants.

“Thank you, Corbin,” he said, smiling. “Nice place you have here,” he offered. “I just live three blocks over on Spruce.”

He hung up his coat.

“Do you? We’re almost neighbors,” he admitted. “And thanks about the apartment. Honestly, I’m rarely here. You know how it is. People can’t stop killing people in this damn city. I work a lot of overtime.”

William laughed.

Yeah, he did too.

Honestly, he’d been nervous coming over. He didn’t often do something impetuous like this, but when he and Alice talked, and he knew her from when she was a cop, he was compelled.

“That’s what we call job security,” he admitted. “It pays the student loans,” he joked.

Corbin laughed.

“I guess you’re right,” he admitted, except he didn’t have student loans. He went right from the police academy to the street, and then to being a detective.

Thanks, Alice.

Keeping to the playbook, he knew that he was supposed to dote on the man.

“You look really handsome,” he said, complimenting him.

The man actually blushed.

Yeah, he was sexy.

He had dark hair, green eyes, and a really great smile that was perfect.

Yep.

He was definitely an attorney.

Now that Corbin’s nerves had settled down, he was feeling this.

“Thank you,” William said.

He kept the date going.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” he asked. “I have it chilling in the freezer.”

The man really wanted wine.

Badly.

He was nervous.

“Absolutely.”

He went to the freezer and pulled out a bottle of perfectly chilled white wine. Then, he led William into the dining room where he had dinner set up for them.

“I hope white is okay,” he said. “The guy at the sushi place looked horrified when I said I was buying red.”

He laughed.

“I can never get that straight,” William admitted. “I pretty much stick to the basics when it comes to booze. I like tequila. It makes the clothes come off.”

Oh, holy fuck.

The man was flirting with him.

Corbin knew he had to be smooth.

“Now, I want to risk my life by driving to the liquor store for tequila. Consider me intrigued. Maybe for date two?” he asked.

The man smiled.

“I’ll bring a bottle, or we can have it at my place.”

Hot.

Damn.

In that moment, Corbin knew his drought was over. Someone found him attractive.

Trying not to be a geek, Corbin poured, and then handed him a glass. When he filled his, he focused on the man.

Gene said make it all about him, and so far, that seemed to be working.

“To dinner and drinks,” Corbin said, clinking his glass off of his. “And maybe dessert.”

William blushed.

“Funny. I brought dessert,” he admitted, and since he hadn’t been carrying any…

Corbin got the picture.

He.

Was.

Getting.

Lucky.

He held out his hand, and walked him around the table to a chair, and pulled it out for him. When he sat, he pushed it in, and was a gentleman.

“We can talk over sushi,” he said, moving around the table to sit down so they could begin their date.

Besides, he loved looking at him.

William was perfect.

“I’d love that,” Will said, when Corbin handed him a pair of chopsticks.

William took them and smiled.

“I love sushi.”

Corbin took a breath and followed the rules.

“Me too. I probably eat it way too much. When you can walk in, and the fish is already on the table…”

William laughed.

“Exactly.”

They each had a piece, and sipped some wine.

“So, tell me about you, William,” he said, “or do you prefer a different name?”

He was honest.

“I hate Billy, but I like Will.”

Well, then, he knew what he needed to do.

“Will it is,” he said.

Will sipped his wine to calm his nerves. The man across from him looked so handsome. From his brown hair to his brilliant baby blue eyes, he was definitely his type.

He was the boy next door.

“Well, you know that I’m a lawyer. I went to Yale, and then, came home to Philly to law school and never left,” he admitted.

“Yale, huh? Someone’s smart. That’s sexy in a man,” he admitted.

God.

He hoped so.

For Will, sexy was that this man was a cop. The way he carried himself…it was a turn-on. He hoped he was just as manly in bed.

Will didn’t do bar pickups. You never knew what you would get.

Mainly, syphilis.

HIV.

Murdered.

“I guess I’m smart enough,” he admitted. “I did manage to get you to invite me over for dinner.”

Corbin laughed, and it was whiskey warm. It sent chills across Will’s body.

“It was great that we happened to run into each other. I got lucky today,” he said.

And they’d both be lucky later. Corbin was feeling this date, and already, the libido was on.

This was going to be a good night.

Because Will believed in full disclosure, he went there.

“I have to be completely honest and forthright with you. This was kind of a setup.”

Corbin blinked.

That caught him off guard.

Uh-oh.

Why did that sound incredibly scary and terrifying, that he, a gay man, had just fallen for a setup? It was a bad time to have locked up his gun.

“What do you mean?” he asked, putting his glass down, and bracing for anything.

Honestly, his hopes began dropping.

This was going to be a bust.

From where he sat, Will was honest.

“I researched you.”

Corbin was now freaked the fuck out.

A stalker?

Will must have seen the look on his face, and he tried to explain it.

“Wait. I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, I saw you in the courthouse three weeks ago. I was working on a trial, and I heard you talking to another attorney.”

So far, he was waiting for the scary part.

“Okay, and?”

“I thought you were handsome, and you are my type. So, when you walked away, I went over to the attorney, who is my friend, and asked who you were.”

Corbin was waiting still.

“He told me that you were Alice’s son. I’d seen you with the two Feds, and overheard you flirting with the one.”

Oh, well, that explained that.

“Yeah, I was there with Ethan and Gene. It was over Javier Hughes,” he said.

The man continued.

“So, I knew that your mother was a cop, and I looked her up. She told me she could help me meet you, so I took the chance.”

Alice was meddling again.

SHOCKER.

Only, Corbin was caught on one thing, and one thing only.

He hunted him down?

After seeing him?

No one had ever done that before. He was intrigued that the man had seen him and wanted to get to know him.

Will wrapped it up.

“So that’s why I was in the pub. She told me you were coming there for lunch, so I stayed so I could meet you.”

Holy.

Shit.

This was new and not really terrifying.

It was kinda sweet that the man put in the effort.

“I didn’t have the nerve to come up to you at the courthouse, and when I didn’t, I regretted it. So I basically stalked you to your parents’ pub. Now you know the truth, and I hope that didn’t just ruin the date. I just don’t like dishonesty.”

He actually laughed.

Will waited and was holding his breath.

“Did that creep you out?” he asked.

Corbin grinned, and the dimple in his cheek was out for the man to see.

“I’m not surprised,” he admitted. “My mother has been trying to get me entangled with someone for a while now. I’m the only child, and if a guy asked about her gay son, you know she was getting involved.”

Will calmed down.

“I believe in building something of value,” he admitted. “You give me a good vibe, and I trust my gut, so I wanted to go with that first. If you want me to go…”

He stopped him.

This was the kind of man he wanted to be with in life.

An honest one.

“Will, I absolutely don’t want you to go. I have to be honest too since we’re taking that route.”

The man waited.

“Those texts? My friend helped me with them. I’m notoriously bad with first dates. They scare the hell out of me, which is saying a lot since I’m a homicide detective. It’s what I wanted to say, but refined and cleaned up. I sometimes babble and make an idiot of myself when someone’s sexy and I’m attracted to them. Case in point, right now. You probably didn’t need to know that last part.”

Will smiled.

“I mean, I guess honesty is good. Are you still scared now?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“No, I’m a little intrigued, and a whole lot turned on by you. That’s the truth, and I hope I don’t screw this up. If I do, give me a second chance. I’m better on second dates.”

MARGINALLY.

Will felt the same.

“Did you mean everything you said in the texts?” he asked, wanting to be sure. He was attracted to the man, and he wanted to see where this led.

“Everything was accurate. I’m a Top, I think you’re incredibly sexy, but there’s something I wasn’t honest about.”

Will was chewing and waiting for the information before he decided to pull off his clothes or bolt for the door. He could buy a new coat tomorrow if he had to leave it behind.

“What?”

Corbin went there.

“I’m not a ‘sleep-around’ kind of a guy. That’s not me. I don’t have a mile-long list of conquests. I believe in quality over quantity.”

Will understood that.

“I can respect that. I don’t have a long list of conquests either. I’m cautious with my job. No one knows I’m gay, and I’d like to keep that private.”

Oh.

Thank.

God.

This was one closet he could stay in a little longer.

“Same,” he said. “The two men I was with are my two best friends in the whole world. I flirt with Ethan all of the time, but mostly to piss off Gene, his partner and boyfriend. In this case, I’m glad you overheard it, so we could have this date.”

Will sipped his wine.

“Me too. I’m having a good time, really,” he admitted. “I know your family knows you’re gay, but my family doesn’t know. I’m just not out yet. You’re lucky that your parents understand. I know my won’t.”

That was sad.

The bottom line was that he was lucky.

Alice and John were insane, but they were good people who loved their son unconditionally. They never treated him differently because he was gay.

In fact, they overcompensated constantly.

That was for damn sure.

Now that they navigated that, it was time.

“Tell me about your job,” Corbin said, eating some sushi as he listened.

“Well, like I said, I went to Yale. Before that, I was in the military right out of school. I did my four years, and got help going to college. I’ve been an attorney now for two years.”

He did the math in his head.

He was at least thirty-one.

That wasn’t too bad.

He was twenty-six.

“Why a prosecutor?” he asked.

The man was honest.

“My dad was a cop. He worked with your mom, and that’s how I knew how to find Alice.”

Oh, boy.

The son of a cop…

Been there.

And was that.

“It’s not fun,” Corbin said. “Cops are a special kind of crazy. Are you sure you want to continue this evening?” he asked, joking.

Will looked him right in the eyes.

“Absolutely. I think you’re sexy,” he said. “I knew the second I saw you in the courthouse that I wanted to get to know you, Corbin.”

Well, shit.

No one ever said that.

He actually looked around, and Will laughed.

“Yeah, you.”

Well, this was a good day in his world. He couldn’t believe he was having a good time tonight with another person who wanted to be with him.

Corbin kept talking, following the playbook.

“What do you like to do other than put people in jail?” Corbin asked. “And for the record, samesies.”

Will swirled his wine.

“I like skiing. I’m a reader. Oh, and don’t laugh at me, but there is one more thing.”

Corbin wouldn’t do that.

Honestly, he liked this man as a person. Will was easy to talk to, and he was sweet.

“What?” he asked.

Will lowered his voice.

“I have a sick obsession with cheesy old horror movies. You know that tacky ass ones that look so fake, but they are so damn funny?”

He grinned.

Oh, he knew what he meant.

“The Blob?”

Will nodded and laughed.

“The Daughter of Blob?” he asked, throwing that out there because he’d seen that one too. “I’m not a bar hopper kind of a guy. I like a night in with popcorn, sushi, and a ridiculous movie.”

Well, holy shit.

Corbin couldn’t believe how lucky he got. The man was smart, funny, and not a pretentious asshole. Will didn’t like bars, and neither did he.

This was a Christmas miracle.

They continued to eat, and when they were finished, Corbin picked up the bottle of wine.

“Sir, would you be interested in joining me on the couch for more libations?”

He grinned.

“I’d love to,” he admitted.

When he held out his hand, Will actually took it, and he led him to the living room. Thank God he had a big, overstuffed couch.

Once there, he put the bottle down, and turned, pulling Will closer to his body. They were pressed together, and eye-to-eye.

“Hey,” Will said, wrapping his arms around Corbin’s waist.

“I just wanted to get this out of the way,” Corbin admitted, kissing him.

He didn’t go hard, but he put enough into it that the man understood what he was leading toward. He could feel Will’s body go lax, and move into him even more. They were twined together, and the man tasted like chardonnay and ginger.

He deepened the kiss, wanting to make sure that he led. Gene said the Top led the way, and he was going to do just that.

When Will moaned, Corbin slowly broke the kiss, the man’s lower lip between his.

“Jesus,” Will whispered. “That kiss.”

Yeah, tell him about it.

Corbin felt it to his toes.

He stared into his eyes, and they were blurry with pleasure.

“I’m going to be upfront and honest,” Corbin admitted, “since we both prefer that.”

Will was against him.

“Please don’t say you want me to go home because you can’t kiss someone like that and send them home.”

Oh, and there it was.

He kissed him again, and this time, he was a little more aggressive, testing out how the man reacted.

And he did.

Corbin was dick-to-dick with the man, so he knew exactly what he was feeling.

Good.

When he broke the kiss, Will’s hand was in his hair, and his was on his ass.

“Baby, it’s bad outside. There’s no cabs to be had out there,” he said, singing along with the song playing.

Then, he went there.

“Want to sleep over?” he asked, hoping that would be a yes.

The man nodded.

“Yes, please,” he said. “I definitely want to sleep over,” he admitted. “And sleep in tomorrow.”

Hell.

Yeah.

He was kissing Gene when he saw him, and if the rest of this worked, he was telling him he was king of the gays.

But first, Corbin knew he had to do the deed.

“I want to take you to bed, and give you so much pleasure,” he admitted.

Will wanted that.

“Please, yes,” he said, as his body reacted to this cop. He was sexy, dominant, and wanted him.

“As a Top, I need to know. Are you really a bottom?” he asked.

Will nodded.

“I’m very much a bottom. I’m very much a bottom in this moment.”

Now, came the one question he knew he had to ask, but was terrified to do it.

“How many times can you cum for me, Will?” he asked.

The man didn’t miss a beat.

“As many as you want me to, Corbin. Just take me to bed, and make me cum.”

Well, holy fuck.

It appeared that Gene and Ethan hadn’t lied, and in fact, they’d helped him figure this out.

Jingle his bells.

He was having sex for Christmas.

“Grab your wine, Will. It’s going to be a long night,” he said, leading him right past the couch and toward the bedroom.

Oh, Will let him lead.

And Corbin knew one thing.

Tonight was going to change everything in his life.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

The Condo

Gene And Ethan’s

Place

Thursday Nine P.M.

They actually had fun.

For the last hour, they ate cookies, talked cop and ME stories, and enjoyed their night.

There was nothing better than hanging out with friends.

And having a few drinks.

It took the edge off of the case for Gene, but certainly not Ethan.

He was sustaining a ridiculous amount of torment for the entire time.

Only, he held his own.

Oh, he was horny, and he was ready to jump out of his own skin, but that was exactly the way that Gene wanted him. In bed, he’d do anything.

And that was what he wanted.

Anything he asked for sexually.

As they finished up the cookies, and three bottles of wine, they knew it was time to wrap it up.

“If you need help tomorrow, I meant what I said,” Greyson admitted. “Call me, and I can ride shotgun, or in your case, I can drive and keep you in the back seat.”

Gene laughed.

“I like being a passenger princess.”

Sasha shrugged.

“I mean, it’s a good life,” she joked.

Greyson was amused.

“I feel used.”

Yeah, no one was buying that. It was crystal clear that he was sleeping with the doctor, and she liked a bossy man.

On top of that, it was easy to see. She was cozied up to him, and looked damn comfortable.

“We appreciate that, Greyson. It’s all going to depend on Corbin. He might be snowed in and getting caught up on some sleep.”

Sex.

They hoped their baby gay was getting laid or doing the laying. Something had to give, and it needed to be his self-imposed abstinence.

“No worries. I’m up early.”

When he got up, he dug his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Sasha.

“Can you head on up? I need to talk to them about files they didn’t submit to me that were due three days ago.”

She laughed.

“Uh-oh. Someone’s in trouble,” she joked.

Then, she hugged the two men, and grabbed her things.

When she walked out, closing the door behind her, the men were confused.

“We aren’t behind in reports,” Gene admitted. “What was that about?”

He sighed.

“I have a problem, and I don’t have anyone to ask about it.”

They sat back down.

“What?” Ethan asked.

“I swear to God, I need you guys not to bust my balls. I’m really confused here. I need advice.”

They didn’t mind.

“What?” Gene asked this time.

Greyson went there.

“Okay, so I’m sleeping with Sasha.”

Clearly.

“And she wouldn’t stay the night with me. She would fuck and run every time for four months.”

So he’d said earlier.

“Then, I got angry. Like really annoyed because she somehow turned it around to make it about me being a coward. I still don’t know how, but she mind fucked me good.”

Ethan lifted a brow.

That didn’t sound good. As someone who mind fucked criminals in interrogation, he would never use it on Gene to get what he wanted.

That was…manipulation.

And alarming.

“Okay, and?”

“So, I got rough.”

Gene paused while drinking his wine.

“Uh, how rough,” he asked.

He shook his head.

“Not THAT rough. Like pleasurable rough. I had my way with her in her office, and I was caveman-y.”

Ethan laughed.

“So Gene all of the time,” he said, knowing the man couldn’t punish him anymore than he was already suffering. His balls were tucked so far up into his body, they might never come out.

“Ha-ha. I’m going to get hella rough in about ten minutes, funny man.”

Greyson laughed.

“Come on. Be serious. I had my way with her, and she liked it. Like a full one-eighty. She was ready to be nonchalant and just keep using my dick, and now, she went the other way. Now, she’s giving off desperation vibes.”

They were confused.

“Okay, and?” Gene asked. “I’m not seeing the issue. A gorgeous woman likes riding your dick while you slap her on the ass and let her collect your cum.”

He shared.

“I’m normally a caveman in bed. I’m as alpha as they alpha. It felt…off. I don’t know why, but it felt weird. It turned me right off. I stopped wanting to get on that train. I’m missing something. It’s like when I was willing to walk away, she wanted it suddenly.”

They both stared at him.

“She let you go cave spelunking, called you daddy, and you are turned off when that’s your normal thing?” Gene asked.

He sighed.

They were preaching to the choir.

“It sounds weird, but I don’t know. Again, I feel…off. Am I just overthinking it?” he asked. “I can’t ask anyone else.”

Gene reassured him.

“Maybe she just needs that kind of a guy to get her really going. Some ladies and guys need a bossy man in bed.”

This time, Ethan said nothing.

Why?

He wanted to get them to bed.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe it’s just me,” he said. “Thanks for letting me talk it out.”

Ethan gave him some advice from the whole ‘mind-fucking’ comment.

“If it feels wrong, Grey, don’t do it. Get off the ride sooner rather than later. You don’t want to make a mess if she’s not the one for you.”

He was honest.

“She’s not. I can already feel it. When we started, I was excited. Now, I’m basically getting my balls drained. She told me she’s leaving in two years, and was willing to walk without batting an eye, and now, she’s willing to sleep in my bed. I’m confused as fuck.”

Gene shrugged.

“Then, that sounds like she was telling you she’s here for a good time. I say have fun. Life is short.”

He sighed.

“You’re right. Maybe I’m just overanalyzing.”

Ethan raised his hand.

“Welcome to my world.”

Because he felt a million times better, he hugged them both, and grabbed his things.

“Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.”

Gene had to go there.

“The bottom line is can you still get it up?” Gene asked. “With her, knowing what you know and feel?”

He nodded.

“Oh, easily.”

Gene shrugged.

“Then have fun. She is. I doubt she’s playing a game if she said she was leaving in two years. That was to your face, so…”

He realized he was right.

“It’s not a game if everyone is playing by the same rules,” Gene admitted. “Right, EJ?” he asked, slapping him on the ass.

It took all he had not to moan but it made his hips jerk, and rubbed his sore and weeping dick against the material of his jeans.

“Yes,” he said.

Greyson appreciated them. It was good to have friends again, and he’d cherish that too.

“Call me tomorrow.”

They could do that.

They walked him to the door, and when he was gone, Ethan was against Gene.

“Please. I’ve been so good tonight. I need you right now, or I’m dying. I need to get us to bed.”

And that was what he wanted to hear.

“Go to our bed, and get ready for me, Tala. You’re about to have a very long night.”

And Ethan ran.

Freaking fast.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Five Minutes

Earlier

In The Elevator

ALONE

Sasha was on her way up to Greyson’s condo, when she remembered something she had to do.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed the number that she’d been given.

When his voice came over the phone, she knew she had to do this.

“I did what you asked,” she said.

He was curious.

“And?” he asked.

“The two men are sleeping together. Ethan and Gene are a couple. Blackhawk is definitely bisexual—his words, not mine. Your suspicions were right.”

There was laughter.

“Thank you for that information. I appreciate your help on this, Sasha.”

She waited.

“Can I go home now?” she asked. “I really don’t want to be here. I’ve been punished enough.”

Yeah, not yet.

He needed eyes on that office.

He had a spy, and he was making sure she stayed put for the time being—or until she blew her cover.

“When I tell you that you can, absolutely. Thank you for calling,” he said, hanging up.

Sasha sighed.

It sucked that she had to do this. It was honestly nothing against the two men.

Really.

She didn’t care about who they had sex with, but if she wanted to get in his good graces, she’d do what he asked.

This was out of her hands.

And she knew it.

Meanwhile…

He sat back in his office chair, and he wasn’t the least bit shocked that he was getting that news about the two men.

Now that he had the intel, it was about doing what he did best.

J. Edgar Hoover had information.

And now, so did Gabriel Rothschild.

When he’d gotten the call from them months ago, dealing with Javier Hughes, and how he was ‘blackmailing’ them, he needed more. It started out just covering their bases, as the FBI.

But then…

He’d been sent the copy of the disc, after the man’s home and work were searched, and he’d intercepted it from his boss.

On it, he saw two men on duty, and two men having sex in a club.

Oral sex.

They’d lied to him, and said they weren’t doing something that would bite him in the ass. Only, this absolutely could bite him in the ass.

The agents were his responsibility, and he’d asked them point blank if it was an act, and they’d said yes.

Clearly, that wasn’t the case.

So, he was going to play the game the same way they were.

SNEAKILY.

As far as he knew, Gabe had the only copy of the disc, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use it to keep the men in line.

Hey…

Sometimes, you had to play dirty for the good of the whole.

For now, he would give these two men enough rope to hang themselves, and hope instead, they used it to wrangle bad guys.

The bottom line was Elizabeth had proved she could work with her man, and get shit done.

Now, Ethan Blackhawk was going to have to prove the same thing.

Or lose his job for lying.

Chapter Seventeen

The Condo

Same Time

Thursday

Evening

It was the best time of the night. It was the time of the day where Gene got to have himself a sexy man in bed. Oh, he’d been waiting for this all day, and now, he was going to get his reward.

And Ethan would get his too.

He’d been hard on him, pushing his limits, but like he suspected, the man held up just fine.

He was strong, and he was definitely open to whatever Gene threw at him.

Which was good because being a Top was a new thing for him too. Normally, he was the very dirty bottom, but with this man, he wanted to show him what was out there.

It was a world of possibilities.

He also wanted to give him a roadmap to his own pleasure. By showing Ethan, he could hope he’d use it all on him.

Because this very dirty bottom liked something in his bottom as much as the next gay man.

When they retired to the bedroom, Gene got there, and Ethan was already on the edge of the bed. He was naked, and he was waiting for him. It was clear that he wanted to be taken care of, and sooner rather than later.

He was breathing heavily, and watching Gene. His erection was swollen and there was precum.

The man had made it through almost three hours of torture, and he had done him proud.

“Please,” he begged. “I need you.”

Gene understood.

Seeing him with those nipple clamps on, and the cock ring, made his mouth water. He wanted to give this man so much pleasure.

Gene began taking off his belt, and the second he did, Ethan wanted it in the worst way. He was so wild after giving his lover two blowjobs, that he really needed more.

He needed all.

“Please,” he begged, his eyes full of need and want. He was barely holding on.

“Tala did really good,” he said, wiggling his fingers to direct him.

Immediately, Ethan dropped to his knees, and went toward him.

Oh, he wasn’t going to be giving him head. Gene had far more plans for the man, and it began now.

Just as he reached him, and reached for his zipper, Gene stopped him.

“Put out your hands.”

At first, it caught him off guard, but he wasn’t going to question it. He trusted his man, and he knew that he’d be rewarded after everything he’d withstood.

Ethan finally understood Gene’s love for being a bottom. That overwhelming need to please the person you adored was there, and he was feeling it.

He wanted to make Gene happy.

He wanted to take care of him physically.

And it was reciprocal.

As he bound his hands with the belt, the tighter it got, the harder Ethan got.

The precum was dripping, and he needed to get off in the worst way.

He was dying.

Pulling him up, he led him to the hook on the bathroom door. When his hands were up over it, Gene knew what he was going to do next.

He went to his knees, and began blowing his man.

For Ethan, it was clear that the torture was not quite over. He had a ring on it, and he wasn’t cumming no matter how much Gene blew or jerked him off.

“Oh, God. I can’t do much more torture,” he admitted, as the plug was still going, and now his lover’s mouth was worshiping his cock.

His body bucked.

It shook.

The whole time, Gene was ruthless.

Just when Ethan was about to beg even more for the torture to stop, his lover stood up, and faced him.

“Please,” he whispered. “Please. I can’t handle much more, Gene. Mercy.”

And there it was.

That was the one way to break the role-playing.

Immediately, the game ended for Gene, and he knew Ethan wouldn’t use his name unless he was really finished and had nothing left.

He grabbed the batteries in his pocket, and put them in the remote that he’d taken from the bed.

There, he shut it off.

And Ethan released a sigh.

“Are you okay?” Gene asked.

Ethan nodded.

“I’m okay. I need a minute. I’m struggling,” he admitted, and that was all his lover had to hear.

Scooping him up, he unhooked his arms, and carried him to their bed. When he placed him on it, he gave him a few minutes to just come down.

The whole time, Gene sat beside him, running his hand up and down his abs to soothe him.

“I’m okay,” he said. “Please don’t be angry at me,” Ethan whispered. “I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

Gene was horrified.

“EJ!” he said.

When Ethan opened his eyes, he stared into Gene’s, and he was honest.

“I’m trying.”

Oh, Jesus.

This went too far, and Gene knew it. He thought Ethan was ready, but he wasn’t. It was clear he was a baby gay too, and he’d dropped him into the deep part of the pool.

With the sharks like him.

It was time to dial it way back—for now.

“Hey,” Gene said, cupping his cheek. “Don’t apologize to me for telling me that it’s too much. That’s how I learn how to give you pleasure. If this is too far, it’s too far. I’m never going to be angry with you, EJ. Ever.”

He was honest.

“I’m learning, and I’m trying. It was just overload—not necessarily too much.”

Gene gave him a soft kiss.

“Like I said, if it’s too much, it’s too much, my love. We can dial it back, and give you a breather.”

Ethan had to make sure.

“And you really aren’t angry or disappointed in me?” he asked.

Gene took his hand and put it over the bump in his pants. He was still hard.

“I’m good with just giving you pleasure, and rolling around in bed together, Ethan. In fact, nothing makes me happier. We pushed your limits, and now, we’re going to have fantastic sex.”

Ethan wanted to believe that.

“I love you, Gene. I’ll get there.”

Gene kissed him softly on the mouth.

“Until you do, think of this as a roadmap to what I like. I gave you a peek into my sexual desires.”

Ethan had really believed Gene was going to be disappointed in him, and that scared him. Now, he could see he’d been wrong about the man.

He was smiling, still horny, and wanting to be with him. Yeah, he had a lot to relearn in his life.

“I can do that,” Ethan offered.

Gene wanted to de-escalate this, so Ethan wouldn’t be damaged by him pushing too far.

So, he began pulling out the plug, and when it popped free, Ethan sighed.

He dropped it on the floor, and saw the man still had a rock-hard erection. Then, he set his hands free. It was time to backtrack.

“Let me take care of you,” Gene said.

Ethan needed that.

He was wound up beyond his comfort zone.

“Yes, please,” he said.

That was all Gene had to hear.

He stood, and pulled off his clothing, so he could get into bed with his man. When he did, he immediately went to his erection to give him some relief.

His man was weeping precum, and Gene knew the second the ring was off, he was cumming.

And he needed to be ready for it.

Putting himself above Ethan, he saw him looking at his chest. He had a bruise forming, but he wasn’t hurting more than if someone punched him.

“I’m good, Baby,” he said, covering him with his body.

“Are you sure?”

Gene grinned.

“Let me prove it,” he offered, and when the man nodded, Gene let love take over.

He found his mouth, and he made love to it, proving there was more than lust and heat between them.

Slowly, he coaxed him into the pleasure with only his lips.

It didn’t take long as Ethan fell deeper into that man’s kiss, and he knew that there was nothing better. Already, he felt so much more alive, and he wasn’t struggling.

Well, he was because he was so hard, but he suspected Gene would handle that.

He’d bet on it.

As Gene broke the kiss, his mouth moved lower down his body, leaving kisses on his collarbone, and to his chest. He lavished attention to the giant tattoo, and the man’s body.

At his nipples, he looked up.

“They’re going to hurt when I remove these,” he said.

Ethan was so sensitized, he knew he was going to cum the second he did.

“Keep the ring on until after you do, or I’m making one hell of a mess.”

“I do love a mess,” Gene admitted, teasing him.

It made Ethan laugh.

“I warned you,” he said, knowing the man was going to have fun either way.

And so was he.

That fear was gone, that overwhelming loss of control was gone, and now, there was just pleasure as his man took care of him.

Carefully, he slipped the cock ring off, and Ethan whimpered.

“Hurry,” he whispered. “I can’t hold on long.”

That’s when Gene pulled both clamps from his super-sensitive nipples, and Ethan shouted in pain, pleasure, and release.

His dick started exploding from the whip of pleasure that rocked his body.

Gene caught most of the cum with his mouth, but like Ethan had said.

He definitely got messy.

When he moaned at the release, Ethan felt a million times better. His body was floating in the pleasure, and his man was already on the move.

“Oh, God, I needed that,” Ethan whispered.

It made Gene laugh.

Slowly, he moved back up his body.

When Ethan opened his eyes, Gene was smiling. That made the night a good one.

“Let me show you,” Gene said, needing his man. He was just as wound up.

Ethan nodded.

That was all he had to do.

Gene wrapped his arms around him, and found his mouth again. They began rolling across the bed, until they reached the other side. When they did, Gene’s hands were in Ethan’s hair, and he was kissing him like his life depended on it.

Because it did.

Someone moaned, and they kept moving. It was when Ethan ended up on top that Gene broke the kiss.

“I love these moments with you,” Ethan admitted. “You’ve taught me so much about myself and my pleasure.”

Gene stared up at him. The man was straddling his lap, and his dick was pressed to Ethan’s ass. He could feel his balls and that warmth.

“I only want you to be happy,” Gene admitted.

“I am, my love. I am,” he admitted. “Now, let me show you how you make me feel,” he said.

Now that Ethan had cum, the edge was off. Oh, he was still horny, but now, he could focus, and he wanted to make sure his man was good.

That was the bottom line.

“Yes, please, EJ,” he whispered.

That was all he had to hear. He laid over him, and found his mouth with his. Now, this time, he controlled the kiss.

And it was wild.

It whipped Gene’s libido into a wild storm, and he had to hold on for dear life.

The man could kiss.

God.

Boy, but did he have such a wicked mouth on him? Gene hoped he always kissed him just like this.

It overtook him, and he fought to keep his head above water with that wicked mating of mouths.

It was the kiss and the way Ethan moved his body, writhing against him.

He shook, overwhelmed with the need that was rising up in him for this man. It was something unquenchable, and out of control.

And Gene loved it.

When the mating of mouths was broken, Ethan began kissing his way down his body, enjoying the brush of Gene’s chest hair against his sensitive nipples.

It made his dick so hard all over again, and even though he’d just cum once, he wanted more.

He wanted his ass.

“Oh, God,” Gene whispered, as Ethan was doing wicked things with his hand on the man’s erection, and his nipples at the same time.

His body bucked when he gave his balls a squeeze.

“Please,” he begged. “More.”

Oh, Ethan was far from done.

He was back in control, and he was driving the bus now. It was when he grabbed the belt that Gene had pulled from his hands, and made the leather snap, that Gene whimpered.

“Yes, please,” he said, willing to be this man’s playground for the night.

They flipped so seamlessly, and that was exactly what he’d meant when he told Corbin you had to have a partner who could do that.

Or it was a mess.

When Ethan held out the belt, Gene knew what he wanted.

His hands.

He held them out, desperately wanting to be the one tied to the bed. Truth be told, he was glad Ethan halted the game.

Now, he could shut off his brain, and let his man give him so much pleasure.

When Gene’s hands were bound, and he had no chance of escape, he picked up the nipple clamps that the man had used on him.

Gene whimpered, and his dick went even harder.

His partner wasn’t gentle.

He clamped his nipples, and with each one, Gene bucked in delicious pain.

He loved it.

His dick was leaking precum, and he was in his happy place, but Ethan knew that. He’d given him the playbook to his pleasure by showing him exactly what he craved.

Without another word, Ethan picked up the butt plug, that Gene had removed, and he shoved Gene’s thighs apart.

The man moaned.

“God. Please. Shove it in me.”

And he did.

The plug was pushed roughly into him, and now, someone was in the exact same position he’d been in before.

Tala was gone, and Mr. Blackhawk was back.

Getting up from the bed, he picked up the remote. When he turned it on, it went right to high.

Gene’s body bucked.

“Oh, fuck!” he shouted, his hips moving inadvertently, as he humped the air in desperation. His dick was getting harder.

Someone was getting his punishment back.

“Don’t cum, Gene,” he warned.

That was easier said than done, truthfully. The man was struggling to hold on, but if his Top said not to cum, he wasn’t cumming.

“Please,” he whispered.

Ethan ran his fingers over the man’s new tattoo, and he smiled. Yeah, he was in a good place.

Slowly, he stroked Gene’s erection, and his whole body shook.

“Oh, God. NO!” he begged. “I’ll cum. You’ll make me cum.”

Well, he had news for him.

That was the plan.

Climbing up his body, he placed his dick by his lips so the man could give him head.

“Come on, Gene. Blow me, and don’t cum or I’m punishing you for tonight.”

He wanted that.

God.

He wanted that in the worst way. The switch was flipped, and he was in dirty bottom mode.

He opened his mouth, and the face fucking was rough, just the way he liked it.

Truthfully.

Ethan choked him on cock.

The whole time, Gene sucked and tried to keep from coming, but it wasn’t easy.

“Fuck,” Ethan whispered, as his own balls were about to revolt, and he was about to cum down his man’s throat.

He shook.

“I’m cumming,” Ethan muttered, his hands braced on the headboard as he shoved his dick all of the way down his lover’s throat, gagging him.

It was the hot wave of cum that choked him.

“Oh, God, so good,” Ethan whispered, as the man beneath him couldn’t hold on anymore.

He disobeyed his Top. It was just too much overloading him without that safety net of the cock ring.

He came a wave of cum, splashing across Ethan’s back and ass.

That had Ethan’s attention as Gene shook from his unallowed release.

“Oh, Gene, you disobeyed,” he stated.

Pulling his erection from his lips, the man whimpered as the vibrating dick kept him hard.

“Punish me,” Gene begged, wanting it so damn bad. “Please punish me. It’s been too long,” he admitted, as his body was rocked with a wave of pleasure.

Ethan wanted to give the man what he craved.

So, he planned on that.

Heading over to his drawer of fun toys, he rifled through it. They each had one where they bought kinky things, and this one was his to use on Gene.

When he pulled out what he’d purchased, Gene came again just from the plug in his ass, and the fact that Ethan was going to use that toy on him.

“Fuck!” he shouted, as more cum escaped him.

Ethan tsked him.

“Oh, Gene, you came again. Now, I think we’re going to have to make sure you’re balls are so drained dry, you’re dehydrated for a week.”

He whimpered.

“Please,” he begged.

“Call me by my name,” he said.

That was all he had to ask.

“Mr. Blackhawk, punish me,” he begged. “Teach me a lesson.”

That he could do.

And would do.

Opening the remote, he dumped out the older batteries. He wanted these to last a few hours.

Gene watched, and knew he was fucked.

This was very reminiscent of the trip they took to the motel, and he was loving it.

After replacing the batteries, he opened the package and held up the ball gag. Only, it wasn’t a small ball. It was penis shaped, and fairly big.

“I’m going to go take a shower, clean up the condo, and go to bed. You’re going to be cumming all night, and I want to be able to sleep, so you need something in your mouth.”

Gene moaned.

He knew that penis gag would be brutal. He knew that he’d suffer unimaginably.

God.

He was fucking horny.

Ethan continued as he held the rubber cock in his hand that would be down Gene’s throat, shortly.

“You’re my cum slut tonight for torturing me all day long. When I’m in the mood, I’ll fill your ass with my cum. Until then, you’re going to cum to pay for today—especially while we had company.”

Gene’s body bucked, and he came again at his man’s whiskey warm words of sexual debauchery.

Gene loved a cock down his throat, and being helpless…

Sign.

Him.

Up.

“Oh, fuck!” he shouted, as he came so hard his body shook.

That shout was for the last time.

When his mouth was open, Ethan shoved the dildo shaped gag into his mouth, and his eyes went wide. He was choking on cock.

And he loved it.

His mate locked it in place, and he gagged so much that his eyes watered. Only, he had to adjust to it fast, or he was screwed.

Pulling on his nipple clamps, Gene’s body bucked, and he was unable to make a sound. He was only able to stare up at Ethan, and pray for more sadism.

There would never be enough.

“Can you breathe?” he asked, making sure.

The man nodded.

Well, that was damn good.

“Are you horny?”

Gene slowly nodded, not as easily as before because there was a rubber dick down his throat.

Perfect.

“Now, don’t go anywhere.”

Well, for fuck’s sake, he wouldn’t go anywhere if he could. This was the kind of fuckery that he loved.

Craved.

Desired.

This man was perfect for him.

As Ethan walked away, he enjoyed the way his man looked, bound to the bed.

“Oh, I forgot,” he said, going to his dresser, and pulling out a polaroid camera.

Gene’s body was rocked with so much pleasure. The idea that his man was going to take pictures of him like this, drove him wild.

He was always careful, but because he trusted Ethan more than his own life, he enjoyed the wickedness of this.

“I’ll just keep these for myself,” he said, straddling his thighs and taking picture after picture.

Gene was so turned on.

“Oh, and we’ll play a little game,” he said, dropping the pictures all around him. “If you ever try to leave, the world will see these.”

And Gene came.

It was the hardest he’d ever come in his whole life, and that was no exaggeration. His sexy Top had found a kink, and it hit him hard.

Fuck.

This was a new one. No one had ever gone there with him, and it was wild and exactly the perversion Gene needed.

“Do you understand, Mr. Cantrell?” he asked.

The man tried to moan, but it came out garbled.

Ethan needed to know.

“Hold up one finger if you want me to stop. Two fingers if you want more.”

Immediately, he held up two, his eyes begging as they met Ethan’s.

“Did I nail it? Do you want the blackmail fantasy?” he asked.

He slowly, carefully, nodded his head.

Nailed it.

Going to his drawer, he pulled out a belt. This time, he made the leather crack, and at the sound, Gene’s dick jumped. It was when he let it land across the man’s thighs, that he came.

His hips were making circles as his cum jetted out of him and splashed all over his chest.

And his eyes rolled up into his head from the pleasure.

Ethan had lived through his torture, and knew Gene wanted him to go further. He wanted him to punish him like he’d tormented him.

So.

Be.

It.

After taking a few more pictures, he placed them all around his head, so he could see them developing and they would be his own personal porn.

Well, Ethan’s.

The man’s erection was still hard, and he knew exactly how many times he could cum.

His balls weren’t empty yet.

Going to Gene’s drawer of tricks, Ethan pulled out the cock ring that vibrated.

The man whimpered, but it was barely audible.

“Cum for me, Gene. Cum for me until the battery dies,” he stated, and then went into the bathroom to shower and clean up.

The man was left alone, and he loved it.

All around him, he was able to see himself from Ethan’s point of view. He was able to see the way cum coated his chest, and he was bound to the bed like the man’s whore.

God.

He loved him.

And would forever.

When he focused on the ball gag in the one picture, his body was on overload from his ass vibrating, his dick aching, and how Ethan was going to make him wait until the batteries died.

He’d be empty by morning, and so goddamn compliant as a bottom.

As he couldn’t fight it, he came again, and the pleasure overload was so much that his toes curled. Crisscrossing his body, he had goosebumps.

Time had no meaning, since all he could focus on was that vibrating in his ass, the ring on his dick, and the gag in his mouth.

He wasn’t sure how long Ethan was gone, but when he came back in, he was wearing a towel, and it was tented in the front.

Someone was just as turned on.

“God. You’re sexy when you’re covered in cum,” Ethan admitted, enjoying how tormented he was. “This is payback. Oh, and don’t think I’m not going to torment you the next time we have people over.”

He slowly nodded, wanting that.

Gene loved being this man’s cum slut. He watched him, helpless, and at his mercy—right where he liked to be.

“I think you need more,” he admitted.

He let the towel drop, and stroked his dick while standing beside the bed.

Gene wanted to beg for it.

But he couldn’t speak.

“I’ll just add some of my own to your cum,” he admitted, jerking off. “I’d fuck your ass, but I don’t want you to have a second of relief.”

He struggled to moan, and he couldn’t help but love him. Ethan understood him, and his pleasure.

Gene watched, and he wanted this man’s cum all over him. He wanted to feel that heat kiss his skin more than anything.

The bound man’s hips were jerking, and Ethan knew what that felt like.

Picking up the camera, he took another picture, so that it would be immortalized when he came.

“Fuck, Gene,” Ethan whispered as he was so damn close. “What have you done to me?” he asked, as his balls tightened up into his body. “I love torturing you,” he said, and lost control.

He came, and he jerked off all over the man, painting him with his cum. In the process, he managed to get the mother of all cum shots on film.

In it, Gene’s eyes were back up in his head, and he was cumming again, with him.

The whole time, Ethan knew he wasn’t done. He told his very dirty bottom what his punishment would be, and now, what he learned being punished himself, was that you followed through.

Pulling on boxers, he was going to go clean up the living room, but he’d keep an eye on the man.

Just in case.

Placing that deliciously wicked picture by Gene’s head, he let the man watch as it developed.

“I’m going to put all of these in a big photo album,” he said. “A coffee table book, if you will. So when we have company, if they open it, they’ll see what you like.”

That did it.

He came again.

It was getting harder to empty his balls, but he knew with this sadism, he’d dry cum so many times before he was finished with him.

Yeah, Ethan nailed that.

It was time.

“Be a good cum slut, and cover your chest for me.”

Oh, he would.

The man could bet on that.

When Ethan left, Gene was in his glory. This was one of his biggest fantasies. It was his kink. He loved being forced to cum over and over again, and Ethan knew it. There was something deliciously wicked thinking that someone would see these pictures as he blackmailed him.

Gene braced for the next hour of torture, and hoped it never ended.

He loved this kink so damn much.

Time went by, and the whole time, he came, suffered, and felt more pleasure than should be humanly allowed. With each orgasm, his body demanded more, and Gene was helpless to stop it.

Honestly, he couldn’t remember how many times he exploded when his partner finally came back.

“Someone is messy,” he admitted, running his finger through some of his cum.

Gene moaned.

“Do you want me to stop?” Ethan asked him.

Gene shook his head and tried to speak.

When the gag was removed, Gene got the words out, even as he was fighting an orgasm.

“Fuck no! Please. I didn’t know I needed this. More. Do more! I want more!” he begged, and came again, his whole body shuddering with that release.

Well, then, he was getting that.

Truth be told, he was incredibly turned on by the power he had. He was incredibly aroused by how this man would let him use anything on him.

It was the same when he did it to him.

“Oh, fuck! My balls,” he whispered, as they ached from so many releases. That in itself was torture. “I can’t cum anymore,” he admitted.

Oh, well, he’d be the judge of that. Ethan was pretty sure he could make him cum again.

He made that leather crack, and the man moaned. Taking the belt, he put it around his neck, and used it to trap him to the headboard.

“Tell me when it’s uncomfortably tight, but not choking you,” he said.

He adjusted it.

“More,” he begged.

Ethan went to another hole on the belt.

“More,” he whispered. “Please. Give me more!”

And he did.

“Fuck!” Gene said, his body being pushed to the limits, and he loved it. “Please! Give me that cock back. Punish me!”

Because his job was to pleasure the man, and keep him safe, he gave him what he craved.

He put the gag back, and moved between his thighs to give himself some pleasure too.

“I’m going to use your ass until I’m satisfied.”

Gene’s body shook involuntarily.

When Ethan pulled down the front of his boxers, and pulled his dick out, Gene moaned and nodded. He wanted to be fucked in the worst way.

Pulling out the plug, Ethan took his ass.

HARD.

He fucked him harder than he’d ever fucked him before, and the whole time, he enjoyed when Gene was cumming.

When he clenched down on his dick with his ass muscles, it tore Ethan from the edge, and he came again, filling him.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, bracing himself over the bound Gene.

The man was helpless.

And he liked him that way.

Slowly pulling out, he went to Gene’s drawer, and found the minty lube that he’d tortured him with the whole night.

Gene’s eyes went huge.

“Keep my cum in your ass, Gene. If it’s all gone in the morning, you have a problem. If you wake me with your movements, you’ll be punished for that too.”

Then, he gasped with the gag in his mouth as Ethan dripped it onto his ass. With his fingers, he made sure to get it all over his tight puckered hole.

Inside it too.

The man closed his eyes, as he was rocked with that sensation too.

This was the most torture he’d ever been subjected to, and he loved it. It was layer after layer of torment. He couldn’t talk. He could barely breathe. His dick was abused by the amount of cum he’d shot all over himself. His nipples were on fire, and his balls ached. Now, his ass was on fire.

If he lost a single drop of cum, he’d be disappointed in himself.

And then, when he saw the plug coming back into play, lubed up with the mint lube, Gene knew he was fucked.

There was no way he’d win this round.

When Ethan slipped that vibrating butt plug into his ass, he shuddered with release.

And moaned.

There was no way he was going to be able to keep the cum in his ass now, and Ethan knew it. There was also no way he was going to be able to not move and keep him awake tonight.

He was fucked.

As Ethan went to wash up, Gene was left alone to question everything.

Oh, he made some good choices to end up here.

It was when Ethan came out of the bathroom, and gathered up all of the pictures of him in compromising positions that he wanted to be this man’s cum slut for the rest of his life.

“I’ll just put these away where you can’t get them. I hope I don’t lose them, and some stranger finds them,” he said.

Gene exploded again, his whole body bucking from the sensation overwhelming him.

“I wouldn’t wake me up if I were you,” he warned, disappearing into the closet. When he came out, he didn’t have the photos.

This was so hot.

Gene was in his glory.

Ethan headed toward the bathroom and left the light on inside of it, so Gene would be able to see his body and think about what he’d done.

Then, he turned out the other lights, and climbed into bed.

Gene was above the blankets, so Ethan was able to tuck himself into a corner of the bed, and get comfy.

The whole time, he could hear his lover whimpering as he fought not to cum and move the bed.

“Good night, my dirty cum slut,” he said.

Gene had never been happier in his whole life.

This was the most torture he’d ever been given, and it didn’t compare to anyone else. Ethan had proved that he was a Top by nature.

Next to his man, Ethan pretended to sleep.

The whole time, Gene was being tortured and he couldn’t help but smile.

As for his cum slut, that torture was reciprocal. It went on for hours.

Finally, Ethan was drifting off to sleep, and his man was still battling for control.

Oh, Gene was going to be sore in the morning.

And no doubt, he’d still want more.

Now, Ethan was kinda sad he’d pulled the plug on Gene torturing him.

It looked like all kinds of fun.

If by fun, you meant cumming most of the night, and having no control of your body.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Across Town

A Different Bedroom

When his friends told him to find out how many times Will could cum, and then meet it, he’d taken that to heart.

He’d gotten the man off with his mouth, his dick, and his hand. Then, he went right back to start and did it all over again.

He bent him over, let him ride his dick, and took him in every position possible.

Will had cum so many times that they had to take a water break at one point.

But then, they were right back at it. They began kissing, and before he knew it, Will was begging for more.

Oh, and Corbin did his friends proud. His dick hurt, and his jaw was screaming, but the man beside him…

Satiated.

At that very moment, Will was out cold, and Corbin was grinning like an idiot.

Gene had been right.

There was a way to get a man like Ethan, and it wasn’t with corny pickup lines. It was with oral gratification, and a very energetic cock.

Will was going to be walking funny in the morning, and Corbin was damn proud of himself.

The only part he regretted?

Will asked if he had toys, and he didn’t. Oh, but he would before the weekend was out if he had to ask Santa for some.

Apparently, Gene and Ethan were right about that too. His very dirty bottom couldn’t get enough kink, and that was fine by him. Before he’d cringe at sex toys, but when Will was so happy and excited about their sex, he wanted to go along for that ride.

He wanted to make him happy because he did that for him.

Yeah, he’d cum so much that he knew he was on Santa’s naughty list for sure.

As he watched the man passed out in his bed, he was infinitely giddy.

He.

Got.

Laid.

Not only had he gotten laid, but he’d also set the groundwork for a relationship that he was excited about.

It looked like he owed Alice one.

God.

She was going to be insufferable.

Well, he’d cross that crazy bridge when he came to it. Tonight, he was going to get some sleep, and enjoy the fact that Will was sleeping at his place.

Corbin found his bottom.

The Christmas miracles kept coming for him, and honestly, he deserved every single one.

Chapter Eighteen

Christmas Eve

Friday

Early Morning

When Blackhawk woke up, Gene was asleep beside him. At some point in the middle of the night, Ethan had set him free so he could catch at least five hours of sleep. That seemed like a good thing to do.

You know…since they were working on a case.

The man had been covered in cum, and a sticky mess—just the way they liked to be.

Now, he was breathing peacefully, lying on his back, and Ethan was thinking about the tattoo on his ribs.

That was one hell of a gift.

Ethan was going to have to reciprocate. That was for damn sure.

“I can feel you staring at me,” Gene muttered.

It made Ethan laugh.

“I was checking out my man’s body.”

He slowly turned his head, and the grin said it all. He was happily sexed, and completely satiated.

Gene had cum so much, he was pretty sure he was done for the week.

Nah.

Who was he kidding?

Give him some electrolytes and he’d be back on his game before long.

“How do you feel?” Ethan asked him.

He giggled.

“I feel so goddamn good. I had a great night. I hope you did too.”

Oh, Ethan did.

He cuddled against his bear, and nuzzled him.

“It was a good night. Thank you for not being upset with me.”

He kissed him on the forehead.

“Baby, it takes time to be as proficient a pervert as I am.”

That amused him.

“Well, I appreciate it.”

Gene had news for him.

“I’m never going to say no to swapping with you. I love it when you torment me. You’re my kink, Ethan Jackson Blackhawk. Remember what we told Corbin? That if you find your perfect match, you’ll switch for him? You’re my perfect match. I’ll go Top or bottom any day for you.”

Ethan loved that about him, and he was absolutely right.

“Can we try again another time?” he asked. “I want to learn and be able to experience everything with you.”

Gene palmed his cheek.

“I’ll never say no to that either. I do have a question though,” he stated.

He waited.

“Those pictures…”

Blackhawk laughed sadistically.

“Oh, don’t you worry about them, Gene. They are safe, but they will be used at a later date in one of our perverted little games.”

Hot.

Damn.

Now, he was even more giddy. Someone was the perfect Top for him, and Gene couldn’t get enough.

Now, as they were lying in bed, Ethan was comfy and content.

That was until his phone rang.

It was his work phone, not his personal one. That one was off and in his drawer.

Picking it up, he expected to see Corbin’s number, but instead, he saw a familiar one.

And his heart skipped.

Oh, Jesus.

“I have to take this,” he said, taking the phone and walking out of the room without another word.

When he left, Gene stared after him.

The mood switch said only one thing.

This was going to be personal.

Ethan’s family.

Gene would bet on it.

Meanwhile…

In the living room, standing there buck-ass naked, and staring out at the snow that was coming down, Ethan answered.

The second he heard the voice, there was that wave of pain.

“It’s me,” Callen said.

Ethan suspected it was something bad. It was four in the morning in Damascus, and no one was up at that time for shits and giggles.

Let alone his brother.

“Hey,” he finally got out, his body shaking from a chill, but not from the temperature in the condo.

Ethan was scared.

Only, he knew he needed to face his fears. He needed to take whatever anger was directed at him. He, after all, had ditched his brother in NOLA, and he deserved it.

That Ethan wasn’t this Ethan.

He’d changed thanks to learning how to love.

“Is everything okay?” Ethan asked.

Callen knew this could go either way. He’d been up all-night thinking about what Timothy had said.

It was true.

He could either give Ethan the wood to build the bridge back, or he could never have a relationship with Ethan again.

After that, he’d realized that he was jealous of his brother.

Ethan had gotten away from the rez, and he hadn’t.

He was strong enough to escape, and he had a career that he loved. On top of that, he was in a relationship.

It was all of the things that Callen couldn’t seem to find, and it made him envious.

And that was wrong.

Timothy had been absolutely right. Ethan had protected him more times than he could remember.

That jealousy was unfair, and he was holding that against Ethan too, and that wasn’t him. That wasn’t the man he strived to be, especially since he was the reason the man left in the first place.

So, he tried to give him the wood to rebuild the bridge home—for Ethan’s sake, not his.

He put his brother first.

If it was meant to be, it was meant to be, but Callen knew he didn’t want to take the same path Ethan took.

It was a lonely brutal one—as he’d seen the last year.

When Callen didn’t answer him, Ethan was panicking.

“Is Granddad okay?” Ethan asked, hoping the old man wasn’t sick. It was selfish of him, but he wasn’t ready to go home yet.

He wasn’t strong enough.

On top of that, he and Callen were at odds. That would mean a collision of mass proportions that even the Shaman couldn’t contain.

His brother went there.

“He’s his wily old self,” he admitted. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m calling you.”

Ethan was worried.

“It’s early there. Are you okay?” he asked, concern in his voice.

Callen heard the worry, and it told him one thing.

Under all that rage, Ethan did love him. He did care about him, or he wouldn’t have answered his phone—despite the void between them.

“I’m good. I have to work the next two days, and I wanted to make this call before the holiday,” he admitted, going there. “Thank you for the Christmas present,” Callen said. “It’s really nice.”

It took a second for Ethan to calm down. His heart was thumping in his chest.

Only, it didn’t slow.

Ethan was still scared. He hadn’t been sure if his brother would even accept the gift. Yes, he gave him a motorcycle, but with their relationship, one never knew.

That was his fault.

He’d become that man, and was making Callen into the same monster.

“Oh, okay. I hope it fits. I had to try it on and guestimate. I thought it would look nice with your bike and boots.”

Callen had to get this off his chest. It was eating him alive.

“I forgive you,” Callen said, out of the blue.

It caught Ethan off guard.

“CJ.”

Only, Callen stopped him. He needed to say this, so they could both begin healing.

“I know you’re going through some shit. I know you’re finding your way home. When you can come back, come back. I know what we have is going to take a long time to repair, but you should come see Granddad. He misses you, and he loves you.”

He was aware.

“Okay.”

Callen kept going.

“In fact, I love you too. I’m going to always love you, Ethan. You were my first love, in a way. I’ll keep the home fires burning for you, so you’ll have a way to find your path back to us.”

His heart kicked again.

He knew he didn’t deserve that, and he knew he feared going back.

Home was a deep dark mire, and it changed people. It changed him.

Callen wasn’t done.

“I’ll keep everything going here, Ethan. You don’t have to worry about Wyler or Timothy. I have this. Just be safe, and don’t get hurt. If you’re ever in the area, stop in. I’d like to see my brother again. Even if it’s to start the process to fix us. Maybe we can take a ride again, and we can at least be civil.”

Ethan was honest.

“When I left, I wasn’t the same person,” he finally said.

“I know. Granddad said that you’re seeing someone, and I’m happy for you. I hope you’re happy.”

Why wasn’t he shocked the old man knew?

“I am incredibly happy.”

Callen had to hold out to hope that one day, he’d be happy like his brother.

“Then, that’s the first step to finding yourself,” Callen stated, willing to give him time.

Because this was Callen, and he remembered all of their moments where they’d be honest and share secrets, he went there.

“I’m afraid to come home,” Ethan finally said out loud.

And Callen knew why.

So, he gave his brother a Christmas present too.

“If you come home, I’ll let you leave again. I won’t guilt you, or manipulate you into staying. I won’t break you or force you. I promise, EJ, that I won’t beg you to stay. I’ll let you leave. I’ll just be your brother because I’m not the selfish seventeen-year-old I once was. I’m different, too, Ethan. I’ve grown into me, and I won’t ever put my needs above yours again.”

That was his big fear.

If one person could make him leave everything he wanted in the world, it was his brother.

With his promise…

He knew Callen would keep it.

“Thank you for that, Callen.”

There was only one thing left.

“Merry Christmas, EJ. I love you, and I’ll always love you. When you’re ready to love me back, just punch me in the face already so we can forgive and move on. That’s how I’ll know we’re done feuding. That’s how I’ll know we’re going to be okay.”

That amused him.

That was such a Callen answer.

“I will. Because I owe you one,” Ethan said. “And I’m not pulling it. I’m going to lay you out, and I don’t care who sees it.”

He laughed.

And that was his brother.

His Ethan.

Yeah, this would be their secret agreement, and honestly, Callen couldn’t wait for that day to happen. He’d never wanted a punch to the face more in all of his life.

“Oh, and stop changing your number, EJ. You’re annoying the goddamn Shaman, and I’m stuck here babysitting him and our sperm donor. When he’s spicy, he’s up in my business.”

That was something he understood, and was grateful it wasn’t his job.

“I love you, CJ. Thank you for this gift. One day, I’ll come home for good. I promise. I can’t now. I have to be here.”

He understood that.

They all had their path to redemption and happiness, and they each had to take it themselves. When the journey began, it had to be finished.

To.

The.

End.

“Tell Granddad I love him,” Ethan said. “Be safe, CJ. I’ll see you when I can.”

“I know, EJ. See you then.”

At the same time, they both hung up.

When he was left with the silence, Ethan stood there, staring at the snow falling outside the window, and he didn’t know how long he was there.

It was when he felt the hand on his shoulder that he looked over.

And Gene was worried.

Ethan had tears on his cheeks, and already, he was preparing to call Corbin, and hand his case back to him if they had to fly out.

Because he would.

In a heartbeat.

“What is it? Is someone sick? Dead?” he asked, fully expecting to hear the man’s grandfather had passed away.

Ethan was honest since this was his partner in life. He shared because he was safe, and knew Gene would protect him.

“That was my brother. He called to tell me he forgave me for leaving him behind in NOLA, and Merry Christmas. He got the riding jacket that we picked out for him.”

Gene stood there.

This was always a tricky situation for him. Ethan had boundaries that he didn’t want crossed, and you never knew when one would pop up.

“I’m glad he liked it. It was a really nice jacket.”

Ethan was honest.

“I miss him,” Ethan said outright. “I really miss seeing him, Gene. There are these invisible ties that bind me to him, and they can’t be cut. They pull at me all the time.”

That opened the door, and Gene knew he wanted to talk about it.

“When will you forgive him for betraying you?” he asked.

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

“Someday. I’ll know when I’m ready,” he admitted. Then, he stared into the man’s eyes. “If we’re ever out there…” he began.

Gene knew what he needed.

“I’ll go home with you, and I’ll make sure we leave together. I won’t let you stay. I’ll bring you back if you’re not strong enough to do it yourself.”

And that was exactly the right answer he needed from the person he trusted more than anything with his heart.

The tears came.

They came hard too.

In that moment, Gene opened his arms and gave Ethan what he needed.

Someone to just hold him.

A place to hide.

Because he knew if the roles were reversed, Ethan would hold him too.

Until the end of time.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Corbin’s Home

Same Time

It was when his work alarm went off that Corbin stirred from sleep.

When he finally opened his eyes, he felt like there was someone watching him.

Because there was.

The man he’d slept with was in bed with him, and he was watching him with those sexy green eyes.

“Hey,” Corbin said, stretching.

Will grinned at him.

“I was waiting for you to wake up,” he admitted, moving closer to find his mouth, and kiss him.

The kiss told Corbin all he needed to know.

He’d nailed it.

Oh, he’d made the man cum so many times, he deserved one hell of an award.

Or a standing ovation.

His hips were sore, his dick ached, but the man in bed with him was well sexed, and that had been his mission.

He could mark that off of his list so that now he could build something that mattered.

When Will broke the kiss, he had his fingers wrapped around Corbin’s morning wood.

The man moaned.

Oh, Jesus.

How could either of them want more?

Apparently, they did.

“Last night was pretty spectacular,” Will admitted. “You’re a beast in bed.”

He laughed.

Oh, well, they had Gene and Ethan to thank for that. Apparently, the two men had been a million times right about doing the work to keep the man interested.

“Oh, shit,” Corbin muttered.

The second he thought about the two Feds, he realized…

He had to work.

“What?” Will asked, curiously.

This sucked.

“I have to work today,” he said.

The man looked infinitely disappointed and that killed the mood in the room.

Then.

And.

There.

“Oh, then, I should go,” Will said, releasing his dick, and going to get out of bed.

Corbin began panicking. Even to him, that sounded like he was blowing the man off when that wasn’t the case. He legitimately had to work, and he only hoped Gene had been serious about giving him some time this morning.

“Wait,” he said, grabbing his arm.

Will did what he asked and looked back over at him.

Grabbing his phone, Corbin hit speed dial, and waited for the man to answer.

“Cantrell.”

Thank.

Freaking.

God.

“Gene, it’s me, Corby. Can you guys survive without me for a few hours?” he asked. “Something came up, and I need to get it taken care of this morning,” he said, knowing the man would figure out what he meant.

He was insane like that.

Immediately, Gene laughed.

“Are we on speaker?” he asked.

Corbin was careful.

“No.”

Well, then, he could speak freely.

“Did you do everything you were supposed to last night, and now, the man wants more?” he asked, going there because he had a sneaking suspicion that was it.

“Uh-huh,” he said, keeping it neutral.

Corbin could consider this his Christmas present. They’d handle the case that morning so he could get laid some more.

“Then stay in that bed, fuck him stupid, and catch up with us later. Greyson said he’d drive us around. We’re covered. You’re good.”

Will was watching.

“Bless you, wise old man who I owe a huge-ass favor to, once more.”

Gene laughed.

Why?

Because he wasn’t that much older than him. He just had more experience. There was a difference.

“Go, Corbin, but now, you’re absolutely telling us all about it later. That’s your punishment for not seeing this coming. See you around lunchtime.”

That worked for him.

“Thanks, Gene. For everything.”

The man just laughed more, and hung up.

When Corbin did the same, he pulled Will back into bed and against his body.

“It looks like I’m free until lunch when I have to meet them for interviews. Let’s finish up what we were beginning.”

Will was surprised he did that.

“You’re not going to work?” he asked, curious as to why he would skip it. At first, he didn’t believe he had work, but now that he called his friend in the FBI, he knew he did.

He was honest.

“I passed the case off to the FBI yesterday. I’m just assisting. They’re my best friends, and they know I had a date last night. They’ll cover me for a few hours, and then, I’ll meet them for lunch and an update before we hit more interviews this afternoon. I can micromanage my time, and honestly, there’s something I’d rather be doing than work.”

He grinned.

“So, breakfast in bed?” he asked. “Me being breakfast?” Will asked, needing more of this man.

Last night had been ridiculous. The man took care of every single one of his needs in bed, and then some. It was rare to find someone who did that.

Normally, it was one and done.

Corbin Price was a man of many actions.

When Corbin thought about what he wanted to dine on in bed, this man was at the top of his list.

Oh.

Fuck.

Yes.

Now, he understood why Ethan was all over Gene, and vice versa.

Once you reached this pinnacle, you didn’t want anything less than earthshattering orgasms.

“Oh, I definitely want what’s on the menu,” Corbin said, pulling him down, and rolling with him. They were pressed together, and Corbin had every intention of repeating the previous night.

He was just starting his path down the man’s body when he heard it.

Only, before he could react, the worst thing in the whole world that could possibly happen, exploded around him.

He.

Had.

Company.

His door flew open, and there stood Alice holding two brown bags.

“What the actual fuck?” Corbin asked, rolling off the man, and pulling the sheet up over their junk.

Without any qualms, Alice strolled in, and she was amused as hell.

“Did someone order breakfast?” she asked, handing each man a bag.

“MOM!” Corbin said, horrified that his mother was in his bedroom, and he had a man with him.

A sexy man.

An eligible man.

A man that was running after this.

To make it worse, she sat on the edge of the bed, like she owned the place.

She didn’t, which made it all kinds of embarrassing for Corbin. He was betting Will’s parents didn’t do shit like this.

Or Gene’s.

Or Ethan’s.

Alice shrugged.

“I was in the neighborhood, and wanted to check on you after your date. Hey, Will.”

The man actually laughed.

“Hey, Alice,” he said, amused.

Corbin was staring with his mouth open.

“This has to be a nightmare,” he admitted. “There is no fucking way my mother just walked into my bedroom, in MY house, and is sitting on the bed I’m using with a sexy man.”

That gave Will a warm fuzzy feeling.

He thought he was sexy.

Honestly, Corbin had nothing to worry about. Will was kind of jealous. If his parents came in and caught him in bed with a man, they’d kill him.

Probably literally.

Alice ignored her son. If he thought she wasn’t going to investigate a man who was sleeping with her ONLY child…he was insane.

She wanted to make sure her baby was good, even if she set him up with the guy.

“I brought you each some hashbrowns, and a bagel sandwich. The roads are shit, so we aren’t going to Scranton for the holidays. It looks like we’re spending it together after all,” she admitted.

Corbin couldn’t believe this.

Then, it got worse when John walked in with coffees in a cardboard carrier.

“Hey, guys. Coffee?” he asked, like this wasn’t the most absurd thing in the whole world.

Why couldn’t he have parents with shame?

Or a sense of decorum?

Jesus.

This was horrifying.

Corbin put a pillow over his head and prayed the house would collapse on him.

“Someone kill me. This is my worst nightmare. I’m in bed with a hot man, and my parents walk into the room.”

Will took the coffee.

Why not?

Corbin was flushed red, and his erection was absolutely gone. The tenting had left the building, but he was still incredibly sexy.

And with last night’s sex, he’d pretty much forgive any sin, not that this freaked him out. It wasn’t like Alice didn’t know his intent.

He told her he was attracted to her son, and she’d not even flinched. Instead, she hyped Corbin up. That was the kind of person you wanted in your corner.

Corbin was lucky.

“So, whatcha doing?” Alice asked, busting her son’s balls because she could.

Will said nothing, but it was clear that he was amused. Alice knew that was the best characteristic to have in a partner.

“Well, MOTHER, we were in the privacy of MY DAMN HOME!”

Both of them laughed.

It was funny how this boy forgot all of the times that he kicked in their door and interrupted them when they were having a moment.

Parental payback was the sweetest.

“So are we doing something for Christmas?” she asked, ignoring him. “I mean, you’re doing someone for Christmas, but I meant more for dinner.”

Corbin moved the pillow off of his face.

“Alice, I swear to God. Get out of my goddamn house before I call the police and tell them I shot an intruder!”

She raised her hands in surrender.

“Okay! I get it. Don’t ask about dinner when you’re clearly having breakfast.”

Corbin moaned in pain.

They were trying to kill him.

For months, it was ‘get laid’, and when he was in the process, they were there to stop that.

Because she’d had her fun, Alice leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Call us later when you don’t have your hands full,” she joked, winking at Will.

The two of them left the room, but she peeked back in to warn him.

“Corby, you should probably lock your doors at night,” she said. “It wasn’t locked, and I assumed that meant you weren’t naked with a man. You’re a cop. You know better to lock your doors.”

Corbin was dying.

“MOM!”

She closed the door when her son threw a pillow at her.

As soon as she was gone, he went into clean-up mode—which was common when Alice was around, Now, he had to try to salvage what had just train wrecked in his life.

“I am so goddamn sorry,” Corbin said. “They are menaces on a good day, but on any day that’s near me, it’s always my nightmare.”

Will smiled and reassured him.

“Relax. I like your mother, and I kind of think it’s sexy that you have the kind of relationship with them that you do. If my parents thought I was fucking a man…”

Corbin was still embarrassed.

“They have no filter. I don’t know how I ended up with one.”

Will kissed him.

It was soft, it was sweet, and it said, ‘this morning isn’t over’, and that shocked the shit out of Corbin.

When he broke the kiss, he was curious.

“If you’re not busy for Christmas, I’m available,” Will said. “I wouldn’t mind spending time with Alice and John.”

Corbin stared at him.

“I’m sorry, but did you just say you didn’t mind dealing with the menaces that just left?”

He laughed.

“I like them.”

Well, shit.

Corbin didn’t know how this worked out, but it did—somehow.

When he didn’t answer, Will went there.

“Do you let everyone call you Corby?” he inquired. “Asking for someone who thinks he’d like to call you that too.”

He lifted a brow.

This was all befuddling.

Gene was right about last night, his parents didn’t make Will want to run, and this man actually liked having sex with him.

This was shocking for him.

Thank you, almost newborn baby Jesus.

“And nothing that just happened has turned you completely off and made you want to run from me?” he asked before answering that.

“Nope. They brought breakfast. That’s handy. Where can I get me an Alice?”

He covered his mouth with his hand.

“Don’t. She’ll spawn. The world doesn’t need that, and I know I certainly don’t either!”

That amused Will, and made him laugh. This man was funny, and he was raised by decent, good people. He had a close family, and he had friends who had his back. That said more about him than his performance in bed.

Oh, don’t get him wrong, that had been spectacular, but he liked a well-rounded guy.

Not just sex.

Moving his hand from his mouth, he straddled his lap, and put his coffee on the nightstand.

“I meant it,” he said, rubbing against him.

Well, look at that.

His erection was back.

“You can call me whatever the hell you want,” he admitted. “If that spectacle didn’t make you want to run, I’m calling it my lucky day.”

Will smiled.

“You haven’t gotten lucky yet, but let’s see what we can do about that.”

And the man didn’t lie.

Corbin got lucky.

A.

LOT.

Despite his parents and their antics, they might have just helped him out.

Who would have seen that coming?

Not him.

That’s for damn sure.

Chapter Nineteen

Morning Interviews

Race Against The Clock

Christmas Eve Day

Luckily for them, they’d planned ahead, and had backup for a moment like this. Honestly, they wanted Corbin to take the morning, and enjoy his time. Everyone needed to get laid once in a while.

God knew they were.

It might chill Corbin out, and get him from thinking work was all that mattered.

It wasn’t.

Yes, they were working stiffs, and had bills to pay, but honestly, life had to be more. There needed to be love, happiness, and some fun every now and again.

So, when they called Greyson, and he told them Sasha had just left to head to the office, he was ready to saddle up and help them out.

They had a full day, and the clock was ticking. The roads were shit, and with Christmas Eve upon them, they knew there was very little time to get this handled.

If they had to shut down tomorrow to wait until after the holiday, that would give them only Sunday to catch this killer before they were handed their own case.

Gabe would be back in the office, and he wasn’t going to take it easy on them.

He never did.

That he wasn’t meddling in their work was astounding enough. They just figured he was busy.

As they were in the car, and heading to their first stop, Maggie’s home, to see if she also was seeing the same shrink, Greyson was quiet.

This didn’t bode well, especially since he wasn’t smiling.

He’d gotten the lady to sleep over, and now, he seemed just as perplexed.

So Gene went there.

“Okay, spill it, Croft. You have a sour puss, and there’s no way you should. She slept over. Didn’t it work out?”

He sighed as he navigated the shit, non-plowed roads to get them to the address.

“She was all over me.”

Gene looked at Ethan.

He’d never been with a woman, but he was pretty sure that it was the same with a man. You kinda needed them all over you.

That was the point.

“And you didn’t want her to be?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know why, but I suddenly don’t like her.”

There.

He said it.

They both stared at him.

“You don’t like her?” Gene asked. “You practically begged Ethan not to date her so you could get rid of your blue balls, and now, you suddenly don’t want that anymore?”

He didn’t know how to explain it.

“Maybe I phrased that wrong. I don’t like her like THAT. She’s off. I can feel it. I’m a good judge of character, and when I’m with her, I get this vibe. I don’t trust her.”

“But you’ll fuck her?” Ethan asked. “Is that the wisest thing?”

Greyson laughed.

“I know. I’m a dick. It was that switch. She was cold then she went hot. It felt like she had me on a leash, and when she saw I was pulling away, she switched tactics. I can’t explain it more than that.”

They didn’t get it.

“So what are you going to do?” Gene asked.

That was simple.

“I’m going to keep fucking her until I figure out what the hell is going on.”

They both laughed.

“Har-har,” he said. “I’m a man. I didn’t say I was a good man. What would you do?” Greyson asked.

Gene shrugged.

“I’d do the same thing. The curiosity of what was going on would keep me going until I solved it.”

Ethan shrugged.

“Same.”

Well, at least Greyson wasn’t the only idiot in the group. There was something wonky about that XY chromosome that made a man do stupid shit that was likely going to bite him in the ass at some point.

“Don’t knock her up,” Gene said.

He laughed.

“She’s on birth control, and trust me, I pull out as many times as I don’t. How could that go wrong?”

Ethan shook his head in amusement.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s going to catch up to you. We have this bed troll back on the reservation,” he began, sharing a personal part of his life.

That told Gene all he needed to know about how Ethan felt about Greyson.

He trusted him.

“She bed hopped with everyone to get pregnant. She particularly liked my gene pool. I have no clue why, but she tried to get pregnant by me, and when that didn’t work, she slept with my brother…”

“OOF,” Greyson said. “Your brother? He broke the cardinal rule? He slept with his brother’s babe?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, that caused some shit,” he stated. “When I spoke to my grandfather a few weeks ago, he mentioned she tried to sleep with my father too.”

Holy shit.

“Yikes,” Greyson said.

Ethan continued.

“Anyway, my grandfather always told us one thing, and beat it into our heads.”

“And that was?” Greyson asked.

He went there.

“Wear a condom. Simple, yet effective.”

Yeah, Greyson was going to start doing that. Honestly, he didn’t need an accident with a person he wasn’t ever going to be in love with.

That was bad.

He’d bag up.

Just.

In.

Case.

The last thing he wanted was child support, and a child with a woman he didn’t trust.

“Thanks for letting me talk it out,” he said, grateful to have friends again.

Gene didn’t mind.

“Thanks for driving us around so we can lay low. I don’t want to get shot again today.”

Amen to that.

Before anyone could say anything else, Ethan pointed.

“That’s the fourth victim’s home,” he admitted. “We’re here.”

It appeared it was time to get the party started. They needed something that tied Maggie to the first victim, or to the shrink. Without something, this case was going to be difficult to unravel.

Getting out, it was quiet in the neighborhood. There was no media around, and that was likely because of the weather.

Mother Nature was on their side.

Apparently.

As they headed up to the house, this time, Lester Danyelle wasn’t there. Hopefully, he was at home, healing from his loss.

Opening the door, they headed into the woman’s home, and gloved up. Granted, the techs had already done their thing, but they still had protocols to deal with that needed to be followed.

“We all know what we’re looking for,” Gene said. “Her desk is in her bedroom, and we’ll split up.”

They got down to work.

Greyson handled the living room, checking for any papers, or information that might give them something while Ethan and Gene took the bedroom.

They searched for a while, and it was when Ethan found a receipt that they knew they had a connection.

“Got it,” he said, after rifling through a pile of receipts from all over the place.

At his shout, Gene and Greyson headed his way.

When he pointed to the ledger, and a few dates, Gene knew they’d found the connection.

“She saw the same doctor, regularly,” he said. “Carlyne Ballman.”

Ethan nodded.

“So we have three victims somehow tied to this doctor, but not the first victim.”

Greyson went there.

“What if you missed something?” he asked. “That’s always a possibility. I’m not accusing, but just saying.”

Honestly, they didn’t take it personally.

Greyson was the Devil’s advocate more often than not. That was kind of his job at the office.

He was known for it.

“We might have,” Gene admitted. “Or more likely, Jack Venst lied to us, and there was trouble in paradise. Most relationships have bumpy moments. He might be trying to protect his dead girlfriend’s memory, and he doesn’t realize that makes it harder for us.”

That could be.

Gene glanced over at his partner.

“You said you thought this might be a woman, but we can also tie Jack to the second victim. He’s a cop. I don’t doubt he’s come face-to-face with the lawyer, and he did go to the club and break up a fight.”

Ethan considered it.

“I could be wrong, but I really think this is going to be a woman with some gun skills. Someone taught her to shoot, or she grew up handling a gun. While Jack has gun skills, this whole thing leads me to believe the woman wouldn’t be able to move the victims. It’s how it feels.”

Greyson listened to them.

“So who is your leading suspect if it’s a woman?” Greyson asked.

Ethan ticked them off.

“Belle Kalberer, the personal assistant to the lawyer. She set up the appointment with this doctor. BUT, and it’s a big BUT, we have to look at the doctor. Maybe we have one of those people who picks the victims that way.”

Greyson sat down, and opened his laptop that he’d pulled from his bag.

They began searching the doctor.

“Carlyne Ballman, marriage specialist, and therapist,” he said, searching her. He was running a search through the FBI database also.

Oh, and IRS one too.

They gave him a few minutes, and finally, he was ready to share what he had.

“She’s from the West Coast. Seattle. She grew up there, and moved here about two years ago.”

Ethan was curious.

“Any similar homicides in that area?” he asked. “Like she could have killed someone and bailed?”

He looked.

It didn’t take long for him to come up with one single, solitary homicide with a similar MO.

“We have a woman killed in her bed, a gunshot to the head, and it was with a nine-millimeter,” he said, showing them the news article. “It’s unsolved and a cold case.”

Ethan tapped it.

“Any more?”

He shook his head.

“No.”

Greyson looked at the dates.

“The doctor started her practice here around the same time,” he stated.

They were aware.

Only, they’d have to prove it or it was simply a coincidence and juries hated those.

“We’re going to need to talk to her,” he said, “and get her patient records.”

Oh, they knew that was going to be a fun time. They’d need a warrant, and it was Christmas Eve.

“I’ll get the warrant,” Greyson said. “I know a few judges. I’ll see what I can do. It’s going to be close.”

They were aware.

The big question now was, did they have a doctor of death, killing cheaters?

Or was there something more going on?

It looked like they needed to find out.

Today.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Diner

Eight A.M.

Regrouping

Because they needed to get the warrants sent in, Greyson needed some space to work and make some calls, so they opted to grab some breakfast at a diner that’s open all day and night.

As he was working his magic, getting their legal end tied up in pretty bows, Gene and Ethan needed to keep going. They couldn’t put all their eggs in that basket.

What if it wasn’t tied to the doctor?

They did still have a set of yoga instructors who were tied to two of the victims too.

Now, it was about going through the suspects, and crossing them off as they went.

In fact, Ethan had made a list of the potential killers on the paper placemat, and they were staring at it.

Patrick Gressman

Belle Kalberer

Perri Farrah

Carrie Farrah

Lester Danyelle

Doctor Carlyne Ballman

Jack Venst

Kit Reagan

The Yoga Siblings

It was time to talk them out, trying to see if any of them could be eliminated off the top.

Yes, Ethan said it was a woman, but Gene wasn’t willing to lean into that when they had a lot of men in this criminal kiddie pool of fun.

“So why the lawyer?” Gene asked, as Ethan got ready to explain his thought process.

“When a spouse dies, the husband is always on the suspect list,” he said, eating some of his waffles. “Plus, we know he visited Puss in Boots, and was getting his rocks off with a stripper.”

That was true.

“But we can’t tie him to the other two victims except by speculation that he might have known Venst.”

Gene reminded him.

“He had appendicitis, and had it out,” he added. “So we might be able to tie him to Dorris in the ER.”

Yeah, his partner was right, but that was one hell of a longshot.

They’d never get a warrant for his client records.

EVER.

“As for Belle Kalberer, she’s there because the husband is banging her, and she was the one who took the pictures to frame the wife…that puts her on the list. That’s a whole lot of ‘if I can’t have him, no one can’,” Ethan admitted.

Gene agreed.

“For all we know, she sat outside the doctor’s office, watched other couples come and go, and followed them home to bury the killing in some chaos.”

Greyson overheard him.

“I had a case like that. The killer watched random people leave to frame the doctor. He almost got locked up.”

Ethan pointed.

“See?”

It was logical—well, as logical as it could be in their world.

He had a point.

“Next?” Gene asked.

Ethan moved down the list.

“We know it wasn’t Perri Farrah,” Ethan said, pointing to that woman’s name next. “She was inside when someone took a shot at you,” Ethan admitted.

Gene again played Devil’s advocate.

“IF that wasn’t Javier’s goon. We don’t know yet. We can’t say it’s connected to our case.”

He was right.

Unfortunately for them, that was loose ends.

Blackhawk kept going.

“Perri worked in the same hospital, but we can’t tie her to anyone else.”

On that, he was accurate.

“BUT…her sister, Carrie, really hated the woman. You could see the venom dripping when she spoke about Francesca.”

That was also true, and why she was on the list.

“Anyone with that much hate is automatically on a list somewhere. Why not ours?” Blackhawk asked.

Gene laughed as he was eating his bacon.

Even Greyson was amused.

“Your mind is very interesting, Ethan,” Greyson joked.

Yeah, well, welcome to his world of crazy. His brain did its own thing most of the time. He was along for the ride, helplessly.

He moved on.

“Next up, we have Lester Danyelle. He’s on the list because he didn’t realize his woman was sleeping around—or did he? He’s tied to Kit Reagan, who is also on the list. She stripped with Maggie, and then worked with Lester. We don’t know that she didn’t spill the beans, and again, Maggie is tied to the lawyer and the cop.”

Holy shit, but this was a twisted-up web of crazy.

So as not to interrupt, they let Ethan talk.

“I get that Lester is in mourning, but he simply could be a good actor. He’s on there, again, because he’s the ‘spouse’ or ‘boyfriend’ of a victim. Just like with Patrick Gressman and Jack Venst. Until we can clear them, they are on the list.”

No one argued that.

“Jack is also on there because we can tie him to at least two of the victims, if not more. His girlfriend, and Maggie to start, but we also know that his girlfriend worked with Perri at the same hospital. He could have known her, or seen her with her girlfriend. Again, this could be a coverup and a way to hide the real intent.”

It all made sense in that twisted criminal logic kind of a way.

Unfortunately for them, that made it more difficult. It didn’t give them a way to eliminate anyone from the list.

Which sucked.

Ethan continued.

“We have the shrinky-dink next. Carlyne Ballman saw three of the couples in some way, and you found that evidence of a killing in Seattle. She’s on the list until we interview her. It’s hella suspicious that she’s tied to the victims through psychology.”

Greyson weighed in.

“I once read an article that said people went into psychology to heal their own craziness.”

Ethan laughed.

“I can attest to that. No one knows a crazy person better than another crazy person.”

Gene thought about who was left on their list, and it was two more people they’d yet to interview.

“You have the siblings on there too. What are you thinking?” he asked.

That he did.

Ethan shared.

“We have the Acero yoga siblings who own the business. Caprice slept with the brother, and Francesca said the female pressured her into sex.”

Greyson laughed.

“Yeah, I’m sure she held her down and clit licked her until she submitted. If it walks like a cheater, and acts like a cheater, it’s a cheater.”

On that, they agreed.

“So we have to talk to them, and the doctor.”

Pulling out his phone, as he ate his breakfast, Greyson looked up and called the yoga studio.

He talked for a few minutes, and then hung up.

“The very bubbly secretary, Eveline, said they have holiday classes today until four in the afternoon, and that I should come get my jingle on. She also said they have a class in forty minutes.”

Gene didn’t mince words.

“Yeah, that sounds like absolute misery. Sweating in a class with a bunch of granola-munching hipsters. Weee,” he said, eating more of his bacon.

Ethan just shook his head.

“What time is the doctor’s office open?” he asked.

It was Gene’s turn. He made the call, and it didn’t take him long to get the answer.

“They just opened, and they are closing by two after her last appointment, or so says the secretary.”

Ethan looked at his watch.

“We’re going to have to head to the yoga place, and one of us is going to be doing yoga.”

“NOT IT!” blurted Greyson, with Gene right behind him.

Ethan just laughed.

He knew he was going anyway, and that was why he brought workout clothing in the car. He probably should have skipped the waffles though. Hopefully, this didn’t make him nauseous as he sweated his balls off.

“Funny,” he said. “I hope you’re as holly jolly when the rapist siblings are hitting on me,” he said to Gene.

That did one thing.

Gene stopped laughing.

“Hey now. I don’t like that at all. I don’t want anyone hitting on my man, let alone sibling rapists.”

That amused Ethan.

Of course, he didn’t, but it was the only way. Ethan had to get their attention, and he knew how. He was going to be half naked and whipping out his grin.

“I also hope you don’t get your undies in a bunch when I have to flirt.”

Gene gasped.

Then, he pushed his plate away.

“Well, now, I’m not hungry or amused anymore,” he stated.

Yeah, he didn’t think so.

“Check please,” Gene said, raising his hand, as the other two men were getting their giggle on.

Gene wasn’t.

Why did he think that this little trip to the yoga place was going to give him indigestion?

Oh, because it probably was.

He could bet on it.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Friday

Nine Thirty A.M.

Yoga Class

From their spot in the parking lot, they watched Ethan walking down the street. They’d dropped him off, and left him behind to go get a spot not far from the business.

To watch.

The whole time, Gene was a mess.

He was anxious, irritated, and stirred up like a hurricane heading into the port.

To say the least, using Ethan as bait riled him up.

“You have to calm down,” Greyson admitted. “You’re making me twitchy, and that takes a lot. I was a sniper.”

Gene didn’t care.

“Well, I hope you can shoot through glass and save my partner. He gets his ass into some shit,” he admitted. “Remember Javier Hughes?”

Who didn’t?

He was still a problem.

The FBI was lowkey watching the man, in hopes he’d do something stupid. They couldn’t violate his rights, but they could put him on Greyson’s personal watch list.

Well, it was Gabe’s, it was off the record, and for good reason.

“I could with the right gun, but we’ll just have to rush in and save him,” he stated.

Again, Gene wasn’t liking any of this.

When Gene’s phone chimed, he pulled it from his pocket.

It was a text from his man.

‘I’m heading in. Stay calm, and don’t annoy Greyson. I can hear you from here. I can handle myself with two yoga instructors.’

Oh, he was a funny, funny man, and he knew that because Greyson was laughing at his comment as he read over his shoulder.

“He’s on his way,” Gene said, and that’s when he spotted his man down the street.

He was carrying a duffle bag, and he was smiling. When he looked right at their ride, Gene sighed.

“He’s trouble,” he admitted.

Greyson laughed.

“You’ve got it bad.”

Oh, well, that was an understatement.

“I’d marry him if our boss wasn’t an asshole, and the fact that he would break us up if he knew. I’m stupid in love with that man.”

Greyson was curious.

“What’s it feel like?” he asked. “Not the gay sex part,” he joked.

That caught Gene off guard, and he snorted.

“Once you go ass, you never go back,” he teased.

Greyson would have to take his word for that. He liked ass as much as the next man, but he liked women’s asses. He was a traditionalist like that.

Gene shared.

“It feels so good to have your other half. The problems just fall away. I really never thought I’d get a man like him. He’s amazing.”

Greyson patted him on the back.

“Well, one day, when you get to marry him, invite me. I’ll be there with bells on.”

Gene grinned.

“Deal. Oh, and thank you for not being a homophobic dickwad.”

Greyson shrugged.

“Listen, if you like dick, you like dick. I like breasts, personally, and they get me in a shit ton of trouble. Case in point is my upper brain is telling me to run from Sasha, but my lower brain also likes ass.”

He laughed.

It looked like they were in the same boat.

Crazy about trouble.

Meanwhile…

Blackhawk headed into the yoga studio, and at the front desk, he got ready to work.

In his pocket, he had his phone, and he was using a little trick he and Gene liked to use.

He called his partner before walking in, and they were connected.

So he’d have backup.

At the front desk, he smiled.

“Hey! I heard you have a beginner’s class in yoga this morning,” he admitted. “Are there any openings?” he asked.

The woman smiled.

“Sure! I’m Eveline. You are right on time. We have a class starting in five minutes. Do you need to go change?”

He grinned at her.

“No, I have my gear on under my clothes.”

She pointed.

“You’ll go right through those doors, and the class is in there.”

Ethan paid the fee, got the receipt, and realized something.

“Thanks,” he said, as he headed away. “Gene,” he whispered, knowing he’d hear him. “I saw a similar receipt at Maggie’s place. She took yoga here,” he whispered. “She’s connected to this place too. That’s three out of four,” he added.

He wouldn’t be able to hear Gene reply, but he knew the man would hear him.

At the door, he went in, and the room was ungodly hot—thus, hot yoga.

It was filled with men and women, and they were in the skimpiest of things. He had running shorts on under his sweats, and he’d be getting down to them shortly.

Only, before he could, a woman and man headed his way. They were twins, and they looked alike.

They were also holding hands.

Uh, okay.

“Hey, I’m Maire, and this is my brother, Andrew. Welcome to Acero Hot Yoga.”

She was smiling at Ethan a little too brightly and so was her brother.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

Uh-oh.

Maybe Francesca hadn’t been making shit up when she said she was prey.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m Ethan.”

The woman waved her arm.

“Since you’re new here, we’ll help you through the class. We’ll be on each side of you,” she said, winking at him.

“Thanks,” he offered, knowing that was more for her benefit than his.

Andrew pointed toward the wall.

“You can leave your things over there,” he said. “Then, strip down. It’s about to get hot in here,” he admitted.

Then, he winked at him too.

“Great. Thanks,” he said.

As he walked over to the place where they pointed, he talked to Gene.

“They’re both flirting with me. Watch my back. I don’t like the vibe in here. It feels off.”

That was all he had to say.

He knew his partner would be all over this.

Or so he hoped.

Ethan was now alone in some den of wacked out iniquity.

And he didn’t like it.

Not one jingle bells bit.

Meanwhile…

Where he was trapped in the car, Gene was not happy or amused.

He could hear what Ethan was saying, and the conversation around him. Then, he was watching him from the car, through the steamy window.

“I don’t like this,” Gene admitted.

Greyson looked over.

“He’s safe in there. What are they going to do? Strangle him with a towel in a class full of people?”

It didn’t help the tension.

Really.

His partner had a way of getting into the worst situations when left to his own devices.

As they watched, Ethan went to stand by a yoga mat, and Greyson whistled. He was looking through binoculars, and got a good view of the man.

“What?” Gene asked.

“I’m not even gay, and I want to do him,” he joked, busting the man’s ass.

How could he not?

It was so damn easy.

Gene was a man on the edge.

“He doesn’t have an ounce of fat on his body, and look at the ink. Jesus. Now I get why you’re always climbing the walls. You’re hitting a model.”

Gene grabbed the binoculars, and stared at his man.

Then, he giggled ridiculously.

God.

He was so hot.

The man he loved was already sweaty, and he was in shorts that were way too tiny for his liking. They were the ones he ran in, and Gene followed him for a reason when they worked out.

It wasn’t because he was slower.

Hell.

No.

It was because they left nothing to the imagination.

The class began, and when it did, the two instructors were all over Ethan.

Like ALL over him.

Suddenly, he wasn’t so giggly.

Greyson pulled out a second pair of binoculars, and they were watching Ethan. It was when the woman put her hand way-too-close to Ethan’s junk, that Gene sat upright in his seat.

It pissed him off.

“She just fondled my man’s junk. I could see the look on Ethan’s face. He’s not having a good time in there.”

Uh-oh.

Gene sounded feral.

Like ‘rush the building and shoot people’ feral.

“Down, boy. Ethan can hold his own. A dick fondle isn’t going to kill him. He’s not in danger. I’m sure you fondle it all of the time.”

Well, yeah.

Because it was his man.

NOT.

HERS.

“This is going to be the longest forty-five minutes of my life,” Gene admitted.

With the way the brother was right behind Ethan, his junk pressed to his ass as he helped him bend completely over, Greyson knew someone who wasn’t having a whole lot of fun either.

Ethan.

The man had personal space issues, and some asshole was violating them.

Now, he just had to hope the man stayed cool under pressure.

And didn’t punch a Yogi in the junk.

Because he would have before the class even started.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Somewhere

Across Town

Same Time

The media was all over the killings.

She’d spaced them out because she wanted to make sure she was able to stay under the radar.

That wasn’t possible now.

So, she had to go with plan B.

It was her exit strategy, and it would help her get away with murder.

Time was running out.

For the last person she had to kill.

And then, she’d be out of pain.

Finally.

Chapter Twenty

Acero Hot Yoga

Class Done

Ten Fifteen A.M.

That had been the longest forty-five minutes of his life, and he meant it. Honestly, he couldn’t understand why someone wanted to work out in temperatures that warm so they could be a puddle of sweat when they were done.

It was absolutely miserable.

His hair was wet.

His shorts were wet.

The female instructor’s panties were wet…

Yeah, he had been the focus of both of their attention the whole class. He’d lost count on the times he’d been fondled inappropriately.

Blackhawk was acutely aware that he wasn’t the only one who went both ways.

Clearly.

The only thing that kept him from losing his cool was the fact that Gene would kick in a door, and slap some shit out of people if he at all looked distressed by what was going down.

Willingly.

And.

Enthusiastically.

So he was keeping it lowkey so there wasn’t another homicide on the horizon.

For now, in hopes they would show up and do something he could bring them in on, he was going to grab a quick shower in their locker room.

Yeah, he could just ask them questions regarding the two women that they’d slept with, but he had a sneaking suspicion they’d clam up.

That meant he needed a reason to bring them in. Some leverage would work in their favor.

Oh, he could do it here, but by the third dick nudge to his ass, he’d had enough.

They were absolutely perverted, and preying on people there. He was betting when someone didn’t complain, they took that as an invite.

Maire made sure to pull her top off, so she was only in her sports bra in front of him, and Andrew was all about getting behind him in that control position.

It made him uncomfortable.

The only man he liked up close and near his ass was his man.

So, yeah, not fun.

Alone in the locker room, he suspected the reason no one was using it was they didn’t want to be sexually harassed each time they were in there.

Or maybe that should have been his hint.

Stripping down, Ethan cleaned up. The last thing he wanted was to offend anyone with his man funk, and he absolutely would.

He was a sweaty mess.

As he was getting out of the shower, and drying off, he had just enough time to pull on his boxers and jeans when he heard someone behind him.

And it wasn’t his partner.

“Hey,” Andrew said, as he leaned on the bank of lockers watching him.

Predatorily.

Ethan turned, and put space between them.

Just.

In.

Case.

There was no one else in the locker room, and he was grateful that Gene was still connected to his call.

“Hey,” he said. “Great class.”

The man continued to lean against the lockers and started talking to him.

“No problem. I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you living in Philly?” he asked.

Oh, well, yes and no.

Instead of going there, he was honest.

“I’m actually new to town. I’m from outside of Virginia in the DC area. I’m here on business.”

Which wasn’t a lie.

“Are you available the rest of the day?” he asked. “We have another class later, and you’d do good in it. You’re definitely not a beginner. You’re very flexible. Care to join it?”

Oh, Lord.

That was the last thing he wanted. Since Andrew was staring at his groin, he knew what he had in mind.

Hell.

No.

Instead of punching the man in the face, he played along and shrugged.

“Sure. What do you have in mind?” he asked.

The man moved closer.

He was way-too-close for Ethan’s personal preference. Honestly, he didn’t let anyone up in his space that close unless he was sleeping with them.

So Gene.

He only let Gene get that close.

“You smell good,” Andrew stated.

That’s when they heard a woman clearing her throat behind them.

“Andy, back off. I saw him first,” she said, moving into the room and his space.

Oh, Jesus.

He didn’t want to hit a woman, but he’d punch a bitch in the face if she tried to grab his junk again. She took liberties that made him believe Francesca hadn’t been trying to cover for infidelity.

She definitely had been preyed upon.

These two were walking hormones, with no common sense.

“How about we ask him?” Andrew suggested. “Let him make up his mind. He’s giving off the vibes that say I’m going to win.”

Maire moved closer.

“I don’t think so, Andy,” she said. “I like this one,” she offered, moving way to close into Ethan’s body.

Uh, well, Ethan needed to be the one who made that choice, and he wasn’t picking either one of them. The oversexed twins were weird, and as a Fed, and someone who dealt with killers, they gave off that vibe.

Well, that and sexual predators.

“Let’s let him talk,” Andrew said, moving closer too.

Yeah, well, Ethan had enough to bring them in for questioning. Again, he wasn’t doing it here.

“Yeah, let me talk,” he said, getting their attention.

Now that he had it…

“We can talk about Caprice Gressman and Francesca Berlove,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his very shiny FBI badge.

She gasped and moved back.

Well, that killed the mood quicker than a wife walking in to catch her husband in bed with the babysitter.

“You should go,” she said.

Oh, yeah, no.

They were beyond that.

“We will, after we talk. I suggest you get your things. We’re going to…”

Only, he didn’t get to finish.

When the brother physically grabbed Ethan, and put his hands on him, that’s when Gene came through the door, his gun out.

The woman gasped.

Oh, and the man let go of him pretty damn fast.

“He’s got a gun,” Maire said.

Well, yeah.

“That’s my partner,” Ethan said. “He gets bitchy when people touch me, and I’m feeling pretty assaulted right about now.”

Gene wasn’t having it.

They’d been in the car, and the minute he heard the tone in Ethan’s voice, like someone was in his personal space, he wasn’t enjoying it.

Not.

At.

All.

“You’re under arrest for manhandling a Fed,” he said, putting the brother in cuffs. “And you’re coming in to have a little talk about how you think it’s okay to grope clients in a yoga studio,” he added. “Someone’s going out of business.”

Greyson put the woman in cuffs as she tried to turn and give his groin a nice hit with her knee.

“We have pictures,” he offered, even though they didn’t. “You guys are serial junk touchers.”

She continued to fight, and Greyson shoved her against the locker, roughly. If she was going to try and knee him in the balls, she was going to feel some pain herself.

He didn’t advocate hitting women, but some of them needed their asses kicked.

Like this one.

“I want to call my lawyer,” she said.

Greyson didn’t give a shit what she wanted at that point. They were going into the office, and they were going to have a conversation first.

“You’ll have time,” he said, taking both of them out to the car.

When he was gone, Ethan pulled on his shirt, but before he could get it all of the way on, Gene was on top of him, pressing him to the lockers.

He found his mouth with his, and kissed him stupid.

Ethan got lost in that kiss.

His body was loose, warmed up, and now this was someone he wanted in his space.

His hands went into his hair, as he held on.

When he broke the kiss, Gene stared into his eyes.

“God, but you’re sexy when you’re doing yoga. That was uncomfortable in the car as the man next to me was telling me how great your body is. I’m aware.”

He laughed.

“And Greyson lived? Are you off your game today?” he asked. “Is that the new kink?”

He winked at him.

“Let’s just say we appreciated the view, and I was giddy knowing this man was coming home to me. As for my kink…”

Ethan lifted a brow.

“It’s when you go out there and those truly perfect nipples get hard. That’s when I’m in Kink-ville.”

He laughed even more but he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t that warm flush to his body, and butterflies in his belly.

“You’re insane.”

Gene didn’t doubt that for one second.

“Well, insanity is not kicking in the door and saving you from all those gropes. There were fifteen between them. That man’s junk was way-too-close to your ass.”

Oh, Ethan was aware.

He pulled his hair back so it would dry that way.

“I wasn’t amused. I will say that I’m particularly turned on after the yoga class though.”

Gene paused.

“Pardon?”

“I think I like you watching me.”

He grinned.

“Well, walk ahead of me, Mr. Blackhawk, and I’ll watch you some more,” he said, carrying his bag for him as he gleefully checked out his ass.

When they headed out, they could see Greyson tucking the two siblings into two different FBI transport cars.

Only, before they could get out the door, the secretary came over.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Gene turned off the news.

It was talking about them again, and it was clear they were going to be out and up their asses before long.

Call it a hunch.

“Your bosses are under arrest for assault on a Fed,” Gene said. “And you are?” he asked.

She blinked.

“I’m Eveline Ziglar.”

He pulled out his phone.

“I’m glad you’re available to talk to us,” he said, as Greyson headed back inside after securing their new perverted friends in another vehicle for transport.

“I’m so confused,” Eveline admitted.

Yeah, they bet she was.

Ethan explained since she was staring at him.

“They are going way too far with touching people during the class,” he said. “They are also connected to two homicides.”

Gene showed her the two pictures of Caprice and Francesca.

“Do you recognize them?”

She nodded.

“They take classes here. I haven’t seen them in a while,” she admitted.

Gene explained.

“Well, that’s because they are dead. Someone killed them, and unfortunately, each one of your bosses slept with them.”

She went to protest.

Only, Greyson stopped her.

“Don’t. We get bullshit excuses every single day. Don’t think we’re not accustomed to it.”

Without another word, she closed her mouth.

Blackhawk took over.

“Have you seen these other women in here?” Ethan asked, and Gene showed them Maggie’s and Dorris’ pictures.

The woman nodded.

“They’ve come here before,” she said.

Well, their day was looking up. They knew Maggie had receipts in her book, but Dorris was here too?

“Both of them?” Gene asked to make sure.

She nodded.

“Yes. Both of them.”

It appeared that Ethan had been right. He had seen the receipt in the woman’s ledger for this place, and now, they had their only lead that had all four victims tied to it.

They might just have found ground zero.

“Did your bosses pay particularly close attention to either of them?” Gene asked.

The woman shrugged.

“They give each new attendee attention. That’s how they build their business. They were the same with me when I started here,” she said.

Ethan was curious.

“Don’t be offended by this, but have you had sex with either of them?” he asked.

Immediately, she stared at him, and her mood changed.

Drastically.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your goddamn business,” she stated, getting testy at that one, single question.

That told them a lot.

Greyson shrugged.

“That tells us all we need to know. Which one?” he asked.

She wasn’t having any of it.

“If you’re done with questioning me, I need to call their attorney for them. You guys should leave.”

And that said it all.

As they walked away, the woman was on the phone, and she looked annoyed.

“Way to piss her off, Blackhawk,” Greyson admitted, amused.

He snorted.

“I’m bad with the ladies. Sue me.”

Gene slapped him on the ass.

“Thank God for that. Let’s get them into questioning. Do you want to press charges against them for manhandling your junk?” he asked.

He laughed.

“No, not her, but we’ll use it to get them to talk—if we can get them to talk. The brother is going to have a rough day until his attorney can get him out. He put his hands on a Fed, and he needs a little lesson about hands are not for touching strangers.”

They certainly would use whatever they could to get them to talk.

The Acero siblings had some explaining to do.

Because they were tied to all four dead women, and it wasn’t looking good for either of them.

Someone’s Christmas was about to be a mess.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

The FBI Offices

Thirty Minutes Later

Eleven Fifteen A.M.

The clock was ticking, and the day was moving a little too quickly for their liking. There wasn’t a whole hell of a lot of time left before everything began shutting down.

On top of that, the media was all over their office when they showed up, and got some great footage of them bringing in the two people.

Only, just not for what they thought they were being brought in for currently.

Could they be the killers?

Yes.

Were they?

They had to prove it.

That was the damn difficult part too.

As they were bringing them in, Gene was checking on the warrant for the doctor’s patient records.

They couldn’t hit there until they got it. Honestly, it was all contingent on that. It would be a waste of time to hit the doctor’s office if they couldn’t seize patient records.

For now, their focus was on the wonder twins.

And they wondered if they were killers.

Before going back in to speak to the siblings, Ethan got out of his jeans and t-shirt, and into his suit. He liked to have his armor on.

It made him feel…safe.

This was his element, and as Gene talked to them, he would be watching and learning.

Learning how to outsmart them.

When he was ready, he met his partner, and they headed into the room.

Walking in, the siblings were NOT amused. In fact, they were downright bitchy.

She wasn’t in cuffs, but he was.

Maybe he should learn to keep his hands to himself.

“Let’s make the introductions,” Gene said, sitting down beside his partner. They’d allowed them to be in the same interrogation room for one reason.

They recorded them regardless.

The little red blinking light on the camera told the tale, and the whole time, the sister just told her brother to keep his mouth shut until their lawyer arrived.

They could see the power dynamic here, and it wasn’t the man in charge.

That was for sure.

“I’m Special Agent Gene Cantrell, and this is my profiler, Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk. We’re here to talk to you regarding your connection to one of our cases. Mr. Acero, you’ve been read your rights for assault on a Federal Agent.”

“That’s bullshit!” he said. “He…”

Gene shut that down.

“He didn’t do anything but take a yoga class. You both hit on him, and groped him, much like the two women we’re here to discuss.”

Refusing to comply, the woman went there again.

“We want our lawyer.”

He laughed.

“Well, according to your secretary, as we were leaving, I’m sure representation is on the way. Until then, he’s under arrest, you’re not. So we can speak to you, freely.”

The woman didn’t look happy.

Not.

At.

All.

“As I was saying, we’re here to discuss your involvement with two women, Francesca Berlove, and Caprice Gressman. Both were clients at your yoga studio.”

Neither spoke.

“Can you confirm they went there?” Gene asked, going with the easiest questions first.

That broke the silence.

“We didn’t do anything to them,” she said. “Where are they? I want to face them down. Caprice came onto my brother, and Frannie was a willing participant. I want to talk to them.”

Gene looked up from his notes.

Did no one watch the news?

“That’s going to be difficult. They’re dead. Didn’t you notice they didn’t keep coming to your classes?”

That made her pause.

“Pardon?”

He said it again.

“They are dead. As in murdered. Do either of you own a gun?” Gene asked.

The woman protested.

“I’m not answering that, and neither is my brother until our lawyer gets here.”

Honestly, they didn’t need her to answer jack shit. They could look that up in the database. Firearms, especially nine millimeters, were registered in DC and the surrounding states.

“Okay, then, next question. Which one of you killed them?”

They both gasped.

But neither spoke.

At first.

When Gene and Ethan were staring at them, it was Maire who went there.

“Listen, we’re horny, not killers. You get your libido all riled up with hot yoga. They had sex with us willingly. That’s the truth.”

Uh-huh.

Maybe according to them.

Gene didn’t believe them at all, especially since what Ethan endured, and what Francesca told Perri. She said she was prey, and they believed it.

These two were predators.

Period.

Gene went there.

“I just put in a warrant for your business to look at the financial records. We need them for our case,” he said, not telling them he needed them to prove they were tied to all of the victims. “Will you let us just have them?”

Ethan put pictures of the other two victims on the table, Dorris and Maggie, and when they looked at them, he knew.

They definitely recognized the first and last victim.

Only, they needed proof to lock this down and that was sales receipts to both women.

Oh, and they’d have it—if Greyson could get them the warrants.

Before Gene could continue, the door opened, and in came an attorney.

Surprise.

Surprise.

In walked Patrick Gressman.

Holy holly berries.

What the fuck?

Why was the man whose wife cheated on him with the yoga dude representing them?

That was bizarre.

In fact, he was icy cold, in his lawyer persona, and acted like they hadn’t even interviewed him earlier.

“Hello, Gentlemen. I’m their attorney. The questioning is over. If you wish to arrest Ms. Acero for consensual sex, then do it.”

He knows damn well that they can’t do that, and it was also clear the secretary had spilled the beans.

Before Gene could say shit, Patrick Gressman was proving why they really disliked defense attorneys.

“As for Mr. Acero, what are the charges?” he asked, standing behind the two people. “Or have you decided that this is bullshit, and they are free to go?”

In that moment, Ethan was beginning to doubt that Belle had instrumented the whole setup.

This man was slippery.

He left a slime trail everywhere.

Instead of answering, he went there.

“Counselor, I have a question for you,” he began.

The man stared him down.

“Yes?”

“Did you have a prenup?” he asked.

It took him a second to switch gears, but finally, he answered.

“Yes.”

Gene let Ethan do his thing. Clearly, he was suspecting something.

“Did it have a clause for cheating?” he asked. “As in, Caprice would get nothing if she had an affair, and you chose to divorce her?”

He blinked.

And hesitated.

Oh, that told Ethan all he needed to know.

“So it did.”

The man didn’t look happy. In fact, he looked irritated as hell that his plans had hit a snag.

The FBI.

Ethan went there.

“I’m willing to bet that you asked Belle to help set Caprice up as collateral for when you needed it. Then, you planted the story that your wife cheated back to get even, when she was a victim to your plan.”

Patrick Gressman said nothing, but it was crystal clear that they’d nailed it.

They’d bet that Belle let the story slip at the watercooler, AFTER she was already banging the man, and then, when Caprice caught them on their anniversary, they played it up.

Who would know that they had been having sex well before?

Not the office staff.

“Are we done here?” Patrick asked.

“No,” Ethan said.

“You were protecting your assets. By helping someone sleep with Caprice, you had your golden ticket to bang Belle. You could have your cake and fuck it too.”

He glared at him.

“The only question is did you kill her, or did your assistant set the rest of this up?”

He sputtered.

Then, he got angry.

Never let it be said Ethan couldn’t poke the hornets’ nest but good.

“First you accuse my clients of murder, and now, you accuse me. You’re ridiculous,” he stated.

Oh, but they were on the trail.

The only bad part of this case was there were so many trails, and that felt intentional.

Like this killer had a plan, and that plan was to confuse the fuck out of them.

“Again,” Patrick began. “What are the charges against my client?” he asked.

Gene went there.

“Mr. Acero is being charged with assault on a federal officer. He likes to put his hands on people,” he admitted. “In dirty, dirty places. Almost like sexual assault.”

That hung there.

Gene continued.

“Maire is free to go, but he’s being processed by the local police.”

The man said nothing, but he did look over at his sister who patted his arm.

Yep.

Maire was driving the bus.

“Okay, well, he’s done talking. Andrew, you’ll be out in a few. It won’t stick. We’ll pull the video.”

Ethan went there.

“Good. Let’s pull the video of them fondling my junk in a yoga class. I’m sure the judge will love that.”

Both Aceros went beet red, and Patrick didn’t even flinch. It was clear he was accustomed to dealing with things like this.

“Then, we’ll see you in court,” he stated.

Ethan went there.

“And you’re good representing the guy that was banging your wife behind your back?” he asked, just to make sure.

The man didn’t even flinch.

“That’s personal. This is my job. Have you never had to put job over personal, Agent?” he asked.

Then, he continued.

“My wife died an unfortunate death. The Aceros have been clients for years. I can put personal aside and handle their case, for which I’m on retainer to do so.”

Which made them believe other people had definitely had issues with them.

“We have a warrant in for their financials.”

Patrick leaned on the table.

“I’ll tell you what, Agents. In the spirit of the holiday, and since my clients have nothing to hide, I’m going to advise my clients to not fight that, and to give you the financial records of their own free will.”

Gene wasn’t buying that.

Snakes had to snake.

“And the cost?”

“You drop the charges on Mr. Acero, and he can go home for the holiday. We both know he’ll be in jail until Monday morning if you don’t. Why ruin his Christmas?”

Gene did the dance.

“We can agree to that if then, they answer more questions, like have other people had issues with their groping?”

Patrick wasn’t having it.

He shook his head.

“No.”

Gene smiled.

Well, then, someone was getting his bells jingled by a druggie named Mick in the slammer for Christmas.

“Then, Mr. Acero sits his ass in the city lockup until a judge can see him Monday morning, and his sister, Ms. Gropy, can spend the holiday touching herself, and no one else.”

She glared at him.

“You’re an asshole.”

Gene smiled.

“I know. Ho-ho-ho, but I’m not a sexual predator like you are. I guess that’s the win for me.”

She glanced over at Patrick.

“I don’t want to be in the same room as that…neanderthal. He’s foul.”

Gene laughed.

“Oh, no. Now, you’ve hurt my feelings. Boo-hoo. Enjoy your Christmas boning in the showers,” he said to Andrew, who looked scared.

Yeah, fuck that.

He would keep one of them locked up in case there was another homicide.

The lawyer patted them both on the shoulders. One in reassurance, and the other to keep her from losing her shit. Maire looked to want to climb the table to scratch his eyes out.

“Can my client go?” Patrick asked. “Or shall the childishness continue?”

Nah, he was done. When he nodded, Ethan got up to go to the door. Outside, there was an agent.

“Escort Mr. Acero to booking at the precinct. He’s spending time in hotel Philly jail for the weekend.”

The agent on the door was ready for him.

Inside, Maire hugged her brother, and kissed him softly on the mouth.

“Patrick will get you out. We’ll celebrate on Monday when you come home.”

He looked worried.

Oh, and he should be.

Jail at Christmas was a holly-jolly fuckery.

“Just don’t drop the soap while you’re practicing your yoga, or someone will be behind you like you did to my partner,” Gene said, as the man was led away, and the woman left angrily with her lawyer.

Immediately, Gene signaled for the camera to be turned off.

When it went off, Blackhawk laughed.

“You rode ass and not in the way he liked.”

He shrugged.

“Hey, then the dude shouldn’t have gotten behind my partner and put his junk against what I consider mine. I’m less magnanimous when people bump and grind against your ass.”

Clearly.

When Greyson came in, after manning the observation room, he was shaking his head.

“Well, this is a mess. The attorney is tied to the man who was banging his wife, and now, he’s representing them? Good hit on the prenup issue.”

Oh, Ethan thought so.

“The whole thing is bizarre,” Gene admitted. “I don’t know if Patrick hired the Aceros to accost his wife so he could have leverage to divorce her, or if Belle, his personal assistant floozy did.”

Ethan went there.

“Or they both were behind it. I’m willing to bet it was insurance. Only, now, though, we have a few issues. The attorney is possibly tied to three of the victims, via the Aceros. Then, the therapist is possibly tied to at least three victims too. We can’t verify more since Jack Venst, who says he didn’t see the therapist and neither did his girl, is cock blocking this case. He has to be lying.”

Gene went there.

“Or he’s the killer, and he’s yanking our chain,” he stated.

Or that.

Gene wasn’t done.

“Don’t forget that we have a dead stripper who has ties to some people too. This is crazy. Normally, we’re looking for a connection. That’s all we have.”

Greyson knew what that likely meant.

“Someone is messing with you guys, and this case is fucked. You’re never getting it closed today.”

Honestly, there was a good chance that he was right.

And that was a huge-ass problem.

For them.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

One Hour Later…

And the shit kept coming.

The only good thing was that the warrants for the doctor and the yoga studio were in.

Greyson sent out an agent to Aceros Hot Yoga to pick those up, not wanting to let the two Feds anywhere near the woman.

She might beat them with a Pilates stick if they walked into the place.

For their benefit, that was probably wise.

Now, they were waiting for those records to arrive, and for Corbin to meet with them.

He still wasn’t there.

They’d texted him twice, and the first time, they only got back two words.

     ‘Finishing up.’

The second time, they were ignored.

Oh, they were going to bust his balls later, since he was always up in their business.

Ethan was about to suggest they grab something unhealthy from the vending machine to call lunch, when they had a call.

Yeah, and Ethan recognized the number immediately, and began panicking.

“Oh, fuckity. It’s Gabe,” he muttered.

It was never good when the man called this close to a holiday. That meant he was in his office, and he was stirred up.

Gene rolled his eyes.

He suspected they were about to get boned—by being handed a case on top of what they were doing.

“You’d better answer. He’ll just call Greyson, and he’ll bring the phone in here. There’s no escaping the Grinch.”

Blackhawk laughed, and knew his partner was right. So, he answered the phone.

“Blackhawk,” he said, putting it on speaker so they could share the joy of this holiday season when Gabe boned them.

“Hello, Agent. How’s everything going in Philadelphia?” Gabe asked, already knowing the answer to that.

He’d gotten into his office that morning, just to escape Livy and the girls for a little bit, and he saw the reports.

Someone pulled a case and opted to work.

That intrigued him.

Getting them to take cases was like pulling teeth when they were on vacation, and now, they were.

They were just full of surprises.

“It’s going well,” Ethan said, not sure how to answer that. He always felt like Gabe was setting up a trap each time he talked to him.

Gabe went there.

“I see that you pulled a case,” he stated.

Gene took over.

He was the senior agent, and he didn’t like Gabe pointed at Ethan.

Ever.

He’d rather tangle with him since he didn’t give a fuck what the man wanted. He was Ethan’s armor, and he’d protect him in his climb.

Well, the best he could.

“Yes, Sir, we did.”

Gabe went there.

“Tell me about it.”

So far, so good.

Instead of being a dick, he told him all about it. It took about three minutes, and when he was finished, Gabe whistled.

“That sounds like a mess. I can buy both of you a day, on Monday, if you run over with it, but after that, you’re going to have to hope no other cases come in. We all know how crazy it is right now with a shortage of agents.”

They were aware.

Thanks, Director Moore.

“Thank you, Sir. We should be done if we can get to the shrink’s office before she closes. We’re waiting on the local cop who had been assigned this case.”

Uh-huh.

While he was talking to them, Gabe was feeling this whole thing out.

“I also hear that Gene was shot yesterday,” he said, going there. “Do we know if that’s Javier behind it? That’s why I’m calling to make sure everything is kosher there. I’m not tolerating him targeting my agents.”

They both relaxed.

He must have gotten Greyson’s report, and he wasn’t trying to bust balls.

“Yeah, I was.”

Gabe was worried.

“Are you okay, Son?” he asked.

Clearly.

Or he’d be dead.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just a little sore. Right now, we’re waiting on the car to see who did it. Maybe we’ll be lucky and it’ll be our killer’s prints.”

Gabe hoped that it worked out. It would be great if it was Hughes. He wanted nothing more than to hang Javier from the tallest flagpole, so he could also hang his boss, William Moore.

He kept talking.

“Everything working out there?” he asked. “You know, with the working environment?”

Ethan answered.

“Yeah, so far. Greyson is killing it, and we like working with him. Thanks for asking,” he offered.

Gabe wasn’t done.

“How’s the new place? Cozy?” he asked, as both men stared at each other.

That was a weird word to choose.

A creepily weird word.

It set off alarm bells for Ethan.

“Uh, It’s nice. You didn’t want to know where it is, so I’m hoping you don’t ask,” Gene stated.

Gabe reassured him.

“I won’t ask. I’m just keeping an eye on you guys to make sure you’re safe. I like to know what all of my agents are up to when they are representing me and the FBI outside of DC.”

Oh, shit.

Ethan was shaking his head, and Gene didn’t like the look on his face.

What the hell was this?

Why did that make Gene incredibly nervous?

Really.

Nervous.

Ethan scribbled something on paper, and held it up for Gene to see.

‘Lose the call. Quick.’

Gene trusted him.

If his profiler told him to bail, he was getting off that call ASAP.

“Uh, I hate to cut this short, but we have to get moving on these financials. We have to go, Gabe. Merry Christmas, and we’ll talk to you later,” he said.

Gabe understood.

“Merry Christmas, Gentlemen. I hope you don’t get coal in your stockings,” he added.

And then, he hung up.

Now, Gene was curious.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, pointing at the note he’d just written.

Ethan was freaked out.

“He knows about us. He was giving us a heads-up that we’re now on his radar. He found out.”

Oh, Jesus.

He hoped not.

“Really?”

Ethan explained.

“He wanted to know if our condo was cozy, and hopes we don’t get coal. That’s Gabe code for watch your backs, I’m watching you both. He’ll give you notice to your face, and then wait for you to screw it up so he can say he warned us.”

Oh, fuck.

Now, Gene was hella twitchy.

“How?” he asked.

Ethan wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but there was only one logical way.

“It had to be Javier filtering it back through Moore. That’s the only way. The only two people who know we’re a couple that work for the FBI are Greyson and Sasha. They wouldn’t say shit.”

Gene didn’t like this.

Not.

At.

All.

Well, it was official.

They were fucked.

And not in the fun way they liked. In the Gabe way that always hurt the most.

Chapter Twenty-One

Across Town

At the Hotel

When Lewis exited the bathroom in a towel, he found the woman he was sleeping with in the same exact position he’d left her five minutes ago. Axelle was rumpled and still in bed.

Yeah, that was the way he liked her.

Who was he kidding?

After arriving late last night, miraculously catching a flight that only happened because of who they worked for, they fell into bed.

And Lewis slept like the dead.

He’d been away too long, and he was exhausted. The vacation to Cambodia…

It had been stressful as fuck.

For weeks, he’d not been able to sleep longer than a nap here and there, so when he hit that soft hotel bed, beside a redhead he knew would keep them safe, he was out cold.

As in like the dead.

It wasn’t until that morning when she’d woken him up with her mouth, that he’d come fully awake.

Hard.

And.

Ready.

Oh, they’d fornicated in the car at the airport as they parked on the upper deck of the parking garage, but that had been fast, frenetic, and out of desperation.

This morning was slow, thorough, and calming. He’d gotten her off, and she made sure he’d cum plenty too.

Now, he was admiring her in bed, and knew they were in some shit.

Lewis was falling in love, and he knew it.

How?

He’d been stupid enough to do it once before, and it had bitten him in the ass.

It had been why he’d become a Marine. It had been why he’d tried to make a better life for himself.

It had been why he’d been stabbed in the back, and the woman he loved left him.

For his brother.

His flesh and blood.

Apparently, she couldn’t wait long enough for him to come back from a tour of duty to have sex, and his brother, his once best friend, had been more than willing to offer it up.

It destroyed his life.

It destroyed his relationship with his brother.

It ruined his family.

So, he’d walked away.

No, he ran.

Now, as he stared at Axelle, he could see himself with her for the rest of his life, and that was problematic.

Or was it?

Honestly, she wasn’t asking anything from him, other than some truly spectacular sex.

And he knew he couldn’t give her more.

He’d trusted once, and it burned him badly, so he’d never do it again. She was literally the only woman he trusted. That said a lot too.

Well, there was LaRue, but this was different.

This was love.

Lewis had to figure this out, and decide if he wanted to risk his career, which he was damn good at, or be someone’s lap dog again.

God.

Life sucked.

It blindsided you when you least expected it.

When Axelle opened her eyes, she smiled at him.

“Hey, how was the shower?” she asked, rolling over in bed, so that she was bare assed up with her chin on her hands.

“So damn good, Red. So damn good. You don’t miss the little things until you’re in a shithole with the snakes and leeches.”

She knew what that was like—mostly. Only, the leeches she dealt with were rich people in foreign countries.

“Oh, tell me about it. Kosovo was a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to die there.”

Amen.

She could say that again.

Heading her way, she grabbed the edge of his towel, and tugged it down.

It fell off at his feet.

“Oh, no. Your towel slipped,” she teased.

He laughed and hopped onto the bed, grinning like a fool. Lewis knew he’d be dumb as fuck to walk away from her, so he planned to stick around until she brought up the ‘R’ word.

Relationship.

That would be his kill switch.

“You’re a funny one, Red,” he said, slapping her on the ass.

As she got out of bed, she stretched, and he enjoyed the view, specifically since she was heading toward the cart that had been wheeled into the room.

On it were two, silver-domed covered plates and coffee.

Apparently, someone had ordered some food.

Hallelujah.

“Is that coffee for me?” he asked, as she headed his way holding a steaming mug.

“Of course, it is, wild man. After this morning’s performance, I figured you deserved some caffeine.”

He took it, and breathed in the scent.

Oh, it was so damn good too.

That was what he missed most when he was on a job—well, next to her.

“Thank you,” he said, sipping it.

When she climbed onto the bed, with hers, she explained.

“I also got you bacon, extra crispy, an omelet stuffed with a ridiculous amount of cheese, and no toast because you’re afraid of carbs.”

He laughed.

“I can’t get pudgy. The Red Queen wouldn’t want to bounce on me,” he joked.

Oh, she’d think he was sexy even if he was pudgy, but she’d be lying if she said he wasn’t sleek, built, and incredibly hot.

“Keep it in mind, Soldier.”

He laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he said, sipping the coffee and enjoying the view. It was snowing outside, and he was in bed with a spicy woman.

This was well worth Cambodia and the dirty deeds he’d had to do as a Spider. Someone had double-crossed the US government, and he’d been called out to handle it.

Oh, and not alone.

The Huntsman had been with him, and he was an interesting dude.

Scary.

But interesting.

“What did you learn about the info you’re chasing?” he asked, knowing she slipped out last night to stalk the front desk.

She told him.

“Well, I needed to get to the computer and download all of the information, but at night, there were two on duty, and one was on it for an hour. I looked suspicious, so I came back up.”

He listened.

“I need to get proof that he was here, and that Javier was here at the same time. Elizabeth wants a connection, and I’m going to give her one.”

He looked at his watch.

“They are mid-shift. I’m sure with checkout happening, they are going to be distracted. Want to do that before I do you?” he asked.

She laughed.

“Oh, well, how can I say no to that?”

He touched her arm.

“Are we staying here this weekend?” he asked.

She paused.

“Do you want to?” she asked. “I’ll have the recon done today, but if you want to stay…”

He wanted a good memory.

In case he had to walk away unexpectedly if he felt like his heart was in danger. He wanted to give her a Christmas she deserved, so she could have that to keep her heart whole.

“I’d like a good holiday for a change,” he stated. “Just one,” he added.

She knew Lewis came with baggage, but hell, so did she. Axelle also knew that if she tried to hold on tight, he’d run.

Again, so would she.

So, if he was asking, it had to be important.

“We can stay. I could use a nice day of pampering in the spa. Want to get a massage?”

He laughed.

“Baby, do I look like the massage type?” he asked, winking at her.

“No, but I am. You can go run on a treadmill, and we can plan for dinner.”

That actually sounded good.

Plus, he’d picked her up something in Cambodia. It was a necklace, and it was so pretty that when he saw it, he had to buy it.

Lewis knew it was a bad idea.

A REAL bad one.

But here she was, and he was willing to live a little for a while, anyway.

“Don’t freak out,” she said.

Uh-oh.

That usually meant he was going to freak out.

“What?” he asked, as the coffee cup had paused halfway to his mouth.

“I may or may not have gotten you something when I was on my way back from Kosovo. If you don’t want it, I get it. I just thought everyone should get a Christmas present.”

He stopped her.

“Why did you buy it for me?” he asked.

That was going to be the big question. If she said love, he knew he had to leave.

There would be no choice. He’d kiss her goodbye, and walk out the door. He was already dangerously attached to her.

“I saw it, and thought of you. I figured when you’re in some shithole, and you’re annoyed, you can look at it, and think about home and getting back here.”

He relaxed.

That was exactly what he needed to hear. It was also why he got her something—or that was what he was telling himself.

“I got you something too.”

She grinned.

“How about we play spy, come back, open them, have sex, and eat a good meal tonight?”

That sounded good, but he’d try to do more. When she was having her massage, he’d make the holiday special for her.

He put down his coffee, and got out of bed. He was dressed in a couple of minutes, not in work gear, but in normal people clothes.

It was weird.

Give him a gun, a knife, some brass knuckles, and…

Well, then, he was in his comfort zone.

After she got dressed, they headed downstairs to the lobby, and it was crazy busy with people checking in for the holiday.

“I need a distraction,” she said. “Can you buy me some time?” she asked.

He only needed to know one thing.

“How would you like it done?”

“Maybe slip, fall, and play hurt?”

He stared at her.

That was not his style. It drew attention to his face, and that was the last thing he wanted remembered—or a paper trail.

“I have an idea. Give me a minute or three,” he said, as he kissed her and walked out the front door.

She wasn’t sure where he was going.

Only, she knew when he was giving her his distraction. How could she miss it?

Axelle watched as a car rolled into the water fountain in front of the hotel.

Not rolled, per se.

But crashed.

Everyone went running to see if the person driving was okay, and she knew she needed to get moving.

Heading into the office, as the door was left slightly ajar, she got down to business.

It helped that the computer had been left unlocked.

As she sat down, she blocked the cameras with a box in her pocket, and shoved a zip drive into the computer’s tower.

Then, she began downloading EVERYTHING that was there.

Axelle took anything Javier Hughes related, and anything for William Moore.

The man used his real name.

Tsk.

Tsk.

On top of that, she went back two years, and made sure to take any and everything related.

As the commotion was calming down, since no one could find the person who had been driving the car, she slipped out, grabbing some fresh-baked cookies on her way to the elevator.

When she got in, he was already there.

“Nice,” he said, as she handed him a cookie.

“Nice job, but that was hella dramatic, Soldier.”

He grinned.

“I gotta be me,” he said. Then, he was honest. “It’s a skating rink out there. Cars be sliding allllllll over the place. That’s case in point.”

She snorted.

When he bit into the cookie, he was all happy.

“Oh, it’s warm. I love it when they’re warm. That’s the best feeling in the world,” Lewis admitted.

Immediately, she lifted a brow, and he corrected himself.

“I mean, other than THAT feeling in the world. That’s always the best feeling.”

Yeah, she thought so.

“Did you get what you needed?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Yeah, he was at the hotel at the same time. My new source was right.”

“Source, huh?”

She was honest.

“I’m going to help her. Marisol needs money, and I liked her. She can make good coin helping me out, and then she can put something away for retirement.”

Yeah, this woman was a good person, and he liked her for that.

When they got back to the room, he’d just finished his cookie when he saw her digging around in her bag. When she pulled out a prettily wrapped box, his heart skipped.

Oh, he was screwed.

If this was personal, he had to leave. There was no choice in the matter. As much as he was falling for her, if she did the same, he’d save her heart now. Lewis knew he was a bad bet.

He was a mess.

Axelle wasn’t sure how he’d react to the gift, but she wanted to give him something. It was Christmas, after all. They would have been in Tahiti had she known he was coming back for the holiday.

“Here,” she said.

He took it, and sat on the end of the bed. Opening the pretty paper, he saw the box and opened it.

Inside, it caught his breath.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked, shocked.

She smiled.

“That’s the top-of-the-line in tactical watches out there. The CIA gives them to the operatives when they retire. They’re made ONLY for them. It has all the bells and whistles.”

He was aware.

He saw one once in the field, and he’d loved it.

“Ax,” he said.

She stopped him.

“I want you to think about me when you use it in the field. I know what we have isn’t permanent, but I hope that no matter where we go in life, and what paths we eventually take away from each other, you’ll know that at this one moment, you had someone who cared and wanted you to be safe.”

That staggered him.

And didn’t scare him.

Not.

At.

All.

In fact, it was the perfect thing. It was exactly how he viewed her.

He stared at her.

“You know that I regret that I can’t stay forever, right?” he asked, needing to make sure she wouldn’t hate him for it.

She stared into his eyes.

“Who says you’re leaving first?” she asked, covering for the feelings she already had for him.

Neither of them were the marrying kind, so she knew this was a ride to nowhere, but a great friendship with incredible benefits.

He touched the watch.

“Thank you for this. It means everything to know that I have someone in my life that will wonder where I am, and if I’m okay.”

She wasn’t done.

“Lewis, no matter what. If you’re out there, and you ever need my help, all you have to do is call me. I’ll drop everything and come help you.”

He knew she would.

“I’d do the same for you, Ax. If you ever need my services, after we part ways, all you have to do is call. I’ll always come for you.”

She didn’t doubt that for the world.

“This gift is a symbol of our friendship, Lewis. I want you to remember this Christmas, and how you helped me heal when I didn’t think I would. I don’t know how many we’ll have together, so I wanted to give this to you now so you can cherish these memories.”

Oh, he would.

He also knew that the men these watches were given to were the best in the game, and if she got one, that said one of two things.

She’d killed one.

Or she had friends in really high places.

He’d never forget this moment, and when he finally left, or she left, they’d carry a piece of each other away.

That was exactly how he wanted it.

“Your turn,” he said, going to his rucksack, and pulling out the box. When he handed it to her, he smiled. “I want you to remember me too.”

“Is it a picture of your dick?” she asked.

He laughed.

“I mean, if that’s what you want for your birthday…,” he teased.

She laughed and opened the package. It was wrapped in brown paper with a simple string to keep it tied shut. When she opened it, she loved it.

“It’s amethyst. It’s a stone to keep you safe on your journeys through life. I got it from a Buddhist monk who blessed it. He told me to give it to a person I cared about, and they would be forever safe.”

She put it over her neck, and it hung between her breasts. There were amethyst beads, and one big flat stone.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s so pretty,” Axelle admitted holding the flat stone to the light as she stared through the rings of purple. “It’s my birthstone.”

He was aware.

“You have so much red in your life. I gave you a piece of my favorite color. It reminded me of Wisteria. My grandmother had it at her house, and I remember seeing it each summer.”

She got up and hugged him.

“I’ll always think of you when I wear it.”

That was what he wanted.

As he held her, he wanted to weep. It would be so easy to stay forever, but it was a bad choice, and he knew it.

“I’ll never say the words because it’s bad for both of us, Axelle, but I want you to know that while I won’t say it, I feel that for you.”

She held onto him.

Axelle held onto that moment.

“I know, Lewis. I feel the same. Maybe the next lifetime,” she said. “Maybe another time, and another place. Until then, though, I want to be happy because I am. I have an amazing friend who cares about me, and has my back.”

He took her face in his hands.

“You’ll find him one day, and I only hope I get to meet him.”

“He’ll hate you,” she said. “Because he’ll always know that we had something special.”

She was absolutely right.

They had something miraculous. It was born in the belly of the CIA beast from a battle scarred Marine, and a woman without a family.

Together, they made something good.

When he kissed her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and they fell onto the bed.

And instead of rough, tumble, and raucous, he gave her another gift.

Lewis Faulkner couldn’t give her the words, but he could give her this Christmas, and maybe the next.

Then, he’d set her free.

Because she deserved the best, and he certainly wasn’t that.

He was a Spider.

And they were solitary, at best.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Twelve Thirty

Friday

The FBI Building

When Gene’s phone rang, he and Ethan were finally over panicking about Gabe being onto them. At first, he was pretty sure his man was going to run.

Far.

Ethan was worried about his career, and his climb to the top at the FBI. Gene assumed if that was threatened, he’d make a break for it.

Would he chase him?

HELL.

YES.

Would he be able to talk him out of leaving?

On that, he wasn’t sure.

For those first ten minutes, he let the man have some time to digest it, and when he came back with two coffees, his partner wanted to go over the warrant for the shrink’s office, to make sure they were ready to go.

Then, and only then, Gene had to ask him if they were okay, and Ethan surprised him.

He said he was.

Why?

He told him that love changed everything.

That staggered and made him feel good. That was the second gift he’d been given by this man in the last three days. The first being him trusting Gene with the words, ‘I love you’, and now this.

It looked like they were in this for the long haul.

Together.

Now, Corbin had finally called, and they were ready to head out to get some shit done before Christmas Day.

They got into their coats, and grabbed their messenger bags.

“The baby detective is here, and we need to get our asses moving. Ready?” he asked Ethan.

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go get the doctor’s office handled. She closes at two today, and I want to make sure we get in there or we’re screwed until Monday.”

They didn’t want that.

Not.

Today.

With guns and badges back on, they waved to Greyson, who was in his office, working on the last of the paperwork.

“Be careful,” he warned, pointing right at Gene. “If you give me more paperwork, I’m giving you guys grief all through the new year.”

Gene knew that was directed at him.

It always was.

Greyson seemed to believe that he was a problem child.

Apparently.

“Testy,” he said, as he and Ethan headed to the elevator to take the ride down to meet Corbin.

Once inside, Gene wanted to make sure they were good.

“You’re not going to dump my ass on Christmas because Gabe is onto us, are you?” he asked, not able to keep that to himself anymore.

It was making him panicky. The last thing he needed was to be out in the field, and not focused. He’d been shot once already, and he didn’t want to do that again.

Blackhawk glanced over.

“No, but I won’t lie. I’m worried,” he admitted. “I don’t want to lose my partner in the FBI. We work well together, and I don’t think anyone else will ever be able to do that for me. You get me, and you understand how I think.”

Gene let him talk and hopefully, he’d calm his fears.

With Ethan, if he opened up, you had to be quiet until he got it all out, so you could help him navigate his feelings alongside your own.

“I don’t want to do this with someone else,” he admitted.

“And if he does break us apart?” he asked, going there because he needed to know what was on the horizon. If Gabe was onto them, he could separate them to other sides of the country.

Their relationship might not survive that. Absence did NOT make the heart grow fonder.

That was bullshit.

Ethan was honest.

“Well, then, I guess it’s over if he does.”

As soon as he said it, the mood in the elevator plummeted much like Gene’s stomach bottoming out. That was his fear, and there it was.

Gene tensed beside him, and Ethan glanced over, realizing what he was thinking.

Oh, shit.

That wasn’t what he had meant.

Not.

Even.

Close.

“Wait,” he said. “Do you think I mean we’re over?” he asked, reading the man’s face, and the pain he had in his eyes.

“Well, that’s what it sounded like,” Gene admitted, trying not to weep.

This was ALWAYS his fear. He knew Ethan’s ambitions were the pink elephant in the room, and now, he’d come second to it.

Ethan stopped him.

“Babe,” he said, hitting the stop button on the elevator so they could have a private talk before they were inundated with Corbin and his antics. “I meant if that happens, then the FBI is over. We’ll have to get civilian jobs, and get the hell out of Dodge.”

He let that settle in because it was so unexpected.

At that moment, he really needed to know, so he turned to face the man he loved.

“Really? You’d choose me over your career?”

The man before him loved him so much, and he’d given him the words back. To Ethan, that meant everything. That was a declaration of love.

There was no going back.

That was exactly why he didn’t share that with anyone before. It was precious, and it was meant for the ONE.

His mother had only ever said that to Ethan, her child, and Wyler, the man who hurt and broke her with his infidelities.

Only, she stayed true.

Deep down, Ethan was a lot like his mother, Catherine. Once he loved, he loved forever. He was loyal to a fault, and he’d stay by his partner until death did them part.

He made that vow to Gene with those words.

Now, he’d keep them.

“Yes, I’d leave my job for you if Gabe gave me the ultimatum. I’d quit right now if he told me it was you or my career. I don’t like being forced. Yes, I want to be director one day and climb the ladder, but I’m not leaving you behind. Would you ever leave me behind?” he asked, already knowing that answer.

He shook his head.

“Never. I can’t imagine anything that would make me leave you, EJ. You’re my whole world.”

Ethan squeezed his hand.

“Then, we go together if the FBI fails us both. We can find other jobs. I don’t know what I’d do, but maybe I can go back to school. We’d work it out. We always do. I mean, how do you feel about living on a reservation?” he asked.

God.

He hoped that didn’t happen because he wasn’t emotionally ready to go back there either.

Gene would live in a cardboard box by the river if it meant being with Ethan.

Gene palmed his cheek.

“I’d live anywhere with you, and if you had to go back home, I’m coming with you. I’d take care of both of us,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep us together. We’re a family.”

Ethan put his hand over his.

“Well, then, I guess we don’t worry about it. I don’t think he’ll say anything unless our jobs start to be affected. So, we should be good. We just have to keep closing cases and putting the FBI first when we’re at work.”

And Gene would.

To keep Ethan, he’d do anything.

He’d kill for him.

Because they were alone, and there wasn’t security in the elevator, Gene crowded him into the corner.

“God, you smell good,” he whispered, leaving bites on the man’s neck.

Ethan moaned.

“Yes,” he whispered, as his man grabbed a handful of his ass, and pressed him to his body. “God. You feel so good.”

Gene was glad he felt that way.

“Later, we’ll celebrate the holiday. I can’t wait to wake up Christmas morning and spend my day with you.”

That sounded so appealing.

Only, if they wanted that to happen, it meant they needed to solve this.

TODAY.

“We should go,” Ethan whispered, as his man left warm open-mouthed kisses on his neck.

“Do you want me to let you go?” he asked.

No.

He.

Didn’t.

So, Ethan took a moment to enjoy the feeling of being wanted as much as this man craved him.

He found his mouth, and it exploded around them. It was a hot tangle of desperate tongues, hands wandering, and need that had them both by the balls.

How could he leave this?

It felt too damn good to be wanted this much.

When Gene cupped him through his dress pants, Ethan moaned.

And broke the spell.

Because he had to.

They had just mentioned work, and staying together, so one of them had to be the strong one.

“Gabe,” he whispered, as his man got him all hot and bothered.

And that was the wet blanket thrown on top of them.

He sighed and set him free.

“He’s like a dip in a cold swamp.”

It made Ethan laugh.

“Christmas morning, if we wrap this, we’ll celebrate,” he admitted.

Gene would get this done, so they could have the holiday.

“All I want for Christmas is naked sex with my man, and our little family spending it together. I want to see you try on the fancy undies I got you. Then, I want to pull them off with my teeth and jingle both of our bells all day long.”

He laughed.

That did sound appealing.

“Of course, you do.”

Hitting the button on the elevator to start it back up, they stood there, like nothing had happened.

Oh, they both had erections, but they had to keep the charade going.

When the door opened, Corbin was right there.

“Hey, Dad and Annoyance,” he said, smiling at Ethan and ignoring the other man.

Gene laughed.

Oh, someone was spicy today. He hoped he was feeling that way when they played ‘Lawyer Twenty-Four Questions’.

IN.

THE.

CAR.

“Ouch. That hurt my itty-bitty feelings—if I had any left from the FBI kicking the shit out of them.”

He laughed.

“Ready?” he asked. “Your chariot awaits, Ethan,” he said, tucking his arm in his like an idiot.

Blackhawk laughed.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” he said, humoring the man until Gene killed him for being ridiculous.

Then again, he was aware that Gene liked the man, or he would have been dead a long time ago.

“I am in a good mood,” he said, as they walked down to the closed-in parking garage where he’d parked his car. His parents had brought it back that morning when they had interrupted his morning sexcapade.

Gene waited until they were almost to the car.

“So, how was the lawyer? Stimulating?”

Corbin opened his mouth, and was about to tell him that was none of his business, when Gene went there.

“Remember, you didn’t show up this morning, and the price of that time off on YOUR CASE, that you saddled us with, ON OUR HOLIDAY OFF, is you have to share with the class.”

He recalled.

“Only if you share first,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Ethan.

“Over your dead body,” Gene said, not missing a beat. “I’m going to tell your bed buddy you’re flirting with other men. How’s that going to go over?”

Corbin gasped.

“You wouldn’t.”

Gene smiled sadistically.

No, he wouldn’t, but Corbin clearly didn’t know that.

“Spill it, baby gay. Have you moved up to the next level of gaydom?”

Corbin laughed, as he unlocked the SUV’s door, and they all got inside.

“Yes, I did. It was a good night,” Corbin said. “We had stimulating conversation, and I did everything you instructed me to do.”

Gene and Ethan waited, as the man backed out of the parking lot.

“Then, this morning, I gave him everything I had. I left it all on the field.”

“And?” Ethan asked.

“And he was all about it. You were right, and I was wrong. Thank you for the playbook, and thank you for giving me some guidance. We’re doing something for Christmas morning together if we’re both free. So, for the love of God, help me get free.”

That was all of their Christmas wishes at that point.

Corbin stopped talking, and surely, he didn’t think they were letting him off the hook.

They wanted the deets.

They were vested in this.

“Come on, Corby, our good old buddy. Tell us what happened,” Gene said.

Corbin was amused.

“No, you yenta. I’m not giving you the deets,” he stated,

Gene kept it going, mostly to bust his ass.

“Why not?” he asked, winking at Ethan, who was trying not to laugh.

“Because I don’t kiss and tell.”

Oh, well, that wasn’t good enough.

“So? Draw pictures. Up to this point, you weren’t kissing anything but Ethan’s ass every time you saw him,” Gene stated.

It made Blackhawk laugh.

It was the truth.

Corbin shook his head.

“Do you two not get laid enough that you don’t need to hear about my night?”

Oh, he got laid a lot.

And he was glad.

They were just vested in the baby gay. They wanted him to be happy. He was their family, and like it or not, he grew on you.

Like a kid brother.

Ethan helped his partner out.

“Was it hot?” he asked.

Corbin nodded.

“Yes. I like him. He’s definitely a dirty bottom,” he said, giving them that.

Only, the other man wasn’t having it. He was curious, and when that came knocking, he tended to want answers. Their baby detective knew that.

“Come on!” Gene said. “Why do you get to ask us about sex, but you don’t share with us? That doesn’t seem fair and equitable.”

He sighed.

“All I’m telling you is I followed your sex manual, and asked the MOST important question. When he answered, Will told me that he could cum as many times as I wanted him to, and he did. Okay?”

They started throwing out numbers mostly to show him how annoying it had been. They knew if they stopped talking about it, eventually, Corbin would spill it.

“Four?” Ethan asked.

“Six?” Gene countered.

To be amusing, Ethan went again.

“Ten?”

Corbin rolled his eyes.

“Are you guys on something? You’re particularly wild today.”

It was the curiosity about their baby detective that made them want to know.

Neither man spoke.

At first.

“Man, I wish I was home in my nice bed with my spectacular Native instead of being pulled into a case where I didn’t have to work it but did out of the kindness of my cold, dead heart.”

That hung there.

Corbin sighed.

“Five, okay? I did my best work, he came five times, I came three, and I’m having a good day because this morning, he was all over me the second I woke up.”

They were happy for him.

Someone was finally getting his sex on, and that was what it was all about.

“You took the vitamins, didn’t you?” Gene busted. “If not, you’d better, and stay hydrated.”

Ethan laughed.

Oh, Corbin had all of this coming. Gene was going to bust his ass non-stop.

“You know what? I like you both, so I’m going to say yes,” Corbin stated.

They laughed at him.

Then, Gene pointed it out.

“It’s annoying, isn’t it?” he asked. “When someone peppers your whole day with sex questions that are NONE of their business.”

He sighed.

“It is. I apologize for the pain and suffering I committed in my attempt to learn how to be a good lover in bed.”

Well, that was fine and dandy, but payback was payback. When Gene busted ass, it was out of love.

It was his love language.

“Did you use toys?” he asked. “Did he ask to use toys?”

Damn him.

The man was like a sex Svengali.

Unfortunately.

Corbin legit turned around at the stop light.

“Can we stop?” he asked, not telling him that the man had asked and before he came to pick them up, he’d bought some sexy toys.

Gene was grinning at him.

“I’m just rehashing every single conversation we’ve had about my sex life since we’ve met. So, no.”

God.

He had this all coming, and Gene was right. He’d been annoying as fuck.

“Just tell him, Corbin, or he’s never stopping,” Ethan said, enjoying himself.

Fine.

“He did ask about toys. I did go pick some up. They are in the…”

He didn’t get to finish because Gene climbed over the SUV seat, and grabbed the bag from the back.

And Corbin couldn’t stop him.

The light had turned green.

“Let’s see what Corby got,” Gene said, dumping them out on his lap.

“Oh, Jesus,” he muttered, not shocked.

When Gene held up a vibrator, a butt plug that also vibrated, and some cock rings, he patted him on the shoulder.

“I’ve never been so proud in my whole life,” he said, wiggling the plastic vibrator.

Ethan held up the nipple clamps.

“I have fond memories of last night. It’s like he went into our kink drawer, and took notes.”

Corbin laughed.

“The sales lady threw a bunch of stuff at me, said something about my prostrate, and I hauled ass out of there.”

Gene put the things away.

“Get some minty lube.”

He glanced up in the mirror.

“Minty?”

Ethan nodded.

“Just trust me. You’ll have fresh breath, and his ass will tingle for about an hour.”

He made a mental note.

“I just want to go on the record and say you guys were right about that. Annoyingly so.”

Gene snorted.

“That had to hurt.”

“Not as much as that big dick in that bag,” Ethan joked, giving his partner a fist bump.

Corbin even laughed.

He felt like he was in a club and finally understood the secret password.

“If you need more toys,” Ethan said, “We can give you a few for Christmas,” he stated.

“Slightly used,” Gene busted.

Corbin navigated the shit roads.

“You’re gross,” he stated. “So gross,” he added, trying not to laugh, but it was damn difficult.

He was in a good mood.

When he flipped the man off, just because, it made Gene snort.

“Ethan can tell you what butt plug he likes,” Gene teased. “My dirty bottom likes something dirty in his bottom,” he added. “Speaking from experience.”

Corbin shook his head.

“I don’t want to scare Will.”

Gene stopped him then and there. Apparently, Corbin forgot a lesson.

“Was I wrong about ANYTHING?” he asked. “Because if I were you, I’d listen with your ears, and not that ‘know it all’ brain. People like sex toys. If they didn’t, do you think they’d be so freaking expensive, and always out of stock. Curiosity killed the kitty, and got plenty of them wet across the board.”

Corbin was honest.

“You were right, but I’m working up to it. I really like him,” he admitted. “Like a lot.”

Ethan went there.

“Get the penis pump,” Ethan suggested. “You know, the one we saw in that one victim’s home? He will love when you tie him down, and use that on him. He’ll scream for more, and cum for days.”

He stared at him in the mirror.

“I liked you innocent. What happened to it?”

Gene found that outrageous.

“Son, he was never innocent. He was silent. There’s a big difference. He’s as kinky as me, maybe worse. If you’ve ever been tied up and tortured by this man, you’d be a happy clam.”

Ethan laughed.

“I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve,” he admitted. “If you’re a good boy.”

Gene grinned.

“I’m a very bad boy. What do I get for that?” he asked, wiggling the eyebrows.

“The penis pump.”

The driver put the brakes on that conversation.

“STOP,” Corbin said. “I don’t want to hear the perversion from you,” he stated, meaning Gene.

Ethan’s hand was on Gene’s thigh, and he slid it up to the ‘danger zone’. That was the area where Gene’s thoughts became a danger to himself.

“I’ll start with those toys,” Corbin said. “Make a list, and I’ll order the rest of the things you think I need online. I’m not going into those stores—it’s insanity in them at Christmastime. Some guy was buying his wife stripper panties and pasties.”

Gene had bad news for him.

“He was buying his side piece stripper panties and pasties. He got his wife pots and pans.”

Ethan snorted.

“You and those stores are scary.”

Gene laughed because those stores weren’t scary.

Not.

At.

All.

They were full of fun things that he wanted to buy and try out on his man.

Sue him.

He was incredibly sexy.

As they pulled into the doctor’s office parking lot, there were three cars there besides theirs.

It was a slow day.

Honestly, that’s what they fully expected. It was about ninety minutes before the doctor’s office closed, and she was likely wrapping up for the day.

To get out of there.

Parking, Corbin was just about to get out when his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket, he sighed.

“Oh, shit. It’s Captain Guy,” he stated. “My freaking boss. Why can’t he take a day off?” he asked.

Gene was amused.

“They can’t because they feed on fear and stress. Homicide Captains are particularly angsty. They have to be. The detectives make them work for it.”

“I gotta take this,” he said.

Gene looked at his watch.

“You deal with that. We’ll handle the office situation. Go,” he said, as Corbin had no choice.

When he answered, they got out, and headed inside.

Once in the door, there was a pretty, petite woman sitting behind the main desk.

She smiled at them the second they came into the room.

“Merry Christmas,” she said. “What can I do for you?” she asked.

Gene and Ethan pulled their badges.

“We have a warrant for Doctor Ballman’s patient files. We’d appreciate it if you could get them for us,” he said, handing her the warrant.

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry, but they are kept under lock and key in her office. She’s wrapping up with a patient right now. Can you give her fifteen?” she asked.

Ethan read the name plate on the desk.

“We can, Ms. Conant. Or is that Mrs. Conant?” he asked. “I’m Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk, and this is my partner, Special Agent Gene Cantrell.”

She giggled.

“It’s Miss, but if I’m lucky, Santa might bring me a sexy man. Are you free?” she asked. “I’m single.”

Ethan laughed.

Gene, not so much. If he had a dollar for every pretty woman who flirted with his man…

He’d retire.

Now, Gene knew his partner was doing his schtick. He was going to flirt to get information like he had with the secretary who worked at the law offices.

That had worked to their advantage, so he was letting the Blackhawk grin off the leash.

“Can we ask you some questions?” Ethan asked, ignoring her question. “It’s for our investigation.”

She smiled.

“I’d rather you ask me if I am single. I am,” she said, winking at him, and not letting it go.

He hated to break it to her.

“I’m actually in a relationship,” he said. “Sorry,” Ethan offered.

She sighed.

“Oh, well. Still, color me intrigued. Pull up a chair, and let’s talk. It’s been a slow day, and I need some entertainment,” she joked.

Ethan did just that.

“If we show you some pictures, can you identify the people?” he asked.

She shrugged.

“I mean, I see a lot of people. Doctor Ballman is very busy, but I can try.”

Ethan pulled up the victims’ pictures on his phone and showed the pretty blonde the driver’s license pictures.

“I recognize her,” she said, pointing at Caprice Gressman. “She came in with her husband.”

Blackhawk was curious.

“Do you know what for?” he asked.

Sondra shook her head.

“Doctor Ballman is VERY protective of her files. I never see them, so I couldn’t tell you. When people come into the office, they are usually quiet. I mean, I can guess.”

Ethan didn’t want speculation.

He wanted proof.

“No, that’s okay, Honey. How about this woman?” he asked, moving on.

He showed her Francesca Berlove.

“Yeah, I remember her. She came in crying. There was a woman with her, but I don’t know what they were here for. When they came out of the office, she wasn’t crying anymore.”

That was two out of four.

“How about this one?” he asked, showing her the picture of Maggie.”

Sondra studied it.

That one took a little bit.

Finally, she answered.

“Yeah, I remember her. She came in really tired all of the time. I think she worked at night. Once, she fell asleep waiting to see the doctor.”

This was the last picture, and Ethan was hoping that the woman could put the victim here. If she could, Doctor Ballman had a lot of explaining to do.

He showed her Dorris.

“How about this lady?” he asked.

She stared at her.

“No. I’ve never seen her in here before,” she admitted. “I don’t think she’s been here and I’m the only secretary, so she’d have to check in through me.”

He was curious.

“Can you look up names in your system?”

She nodded.

“Since we have a warrant, can you do that for me?” he asked.

Sondra glanced back at the door.

“If she comes out, she’ll fire my ass. Doctor Ballman takes her job very seriously.”

He put on the charm.

“Pretty please?” he asked, smiling.

She sighed.

“Okay, but can one of you watch the door for me?” she asked. “Oh, and keep smiling at me. Your smile is infectious,” she stated.

Gene rolled his eyes and headed toward the doctor’s door to stand there. When he did, Ethan scribbled a name on the paper, and handed it to Sondra.

Quickly, she typed it in, and Ethan was watching her. When Sondra hit enter, the screen said one thing.

And it wasn’t what he wanted.

‘No Names Found.’

Well, shit.

Dorris Stettner didn’t come here, and her boyfriend, Jack Venst hadn’t lied.

“I’m sorry,” Sondra said. “I told you I didn’t recognize her,” she offered.

Ethan didn’t give up.

“Can you check one more name?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Quickly,” she whispered.

He scribbled down the boyfriend’s name in the chance that he was the cheater.

She typed it in, and it said the same thing.

Damn.

This sucked.

Neither the man, nor the victim, were patients of the doctor. It was looking like Jack might not have lied to them after all.

Gene low whistled, and gave them the heads up that he heard something.

Ethan put the chair back, and the secretary deleted her search and picked up her pen.

When Gene came back over, Ethan shook his head.

“Neither of them were patients.”

Damn it.

They had hit a wall.

Well, they still needed the files to get a deeper look into the reason the victims came here. It might be pertinent to their case.

Gene was curious.

“Sondra, how long has the doctor been here in Philadelphia?” he asked, already having that information. They had that case that happened in Seattle right when the woman was leaving.

“Only a couple of years—about two, I think. I’ve worked for her the entire time.”

Ethan kept his voice down.

“Does she have a temper?” he asked.

She hesitated.

That was the first time since they began asking her questions. She actually looked hesitant to go there.

“We won’t say a word,” he offered.

Still, her silence was very telling.

“You don’t have to answer,” Ethan said. “We get it,” he added.

Sondra lowered her voice.

“Doctor Ballman is an amazing doctor. People love her, but she’s very old school. If she knew I was talking to you, she’d be angry with me because in her mind, the client comes first. The patient is foremost.”

Ethan had another question.

“What do you think she’d do if she had patients she couldn’t fix?” he asked. “You know…failures, if you will.”

She considered it.

“She’s a perfectionist. It would annoy the hell out of her,” she admitted.

Before he could ask any more questions, the intercom buzzed.

Sondra jumped, as it surprised her. Then, she hit the speaker button.

“Yes, Doctor?”

They heard the crisp, clear voice.

“Sondra, help the Waverly’s check out and book them another therapy session in two weeks. I’m going to need to see them again after the holidays.”

She didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, Doctor. Oh, and Doctor, there are people here to see you,” she said.

“Patients?” she asked.

“No, Ma’am. It’s the FBI. They need to talk to you about a case, and they have a warrant for records.”

There was a pause.

“Oh. Okay,” she said, and didn’t sound too enthusiastic.

Maybe that was because it was close to closing time, and the holiday was upon them, or because no one liked when the FBI came for a visit.

Sondra hung up.

“You can have a seat, guys. She’ll be out five minutes after the patients. She updates the files with notes, and then usually comes out.”

They understood.

Heading to the couches in the waiting area, they sat down, and began talking.

“So it’s a no-go on victim one,” Gene whispered, as the secretary was doing some paperwork.

Ethan nodded.

“Yeah, and on top of that, Sondra said that the files are kept under lock and key. She’s the only one who has access. I’m at a loss, Gene. I was damn sure this was the angle. It was perfect. Seattle had that murder that was very similar, and three of the four victims were here.”

Gene knew he had his hopes pinned on this.

They all did.

“Could she know the woman another way?” Gene asked. “You know, Dorris.”

Ethan knew the only other was through the hospital where Dorris worked, but if this killer was taking out people who cheated, and Dorris and Jack weren’t having issues…

It didn’t make sense.

Before he could say anything more, the office door opened, and two people came out. One was crying, and the man looked agitated.

They went to Sondra’s desk. She took their co-pay, and booked them an appointment.

When they left, the doctor came out almost immediately, and didn’t spend the five minutes filling out her notes.

“Yes, can I help you?” she asked.

Gene and Ethan both pulled out their badges and did the introductions.

“I’m Special Agent Gene Cantrell, and this is my partner, Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk.”

The woman looked confused.

“I don’t understand why you’re here, and what the warrant is for,” she said.

Ethan explained.

“The warrant is for your patient files. Specifically, ones tied to our case.”

She was to the point.

“I’m very uncomfortable giving you my patient files. What’s in them is private. No one sees them but me. That’s the confidentiality that I offer my patients.”

So Sondra had said.

When another couple came in, she gestured toward them.

“As you can see, I’m very busy…”

Gene shut that down.

“A judge says we get your attention, your files, and your time.”

Oh, she didn’t look happy.

Honestly, she seemed to be that kind of person. Her face was pinched in irritation, and it was crystal clear they were annoying her.

Oh, well.

“Fine,” she said, and then looked over at Sondra who was minding her business. “Sondra, have the Olsons wait five minutes. I have to handle…this.”

Oh, the secretary wasn’t kidding when she said her boss had a temper.

Ethan could see it simmering.

What he didn’t get was what he had missed. This felt so right for him. That this doctor was ground zero in all of this. She had contact with everyone but the first couple.

“Yes, Doctor,” she stated.

“Follow me, and we have to make this quick. I have work to do.”

As they headed into her office, Gene rolled his eyes, and Ethan caught it.

Inside, the room was cold.

Not temperature-wise, but sterile, and showing no warmth whatsoever.

There were no pictures.

No plants.

Nothing that said this was a comfortable place to have to go to spill your fears, secrets, or worries.

When the doctor sat, she pointed.

“Sit.”

They did.

“Now, what’s this about?”

Gene went there.

“I’m not sure if you’ve watched the news,” he began, and was cut off.

“I don’t watch the news. I read. So please, hurry up and tell me what this is about. It’s ruining my schedule.”

Gene did.

“Three of your patients were killed.”

She didn’t bat an eye.

“And this has what to do with me?” she asked. “I’m confused as to why you’re here.”

He kept it light.

“Because we believe they are tied to something that might have happened here.”

Yeah, he went there.

She laughed.

“I can assure you that I’m not tied to any such thing. This is preposterous. Let’s get to the point. You want my files. For whom?”

Ethan took over.

He was better equipped to handle this woman. As in, he was less likely to punch her in the face.

“These are the following patients,” he said. “Caprice Gressman, and her husband, Patrick. Francesca Berlove, and her partner, Perri Farrah. Next is Maggie Goodman, and last is Dorris Stettner,” he offered, wanting to see if she’d recognize the name.

Going to her file cabinet, she took the key from her pocket and unlocked it.

As she was pulling out the names, she got to the last one, and stopped.

“I don’t have a Dorris Stettner. She’s not a patient.”

Well, damn.

He’d been hoping the computer was wrong.

“How about Jack Venst?” he asked.

She searched.

“No. That’s not someone I’ve seen either,” she said, heading back toward the desk.

Gene had a question.

“Doctor, there was a very similar murder that happened in Seattle right as you were leaving.”

She sat.

Then, it hit her.

“So you think I’m a killer?” she asked. “Is this what the little file thing is about?”

Gene shook his head.

“No, we need those files for our case. We’re just asking you point blank if you recall a murder like that in Seattle.”

She folded her hands over her files.

“No, I don’t. Next?” she asked.

“Can we see the files?”

She countered.

“Can I see the warrant?” she asked.

Gene passed it to her, and she put on her glasses and read over it. The entire time, she looked pissed.

Only, she was keeping it to herself, so far. Gene knew his partner was watching her carefully.

When she was done reading over EVERY line of the warrant, she then picked up the files, and headed to the photocopier not far away.

Without a word, she made copies, stapled them, and placed them efficiently into folders. When she returned to the desk, she handed them to Ethan.

“Now, if that will be all?” she asked.

Gene had questions.

“We would like to…”

She cut him off.

“Gentlemen, you had a warrant for my files, not my time—contrary to what you believe and said. Anything you wish to know about my patients, the notes are there. I have a couple waiting for my time, and then, I have things to do for my holiday. If you don’t mind.”

Well, that was a brush-off.

A huge one.

Ethan and Gene knew there was no point wasting her time. She wasn’t going to cooperate, and that was fine. They got what they came for, and there might be something in the files, or the yoga financials.

They had to hope.

It was already the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and they were running out of time.

That was for damn sure.

“Thank you for your time, Doctor. If we need to speak with you,” Ethan began, but was cut off.

“Then you can make an appointment next week,” she stated. “Good day.”

Well, that said it all.

Heading out, Ethan nodded at the secretary, and she had that look on her face.

It screamed ‘told you so’, and she had. Someone was very Ebenezer Scrooge-ish.

That was for damn sure.

“Merry Christmas,” Ethan said, as they headed out the door, and down to the lobby. When they got into the elevator, Gene shook his head.

“Someone needs to get laid for Christmas. She’s uptight, and not so pleasant.”

Ethan agreed.

“I’m disappointed that the first victim wasn’t a patient,” he admitted. “That leaves us with the horny siblings as the ONLY people who had contact with all of the victims.”

He was aware.

“The only other possibility is that Jack Venst came across the victims while working. Corbin said he was getting the files. Let’s see what he found.”

That worked for him.

Then, Gene reassured his partner, who took it hard when he missed the mark.

“I mean, it was a good attempt, EJ,” Gene admitted. “We tried, and if the guilt doesn’t fit…,” he said.

Ethan knew.

They needed to move on.

As they reached the lobby, Corbin was coming their way. He looked…frazzled.

“Don’t say there’s another body,” Gene stated. “I’ll freaking lose it.”

He laughed.

“If by that you meant my potential body, possibly. I just got my Christmas boning, and it was by my boss. You should have talked to him. He might have taken it easy then.”

Gene laughed.

“Uh, not my problem, Baby Detective. He’s your boss. You don’t see me asking you to talk to mine.”

He shrugged.

“I didn’t sleep with yours. You slept with mine. How about we talk about that next?” he asked, busting ass.

Gene growled at him.

Honestly, Ethan didn’t want to know.

The less he knew, the better. Not that he wasn’t curious. He knew Gene was a bottom most of the time unless he wanted some Tala.

So, he saved his partner.

“Corbin, you were going to pull Jack Venst’s files that might connect to our victims.”

He shared what he had done.

“While I was waiting for you two to come downstairs, I did just that. I figured you had the doctor under control.”

That worked for them.

“And?” Gene asked.

“I ran all the victims through his files. No one popped up, but Maggie. She was a witness in his report to the shanking. I ran the spouses, and nothing was in his files.”

Well, shit.

That sucked.

Gene knew what they needed to do next. It was time to clue the man in, and move along.

“How about we talk about the doctor?” Gene asked. “You didn’t miss a whole hell of a lot,” he added.

That worked for Corbin.

“Are all four victims…?” he began, and saw Ethan shaking his head. “Oh, shit. Nothing on Dorris or Jack?”

Unfortunately, not.

“Nope,” Gene said, “and the doctor was about as friendly as scurvy. She gave us the bare minimum and rushed us out of her office. She had a final appointment for the day, and we weren’t it.”

“Bummer,” he said.

Yeah, tell them about it.

“So what are we thinking for our lead suspect?” Corbin asked.

They both looked over at Ethan.

“The only suspects we have that connect to each of the dead women are the predator twins, the Aceros. Everyone else is three of the victims, and no one else ties to Dorris, other than the possibility that Patrick Gressman saw her in the ER.”

This case really sucked.

Gene was about to say so when his phone rang.

“Oh, it’s my boss. I gave him your private number,” Corbin said, busting his ass.

Ethan slapped him in the back of the head.

HARD.

Corbin looked over.

“HEY!” he said. “That’s not normally your thing,” he joked.

Ethan warned him.

“If that man tries to poach my sexy kink bunny, I’m kicking your ass. If he gets his private number, sleep with one eye open. I’m not playing.”

Gene was heartily amused by the look on Corbin’s face, when Ethan threatened him, and wasn’t kidding.

“God. I love being his kink bunny,” he joked, answering. “Cantrell.”

“Yo, it’s Greyson. You’re going to want to get your ass back to the morgue. Results are in on the car. We’ve got a situation.”

Uh-oh.

“What kind of a situation?” Gene asked.

He was to the point.

“It’s the kind that blows up in our face, and is the gift that keeps on giving shit the whole year through.”

Well, damn.

He didn’t like that.

Not.

At.

All.

That was for damn sure.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Morgue

Information Time

Friday

Two Thirty P.M.

Arriving, they had no freaking clue what the techs had found when it came to the car. It was anyone’s guess at this point, ping-ponging back and forth between the killer, and the potential of it being Javier Hughes.

If it was the killer, and they had a fingerprint, they were in luck since they were also bouncing back and forth between the potential killer being the doctor and the lusty twin yogis.

As they walked in, Greyson was waiting in the morgue, and he had a piece of paper in his hands.

Well, here went the whole case, maybe.

“Please say that you know who the killer is, and we can call this a day,” Gene stated.

Oh, well, he wished.

“No, but I have that feeling that this is going to end up biting us in the ass at some point. We had one fingerprint. It was found on the door handle underneath. The whole car was wiped, but the person missed one partial print.”

Gene waited.

He wanted to know who tried to take his life. He was praying deep down that it was the killer and not Javier Hughes. Putting him back in the spotlight was exactly what he wanted.

It also added fuel to his fire.

To get to Ethan.

“Spill it,” he said.

Greyson did.

“It belonged to a Willis Finch.”

Fuckity.

Even Corbin gasped when he heard the name because he, too, knew the shit was hitting the fan.

Gene closed his eyes.

Yep.

They were going to go back to the Javier Hughes rodeo, and someone was going to get kicked in the teeth.

Likely him.

The more he dangled Ethan in front of the man, the worse it was for him, and Ethan. The man was sick and obsessed.

“Oh, boy,” Ethan said, knowing Gene was now a man on the edge. Nothing put him there more than Hughes and his bullshit.

Greyson nodded.

“I know,” he stated. “We’re about to tangle with Hughes again. I already spoke to Gabe, and I think you know what he wants us to do.”

Oh, they did.

Apply.

Pressure.

“He wants him brought in,” Gene said. “He wants him handled because he wants to plug that FBI leak.”

Greyson nodded.

“I’m sorry, guys. I was hoping it was going to be your killer.”

From beside him, Corbin took one for the team. He wanted his friends safe.

“If you guys want, I can get S.W.A.T., and we can go in and bring him in. I know how it’s bad for you guys to play games with him.”

And it was.

It really was.

With each time he brought Ethan near the man, it riled Hughes up more and more, as he tried to trap that bird in the gilded cage.

Over Gene’s dead, worm-ridden, rotten, smelly body was that piece-of-shit psychopath touching a single hair on his man’s head.

No.

Fucking.

Way.

Because it was their situation, Greyson left it up to them.

“Decide,” he said.

Gene was weighing the options.

“Actually, Greyson, I need to talk to Ethan for a minute alone. Can we use the morgue office?” he asked Sasha, who was standing nearby and saying nothing as she observed.

She nodded.

“Go ahead, guys, and for the record, Greyson told me about this mess. I’m really sorry, Ethan.”

Oh, not as sorry as he was. That day he flirted to get them in to see the man had been his downfall, and he saw that now. Only, he took Gene with him in that tumble.

“Thanks,” he offered.

Then, he headed away with Gene. He knew his man was about to blow.

Could he blame him?

No.

Could he stop him?

Yes.

Only, he wouldn’t.

The man had every right to be just as bitchy as he was over the situation. Diesel took a shot at him, trying to kill him, and almost did.

In the room, Gene closed the door and locked it.

When he turned, Ethan was already in a defensive stance, expecting a fight.

Only, Gene wasn’t in the mood to do battle with his man. He was about to do it with Javier Hughes, and that was enough stress for one day.

As he moved toward Ethan, he braced his body, and it broke Gene’s heart that he expected physical blows. Instead, he opened his arms and hugged him.

“I love you so much,” Gene whispered. “I love you more than I love anyone in this whole world.”

At his words, he relaxed, and melted against him. For that moment, he held on.

“I’m scared, Gene. He went for you, and he’s going to keep going for you.”

He was aware.

Gene was the obstacle in the way of getting to Ethan, and they all knew it. He was the wall, and Javier was willing to blow through it.

If they went for him, everything had to stick. That meant putting the pressure on Diesel and his family. Honestly, he’d bitch slap a woman to keep Ethan safe—especially if that woman knew her husband was up to dirty deeds for money.

There absolutely had to be money involved to risk killing a Fed and going to the chair or life in prison.

They stood like that for a few minutes, and finally, Gene spoke after contemplating his next move.

“I need a favor,” he whispered in Ethan’s ear with his lips so close the man could feel his breath.

“What?” Ethan asked.

He took a step back, and took his face in his hands.

“I need you to not go with me to arrest the men. I need you to stay here.”

Ethan stared into his eyes.

“Every time he sees you, it stirs him up, and in the long run, that’s more dangerous for us. He is going to try and take me out to get to you. We see that now. If I can keep him calm, by not seeing you, I have a fighting chance.”

God.

Ethan was sick over this.

A single tear slipped down his cheek, and Gene wiped it with his thumb that was right beside it.

“I hate this,” Ethan whispered. “I’m the cause. If I wasn’t here…”

Gene stopped him.

“Please don’t ever say that. I need you here. I’ll die to keep you safe, EJ. I’ll die to keep you out of his hands, but I need you to let me do it. I need you to put all of your faith that you have, in me. I need your trust. Keeping you away from him isn’t me thinking you aren’t an equal, or a good agent. It’s me trying to buy us some time—if I can.”

Normally, Ethan would fight like hell to go in with him, but he understood.

Seeing him incited a riot in the man’s cuckoo brain. When they’d been in court, the man had tried to climb over people to get to him.

Literally.

‘Hughes was kidnap and lock him in a cage’ crazy.

“I am the last thing that protects you. Our boss is in his pocket, and Gabe can only do so much. I know you can protect yourself, and you’ve proven that, but if he gets you, EJ, he’s destroying you. I can’t live with the idea that he destroys your body for his sick whims. I’ll eat my fucking gun. I can’t carry that.”

He hugged him, and buried his face in his neck.

The whole time he held him, Gene knew he’d fight to the fucking end of the world for this man. He wasn’t just his partner. In his heart, he was his soulmate.

His lover.

His mate.

His one-day husband.

There would never be another person like Ethan, and he knew it.

When he looked into his eyes, Ethan saw more love than he’d ever experienced in his whole life. The only person who looked at him the same way was his brother.

“I’ll stay here. I’ll give you this if you give me something in return.”

Gene waited.

“Please don’t kill him. If he tries to push your buttons, you don’t risk your job or yourself. He’ll want to provoke you, and you’re easily angered when it comes to him.”

That was an easy deal to make.

“I need you to come home to me, and to celebrate our first, albeit shitastic Christmas Eve.”

Gene found his mouth, and kissed him like he was trying to crawl into his body. He hungrily devoured, feasted, and tried to take everything he could from that one mating of mouths.

And Ethan held on.

The whole time, all he was thinking about was that one dream Gene had. That when they retired, they were married to live out the last of their days.

He wanted that.

He wanted him.

More.

Than.

Anything.

As he slowly broke the kiss, he stared into his pleasure-filled eyes.

“I love you, Ethan Jackson Blackhawk.”

He said the words back because they mattered.

“I love you, Gene Sawyer Cantrell. Come back to me in one piece.”

He ran his thumb over his lower lip.

“I will, EJ. You can bet on that,” he said, finally stepping back from him, and getting bossy. “Keep that fine ass of yours right here. I’m going to go bring in two assholes, and ruin someone’s Christmas.”

And with that he turned, walked out, and closed the door behind him.

When everyone in the room saw him, he focused on Greyson.

“We need Marshals, Agents, and anyone you can get together. We’re going through that man’s gate with a no-knock warrant. I want the Marshalls in S.W.A.T. gear.”

Greyson shared what he had.

“Gabe got you one.”

Well, that said it all. Their boss wanted Javier to swing for sullying his FBI.

Then, it was settled.

“Corbin, your ass is to stay here and make sure Ethan’s safe, no matter what. I’m trusting you with him. Don’t let me down.”

The man got it.

“I’ll stay with him,” he stated. “Don’t worry.”

He wasn’t.

If anything, he knew Corbin would stick like glue. That was his favorite pastime, and honestly, there was no one he trusted more with Ethan’s life.

He was a baby detective, but he’d protect Ethan to the end. He was loyal like that.

“We’re going to bring them in. We all know who Diesel answers to, and I need the district attorney to get him to flip on Javier Hughes. I need him to go to jail for trying to kill me, and to stay in there without bond.”

They’d cross that bridge when they got to it.

Could they do it?

It was a possibility.

If they found enough that said the man was obsessed, they’d have a fighting chance.

“I’ll work on that,” Greyson said. “Want me with you on this?”

There was no hesitation.

An ex-sniper?

That screamed excursion into Hell in a handbasket.

“Yes,” he said.

“We’re going to ruin his holiday, his New Year’s, and the next twenty years of his life.”

Yeah, someone was hella angry, and Javier was about to feel the heat.

If Gene had anything to say about it.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

One Hour Later

Three Thirty P.M.

Greyson’s Office

Corbin and Ethan were holed up in there, going over all of the information they had gotten in for their case. Another agent handled the warrant for Acero Yoga, and gotten all of the financials.

It was time for them to build their case.

They also had the doctor’s notes, and that might come in handy.

As they sat there, Corbin was on Ethan watch. Truthfully, it was an easy job. The man wasn’t saying anything.

And that wasn’t good.

“Want to talk about it?” Corbin asked. “Not as cops, but as friends?”

Ethan looked up, and his eyes were filled with tears.

That said it all.

“It’s my fault. I dangled myself in front of Javier Hughes, knowing the risk, and knowing what your mother told us before that case.”

He let him talk.

“I’m the reason Diesel tried to kill him, and why Javier is all over him. It’s my fault if something happens to Gene, and I don’t think I can live with that.”

Corbin made them both a cup of coffee from the pot in the man’s office.

“He’s not going to get hurt,” he said, adding the cream, and handing it to Ethan. “Gene is beyond tough, Ethan. He’s going to go in, get it done, and come home.”

“If I just left the FBI, and…”

He stopped that.

“You’re not a coward, so stop acting like one,” he said, not mincing words.

Ethan blinked.

“Ouch.”

Corbin sat beside him on the couch, and touched his knee.

It was time.

“You’re overthinking this. That’s going to piss Gene off and risk his life if he has to play ‘chase the Native home’. Don’t make him lose focus. Let him take care of what’s his, and he’ll be fine.”

Ethan knew he was right. It was just so difficult to not feel like he was to blame.

“I just feel horrible.”

“Do you love him?”

He closed his eyes and answered honestly.

“More than myself. I’d run away with him tomorrow if we had to leave the FBI. We might have to do that too. Our boss knows about us, Corbin. He found out, and that was likely Javier’s parting gift.”

Oh, Jesus.

The two men were fighting so many battles. Now, he felt guilty for dumping this case on them.

“Then let him take care of you. He needs to do it. You can tell by just being near him that his whole goal in life is to just be with you. Let him protect his man, and trust him to do it.”

“If he gets hurt…”

“Then, I can marry you and live happily ever after,” he joked, catching him off guard.

He actually laughed.

“He’ll kill you.”

Oh, he was aware, but he needed Ethan to breathe through this.

“He’s coming back, and he’s going to rock that condo for Christmas Eve.”

Oh, likely.

Taking his hand in his, he gave it a squeeze.

“I only hope I have half of what Gene feels for you one day. You’re lucky, Ethan. You’re damn lucky. Live in the moment, and not the what ifs.”

He was right.

Leaning over, he gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, Corbin.”

He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Say it with tongue.”

Ethan just laughed.

“Sorry. You have a man now. You can’t kiss other people.”

Yeah, well, speaking of Will…

“I’m confused about him.”

Ethan lifted a brow.

“What are you confused about? You said it was the best sex you’d ever had.”

He stopped him.

“I didn’t say that. I mean, it was, and it was implied, but I’m struggling here.”

Ethan wanted to think about anything else, so this was a welcome distraction.

“What? We were only busting your ass about the sex and everything else.”

He stopped him.

“Oh, I know that you and Gene both like me. I can tell. If Gene didn’t like me, he wouldn’t have put me on Ethan watch today. I was more talking about how I feel inside already.”

He was still holding Ethan’s hand like it was his own lifeline.

“Want to talk about it?” Blackhawk asked.

Honestly, yes. Corbin had no one else to talk to. Alice and John were great, but…they were his parents. It was awkward.

“If you don’t mind.”

Ethan shrugged.

“We’re friends. I don’t have many of those, and that you seem to want to be mine, tells me that maybe I can do this kind of interpersonal relationship thing after all.”

What always confused him was how Ethan never saw how awesome he was as a human being or friend. He gave good advice, he was a great listener, and he was kind.

“You and Gene are my only friends. I have cops as buddies, but that’s a ‘let’s get a drink after work’ deal. You guys are a ‘let’s hang out and not feel like it’s awkward’. I know I can come to your place anytime and crash.”

He stopped him.

“Unless you bring us another case for another Christmas. Gene will murder you if you keep doing that, and I’m not kidding. You’ll be on a milk carton.”

Corbin pictured it and laughed.

“I think I can outrun him.”

Oh, someone had no sense of self-preservation, so he warned him.

“He looks bulky and slow, but he’s deceptively fast. He also can run long distances when need be. When I do six miles, he keeps up.”

“Because he’s following your ass.”

He laughed.

“Probably.”

Because he needed help, Corbin explained.

“I know that if I needed you guys, you’d show. We’re more like family.”

And that was the reoccurring theme as of late.

They were family.

Corbin was like that little brother who always wanted to tag along, and you had to keep from getting hurt along the way.

Honestly, Ethan liked it.

“I know if I called you both, even twenty years from now, you’d show up. I know I can trust you. So that’s why I’m going to say this. I want to marry him.”

Ethan choked on his coffee.

Corbin had to pound on his back, and wipe some off of his pant leg.

“Are you good? If I kill you, Gene’s eating my liver. He told me to keep you alive.”

He nodded and couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You want to marry Will already?” he asked.

Corbin shrugged.

“I already know. He’s smart, we mesh in bed, and I love spending time with him. I didn’t want to leave for work today. I’ve NEVER felt like that.”

Ethan just stared at him.

“Like marry-marry?” he asked.

He nodded.

Then, Corbin went there.

“When’s the best time to propose?” he asked. “Should I wait a week, or…?”

Ethan stopped him.

“Corbin, first, I’ve never proposed to anyone, and I’m not married. I can’t answer that.”

Corbin was curious.

“If Gene asked you tomorrow, would you marry him?” he asked.

He thought about that blue paper clip that he’d twisted into a ring. It was put away in Gene’s jewelry box. It sat right next to his watch at night.

“Yes,” he finally said. “If we could, absolutely, but I’ve been with him nine months, and his partner for almost two years. You literally met Will yesterday. We are a whole other situation. We live together. That cohabitation is like being married.”

He was curious.

“So don’t do it?”

Ethan opened his mouth.

Then, he realized this wasn’t his rodeo, and it wasn’t his feelings so who was he to shit on them?

“Do you think he feels the same?” he asked, ignoring the other questions.

“I think so. He said he wanted to spend Christmas with me. Ironically, we’re not doing anything, and I’m sure Alice and John…”

He stopped him.

This was that big brother thing he was feeling. At least this one wouldn’t sleep with his significant other like Callen had.

“Bring him over,” he said. “Bring him to our place on Christmas, and spend it with us.”

He stared at him.

“You want us to hang out on Christmas day? When Gene is going to try unwrapping you all day long?”

Ethan was honest.

“Gene came from a family that had big Christmas morning traditions. They involved matching pajamas, breakfast, and food all day. There were presents and board games. I want to give him that because he gives me so much. You are our family, and if you’re in love, we want to get to know your man. He’s our family too.”

He hugged him.

“Thank you for that. Not the invite, but for telling me I’m your family.”

He patted him on the back.

“You are. On top of that, bring Alice and John too. Have them bring food because we didn’t plan this, and I want to surprise my man. He’ll love a family Christmas again. It’ll make him happy, and that’s what I want to give him for Christmas.”

He could do that.

“Won’t we be working?”

He was honest.

“No. Gabe said he’d give us all day Monday if we needed it. There’s nothing open on Christmas, so we either close it today, or it waits.”

“And you really don’t mind if we come over and spend it with you?”

He shook his head.

“Again, we’re family.”

Corbin hugged him.

“Thanks, Ethan.”

He stopped him.

“It’s EJ. My family calls me EJ,” he said.

He grinned.

“What can I bring?” he asked. “Other than Alice and John, who will insist on feeding all of us.”

“Just yourself, and your board game skills—oh, and board games. We don’t own any.”

That worked for him.

Honestly, it sounded like so much fun.

“Feel better?” he asked Ethan.

The man laughed.

“Yeah, Corbin, I do. Thank you,” he said. “I think a normal family holiday will make us all feel better,” he admitted.

That was all he wanted to hear.

“Then, how about we get down to business? Let’s go over the information, so we can have the holiday off.”

That worked for Ethan.

He needed to figure this out so his partner could wrap it up. They had a holiday to celebrate, and for the first time, in a very long time, he was looking forward to it.

And that was crazy.

For him.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Javier Hughes’

Mansion

En Route

Same Time

Gene was in riot gear, making sure his whole body was protected in case this went south. He also had his mask, that he wore when they did undercover busts.

With Javier Hughes, and his asshole thug, he knew this would likely be a mess.

On top of that, the word on the street was that he’d hired new thugs to protect the grounds.

So going in…

It was dangerous.

The man would know they were coming since it was a long driveway to the house.

Now, he just didn’t want to get shot.

As Greyson rode beside him, he, too, was quiet.

“We’ll put him away,” Greyson promised, sensing the tension in the man.

Yeah, he hoped his friend was right.

Only, he wasn’t sure how much harder they could fight against Hughes. He had judges, and the Director of the FBI in his pocket.

That was daunting.

Honestly, running sounded like a good option. He was wondering if he could get Ethan to be a beach bum with him on some island.

That had promise.

“I just want him behind bars. I’ll sell my goddamn soul at this point.”

Oh, Greyson knew the feeling. He hated criminals, and he’d do anything to fight them.

ANYTHING.

It’s why he joined the military and then the FBI. He believed in justice.

“We’ll get him. If you want to sit this out…”

He looked over.

“Or not.”

“I’m going in. I want to see his face when he realizes that his goon didn’t kill me. I want to ruin his Christmas like he almost ruined ours.”

Oh, well, he likely would.

There were no judges working this time of the day, and anyone going into the lockup was sitting in a cell until court on Monday.

“Just be careful. If you get shot…”

Oh, he was aware.

He had to think about Ethan. It wasn’t just him out in the world anymore. It was him and his man, and he couldn’t leave him behind.

This was a ‘fight-to-live’ kind of a deal.

“We’re approaching the gate,” the driver of the S.W.A.T. truck said.

In the back, there were US Marshals, and other Agents locked and loaded.

They were all chomping at the bit to take in Javier Hughes. This was a long time coming, and all they needed was for Diesel to roll on him.

And he was sitting his ass in prison for a good twenty years—if not longer.

Gene knew what they needed to do.

“Hit it, and gun it,” Gene said. “It’s about a quarter of a mile to the door. He’s going to see us coming, and we need to make sure we contain him. Intel says he has armed guards. We have to neutralize, fast.”

Everyone onboard knew that was the first step.

“We can get up there fast, Agent,” the man driving said. “Don’t stress it. You just go get your guy, and we’ll handle the hired muscle.”

Oh, he would get Javier handled.

Bet.

On.

It.

Gene checked his gun, and when Greyson warned him, he heeded that too.

“Don’t go rogue,” he whispered. “Ethan needs you to do this right. Don’t shoot him unless he’s holding a gun and aiming at you.”

Oh, he didn’t need to worry. He was going to go in, get the man, and end this.

Here.

And.

Now.

Without Ethan there, he wasn’t as easily provoked. That was bad for Javier.

And good for him.

As they rammed the gate with the giant S.W.A.T. vehicle, they hauled ass up the drive, FBI agents following, as they inundated the whole house.

Warrants were out, and they were ready to go.

What sickened Gene was the place was decorated, and the man actually was inside having a holly jolly holiday. While he was reveling in the festivities, he was about to be sorely disappointed.

His holiday was over.

As the vehicle came to a stop, they all jumped out, and as they made it to the door, security was coming out.

Armed.

Security.

They got off a few shots, but were neutralized by the US Marshals before anyone could be hit with gunfire.

All around Gene, the US Marshals got the situation handled, and the scene secured. As they did, Greyson, Gene, and three other Feds booted the door.

It flew back into the wall, and the glass pane shattered from Gene’s big boot.

“FBI,” Gene shouted, as they announced themselves and slapped a warrant on the door.

This place was now theirs to search—once the man was put in cuffs.

Inside, there was screaming as Diesel went to pull his gun, and Gene shot him in the shoulder, taking him down.

Greyson said don’t shoot Hughes. He didn’t say don’t shoot the piece of shit that almost killed him and took him out of Ethan’s life.

The woman screamed.

The kids did too.

Only, Gene kept moving, myopically focused on one single, solitary piece of shit.

As he moved closer to Javier, he saw the look on the man’s face.

Yep.

He hadn’t expected the FBI to ruin Christmas.

Awww.

Too bad.

It was about to get worse.

Javier stood there amidst all of the white Christmas trees decorated with blood red ornaments. Oh, there was blood in his living room now.

Diesel’s.

Maybe they should learn not to shoot at Feds, and then they wouldn’t get a bullet wound for Christmas.

As Greyson got the now-shot man into handcuffs, uncaring that he was bleeding, they focused on Javier, the two screaming kids, and the sobbing woman.

“Hey, Javi. Nice to see you,” Gene said, pulling off his black tactical mask, and smiling at the man.

Yeah, he didn’t see that coming either.

“What the hell?” Javier asked.

As he kept his gun trained on Javier, Greyson had to put his hand on his shoulder to remind him, again, that going rogue hurt Ethan more than him.

“Don’t. We can put them both away,” Greyson said, keeping his voice low. “We have him. Don’t give him the gift of walking.”

He was right.

Oh, he’d love to put a bullet in his head, and end him so Ethan would be safe forever, but he believed in the justice system.

Gene would put his faith in that.

“Javier Hughes, you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder. You hired your bodyguard and likely paid him to shoot a federal agent.”

The man just stared at him.

In anger.

“You can’t prove that!” Javier said.

Oh, bet.

“Right now, Diesel’s home is being raided, and there are warrants for his financials. If we can prove you gave him money to do the job, you’re done.”

He looked over at Diesel who was bleeding on the floor.

“He’s under arrest too,” Greyson said, calling for an ambulance.

At that moment, Gene saw the man for what he was. Javier was shaken up.

He was scared.

It was clear.

When two agents pulled Diesel to his feet, the man whimpered and begged.

“Please,” he said. “Not in front of my kids.”

Javier was on that like flies on shit.

“Don’t say anything, Son. I’ll get you a lawyer. I’ll get us both lawyers and we’ll be out in an hour.”

Then, he focused on Gene—the thorn in his side, and how he wasn’t dead.

God damn but he was living and breathing.

“As for me paying him, I simply gave him a Christmas bonus yesterday. Any money you find is that.”

Gene knew he was a snake.

Oh, and he was slippery.

Instead of saying anything, Gene walked toward Javier, and the man went to move backward to escape, and fell onto a chair.

Because he wanted him to be scared, he leaned down, and grabbed him by the front of the suit.

“You fucked up. If you’re going to hire someone to kill me, Asshole, make sure they know how to not miss a fingerprint, or better yet, wear gloves.”

Javier was horrified.

They believed they’d been in the clear.

This was going to take months to make go away for him, and Diesel—if the man didn’t turn on him. His plans to get to Ethan by New Years were over.

Javier needed to know.

“Where’s my Ethan?” he asked. “Where is my sweet man?”

Gene smiled ferally.

“Didn’t you hear? Gabriel Rothschild transferred him, and he’s in another city. I’ll be there soon with him, and there are so many in the country, Javier. You’ll never see him again. Merry Christmas, fuckface. You aren’t getting him in your stocking. You’re getting bent over in the prison shower courtesy of me. Enjoy.”

With that, he flipped him over, and put him in cuffs as roughly as he could without the man screaming police brutality. What he’d like to do was put a bazooka in his ass and pull the trigger.

What he would do was think about Ethan.

The whole time he was being cuffed, Javier fought.

So Gene pulled him to the floor, put his knee in his lower back, and bent his arms into a very painful position.

The man whimpered.

“Stop resisting. I’m adding that to the arrest,” he said, taking a little holiday joy from this man’s pain.

Sue him.

He was petty like that, and he’d nearly had his thug kill him.

“Why won’t you die?” Javier whispered over and over again. “Where is my Ethan? I want my Ethan,” he begged. “I need this man to die already!” he screamed.

Greyson shook his head.

“Oh, that sounds like an admission of guilt. Good thing we’re wearing cameras,” he said, tapping his. “Ouch.”

As for Ethan, Gene was making a vow at that moment. This man would never see Ethan again.

Not in court.

Not on the streets.

EVER.

“I can’t die because Ethan loves and needs me. Now, you’re spending Christmas in jail and alone,” he whispered in his ear so it wasn’t caught on camera.

Not far away, Diesel’s wife was still crying. Grabbing his attention, Gene looked over at her.

“Someone shut her the fuck up. She knows what her husband does for a living. I don’t care if she cries,” he said, not feeling any sympathy.

It only made her wail more.

When Gene came in here and they were making merry, it pissed him off.

His life mattered to Ethan, and these merry assholes didn’t give a shit.

Yeah, someone’s Christmas was ruined, and he was good with that.

When the ambulance left with Willis Finch, AKA Diesel, the wife and kids were escorted off the property, and Javier was transported to lock up, Greyson got his attention.

“Hey, you’re going to want to see this,” he said, leading Gene to a screen.

They were alone in there, searching for anything they could use as evidence to keep the man in jail until his trial. It would buy them time.

When he pushed the button, on it was Syn, and he already knew what was on that disc.

He stopped it so no one else saw it.

“We were undercover, and he’s using this as his personal kink. That’s coming with us,” he stated.

Greyson turned it off, and he ejected the disc.

“What’s coming with us?” he asked Gene. “I don’t see anything here.”

Gene knew he was damn lucky.

“Thank you,” he said, as Greyson handed it to him.

“You’re welcome.”

Greyson pointed.

“He’s got a box full of discs. There might be something in them.”

Gene agreed.

It looked like he was taking all of them too. He’d go through them in his downtime, and if he and Ethan were in them, they were going to the garbage disposal.

Bet.

On.

It.

“Good job not losing your cool,” Greyson said, congratulating him.

He laughed.

“Well, I try, but this man pisses me off. Do you need my gun?” he asked, knowing he discharged it, and while it was a justified shooting, there were rules.

“No, but you’re filling out the goddamn paperwork that I told you not to make for me. I warned you.”

Gene laughed and patted him on the back.

“Thanks, Grey.”

He didn’t mind.

Honestly.

“Two more assholes off of the streets,” he said, giving him a fist bump. “Now, how about we head in, and you take care of your murderer? I’d really like to come back to work on Monday and not be rehashing that other mess.”

That worked for him.

Because Ethan and he had Christmas morning to spend together, and he was looking forward to it.

Desperately.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Not Far Away

In Philadelphia

Friday

Four P.M.

Oh, this was bad.

The news was playing the deaths over and over again, and since one of the Feds was shot at, she was getting the blame.

Only, she didn’t do it.

She had nothing against the man who was shot at one of the victim’s homes.

Nothing.

At.

All.

He hadn’t been a cheating whore, who didn’t think about anyone but himself.

Still, now, she was freaked out.

This was bad.

She had to up her game, and clean up any loose ends before it bit her in the ass.

That meant one thing.

One.

More.

Death.

It was about making sure the Feds were not able to ask uncomfortable questions in case they tried.

Finding the woman she was going to kill next, she snuck up behind her when she was doing some shopping—well, after she was done, and putting the things in her car.

With the silenced gun, she placed it to the back of her head, and pulled the trigger before she could move.

She fell into her trunk, and it was closed.

Now, it was time to get her to her final resting place.

And continue on with her holiday plans.

For revenge.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The FBI Building

Six PM.

Christmas Eve

The streets were emptying out, and so was the FBI building. While there were people on duty, they were on call all throughout tomorrow, and doing it from home. Mostly, the day would be quiet, since killers took a day off on Christmas.

Temporarily.

Then, the mayhem would pick back up as soon as the holiday was over.

Know who wasn’t heading home?

Gene, Ethan, and Corbin.

They were still working, chasing a killer who, honestly, wasn’t giving them that much to work with either.

No shock there.

Serial killers were a pain in the ass.

The only highlight for Gene was the second he got back from the sting to bring in Hughes, he headed to Greyson’s office.

Before he was even out of his gear, Ethan saw him and was on him.

He practically clung to him, holding onto his partner. Then, and only then, did Ethan calm down. The kiss that they shared in the privacy of the office, only in front of Corbin, was enough to teach the man how you kissed your lover.

Like your life depended on it.

Yeah, Corbin clapped, and busted their asses, but it was worth it. It was worth seeing Ethan’s face when he told him that Javier was in jail, and he had the strip club footage safe and sound.

They.

Were.

Safe.

Well, for now.

After changing back into street clothes, as his partner hovered, they knew they needed to figure this mess out so they could salvage their holiday.

It was going to be a white Christmas, and Gene wanted to see some of it.

Now, they were parked in the conference room, getting shit done.

At least everyone was safe.

As Ethan flipped through the pages of the Acero files, he sighed.

That had Gene’s attention.

“Nothing?” he asked, as the man shook his head.

Ethan hated to break it to him.

“No, they told us the truth. All four women had spent time there doing yoga at one time or another—along with two thousand other people. Dorris went there the least and Maggie the most.”

Corbin knew why.

“The stripper had to stay in dancing shape,” he said. “The woman in the happy relationship didn’t care about working out religiously. I know if I’m dating someone and happy, I’m working out less.”

Gene looked over at him.

“As a cop, that is terrifying. You should be working out consistently so you can do your job.”

Corbin liked to bust his ass.

“I’m getting plenty of cardio. Are you, Bear Man?”

Gene just rolled his eyes. He wasn’t engaging the man. Ethan liked his body how it was, and he liked himself too. If he had to run, he could.

He hoped Corbin could because he was going to chase him to beat his whippersnapper ass.

“How are you two doing with the doctor’s files?” Ethan asked the two men before they started arm wrestling on the table to see who was stronger

Corbin shrugged.

“Well, there’s nothing shocking in the notes. Caprice and Patrick were seeing her because she was sleeping with someone. She didn’t mention who it was in the notes.”

Ethan knew why.

“She likely didn’t want to tell her husband who he was, little did she know, he set her ass up,” Ethan stated.

Yeah, Patrick was an asshole.

“In the notes, Doctor Ballman said that the husband had narcissistic tendencies, and she didn’t believe for one second that he wasn’t sleeping around too.”

Never let it be said that Doctor Ballman couldn’t read a room.

“Well, she nailed that,” Corbin admitted.

That she had.

“What about the two lesbians?” Corbin asked.

Gene flipped, and he found the pages. There, he went over the information.

“Francesca swore on her life that she was pressured into it. She said she was trapped with them, and before she knew it, Maire was free-falling in the clit-mosphere.”

That caught Ethan off guard, and he actually laughed.

Gene always amused him.

“Well, since I was trapped with Groper One and Groper Two, I can attest to that. I will say though, had either gone to their knees to blow me, I wouldn’t have caved. I would have thrown hands. So a part of her still let it happen. She didn’t call it rape. There’s a fine line, and in her opinion, Maire didn’t cross it.”

Gene agreed there.

“The notes say that Perri was devastated. That she came alone to a few sessions to get her head in the right place. Guess who joined her?”

Corbin took a stab at it.

“Her sister, Carrie?” he asked.

He nodded.

“The doctor saw them both, and made note that the sister was pissed off for Perri. Like really pissed off. The doctor uses the word, IRATE.”

“Yeah, that’s pissed off,” Corbin said.

It certainly was.

Ethan was curious.

“Where does Carrie Farrah work?” he asked, off handedly.

Corbin went online to her social media, and looked at her page.

“Uh, she’s a dental hygienist.”

Gene was curious.

“Where?”

Corbin read him the name, and he searched it. When he did, he looked up.

“Uh, the dental office is upstairs from the doctor’s office. She works in the same building.”

That set off alarm bells.

Why?

“That puts her there for all of the victims, except the first one, again. Granted, her sister works in a hospital, so she could have gone there to see her or meet her.”

That was true.

“Know what’s annoying?” Gene asked.

They waited.

“We can connect almost all of the suspects three fourths of the way there—but not the last step.

Ethan agreed.

It was annoying.

But they had to keep going.

“And what about Maggie?” Ethan asked. “What do we have on her in the doctor’s files?”

Corbin had that file and flipped it open.

“She made the notes you’d expect. She wrote in parentheses that Maggie was exhibiting whore-like tendencies. Can a doctor say that about their patient?”

Gene had news for Corbin.

“Sunshine, she was sleeping with everyone for money because she had no self-control. That’s the definition of whore,” he admitted.

Corbin argued that.

“So you think her sex addiction was easily denied?” he asked. “Because I looked it up. Recovering sex addicts say it’s like drug addiction. You can’t get enough.”

Did he buy that?

No.

He had a sex addiction when it came to Ethan. He thought about it day in and day out, and he couldn’t get enough.

Did he fuck a whole bunch of people and blame them?

No.

“I think that everyone has the ability to say no to alcohol, drugs, and sex,” Gene admitted. “That’s how people RECOVER.”

Corbin pointed at him.

“Hey, now. Don’t drag me into this,” he warned, not sure where he was going with it.

With Corbin, who knew?

“So you could stop having sex right now with Ethan?” he asked.

Gene focused on his man.

“Don’t take this offensively, but yes, I could stop. If my partner had the flu, or broke his hip, I could contain my urges. If I lost him, I wouldn’t be having sex ever again. He’s it. If I can’t be with him, I’m not covering it with random one-night stands. I did that before to find him.”

Corbin shrugged.

“Okay. You have self-control. I just think that calling a woman who is struggling with that addiction a whore is a red flag for me. Doctors aren’t supposed to judge. That feels judgy.”

Gene paused.

You know what?

He might have a point.

“I concede the point, and we can say that this woman had contact with only three of the victims.”

Ethan thought about it.

“Which directs us to look back at the Hornball Twins,” he admitted. “They are the only ones we can tie to all four victims.”

That it did.

“I wish the doctor saw Jack Venst or Dorris Stettner at least once. I don’t like putting all my profile eggs in one basket,” Ethan said.

Speaking of which…

“If you were to point us at someone, who would it be?” Gene asked.

“The doctor,” he said, without flinching. “That’s what my gut says. She had access to the files.”

“Why?” Corbin asked.

Ethan explained.

“She made comments about them, knew about their lives, and there was that killing back in Seattle. Whoever did this likely knew about those people’s intimate lives. We don’t have anyone else who does.”

They all thought that out, and he was right. Doctor Ballman was the logical suspect.

“Does she have social media?” Corbin asked.

Gene shook his head.

“Nope.”

This was a conundrum. Gene’s profiler was pointing him at someone they couldn’t prove had ties to one of the victims, or her cop boyfriend.

This was problematic.

Before Gene could ask him if he was sure, and if that was his final answer on it, Corbin’s phone rang.

Pulling it out, he answered it, knowing it was dispatch and what that meant.

Well, shit.

It looked as if he had pulled another case since he was on duty.

“Yes?” he asked, and listened. “Uh-huh,” he said, pulling out his little notebook, and making notes in it.

They watched him.

“Okay, I’ll head there,” he stated. “It might take a while. The roads are shit.”

When he hung up, it was with a sigh, and some frustration.

“What?” Gene asked.

He told them.

“I just pulled a suspicious homicide. A fire that the chief says looks like it was set with an accelerant, but he also believes the victim has a bullet wound through the front of her skull. It looks like I’m going to have to handle this.”

Gene lifted a brow.

And stopped him.

“Corbin, you were just given another shooting in the head, and you didn’t immediately think it might be tied to our case?” he asked.

He looked confused.

“The MO isn’t a fire. Someone burned this woman after the fact. That’s a big deviation from the pattern.”

Gene was to the point.

“Maybe escalation? Maybe the killer is losing it? Maybe we freaked the killer out, and this is what happens?”

Corbin said nothing.

So, it was Blackhawk to the rescue. On top of that, Ethan was curious.

“Do you have a name or just the address?” he asked.

Corbin re-opened his notebook.

“It was a home owned by a young woman by the name of Sondra Conant.”

The second it was out of his mouth, Gene looked at Ethan.

And Ethan stared at Gene.

“Uh-oh,” they said at the same time.

“What?” Corbin asked.

That’s when they realized that he’d been in the car dealing with the homicide captain when they’d interviewed the doctor’s secretary.

Now, this wasn’t looking good, at all for the doctor. The woman’s secretary was killed?

Gene was betting he knew why the body was burned.

To slow them down.

They showed up there, and freaked the woman out.

“Uh, she was the secretary that we talked to today at the doctor’s office.”

He blinked.

“What?” he asked. “Are you shitting me?” he inquired, surprised. “She worked for the doctor?”

Ethan nodded.

Then, gave him the bad news.

“You don’t have a separate case, Corbin. The killer struck again, and maybe this time it was in haste, and that’s why they burned the house down.”

Gene agreed.

“Maybe the killer left DNA behind. Our killer just handed us a fifth body on Christmas Eve.”

And they knew what that meant.

They were screwed.

Oh, and the doctor…

So was she.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Sondra Conant’s

Home

Seven P.M.

Christmas Eve

When they arrived on the scene, they’d already notified their ME that they were going to have a body coming in but she’d managed to beat them there. They had Greyson to thank for that.

He got the ME there ASAP.

Heading into the burned-out structure, there wasn’t just a person, but someone’s little dog too.

“Oh, shit. This asshole killed her dog? That’s sick and twisted,” Gene said. “The poor puppy. What kind of nut kills children and pets?”

Sick ones.

On that, they agreed.

Corbin was outside talking to the fire chief, and they needed to get this going. There was potential evidence here, and the clock was running out.

“What do we have?” Gene asked Sasha, as not far away, Greyson was also there, making sure that they got through this.

“I can’t give you too much on her yet, until I compare dentals. I went into the database, and I contacted all the dentists in hope someone was her doctor.”

“And?” Gene asked.

“We got lucky. The only doctor that claimed to be hers is heading back into the office to send me the X-rays. I’ll have something in a few hours as for positive ID.”

Gene was making notes as Ethan walked around the house.

Sasha continued.

“As for the rest, she’s about five foot five, maybe about one forty, and I’m going to say she had hair. As for the color, it’s melted to her skin from the fire. Other than that, I’ll know more after dentals and autopsy.”

Gene knew that one already.

“She was a blonde.”

Sasha stared blankly at him like that wouldn’t help her, and he supposed it wouldn’t. She looked at organs for a living.

So, he moved on.

“COD?” he asked.

She pointed with her pen toward the woman’s head. “She looks to have a big ol’ hole in her noggin, Agent. Care to guess why so I don’t have to?”

He stared at her.

“You’re spicy.”

She laughed.

“I have my moments,” she admitted.

Blackhawk got their attention.

“We have a bullet here,” Ethan said, pointing into the wall of the woman’s living room. “She must have been shot here,” he stated.

Techs headed his way, and pulled it out of the plaster so they could take it in.

“Well, that fits,” Gene said, playing it out how he saw it going down. “The killer knocks on the door, Sondra answers, and she gets capped. It’s a straight line from the front door and she’s lying in the pathway.”

Corbin agreed.

“So she knew her killer to open a door for them?” he asked.

Gene nodded.

“And the dog was likely next,” he stated, as he pointed at the pile of dog remains.

They had a mess.

Since the men were working, and Sasha could do two things at one time, she lowered her voice. “What’s up with Greyson? He’s quiet today,” she whispered to Gene, who was crouched next to the body. “I tried to get him to talk to me, and he’s not really receptive.”

Uh-oh.

Gene was being pulled into trouble land, and that was the last place he wanted to be.

There were a few rules in a man’s world. The first was don’t say shit to your buddy if you hate his girl. Secondly, don’t repeat anything to the woman that the buddy told you. Oh, and run for your life if you smelled drama.

It was two out of three on this one.

“Got me, Doc. He didn’t say anything to me. Maybe he’s bummed he’s not seeing his family for Christmas,” he said, throwing anything out there.

Then, he got her to refocus.

FAST.

“Is the GSW to the front of the head or to the back?” he asked.

She shrugged.

“I won’t know until I examine it. I need some time,” she said.

Well, on that note, he was done asking questions. She wouldn’t have TOD either.

The woman was cooked. They knew she was alive at the doctor’s office around one, and it was seven now. That gave them a six-hour window. Less if they took into account that she was killed after work and before the fire department was called there at five-thirty.

When he headed toward Ethan, he was staring at a wall of photos.

“What do you see?” Gene inquired.

“Who was she cheating with?” he asked. “I could swear she told me she was single.”

Gene wasn’t sure.

“Maybe she broke up with her partner?” he asked. “Maybe it’s the doctor covering her bases. We show up, we take her files, and we rattled the cage. Sondra would be the one person who might know something.”

He had a point.

“I think we know what this means,” he said.

Yeah, they had to go find the doctor.

“Let’s go bring her in,” he suggested. “Then, we can ask her what she was doing when Sondra was taking her last breath.”

That sounded like a good plan.

Because now, this was another person she had contact with and they turned up dead. Someone had to be lying to them. Ethan was willing to bet their trip to Puerto Rico on it.

The killer had to connect to all of the victims, and the doctor had to be it.

It was ground zero.

His gut was telling him it was.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

The Doctor’s Home

Not Far Away

Friday Evening

When they hit the doctor’s house, which wasn’t that far away, they learned one important thing.

She.

Was.

Gone.

The maid was there cleaning up, and she was preparing to shut the house down for a week in the doctor’s absence.

Apparently, the doctor had told them to make an appointment next week, and she had no intention to go there. That was likely why she had Sondra make an appointment for the Waverly couple in two weeks.

Where had she gone?

Oh, try that she’d caught a flight back home.

To Seattle.

Well, shit.

That was a problem.

“What time was her flight?” Gene asked, frustrated that they’d let their lead suspect go.

The maid shrugged.

“Ms. Ballman got here around three, and left at four. So, I’m going to say around six?” she asked.

They both knew that gave her time. The fire department was at Sondra’s by five-thirty.

Now, it was seven, and she was likely already in the air.

Gene immediately walked away, and Ethan knew what he was going to do.

To call the airlines.

“Is she in trouble?” the maid asked.

Ethan wasn’t sure, but he was guessing she was. Call it a hunch.

“We have a few bodies,” he admitted. “Have you worked for her long?” he asked.

She nodded.

“I worked for her in Seattle, and we came here. She paid to have me move here since I keep a tidy home like she enjoys.”

Ethan pulled out his pen and paper.

“What’s your name?” he asked, planning on making notes. This woman might know something they could use, and he wanted to be able to find her.

Just.

In.

Case.

“Yolanda Castleton.”

He went there.

“So when the doctor was moving here, was it rushed?” he asked.

She considered it, as she poured him a cup of coffee that she was only going to clean up.

“I mean, it was kinda rushed. She had movers come and pack up, and she told me that she was having my home packed up too.”

Ethan listened.

“Did she have a relationship with a man…?”

Yolanda laughed, cutting him off.

“Oh, we don’t talk about him,” she said.

That piqued his interest. Where there was smoke, there was fire.

Then again, that was a bad saying in this case since poor Sondra had been killed and burned with her dog.

“I need you to. Her secretary was killed a couple hours ago, and she’s in trouble, Yolanda.”

The woman gasped.

“Not Miss Sondra. She is a sweetheart. I’ve met her a few times, and she is so kind and loving.”

He nodded.

“She’s dead.”

Immediately, that loosened her tongue.

“She was dating another doctor. Doctor Miles, and she went to his place, wanting to get her sweater she’d left there, and she found him in bed—and not alone.”

Oh, boy.

“With whom?” he asked, thinking it might be that dead woman that they found out about in Seattle.

“His MUCH younger secretary. In fact, the woman was tied up, and the sex…Doctor said it was filthy.”

OOF.

This wasn’t looking good for the doctor.

“What happened next?” he asked.

The woman continued.

“She lost it, punched him in the face, kicked the hell out of the woman, and then we came to Philadelphia.”

And if that wasn’t a reason enough to go on a killing spree…

The other doctor must not have pressed charges to keep it out of the news.

“What kind of doctor was he?” Ethan asked.

“He helped people with sexual dysfunctions. Doctor Ballman said he took advantage of people, and his secretary.”

Yeah, this wasn’t looking good for Carlyne.

“Thank you, Yolanda. If you hear from the doctor, please let me know,” he said, giving her his card with his number.

“Okay,” she said, tucking it away.

Meanwhile, he was on his way outside to find Gene.

He was just hanging the phone up, and was talking to Corbin who just met them there after being tied up with the fire department.

“The flight left at six-fifteen. I’ve already alerted the US Marshals that when she lands, she’s to be taken into custody.”

“I can’t believe we missed her,” Corbin said.

Oh, Ethan had tea to spill.

“Well, I think I know why the woman did what she did,” he said, and then told them all what happened. “The first woman who was shot in the head in Seattle might just be a coincidence, but that betrayal…I’ve walked in on someone fucking my girlfriend,” he stated. “It hurts.”

The detective was curious.

“Was it enough to make you want to kill?” Corbin asked.

“It was my brother, so no. It did break our relationship. We’re only starting to figure it out, and that was ten years ago when I was eighteen.”

Gene knew there was nothing else they could do for now.

“We need the autopsy to have definitive proof, and we need the US Marshals to bag and tag her when she steps off the flight.”

Ethan was curious.

“When does she land?”

Gene looked at his watch.

It was a six-hour flight, and she’d been in the air for an hour now.

“Five more hours.”

Well, shit.

That gave them time.

Beside them, Corbin was twitchy.

“Would you guys mind if I cut out for a few hours to catch up with my parents a bit? I know they’re bummed about not having that trip to Scranton.”

They didn’t mind.

Honestly, there was nothing they could do until they got the woman off the plane, and extradited her back to Philadelphia for questioning.

That might not even be until Monday.

“Head out,” Gene said.

Corbin winked at Ethan. He knew he needed to talk to his parents to make arrangements for tomorrow and Ethan’s surprise for Gene.

Food wouldn’t be a problem.

They owned the pub.

As the man began walking away, Gene’s phone rang. Immediately, he recognized the number.

“Freeze, Corbin!” he shouted after the man.

When he did, the guy turned and sighed.

“Damn it,” he muttered. “I almost escaped.”

Gene laughed as he answered the phone.

“Yo, Doc, what’s up?” he asked, recognizing the morgue number.

Only, he thought it was Sasha.

“You need to get in-house, now,” Greyson stated. “You have a huge problem.”

Well, shit.

He hated déjà vu, and he was experiencing it.

And he didn’t like it.

NOT.

AT.

ALL.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The FBI Building

Eight P.M.

Christmas Eve

Well, never let it be said that Christmastime wasn’t full of surprises. Because when they got back to the morgue, they found out that Sasha hadn’t even started the autopsy on Sondra Conant.

Why?

Well, that was an interesting turn in events for them, and for this case.

As soon as she told them what she’d discovered, all three men were shocked as shit.

“What do you mean it’s not Sondra Conant?” Gene asked, the second the woman gave him the updated dental match.

She explained.

“The dentist got me Sondra’s dentals. They didn’t match. They aren’t even close. We don’t have the dead secretary on the table, guys.”

Ethan looked at Gene.

Gene looked at Corbin, and Corbin…he just stood there mouth open.

“How?” he finally asked.

Sasha sat on a rolling stool.

“Well, baby detective,” she said, busting his ass. “The teeth aren’t hers. So unless someone Hanibal Lector’d them from someone else’s mouth, and put them in Sondra’s after removing hers, that’s not the woman.”

He pointed at Gene.

“Can you please stop telling people to call me baby detective?” he asked. “It’s fucking annoying.”

He laughed.

First, he hadn’t, and that meant she’d overheard them saying that, and second…

“Oh, what’s it like to be annoyed so much by someone?” he asked.

Ethan slapped them both on the arms.

“Focus,” he said. “We have a fucking problem on our hands. We had a killer, and now we don’t have a killer.”

Gene knew what he meant.

“Do you think someone is framing the doctor?” he asked.

Ethan began pacing.

When he stopped in front of the X-rays that were up on the wall, he was lost in thought.

“Is he okay?” Sasha asked.

Gene nodded.

“He’s redoing his profile in his head. He’s like a computer rebooting. Give him a few seconds, and he’ll be back,” he stated.

Sure enough, he was.

“Why would a killer take out her secretary, to frame her?” Corbin asked. “Someone would have to hate the doctor that much.”

Or…

They needed time to get away.

Ethan turned around.

“I need a laptop,” he stated. “I need it fast,” he said, knowing this was about to go off the rails. He’d reprofiled, and he knew what was going on.

Not only who, but what.

Greyson handed him one, and immediately, Ethan was working on something and talking at the same time.

“What if the reason we couldn’t tie anything to the first couple wasn’t because they were cheating on each other, but because we didn’t know what the catalyst in the situation was?” he inquired.

Gene moved closer.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

Ethan kept talking as he was searching Sondra’s social media.

Everything there looked normal.

She was single, had her little dog, and no pictures of men on her page.

“What if this is about Dorris and Jack?” he asked, piecing it together. “What if it’s not out of order, but in exactly the right order?”

That’s when Gene got it.

“You think that it’s not about the cheaters, but about being cheated on,” he stated. “You think that one of those two people hurt someone with an act of betrayal.”

He nodded.

“I’m looking on Sondra’s page. There’s nothing about a boyfriend, but she’s a pretty woman. She was flirting with me at the office, and she came across as friendly, sweet, and sexual.”

Gene recalled.

“The housekeeper said she was sweet, kind, and a good person.”

Exactly.

A good person driven off the rails by an act of betrayal.

“What if someone hurt her?” he asked.

Now, Gene, Greyson, Corbin, and Sasha were crowded in behind Ethan.

When he couldn’t find anything on her page, he took her name out to a general internet search.

It came back with her college.

She was in a sorority.

And then, there was one article at the bottom of the search page that caught his eye.

“What if it’s this?” he said, opening the article. It was on a formal dinner the city hosted every year.

Gene scanned it, and that’s when he saw it.

“Oh, fuck.”

Corbin didn’t get it.

He was a slower reader, apparently.

“What?” he asked.

Ethan scrolled down, and there were people in gowns at a formal party. It was to celebrate the fraternal order of police. In one of the pictures was their supposedly dead woman and a cop.

A familiar cop.

Jack Venst.

“Oh, holy hell,” Gene said. “We were focused on the wrong cheating. He likely cheated on her and with Dorris. This was two Christmases ago. He would have been with her then, and…”

Ethan finished.

“And then when he met Dorris, he had an affair. That’s why he said he and Dorris were good. They were. They were the product of cheating. Sondra is killing cheaters, and she’s picking from the pool of people at work because it disgusts her.”

Corbin was confused.

“How did she know they cheated or not?” he asked. “You guys have in the notes that she didn’t have access to the files.”

Ethan explained.

“She likely just observed. She was able to tell me things, and she played us good. She made it look like she was killed to buy herself time after we showed up there. We rattled her and she needed a way to slow us down. She didn’t buy into the fact that Sasha would get dentals tonight.”

Gene didn’t like this.

“The only reason she would kill her own dog and play dead is she doesn’t plan on living much longer,” he admitted. “That’s a suicide act,” he stated.

He was aware.

“So who is the body in the cooler?” Sasha asked.

Gene knew.

That was the most logical part of this.

“She picked someone that resembled her, likely offed her, dragged her there, and burnt the house down around her. The bullet hole in the wall won’t have any DNA on it.”

Sasha went to her phone, and called over to the techs in the nearby lab.

When she hung up, after talking to them, they already knew.

“It had no blood, brain, or skull fragments. You were right,” she stated.

Ethan knew the outcome.

“She’s going after Jack. She’s going to end his life. How much do you want to bet that she attended that yoga place too?”

Gene grabbed the file, flipped through it, and found Sondra’s name.

“She did. She hunted the women down, or…they crossed paths.”

Well, shit.

Someone was damn smart.

“Jack is fucked,” the detective said as he pulled out his phone, and made the call to dispatch.

When he hung up, he didn’t look happy.

“He got off two hours ago.”

They knew what they needed to do.

“We gotta get to the cop’s house,” Ethan admitted. “Before she kills him and herself. She’s going to ruin his Christmas by ending his life. She let him suffer for a month without Dorris. Now, her final act of revenge is to take what he has left. His life.”

Oh, boy.

Greyson, Corbin, Ethan, and Gene hauled ass, leaving the woman behind.

Before she could protest, Sasha just sighed.

Well, there went her company. When she realized the coast was clear, and she had some alone time, she pulled out her phone, and made a call.

There was no time like the present.

On the second ring, it was answered.

“Yes, Doctor?” Gabe asked.

Sasha kept her voice low.

“They solved the case. They wrapped it, and are on their way to stop the killer.”

He wasn’t shocked.

“If there’s one thing they are good at, it’s solving crimes. That’s why I don’t bust their balls about their lying. For the record, they are terrible liars.”

She felt horrible.

Sasha really liked Gene and Ethan.

She liked being their friend.

“You’re not going to break them apart, are you?” she asked.

He laughed.

“Not if they keep doing the job. Just mind your business, Doctor, and keep an eye on that whole office for me. You’re my spy, and I like having eyes on the inside. The punishment needs to fit the crime, and we’ve discussed that. Now, have a Merry Christmas.”

When Gabe hung up, Sasha had that feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

If they found out she was spying on them, they’d never forgive her.

And if they found out, Gabe wouldn’t let her go home.

This was a mess.

A huge one.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Jack Venst’s Home

Same Time

Standing outside, Sondra was watching his happy home. It was a place that she used to come to with him all of the time. They’d have dinner there, and watch movies.

They’d make love in that bed, and on the couch.

He was her everything, and he promised to love her forever.

Until Dorris.

That whore.

The woman came into his life, and he was such a weak piece of shit, that he couldn’t turn down a whore with no morals.

Sondra hated them all.

She hated people who couldn’t keep it in their pants, and had to ruin other people’s lives.

Like hers.

By now, she and Jack could have been getting married. By now, she and Jack could be planning a family. Instead, he chose a nurse who knew he was with someone and stole him away just because she could.

She didn’t even love him like she did. He was just the tool of a bully, who couldn’t help herself.

The saddest part was Jack had been her soulmate, and she knew it.

And that was why when she stood behind Dorris and killed her, it was perfect.

She had it coming.

Oh, she really did.

Only, now, she was going to have the last laugh. She was going to make him pay. He’d lived without his whore for almost a month, and in that time, she’d loved watching him be miserable.

Yes, she followed him.

Yes, she tracked him like the pig he was for cheating.

Now, she’d give him his final present.

He was going to go meet his whore in the afterlife. If there was a God, he was going to Hell for being a cheater.

Walking up to his door, Sondra turned so he wouldn’t see her face. When he opened it, she turned quickly, and shot him in the leg.

His face was filled with shock.

“You shouldn’t have taught me how to shoot, Jack. Because now, we’re going to have a little talk,” she said, as she grabbed him by the hair, and using all her might, she dragged the man inside.

She’d hit his femoral artery, and they didn’t have much time.

So, they were going to have to talk.

Fast.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Car Ride There

Five Miles From Cop’s

House

Christmas Eve

Ethan was silent.

As Greyson drove, Corbin riding shotgun, the profiler was profiling it.

“We missed it,” he finally said. “We asked if he was having relationship troubles with Dorris, but we didn’t think to take the cheater route, and ask if he had an ex.”

Gene reassured him.

“We did what we could,” he admitted. “We’ll get there,” Gene reassured.

Ethan hoped so.

“I’ve been cheated on,” Greyson admitted. “I haven’t killed anyone, yet,” he stated. “Sondra must have had some sort of mental issues beforehand.”

Clearly.

“Likely,” Ethan said, as their vehicle slid a little, and Greyson had to compensate. “We really need to get there to stop her,” he stated. “She’s not going to let him live. Our only chance of saving him is beating her to the house.”

Greyson was aware.

Only, they were driving as quickly as they could in the shit weather.

“Good news, we’re having a white Christmas. Bad news is we’re driving in that white Christmas,” he stated.

Gene tried to distract him by talking about the details of the case.

“So she was scorned, and picked women at work. She got out of work by six, which explains why they were all killed at night.”

Corbin went next.

“Plus, we know they knew their killer. They recognized her. The only one who was likely scared at the time was Dorris. She likely recognized her, and knew that was Jack’s ex.”

Greyson was honest.

“I’m not feeling so sorry for her if she knew he was with someone, and she started dating him.”

That was harsh.

“You’ve not met your soulmate then,” Gene said. “I’d kill if someone stole Ethan away.”

Corbin turned his head, and Gene was glaring at him like he was waiting for the man to make a comment.

He always did.

“Hey! I’m getting married,” he said. “I won’t be hitting on your man.”

As he said that, Gene stared at him.

He was hella confused.

“To whom, Crotch Goblin?” he asked.

Ethan shook his head.

Oh, wait until Gene heard this one. Maybe he could talk him out of it.

“To Will,” Corbin said. “I’m going to ask him in a few weeks. I’ve decided.”

That was all he had to hear. Gene nearly choked on his own spit.

“What?” he asked. “The guy you just started banging last night?” he inquired. “You’re going to ask him to marry you?”

Corbin pointed at Greyson.

“I wasn’t out,” he stated. “This nice Fed, driving didn’t know I’m gay.”

Greyson laughed.

“Oh, that’s funny. I knew. I also knew because you said, ‘to Will’. I didn’t think you meant Willamena. I’m not an idiot, Detective.”

Corbin stared at him.

“Wait. What? I look gay?” he asked.

Greyson was amused.

“Well, Crotch Goblin, you’re always staring at Ethan’s ass. I’m observant like that.”

Gene slapped the man on the back of the head for the simple fact that other people caught him doing that.

“HEY!” Corbin said.

“That’s for staring at my man. You can’t ask Will to marry you,” he said, getting the conversation back on track.

“Why not?” he asked.

“You just met him yesterday.”

Corbin shrugged.

“When did you know Ethan was the one?” he asked, waiting for his answer.

Gene sighed.

“Shut up, Corbin.”

That made him laugh.

“See? You knew the first time you had sex with him. You tell me that all the time.”

Gene closed his eyes.

“You’re exhausting.”

Yes, yes, he was, but that wasn’t the topic.

“I’m going to marry my man.”

Ethan blocked it all out, and stared into the falling snow as it rushed by the windows.

He was hoping and praying for a miracle.

They needed a huge Christmas miracle for the cop.

Because Sondra was insane, and she was gunning for him.

This just might be his last Christmas alive.

If she had anything to say about it.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Jack’s Living Room

Near The Christmas Tree

It was poetic how he was bleeding all over the presents that he’d wrapped for his horrible girlfriend.

He deserved this.

“Merry Christmas, Jack,” she said, tapping the silencer on her palm.

As Sondra stood over him, Jack knew he was screwed. It never occurred to him that sweet, innocent Sondra would do anything like this.

She was a lamb, and gentle.

And now she was pissed.

Jack was bleeding and couldn’t get to his gun. He locked it away when he got home, and now, he had to keep pressure on his leg.

He was bleeding out.

“Why, Sondra?” he asked.

She actually laughed and the once melodic laughter was twisted with rage, grief, and pain.

“Because you cheated on me and dumped me for her. How’s that feel now that I put a bullet in her head? You should have seen her face when she turned and saw me. You should have seen the fear. Did you know she came to the doctor’s office right after you ‘found your true love’?” she asked.

He said nothing.

Sondra continued.

“She was waiting by my car and told me to stay away from her man. To keep away because you were hers now. She told me I was lousy in bed, and that was why you left me. She told me that you laughed at me and called me mousy.”

He stared.

“I didn’t do that. I didn’t know.”

Sondra shot him in the other leg with the silenced gun just because he was an idiot. When his body bucked and he shouted in pain, she got closer and crouched down.

“She came into my place of work, and she told me that I should use Doctor Ballman’s services. Maybe she could help me find a man since I was mentally defunct and too dumb to keep one.”

Honestly, he didn’t know that Dorris did that.

“I’m sorry she did that to you, Sondra. I had no idea,” he admitted.

Oh, Sondra wasn’t done.

This ‘come to Jesus’ talk was going to be his ‘go to Jesus’ talk.

“She was mean, horrible, and would run into me all of the time,” she said. “I tried desperately to just continue my life, Jack. I tried to move on for a whole year. Then, she came and found me after Thanksgiving. She told me she was going to try to get pregnant and that you were going to one day be a father. Maybe for Christmas. She asked me how it felt to know I’d never be a mother because no man would want me. That you didn’t want me. That I didn’t deserve it because I was a pussy and couldn't fight for my own man.”

He was horrified.

Somehow, he didn’t think she was lying. He knew Sondra for a very long time. She wasn’t cruel, and she wasn’t like this.

To be driven to it…

“Oh, God. I’m sorry,” he said.

Jack didn’t know Sondra had gone through all this.

“She was horrible to me. I couldn’t go to yoga anymore because she followed me and then she started going there. Did you know she slept with the guy who ran the place?”

He gasped.

That stung.

“No.”

She laughed.

“Oh, she did. She wasn’t as good and pure as you thought. Your precious Dorris was fucking a man behind your back. She told me that you’d never believe me anyway, so she didn’t care if you found out.”

Tears filled his eyes.

She sighed.

“Oh, Jack. You cheated on me and got what you deserved. That sweet woman you swore was your whole world wasn’t. She was a bully, and she would have lived had she just left me alone. I just wanted to heal. I lost the only man I’ve ever loved, but I was willing to leave you alone so you could realize what a mistake you made when you chose her. We were together for so long. We were together in high school, and you said I was your sweetheart. Still, I loved you so much, I didn’t fight you. I let you go.”

His heart broke.

Watching her cry, and hearing all of this…

“Sondra.”

Before he could get anything else out, she shot him in the shoulder.

He screamed in pain.

“She was a cunt, Jack. She didn’t want to move in with you and buy a house. She told me that it was silly since she had a house. You wanted that dream, not her. Know what’s worse, Jack? I wanted that dream with you. I wanted to marry you, and for years I waited for you to propose. Instead, you walked away for a bully.”

His body hurt, and he was getting lightheaded.

“Had I known all this, Sondra, I would have broken up with her. Had I known…”

She laughed.

“You had a woman who would have died for you. You had a woman who would have loved you no matter what. Oh, and your dog? I killed him too.”

He opened his mouth.

Only, she didn’t want to hear it.

“Don’t try it. I will kill you. I have nothing left, Jack. My house is gone, I killed five people, and you’ll be six. I just wanted to know one thing.”

He said nothing, but the room was going gray.

“Was what she said right? Did you never love me? Was I never anything to you? After all of the Christmases we had, and all of the laughs we shared. Did you not love me at all?”

He hated that he’d caused all this.

It was his fault.

So, he was honest.

“I always loved you. Even when I hurt you. I’m sorry I cheated on you. I wish I could take it all back.”

Honestly, so did she.

“It’s too late, Jack. We’re both different people now. Honestly, I’m glad I killed her. I saved you from her. Now, I’ll save other women from you. You think with your dick, Jack, and don’t think about the consequences. No one cares about vows and promises anymore. You gave me a promise ring in high school,” she said, dropping it onto his chest. “You told me we were getting married one day. I was with you through so much.”

“Sondra, I’m sorry.”

Instead of his apology, she pulled the trigger and shot him in the dick.

He screamed.

“I’m not a nurse, like DORRIS, but I’m going to say pelvic gunshot wounds are mostly fatal when you’re losing blood from both legs too.”

He was crying.

“I didn’t know.”

She shrugged.

“I guess you aren’t fucking anyone else from here on out,” she admitted. “Oh, and Jack?” she asked, seeing the blue lights reflecting on the snow from a silent approaching police or FBI vehicle.

He didn’t answer since he was too busy screaming.

And it was annoying.

“It’s time for a silent night, you worthless, cheating, man-whore. Say hello to Dorris in Hell. I’ll see you soon!”

That’s when she gave herself the gift that kept on giving. Sondra Conant, tormented ex, who was tortured for a full year got her power back,

She put a bullet in his head.

And with that, Jack was cheating no more.

* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *

Jack Venst’s House

Outside

Same Time

When the three agents and one detective got there and they saw footprints in the snow, they knew that Sondra had parked elsewhere and walked to the man’s door.

Yeah, she was there.

They were too late.

How did they know?

Oh, it was silent inside, but there was a river of blood outside on the snow. Something had definitely gone on here.

That was for damn sure.

With guns drawn, the four of them were ready. Gene pushed the slightly ajar door open, and there was more blood just inside the vestibule into the foyer.

That’s when they heard her.

“I’m in here,” she said. “I won’t shoot you,” she stated. “I just want to admit to what I did.”

Was this a trap?

They didn’t know.

So, they were careful.

When Gene looked around the corner, he saw Jack was on the floor in a puddle of blood, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.

Oh, and the one to his forehead said it all.

His holiday was over.

Not far away, Sondra stood there. She had her silencer touching her forehead.

When she saw it was him, she didn’t hold back.

“He taught me how to defend myself,” she admitted, talking to them.

Truth be told, she had no beef with the men. In fact, they were kind to her.

“He taught me to use a gun, so I guess it came in handy.”

Gene knew they had to bring her in, or try to. The last thing he wanted was suicide by cop on his shoulders this holiday season.

“Put the gun down,” Gene said.

Sondra protested.

“I want to talk to the nice agent,” she said. “The handsome one with the kind eyes,” she added, sniffling.

Ethan looked at Gene.

His man was shaking his head, but Ethan suspected he would be fine.

I’m not a cheater. I won’t die. She hates them.

Gene couldn’t stop him. He was being a cowboy, and that made him nervous as hell.

When he stepped out, Ethan held his gun,

“Please don’t make me shoot you,” Ethan said. “I don’t want to ruin my Christmas.”

She smiled through the tears.

“I don’t want you to shoot me either,” Sondra admitted, and then changed the subject. “Do you have someone you love?” she asked him.

He wasn’t sure where this was going.

“Yes,” he said. “My partner is my boyfriend. We’ve been together almost a year. Our anniversary is right after Valentine’s Day.”

She wiped her eyes with her free hand, but they couldn’t get to her to put the gun away.

“Do you love him?”

Ethan nodded.

“It’s our first Christmas, and he’s the love of my life,” Ethan admitted.

She was curious.

“Would you cheat on him?” she asked.

When Gene stepped out, he needed a distraction. Corbin and Greyson were going around back. They wanted to stop her from killing herself if they could.

Ethan looked over at his man.

“Never. He has my back, and he is all I have out in the field. I’d marry him tomorrow if I could,” he admitted.

Gene looked over at him, and he touched his cheek, trusting that the man was right about her, or they were both dead.

She watched, and smiled.

“I had that love, Ethan, or I thought I did. Don’t ever cheat on him,” she said to Gene. “It breaks a person in ways you can’t even explain. I came to break him,” she said, pointing down at Jack. “Dorris was a horrible person. She was sleeping with the guy at the yoga studio. She harassed me nonstop. She made fun of me,” she said. “All I wanted was to heal and move on, and his girlfriend, the woman who stole my heart from me, tortured me. She was relentless. She harassed me, until I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Ethan put his gun away.

He knew why she was confessing.

She was going to die, unless they stopped that here and now.

“I’m sorry, Sondra. Put the gun down, and we can talk about it.”

She shook her head.

“I don’t have anything left to live for,” she admitted. “And I learned something tonight.”

Ethan talked to her to keep her busy. He saw Greyson pass by the window, and knew he was trying to sneak up on her.

“What is that?” he asked.

Sondra was honest.

“That I still loved him. He was stupid, and an idiot for falling for that woman, but I still loved him. We had so many years of good times, and killing him…it hurt.”

He understood.

“My brother cheated with my girlfriend when I was eighteen. It made me never trust anyone again, until Gene. I know how it feels to be broken like that.”

She sighed.

“I’m sorry you lived through that. It is painful. I don’t want to go on now. Killing him…it ended the last piece of me.”

Ethan opened his mouth, and when she put the gun to her temple just as Greyson was coming into the room from behind her, she pulled the trigger, ending her life.

The sick way her head blew back, and the sound of her hitting the floor…

It was a lot.

When she fell, she dropped right next to Jack, a man who broke her, and never saw the truth.

That he’d had real love—not what he thought he had with Dorris, who was most definitely cheating with Andrew Acero.

Corbin came into the room a little too late.

“Well, that’s shitty,” he said, sighing.

It was.

Now, they were done.

They solved the five homicides. The only one remaining was who was the ‘Sondra stand-in’ who died at her house?

They’d figure it out, eventually.

Until then…

They were off the clock. It had been a rough one.

“Tag, Corbin. Call your ME. We’re going home,” he said, tucking his gun away.

Greyson did the same.

“You can tell your boss you solved it, and you can have the credit,” Gene said. “This one doesn’t sit well with me, and I don’t want credit for this mess.”

Corbin appreciated that, but there was still one big question remaining.

“Uh, how the hell am I supposed to get home?” he asked, as the Feds began walking out.

Oh, they knew.

“Call Alice!” Ethan shouted into the house.

Well, shit.

That was going to suck.

As they got outside, Gene got into the car, put on his seatbelt, and said not a word to either man.

Yeah, they hadn’t brought anyone in.

There would be no closure for the families.

None.

At.

All.

When he was ready, finally, Ethan spoke.

“It makes sense,” Ethan admitted. “She was driven to it by the man’s girlfriend. Not saying it was right, but I feel bad for her. She just wanted love,” he admitted.

On that, Greyson agreed.

Wasn’t that what they were all chasing?

He knew he was too.

Which was why he was officially done having sex with Sasha.

He was out.

It wasn’t worth it.

His soul mattered more.

“How about we head home? This has been one hell of a Christmas I’ll never forget,” Greyson admitted. “I think I want to sleep all day tomorrow.”

No one blamed him. They were all on the same page with this one.

It left a bad taste in all of their mouths.

They said you couldn’t win them all.

Well, in this case, they hadn’t won a single one.

This case was a mess from the start, and ran them in circles.

And no one was saved.

Not.

One.

Person.

For all of them, but especially Ethan’s partner, that was a hard pill to swallow. Gene liked to be a hero, and in this case, there was none.

Instead, too many people died because they couldn’t keep it in their pants.

Because they didn’t trust love.

Because… deep down, they were all pretty little predators.

To.

The.

End.

The Epilogue

Three Weeks Later

Their Condo

Oh, for them, it was a bright and sunny day. The light was bouncing off of the snow, and they were packing their suitcases. Ethan and Gene were taking a week, and they were heading to sunny Puerto Rico.

That had been Ethan’s gift to him, and after the last few weeks of bumpy cases, and a disastrous Christmas case, it was time for sun, fun, and sand in places that never felt good.

But to be able to watch Ethan half naked on the beach, and to get him drunk on pina coladas?

It was well worth it.

As they were both putting the finishing touches on packing, they couldn’t wait to get to their flight.

It was leaving in three hours.

Then, they’d be free of Philly, and the winter snow.

“I’m drinking on the plane,” Gene admitted. “I’m warning you now. If you go to the bathroom, I’m following and we’re going to play ‘bear mauling a Native in the contained space’,” he warned.

Ethan laughed.

“You’re insane,” he said. “How about you don’t maul me where other people shit, and instead, you get me a drink, and we’ll get disorderly together when we land?”

He kissed his man.

“Oh, Baby, that’s a deal. Thank you for this present. I can’t wait to use it—and by use it, I mean spend all of our week on holiday fornicating with the hottest man I know.”

Ethan winked at him.

“Did I mention when I’m in the sun, I get really tan, really fast?”

He stared at him.

“What?” Ethan asked when he saw him staring.

“Sorry, I was picturing you with no tan lines, and a wet dick from the copious amounts of head I’m planning to give my hot, tan Native man.”

He did a little jig as he rolled his bag toward the door so he could call the cab.

At that moment, Javier Hughes was in jail. Funny enough, he was denied bail, since he kept trying to hurt a Fed. He was stuck there until his trial in the spring.

The tides were turning against the man, and that meant they were safe.

It probably had something to do with Willis Finch, his stooge, turning for state’s evidence.

Yeah, it was a good day in Gene’s world.

When Ethan rolled his suitcase out, he had a bottle of tanning oil in his hand.

Gene lifted a brow.

“My dude, I’m white. That will cook me like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day. I need SPF four thousand.”

He laughed.

“Smell it.”

He tossed him the bottle, and it was like coconut and the beach in a bottle.

“I wasn’t planning on using it for tanning oil, Gene. Think about it.”

He looked at the bottle.

At Ethan.

At the bottle, and then Ethan’s dick.

Then, he giggled, jigged again, and did a sexy little dance that included the bottle of oil.

He was getting suntan oil lubed and he wasn’t saying no to that.

He only stopped when there was a knock on their door, catching them off guard.

“Oh, fuck me,” Gene said. “If that’s Greyson, trying to take our vacation back, I’m knocking him out, and we’re making a run to the airport. Or, if that’s Corbin, dropping a case on us, I’m locking his ass in the closet and leaving him there.”

He laughed.

“Greyson left for work already. He texted me to say have fun,” he admitted. “As for Corbin…anything is possible. Run fast, pasty white man who bakes like a turkey.”

Well, crap.

Then, it could only be Corbin.

Gene went to the door. If the man thought he was working a case, and giving up sexy oil time with the hot Native that didn’t pack any underwear…

He was insane.

“No,” he said, opening the door, only to be surprised that it wasn’t Corbin.

It was Alice.

And she looked bad.

Like REAL BAD.

“Hey,” he said, noticing she’d been crying.

Immediately, Ethan was there. Alice was family, and for her to show up…

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked.

Gene was already pulling her in, worried about the woman.

“My son,” she said, starting to cry again.

Oh, hell.

They hadn’t heard from Corbin in about two weeks. They knew he was trying to get an undercover case, despite them telling him it was a bad idea.

“What happened to Corbin?” Ethan asked.

Alice sat down, and the men flanked her.

Then, she told them.

“Last night, they found Corbin beaten, assaulted, and nearly dead outside Bull’s Biker Bar,” she whispered. “He was working at the time.”

Oh, fuck.

Neither man spoke as she explained.

“He went in undercover for a sting the police wanted handled, and someone hurt him. He’s in the hospital, and I didn’t know who to come to.”

Oh, Jesus.

This was exactly what they warned him about. Bull’s was a hotbed of trafficking.

What the hell was he thinking?

“Assaulted?” Gene asked. “Sexually?”

She nodded.

“The doctor said he was raped multiple times,” she whispered. “He won’t talk to us. I don’t know what to do.”

They both wrapped their arms around her. It gave her the strength to keep talking.

“Corbin once told me that if he was ever hurt or killed that he’d want you two to find who did it. I need you to figure out what happened to Corbin. Please. I need your help.”

It looked like they were going to be heading back to Bull’s Biker Bar again, and their vacation was going to have to wait.

Because Corbin, the baby detective, needed his family.

While he was a baby detective, they weren’t baby Feds.

And no one hurt their family.

Sticks and Stones might break their bones…but Corbin’s assailants were fucked.

Big-Time.

Dear Friends!

Happy Holidays!

When I was writing this book, I was really sad that I didn’t have a holiday anthology planned for you. While I love a murder for Christmas, I also like a feel-good story where you get the warm fuzzies.

So, surprise!

If you go out to Amazon, you’ll see that there is an unpromoted holiday novella. In it, you’ll get Gene and Ethan’s first Christmas as a couple, Elizabeth and Chris in Tahiti with Tony doing Tony things, and Axelle and Lewis making merry in their own way as they try to figure out their relationship.

I hope you enjoy it!

From my family to yours, from my team to you, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Much love, Mayhem, and Murder,

Morgan.

Coming Next:

To The End

An FBI Romance Thriller

Book 63

February 7th, 2025

&

Affair

A Hunter Mercenary Novel

Book 14

March 7th, 2025

Other books by Morgan Kelley:

Standalone books

The Junction (Out of Print)

Serial Sins (Out of Print)

The Blood Betrayal (Out of Print)

Romance/FBI Thriller Series

Elizabeth, Ethan, and Callen

The Killing Times (book 1)

Sacred Burial Grounds (book 2)

True Love Lost (book 3)

Deep Dark Mire (book 4)

Fire Burns Hot (book 5)

Darkness of Truth (book 6)

Devil Hath Come (book 7)

Consumed by Wrath (book 8)

Redemption is Here (book 9)

Dead Shall Speak (book 10)

Pledging to Die (book 11)

Slay Bells Ring (book 12)

Past will Haunt (13) Flashback Book #1

Choices will Destroy (14)

Blood shall Run (15)

Act of Blood (16)

Stalked by the Past (17) Flashback book #2

Dying to Love (18)

Kiss of Souls (18.5) a Littlemoon/FBI crossover.

Revenge has Come (19) June 2017

Discarded by Fate (20) Oct 2017

Dawn of Evil (21) Flashback book #3

Dead are Forgotten (22)

Love Knows No Bounds (23)

All the King’s Henchmen (24)

Honor Thy Anger (25) Flashback book #4

All the Queen’s Men (26)

Angel of Death (27) Flashback book #5

Taker of Life (28)

Cause of Death (29) Flashback book #6

Time of Death (30)

L’amour of Death (31) Flashback book #7

Manner of Death (32)

The Final Orpheum (33) Flashback book #8

Blood of my Enemies (34)

Rage of Heaven (35)

Rage of Hell (36)

Rage of Revenge (37)

Enter the Truth (38)

Eye for an Eye (39)

End is Here (40)

One for the Family (41)

Savage Bayou (42)

Two for the Fun (43)

Sinner and Saint (44)

Bashing Through the Snow (45)

Three for the Glory (46)

Of Flesh and Blood (47)

Deep Blue Nothing (48)

All the Stolen Valor (49)

Snow Body’s Business (50)

Stripped of Dignity (51)

Mark of the Dead (52)

Shock and Awe (53)

Hallowed Eve (54)

Silent Night, Unholy Night (55)

A Blackhawk Family Wedding (56)

Judge and Jury (57)

To the Bone (58)

Truth and Consequence (59)

Sin So Deep (60)

Pretty Little Predator (61) Jan 2025

Mistletoe and Miracles (62) Jan 2025

To the End (63) Feb 2025

Bound to Die (64) June 2025

Sticks and Stones (65) July 2025

The Ravensmire Chronicles

Gryphen Carter, Finn Knight, D’Artagnan Graves

The Protective Gryphen (1) May 2024

The Valliant Knight (2) May 2025

The Mysterious Graves (3) May 2026

The Ravensmire Wedding (4) May 2027

Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series

Greyson and Emma Croft

Celestia is Falling (book 1)

Vegas is Dying (book 2)

Christmas is Killing (book 3)

Love is Bleeding (book 4)

Heaven is Weeping (book 5)

Hell is Burning (book 6)

Justice is Dying (book 7)

The Croft Mob Series

Greyson and Emma Croft spinoff series

Dark Justice (1)

Lost Justice (2)

Paid Justice (3)

Wedding of our Dreams Novella (3.5) Steele and Dante

True Justice (4) FBI crossover

Mob Justice (5)

No Justice (6)

All Justice (7)

City Justice (8)

Bad Justice (9)

Blind Justice (10)

Dirty Justice (11)

Blood Justice (12)

Deranged Justice (13) November 2025

The Littlemoon Investigations Series

Julian and Tori Littlemoon

Blood Red Rage (book 1)

Lost & Broken (book 2)

Unthinkable Games (book 3)

Truth is Found (book 4)

Haven of Nightmares (book 5)

Forbidden Secrets (book 6)

Kiss of Souls (book 7)/FBI crossover

Lost Souls (book 8)

Found Curses (book 9)

Secret Shame (book 10)

Choice of Despair (book 11)

Threat of Exposure (book 12)

Rage of Love (book 13) Feb 2020 FBI/Littlemoon crossover

Sacred Truth (book 14)

Blood Moon Rising (book 15)

Haunted Visions (book 16)

Maze of Damnation (book 17)

Dead Wrong (book 18)

Icy Cold Death (book 19)

Time is Up (book 20) TBD 2025

The Hunter Series

     Dakota, Zane, Rogue, and Gamble.

Atonement (1)

Absolution (2)

Amends (3) Croft Crossover

Apology (4) FBI Crossover

Acrimony (5)

Advantage (6)

Apparition (7)

Avenge (8)

Altar (9)

Addiction (10)

Abdication (11)

Allegiance (12)

Abduction (13)

Assassin (14)

Affair (15) April 2025

The Romance Anthology

     Blackhawks, Crofts, Littlemoons, etc.

It’s Good to be the Boss (Antho 1)

It’s Good to be Loved (Antho 2)

It’s Good to be Bad (Antho 3)

The Wedding Anthology

     Blackhawks, Crofts, Littlemoons, etc.

Here Come the Brides (Antho 1) April 2023

Here Come the Grooms (Antho 2) April 2024

Here Come the Guests (Antho 3) TBD

The Carter Chronicles Trilogy

     Callista, Nathaniel, and Lucas

Sinner Repent (book 1)

Sinner Realized (book 2)

Sinner Reborn (book 3)

The Oracle Phoenix Files

Nathaniel Carter and Avalon Miller

Oracle Rising (book 1)

Oracle Seeing (book 2)

Oracle Saving (book 3)

Oracle Haunting (book 4)

Oracle Hunting (Final Book)

Oracle Returns (book 6) TBD

Harcourte Vampyre Society

Jolie, Jacques, and Flynn

Dangerous Revelations (book 1)

Dangerous Choices (book 2)

Dangerous Misery (book 3)

Dangerous Retaliation (book 4)

Dangerous Influence (book 5)

Dangerous Sacrifice (book 6)

Dangerous Destruction (Final Book)

Antiquities Hunter Series

     Flynn’s story

Wicked Hunt (1)

Darkest Angel (2)

Harshest Queen (3)

The Cruelest Undead (4)

Anthologies

All of the couples in one book

Illegal Fantasies-

Behind Closed Doors (1)

Romance Under Arrest-

Behind Closed Doors (2)

Holiday Reinforcements-

Behind Closed Doors (3)