Sin So Deep

An FBI Romance/Thriller

Book 60

By Morgan Kelley

 Copyright © 2024 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 2024 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) Sept 2017
Discarded by Fate (FBI)October 2017

Atonement (Hunter Mercenary) November 2017

It’s Good to be the Boss (Romance Anthology 1) Nov 2017

Dawn of Evil (FBI) Jan 2018

Dead are Forgotten (FBI) Jan 2018

Love Knows No Bounds (FBI) Valentine’s Day 2018

True Justice (Croft/FBI crossover) Feb 2018

Mob Justice (Croft Mob) March 2018

Found Curses (Littlemoon) April 2018

Absolution (Hunter Mercenary) May 2018

All the King’s Henchmen (FBI) June 2018

Honor Thy Anger (FBI flashback) July 2018

No Justice (Croft Mob) August 2018

Secret Shame (Littlemoon) Sept 2018

All the Queen’s Men (FBI) October 2018

It’s Good to be Loved (Romance Antho) Nov 2018

Amends (Hunter Mercenary) Nov 2018

Angel of Death (FBI Flashback/Christmas) 2018

Taker of Life (FBI/ Christmas) 2018

Cause of Death (FBI Flashback) 2019

Time of Death (FBI) 2019

L’Amour of Death (FBI Flashback) Valentine’s Day 2019

All Justice (Croft) March 2019

Choice of Despair (Littlemoon) April 2019

Apology (Hunter/FBI crossover) May 2019

Manner of Death (FBI) June 2019

The Final Orpheum (FBI Flashback) 2019

City Justice (Croft) August 2019

Threat of Exposure (Littlemoon) Sept 2019

Blood of my Enemies (FBI) October 2019

Oracle Hunting (Oracle) Nov 2019

Rage of Heaven (FBI Flashback) Jan 2020

Rage of Hell (FBI) Jan 2020

Rage of Love (Littlemoon/FBI crossover) Feb 2020

Bad Justice (Croft) March 2020

Acrimony (Hunter) April 2020

Sacred Truth (Littlemoon) May 2020

Rage of Revenge (FBI) June 2020

Enter the Truth (FBI Flashback) July 2020

Advantage (Hunter) August 2020

Blood Moon Rising (Littlemoon) Sept 2020

Eye for an Eye (FBI) Oct 2020

It’s Good to be Bad (Romance Anthology) Nov 2020

End is here (FBI) Jan 2021

One for the Family (FBI Flashback arc 1) Feb 2021

Apparition (Hunter) March 2021

Haunted Visions (Littlemoon) April 2021

Savage Bayou (FBI) June 2021

Two for the Fun (FBI Flashback arc 2) July 2021

Avenge (Hunter) August 2021

Altar (Hunter novella) August 2021

Maze of Damnation (Littlemoon) Sept 2021

Sinner & Saint (FBI) October 2021

Blind Justice (Croft) November 2021

Bashing Through the Snow (FBI) January 2022

Three for the Glory (FBI Flashback) Feb 2022

Addiction (Hunter) March 2022

Dead Wrong (Littlemoon) April 2022

Of Flesh and Blood (FBI) June 2022

Deep Blue Nothing (FBI flashback) July 2022

Abdication (Hunter) August 2022

All The Stolen Valor (FBI) October 2022

Dirty Justice (Croft/Hunter) November 2022

Snow Body’s Business (FBI Flashback) Jan 2023

Stripped of Dignity (FBI) Feb 2023

Allegiance (Hunter) March 2023

Here Come the Brides (Wedding Antho) April 2023

Mark of the Dead (FBI) June 2023

Shock and Awe (FBI Flashback) July 2023

Abduction (Hunter) August 2023

Icy Cold Death (Littlemoon) September 2023

Hallowed Eve (FBI) October 2023

Blood Justice (Croft) November 2023

Silent Night, Unholy Night (FBI) January 2024

A Blackhawk Family Wedding Novella Jan 2024

Judge and Jury (FBI Flashback) Feb 2024

Here Come the Grooms (Wedding Antho) April 2024

The Protective Gryphen (Ravensmire Castle) May 2024

To the Bone (FBI) June 2024

Truth and Consequences (FBI flashback) July 2024

Assassin (Hunter Mercenary/Croft Crossover) Aug 2024

Sin So Deep (FBI) October 2024

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) December 2019

Darkest Angel (Antiquities Series) December 2020

Harshest Queen (Antiquities Series) December 2022

Cruelest Undead (Antiquities Series) December 2024

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Dear Readers,

A few of you have reached out to me expressing your concern about the man-on-man sex scenes in my books as of late. The worry was that they were going more gay-centered. As I’ve replied to your emails and messages, they aren’t. Currently, we are in a few story arcs that have the focus on male characters. When the arcs are done, like Gene and Ethan, Gryphen and Ian, or even the upcoming one with Michael, it will be back to our regularly scheduled foursome.

I have said this my entire time writing books. I let the stories lead me, I don’t lead the stories. I don’t control the outcome until it happens, and I don’t plan it out ahead. What I do know is I’m an inclusive author, and I’m not afraid to write stories about love across the board, not just between men and women.

This many books in, no one should be shocked that I’m pushing the envelope. I don’t do it to upset you, but to give you unique POV into the character’s lives. Some of you may be uncomfortable with the Ethan and Callen arch, and I get it. I’ve always pushed limits, and one hundred forty novels, in, I don’t plan on stopping now.

Books should be fun, they should be entertaining, and they should make you a little uncomfortable, so you can think. They challenge your comfort zones, and they push you to view the world in a different way. I don’t write cookie cutter books that are cut and paste, nor do I pretend that I’m not catering to a wide audience of readers.

Sometimes, you’re going to love me.

Sometimes, you’re going to hate me, but in the end, I’m giving you one hell of a ride.

I already know how the series will each end, and as we work toward that, it may get bumpy for the ride.

Know that I don’t put out anything I don’t love, and don’t want you, the reader, to have. I’ve trashed full manuscripts and pulled them due to a ‘meh’ book. In a world of political arguments, wars, and the shit hitting the fan, I want to give you an escape. Period. If I’ve offended anyone, I apologize, and offer you this.

You’re sixty books into an EROTICA series where we have a foursome, wild sex, and one hell of an adventure. If you’re shocked or horrified now, I have no clue how you got to this point and weren’t offended earlier.

The formula is always the same.

Elizabeth is meant to shock and awe.

That’s her charm and why we love and hate her.

Thank you for taking this ride with me, and I hope you stay with us for the next chapters. The Blackhawks aren’t done, and there’s more to come.

More from Ethan.

More from Callen.

More from Chris.

And more from Elizabeth.

As always,

Much love, mayhem, and murder.

MORGAN.

The Prologue

Washington D.C.

Two Days After

Last Case

Late Spring

Tuesday Night

Honestly, it was nice to have a date in the middle of the week. For Max Holder, that wasn’t the norm. He was all about the job, and he took work very seriously—so seriously, in fact, that he saved his date nights for the weekend.

Well, or at least Friday Night.

Unfortunately for him, Max didn’t have an easy time meeting people.

Yeah, that wasn’t true. He met plenty of people, but unfortunately, they were all guilty of something and on their way to jail.

That wasn’t a good way to meet a perspective bed mate.

As for cops…

That was almost just as precarious as meeting criminals.

Yeah, he’d been there, and he’d been burned before. That was a sad little fact that only added to the misery of his situation.

Cops, attorneys, and criminals were plentiful in his world. What wasn’t plentiful was a person he could trust.

He’d learned that a long time ago when he loved a cop, and got his ass, and nearly his career, handed to him because of it.

So, he was diligent about work.

As The United States Attorney General, he was responsible for representing the United States in legal matters, prosecuting cases that the President wanted handled, and giving Gabriel Rothschild advice.

That meant he had to keep his business clean.

Most of the time, his dating life was on the back burner, and the only thing he allowed himself was the occasional one-night stand to handle his libido.

In court, he was ruthless.

Vicious.

Victorious.

In The District, you had to be. It was the nature of the beast. Out of court, he kept to himself, and he chose bedmates carefully.

He simply couldn’t just hook up and make a spectacle. As The United States Attorney General, he had to have some…decorum. Which was difficult for him.

Why?

Well, as luck would have it, or lack of luck in this case, he was born a very gay man.

That’s right.

He.

Liked.

Dick.

Oh, he’d tried countless times in his youth to date women, and it always led to one thing.

Disappointment.

Well, that and a lack of an erection.

After trying to ‘switch’, the only thing he got out of it was acute embarrassment, and a limp dick.

Now, that he was fifty, and had been around the block a few times, he’d learned that the only thing that would always keep him out of people’s gossiping mouths was discretion.

And he wielded that like the law.

FORCEFULLY.

Max went out of his way to ensure that NO ONE knew his sexual preferences. Yes, that made him seem aloof at work, and unfriendly, but he’d worked damn hard to get where he was today.

He’d done his time as a small city DA.

He’d worked up to a law firm early in life.

And because of who Max was, his father mostly, he was the youngest US Attorney General ever. He also had the distinction to be the only one who didn’t get replaced with incoming presidents.

Why?

He was neutral in politics.

Basically, he stayed in his lane.

Even when the presidents, present and past, asked his opinion, he was smart enough to keep his opinion out of it, and let the law decide.

His hope…

One day, he’d get an appointment to the Supreme Court. If he wanted that in the next ten years, he definitely had to stay in his office, and do his thing in the courtroom, and not the media.

For his sexual needs, Max relied on a website for DC power players for when they wanted a discreet hookup and hunt for a partner.

Wait.

Not that kind of site.

This one was on the up and up, and he knew that because he researched it thoroughly. It was more about matchmaking for a couple, and for a fee, he could find a nice gentleman to meet and date.

In his case, one date, one night in bed, and then, he moved on.

When you dated powerful people in The District, no one talked the next day. There was just no acceptable reason to, and if you wanted to be successful here, you kept your mouth shut.

Like all the way shut.

There was no gossiping, no idle chitchat at the watercooler about your conquests, and you didn’t tell your friends.

Not that he had any.

The only person who ever invited him out, or asked him to come over was Elizabeth Blackhawk.

Yeah, she was his only outside-of-work friend. She was the one person he could trust above all others, and he knew that she felt the same about him.

Like him, she wasn’t political.

She followed the law, and it was likely how she rose to the top at her age.

Like him.

As for the dating sight, the money was worth it. He was able to find a guy who had more in common with him than if he just swiped right.

The matchmaker did the hard work, and picked someone who would be discreet.

Basically, they were also gay and looking for sex too.

To Max, above all else, that discretion was the priority in his life.

It was everything.

The last thing he wanted was the world talking about the president’s gay Attorney General. While Max knew it wouldn’t have any effect on how he did his job, the public had other ideas.

The bottom line was that Max knew how to survive in this town. That was the key to making it in DC. When he came out of Yale as a fresh-faced attorney, passing multiple bars to get a job, he was ready to fight the bad guys.

And he did.

Every.

Single.

Day.

Presidents loved him, and they trusted his advice when it came to legal matters. Max knew his shit, and he’d always lean into the law and Constitution.

Hell!

He had a copy in a frame in his office as a point of reference.

There was nothing better than knowing you were at the top of your game.

And more importantly?

Above reproach.

He stayed out of the political mire, and did his job. Even when the presidency had issues, like when the president had been hiring hookers and getting offed by his own daughter—who he was molesting.

Or when the CIA Director was doing dirty deeds…

He stayed the course and didn’t say anything about the men, other than the legality of their actions.

Discretion was his middle name.

Okay, it was Jefferson, but close enough.

Because of his family name, and his ability to stay neutral when the shit was hitting the fan, he was respected.

It was why he needed to make sure he did the right thing, and chose respectable men who would also live by that one rule.

Discretion was necessary.

From what he’d learned from the matchmaker, tonight’s date was a decent guy, who ran his own hedge fund company.

Apparently, they had a lot in common on paper, and he was going to see if they had a spark.

To see if there was chemistry.

Was Max interested in anything long-term with the man?

Absolutely not.

Hell, no!

The bottom line was that Max was married to his job, and he always would be. At his age, finding love, and having that fairytale where the man swept him off his feet with grand romantic gestures…

It was laughable.

He was too old to ever be loved, and he’d let that boat sail about twenty years ago, when he was climbing the ladder. It was the sacrifice he made to become the man he was today.

Did he regret it?

Sometimes.

Only, you couldn’t cry over spilled milk, and that was a fact.

For him, he’d chosen an admirable role in life.

In a world full of criminals and dirty deeds, some people had to be the heroes.

That was how he wanted to be known when he took his last breath.

That was how he wanted to go out.

The next stop for him was the highest court in the land, The Supreme Court.

Only, that was for another time.

Now, he was going to have a few drinks, maybe have some sex that would drain his balls and ease up that need, and then go back to work in the morning refreshed.

A new man.

If you will.

A gay man in his fifties had to do what he had to do. Jerking off in the shower only got you so far, and it would be nice to feel someone else’s hands on his body.

As he ordered a drink, a very dirty martini for him, he waited patiently. You could tell a lot about the kind of man someone was by what they drank.

A few bedhops ago, the man liked a Pina Colada. That had been an interesting time in bed. Max had done most of the work, and Mr. Pina Colada had been very vocal.

Just not in a good way.

Then, there was the Gin and Tonic dude. He was a little off, and fucked like his life depended on it. Better than Mr. Pina Colada, but nowhere near the Jack and Coke dude.

Now, he was a beast in bed.

While Max was both a top and bottom, he liked a man who could switch it up.

Mr. Jack and Coke didn’t switch.

Not.

Even.

Close.

He pounded away, and used Max in ways that should be illegal, and was in a few states. Oh, he held on, and he came buckets, but he was a little too rough for his liking.

Nah.

Who was he kidding?

He got dicked good, and walked funny the next day too. It was memorable, and he wanted that, and a little of the Gin and Tonic dude.

Yeah, he had a sexual wish list, and had yet to find the man who checked all the boxes.

Well, time would tell.

Mr. Punctual was still not there, and he had three minutes to keep that nickname.

If not, he’d be Mr. Lost Cause.

Max ate one of his olives, and stirred his martini. He hoped the man got there soon. He’d put time into the date. He’d gone home, showered, groomed, and put on nice things.

There was something sexy about a clean-cut man who took time to look nice.

From this date’s pictures, he looked put together from his haircut to his watch.

That was appealing because Max was the same. He couldn’t imagine hooking up with some dude in shorts and a t-shirt.

There’d have to be some witchcraft there—or a big dick, muscles, and some really titillating verbal foreplay.

Max would know if he wanted to have sex in the first five minutes. If the person ignored who he was, then the dude was going to get laid. If he fawned over him…

He was out.

Tonight, Max was just…Max.

As he sipped his martini, he saw the man appear in the doorway, and he was sexy.

Okay.

This had promise.

He was clean shaven, in a suit, and exactly what he found attractive in a man. His shoes were shiny, and his watch matched his belt buckle.

Sue him.

He had a type.

Max spent a lot of time with Feds, CIA agents, the president, and cops.

So he knew plenty of types, and this was the one he always went with because it was the FURTHEST from cop as he could get.

He definitely liked Mr. Clean-Cut-Boy-Next-Door. As he approached, he checked out the package he was offering up, and he really hoped that he wasn’t stuffing his pants to impress him.

He wouldn’t be getting drunk enough to miss the real size of his dick when they were naked at The Convention Center.

Well, here went ‘Operation Get Max Laid’.

As the man approached, Max stood, and they shook hands. It was cordial, and that was always a good way to start the evening.

“It’s nice being able to meet with you, Ken,” he said, smiling.

The man across from him was checking him out. When he’d been matched with this man, he didn’t know much about him—as in who he was—but now, he did.

This was The United States Attorney General.

Holy shit.

Call him lucky.

“The same with you, Maxwell.”

The man grinned, and was giddy with the prospect that he was getting laid tonight.

That was a definite.

Someone was interested, and Ken didn’t immediately bring up his job.

Hallelujah.

“Max is fine,” he said, and when his phone chimed, he turned it off. Work would have to wait. He was going off duty for the night.

He had a potential bed buddy.

He could see the man’s body beneath his chosen clothes, and he was healthy, younger than him, but definitely someone Max would be attracted to. A healthy, fit man was always sexy in bed. The stronger the better. He didn’t like rough around the edges.

Max really liked refined—or that was what he thought since all of his sex partners had been that type of dude. As long as they weren’t cops, he was game.

“Well, then, Max it is.”

So far, the vibes were…vibing.

“Can I get you a drink?” Max asked, wanting to get a little looser so they could have a good evening.

And so he could see what kind of fuck-fest it was going to be in bed.

“Absolutely. Jack, double, on the rocks. It was a wild day at work.”

Oh, tell him about it.

Max was eyeball deep in dealing with one of his ex-employees shooting up the airport trying to kill Ian Patterson. The local DA was busting balls, mostly because she had a history with Elizabeth, and because the Deputy Director had bested her on a case.

Thankfully, no one had died in the process. He genuinely liked Ian Patterson.

Will Jackson, the foul piece of shit that he was, nearly took out Gryphen Carter, Elizabeth’s Marine, and now, she was riding ass like a cheap pair of panties.

She wanted the dead man’s name torched, and burned in effigy for what he’d done—especially since the city DA was trying to vilify the victim.

At least no one had to deal with the stalker.

Will Jackson didn’t make it out alive. It seemed his ex had more hutzpah than he thought.

Yeah, Ian beat his ass and shot him dead. 

Now, they were dealing with the blowback of the fact he unloaded a whole clip in the man—from Will Jackson’s gun.

It was a mess.

Unfortunately, anything tied to Elizabeth blew up in the media.

This was no exception.

But now, he was done thinking about work.

He was thinking about that Jack on the rocks, and a double no less.

Interesting.

Yeah, this man was going to be fun in bed—if he could hold his liquor.

Time would tell.

Max raised his finger, and the waiter came over. He liked this place for two reasons. It was refined and it was…private. They didn’t have cameras, and they were respectful of their patrons.

That was his kind of a place.

When his normal waiter arrived, he ordered the man a drink, and another for himself. It seemed his martini was almost done.

Before the waiter could take the empty glass away, his ‘date’ stopped him.

“You missed an olive,” he said, picking up the toothpick and feeding it to Max.

At the action, his dick got hard.

Oh, someone was flirting, and Max liked it. Max liked it a lot.

The waiter went to go get them their drinks, and he wanted to know more about Ken Yasin, the businessman.

A lot more.

“So, what’s the hedge fund business like?” he asked Ken.

The man laughed.

“Well, I had an investor or five want a payout, and that many more who wanted in. The stock market is making record returns,” he said. “If I had a drink, I’d toast the president. Long live Gabriel Rothschild and his economic plan.”

Max laughed, but said nothing either way. Again, he didn’t get involved in politics.

Only, he liked the president—as in personally. He and Gabe went way back—as in he had helped him more than a few times when he was in the FBI.

“Yeah, he’s something,” Max said, keeping it neutral. He didn’t flaunt his political friendships—if he could count Gabe a friend.

He wasn’t even sure of that.

When a waitress came over, she placed the drinks down, and they paid no attention to her as she walked away.

Max picked his up, and grinned wickedly at the man sitting across from him.

“To our evening,” Max said, holding up his drink, and tapping it to Ken’s.

The man smiled.

“Yeah, to our evening. I hope it’s…eventful,” he said, licking his lips.

Oh, Max was betting it would be a night he’d never forget.

They clinked their drinks off of each other, and each took a sip.

Max was about to get his wish.

UNFORTUNATELY.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Wednesday Morning

Sunrise

Eight Hours Later

Location Unknown

The sun was up.

And holy shit.

The one thing Max knew was that he had one hell of a headache. It felt like someone clubbed him in the head, dragged him down a flight of stairs, and tossed him into a dumpster.

He couldn’t even open his eyes without the place spinning, and drums banging.

That told him one thing.

Someone had a problem.

The last thing that Max remembered was ordering a second martini, a hot man flirting with him, and then…

NOTHING.

It all got blurry.

For some reason, he couldn’t recall what had happened to him after he had that second drink.

What the hell?

Opening his eyes, it was clear that he was in a motel room, and not The Convention Center, where he’d rented a room.

That told him that he, and likely Ken, had been too drunk to get there.

Yikes.

On top of that, he was in his boxer briefs, so the chances were, he’d had sex.

Here.

In a dive.

Holy shit.

How many freaking martinis did he drink on his date last night?

As he looked at his watch, he saw it was still early, and he was grateful. At least he didn’t miss work.

Now, he was facing the bathroom, and he couldn’t even move.

His brain wasn’t functioning. Max was pretty sure it was pickled in martini liquid.

He’d been this drunk before, and it involved a whole lot of puking.

When he looked over the side of the bed, there was a wastepaper can, and sure as shit.

Someone tossed his cookies.

God.

What the hell happened last night and why couldn’t he remember it?

Honestly, he’d never gotten that drunk in his life where he couldn’t recall how many drinks he had, or how the hell he ended up at a motel.

His keys were lying on the floor, so he was betting he drove here.

Clearly, he was an idiot.

Driving this drunk?

Jesus.

That wasn’t how he normally rolled. It had to be one hell of a date last night.

Normally, he would just get a buzz, and then, he and his date would go to a hotel, The Conference Center, if they planned on sex after drinks.

This was not a hotel.

NOT.

Even.

Close.

This was one of those seedy shitholes where you took a hooker or ended up dead. God knew he’d seen plenty of those cases in his career.

Well, he doubt he did either of those two things. One, he wasn’t straight, and two, he didn’t think he was dead.

Well, maybe he wished he was.

His head hurt that damn much, and his stomach was raw like the liquor was eating its way through his gut.

Rolling to his back, his mouth felt like someone shoved the entirety of a pillow into his face, and the cotton absorbed all of the liquid in his body.

Shit.

This was bad.

Today was going to be a rough day at work. Thank God, he didn’t have court until Monday.

If he did…

He’d be in misery.

What the hell?

Now, he had to somehow motivate himself to get his ass out of bed, wake up his date, and then get home to shower, and get dressed.

Work called, and he had to show up there.

Unfortunately for him, missing it wasn’t an option. His attorneys needed him there to make sure they were all pulling their weight.

But before that, he was definitely going to pull up to a pharmacy and get something to dull the pounding in his head.

It was that or beg someone to knock him back out.

Now, it was like someone was banging two trashcan lids by his ears.

Fuck.

What did he drink?

Turpentine?

Focusing on the ceiling, he stretched, and his arm touched something wet and cold.

That made him pause.

What was in bed with him and what was that smell?

Turning his head slowly, when he looked over, it took Max a second to figure out what the red, bloody figure was beside him.

Then, it hit.

Oh, and it hit hard.

His eyes went huge, and he jumped out of bed. Beside him, there was a dead woman, and she was missing all of her skin and hair.

She was fleshy, bloody, and staring up at the ceiling with her mouth frozen in a giant O.

What?

The?

Holy?

Hot?

HELL?

Immediately, Max began backing up, and when he did, he slipped on something on the floor.

It was a puddle of blood.

Oh, Jesus.

What was going on?

Was he dreaming?

Last night, he was with a man, having drinks, and now…?

Where did the dead woman come from?

Moving toward the door, he somehow managed to get the locks undone but it was a battle.

Oh, he fought with them, and it was a miracle that he’d been able to do it.

He was panicked from sliding in the blood.

When he finally got the door open, he ran outside, screaming for help. He began freaking out, trying to get someone’s attention.

Oh, and he did.

The motel wasn’t packed full of people, but the ones who were there opened their doors and peeked out to see what was going on.

Then, the manager came out of the office, his bathrobe still on, and raced toward him.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?” he asked, seeing the blood on his feet.

Max couldn’t comprehend this.

He couldn’t understand.

There was no way he was in bed with a woman. There was no way he killed a woman and then removed all of her skin.

He was stuttering, stammering, and not making any sense.

Finally, he got it out.

“Someone is dead in the room.”

The motel manager stared at him, and then wondered if the man had lost his mind.

Was he on drugs?

The guy was in his boxer briefs, and nothing else.

“What do you mean there’s someone dead in the room?” he asked.

Max just pointed.

“How did I get here?” he asked. “How did I get here?” he said again, looking around.

The man stared at him like he was crazy.

“You checked in last night, drunk and wanting a room,” he added.

This couldn’t be right.

There was no way.

Max was going into shock, or he had to be in the middle of a nightmare. There was no way he was awake.

“Please,” he begged. “Call the police.”

Oh, Jeez.

“Let me go see what you’re seeing,” he said, rolling his eyes. The freaking addicts were now using his motel to get high.

Great.

How was he going to stop this?

Because it was his job, the manager walked toward the room, and when he looked in, he saw the man wasn’t lying.

Then, he promptly started vomiting in the shrubs by the door.

Oh, Jesus.

That said it all.

Max hadn’t been imagining things.

Looking around, he felt so stripped bare and all alone. His car was there, and he must have somehow driven to this motel, and checked in last night.

How?

Where was his date?

As he heard sirens in the distance, he knew this wasn’t going to end well.

Logic began coming back.

Here he was, The United States Attorney General, half naked, in a dive motel, with a dead body.

He.

Was.

Fucked.

Oh, and not in the fun way he’d hoped last night.

So much for a non-descript date where he got laid, and had a good time.

This was not a good time.

Hardly.

Now, Max was trapped in the middle of a nightmare, and couldn’t get out.

Something told him that he would never forget this moment.

That was ironic since he couldn’t remember jack shit about how he’d gotten there.

Now, it was clear.

He was going to jail.

For murder.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Hospital

Wednesday Morning

Day Three

Ian hadn’t slept in so long that he was struggling to function. His whole body felt like it was breaking down from pure exhaustion.

The melancholy and fear were getting to him.

The scary thoughts were taking over.

Not only that, but he’d not left Gryphen’s bedside out of fear, believing if he did, the man would die.

He wasn’t sure how he could save him, but he stayed, holding Gryphen’s hand to lock him to this world.

Not the afterlife.

Since the moment that the man he loved, and was engaged to, came out of surgery, dying twice on the table as they fought to save him, he’d not left other than to take a piss. Even then, he left the door open so he could hear the monitors.

Just.

In.

Case.

Ian was beginning to fall apart.

He hadn’t eaten.

He hadn’t slept.

There was terror holding him hostage.

He feared going anywhere or sleeping, only to come back and find that Gryphen had given up. That he’d slipped away.

Ian couldn’t bear it.

There was no way he could handle that. He was barely handling this.

Gryphen was in a coma, and not waking up because this was all his fault.

He’d wanted to come home so they could face the world and begin trying to plan their wedding. Yes, Max wanted him home to go before the judge, but he could have said no.

He should have said no.

Ian should have demanded they find Will Jackson first, so they could be safe, but he got lackadaisical with everything. He’d been so happy to be engaged, and to have finally found his person, that he didn’t think.

What kind of asshole was he?

Ian had been Secret Service. He’d ignored that danger, and instead believed they were sneaky enough to pull it off.

They.

Were.

Wrong.

Now, because he didn’t, Gryphen was dying.

The surgeons said he should be awake by now, but he’d still not surfaced. They’d checked him for brain damage, from lack of oxygen, and there was nothing keeping him asleep.

He simply was staying in that coma.

Hiding.

And Ian was so scared.

Not only that, but he was reliving the moment over and over again. It haunted every second of his waking hours, and dreams.

There was no escape.

He continually heard Will’s voice, and when he turned, he saw the gun. He also saw Gryphen move in front of him, and staring down into his eyes.

He heard his last words.

The man he loved said, ‘I love you and fight’. Somehow, he had.

Ian managed to hold his own.

His training kicked in, and he disarmed Will, only to unload the last ten rounds into his body. He killed him because the man hurt Gryphen.

The man hurt his fiancé.

No.

He took him from him anyway.

Unfortunately, Ian was too late, and the voices were telling him he would never come back. The terror that lived in him, and the monsters that always reminded him of what happened were saying he killed the Marine—his husband to be.

He had dreams of them getting married.

Over.

And.

Over.

There was nothing worse than seeing him in a suit, then a tux, at a courthouse, at the castle, or even a beach, saying their vows, only to wake up and know it was a dream.

It was always the same.

They were happy and in love, and then, something would pull him from that sleep, and reality would hit.

HARD.

He had dreams of them having a life, and when he woke up, the pain was a million times worse.

He couldn’t do this anymore. He was back to where he was months ago, scared, traumatized, and broken into a million pieces.

And now he’d likely lose Gryphen and his job for excessive force when he was defending them. The city was trying to prosecute him, and Max was trying to save his bacon. The DA wanted him to hang, saying he was out of control, and could have just arrested him.

He was a Fed, after all.

Only, how did he explain to them, that his instinct was survival, and that the man who swore he’d always be there was hurt?

That changed a person.

Was he proud of what he did?

No.

But he knew the torment would never stop. The DA trying to put him in jail was proof enough that the system was broken.

HE WAS BROKEN.

All Ian wanted was Gryphen back.

He’d go to jail if he could have his man safe and alive. He’d make that sacrifice. He’d plead guilty if Gryphen just lived.

Hell.

He’d die in his place.

In fact, he wanted to die, unable to face another day without Gryphen. The trauma wracked his body and brain, and he knew it was best if he never woke up again.

He was a lost soul, not sure what to do.

Yes, the family had held him up, and yes, his friends had shown support, but if Gryphen died, he didn’t want to be here.

He wouldn’t be here.

There was no way.

The demons that chased him were giving him a way out, and he was going to take it. Then, if Gryphen woke up, he wouldn’t be saddled with a murderer.

Saddled with a weak man like him.

There was no way he could live his life without Lord Carter, but Gryphen could survive without him. He was stronger than Ian would ever be.

This man was his whole world, and he wanted nothing more than to have him look at him one more time with his brilliant blue eyes, and to call him ‘Mr. Patterson’.

Oh, God.

He couldn’t do this.

His heart was destroyed.

This man, this good, kind, sweet man was paying the price for his sins. Ian had believed himself to be above others, and he’d acted that way. He’d chosen poor partners, not seeing what had been right in front of him.

He could have had Gryphen earlier, and he would still be okay, and not lost in this mess.

This was the cost.

Gryphen was losing his life.

Thanks to Ian.

When he began crying again, Elizabeth woke up at the sound. She’d been sleeping there every night with Ian, trying to get them both through this.

She’d show up at nine, and stay until morning when she’d go back to The District to argue with that cuntasaurus DA, Jane Winters.

At one time, they’d been on the same side until she mocked a victim.

And now that horrible woman came for Ian out of spite and to make the news.

War was brewing, and before it was over, Elizabeth was going to make the woman cry.

“It’s okay, Honey,” she said, wrapping her arms around him to offer Ian some comfort. She knew how he felt. She was sickened over this, and her heart was broken too.

She loved Gryphen.

She loved him a lot.

From his spot beside the bed, Ian shook his head.

“It’s my fault. I did this.”

She ran her hands up and down his back.

“No, it’s not. This is Will Jackson’s fault, not yours. You didn’t do this. He attacked you guys. You didn’t attack him.”

Truth be told, Ian just wanted to forget all of this.

He couldn’t do this.

It was too much to carry.

Because he loved him so much, Ian kissed Gryphen’s big hand as he held it. He willed the man to wake up, using every ounce of power he had.

And nothing.

Elizabeth didn’t know what else to do. They had specialists come to check on Gryphen, and they all said the same thing.

The man seemed to be gone.

His body was going on, but his mind…

It was lost.

There was no reason for him not to wake up. Medically, he was out of the woods. Psychologically, he was trapped somewhere in that forest.

Yeah, and that was the last thing any of them wanted to hear. She and the husbands were discussing transporting Gryphen to the best hospitals in the country.

TO save him.

TO find him.

TO get him back.

“I’m going to go to the cafeteria and get you some breakfast and coffee. I’ll be right back,” she said, going to the other side of the bed.

It was to whisper to Gryphen.

“Big guy, come on,” she said, her own tears dripping down her cheeks. She hated seeing him like this. “Please. Ian needs you. Your family needs you. The kids miss you. Please don’t die on me. I can’t lose one of my Marines. That means I didn’t do my job.”

And nothing.

The monitor didn’t even beep.

Elizabeth was getting scared that they might just lose the man, after all.

Because she loved him, like he was one of her own, she kissed him on the cheek. It was hard to see him like this with the tube still down his throat.

And machines beeping.

Because crying in front of Ian was a big no, she headed out to get Ian some food, leaving the man with his mate.

As soon as she was gone, Ian was brutally honest.

“If you don’t come back to me, I’m following. If you don’t make it back, Gryph, I’m not doing this without you. You’re my soulmate.”

With tenderness, Ian touched his tattooed arm, and left kisses there, losing the scent of him to the hospital smells. He no longer smelled like Gryphen.

He smelled sterile and like death.

“I can’t be me without you. If I think you aren’t going to wake up, I’ll end it. I can’t bear it anymore. I’m dying inside. Please come back to me.”

The man didn’t move, and the heart monitor was normal and stable.

Hope was gone.

Ian just ran his fingers over the man’s hand, and wished that they’d never left Scotland.

If they hadn’t, maybe Gryphen would be okay.

Now, he was broken.

And there was only one reason.

Ian.

Ian broke them.

And he’d never forgive himself again.

Chapter One

Somewhere

Some Time

Another Plane

Honestly, he didn’t know where the hell he was, but Gryphen Carter was comfortable and liked it there. The sun was out, the water was the same color as his eyes, and the sand was warm on his feet.

Most of the time, it felt like he was floating, and that comfortable feeling was nice. After a life of struggle, beginning when he was a little kid, and to the wars that he was still fighting in his head, peace was good.

For a change.

Yeah, and that worked for him. There was no way he was going back.

Gryphen loved the peace here, and that was going to be his new hobby.

Chillaxing.

Something told him that he had plenty of time to do just that. This was his time to recoup, and enjoy the fact that he didn’t have to fight anymore.

Not the demons.

Not the memories.

Not the dreams.

He was free, and that was the first time in a very long time. To be honest, nothing could make him want to give this up. He was finally free.

He didn’t remember much of how he got there, but he was more than happy to laze around, doing absolutely nothing as he took in the breeze.

This was heaven.

There was no war, no fights, and no battles to be fought. It was just a cold beer on the hot sand, and silence.

He liked that best.

After all, he’d fought hard, and this was his reward. He no longer had to hurt.

Oh, he thought there was something he was supposed to do, but he couldn’t recall exactly what it was. It must not have mattered that much.

This place was making him forget about the other place. Already, it was a distant memory.

When he was hungry, all he thought about was food, and it was right there.

If he wanted a nice, cold beer, all he had to do was think about it, and it was right there.

This was how it should be.

Yes, he was alone, but time didn’t matter anymore. He took naps, read a book or three, and floated in the water. It was warm, and soothed all the pain he’d felt through his life.

Life was good.

Now, he was barefoot on the beach, lounging on a chair, watching the water come in and go back out. The sound of the waves were lulling him into that calm, and he was grateful.

And for the life of him, he wasn’t sure what he was forgetting, but did it matter?

Probably not.

Yes, he knew he was, but it felt useless to fight anymore. It was easier to just go with the flow.

What was it?

Did he forget to…?

Each and every time he tried to recall it, his mind would go blank.

Every once in a while, he’d hear whispers, beeps, and some talking, but it was never anything he could find. It had to be his imagination.

The wind would soothe him as the palm trees blew, and he knew this place was perfect.

Where he was safe.

Where he was calm.

Where he was at peace.

As he sipped his beer, out in the water, he saw someone swimming toward him. They were moving against the waves, struggling to get to shore.

He watched with curiosity.

Gryphen couldn’t recall when he saw a person last. Then again, he couldn’t remember seeing anyone for the longest time.

Everything…blended.

Now, as the body moved closer, it started coming into focus. At first, he didn’t recognize the person. His mind just wouldn’t cooperate.

Then, he heard the voice.

“Gryphen?” it called.

He stood from the chair, and it sounded so damn familiar, and yet, he couldn’t place it.

As he approached, that’s when the pieces of the puzzle actually began falling into place.

It was weird, but his mind was filling in the features, one at a time, like he was building the human from scratch.

“Ian?” he asked, somehow remembering the man’s name.

Why couldn’t he remember him?

How did he know his name?

The man moved closer, and he was staring at him, his blue eyes filled with tears.

“Gryphen!” he shouted, running toward him in the sand as hard as he could.

It was as if the space between them kept moving backward, and he wasn’t making any headway to get to him.

“Ian?” he asked again, holding out his hand, and somehow, the man managed to touch him.

His body wavered as if his brain was struggling to put everything together. He could hear clicking in his head, as those puzzle pieces seemed to find their spots.

“Oh, God. I thought you were going to die on me,” the man said.

Gryphen was confused.

Die?

He was just on…vacation.

Looking around, he was sure this was just a beach, and he’d come here.

Willingly.

Right?

“What are you doing here?” Gryphen asked, as the man crashed into him, taking them both to the ground. Thankfully, the bountiful sand cushioned that blow as they landed.

Gryphen stared up, waiting for an answer.

“I missed you so much,” Ian said, and then kissed him with all he had.

Gryphen didn’t stop him.

In fact, he let him kiss him. His mouth moved over his, and there was nothing but pleasure. It all felt so familiar, and perfect.

There were more clicks.

More pieces found their home.

Gryphen held on, enjoying the way he felt. This man felt so right that he didn’t want it to stop. It was like his soul knew him.

How was that possible?

Did they meet here while he was on vacation?

Why couldn’t he remember coming here, or when he was going to leave?

Gryphen was confused.

Now, if only he could remember who this ‘Ian’ was, and why he seemed to know his name.

Had they fought in wars together?

Was he a Marine?

Nothing was making sense.

As the man’s hands began wandering, there was pleasure as this Ian touched him. He could feel his mouth on his flesh, leaving kisses on him as he shared himself.

Well, sign him up.

This felt good.

Who was he to deny that little feeling? Since he was on some vacation at the beach, he deserved to have some fun, right?

And the man was sexy.

That was for sure.

When he looked down, he watched as the man pulled down the front of his swim trunks, letting his erection pop out for the whole world to see.

Then again, Ian was the first person he’d seen in…days so Gryphen wasn’t worried about people checking out his dick.

Screw them.

There was a sexy man touching him.

As he blew warm air across his erection, he bobbed in anticipation. It was when the man took him in his mouth, and began blowing him that the heat went up on that beach.

Oh, God.

This pleasure outweighed the happiness he’d been feeling. It had nothing on this.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, staring up at the sky as the stranger named Ian blew him.

There were clouds floating by, and they were weirdly shaped. He could make out their forms, and what he perceived them to be.

One was a gun.

One was a big vehicle.

One was an airplane, and one was…

Was that a coffin?

As quickly as they appeared, they dissipated, and Gryphen focused on the man between his thighs.

As this Ian kept blowing him, Gryphen moaned in pleasure.

Yeah, now, this felt good.

Damn.

Good.

When he played with his balls, since they were out too, Gryphen let him have his fun.

Why not?

This was turning out to be the highlight of his vacation here at…

Where was he again?

As he felt that heat ready to bubble over, he slid his hands into the man’s hair, and held on for the best part of the blowjob.

He was about to cum.

And it felt like he hadn’t cum in days.

How long had he been here?

As that wave of cum was about to explode from him, a giant wave loomed over them, and crashed all around them. Gryphen hadn’t been able to speak to warn the man blowing him.

They were lost in the water, clinging to each other as another wave came, trying to pull them apart.

Why?

Why was this pleasure not allowed?

Gryphen was disoriented as he came from the blowjob, and the water flowed over them as if in some punishment.

When it went back out to sea, he looked around, trying to find Ian.

Only, he was gone. Now, he was further down the beach, not moving.

His prone form was resting in the sand, and that scared Gryphen.

He had to save him.

But why?

Who was he?

Now, his heart began thumping in his chest. It was something that he hadn’t felt since coming here. For some reason, he had to get to him.

He had to save him.

As he got up, he began running toward him, and at first, he couldn’t reach him—much like he hadn’t been able to reach him earlier.

Gryphen just couldn’t seem to close the distance.

Then, he began calling his name, and when he reached out to him, he was right there.

Like magic.

Like it was a dream.

Dropping to his knees, he saw the waterlogged man struggling to breathe, so he picked him up. It felt good as he cradled him to his body.

“Ian?” he asked.

Slowly, the man came to.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

The man in his arms nodded.

“I think so.”

His gut said to get off the beach, so he began carrying him toward the little hut that appeared not far away. He’d wished it, and once more, it appeared.

They would be safe there.

Inside, there was a bed, and he laid the man on it, and climbed on to be with him.

He didn’t understand why he was so comfortable with him, but he was.

He wanted him.

Gryphen didn’t want to let him disappear. For some reason, there was a little voice in the back of his head, telling him to hold on, and never let go.

Was that his gut?

To keep him there, Gryphen pressed him into the bedding, and locked his hands over his head. He didn’t know what came over him, but he needed this man.

The kiss exploded as his mouth devoured him.

Now, this was exactly what his vacation was missing.

This.

Right.

Here.

As their tongues tangled, he wished their clothing gone, and for them to be dry, and they were. That’s when the heat went up in that hut.

The need was there, swamping them like that wave had.

They began rolling around, heated touches and kisses making them both wild.

He needed to know.

“Who are you?” Gryphen asked, not able to remember it. He couldn’t place his face, but yet, this felt completely natural.

“I’m Ian,” he said, his hand wrapping around the man’s erection and stroking him. “You love me.”

Gryphen growled.

Love?

He couldn’t remember any love in his life. God knew he’d never been shown it before.

Was this man being honest?

Was he his?

“More,” Gryphen whispered, wanting to feel everything. “Show me pleasure.”

The mystery man with only a name did. He kept stroking him, until the larger man was shaking above him. His whole body was vibrating with lust.

“Don’t stop,” he whispered.

“You saved me,” Ian said, as he was trapped beneath the man. “You saved me once, and now, I’m trying to save you. You just have to remember me.”

Gryphen didn’t understand.

The wave wasn’t that big. It didn’t try to hurt him. It was doing what water did.

He was fine.

They rolled again, and this time, they found themselves tangled up in the soft cotton bedding, their naked bodies pressed together.

When the mystery man was trapped, face down on the bed, Gryphen enjoyed leaving kisses on his back.

He moved lower, and lower, until he saw something on the man’s ass.

There was writing, but he couldn’t seem to get it into focus.

Was that a tattoo?

Why couldn’t he see it?

Gryphen closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the letters seemed to come from nowhere, falling into place, and spelling out the words.

​‘My Lord Carter’s Property.’

He blinked again, trying to understand the words and figure out why he had his last name on his ass. There was a disconnect going on, and he couldn’t figure it out.

“Who is Lord Carter?” he asked. “Is that me?”

Ian looked over his shoulder at the man.

“That’s you. Don’t you remember? Don’t you remember me, Gryphen? We’re a couple.”

He didn’t.

Why didn’t he?

What was keeping him from recalling this handsome man wearing his name?

The man went to his knees, and began rubbing his ass against Gryphen’s already rock-hard erection.

“You like fucking me,” Ian offered. “It’s one of your favorite pastimes.”

Gryphen couldn’t remember that.

Oh, he wanted to, and he liked the man’s ass, but did they know each other?

How did he know his name but not how they connected together?

What was he missing?

The stranger tried to reacquaint them.

“You wear my name too,” he said, pointing at the area above Gryphen’s erection.

When he looked down, he saw it, and it caught him completely off guard.

​‘Mr. Patterson’s Property.’

What the Hell?

Where had that come from?

“Are you Mr. Patterson?” he asked, confused and horny all at the same time.

The stranger nodded.

“The one and only. I’m yours.”

Holy shit.

What was he missing?

Why did this man own his dick?

Were they a couple?

When the answers wouldn’t come, Gryphen grabbed his waist, and rubbed his dick against that tight puckered hole, wanting nothing more than to slip into him.

“Fuck me. Maybe you’ll remember,” the sleek, sexy man offered.

Gryphen couldn’t hear him.

He was mesmerized by the words on the man’s body. Then, like a dream, more began appearing as tattoos across his flesh.

As he slipped into his body, there were different words that had his attention.

Airport.

Will Jackson.

Marriage.

Scotland.

Kilt.

He tried to focus on them, but the feeling of the tight squeeze on his erection was too much to handle.

He was on autopilot, fucking this man as hard as he could, and he was begging for more.

“TAKE ME!”

Oh, and he did.

He bent that mystery man over the side of that bed, and he made that whole hut shake as he claimed his ass.

“Oh, fuck,” Gryphen whispered. “I love this ass. I know this ass.”

Ian glanced over his shoulder.

“And I love you. You were mine until you went away,” he said.

Gryphen could hear him, but he couldn’t stop thinking. He couldn’t stop fucking. It was like he was a moth to that flame, and he was drawn in.

Instead, he watched his dick sliding in and out of the man’s body, as more words appeared on his flesh.

Blackhawks.

FBI.

Marines.

Engagement.

Gryphen’s head began hurting, and it had to be from the fucking.

That was the only possibility.

Only, he couldn’t stop. He was a man on a mission. He wanted to fill this man with cum. He wanted it to leak from his ass, and down his thighs. He wanted him to be coated in so much cum, there was no doubt that he was his.

Because he was.

“Mr. Patterson, my property,” he whispered, as if he broke through some wall and was having an epiphany.

Around Ian’s neck, a necklace appeared, and on that rectangle of platinum, the word was visible.

​      ‘Property.’

Even then, Gryphen didn’t stop. He couldn’t. Instead, his hips were pumping, and his cum…it was about to do the same thing.

Across the man’s back, he saw more words.

You.

Were.

Shot.

He couldn’t breathe, but suddenly, there was such pain washing over his body.

Did cumming hurt this much?

Was it supposed to?

Because it did.

As he slammed home, one last time, there was a massive eruption, and he came.

Only, he kept coming.

And coming.

And coming.

Slowly, the room filled up with his cum, and Ian began floating away.

“Where are you going!” Gryphen shouted, as the man’s fingertips slipped from his. The man with the words all over him was drifting away.

Out of his reach.

Just like he’d shown up.

And no matter how hard Gryphen wished him back, or tried to get him there, he was going further and further away.

That’s when he heard it.

From out of nowhere, the sky seemed to open up, and a voice came through.

“I’m going to die without you. You’ve left me, Gryphen, and I’d rather be dead. I can’t do this anymore. Goodbye.”

It was in that moment, that it all started coming back to him.

The jet.

The airport.

The man with the gun.

Gryphen had broken through that last wall to see that this wasn’t a vacation.

This was the place between life and death.

He remembered turning to see a man pointing a gun at Ian, and without hesitating, he stepped in front of him, shielding him with his bigger body.

That’s when he felt the burn of each of the five bullets tear into him.

Then, he heard Ian’s scream of fear.

And he began falling.

“I love you. Fight,” he whispered, as he lay on the ground outside the airport watching the man he loved fight for both of their lives.

He heard the squeal of tires and Jet’s scream of his name, and he watched the man he loved kicking the shit out of the gunman.

Then pointing the gun at him as he lay on the ground.

He tried to whisper no, knowing he shouldn’t kill him, but it was too late.

He saw Ian pumping ten rounds into his body, until his whole being did that sick little dance.

Then it went dark.

And Gryphen knew.

He was either dead, or in a coma.

Because he shouldn’t be here.

He needed to get to Ian.

Before he did something they’d all regret.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Hospital

Private Room

Same Time

Returning to the room with sustenance, she handed Ian a coffee, and a bag with a breakfast sandwich in it. Oh, she knew he wouldn’t eat it, but she had to keep trying.

Never let it be said that she couldn’t read a room.

Like the last three days, he dropped it on the counter, and stayed beside the man he loved. Each night, she tossed the uneaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the trash.

For the life of her, she couldn’t get the man to consume anything, and neither could Jet or Uriel when they were on watch duty.

“You need to go home, get a shower, and eat something,” she said, trying to keep him alive, but it was getting harder and harder.

Getting fluids in him was possible, but already, three days in, Ian was losing body weight. It was like he was on a hunger strike to punish himself.

Which was absurd.

This wasn’t his fault.

Glancing over, he stared at her.

“I can’t leave him. When I was in the hospital, he never left my side.”

Elizabeth was going to argue with him. Only, she knew there was no point. Ian wasn’t going to listen, and she couldn’t blame him.

Honestly, if that was one of her husbands, she’d be staying by his side too.

“Can I do anything for you?” she asked.

Ian shook his head.

Honestly, he didn’t want to even wake up anymore. It was becoming more and more clear that Gryphen wasn’t coming back to him.

Something terrible had to happen when he was shot and died on the operating table. Maybe his soul left already. Maybe he was destined to be a shell.

If that was the case, so was he. Ian couldn’t go on with his life without the only person who kept him sane and safe. Gryphen had put him back together again, lovingly, and now, he had to stay by his side.

Ian wasn’t a Marine, but he was loyal to his fiancé. This was his ride or die.

Emphasis on the die.

He’d made a promise to him to always be by his side, and let Lord Carter lead the way. It was clear he was going to be in this coma for the rest of his existence.

Maybe if he was gone, they could find a way to set Gryphen free. The last thing he wanted was him trapped in his head, all alone.

The bottom line was that he couldn’t do this without Gryphen. Their suitcases with their kilts for their wedding were at home.

Waiting.

Maybe they could be buried in them. Gryphen would be laid to rest in Arlington, and he’d be far away, but his soul would find him.

It would be his mission,

“He’ll be okay,” Elizabeth offered.

Slowly, he turned his head back toward her, and Ian stared at Elizabeth.

“No, he won’t be. He’s not coming back. He’s trapped wherever he is. He doesn’t even hear me. I talk to him, and nothing.”

She was aware.

The doctor had just given her an update, and it wasn’t looking good. She was going to head to the office to see if they could get the man transferred to a better hospital.

“You can’t give up.”

It was too late.

When Gryphen was lying bleeding on the concrete, and he’d killed Will, he crawled to him, and held him. Gryphen said the words.

‘I’m sorry. I’ll love you forever. We’ll be together again.’

And he shouldn’t have been apologizing. This was, after all, his fault.

Not Gryphen’s.

Even the Marine knew he was going to die, and now, it was just dragging it on.

Just as Elizabeth was about to say more, her phone rang, and she saw the police precinct number come up on the caller ID.

Oh, what now?

Honestly, she thought it was going to be about Ian’s shooting of the man who tried to kill him.

“Blackhawk,” she said, waiting.

There was static, and then, a voice came on the line, and it was familiar.

“Elizabeth? It’s Max.”

Yeah, this was definitely going to be about what went down. She was pushing for defense, especially since Ian didn’t have a gun, and neither did Gryphen.

Jane Winters was being a media attention grabbing whore.

Anyone could see that they were defending themselves against a nut. Granted, Ian killed him with one shot, the other nine were overkill.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

That’s when Max dropped the bomb.

“I’ve been arrested.”

She was caught off guard. That was not on today’s BINGO card.

Not.

Even.

Close.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, going out in the hallway to take the call. She couldn’t imagine what had gotten him arrested.

Max spilled his guts.

“I killed someone. That’s what they’re telling me. I woke up with a dead woman in bed with me.”

Oh, shit.

“Max.”

This was wrong to her in all kinds of ways. Max was gay, and he didn’t sleep with women. On top of that, he wasn’t violent.

He explained since he was running out of time.

“I used my one call to get you. I need your help, Elizabeth. This is going to be my end. Please help me.”

What else could she do?

There was no way she could say no.

Max had been her friend for years, and he’d always had her back.

“Which station are you at?” she asked, already making a plan to spring him.

He told her the precinct.

“Okay, I’m going to head there. I’m coming, Max,” she said.

He was grateful, but she needed to know the rest. It, unfortunately, got worse.

For.

Him.

“They found bodies in my trunk, Elizabeth. I didn’t kill anyone. I had a date, and…I don’t remember anything else past that. The cops said it’s open and closed.”

Oh, shit.

She could hear the fear in his voice.

Elizabeth was going to have to get this case away from the cops if she was going to be able to work it. With Jane Winters out for blood, she’d love to make Max pay for siding with her.

The politics of The District sucked.

“How many bodies, Max. Think?” she asked, keeping her fingers crossed.

He told her.

“Three. One in the motel bed, and two in the trunk. Elizabeth, they were skinned, and there was blood everywhere.”

Oh, fuckity.

That was going to make the media froth at the mouth for sure.

“Okay, hang in there, and DON’T TALK TO ANYONE UNTIL I GET THERE. If they try to question you, get amnesia REAL quick!”

He wasn’t planning on talking to anyone but her. While he was scared shitless, he knew that anything he said was going to be used against him at trial.

“I won’t.”

Elizabeth reassured him.

“I’ve got you, Boo. Hang in there,” she said, looking at her watch.

Well, it looked like instead of the cops dumping and running on her, she was about to commit a little homicide-case larceny.

It was where she stole one out from under them.

Oh, and she knew who to go to in order to get this case handed to her.

“Who arrested you?” she asked.

He paused, as if trying to remember. His head hurt, and he’d been puking nonstop.

“I think it was Detective Redwolf.”

Okay, well, that was going to work in her favor. She was going to be erasing all those favors Jack owed her for this one.

She knew it.

“I’m heading out now, and I’ll be there. SAY NOTHING. I’ll be there within the hour.”

“Please,” he whispered. “I didn’t do this, Elizabeth. You know me. I’m not a killer.”

She believed him.

The main giveaway was the woman thing. Max was selective with his dates, and they were ALWAYS male. He didn’t have woman issues.

Daddy issues, definitely, but then didn’t they all?

“I’m on my way.”

Hanging up, she saw Ian with his head on the edge of the bed. Now, she had to leave him alone.

“I have a case,” she said. “I have to head there,” she began, getting ready to tell him it was Max, but Ian cut her off.

“Go.”

She lifted a brow.

“Will you be okay?” she asked, knowing she’d get to work and have Noah come sit with him.

He was in his one-word, answer era, apparently.

“Yes.”

Now, why didn’t she believe that?

Only, she didn’t have time.

Instead of arguing, she headed out the door, finding Ivan and Jet waiting in the hospital hallway.

Thankfully, Ivan was already there. He picked her up every day there, and dropped her off after work.

Granted, they didn’t need Jet on protection duty for Gryphen.

Ian’s stalker was dead.

With ten bullets.

This was more so he wasn’t alone and scared.

Lowering her voice, she broke the news.

“I have a case. Ivan, we gotta roll. Jet, you stay here and let me know when Gryphen wakes up. Keep your ass in that room.”

The man’s face said it all.

No one was believing he was going to wake up. All of the Marines had come by, and they had said their goodbyes—not out loud, but you could tell.

They’d put their hands on him, and close their eyes. It was heartbreaking to watch.

As for him living…

She knew he would.

Elizabeth prayed every night to God that he’d let the man have one more chance. Even Addison went to church to light candles.

With Chris.

With Ethan.

With Gene.

With Callen.

The Blackhawks were hedging their bets, and putting it all on the line for the man. They were all rooting for him.

“Just watch over him, and let me know if he wakes up,” she rephrased.

He saluted and stood at the door.

As she and Ivan walked away, her bodyguard was curious.

“What case did you pull?” he asked. “Are we going to need backup?”

Oh, they would, AFTER she wrangled this case away from the local police. This was going to be a media attention grabber, and a case that could make a cop’s career.

Thankfully, Kane was family.

“Max just called me.”

He was confused.

“Max your agent?”

She corrected him.

“No, Max, The United States Attorney General. That Max, and apparently, he’s been arrested for killing three people.”

Ivan stared at her.

“WHAT?” he asked, shocked as shit. “Mr. Suit and Tie? Oh, the city DA is going to have a field day with this. She’s been waiting to string up someone tied to you.”

Oh, she was aware.

Someone was up shit’s creek.

Without a paddle.

Thanks to her.

Now, her little ‘pay for the killer to get off’ stunt wasn’t looking like such a good idea.

Max might just pay the ultimate price.

His life.

And career.

Meanwhile…

Inside the room, Ian put his lips by Gryphen’s ear. Now that he was alone, he needed to say his goodbye.

The bottom line was that Ian wasn’t strong enough to do this without him.

He gave him a kiss on the forehead, and said the words.

“Goodbye, my love. I can’t do this. I’ll come find you and we can be together,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Then, Ian Patterson walked out the door.

For what would come next…

He needed to be alone.

Chapter Two

Same Time

Across Town

Doctor Appointment

It was NOT easy to slip away from the family, and honestly, Christopher Leonard felt like shit doing it. The whole thing took lies, and as a rule, he tended not to do that with spouses.

It broke a marriage.

Only, he had to do this.

Having to lie to them wasn’t easy, but sometimes, you had to do what you had to do.

This was one of those times. If he mentioned where he was going, his wife, or husbands, were going to worry, and hover over him.

Everyone had enough on their plate.

Chris knew he did.

About two weeks ago, he’d missed a dose of his meds, and started feeling lousy.

It had been downhill from there.

He’d had a low-grade fever, was tired, and just felt like all around shit. When he’d gone to the doctor for some blood work, he found that his viral load was up.

Like up-up.

He’d told Elizabeth he was okay, but his levels had been at a level they hadn’t seen in a long time. In reality, it had been way higher than it should have been because of just missing a day’s worth of pills.

Something was wrong.

With hope, he took the meds again, and went back on his routine, so she wouldn’t worry.

Only, he still felt sick.

Those worries were creeping up on him, and panic was setting in.

As a doctor, Chris knew it could only be a few things. He didn’t think he was sick with a cold since no one around them was ill. He didn’t have a virus, which could screw with his immune system.

So that meant one thing.

The meds had stopped working.

His research led him to articles where this happened in other HIV patients. Eventually, they grew a resistance to them.

Honestly, that scared him, and he knew if he told anyone, and word got back to his wife, she’d shit a brick and lose her mind.

Elizabeth was already buried in worry about work, the kids, Gryphen, and everyone else.

He didn’t need to add to it.

So, that’s why he was skulking around, playing ‘sneak to the doctor behind his woman’s back’. Chris was hoping the Gryphen issue would keep her occupied.

There was no doubt in his mind that his wife would be hella pissed that he didn’t mention that he felt like shit. There would be a fight.

For now, though, he was faking it until he could make it.

Honestly, he just didn’t have it in him anymore to pretend he felt okay. Something had to give, and that was his resolve.

So back to the doctor he went.

As he parked his sports car, the red one he loved so much, he got out at the doctor’s office and tried to blend in. He was in sunglasses and trying not to look all that Blackhawk-y.

Maybe bringing a car that had a vanity plate was a bad idea.

​        ‘Blkhwk4’

Tended to give it away, so of course, he was getting plenty of stares.

Heading in, he was so damn grateful that Will Jackson was dead, and they had a little leeway with their bodyguards. Somehow. he’d managed to evade Saint that morning.

His plan was to sneak home, so the Marine could start tailing him at the office like nothing had happened.

It was his day off, but he was still going in.

The grind didn’t stop.

Once inside the doctor’s office, he signed in, and took a seat. There was a man not that far away, and he kept looking at him.

Like he wanted to talk.

Yeah, no.

Chris kept avoiding eye contact. He wasn’t so much ashamed of his HIV, as he didn’t want anyone gossiping to the media.

Somehow, they’d kept it quiet to this point.

One way was to use his real name.

As the nurse came out, she read it off the clipboard sign in sheet.

“Orion?” she asked.

He smiled and got up.

“Here I am,” he said, following her to the back room to get this over with.

Don’t get him wrong...

He was grateful that this doctor let him have the first visit every time, and took him back when he got there early.

That saved a lot of issues.

The house visits became too difficult, and frankly, the Marines scared the shit out of the man each and every time.

That happened a lot.

In the back room, he got the normal treatment. He weighed in, and had lost a couple of pounds.

That wasn’t good.

When the nurse began her routine checks, he knew there was a problem.

His blood pressure would be up, and he knew why. HIV was playing it’s sick game with his body. The stress wasn’t helping.

God.

He didn’t want to die.

As she had him roll up his sleeve, she admired his tattoos, and tried to get his mind off of the visit.

“Oh, that’s a lovely one,” she said, as she put the cuff on his arm. “Who is the woman?” she asked.

Chris glanced down at the pinup tattoo of the dark haired, blue-eyed beauty, and his heart hurt.

In that moment, he wished she was here with him, but she was holding Ian together with prayers.

“That’s my wife.”

She smiled.

“It looks like Elizabeth Blackh…”

That’s when realization dawned. Most of the nurses knew who he was, but once in a while, there was a new one who was caught off guard.

“Yep. That’s my wife,” he said, knowing what she was thinking.

It was that he was a geek in a bowtie, she was a hot woman, and something didn’t add up. Honestly, he couldn’t blame her. He thought that too most of the time. Only, he knew Elizabeth loved him for his heart.

Not his money.

“Whenever I see her on TV, I can’t help but stare. She’s lovely.”

Oh, he was well aware.

He’d definitely won the wife lottery. Now, he had to hope that he’d stay alive a long time to enjoy it.

That was the plan, but the universe tended to play games that weren’t kind. He knew that more than anyone else. God knew he stood over countless people who believed they had more time.

“Your blood pressure is up a bit,” she said, making note of it in the electronic file.

Well, there was no shock there.

“I’m stressed.”

Yeah, she could see that.

She handed him a clipboard.

“What’s this?” he asked, taking the pen and board.

“The doctor wants you to fill this in, and then, he’ll be in to talk to you. It’s just routine,” she reassured.

But he knew it was anything but.

When she walked out, he saw it was a sheet for answering questions about new symptoms, and as a doctor, he knew it was to see if his HIV had progressed.

Next up, organ failure.

It was when he turned the page to see how many questions there were, that he saw the paper for a living will, and he suddenly began feeling panicked.

His heart rate shot up.

His skin got clammy.

Oh, this was bad.

Maybe coming alone wasn’t a good idea.

He put the clipboard down, and couldn’t even think about it. Instead, he tried to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted to think about was a living will.

Leaving Elizabeth.

Leaving Ethan and Callen.

Leaving his children.

Chris fought that panic attack hard.

When the door opened, the doctor came in and sat down not far from him on a rolling stool.

“Doctor Leonard, how are you feeling today?”

Now?

Oh, he was feeling worse.

Because he was the patient, not the doctor, he was honest.

“I have a low-grade fever, I feel achy, and I don’t think my meds are working anymore. I had the bloodwork done, and I hope you have an answer for me.”

Chris knew the man already did. Every doctor studied any tests before coming into a room—so as not to react when reading them in case they were bad.

He pulled it up on the computer, and began studying it. When he got to the viral load number, he sighed.

And that didn’t sound good.

Not.

At.

All.

Commence the freakout.

“Christopher, I’m sorry, but your number is up again. Your meds aren’t even working. Are you sick? Have you been outside the country, or been around anyone who was ill?” he asked, trying to trouble shoot it.

He shook his head, but he was feeling clammy.

REALLY CLAMMY.

Like pass out in the room, clammy.

“No. I haven’t left DC in months.”

The doctor faced him.

“Well, that’s problematic.”

Chris was a doctor, and he dealt with death each and every day, but nothing terrorized a person more than thinking that they were going to die.

It wiped the sanity from his head, and made him forget everything he knew about medicine.

He was about to cry.

“Am I dying?”

The man was looking over the clipboard that Chris had semi-filled out.

“Well, yeah.”

That was all he had to hear. Immediately. Chris began hyperventilating.

That got the man’s attention.

“Wait! I meant we all are. You’re not dying right now. You just need different medicine. We have to tweak it, and see what we can mix up in a cocktail. I’m going to bet you haven’t been taking it easy, have you?”

He shook his head as he fought not passing out. He was looking at the tattoo on his arm, and thinking about how happy he was in life.

Of course, his meds would stop working.

“I think I’m going to pass out,” he muttered, as the graying began around the edges of his vision.

Hearing that, the doctor shoved his head between his knees, and told him to breathe in and out.

And he did.

As he was in that position, the doctor took his vitals.

“You’re clammy,” he said, touching his wrist and feeling his slower pulse. “We better lay you back,” he said, getting him horizontal.

When he did, the doctor opened the door and had the nurse come in with some oxygen. She held Chris’ hand, and helped him breathe in some air.

Then, she distracted him.

“So, you have kids, right?”

He nodded.

“How old are they?”

Chris was focused on them.

“Bethe is ten, Addison is twelve, and Daniel is six,” he said, focused solely on them.

She smiled at him.

“I bet they are beautiful kids,” she said. “Your wife is gorgeous.”

Yes, she was, but unfortunately, they didn’t have a chance to give life to a child. They came close, a long time ago, but it didn’t happen. It hadn’t been in their cards. The closest thing they’d come to making a child was MATE.

“He’s better, Doctor,” the nurse said, giving the other man a heads-up.

He checked his pulse, and it was back to normal.

The nurse helped him sit back up, and she waited in the room with him. It wasn’t lost on Chris that he should have brought his wife.

He wished she was there.

“We are going to get you back on track,” he said. “You aren’t dying today. I’m sorry I was joking. I didn’t think you’d react this way.”

Him either.

Only, his mortality, and the living will paper kinda put him over the edge.

The nurse unbuttoned his shirt so he could get more air, and she fanned him with the clipboard as he sat there, and it was all helping.

“It’s okay, Doctor Leonard. You are going to be okay,” she said.

He simply nodded.

When he didn’t get clammy again from sitting upright, the doctor continued.

“Better?”

So far, so good.

“Yes.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he said, giving him a heads-up. “First, we’re going to change your meds, and give you some antibiotics in case you have an infection we aren’t seeing. It’s just precautionary, and won’t hurt anything.”

Chris was good with that.

“Then, I’m going to tell you to stop working as much as you do. You need to cut back.”

Well, that wasn’t happening.

He was married to Elizabeth Blackhawk, and she ran her unit like a general. They all worked non-stop, and the only way out of that was to leave Autopsy One. That wasn’t happening.

That was his baby.

His other child.

“Then, how’s your diet been.”

“I get food in when I can,” he said. “I’ve been busy,” he added.

The doctor was to the point.

“You need to get more food in. You’re losing weight, and that’s not good when you’re already at the ideal weight to begin with. I need you to up your food and get more calories, Doctor.”

He nodded.

“Any alcohol consumption?”

He thought about the last time he had a drink.

“Right after Christmas at our son’s wedding was the last time that I had alcohol. It was a single glass of champagne.”

“Then that’s good,” the doctor said.

“What about sleep? How many hours a night do you get?”

Chris thought about the job, the sex, and how four hours was their standard norm.

“Less than five,” he said.

The man tsked like he was committing some really big sin, and in his case, maybe he was. He slept when the family slept.

Chris was going to have to figure this out. If he began sleeping more, Elizabeth would notice, and she’d panic. He hated seeing her scared.

He’d rather bear that alone.

“I’ll send in your scripts. Just swap out your meds, take the antibiotic, get more sleep, and double up on calories. If you cut back on work, you’ll be good.”

“I can do that,” he said, knowing all of that was possible but the last part. If need be, he could nap in his office when no one was there.

He sent off his med scripts, and faced Chris.

“You are still young. You have many more years to go, Doctor Leonard, but you have to start taking care of yourself. How many hours did you work this week?”

He did the math.

It was Wednesday morning, so maybe twenty-four hours so far.

When he told the doctor, he was appalled.

“Yeah, no. Cut it in half. You should be at twenty hours a week, maybe thirty.”

He laughed.

“I can’t cut it in half. I have autopsies, and a lab to supervise. I have to be there when I’m needed. I’m a forensic ME, and I run the Forensic Medical FBI division.”

He stared at him and didn’t back down.

Shit.

Chris knew he was about to have a big problem.

“You’re wearing yourself down. Work is work. Life is life. Sometimes, you have to choose. If these meds don’t work, the only option is to cut way back.”

Now he had a huge problem.

Chris hopped off of the table.

There was no way he was going to stop working. Elizabeth needed him, and frankly, he needed work. If he had to cut back, he’d feel…impotent.

He’d feel…left out.

They were a family of Feds, and they worked for the people of this country.

This was his life’s work.

This was his life.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said, lying his ass off as he was buttoning up his shirt and putting his jacket back on.

The man touched his arm.

“Chris, I know your job is important, but so is your life. You have to get those numbers back in control. If not, you risk getting sicker.”

He nodded.

“You need to tell your sex partners, your spouses, that everyone needs to condom up—just in case.”

That hit him hard.

At that moment, he was a danger to his family.

If any of them got sick, he’d never forgive himself for giving them this horrible illness.

“Okay.”

“Then, make a follow up, and we’ll see how the new meds are doing.”

Without any more conversation, Chris nodded and headed out.

When he was gone, the doctor pulled up his personal account and began composing an email.

It was something he promised he’d do the last time Elizabeth had called in to check on her husband.

‘Mrs. Leonard,

You asked me to follow up with you via email when your husband had a doctor appointment. I just saw Doctor Leonard today, and he’s been switched off of his meds. His old ones are not working, and his viral load is significantly higher than the last time he was in.

I’ve suggested rest, cutting back on his work hours, and to increase his food intake. He lost six pounds at his visit today, and he needs his body weight to help fight HIV. He has to remain at a normal weight to be healthy.

I’ve also sent in a script for new meds, and an antibiotic. He might have an infection that is wearing him down, or he might just not be able to process the current meds. His body has stopped working with them.

Please make sure he cuts his work hours in half, and he starts to take it easy, especially until his new meds kick in. Until then, please make sure that you and your spouses are still taking your antivirals, and use a backup method of protection. Your husband could transmit HIV if we can’t get those levels back to undetectable, and one of you has a low resistance.

If you have any questions, let me know. Oh, and he almost passed out in the office today. Next time, please see if someone can accompany him. He shouldn’t be coming here alone.

See you next visit,

Doctor Wilheim.’

When he closed his laptop, he headed out of the office. It was time to see the next patient, and he really hoped the meds began working for the doctor.

He was a decent man.

Outside, Chris got into is vehicle, and buckled his seatbelt. For now, he was going to head to the pharmacy, pick up his prescriptions, and then, head to the office to make sure the people there were doing their work.

Oh, yeah, and grab condoms. Honestly, he was going to try to abstain from sex for the next week, just to be safe, but he wasn’t sure how that was going to go over.

Callen, Ethan, and Elizabeth were all over him, and vice versa. If he was getting sicker and going to die, he didn’t want to not have that connection to his loves.

Instead of dwelling on the bad news, Chris focused on the things he could control.

In the next couple of weeks, Gabby and Tony would be hopping a flight, and heading to Scotland. He needed to make sure Tony had everything ready for his wife to step in and do his job while he was gone.

Autopsy One couldn’t be down an anthropologist without the backup ready to go.

He also needed to make sure supplies were ordered, and the other labs sent out their requisitions because they couldn’t lend out supplies.

God.

He wanted to go home and cry.

Backing up, Chris headed out of the parking lot. When he got onto the main road, he didn’t see that he had a tail.

But he did.

Six cars back, Saint was following him.

Yeah, he hadn’t slipped away. He’d left the compound that morning, thinking he was alone.

Well, he wasn’t.

All of the security staff was under Ivan’s orders that they were to have coverage every second out of The Fort. Chris thought he’d be sneaky and failed on that one.

There was no way he was wandering alone around town. That was by order of the boss.

Elizabeth.

It appeared that Doctor Leonard was playing games, and there was nothing a Marine loved more than a fun little morning game of hide-and-seek.

In a car.

That was tagged.

By a paranoid boss.

Yeah, when would he learn?

Certainly, not yet.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Hospital

Same Time

The big Marine was fighting through that haze the second he heard the dreaded word ‘goodbye’.

He had his faculties back, and he wasn’t hiding out on some beach in his head.

At the words, Gryphen knew they had a problem.

Ian was going to do something stupid.

It was all coming back to him.

Somehow, it was pulling him free from the state he was in, and gave him back his memories. Now, he knew where he was.

IN THE HOSPITAL.

He also knew who he was.

Ian’s fiancé.

How he’d gotten into this situation came back too, and he recalled that they had been coming home from their vacation in Scotland when both he and Ian had been ambushed.

Now, he had to get to his mate.

He’d promised to protect Ian no matter what, and he’d been taking a hiatus—against his wishes. For some reason, he’d been trapped in his mind.

Maybe it was the meds.

Maybe it was the injuries.

Only, he knew one thing.

He needed to get to him.

When he opened his eyes, and woke up, he began choking on the tube that was still down his throat. He pulled it out, and ripped leads from his chest.

Jet was there, and rushed to his side the second he heard the commotion.

“Big guy, you need to calm down. You’re in the hospital.”

Oh, he was aware.

His throat was dry and ripped apart from being tubed. His voice was raspy.

“Where’s my man?” he asked, grabbing Jet by his black T-shirt.

Jet tried to calm him down, but Gryphen wasn’t weak, even injured, and he wasn’t patient.

He was freaked out.

“Ian just left for a little break. He hasn’t left your side for days. He’ll be back. Chill. It’s good to see you,” he admitted.

Gryphen didn’t care about any of that. He needed to know one thing.

“How long?”

Jet assumed he meant something else.

“You were shot three days ago. You’ve been asleep and wouldn’t wake up. We thought you weren’t going to come back.”

Well, he was awake now.

“No, how long has Ian been gone?”

Jet stared at him.

“Ten minutes. Why?”

He still had time. Gryphen might not be too late after all.

“Jet, I need to get home,” he said, as a nurse came in to see what all the commotion was about.

“Mr. Carter, welcome back, and now, I need you to stay in bed. You had to have surgery and bullets removed. You can’t go ripping out…”

She didn’t get to finish.

Gryphen ripped his IV line out.

“I’m going home.”

He swung his leg over the side of the bed, and tried to get up on his one leg.

Only, he was weak.

Luckily, Jet caught him, and that was no small feat. Gryphen was big and bulky.

“Woah!” he said. “You don’t have your land leg yet. You’re going to get hurt, G. Calm down!”

He couldn’t.

His heart was warning him that the man he loved was in danger. Maybe no longer from Will Jackson, but this time, from something worse.

The demons.

Gryphen knew all about them. They chased him back from Afghanistan, and told him more than once to end his life.

At the noise, more nurses came in.

“You have to get me out of here,” Gryphen said. “Ian is going to hurt himself. You have to get me to him!”

Jet was confused.

“What do you mean?”

He tried to explain as the clock ticked away precious time.

“I heard him. He told me he was going to die without me. He told me goodbye! You have to get me to him. I have to check on him.”

Oh, holy shit.

Jet knew that if Gryphen was right, and Ian hurt himself, the shit was going to hit the fan.

As in Elizabeth was going to lose it because she put him on Ian watch.

Jet helped him get back upright, and now, there was a doctor in the room.

“Mr. Carter, you are seriously injured. You have to stop moving so much.”

The big man didn’t want to hear that.

“Where’s my leg!” he said.

“You need to stay in bed,” insisted the man in the white coat standing between Gryphen and the way out to get to Ian.

Gryphen growled, and they all stepped back.

The Marine had Jet’s shirt in a death grip, and part of his body armor.

“Jet, please. Get me to him. You know what chases him. We all know.”

The man wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew if Gryphen was right, and the doctors were wrong, there would be a storm rolling into port.

HURRICANE ELIZABETH.

NO.

DOUBT.

He focused on the doctors.

“Does he need any of those wires to keep him alive?” he asked, not believing he was going to take part in this insanity, but here he was.

This was his circus, and the big man was his monkey.

Either way, he was pretty sure that Elizabeth was going to fire his ass when she got back here later.

BIG.

TIME.

First, for losing Ian, and second for letting Gryphen leave the hospital three days after multiple gunshots to his body.

The doctor hesitated.

“No, but he could tear open his wounds. He had a collapsed lung…”

Gryphen didn’t give two shits.

If Ian was going to listen to that darkness, and leave him, he had to stop him. Maybe he was just saying that to him, and he was just tired, but Gryphen wasn’t taking that chance.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” he roared.

In that moment, Jet made the call.

“If I put him in a wheelchair, get him to our home, and then back, will he be okay?” he asked, trying to find a middle ground to keep Gryphen from tearing the hospital down.

The doctor looked horrified.

Jet went there.

“Doctor, he’s going to drag himself out of here, and if you restrain him, and anything happens to him, or the other man he’s talking about, Elizabeth Blackhawk will be so far up your ass when you open your mouth, you’ll hear her yodel.”

That seemed to make him decide pretty damn fast.

He agreed to it.

“He will be okay without the IV, but he’s still on antibiotics.”

Well, they’d have to wait a little while.

“I’ll get him back. Just give me an hour to convince him that everything is okay. He’s a decorated Marine. Please.”

This was insanity.

And unorthodox.

Gryphen was trying to get to his leg not far away, and he was getting goddamn heavy. ‘Big guy’ was an understatement.

Jet reassured him.

“I’ll sign him out, and if he is sick, I’ll bring his big, annoying, bossy ass back.”

The doctor sighed.

“We can’t stop him. If he is breathing on his own, and cognizant, we can’t hold him prisoner.”

That was all Gryphen had to hear. That was the okay to do crazy shit.

“Get me a wheelchair!” he shouted, “Or I’m hopping out one way or another!”

That went over like a lead balloon.

“DON’T HOP!” everyone shouted, worried about his wounds and the stitches. Along with that, no one wanted to see him snail crawl out with his ass up in the air either.

NO.

One.

When a nurse wheeled a chair in, he wrapped his gown around him, and sat.

“Get me to Ian!” he ordered, feeling one hell of a breeze on his nether region, but he didn’t give a shit. He had a mission.

Was he in pain?

Oh, hell, yeah.

Did he care?

NO!

Was he scared stupid and running on adrenaline that something bad was going to happen?

Yep.

Honestly, to him, it didn’t matter.

If he didn’t get to Ian, and something happened, he’d never forgive himself.

He wanted his man safely in his arms.

Gryphen had to get to him.

NOW!

Chapter Three

Jack Warner’s Home

Before

Nine A.M.

Wednesday

Pulling up to the police commissioner’s house, she saw that his driver was already there, and it looked as if she’d just made it in time. Jack hadn’t quite left yet, and there was still a chance to catch him.

Elizabeth wasn’t taking any chances on letting him slip away. She saw the man who drove him, and warned him.

“The FBI needs to talk to him. He’s going to be late,” she said, walking toward the police commissioner’s home, badge, and gun on her hip.

She was on duty, and now, so was he. Oh, and he’d better not give her shit.

Hopefully, he’d play ball with her, and she’d not have to get forceful because they did this shit to each other all the damn time.

It was getting old.

As for him denying her request...

This was Jack, and he’d dumped a few cases on her over the last few months that she’d had no choice but to take.

It was time to steal one.

At the door, she went to knock, and it was opened by the man himself. He was in his long coat, his suit, and was holding his briefcase in his one hand, and a travel mug in the other.

As soon as he saw her, he sighed.

“Uh-oh. This can’t be good. You don’t show up at my house on a weekday for no reason.”

She corrected that.

“I actually do when I’m off to see your babies and Nova,” she said. “But that’s not it today.”

“Oh, shit, shit, shit,” he muttered. “What now? This is going to be a nightmare. I can tell.”

Well, call it what he wanted, but she was about to drag him into it because misery loved company.

“We need to talk.”

He went there.

“What did my detectives do now? Was it Dex? They get spicy as fuck as the week winds down. I tell them not to call you, but…”

She shook her head, and stopped him before he said something that might be held against him later.

“This is a meeting between us. I need a favor, even though it does involve your people.”

Well, that didn’t sound good.

At.

All.

He lifted a brow.

“Oh, shit. You don’t ask for favors often, and when you do, they are big. It’s never ‘can I borrow your car, mine is in the shop’, or ‘can you and Nova babysit my brood’.”

Oh, she was aware.

This was about to be huge.

“Jack, you get driven to work, and don’t like having a car. On top of that, remember the time I asked you to babysit about ten years ago, when I only had four kids, and you nearly had a stroke when EJ puked on your laptop after you let him eat ice cream and hang upside down?”

“Oh, I recall the moment vividly.”

She was serious.

“Can we talk before you go into work for the day?” she asked.

Since this was Elizabeth, of course, he was going to give her time.

He backed up and let her in. Immediately, Nova appeared, carrying their little ones, and when Elizabeth didn’t try to steal Jack’s daughter and son, he knew it was going to be bad.

“Honey, I need to take a meeting,” he said.

Nova only interrupted for a second.

“How’s Gryphen?” she asked. “Saint told me he still hasn’t woken up.”

She sighed.

That said it all.

“If you need anything, or need another security…,” she began, only to see Jack staring at her like she’d lost her damn mind. “Relax, Babe. I know a few friends who just got out of the Marines.”

He chilled out.

Momentarily.

“Thanks, Nova,” she said, as she kissed her, and each of his children on the cheek before following the man into his office.

When she closed the door, he knew this was going to be painful.

Mostly for him.

“What do you need?”

Elizabeth was to the point. She didn’t have time to play games. She was going to make sure she got to the precinct at the same time as Jack, because he was coming with her.

She was going to kidnap a cop.

Well, if need be.

“Have you been watching the news?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“I try not to until I get to the office. I’ve found that The District gives me heartburn before I even eat anything.”

She would have laughed had this not been a mess.

Well, she broke it to him.

“This morning, Max Holder, The United States Attorney General, woke up with a dead woman in a motel bed, and two victims in his trunk. He doesn’t remember any of it. Your cops caught it.”

Jack’s eyes went huge.

“Oh, no,” he said, horrified. “Max is a straight arrow. What the hell?”

She was well aware. She didn’t mention that he was gay since that wasn’t her tale to tell.

“Oh, yes, and it was bad. Three dead bodies, Jack, and the president is VERY fond of him. The Attorney General called me, Jack, and I can tell you that Max didn’t kill anyone.”

And here was where the favor came into play, and it was going to be a big one.

He already knew what she was going to ask, and honestly, if it meant getting it out of his lap and into hers to appease the president, he could do that.

But she had to do the dance.

It was kinda their thing.

“What are you asking?”

She was to the point.

“I want you to pass the case off to me, so that my team can work it, and we can quietly get Max clear of this before he ends up crucified in the media. I need you to pretend it never happened.”

He stared at her.

The first part was doable.

The second?

Not so much.

“Honey, you’re asking for a huge favor here.”

She was well aware, but he needed to remember something.

“That’s priceless since you dumped the cases in my lap that ultimately got the First Lady killed, and do I need to mention the whole Russian undercover in our country case that I just closed less than a week ago?”

He laughed.

“Where your boss was a suspect? That was more me doing you a favor.”

She stared at him.

It was clear she was NOT amused.

“Or not.”

“I’m not playing, Jack. I need to take this case, and I need you to forget about it. You know I’ll find the killer and make this right.”

Jack rubbed his temples as he tried to work through the schematics of making that happen.

She wasn’t done.

“Max isn’t a killer. I’ve known him a damn long time, and he’s not a ‘get my hands dirty’ kind of a guy. He’s more a ‘face criminals down in a pricey suit’ kinda of a guy. He’s got balls of steel, but not for killing people. Remember the time the person in his office was hit by a car and broke their leg? All the blood and he nearly puked.”

Jack steepled his fingers.

He knew she was right. There was no way Max was a killer, and this likely was going to be a brutal case.

It was time to play the game.

“It’ll cost you.”

She blinked.

Was he serious?

Cost her?

“Are you kidding me?” she asked. “You’d do me dirty like that?”

He laughed because again, this was their thing. Tit for tat, until they annoyed each other. Elizabeth was like his sister, and he loved her, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be opportunistic.

This was The District, after all.

“I need a favor in return.”

She sighed.

“Who do I have to kill?” she asked, not liking that she was going to owe him.

He gasped.

“Why is that always your first thought to kill someone when a person asks you for a favor? Isn’t your husband a shrink? Maybe he should evaluate you because that’s not a normal first thought.”

Ehhhh…

Gabe trained her.

The FBI broke her.

It kinda was.

“Talk to the people who created this monster. His name is Gabriel, and he’s the president.”

Yeah, he was aware, and it was still alarming that she’d go there.

Then again, she’d been this way for as long as he knew her, so why was he surprised?

“As I was saying, I need a favor back if I help you get this case away from the two detectives, and Dex—since this is his jurisdiction, and I don’t want to hear him bitch at me for stealing his cases.”

She was not looking forward to this.

“Hit me with it.”

He did.

“Nova and I have our anniversary coming up, and I need someone to babysit the kids for the night. I don’t trust anyone with my kids, but a few selective people.”

Oh, well, that was her jam.

This was an easy one. Watching little ones chew on their toes and play with blocks? Sign her up. That was her kind of a thing.

“Deal. I’ll babysit.”

Jack went there.

“I would also like an armed Marine with you. Just in case,” he said. “You can’t bring a gun, because we don’t want the little ones to accidentally get your gun and…”

She stared at him.

“First, you realize I have kids at home, and no one’s shot anyone yet, right?”

Well, CJ and EJ were always a concern, but so far, so good.

“Second, an armed MARINE? Why does the Marine get to be armed but not me? I don’t lose my gun to killers, so I don’t think a toddler can trick me.”

He sighed.

“You’re right. Can it be two Marines? One at each door?”

Over the com, she could hear Ivan laughing, and she didn’t blame him.

This was ridiculous.

“He doesn’t realize that you’re like a Marine yourself, does he?” Ivan asked.

She ignored him, and focused on Jack.

“Who do you think is going to come in here and try to steal your kids? Let alone try to take a baby from me?”

He stared at her.

Then she got it.

“Oh. The Marines are to make sure I leave without trying to steal your kids.”

He laughed.

“Exactly, baby-napper. I don’t want to have to be drunk, disorderly, and wrestle my children away from you.”

She snorted.

“Okay, fine. I’ll bring A Marine, and we’ll watch your kids for an evening. All I need is for you to call off your detectives, and let me have the case. Is it a deal?”

It wasn’t that easy.

He pulled out his phone, and looked up the report his team sent him every morning. On it, he found the detectives in charge, and this might just work in her favor.

“You got lucky. Kane and Quinn pulled this one. They’ll likely let you have it.”

Well, hallelujah.

Something was going her way.

“God knows they dump plenty of cases on me on a regular basis. It seems only fair.”

“I can ask them to turn it over, but Dex is going to be cranky. If they agree, then you can take the case. I’m not forcing them, Elizabeth. This is their case. A big case like this can move them up the ladder.”

She wasn’t playing.

“It’s funny how when it’s your case, and you guys don’t want to take it, then it’s somehow my case, but when I am trying to help A FRIEND, JACK, it’s up to the detectives to decide. You’re their boss. You decide.”

He raised his hands in surrender.

“Don’t get angsty. I’m pretty sure they’ll pass it off to you, but I have to give them that choice. Oh, and circumnavigate Captain ‘Dislikes The FBI’.”

She sighed.

“Leave Poindexter to me.”

Jack warned her.

“He really doesn’t like it when you call him that. Yes, it’s his name, but he still hates it.”

“Oh, no. Don’t let the female Fed call a person by their real name because it’s suddenly offensive.”

He laughed.

This time, she had him there.

“And that’s the bad attitude that makes people not want you on their team.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Jack.”

He stopped her.

“Hold up.”

Oh, holy shit.

What could he possibly want to bargain for now? Her goddamn colon? Max wasn’t going to fare well in the general population if he was dumped in there. They kinda had to get this train moving.

“How are you and Axelle doing?” he asked, already knowing the answer to that. He’d had dinner with her and Duke last night, and it wasn’t going well.

Elizabeth tensed.

And he saw it.

“She’s my boss. I do my job, and I call it a day. That’s all there is to know about our relationship.”

He came around the desk.

“She’s also your sister-in-law, and you guys are struggling. They were here last night with the girls, and your brother is really having a difficult time with this. When Nova brought up your name, he looked like he lost his best friend in the whole world. How long are you going to be angry?”

She tried not to care.

Really.

Only, she had a million things on her plate, and that was at the back of the line behind Wyler needing a vacation.

“They crossed a line, Jack. They both accused me of wanting to take her job. You know I’d never do ANYONE dirty like that, let alone my sister-in-law. That was a low blow.”

He was aware.

Elizabeth was the most loyal person he knew, and she’d go to bat for a friend, each and every time. She’d never try to steal a job.

She earned them.

“From talking to them, they both feel really bad about it,” he said. “Duke especially.”

If her brother and sister-in-law thought that siccing their mutual friend on her was going to make her crack…

It wouldn’t.

She wasn’t backing down on this one. She’d had her balls busted for not keeping personal and professional separate—by Axelle, only to have her balls busted for keeping professional and personal separate.

She couldn’t win.

“He should feel really bad, Jack. He called his sister a cunt—and I’m not thrilled at how he spoke to me outside that. It wasn’t in jest. It’s not like when Ivan calls me that, or I’m being busted. That I get. He came at me in a hallway full of employees and tore into me. That wasn’t cool.”

He agreed there.

There were rules, but sometimes when it was someone that you loved, you forgot that.

“Did Axelle ask you to talk to me.”

He stared at her.

Oh, she knew the answer.

“She was crying, Elizabeth.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she was hurting too. Only, she wouldn’t drag in all her friends to save her. She’d do the saving herself.

Jack saw them.

“Come here,” he said, opening his arms, and hugging her. He gave her the same treatment that he gave Axelle. He loved them both.

“I was blindsided.”

She heard Ivan over her com.

“Do you want me to come in there?” he asked. When she didn’t reply, he knew she was okay.

“I know, but family sticks.”

She was to the point as she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes.

“His apology left a lot to be desired. When he gives me a legit apology, and not with his wife standing by, we’ll talk. Until then, I don’t give a shit that he’s upset. He broke my heart, and I’m in my ‘take no shit from men’ era.”

He could see that.

“You and your brother are so alike. Do you know that?” he asked.

She shrugged.

“And yet, I’d never go at my boss and call her a cunt—even when she’s acting like one. Oh, and she was absolutely acting like one.”

He kissed her in the middle of the forehead.

“You’re a tough nut, LaRue, and I love you.”

She was aware, but she knew the truth.

“And you have a soft spot in your heart for Axelle, so your choices are suspect.”

He stopped that right there.

Oh, hell, no.

She wasn’t going to tell him he played favorites when he loved her just as much. When Axelle broke his heart, and they broke up, Elizabeth was the one who put him back together again.

If anything, he would always stand by her.

“And you’re like my sister, and that matters. I’d never defend her and not you. I’ve said the same thing to them. This is Jack playing mediator, not favorites. I love Axelle, but I love you too. We’ve seen some shit, and been through a lot of it together.”

She was aware.

Many times, it was him and her working a case, and having a shit time doing it.

“They hurt me,” she said honestly. “I expect the world to accuse me of shit, but not my family. Not them.”

He held her against his chest, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. It was very familiar, since they’d done this a lot.

When Chris broke her heart, all of those years ago, and she walked away, it was Jack who nursed her back to health to the point she could function after ten years.

It was Jack who went and told Chris off.

It was Jack who found the woman who broke them up, and read her the riot act.

Jack.

“I know. They were way off. You did the job, and you cleared them. You have every right to be upset still. I know you have a lot on your mind. I know Nova asked you, but really, how is Gryphen?”

She shrugged.

“Not waking up yet. I need to worry about that now too, and the fallout from Ian shooting Will Jackson.”

“Jane Winters?” he asked.

She laughed sardonically, and anger was present in her voice.

“Yep. She’s trying to make an example of him, all because some cop put the word EXCESSIVE in the report. She wants him to hang because of me.”

Oh, Jack was aware.

“I’ve tried talking to her.”

“And?” she asked.

“She really hates you.”

That made Elizabeth laugh even more.

“Well, tell the cuntasaurus that she needs to get in goddamn line. We’re in the triple digits here with unhappy people gunning for me and my career.”

He was aware.

“What can I do?”

She shrugged.

“Well, you could go back in time, since it was your cops who didn’t make that easy on the man—despite him having a restraining order and the dude on the run from court. He killed his rapist, and now, he’s being destroyed. Someone leaked the details to the media. Ian’s going to hit rock bottom if Gryphen doesn’t wake up.”

“I’ll find out who it was,” he said. “And I’ll let you know. I stand by the victims, not the vindictive DA’s.”

She sighed.

“I need Max out of this mess.”

He understood.

“The law is tricky. I’m sure Max…”

And that’s when he got it.

Now, he understood another level of why she was so hellbent on helping Max. He was trying to help her family get off the hook for the Will Jackson shootout.

“The light just went on,” she said.

It did.

“Max was still working the case?”

She nodded.

“He felt bad because he called Ian to get him back here for court last Monday. He blames himself.”

Well, that was ridiculous.

Clearly, this was Will Jackson’s fault.

Looking at his watch, he wanted to get her to Max before he was put in lock up.

“Let’s head to the precinct. You can ride with me, and Ivan can follow. We’ll see what we can do, but I mean it about a babysitter. Nova and I need to go celebrate our wedding anniversary.”

She snorted.

“You want more kids.”

He grinned.

“God. I want a brood. Now I get it, LaRue. They are little gifts wrapped up in chaos and insanity. I am going to take my wife to dinner, and then to a hotel for uninterrupted sex.”

That sounded about right for Jack, and she knew he was in a hurry to get as many kids as possible. He was older than Nova.

As they headed out, Jack grabbed his things, and Ivan was still standing outside the house, waiting.

“I’ll ride in with Jack. Can you follow?” she asked, already knowing he heard the whole conversation.

“Sure thing,” he said, rubbing his hand up and down her back in reassurance. Then, he headed toward the vehicle to do what he was asked.

Once inside Jack’s chauffeured Lincon, she chilled out.

At least this was going to be a short ride.

As they headed into the precinct, Jack held her hand in his, and he enjoyed the time they got to spend together. It was rare he and Elizabeth got to see each other.

They made time for each other, with BBQs, and dinners, but this was…nice.

It made him want to reminisce.

“Remember that case we worked where the crazy person was collecting women, killing them, and eating their livers so they’d be able to swallow their souls?”

She snorted.

Did she ever?

“Yeah, that was one hell of a train ride to Crazy Town. We had some wild ones, and as I move higher up the ladder, the more I wish they were straight forward. Give me a good serial killer cuckoo who just hates people. God knows I’m there myself.”

He laughed.

“You just jinxed yourself.”

Probably.

“Do you miss it?” she asked, hearing that tone in his voice.

He nodded.

“Yeah, I actually do. My retirement is coming up,” he said. “I have to decide if I’m going to retire, or…”

She glanced over and stopped that.

“You? Retire? What?”

He laughed.

“I know. I’m heading to the first exit, and I can decide to get off the ride or stay on. I’ve been with the police for twenty-five years, Honey. There are days I feel it too. What would you do if you were me?”

She stared at him.

“Uh, I’m dying at my desk. I plan on going out chasing a crazy person—or my sons if they choose the wrong path. Maybe they’ll be merciful and wait until I die to take the crime route.”

He snorted.

There was no way. Jack knew her kids, and they were crazy, but they were born into the legacy. He was pretty sure they would all carry a badge.

Except the ones who were deaf, and Addison. She was likely going to be a chaplain.

“I know you’ll try because you’re insane. I was talking about me,” he said. “Way to make it about you, LaRue.”

That was amusing.

She thought about it, as Jack worried her wedding rings. That told her all she needed to know.

He was concerned about the choice.

So, she was honest.

“You’ll retire and be bored in five days. Then, you’ll be up my ass, trying to find a way to keep working. If I were you, I’d soft launch retirement. You don’t have to be there all of the time. Maybe work from home a little more.”

He knew she was right.

“I guess I could cut back a little.”

“And what? Not die at your desk like the rest of us idiots?” she asked, faking shock.

He dropped his arm over her shoulders, and gave her a kiss.

“We’re too much alike.”

She was aware.

That was why they were such good friends. Someone had to chase the crazy, and that was them. They didn’t mind getting down and dirty in the trenches to do it.

“If I could go back, I would have stayed a detective a little longer. I really do miss thinking and the chase.”

She got that.

Because he was done talking about himself, he changed the subject as they navigated traffic.

“How’s the new daughter?” he asked. “I heard about Willa.”

That was all he had to say.

She beamed.

“Oh, she’s an angel. You should come over and meet her. Ethan and Gene are over the moon as parents, and Gene is doing a good job. He’s all over that kid like dad on child. It’s fun to watch the big man doting on the little girl. It’s like Goldilocks and the bear. Not the kind in the woods. The kind who likes leather chaps and kink.”

Jack laughed.

“That was quite the picture. Now, I can’t get it out of my head.”

She snickered.

“I know. Me either.”

He wanted to make sure she was okay.

“And how are you doing?” he asked.

She glanced over.

“Uh, what’s that mean?”

He clarified.

“Your man is with another person, raising a child together. Are you okay with that? Ethan has a boyfriend, and now a child.”

She knew why he asked.

It was coming from a good place, and that’s the only reason she answered.

Had he been someone else, she would have declined this topic. Private life was just that.

PRIVATE.

“I’m good. I’m happy for them. Gene is a good egg, and I love him. I’m not being excluded from any aspect of the relationship—except for the sex. I don’t partake in that. The men have laid down the law when it comes to who Gene can have sex with. Ethan is it.”

Jack didn’t understand her ability to share, or any of them for that matter. He couldn’t possibly do that with Nova.

He was possessive.

“Well, now I can ask uncomfortable questions since you opened the door.”

She snorted.

“That has never stopped you before,” she admitted. “You’re predictable if anything, Jack.”

She wasn’t exaggerating.

They tended to overshare.

“I just need to make sure one of my besties is okay, or I have to kick some man ass, and that’s not high up on my wants list. Gene is a big dude.”

Oh, she was aware. He reminded her of a biker from a gang, but in dress pants and a sweater. The truth was he was a teddy bear and so sweet.

She understood how Ethan loved him. She did too, not surprisingly.

Because he was trying to defend her, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m good. Really. Gene and I are partners at work, and partners at home. There’s going to be a wedding. You and the fam will be invited.”

Oh, he couldn’t wait.

The Blackhawks threw down with a party. It was always the talk of the town.

“And you’re okay with the sex thing?” he asked.

Yeah, she was.

In fact, at that moment, she was thinking about Tala and Ethan’s needs. She and Gene had been trying to set up a date, but life was chaotic.

Mostly because of Gryphen being hurt.

Only, she’d make it happen. The hardest part was surprising Ethan so he couldn’t over think it.

“Yep. I get sex a lot. I’m not greedy.”

Again, he didn’t understand that, but if she was good, and she appeared to be, he was going to let her do her thing. Elizabeth might be like his sister, but she was a grown adult.

“Commissioner, we’re here,” came a voice over the speaker in the back.

“Thanks, Fred.”

As they pulled into the precinct, Jack got out and held out his hand to her. When she took it, there was already a slew of reporters outside the precinct taking pictures.

Yep.

She knew why.

So, it began.

“It’s Elizabeth Blackhawk,” someone said. “She’s got to be involved somehow!”

God.

She hated reporters.

There was only one that she could name that she could even tolerate, and that was because she earned it.

Alessandra Barber.

That was it.

“No comment,” Jack said, putting his arm around her as Ivan moved to the front and pushed through the reporters.

“Deputy Director, can you comment on Max Holder’s arrest?” someone shouted.

“Is he really a killer?” someone else shouted.

Elizabeth wanted to smack the shit out of them. The vultures were out in full force.

“Are you going to come to his rescue and make it all go away because you’re close?” someone else asked.

And that did it.

She came to a full stop, turned, and faced them down. There was no way she was doing this bullshit in the media.

“Who asked that?” she inquired.

Some guy with a microphone that said GTNN raised his hand.

Yeah, he was new here.

“John Henzes, GTNN news. Can you tell us exactly why you’re here, Director?” he asked. “We’ve all seen you friendly with the Attorney General…”

She held up her hand.

“We’re fellow Feds, working for the people of this country. My job is to make sure the citizens stay alive, and Max Holder’s job is to bring criminals to justice.”

He went for the jugular.

“Is that why you’re hiding away a man who shot another person ten times at the airport? The DA said…”

Oh, fuck.

Jack knew this was about to explode.

Elizabeth counted to ten in her head, and then went there.

“Well, John, you might want to ask the DA why she was hellbent on making victims suffer. Ian Patterson, as you all know, killed his rapist. A man who Jane Winters couldn’t catch to put back in jail. Ask her why Catch and Release is now her thing.”

That got the pot stirred.

“You’re new in DC, aren’t you, John.”

He nodded.

“You replaced Alessandra Barber on the crime beat, didn’t you?”

He beamed.

“Yes, I did. I’m picking up where she left off.”

Elizabeth went right back at the jugular.

“Yeah, you’ll never fill her shoes. She was a journalist not a sensationalizing biased ambulance chasing wannabe.”

Oh, snap.

Then, she turned, after that burn, and headed back toward the precinct.

“Uh, I’ll stay and clean up that mess,” Jack said. “He asked for it, and you delivered. Thanks, LaRue.”

Yes, yes, she did, and she didn’t care. The media was nothing but a bunch of animals trying to pick at some carcass they found.

Ivan moved closer.

“You have to calm down. You’re red. Take a breath, and focus,” he said.

“I’ve got a million things on my plate, and I don’t have time for assholes.”

He got that.

“Ignore them. They love to rile you up,” he said, as they headed into the main lobby.

Once inside, the other cops stared at her like the Reaper had come for some bodies.

It tended to be the opposite, actually.

“Where can I find Detectives Redwolf and Gaines?” she asked the sergeant on duty.

It wasn’t often she came here. Normally, trouble found her.

Instead of speaking, he just pointed.

This was the one police station that didn’t bust her ass. Why?

Jack.

Heading toward the bullpen for the homicide division, she ignored the stares. Maybe they were for her, or maybe they were because she had a fully armed Marine right next to her.

Elizabeth liked to believe they knew better.

Either way, she was accustomed to it.

When she entered the bullpen, she was met with a chorus of moans and groans.

Well, that was about right.

The queen of death was trolling with the detectives who knew when she came around, trouble was close by.

She pointed at the two detectives, and wiggled her finger, inviting them to join her.

Both men looked at each other.

“What did you do now?” Quinn asked his partner. “If you pissed her off…”

Kane looked confused.

“Me? I didn’t do anything. I mean, Chrissy and I had a fight last night. You don’t think that she’d sic Elizabeth on me, do you?” he asked.

He stared at him.

“Yeah, she would. She’d tell her you were a dick, and come here to bust your balls.”

If this wasn’t serious, she’d laugh.

“Calm down,” she said. “It’s about a case. You caught the three-body homicide with Max Holder?” she asked.

They both nodded.

“I want it.”

Well, she wasn’t mincing words.

“Uh, we can’t just hand that over to you,” Kane admitted. “You’d have to…”

And Jack walked in behind her.

“Talk to our boss or go over his head and talk to his boss,” he said.

Because that was exactly what she had done. Oh, Dex was going to go nuts when he saw the commissioner here. Every day, he gave the cops a lecture about chain of command.

This time, they didn’t jump it.

Jack shook their hands.

“Hello, Detectives. Where is your boss?” he asked, as all the other detectives in the bullpen suddenly got REALLY busy.

It made Elizabeth laugh.

“It amazes me, that they are so afraid of you,” she said. “You’re such a teddy bear.”

He dropped his arm over her shoulder, and gave her a kiss on the temple.

It was clear that Jack was making sure they knew he was marking his territory.

The first cop that gave her shit…

Was dealing with him.

That was nice for a change.

Kane spoke up.

“He’s in the holding area. We were just about to go down and question Max Holder. He hasn’t called an attorney yet. He’s refusing to talk, so we were going to put him in general population until one showed up.”

Oh, well, she had bad news.

She explained.

“He called me instead of an attorney.”

Well, that said it all.

“So you’re taking the case because there are three victims, and he looks to be a serial killer?” Quinn asked.

She was to the point.

“I want the case because I was bored, Detectives. I mean, I can find something to do, like meddle in your marriages with Callie and Chrissy, or I can have lunch with your boss, Jack, one of my best friends…”

Both men forgot that she could get mean.

Kane swallowed.

When Jack elbowed her, she sighed.

“Guys, he didn’t do it. I’m here because once the president finds out The US Attorney General isn’t at the helm, the shit rolls downhill. It hits me first, and then, it’s landing on Jack. I don’t mean to be a bitch, but time matters.”

They felt for her.

Jack went there, despite Elizabeth’s patience.

“It’s up to you two. It’s a high-profile case, and it could make or break your careers. You have to decide.”

Elizabeth stared at him.

“REALLY?”

He laughed.

“Stir up the media, will you, and make me get heartburn before coffee…”

She rolled her eyes.

To help the cops decide, she sweetened the pot.

“When the real killer is caught, you guys can have the credit. I’ll call you for the arrest and you can do the media junket. I know it’s high profile, but I don’t need to make my career. That’s how I got into this predicament all those years ago. I’m doing it for a friend, like if either of you called me and said you were in the clink.”

That was the truth.

They knew she’d show up.

Elizabeth was a woman of her word.

“You can have it,” Kane said. “We know you rarely ask for a case, so it has to be big. I don’t care about the credit. Just that the three women get justice.”

She appreciated that, but she’d let the men have the arrest when she finally got to the bottom of this.

They needed Max in his office, helping her get Ian out from under that shooting.

So she’d make deals when need be.

“I appreciate it, guys. Really. Thank you. I’d tell you that I owe you one, but I’ve taken the cases that sucked before when you dumped and ran.”

They laughed.

“We aim to please?” Kane asked.

She snorted.

They were good guys, and funny.

“I need to go down to see Max. Can you transmit any and everything to me via email? I need to get my team to the scene and get working it.”

Quinn stopped her.

“Uh, did you clear this with the boss, and not that one?” he asked, pointing at Dex’s office.

No, but she would.

“I’ll talk to him down there.”

That worked for them.

“As for CSIs, they are still on the scene,” Kane said. “Our ME is being careful with this one, since we expected blowback over who was brought in. If you send your team, they’ll hand it off if Jack tells them to.”

Jack shared.

“Already done. I called the ME’s office when I was coming in. They are stopping transport, and the scene is exactly how it was left. It’s ready for your people, Elizabeth, if Dex releases it.”

That worked for her.

It looked like she had to charm Poindexter.

This should be funsies.

Pulling out her phone, she rattled off a couple of texts. First, to Christopher, and then, to her husbands. It looked like they were all going to be working.

She hoped Jet could hold down the fort at the hospital. She might not get back until much later.

If at all.

She hoped Ian would be okay and Gryphen too. It looked as if she was back on duty.

“Want us to escort you down?” Kane asked, willing to do just that.

“I can find my way. Besides, I love busting Poindexter’s ass. When he sees me coming, he’s going to get all red.”

Quinn shook his head.

“He really, really, really hates being called that. One of the detectives busted his ass, and he ended up on night shift. You might want to be nice.”

Oh, well, then, she was going to do it more often.

That was their thing.

Annoying each other.

He acted like he was annoyed when he saw her, and she did too.

“As a heads-up,” Kane offered, “he’s going on vacation as of tomorrow. He only came in to clean up some things. He’s off ten blessed days. Please don’t change that. He breathes down our necks.”

Jack smiled.

“I knew I hired him for a reason. That’s a good captain, riding ass.”

Both men rolled their eyes.

Elizabeth decided to get them out of there before either detective changed their mind about the case.

“Thank you, Gentlemen. I appreciate your help in this matter, and I’ll keep you updated, since it’s going to be your collar.”

“If Max Holder is innocent,” Kane said. “It looks pretty cut and dry, Elizabeth. He’s going with the ‘I can’t remember’ line.”

She was betting her badge he was.

So, she let that hang there.

As far as she was concerned, this smelled rotten, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

One way.

Or another.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Same Time

Across Town

Running Errands

Before Heading In

Doctor Christopher Leonard was taking his doctor’s advice, and getting in more calories.

The last thing he wanted was for his wife to get wind of the situation, and blow it out of proportion. She would follow him around with a pocket full of snacks IF she let him work at all.

There was no use getting crazy.

Okay, he was already likely doing that himself, but Elizabeth would take it to the utmost extreme and worry nonstop.

She already had so much on her plate, that the last thing she needed was to worry about him too. Chris didn’t want to be a burden to his spouses.

Even if he really just wanted them to take care of him and make him feel better.

And she’d definitely worry.

So as he sat in the drive-thru line, to get a coffee and bagel, he heard his phone chime.

Picking it up, he saw the message.

Speaking of his wife…

It was her.

‘We’re back on duty. I’ll be transmitting an address as soon as I get it. We have a three-body dump, and are taking over for the local law. I’ll meet you there.’

It was a little short on details, but Elizabeth would likely let them in on it there.

Well, it looked like they were back on duty. This was exactly what he meant when he told the doctor he couldn’t take time off.

Murder didn’t take a holiday.

Honestly, Chris didn’t feel well enough to handle it, but if he said anything, the dogs would be set free, and they’d be on his ass.

He was just cranky enough to get into an argument over it while he was scared.

Really scared.

The doctor said it was just his body adjusting to the meds, but he knew the truth. There were only so many antiviral HIV medications out there.

What if…?

He couldn’t even think it.

Instead, he paid for his coffee and bagel, and headed to The Hoover Building to get ready for the address. As he was driving and forcing food into his churning stomach, he wanted to cry.

Really.

Chris couldn’t imagine not being alive to see his family each and every day.

So now, he had to fake it until he could make it.

That was the bottom line.

What else was he supposed to do?

He was out of choices.

Chapter Four

The Fort

Same Time

Wednesday Morning

There was something about children that touched his heart in ways nothing ever could. Truth be told, Ethan Blackhawk had never wanted kids, or believed that he’d have them, but here he was, a father again.

If that wasn’t crazy enough, it was the fact that he had this child with the first love of his life. The irony was that Gene never wanted kids either.

Hell.

Children had been their breaking point.

Gene had left the FBI because of seeing children hurt, and he swore he’d never bring a child into the world. As a gay man, that was definitely easy to make happen, but now, he was a father.

They were parenting together.

Not only that, but someone was living his best life as a new father too.

Willa was the apple of his eye, and while he’d only been her father for a little while, three days, everything was going spectacularly.

On Friday, they were meeting with the judge to make the adoption official. That was the one contingency of CPS allowing him to take her after her parents were killed.

There would be no feet dragging on this one. It was one and done. With Gabe’s help, the wheels moved a lot faster, and they were on their way to both adopting Willa Grace.

Her name would officially be Willa Grace Cantrell-Blackhawk.

They wanted her to always know she was part of their tribe. She was wanted and loved by everyone.

As Ethan sat on their couch, watching the man he loved, he could tell that this was not going to be the last child they adopted.

Gene was thriving.

Even though the whole family was worried about Gryphen, and what went down at the end of their last case, Gene was holding his own.

And more importantly, so was Willa.

She was an angel, and they were lucky to have her. She was a good girl, and smart too.

She was able to spell, and she knew her alphabet.

Technically, they could put her in preschool, but they wanted to give her time. She was going to be a Blackhawk, and once her fathers were married, she’d face enough scrutiny out in the public.

“Papa, play horseys with us,” she said.

If you wanted to see a big man brought to his knees, let a tiny sprite of a child, only three, call him ‘Papa’.

Gene ate it up like a fat kid ate cake.

Not far away was Dolly, and every time Willa would say something, Gene would sign it for Dolly.

“She can’t hear me?” Willa asked.

“She’s deaf, so no,” he said, signing.

“Oh.”

She looked at her favorite person in the world and then back at her father.

“Teach me how to say play horseys.”

He did.

He took her fingers, and put them in the positions they needed to be in, and then, he watched her talk to Dolly.

The other girl grinned, and nodded her fist.

Yeah, someone was a good girl dad.

This was a good life.

That was for damn sure.

When his man looked over, Gene saw Ethan watching him, and he left the two girls to play. Dolly and Willa couldn’t communicate by sign language, yet, but they did just fine without it.

Kids were resilient.

Sitting next to Ethan on the couch, he placed the man against his side, and kissed him on the temple.

“What are you thinking?” Gene asked, as he got to cuddle with his fiancé, and watch their children play—because Ethan’s kids were going to be his too.

As were Callen’s.

As were Chris’.

This tribe was all inclusive.

“About us. The wedding, and if you’re ready to tie yourself to this circus.”

Gene grinned.

Oh, hell, yeah, he was.

This was something his heart always wanted. When he and Ethan had been younger, he always wanted more permanent.

Then, he wanted peace.

And now, he wanted more kids, and his man—with a side of Elizabeth.

Had anyone told him twenty years ago that he’d be shacking up with Ethan, marrying him, and his wife…

He would have laughed his ass off.

Yet, here he was.

“Oh, I’m ready. I saw Callen this morning, as he was heading out to talk to the architect. It seems someone asked for a pergola to be built in the backyard. We’re getting hitched under it.”

Ethan knew who was planning it since she tended to monopolize all the weddings.

Elizabeth.

Even with everything on her plate, she was prioritizing their wedding ceremony for two men she loved. With each day, she got closer to Gene, and it made Ethan’s heart so happy.

He was at peace.

As for a big wedding...

This would be Gene’s first real wedding. He’d shotgun married Preston at the courthouse, and now, he was getting a party.

When Elizabeth threw a party, she threw one hell of a party. There was no halfway.

This would be a party their guests would never forget, and neither would they. It was going to be at the new house, and something the media would love to get their hands on.

“I think Elizabeth is wearing white,” Ethan said.

Gene laughed.

“If that’s not the biggest irony…”

Ethan snorted.

“I know, but she’s never married a man she had no intent on sleeping with,” he added. “So all the rules are out the window.

“You know I’d sleep with her, right?” he asked.

Ethan looked at him.

“Feel like dying?” he asked.

Gene snorted.

“Not like that. I mean, if she wanted to come cuddle with you and I at night, I don’t have to have sex. I would love to just enjoy her company. Cuddles are the best thing.”

On that, Ethan agreed.

He used to cuddle with Callen, but that was for warmth in a cold cabin. Gene taught him that cuddling up with a bed partner was comforting and enjoyable.

He was a BIG cuddler.

“Most of the time, she smells like you anyway, and that is always something I enjoy.”

“You can ask her. I’m sure she will.”

Gene had to find the parameters.

“I know Callen and Chris were very adamant about sex, but if it’s just she and I alone, am I allowed to cuddle?”

Ethan kissed him on the cheek.

“Absolutely. We all like a snuggle. Even the kids like one when they are watching a movie or napping on the couch. Callen and Chris don’t want intercourse. Everything else is fine. You can hold her hand, you can kiss her, and you can be happy. Before I married Chris, I held his hand all of the time, We didn’t start with us having sex.”

He let him talk.

“It evolved, but we used to crash in the living room, or take a nap on a lazy Sunday all twisted together on the couch.”

“I just want to make sure I know what makes everyone comfortable.”

Ethan reassured him.

“Love is comfortable. Even if you walked up to Callen and kissed him, no one is getting upset. I trust you with my brother, and my spouses.”

He was glad.

Since they were talking about the wedding, and relationships, Ethan wanted to make sure that Gene REALLY wanted to do this.

“It’s just us right now. Are you sure you want to get married, and not just to me, but to everyone?” Ethan asked. “If you don’t, you can tell me.”

He was confused.

“Why would I not want to?” he asked. Honestly, he was over the moon.

Ethan added the most important part that he was seemingly leaving out.

“More the marrying Elizabeth part,” he said. “I know you asked her because you think I would say no.”

“Would you have?”

Ethan was in a precarious position.

“Gene, I love you so much, but I love her too. Had you asked me all those years ago, it would have been a yes, but when you left…”

He got it.

“I broke your heart.”

He nodded.

“You promised you’d never leave me behind, and you did. I know it wasn’t your fault, and shit happens, but she put me back together. She has promised to never leave me, and she didn’t. When I kicked her out over Chris, she still fought until I came back.”

Gene touched his cheek.

“I love her. Before she was your wife, Ethan, she saved my bacon a few times at the FBI. Remember when the Director was gunning for us? Or Javier in Philly was trying to destroy our partnership?”

He nodded.

“She saved us from the Director. When she got a killer case and the applause that went with it, she shared the credit. She’s a good egg, and always has been.”

“But marrying someone…”

He stopped him.

“I absolutely want to be part of her life. I can’t wait.”

Ethan wanted to make sure.

“I’m just saying that you don’t have to do this for me. If you only asked to include her because you were afraid…”

He stopped him.

“EJ, I love you, and I love her. The bottom line is I want to be wound up with this family. This is my life and my home. I want to share my love with everyone. I’m going to let you in on a secret.”

He listened.

“When we get married, I’m also going to have vows for Callen and Chris. I want to be part of all of this. I’m not holding back anymore. Give me time to find my groove, but I guarantee that I’ll fit in.”

Ethan was a little surprised that he was going to create vows for his brother and Chris.

“You are?”

He nodded.

“Yep. I want to have a family that I can be part of, and I’m proud of my life. I love Callen and Chris. I’m ready to have the same relationship that they have with each other and you. Bring it on. I want the whole circus, as you called it.”

Ethan was quiet.

“What are you thinking?” Gene asked. “Because you have that freak-out look on your face, and if anything I’ve learned in our past, it’s not a good thing.”

He was honest.

“I can’t share you, like they can’t share Elizabeth.”

That didn’t surprise Gene.

Not.

At.

All.

With the wounds Ethan had, inflicted by Callen, he wasn’t shocked.

“When I said I want the whole circus, I wasn’t talking sex. I’m monogamous in that respect. I just want to be able to have a closer relationship with them. If that upsets you…”

Ethan chilled out.

“No, I want you to be close to them. They’re my best friends and the loves of my life, as are you. I’m good with that. I just don’t want you to think I’m being unfair, holding you back. You’re mine, and I can’t share.”

Gene was worried.

“Are you starting to change your mind about everything?” he asked. “You know, the Tala thing too? Because you sound twitchy.”

Blackhawk thought about it.

The second he pictured Elizabeth watching him being dominated by Gene, and her joining in…his dick went rock-hard.

Gene saw it.

“Well, that answers my question. I guess not.”

Ethan flushed red with heat.

How could he not?

That was incredibly erotic. He wanted to let his kink flag fly, but he needed to soft launch it with Elizabeth. She would be gentle with his ego.

Not that Chris and his brother would hurt him, but they were men, and he wanted his wife’s approval, in a way.

“No, that doesn’t bother me in the least. I just don’t think I can handle you in bed with someone else. If I came home and found you sleeping with my brother…”

He got it.

Kaya Cheek.

“My love, it won’t happen. Well, we might be passed out on a couch, sleeping, but I won’t be having sex with Callen or Chris. That’s a promise. Like I said, I’m living monogamy in this polyandry. Elizabeth and I having our wicked way with Tala isn’t me having sex with Elizabeth. Like those clubs we hit years ago. We weren’t fucking everyone in the place just because we were all having sex in a room.”

He had a point.

He calmed down.

“I’m sorry.”

Gene reassured him.

“You’ve set boundaries, and so have I. I’m not sexually attracted to Elizabeth, Callen, or Chris. I can admit that they are all sexy, but they aren’t my type. Remember when you were first trying to figure out if you were gay or Bi, and no one attracted you but me?”

He nodded.

“I can admire someone’s attractiveness, and not want to bang them like a drum, or be banged like one.”

Thank God for that.

“Elizabeth and I want to team up to give you the Tala fantasy, but we don’t feel the same way about each other as you feel about us. I swear.”

He believed him.

If anything, he was able to read Gene, and he was always faithful.

That wasn’t their issue.

Deep down, Ethan feared him running away again and breaking him, but a wedding would change that.

He hoped.

“Are we good, EJ?” he asked.

Ethan nodded.

Because he could see his man needed a little mental break, he leaned over and teased his earlobe with his teeth.

Chills rushed through Ethan’s body. The man knew how to make him turn on with just a touch. Elizabeth was the same way.

They were the same person in opposite genders, and his heart loved both of them, equally.

“When we get a free moment, Tala is going to be on his knees for us. I expect you to be a good little whore for both of us.”

Ethan swallowed, and as Gene placed his hand over the bump in his jeans, his body reacted.

“God. I will be.”

He kept his voice low.

“I’m going to fuck you, my cum slut, and make you call me Daddy.”

Ethan swallowed.

When Gene slid his hand into Ethan’s hair, and tightened his fist to control him, the man actually whimpered.

Then, Gene kissed him, destroying his control.

Ethan went wild in that kiss, craving the way this man made him feel.

And then, because they had shitty luck, a text message came in and chimed on his phone.

Gene still took his time, not letting him pull away. He controlled that moment, not Ethan.

When he slowly released the mating of mouths, Ethan’s eyes were glazed over, and he looked overheated.

“Later,” Gene promised. “If you think I degraded you, wait until I team up with your wife.”

God.

He wanted that so goddamn bad. He wanted to be cock out, and free.

He was enjoying being in his bottom era.

To.

Its.

Fullest.

“Now, Tala, answer your text,” he said, giving him permission to move.

Pulling out his phone, Ethan saw it was from his wife, and he knew what it was going to be about. This was his work phone, and not his personal one.

He prayed they weren’t back on duty. What he wanted to do was go to The Den, and be Gene’s cum dumpster, and Elizabeth’s fuck toy.

Only, he had shit luck.

They all did.

‘We pulled a case. I’ll be transmitting an address soon, Handsome. I need you to get Gene and Callen there. I’ll update you as soon as I arrive. Love you.’

Yeah, that’s what he thought.

When he showed Gene, they knew they were back on duty. They’d had two days off, and now, it was time.

The big man put his intentions on the back burner, and pulled Ethan to his feet.

“I’ll get the kids ready for Wyler, and you can start getting dressed,” Gene said, knowing he was working in jeans and a blazer, but his mate wouldn’t be.

Ethan liked to be pristine.

That was likely why Gene liked sullying him up so damn much.

As for FBI dress code, Elizabeth was his boss, and she didn’t give a shit if he was in a suit or jeans. In her division, she ran the rules.

And her people were grateful for that.

The bottom line was that for him, dress shoes sucked, but boots were comfortable.

“Okay, Babe,” Ethan said.

Gene slapped him on the ass.

“Say my name,” he demanded, moving closer so they were body to body, and he could see the artery in his neck thumping in lust.

“Daddy,” he whispered, never calling anyone but him that.

When he used the name, Gene rewarded him by kissing him on the lips.

“Later,” he said, grinning.

As Gene walked away, Ethan stood there trying to focus. The man knew how to rile him up.

God.

He loved his life and a bear.

As of late, Ethan was non-stop thinking about him sharing that secret part of him with the people he loved—mainly Elizabeth.

And he couldn’t wait.

The sex…

Was going to be off-the-charts hot.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Gryphen Carter’s

Old Dilapidated

Trailer

Wandering around and thinking hadn’t been his friend. Ian Patterson was a mess, and he didn’t know why he was so shaken.

Oh, he knew why, and it had everything to do with the voices in his mind telling him Gryphen was gone. They were the same voices that appeared after Will Jackson raped him.

Now, they were stronger.

Louder.

More convincing.

For Ian, he simply couldn’t escape them.

He couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t function.

All he could do was feel sick to his stomach anytime he was awake. He’d heard the doctors and nurses talking when he’d been standing by Gryphen’s hospital door just hours ago.

They didn’t know he was there.

Only, he was.

What they said…

It crushed him.

It made the voices louder.

They had been discussing the fact that Gryphen was likely never going to wake up.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know why he wasn’t, but Ian knew.

It was because he’d made them come back. It was because he’d chosen poorly when it came to a partner. This was all on him.

So, as he drove around, he knew he wanted to go somewhere he wouldn’t be found for a while. If he was going to die, he didn’t want anyone finding him fresh.

It scared him that he had no control over these feelings, and he didn’t understand why.

Only, Ian couldn’t do this without Gryphen.

He’d already fought back from rock bottom, and now, the pain was overwhelming him. He didn’t want to go on. He wanted to be wherever Gryphen was.

He needed to be with him.

So that meant one thing.

Finding him.

Ian knew where Gryphen’s trailer was, simply because he’d fired him from the White House. He filled in his termination papers, and knew where to send his last check.

Now, he was here.

Pushing open the old, unlocked door on the rundown trailer, he stepped inside.

Oh, and it was bad.

The place was poverty times ten, and that added to his pain. He’d fired the Marine and sent him back here to this. He’d hurt Gryphen in ways he couldn’t even make better, and Ian didn’t deserve to still be walking around alive.

It was all on him.

And he knew it.

The floors creaked, and the windows were boarded up with wood and plastic. The old threadbare couch sat there, as the only thing Gryphen had before Elizabeth gave him a job.

His well-decorated Marine had been suffering when he sacrificed so much for his country.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t right.

Add to it, this was what Ian did to the man.

This.

Right.

Here.

He’d never forgive himself for that either. If he’d known, he’d like to believe he would have done something for him. How he kept his dress blues he wore every day to the White House clean…

He’d never know.

The whole place was cold, and he doubted it had heat or warm water. A part of him wept over the fact that the man he loved, the sweet, wonderful man had lived like this.

Oh, Gryphen.

Tears came, and as he sat on the couch, he sobbed. He curled up, putting his head on an old pillow, and it still smelled like Gryphen.

It was musky and smelled like cheap shampoo that he likely could barely afford.

This had been where his brave, honorable Marine came to die.

And now, so did he.

At least, Gryphen would never have to come back. He’d gone to his home, and left a quickly drawn up will. In it, he left EVERYTHING to Gryphen.

He wanted him to have something of him when he was gone. The voices in his head cheered and told him there was no way he could come back from this.

They told him that he was a loser, a waste, and could never be the kind of partner that this Marine needed.

And he believed them.

He believed them all.

Ian didn’t want to do this anymore. His whole world was off the rails. He’d killed a man, and while it was in defense, it didn’t sit well with him. He’d never had to kill anyone before.

Elizabeth and the Marines had told him it wasn’t easy, but he didn’t believe them. It wasn’t. Will Jackson stole a piece of his soul when he killed him.

Unfortunately, it was a piece he’d never get back.

Now, he was going to jail, and the voices told him he would be raped and abused in there too.

They told him he was going to be hurt in ways he couldn’t come back from.

So there was only one option.

THIS.

Deep down, he knew the justice system wouldn’t give a shit that Will Jackson had stalked, nearly killed, and hurt Gryphen.

They’d call it eye for an eye, and put him away for life. Either way, he was losing Gryphen.

The system wouldn’t be kind to him, and no one could save him. Not Max, and certainly not Elizabeth.

There was no hope.

Ian didn’t want to live anymore.

He was sure his mother was at her home, on the farm, and she and his siblings were watching the national news. His picture was all over it.

He knew what they’d think.

That he was a sinner and deserved this. That he’d lived a life that caused this.

Ian couldn’t help who he was born. He couldn’t help who he loved, but he did cause something.

He dragged Gryphen into it.

His family was likely shaking their heads and tsking his choice, at how he’d become a murderer too thanks to the media leak.

They’d be horrified at how he’d killed a man who was his rapist.

In.

Cold.

Blood.

It wouldn’t matter that it was a small snapshot of his life. It would become the narrative from here on out, and he’d never hear or see any of them again.

Already, he saw the headline.

‘Gay man goes to jail when he puts ten bullets in his ex-lover in cold blood.’

The overkill was the issue, and the DA was out for blood.

HIS.

But he was so scared and angry. He’d watched Gryphen go down, and in the process, his whole world tipped upside down.

Now, he was paying for it.

Ian wouldn’t survive in jail. He wouldn’t survive without Gryphen.

He had no hope left.

Pulling out a gun, it was the one he bought Gryphen for Christmas. He loaded it, slowly, with shaking fingers. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure that anyone would find his remains, but that didn’t matter. He’d go to dust here in this decaying trailer.

Gryphen said he’d never come back here, and that meant he’d never find him. Maybe, if he woke up, he’d forget about him and move on.

Maybe the doctors were right, and if he woke up, he’d never remember him.

For now, he couldn’t do this.

He wasn’t strong enough.

All he wanted was for the pain to end. It beat at him nonstop, and it was burying him in that mire of grief.

Grief for his career.

Grief for Gryphen’s life.

Grief for his future.

Ian Patterson was going to die alone, and maybe that was for the best. He said his goodbye to Gryphen, and he’d see him on the other side.

If there was one.

Oh, yeah, and if he didn’t go directly to Hell.

Taking a deep breath, he said a prayer because he needed the strength to do this.

“Forgive me father, for I have sinned. I’ve done everything wrong in my life, and I’ve caused so many people pain. I hope you have mercy on me. I’m so sorry.”

The voices in his head cheered again, and began chanting.

Pull the trigger.

Pull the trigger.

You’re a waste of existence.

DO IT!

He cocked the gun, and took a deep breath. It was his time to say goodbye to this pain. Chances were, he wouldn’t even be missed.

Ian Patterson had no one left to love him.

He was lost.

Meanwhile…

Gryphen didn’t feel well, and his whole body ached from the pain of five bullet holes in his back. He had very little energy, but he knew this was dire.

His heart was pounding in his chest.

What he knew was that he couldn’t give up.

His gut was screaming.

He’d used Jet’s phone to call Ian over and over again. His was…somewhere.

Instead of answering, he went right to voice mail, meaning his phone was off.

Yeah, his gut wasn’t wrong.

They needed to hurry.

Luckily for them, Ivan was a paranoid nut on a good day, and he’d tagged all the vehicles.

Just.

In.

Case.

Jet had the tablet, and he knew where Ian had gone, and the second he told him, Gryphen knew.

Gryphen had told Ian about his trailer, and he’d called it ‘the place where death lived’. There was no way Ian was going there to chill out.

Not happening.

That meant he was right.

“He’s going to hurt himself,” he said through the pain. “That’s the only reason he’s there. Nothing is there but an old couch!”

Jet was in a panic.

It was looking like Gryphen’s gut had been right. If Ian was going to take his life, they had to get there fast.

NOW, in fact.

“Jet! Hurry!” he said, trying not to puke in the car.

“I’m getting you there,” Jet said, driving well above the speed limit.

If they got pulled over…

“We don’t have time,” he begged. “I can feel it in my soul. He’s about to die. Please,” he whispered. For the first time in a while, his own demons were back.

They were laughing in glee.

But Gryphen did battle with them.

He would get to Ian.

He would save his man.

The pain was so bad that his view of the inside of the vehicle wavered, and he hoped he didn’t pass out.

Then, he wouldn’t be able to save Ian.

As they pulled down the long drive that led to his abandoned home, the one he’d escaped, they saw the car.

Ian’s Lexus.

Thank God Ivan tagged his vehicle. Gryphen never would have thought to look here.

This was the last place he believed Ian would come. How he’d gotten his address…

Only, it was parked there, and that was ominous.

Gryphen hoped he wasn’t too late.

Please don’t let me find him dead. Please. If I lose him, I’m never going to make it, he prayed.

When the car they were in came to a stop, Jet came around and helped pull Gryphen out.

“Hurry!”

“I’m trying, Gryphen! You’re not exactly light!” he said.

With all of his strength, Jet basically carried most of his weight to the door, precariously balancing the man the best he could.

He wobbled on his prosthetic leg.

When he got there, he pushed the door open, and Gryphen had been right.

Ian was on the couch, a gun touching his temple.

“Please,” Gryphen begged, “don’t leave me, Ian!” he said, getting the man’s attention. “If you leave, I’m following!”

Ian heard his voice, and stood.

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Gryphen?”

The tears started up all over again.

It was time for him to save his man.

“I know how you feel,” Gryphen said. “I know how you’re scared, but I’m here, Baby. I’m here. Don’t do it. Please don’t leave me. It’ll kill me.”

“Gryphen,” he whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. He’d been about to pull the trigger. The demons were winning, and he couldn’t hold on any longer.

“Get me to him,” he pleaded.

Jet hoisted the man toward the couch, and Ian was helping him as soon as he got close enough.

“How?” he asked, confused.

How was Gryphen awake?

HOW?

Jet helped lower him to the couch, and when Ian wasn’t paying attention, the man grabbed the gun he’d put down, and tucked it into the waist band of his pants.

He wasn’t ending it on his watch.

No.

Freaking.

Way.

Yeah, he was going to have to report this to Elizabeth, and he would when he could. For now, he’d slip out and give them time.

This looked like something Gryphen needed to handle, since it was his man.

When Elizabeth came back tonight, he’d share what went down. They needed to get Ian help.

As a Marine who saw some shit, he understood, but Ian Patterson wasn’t in a good place and most definitely was a danger to himself.

It wasn’t like he could blame him, but Jet knew if it was him, he’d want someone to step in.

Since Gryphen was their brother, Ian was now theirs to protect too.

And they would.

As Gryphen was set down, Ian climbed into his lap when he opened his arms.

The tears intensified.

Gryphen cradled him against his body as the man he loved broke down.

“I heard you say goodbye,” he whispered, as he took the weight of the man against his battered and beat up body. His wounds sang, but Ian needed him.

His love needed him.

“Oh, Gryphen,” he whispered, making himself so small so that he could hide away against the man. “I can’t do this,” he whispered. “I thought I lost you. They said they didn’t know why you weren’t waking up, and that you likely weren’t.”

“I’m here, Baby.”

“The voices told me to die.”

Gryphen understood.

If he had a dollar for every time he contemplated taking his life thanks to those hellish voices, he’d be rich. It was clear to Gryphen that someone had PTSD, and he needed help.

“I have you, Baby. I have you.”

Ian wept buckets of tears.

He wept for what he almost missed.

“I called you, but you didn’t answer,” Gryphen offered. “Your phone was off.”

Ian was honest.

“I didn’t want to be found.”

Gryphen kissed his temple. This had been too close for comfort.

“I’m here now. We’re good. I have you, and we’ll fight those voices together. I’ll protect you from them.”

That made the man sob even more. He was going to lose him when he was arrested. The only thing holding that back was Max Holder.

And Elizabeth.

“I killed him.”

Oh, Gryphen remembered.

Now, he could recall it. He felt the shots to his body, and he recalled staring into Ian’s eyes and telling him to fight.

He remembered falling to the ground, and seeing the man he loved end the man who shot him.

Ten times.

Those shots still echoed in his head. That Ian had to forever deal with the memory of taking someone’s life…

It killed him.

His sweet man was suffering, and he’d not been able to protect him more. It was difficult to end a human being’s life, and it changed you forever. Each kill took a piece of you. That he couldn’t insulate Ian from that…

Well, that was something Gryphen would forever carry.

Mark.

His.

Words.

“I love you,” Gryphen said. “I love you so much, Ian. I’m good. We’re okay.”

The smaller man clung to his hospital gown as he stayed in his lap.

“You can’t leave me,” Ian whispered. “I’ll die. I can’t do this alone. I’m there again, Gryphen. I’m at rock bottom.”

Oh, he could see that.

The only place to go was back up, and they’d get there. With time, they’d get back to that moment of joy.

He knew they could do it together.

Gryphen reassured him.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, Baby. I’m here. You’re safe now, and we’re going to make it.”

“They want to throw me in prison. The DA is saying it was excessive force. She said I had no right to do it.”

He stared at him.

“He’d just goddamn shot me in the back five time, and he raped you!”

Oh, Ian was aware.

“She wants me to be an example.”

Gryphen growled.

There was no way she was putting his man in prison. If need be, he’d make sure that didn’t happen. Gryphen was downright feral when it came to Ian.

He and the woman would have a little ‘talk’.

Once he was better.

To calm his fiancé, Gryphen lifted Ian’s chin, and found his mouth to kiss him. While he was still conscious, he wanted to make sure the man was all right.

Why?

Because he was dizzy as fuck, and about to pass out again. He was fighting for Ian at this point.

The kiss locked him to his body, and it showed him that everything would be okay.

Neither of them were dying in this hole.

Not today.

Not ever.

When he broke the kiss, he stared into the man’s eyes. He needed to make sure.

“Are you going to be okay? Now that I’m awake, you won’t hurt yourself, will you?”

Ian wasn’t sure.

“I’m all over the news. Someone at the airport recorded it. They played it on the news. Me grabbing his gun, and…”

That didn’t answer his question.

“Are you going to hurt yourself, Ian? If you are, I have to make sure you don’t. I have to call Elizabeth and get you held at the hospital.”

He didn’t want to be alone.

“The voices.”

Gryphen made him stare into his eyes.

“You have PTSD. I have those same voices. You have to do the opposite of whatever they tell you to do. You have to fight them, Ian. Promise me. Until I can get well, you have to promise me to fight hard.”

He nodded.

“I’ll fight, Gryphen.”

That was all he had to hear.

Gryphen tucked him into his body more and soothed him.

“He’s dead and he can’t hurt you.”

Oh, that was funny.

His final act was hurting him. His final miserable fucking last act was haunting him.

Ian would never be the same again, and he knew it. His life had changed.

“I killed someone. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, and I can’t…”

Gryphen understood.

He’d killed plenty of people.

“We’re going to get you help,” he promised. “We’re going to make sure you’re safe and work through this. You need to see a therapist, and I’ll be with you the whole time. We’ll get through this together,” he said, not believing he could help Ian alone.

This really destroyed the man.

Ian just clung to him.

“I just need a promise,” Gryphen finally said.

He waited.

Gryphen made Ian look into his eyes. Blue met blue, and he saw into his soul.

“I need the promise that you don’t die. If you end your life, Ian, mine ends too. I know you’re in pain now, but it will get better. Remember when you were hurt, and you didn’t think you’d be okay?”

He nodded.

That seemed so far away.

That seemed like eons ago.

“We fixed you. We’ll fix it again. Think about Scotland, and our wedding. Focus on the time we had there.”

Ian needed to know.

“Are you still marrying me?” he asked, his heart hurting so much. “After all this, and how I got you hurt?”

Gryphen knew there was only one answer.

“Absolutely. We have kilts and a date. You’re going to be my husband, and we’re going to have a family. Will Jackson is gone, and we’ll get through the DA bullshit. Then, we’ll get married, and start our life. We have a contract, Mr. Patterson. You signed it. It’s been witnessed.”

Ian recalled.

Gently, he ran his fingers over Gryphen’s five o’clock shadow that was almost a beard.

“I love you, Gryphen. I’m so sorry for everything I’ve ever done to hurt you.”

The bigger man knew what he was talking about. It was mostly about firing him and sending him here. He’d told him this was a death mire, and it had almost won.

“I’m good, Ian. This isn’t my home anymore. I live at the Fort, and eventually, when this all dies down, I’ll live wherever you want to be. Let’s get you good first.”

He nodded and held onto his man.

They stayed like that for a little bit, and the whole time, Gryphen wanted to start vomiting. His body was screaming in pain.

But it had been worth it.

He saved Ian.

Because he was only so strong, he had to be honest with Ian.

“Baby?”

He looked up.

“Yes, Gryph?”

“I’m in a lot of pain. I need to get back to the hospital. Can you get me there? I think I’m going to pass the fuck out any second.”

Ian gasped and climbed off of his fiancé. His panic was back.

“Oh, God. You should be at a hospital.”

He laughed.

“I would be, but I had to find you. We’re going to discuss this as soon as I can put on my kilt and put you over my knee, Mr. Patterson, but until then, just get me back so I can have the good meds.”

That was all he had to hear.

Ian raced to the door.

“JET!”

The man got out of the car. He was emailing Ivan about what was going on, and filling in the report.

“What’s up?”

“Gryphen is in pain and doesn’t feel well. Can you help me get him back to the hospital? I can’t lift him. Can you help me?”

That was the most logical thing ANY of them had done that morning.

“Sure thing, Ian,” he said as he got out and headed that way.

What Jet knew was he never wanted to love anyone like this. It seemed like a giant mess and not worth the time.

To each their own.

Well, now, at least he was going to be back at the hospital. That might just keep Elizabeth from killing him for helping the wounded man leave.

At least it all worked out.

For now.

Chapter Five

Police Interrogation

Downstairs

The Police Precinct

To no surprise, when Elizabeth arrived downstairs, she found Dex Corbin standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, waiting for her. It was clear that Quinn or Kane gave him the heads-up that she and Jack were on their way down.

No shock there.

When they reached him, he just laughed and said nothing else.

“Well, hello, Dex. Fancy meeting you here,” she said, ready for him to bust balls, or give her a difficult time. She needed to get Max out of here, and he was the gatekeeper to making that happen.

Dex hugged her.

“Oh, I can’t imagine why the Deputy Director of the FBI is in my house,” he said. “Oh, wait, it might be that I have The United States Attorney General in a cage. That sounds about right that you’d turn up for that.”

Oh, he was going to be spicy, and she knew it.

There was no doubt there.

Lucky for her, they worked together on a few things, and they were friends.

Sort of.

“Well, Poindexter, you know how it is. This is my playground, and he’s my potato sack race partner. The relay is about to begin.”

He laughed even more.

Dex shook Jack’s hand.

“And on top of you showing up here to wiggle your way into this, you brought my boss. It’s like a reunion, one I can’t get away from. This is one big old case of déjà vu, and I’m stuck in it.”

Yeah, well, she had news for him.

Her too.

“Welcome to my world,” she admitted. “The last thing I want to do is hang out with you guys, but here I am. Do we need to do the dance?” she asked.

Oh, he wasn’t letting her off that easy. There were a few reasons why. He hated it when the federal government got up in their job, and he felt bad for Max Holder. He’d had to work with him a few times, and he liked looking at the man.

He was smart, kind, and a decent guy. This whole thing didn’t fit for him. Max wasn’t a serial killer. He’d learned enough coming here to know that.

So, they were going to be doing this dance here and now.

“Yep.”

She sighed.

Very well.

“Hey, Captain. Long time no see. I hear you have a three-body dump, and a federal employee tied up in it. That makes it my jurisdiction, and I’ve come to talk to the man you arrested.”

He had news for her. While his detectives told him they’d passed it off, it was his decision, and even Jack couldn’t make him.

Well, he could, but Dex knew he wouldn’t. They’d come to an agreement. Jack was going to let him do his job, or he was going back to Big Sky.

Enough was enough.

“Contrary to what you believe, Deputy Director, I don’t have to turn it over. The victims weren’t federal employees. I know the law too.”

Honestly, he loved busting her balls.

It was their thing.

The ball was in her court.

“Oh, so you have positive ID?” she asked, doing the dance that she’d not only perfected, but choreographed years ago.

“Nope.”

“Then, you don’t know that. In the case of time sensitivity, this is going to be our jurisdiction. A judge will give it to me anyway. Do you really want to make me do that? Because I will for Max.”

When Dex opened his mouth, Jack sighed.

“Dex, she’s taking the case. She’s cleared it with the detectives. You can stop. We don’t need to make Max sit in holding, or be sent to general population. That’s dangerous.”

That was the ONLY reason he wouldn’t make this difficult for her. Again, he liked Max.

“It’s all yours. I’m going on vacation. I have some home renovations to work on. I just like making it a challenge. Someone has to keep Elizabeth on her toes.”

Well, thank God she had a good working relationship with the man.

She shook his hand.

“I appreciate it. Has anyone questioned him?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“Nope. He asked for his one call, and I’m going to guess it was to you and not a lawyer.”

Well, he’d guessed right.

“Yep. I’m here to talk to him. Do you guys mind?” she asked.

Jack didn’t.

He wasn’t going to get in her way. He knew Elizabeth a little too well.

Dex on the other hand…

“I’ll be in there with you.”

Oh, holy Hell’s bells.

Was he out of his mind?

“No, you won’t. You can watch, but you’re not participating. I bet you get that a lot,” she said to Dex.

He didn’t take that personally, but instead laughed.

“Sadly, way too much,” he joked back.

Elizabeth was to the point.

“He used his attorney call to me, so we’re going to pretend I’m his legal counsel, and we’re going to chitchat.”

“But you’re not.”

“Thus, you can watch but you can’t record it. Have you read him his rights?”

Dex shook his head.

“I had the detectives hold off,” he said. “I don’t buy he’s guilty.”

She was grateful for that.

Elizabeth patted him on the back, and headed toward the room. When she opened the door, Max was holding a wastepaper basket on his lap, was in his dress shirt and dress pants, but was cuffed to the table.

Yowza.

Someone had a rough one.

He looked like he’d gone buck-wild at a party somewhere in the woods like they did as teenagers many moons ago.

“The kegger get too wild?” she asked, making sure the record light wasn’t on. This was only going to be between them, Jack, and Dex.

She trusted them to abide by those rules.

Max was honest.

“I don’t recall it. I don’t know what happened, Elizabeth. They took my blood, and I don’t know what my level was. It had to be high for me to black out. I’ve never done that before.”

She didn’t even have to ask. As soon as he said it, her phone chimed, and it was from Dex giving her the answer.

‘His BAC was just over the limit. He wouldn’t have blacked out from that. He would have been tipsy, but nothing more. Even with the time between last night, and when we checked it, he wouldn’t have been black-out drunk.’

Okay, so that took the alcohol element out of the equation. That left two possibilities remaining. He had been drugged, or he was lying.

There were only so many options.

Now, Elizabeth had to find out which one.

Already, she suspected he was roofied. You didn’t fake looking this sick, and the vomit tended to point toward that. When you got roofied, it was the worst hangover ever.

She clued him in.

“You were just over the legal limit to drive, but not to do all kinds of wild stuff and not remember it.”

He was honest.

“Elizabeth. I. Don’t. Remember. Shit. It’s all a blacked-out blur. I don’t understand what the hell is going on. I’m missing eight hours of time.”

She knew this was a problem for them in so many ways, so she needed to do this right.

Unfortunately, Dex would bust her balls if she didn’t even try to interrogate him. So she couldn’t be easy on Max.

“Who was the woman you brought to the motel?” she asked, trying to dig for some clues.

He sat there in misery. In all of his life, he never expected to be on this side of the table.

Ever.

“I don’t know.”

She kept going.

“You said you were on a date. Was it with her?” she asked, already knowing that was going to be negative. Her gaydar told her Max wasn’t into ladies. Well, that and how he worked damn hard to NEVER be seen with one.

For White House functions, he came alone. For weddings, he came alone. For dinner parties, he came alone. Since Max was handsome, wealthy, and a power player in DC, that told her one thing.

He.

Was.

Gay.

And that was perfectly fine, but he wasn’t going to come out of the closet easily. Because she needed him to, since that would be his best defense, she pushed.

“Think hard.”

He stared her in the eyes.

“It was not with her.”

Elizabeth had to go with the obvious.

“How do you know if you blacked out and can’t recall?” she asked, playing Devil’s advocate to get him to just tell them the truth.

It would set him free—literally.

As he sat there, Max knew what she was trying to do. He was an attorney, and he knew Elizabeth was giving him the rope to climb out, or hang himself.

Now, Max knew he had no choice but to give away his personal information. He knew people were watching since he could feel them staring behind the glass.

He just didn’t know who.

“I can tell you that because I’m gay, Elizabeth. I’ve always been gay, so there’s a better chance of me being in bed with a man—not a woman.”

BINGO.

When you got drunk or drugged, your nature was your nature, and she knew Dex and Jack knew that. If he was gay, and a killer, he would have taken out men, not women.

“Do you often find yourself blacking out and waking up with strangers?”

He stared into her eyes.

“No. This is a first.”

She needed him to be honest.

“Walk me through your night. I need the whole night where you tell me everything.”

He was curious.

“Do we have to do this?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“For the homicide captain and police commissioner to help me get you free of this, they have to believe you too. I’m your friend, Max, and I know you didn’t do this, but you know how my hands are tied. Do you want Jane Winters in here? She’s gunning for both of us.”

She was his only friend.

As for Jane, he was aware.

The woman hated Elizabeth, and him with a passion since they helped one rape victim not go to the chair for killing the men who assaulted her.

So, he went there.

“I had a date. It was our first one.”

She pulled out her phone to make notes for the file. She had to be meticulous in case this was scrutinized later.

“Name?” she asked.

He told her.

“It was with a gentleman by the name of Ken Yasin. He is a hedge fund manager for his own company.”

She kept going.

“How did you meet him?” she asked.

He was honest.

It was embarrassing as hell, but what choice did he have?

“I belong to an exclusive match-making service. They take all your information and match you up quietly for a fee. It’s for people in DC who are dating but don’t want their personal lives out there. You know how The District is when it comes to privacy.”

Oh, she got it.

In DC, nothing surprised her.

“Who runs it?” she asked, continuing her line of questioning.

He tried to think.

But his brain was fuzzy.

“I believe his name is Kian Berry. It’s called Clandestine Connections. I paid them a fee, like I always do, and they find someone who matches up with my personal preferences.”

“So you always use them?”

He nodded.

“Not often, but maybe once every two or three months when I’m free to have a date.”

What he wasn’t saying was it was when he was free to have sex.

Behind the glass, Dex was also making notes. He might be going on vacation, but he couldn’t help himself. The man in the room…

He was curious about him.

In a way, he felt bad for him. He’d worked so hard to stay off the radar with his sex life, only to be dumped out in public view. Had he not mentioned he was gay, Dex never would have known.

He was REALLY cautious with it, and that he understood. Unfortunately, his life was about to change.

That cat was out of the bag.

Unfortunately for Max, Elizabeth wasn’t done with questions.

“Okay, so last night, you meet with Ken Yasin. What happens? I need you to walk me through all of it. Starting with how you contacted him.”

He did just that.

“The matchmaker texts you a number. I sent a text to the person, telling them a little about me. I keep it light. I mention I’m an attorney, or what I specifically do in DC. I DON’T tell the person which attorney I am.”

She understood that.

He continued.

“I like to gauge the genuineness of the person through the texting before they find out that I have the president’s number in my phone. You know how the sharks are in these waters.”

Yes, she did.

Few people had Gabe’s ear.

She did, Ethan, and Max. Those were the ONLY people he trusted in The District.

And with good reason.

“What else?”

He kept going.

“The man, Ken, texted me back. He said he was a hedge fund business owner. That he liked tennis, he loved movies, and sushi.”

“So he was your type, and you decided to start dating him?”

He was honest.

“I don’t have a type, per se. I wasn’t looking to date anyone.”

She was curious.

“What’s that mean?” she asked.

Max was blunt.

It was humiliating, but then again, so would be a group shower in lockup.

“It’s strictly a way to screen men to hook up. I mean, he was tall, handsome, and successful. That’s my type, I guess, but other than last night, I didn’t have plans to see him again.”

She was to the point.

“So, you used this service as nothing more than a way to have a booty call.”

He sighed.

“When you say it that way, it sounds so cheap, and trust me, with the fee that is paid, it’s anything but.”

Honestly, she didn’t judge him.

What she did do was turn toward the glass.

“Do you have other dead women showing up in DC that would prove Max is a serial killer? Knock once if you do?”

Neither Jack nor Dex did, and that told her that again, Max wasn’t a predator.

A horny man needing to get off?

Yes.

A killer?

No.

She faced him again.

“Okay, so you two make contact. What happened next?” she asked.

He kept explaining.

“We agreed to meet Tuesday night at Nagato for dinner and drinks. I usually keep my date nights to the weekend, but for him, I made the exception,” he admitted.

Mostly because he had been irrationally horny, and needed a night of pleasure to help him refocus on work. Basically, he had blue balls.

He continued.

“We were both feeling each other out. That would be the only date since I don’t do repeat dates.”

Again, she went there.

“Because it’s a booty call?”

He stared at her.

“Yes, Elizabeth. It’s about sex, and that’s it. I’ve got a job that requires me to be married to it. Once in a while, I allow myself a dalliance where I get to have a night off. You know I work twenty-four-seven.”

She was aware.

So did she.

When you climbed the ladder there, you sacrificed a lot of things like time and relationships.

“Okay, tell me about the date, since it was last night.”

He did.

“Ken walked in, and I was pleasantly surprised. He was fit, smiling, and I was willing to continue with the date. I know that sounds…”

She stopped him.

“As far as we know, he’s not dead. As long as he’s not, you having hook ups with a man isn’t my issue. What’s my issue is clearing you of the dead woman in your motel bed. I have to track that line down. You know this questioning is to gauge your accessibility to three women.”

He understood.

So he continued.

“We hit it off. We talked, we ordered drinks, and then that’s all I remember. I don’t recall eating. I must have since I’ve been puking up food.”

She had news for him.

“I’m going to need that puke.”

He looked horrified that someone would even request that.

“Why?” he asked.

It was clear he was still foggy, and again, why she believed he’d been drugged. He was the US Attorney General. He’d know exactly why she was asking for it.

“It’s evidence. Your BAC came back at levels we discussed, and if you can’t recall something, that means one of two things.”

He waited.

“Someone slipped you a dickey. You know, a roofie. A mickey. A…”

He stopped her.

“Please. I feel sick enough as it is.”

She understood that.

“Or you’re a lying sack of murderous shit. So now, forensics will either be your new BFF, or your worst nightmare. If all of your vomit comes back negative, we have a problem. If the women’s IDs connect you, we have a bigger problem.”

“I don’t have any women in my life. Other than you, I don’t have female friends.”

She was aware.

“The problem is, Max, that the drug is likely out of your bloodstream, but it won’t be gone in the puke. As long as we have that, I have a snowball’s chance in Hell of clearing you so I can find who did this.”

He understood.

She kept going since it was about to get very uncomfortable for Max.

“Did you have sex with Ken?” she asked.

He stared blankly at her, and she could tell he was trying to think—not elude the question. He was genuinely struggling to think.

His brain was cloudy.

“I don’t know. I wanted to, but I can’t tell you if I did or not. I was on a second martini, and I don’t remember anything after that.”

She knew what she’d need then too.

“Is that what you put on last night?” she asked, meaning his dress shirt and pants.

“Yes.”

Here came the rough part.

“I’m going to need your underwear,” she said without missing a beat.

Max on the other hand…

He looked horrified.

“Uh, why?”

She knew he knew the answer to that too, and she’d bet her next paycheck that someone had to have given him something.

“Because if you had sex, you’ll have left some trace of another person or semen in your underwear. If you wore a condom, there will be your DNA, and if you went to the rodeo to ride bareback, his will be inside your britches too.”

As soon as she said that, he put his head on the table and closed his eyes.

“This is horrifying. My career is going to be over after this. I’m going to be asked to resign. Someone’s checking my underwear for some man’s DNA. I’m never having sex again.”

Yeah, well, time would make him forget this embarrassment. For now, she had to keep asking the questions—regardless of how difficult it was for him. This was to save his ass.

“How many drinks did you have?” she asked. “You mentioned a second martini. Tell me about the other ones.”

He tried.

“I started with a dirty martini—olives and an onion. Ken arrived, and I had another. He went with a double Jack on the rocks. I think. Then, I had a second martini made the same way. That’s all I remember.”

“What’s the next thing you remember?” she asked.

Oh, that was easy.

“Waking up in a motel room. I had rented a room at The Convention Center. I don’t bring men to my home. That’s private to me. I woke up, and thought, ‘wow, I had to be drunk to end up here’. Then, I rolled over and saw the woman.”

She turned.

“Can one of you call The Convention Center and ask about his reservation, and if he showed there? We need to lock down his timeline.”

There was a knock on the glass confirming that someone was on it.

As they sat there, Max puked again, and she went and helped him hold the wastepaper basket. Then, she went to the corner and got him a cup of water.

“Thank you,” he whispered, wanting to die. It wasn’t only about feeling sick, but the humiliation tied to it. How would he face people again?

When her phone chimed again, she picked it up, and saw it was Dex.

‘He had a reservation, but the front desk said he never showed up to use the room. He was a no show. I asked how often he does this, and the concierge says that Mr. Holder gets a hotel room there maybe three to four times a year. So far, he’s not lying.’

Elizabeth hoped he kept it that way.

What really piqued her interest was that he hadn’t headed there, but instead went to a dive motel?

Why?

That was un-Max-like.

Yeah, it looked as if she needed to start working this after she handled a few things.

Mainly, the cops.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. “An officer is going to come in here and escort you to a room to retrieve your britches for me. I’m sorry, Max, but it might help you. We can’t skip a single step.”

He was curious as he flushed red.

“Can I at least do that in private?” he asked. “This is humiliating enough.”

There was only one answer, and he likely wasn’t going to like it.

His days of privacy were over until they figured out what the hell was going on.

“I’m sorry, Max, but we can’t leave you alone,” she admitted. “Just hang in there. We’ll get this situated.”

He figured as much.

Getting up, she opened the door, and an officer was there to take Max to a room to gather evidence. It appeared that Dex was having mercy on the man and not making him strip down there.

When she exited, Elizabeth noticed that he wasn’t far away, and he clued her in.

“Jack had to go. He said if you have any problems with me, or want to get me a raise for being the amazing captain I am, give him a call.”

Elizabeth hadn’t been expecting that.

She shook her head and was amused.

Because she needed to be very careful, Elizabeth didn’t want to talk in front of Max, or anyone else, so she waited until he was led past them to the nearest room to retrieve his underwear.

It wasn’t lost on her that he looked dejected and broken. It took a lot to do that to The United States Attorney General.

As soon as they were alone, she went there.

“He’s not guilty,” she said.

Dex lowered his voice.

“There is no way you could possibly know that with just talking to him.”

She did know.

This was what she did for a living. She’d done this over a thousand times, and only had one cold case to her name—Lottie Tipton.

And she was dead.

So, to make her point, she pleaded her case for her friend.

“His clothes have no blood, there’s none on his face or neck. The victim in bed was skinned, and so were the women in the trunk, Dex. That’s going to be messy and take time. He was supposed to do three and not get any blood on him? Why would he keep two in his trunk?”

“Spares for later?” he asked, playing Devil’s advocate. He wasn’t buying this setup either. It was too convenient. Someone had it in for the man.

She sighed.

“This screams a set up. This screams someone’s gunning for him. Look at how powerful he is, and you don’t think this is hella timed? He was about to take one of his own ex-employees to trial. He’s been butting heads with the city DA. He tries powerful people and wins. His conviction record is ridiculous.”

He was aware.

“What are you asking from me, Elizabeth?” he inquired, already knowing.

She was pretty transparent.

“I want him cut free until I can investigate the case. He’s not a killer.”

The man wasn’t having it.

This was already an unmitigated mess, and if the media got this, heads would roll—mainly his and hers.

“Elizabeth, he was found in a room and in possession of dead bodies. You know what that’s going to look like in the media? If I let him walk out of here without him going before a judge, that looks like me playing favorites. If I release him to you, that REALLY looks like you used your badge and power to get him off.”

She was aware.

Only, it was a risk she was willing to take.

“I’m vouching for him. If that was you in there, you’d want someone in your corner. You’d want me to have your back, and I would.”

He wasn’t budging.

Not one bit.

“That wouldn’t be me. I don’t pay money to a matchmaker to hook me up with rich men. I do it the hard way. I fuck up and get stood up in bars!”

She understood his position.

Really, she did.

Only, that meant nothing.

“I really need your help on this. The detectives can give me the case, but you have to clear him not being arrested. You don’t have enough.”

“Because you didn’t let us try yet. He called you and shut up.”

She didn’t give up.

“Dex, come on,” she said. “He’s not a flight risk, and already, the media is about to destroy his career. I have to get to the President next, and I can’t babysit him. I need him cut free. My plate is full.”

Oh.

Hell.

No.

Maybe going into her custody and being babysat, he’d agree to it. Just walking free?

Yeah, no.

“I can’t just let him walk free. If you want him remanded into your custody, okay. If you have someone you can have sit with him twenty-four-seven, okay. But to just let him go back to work like nothing happened? That’s not happening, Deputy Director, and that’s my final answer.”

When the man came back past them, he was back in cuffs, and the cop handed her his underwear. They were in a clear evidence bag.

She checked them.

“What are you doing?” Dex asked, horrified that she was inspecting them through the bag.

Elizabeth showed him.

“There’s no blood on them either. How was he found?” she asked, still fighting for Max’s freedom.

Dex described the scene as his detectives relayed it to him.

“He woke up beside the dead body in bed, and she was tucked in. Then, he was outside the room screaming for the police and in his britches.”

She pointed at them.

“Which have no blood either. How did a man skin a woman, slip into bed with her, and not get ANY blood on him.”

“His feet had blood on them from the floor.”

She wasn’t buying it.

“So he walked through it, but he didn’t do it. Come on, Dex.”

He sighed.

It was clear she wasn’t giving up.

“My Dude, cut a girl a break. I have to interview so many people right now, that I’m up to my freaking eyeballs and haven’t even been to the scene. I need help. I can’t babysit him. I’m down Marines, and I need my whole family on this case. I have to go tell the President of the United States that his US Attorney General is in the clink!”

He felt bad for her.

More importantly, he felt bad for Max. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t think the man was sexy, even in this situation. Now that he knew he was gay, he felt obligated to help.

And desperate to learn more about him.

On top of that, Dex knew the pressure she was under and the political firestorm this was going to be.

“You need a babysitter.”

“Holy fuck, Dex,” she said, rubbing her temples.

Truth be told, she looked like she was going to have the mother of all strokes.

Because of that, he caved—kinda.

“I tell you what. I’m on vacation until next Friday. I was going to work on some projects at my house. If you can get him to stay in my custody, and work from my home, I can keep an eye on him. I’ll be his alibi if any more bodies turn up, and I’ll see if I can help him get his memory back.”

She couldn’t believe it.

“Really?” she asked. “You’d do this for me?”

Actually, he was doing it for Max. There was something about the man that pulled at his heartstrings.

Never let it be said he made good choices, because this was going to bite him in the ass.

Most likely.

“Yeah, I’ll be home all day, and that way if this is somehow a shot at him, he won’t be able to be located. I can keep him tucked away and safe.”

That was all she had to hear.

She kissed him squarely on the mouth despite knowing he swung the other way.

“You’re my favorite cop right now, Poindexter!”

“Uh, hey now!” he said. “Not my type, and not really fond of that name,” he added.

She laughed.

“Dex, I love you. You think he might be in danger, too, don’t you?” she asked.

Ugh.

He did.

Dex hated that this wasn’t a cut and dry case. The District was a mess, and he knew it.

He was honest.

“Yeah, it’s crossed my mind. If someone drugged him, and did it heavily, he’d not remember anything. Plus, you’re right about the blood. I’ll take my chance, but only if you can get him to agree to it. I’m not playing chase. If he tries to slip out, he goes into general population and takes his chances there.”

She got it.

Elizabeth hugged him.

“I owe you one.”

He laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“ONE? Girl, you owe me five for this one. If he’s a killer…”

She reassured him.

“He’s not. I promise. I’m good at detecting lies. He legit doesn’t remember anything. I’m willing to bet that when we analyze his vomit, we find traces of the drug still in his system.”

He reminded her.

“If he won’t do it, he stays here. I’m not playing ‘get crucified in the news’ for you or anyone. I like my job, and I would like to keep it.”

Elizabeth got it.

She really would owe him one.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

She’d better make that completely clear with the man, or he wasn’t helping him.

Heading back in, Elizabeth found that he was cuffed to the table again, and he looked like shit.

“Hey,” she said, and he looked up at her.

His face said it all.

“I can’t believe any of this is happening,” he said, his heart hurting. “My whole career, that I’ve worked so hard on is about to implode.”

That wasn’t happening.

Not on her watch.

“It won’t,” she reassured. “I’m going to see Gabe, and talk to him. You’re okay, but I don’t know how long we can keep this out of the media. They are already circling.”

He was horrified.

Oh, God.

This was the worst-case scenario.

“I didn’t kill anyone. I swear to God, Elizabeth. Really, I didn’t!”

She went for it.

Max was going to have to play ball.

“What if I had a way to get you out of here?” she asked. “It would mean you didn’t have to worry about being in a cage, and we could hold off on the arrest and the paperwork of bailing you out.”

He stared at her.

Had she found a way?

Honestly, he’d do ANYTHING.

There was no doubt that if he went into the general population, he was dead. He’d be shivved or sexually assaulted.

“What do I have to do?” he asked, suspiciously.

She gave him the ONE chance he had.

“The police homicide Captain will remand you into my custody if you have a babysitter.”

He lifted a brow.

“Pardon? I need a babysitter?” he asked. “That screams guilty as sin.”

Oh, she knew he heard her.

“You have to be monitored. In order not to arrest you for now, I need to keep you watched twenty-four-seven. I can’t do it. It needs to be a neutral party, or Jane Winters is going to be up our asses.”

He was horrified.

“Like an ankle bracelet like a common criminal?” he asked, sick to his stomach again.

“Worse.”

He wasn’t sure where this was going.

“You’re going to have to stay with the homicide captain. He’s on vacation and is willing to keep you occupied so I can clear you.”

He didn’t have words.

Dex Corbin?

The cop?

“So I have to stay somewhere I’m not familiar with the HOMICIDE CAPTAIN as my jailer?” he asked. “That’s the same as saying I am guilty!”

She needed to buy herself time to clear him.

Elizabeth was to the point.

“We think this could be a shot at you because of the job you do and the people you put away. You might be in danger, Max. If that’s the case, I need you tucked away. Dex is willing to do it. It’s that or here.”

Well, holy shit.

What choice did he have?

It was only a matter of time before he was put in general population at a jail, and then…

He was dead.

Now, it was about survival.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do it. If Captain Corbin is willing to help me, I’m grateful,” he said, his tune changing.

The last thing he wanted was to be in jail.

Elizabeth knew that this part was easy.

When she stood up, she went to the door, and Dex came in.

“Captain, he’s agreed to it. You can unlock him,” she said.

And he did.

Max knew this could be far worse. At least he worked with Dex before, and he was a nice guy.

“Thank you.”

He reassured him.

“Hey, it’s no problem. If you legitimately didn’t do this, I don’t want you caught up in it. We’ll swing by your place, get you some things, and then head to mine.”

He nodded.

Dex patted him on the back.

“Don’t worry, Max, we’ll get you out of this,” he said, hoping Elizabeth could. “Just hang in there.”

Max had no choice.

For the first time in his whole life, his fate was in the hands of someone else.

And that scared him to death.

Chapter Six

The Crime Scene

Arriving There

With Her Team

It was officially a race against time for Elizabeth, and she knew it. After leaving the holding area, she texted her people the address she wanted them to meet her at. Oh, and she put a rush on it.

After seeing the scene, she was going to have to take a trip to the White House to give the big man a heads-up. Once this hit the news, and it would, the political shit would hit the fan.

Oh, and he wasn’t going to be happy.

Not.

At.

All.

Gabe was prickly when it came to people under his administration making him look bad, and while Max had been The United States Attorney General for a while, it was still under Gabe’s administration.

This possible arrest was not going to make the man sunshiny, and unfortunately for her, someone had to tell him.

That someone was her.

Oh, he was going to be bitchy.

And surly.

Yay.

Lucky her.

In the back of her mind, she knew she should message Axelle, but she didn’t.

Why?

She just didn’t give a fuck at that point. The woman had earned the cold shoulder, and as far as Elizabeth was concerned, she was going to have to find out later.

MUCH.

LATER.

As Ivan drove her to the scene, Elizabeth was already exhausted from the insanity of this day. Now, on top of what was going on, she couldn’t find her private phone. Where the hell did she leave it?

Then, it hit her.

She left it on the counter the previous evening.

Damn it.

As she was fidgeting in her seat, Ivan knew she needed to calm down.

“You’re twitchy. What’s up?” Ivan asked, trying to get her settled before she headed into the White House. “I know you’re not worried about seeing Gabe after the crime scene. He’s child’s play for you.”

He was right.

“I have a million things on my plate, and it’s only getting worse.”

Well, he had bad news for her.

At first, he didn’t plan on telling her, but he’d just received Jet’s incident report. Dumping this on her had been his biggest concern, but if he didn’t tell her, and she found out later…

His ass was grass.

Elizabeth didn’t like surprises, good or bad.

“I need to tell you something, and I don’t want to add to your stress. Do you want me to tell you or hold onto it until you have a few moments later to digest?”

Immediately, she went there.

“Are my kids hurt or is someone dead?”

Technically, no.

“Nope.”

“Am I going to cry?” she asked. “Because I don’t have time for that shit today.”

“I doubt it.”

Then, she should be able to manage it.

“Then, hit me with it, Toady.”

Well, here went everything.

“Gryphen woke up,” he said, putting that out there.

She grinned.

“Oh, thank freaking God,” she said, relieved. That was one less thing to stress.

That was fantastic news.

Then, it hit her. He wouldn’t have prefaced that with all of this.

“BUT?” she asked.

Yeah, this was the bad part.

“Hold onto your horseys.”

She stared at him as he drove.

“Why don’t I like the sound of that? Is he in bad shape? Did he wake up unable to move or something?”

Oh, that was the irony.

He moved just fine—as he hauled ass after Ian.

“He checked himself out of the hospital against the doctor’s wishes.”

She couldn’t believe that.

“WHAT?” she asked. “You had better be yanking my chain. I’ll personally kick Jet’s ass for letting him do that!”

He wasn’t.

“Now, calm down. It wasn’t Jet’s fault. There are circumstances that you haven’t let me tell you yet.”

Oh, well, she couldn’t wait for what that could possibly be.

“Apparently, and I just got the report from Jet, that he woke up after Ian told him goodbye and that he couldn’t do this without him.”

She stared.

“Are you saying…?”

Ivan nodded.

He’d dealt with a lot of friends taking their lives, and it looked like Ian was going to be on the family watch list.

“Yep.”

That hit her hard. She had a special place in her heart for both Ian and Gryphen. When she left earlier, she knew he was in bad shape, but she assumed, erroneously, that he would be okay unless Gryphen died.

Clearly, that was not the case.

“Oh, shit,” she said. “What happened?”

Ivan shared what he’d learned.

“Ian left the hospital, telling Jet he was going back to The Fort. He let him because we weren’t told to watch him like he was suicidal. He is, by the way. He was about to eat his gun.”

“Oh, holy shit!”

Ivan calmed her down.

The woman looked ready to jump out of the Navigator, and run to the hospital.

“Breathe. I was prepared since Will Jackson upped his game. We tagged his car, and we found him. Gryphen woke up insistent on going after him, and thankfully, Jet got Gryphen to him.”

She sat there.

“Oh, Jesus.”

He patted her leg.

“It’s all good, Medusa, but you need to get Ian some help. It’s not good that he was contemplating suicide. As someone who came home with issues, and like the rest of the staff, I know what PTSD looks and feels like. I’m telling you that all of this has caused Ian to have PTSD. He is carrying a lot.”

She closed her eyes.

“I know. I feel bad I left him this morning.”

He reassured her.

“It’s all good. Gryphen is back at the hospital, Jet is babysitting them both, and Ian is better. Still…”

Oh, she was aware.

“Yeah, now that this has been brought to my attention, I have to get him cleared medically. Axelle will shit herself if I let a suicidal person carry a gun on the job. If that gets out…”

He figured as much.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know when to tell you, but I had to. You would have been hella pissed at me had I not told you immediately.”

He was right.

She squeezed his hand on her leg.

“No, I needed to know. It’s all good. I would have known had I had my personal phone on me. I left it at home when I went to go sit with Gryphen last night.”

He had good news for her.

“Silver lining. You can go home, and now, you don’t have to do that. Jet said Gryphen has just about chained Ian to the hospital bed.”

Well, no shock there.

Now, she could sleep in her bed, and not in a chair.

“Thanks for handling it, and letting me know. I appreciate you doing that for me.”

Anything that he could do to lighten the load, he was going to do it.

He reassured her.

“No problem, Brunhilda. Your chicks are all accounted for and in their roosts. No one is dead.”

Thankfully.

As they approached the location, Elizabeth knew they were close. The road was clogged with lookie-loos and the media.

“Well, that’s going to be the motel,” she said, as they saw the sign in the distance.

How did she know?

On top of the other cars, Callen, Ethan, Gene, and the techs were already there.

Oh, and so was Chris.

“This is a nice place for a random hookup with a side of syphilis,” she said, when she finally got out of her ride to check the place out with her family.

On that, they agreed.

“I can’t wait to hear what this is about,” Gene said. “This kind of STD trap screams clandestine meeting where someone gets their kidneys cut out for the black market.”

Callen shook his head.

“I’m going man collecting hooker parts to build his perfect woman.”

Uh, that was gross.

Ethan went last.

“I’m going to say cannibal. We haven’t had one of those in a while. Someone’s eating livers and storing the carcasses in the bathtub.”

Chris shook his head.

“I’m not going there. I have to autopsy whatever we find. So pass. I’ve seen everything you three just mentioned.”

He wasn’t lying.

Elizabeth would have asked who hurt them, but each and every one of the guesses were plausible in her world.

Unfortunately.

“Thanks for meeting me here. I hate to ruin your fun, but none of those are accurate guesses as to what we’re dealing with,” she admitted.

Honestly, Ethan was curious.

“Then what do we have?” Ethan asked.

First, she handed Chrissy a bag of underwear and a wastepaper can full of vomit.

“I need the britches analyzed for multiple sources of DNA, if there is more than one. Then, I need the vomit handled. There’s this can, and inside the motel, you’ll likely find more.”

No one was shocked about that.

“I suspect roofies. Look for any, and a little birdy, your husband’s report, told me that there is a plentitude of blood inside the motel.”

She pulled on gloves.

“Oh, well, right off the bat, this should be fun,” the woman said. “Not that I’m talking to my husband. We had a fight. Did he look remorseful?” she asked, hopefully.

“No, he was with a new woman, because I killed my tech for asking ridiculous marriage questions on a crime scene.”

That said it all.

Yowza.

Someone was cranky.

“Sorry. Okay, boss.”

She paused.

“No, Chrissy, I’m sorry. He mentioned a fight, and I think he was remorseful. It’s hard to know with men. When mine do something bad, I get a castle. If you get one, there’s your answer.”

Callen laughed.

“Do I have to implement the drinking game? Every time you say castle, we all have to drink?”

She laughed but ignored him. Instead, she focused on Chrissy.

“Again, run them for semen, DNA, and the vomit for roofies—or anything else that could knock a man out for hours.”

This was going to be a spicy one. If their wife was already in a cranky mood, something big put her there.

“On it, Boss,” she said.

Now that she’d handled that, it was time.

“We have a bad one,” she said, “and when I say bad, I mean cataclysmic.”

“Uh-oh,” they all said.

She went there.

“At six thirty this morning, Max Holder, The United States Attorney General woke up in this motel next to a dead woman.”

They all gasped.

“Oh, it gets worse.”

Callen was confused.

“Uh, how the hell does that get worse?” he asked. “That’s a pretty high bar to set off the bat.”

She knew.

“In his trunk, there were two more dead women,” she said, as they all looked over at the Mercedes with the tarp surrounding it.

Yep.

It got worse.

“Holy shit,” Gene said.

Callen agreed.

“You’re right. That’s bad,” Chris admitted. “Is he okay? Because we’ve known Max a long time. He’s not a killer.”

On that, she agreed.

“He’s been remanded into my custody, and Dex Corbin is babysitting him. That’s the best I could do. I can’t take time to watch him since we’re short on staff.”

They were all aware.

Everyone was out working with the exception of Noah and Lawless. They were hanging around to help Ian if need be. Then, Duke had been let go from their division, and quit.

Elizabeth continued.

“So, our job is to figure out who the victims are, and clear Max. We need to find a killer, but more importantly, we need to keep Max from swinging.”

Ethan went there.

“Do you think this is because of his job?”

She laughed sardonically.

Honestly, it was anyone’s guess.

“Here’s what is going through my head right now,” she said. “Ian tried to kill himself, Gabe is going to lose his shit when I tell him about this, and I find it damn coincidental that Max is helping me fight for Ian’s life. Did I mention that Jane Winters hates his guts?”

They all paused.

“Wait, back up. Ian did what?” Ethan asked.

As security stood there, keeping the media back, she told them what Ivan had told her. The whole time, they looked just as horrified and worried as her.

Good to see they were all on the same page.

“Holy shit.” Callen said.

“So now, he’s gotta be evaluated, EJ. So look out for that one. I can’t let it slide since I’m the Deputy Director. I have to tell Axelle at some point.”

He knew she had no choice.

“I can talk to him, if Callie can’t, but it would be better for her. I’ve got ties to him, and that will look sketchy in the report.”

Good point.

“Let’s see if we can get Callie to help at some point. Now, later, whenever.”

Ethan would handle that.

“Do you really think Jane Winters would do this to Max?” Gene asked.

She was honest.

“I don’t know. Is it a coincidence that the ONLY person protecting Ian is now accused of murder? Maybe I’m paranoid, but…”

They got it.

They couldn’t eliminate anything.

“If she’s not, and she gets wind of this…he’s screwed.”

That was the facts.

Cold.

Hard.

Ones.

Only, now, they needed to get this done, so she could go warn Gabe.

“Let’s hope we can keep this minimized. Until then, come on.”

She began walking toward the motel where the CSIs for the city and the ME were waiting for them.

“We have the scene. Thank you,” she said, setting them free.

“Good luck,” the ME said. “This is a mess. We did analyze the blood inside all over the place.”

“And?”

He flipped through his phone to the report to show her.

“It’s not human. We did a rapid test, and it’s animal. What kind? No idea. Someone wanted us to think it was a blood bath in there.”

Goodie.

This should be fun,

When her cell chimed in Ethan’s pocket, he pulled her personal phone out and handed it to her.

“I saw it on the counter after you left last night, and I thought you’d need it.”

She kissed him on the cheek.

“Bless you,” she said, turning it on mute and shoving it into her pocket. She’d check the messages and email later. Now, she had work to do.

Her other husband was worried about her.

“Are you going to be okay?” Callen asked. “You’ve been burning the candle at both ends.”

They came off of a case.

They had to deal with Gryphen’s shooting.

Oh, and the family drama was full force with Axelle and Duke.

“Yeah, I’ve got it. If I need a break, I’ll tap out for a bit. Ian’s okay, so now we have to make sure Max is. The rest of my plate can wait.”

That worked for them.

Pulling out her work phone, she saw that she’d received the notes from the two detectives, and that was going to be helpful.

“Okay, let’s get this done,” she said, sending the email to the people on her team. Ethan would need it for his profile, and everyone else for the official file.

It was time.

Walking into the motel room, they were hit with the smell. It was distinct, and definitely smelled like blood. The other ME was right about it being everywhere. The cheap carpeting was soaked with it.

Immediately, Chris pulled on his gloves, and got down to work as his techs began spreading out and taking pictures. While the CSIs did most of this, he would make them start at the beginning, so they didn’t miss anything.

As soon as Chris saw the victim, he whistled.

“Well, she was definitely skinned,” he admitted. “Meticulously too.”

Well, that was…gross.

When Elizabeth rounded the bed, she noticed Chris looked tired.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked.

He glanced over.

“Yeah, I’m good. You know how it is. I’m just worried about Gryphen and such. I haven’t slept well without you. You’d think I’d have more bed space with Ethan bunking with Gene, but Callen hogs it all.”

The big Native grinned.

“You don’t say?”

Chris laughed.

“Oh, I do,” he admitted, hoping they bought that for now.

In that moment, Chris got lucky when Elizabeth said nothing else.

As Chris was doing his thing, the team began wandering the room.

As Callen walked around the bed, he found the room key.

“Anyone see car keys?” he asked, looking around.

Elizabeth shook her head.

When she pulled out the email from Kane, she read over it. Yeah, no one found them.

It looked like they were MIA.

She glanced over at Gene.

“Can you go check the car?” she asked. “See if he left them out there?”

“Can do,” he offered, and then headed out.

They kept walking, and the room looked unused other than the blood and bed. The water glasses were still wrapped, and the bathroom towels were threadbare, but pristine…beige-ish.

That meant one thing.

“She wasn’t skinned here,” Elizabeth admitted. “There’s blood on the floor, but wouldn’t there be more mess?” she asked. “I’ve never personally skinned a human, so I’m not sure, but…”

Chris agreed with her statement.

“It would be a mess. She was alive at the time she was skinned,” he admitted. “There would have been screaming, more blood splatter, and a hell of a lot more mess. Who sits still for that? She was likely drugged.”

Yeah, she thought so.

God knew if she was being skinned, she’d be fighting like a wild animal.

That made her think about Max.

“Could Max hold down a screaming woman?” she asked. “He doesn’t work out, and he’s about my size.”

Ethan thought about it.

“Without drugs, I don’t think strength-wise, he could pull it off.”

That’s what she thought.

Elizabeth wasn’t sure she could hold down a fighting woman and do it pristinely, as Chris described it. Then, add in a knife and trying to skin her.

When Gene came back in, he was shaking his head and looked disgusted.

“What?” she asked.

“Uh, no keys in the car, and for the record, don’t look in the trunk if you have a weak stomach or if you ate anything today.”

She lifted a brow.

“That bad?”

He pointed at the skinned woman.

“She had friends who had the same treatment. They are stuffed in there. It’s not a smell you want to remember. They’ve been in the metal box allllllll morning.”

She got it.

Cooked flesh was gross.

“Thanks for the heads-up, and this means that the killer has the keys because Max didn’t have them when he was brought in.”

This was making it look more like a body dump and less and less like Max did it. Where would his keys be if he did it?

On his person.

“Chrissy!” she called.

The woman stuck her head in the doorway.

“Yes, Boss?”

“I need that car gone over with a fine-tooth comb. I’m talking so well that the inventor of forensics calls me up and tells me he’s proud.”

Chris chimed in.

“That would be Edmund Locard in Paris in nineteen ten. We didn’t get our first lab until nineteen twenty-three,” he offered, rattling off information.

They all looked at him.

“What? I’m a Forensic Medical Examiner. It’s my job to know things like that.”

Chrissy went there.

“I’ll wait until Doc gets the bodies out, and we’ll have it transported in for me to take apart.”

That worked for her.

Speaking of Chris…

“So, Doc, what’s her COD.”

He didn’t even look up from the body when she asked him that.

“I have no clue yet, but her TOD was sometime at least a day ago. She was kept somewhere cool because the decay is off.”

Well, that was surprising.

And helpful for Max.

No keys, and they just had to check his place to make sure he didn’t have a lot of skin laying around somewhere.

Chris kept talking.

“Her muscle tissue is breaking down, but not at the right rate of decomposition. That tells me that she didn’t die last night. This was definitely staged.”

That was wild.

Why wouldn’t the killer use the woman’s blood?

“Is she still tapped up at full?” she asked.

He nodded, knowing what she meant.

“Yeah, she still has all of her blood,” Chris admitted, touching her wrist.

His gloved fingers stuck to the muscle that had been exposed.

This was weird.

Someone was out of their goddamn minds.

“Max doesn’t like the ladies,” Elizabeth said, in case the men weren’t aware of that. “He’s batting for the same team.”

Ethan shrugged.

“I suspected as much. I’ve known him a long time, and I’ve had FBI meetings with him. He tries too hard not to look at the same sex.”

Callen agreed.

“He gives off the vibe.”

The closer you were to a person, the more you knew about them, and Max was her friend, so of course the men in her life would want to make sure any man near her was ‘safe’.

“Whoever set this up,” Callen said, “doesn’t know basic forensics. They thought we’d be fooled by animal blood, and they didn’t use hers.”

“Unless the person was squeamish,” Ethan said.

Elizabeth stared at him.

Gene too.

“They are skinned, Ethan. How UNSQUEAMISH do you have to be to skin a person?”

He laughed.

“Just tossing out ideas. Some people can’t handle blood. Maybe they like completely peeled people. Who am I to judge?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

And continued.

“Okay, so we have three dead women, one found in bed with a gay man, and the other two stuffed in the trunk of a luxury vehicle.”

Gene shrugged.

“I mean, there are worse places to get dumped.”

It wasn’t like he was wrong.

Ethan pointed out one thing.

“It’s clear that the killer didn’t know Max is gay,” he admitted. “Or this might have been men if it was a frame-job.”

That was a good point.

“So he or she isn’t close to him, because I knew he was gay, and Gabe knows too.”

Callen knew why.

“It’s probably because of his job.”

She agreed.

It was looking more and more like that.

“He was very careful to make sure no one was aware,” she admitted. “I knew, only because I’ve spent lots of time with him, and he slipped up once when we were having a dinner meeting.”

That made sense.

“Which makes this weirder since he is, and that means like Ethan said, whoever did this either didn’t know, or just didn’t give two shits. That’s what we have to figure out. We can’t eliminate the fact that the women might have been tied to his life outside of sex. We need ID.”

She had a point.

It was too early to eliminate any possibilities.

When Chris packed up his probe, he got up to go deal with the bodies outside.

“I’ll see if they both have the same TOD as this woman.”

“Sure,” she said, watching him walk away. When he was gone, she lowered her voice.

“Uh, does he seem subdued today? He gave me TOD without a fight, and he looks…tired. Something is off.”

Callen was honest.

“Maybe he really is tired. He left the house early for work. He was gone before I even was out of bed. I think he had lab things to handle.”

Still…

She was concerned.

Elizabeth had been around Chris for a VERY long time. The only times she’d ever seen him non-spicy on a crime scene was when he was sick, coming down with an illness, or right after he’d found out he had HIV.

They had a routine.

She busted balls, he gave her a difficult time, and they did a well-perfected dance all while standing over a dead body.

Yeah, she wasn’t feeling this.

Something was up.

She’d bet her belt buckle on it.

“Callen, I need you on him today. See if you can figure out if he’s okay or not. When we hit the road, I need you to research for me.”

Callen lifted a brow.

Oh, and he wasn’t happy.

That.

Was.

Clear.

“You’re leaving me in-house?” he asked, not liking that option.

Elizabeth sighed.

It was like having children.

Because she ran with two investigators on her team, and she tended to take the hardest cases The Violent Crimes Unit handled, they had to trade off.

That was only fair.

While Callen had been her partner longer, Gene had more time in the FBI—granted years ago, but he did. To her, they had equal footing.

“Did you two not do rock, paper, scissors the other day to see who was research monkey for next case?” she asked, clearly remembering it in their kitchen.

They’d been arguing about who was the better partner, and both were disappointed when she said Ethan.

Her husband had not been as upset.

Clearly.

At her words, Gene grinned.

“Oh, look at that! We did. Callen lost. He’s in research Hell, and I get to flirt with the pretty lady all day. Oh, and the sexy man.”

Callen low key flipped him off.

He wanted to be out in the field. That was his favorite place, so he could flirt with the pretty lady too.

“I liked it better when you were a probational agent for that week. I object that you took him off of that, Elizabeth.”

He snorted.

“I bet.”

Because they had work to do, Elizabeth didn’t mince words.

“He’s in charge of training new agents. When I have time to actually hire someone, he’s going to be busy doing that, and then, you’ll still be researching but out in the field at the same time.”

Callen still wasn’t happy.

Well, she couldn’t change that. Before she put Gene on her team, they all discussed this. Someone had to be in the office doing research.

Callen was missing the point.

“Just watch Chris for me, please?” she asked. “If I ask him again if he’s okay, he’s going to get angsty. I need COD before tomorrow, so…”

Callen got it.

Elizabeth was done listening to anyone bellyache about anything.

She continued.

“Anyway, here’s the details that I know—straight from the horse’s mouth. Max went through a matchmaker to the powerful here in DC. When I get his list of dates, you’re going to have to research them.”

So began the researching hell, and he knew it. Elizabeth tended to accumulate a lot of suspects. Callen knew he was going to be buried.

Call it a hunch.

“Oh,” Callen said. “You’re exaggerating when it comes ‘lots of dates’, right?” he asked.

She was honest.

“He wasn’t looking for love. Let’s just say that.”

Well, shit.

This was going to be a long list. Max was an attractive man, and likely had a lot of dates.

Gene knew what the man was doing with his ‘dates’. He’d done something similar, but in bars because as a cop, he’d not had the same kind of money as Max.

“He was getting high priced booty calls. Well, that makes this look like the possibility that someone he’d done dirty didn’t appreciate it. Callen’s gonna have a lot of research,” he admitted, grinning.

Callen flipped him off again.

The whole time, Elizabeth ignored their antics.

“And we also have to take a deep dive into his co-workers.”

Ethan was curious.

“Them too?”

She nodded and explained something that stuck in her mind to that day.

“Remember the case over Christmas where I had to interview his staff?”

They did.

No one was ever forgetting that case.

“There was one attorney who blatantly said she wanted his job. I don’t know about you guys, but if I wanted to get rid of my long-standing competition, I’d find something to make him look bad.”

No one believed that since Elizabeth wasn’t that kind of person. She earned her position in the FBI by blood, sweat, and tears.

Because of what she said, Ethan lifted a brow.

“Is this the one that was hitting on my wife?” he asked, distinctively recalling that.

She snorted.

“That’s your takeaway on this one? Not the fact that his co-workers could be trying to take him out?”

Oh, hell, yeah, it was.

Ethan didn’t care if a person had a dick or vagina. He wasn’t letting anyone try to give his wife their phone number.

Pass.

“Anyway, she told me right to my face she wanted to be in that desk, and what’s one way to eliminate Max?” she asked.

“By dumping women, who she likes, in a bed with him,” Callen admitted.

BINGO.

Someone got it, and got it fast.

“Give tall, tan, and sexy a prize. So not only do we have to visit the matchmaker, and the date, but we also have to swing by Max’s office. By now, they’ve heard he’s indisposed, or in the clink. I’m sure they’re celebrating. Max runs a tight ship, and doesn’t play.”

Oh, they were all aware, and one thing was crystal clear to the team.

They were about to have a long day.

Clearly.

Ethan hated to be the bearer of bad news, but at some point, he had to go into the office. First, to talk to Callie about an Ian intervention, and then, to do some profiles.

“I can’t spend all day in the field,” he warned his wife. “If you want Callie to talk to Ian, I have to go in and cover for her.”

She understood.

Ethan was in his own division, and she just borrowed him when she needed a profile.

“That’s good, Ethan. Just keep checking my notes so you can stay caught up. I’ll update as I go. I’m going to need a profile as to why this is going down, and who it could be. This one gives me weird-ass vibes that I don’t like.”

He understood.

They all preferred a straightforward case where the reason behind the murder was easy to figure out.

Only, those weren’t the cases they tended to get.

Unfortunately.

When Chrissy stuck her head into the room again, she alerted them.

“The other boss wants you guys,” she said. “He’s got your TOD for the trunk bodies.”

That worked for them.

It appeared that Chris was moving quickly.

Heading out, the media was across the parking lot, shouting to her, and as usual, she did the one thing she did best.

Ignore.

The.

Vultures.

When they reached Chris, he was leaning over the trunk, and doing math.

“Oh, Jesus,” she said, covering her nose as soon as the smell hit her. Gene was right about the baked not-so-goodness smell. “How you don’t even flinch…?”

He shrugged.

“It grows on you.”

That was said so emotionlessly that it had her worried. This wasn’t her husband. Normally, he joked around, and had some sort of lighthearted banter.

This was off.

Yeah, she was concerned about Chris. He was not on his game, and she could tell just by how he was discussing things.

This was a little too sedate.

Elizabeth pushed on, watching him.

“What killed them, Doc?” she asked, trying to rile him up.

NADA.

He didn’t get spicy, or irritated.

That was off too.

“I’ll have to let you know. Their TODs are before the other victim. I’d say a day and two days prior. That should help you with missing person reports.”

It would.

But now, she wasn’t only thinking dead bodies. She was thinking off husband.

Glancing over at Callen, she gave him the assignment, since he was going to be babysitting Chris.

“Can you handle that too?” she asked, jerking her head at Chris. And him. He’s not right today. Find out what’s got him off balance, she mouthed when he couldn’t see her.

“Sure can,” he said, a little worried about Chris too. It looked like he was going to be doing more than just researching dead people and dates.

He was going to be spying on his husband.

For.

His.

Wife.

Everyone was entitled to a day when they weren’t on their game, but it was rare for him.

Incredibly rare.

“Thanks, CJ.”

When Chris whistled, their techs headed his way.

“I need help getting them out. Can you guys lift for me, please?” he asked, as he was opening up the body bags for transport.

Fortunately, they were behind screens, so the media wasn’t getting any pictures.

The process didn’t take much time, but it was hella messy. When the women were shoved into the back, one of them was cut, and she’d bled out in the back of the luxury vehicle.

On top of that, while it wasn’t hot out, the sun was beating down on a metal box with flesh in it.

Oh, yeah…

The BBQ no one wants an invite to had begun.

Elizabeth stepped back when some ‘juice’ splashed, nearly hitting her boots.

When the victims were out, the back of the trunk was one hell of a biohazard.

“Is that theirs?” she asked, peeking inside. “Or is that part of a set up?”

Chris wouldn’t be sure until they ran that too.

From beside them, Chrissy was there with her kits and camera.

“I’m going to say it’s a mix of both.

“Some of it is just showing coagulation,”  Chrissy said, running her gloved hand through it to show them the clotting. “The rest is chunky.”

There was only one proper response to that.

“As always, that is so gross,” Gene admitted, taking a huge step backward away from the mess. If the smell wasn’t bad enough, the visual was the icing on that shit cupcake.

No one argued there.

Elizabeth looked at her watch.

“How much longer are you going to be on scene?” she asked Chris.

He didn’t mince words.

Again, another sign something was up.

“I should be here at least forty more minutes. Why do you ask?”

She explained.

“Callen is on research, and I want him to ride in with you. He needs to talk to the motel manager while I head out to start my interviews.”

He was good with that.

“Sure. No problem. I can wait for CJ to finish up what he has to do.”

She went there.

“He’ll keep you company,” she said, testing to see if he reacted.

And he did, just not how she expected.

He didn’t get spicy.

Not.

At.

All.

“Well, I love whenever any of the people in my life keep me company.”

When he said that, she definitely knew they not only had a case, but a mystery.

The mystery of the odd behaving husband.

Once it was out of his mouth, they all looked at each other.

Chris wasn’t complaining about being forced to have a babysitter?

Well, now, she was alarmed.

This was worse than concerned.

When he and his wife made eye contact, Callen shrugged, and they message passed between them.

Someone was pulling double duty.

“Update me, Callen James,” she said, whistling to get her security’s attention.

When they approached, there was fewer of them since they came in together.

“Saint, you’re on Callen and Chris. Can you handle them?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Where will they be?” Ivan asked, wanting to make sure they had full coverage. Will Jackson was dead, but that meant jack shit to him.

“We’re heading to the morgue,” Callen offered.

That was an easy assignment.

It was indoors and they would likely be in the same room. Ivan knew Saint could handle that alone. Who was attacking the family at work in a locked down building with armed people?

NO.

ONE.

“Saint has this one.”

Since that was handled, she pointed at Raphael, who was standing by his husband.

“I need you to get Ethan back to the office. He’s got work to do for other cases, and Callie.”

He was fine with that.

That would allow Saint and Raphael some time together too.

“And you?” her husband asked.

Ethan knew she was difficult to pin down when it came to security.

Basically, she dodged them.

“Before you think I’m going to be out alone, I’m not. I’m taking Gene, Demeter, Michael, and Ivan with me. I want extra coverage, simply because I’ve got the media all over me. If we have to screw with them to lose them, I am going to need someone to help me.”

The husbands were glad she was willing to take that extra security. The world was filled with nuts, and a lot of them were hyper focused on their wife.

“Good play, wife,” Ethan said, giving her a kiss on the lips.

Well, she aimed to please.

Not really.

Only, she didn’t have time to fight the men in her life, trying to prove that she could hold her own.

“Okay, everyone. I’ll see you guys in the morgue when Chris has the autopsies done. You all know the routine. Let me know if anything pops up.”

As soon as she said it, Chris looked even more tired at the prospect of having three bodies to do by the time she headed back in that afternoon.

That was murder in itself.

Elizabeth didn’t miss the look on his face. As they were walking away, she was curious.

“Who is on duty?” she asked, meaning MEs.

“In the morgue?” Ethan asked.

She nodded.

He thought about it. Chris had mentioned it yesterday, that he had cover if he was busy with inventory and the other teams.

“Doctor Legend is his backup this week. Dalia is off duty until Friday.”

That was good to know.

She was about to do something that annoyed Chris to no end.

Oh, big-time.

She lowered her voice.

“On your way back in, can you call her in for me? Ask her as a personal favor. There is no way Chris can handle three autopsies today. Or two. He looks like he needs a nap.”

Ethan got it.

“Can do, but he’s going to be as prickly as a cactus when she shows up. You might owe her more than just one favor for this one. When you head in, prepare for the irritation and the big pay out.”

That made her laugh.

When wasn’t a husband irritated with her? They really only had three moods.

Irritated.

Horny.

And hungry.

Only, her gut was telling her something was off with her one man.

And she always listened to her gut.

Now, it was time to figure this out too.

Man.

Her plate was getting fuller by the minute.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Same Scene

Five Minutes Later

Callen knew his wife wasn’t playing when it came to the ME situation. She was particularly protective of Chris since he tended to get sick more often than the rest of them.

It was all about his compromised immune system, and her need to cater to him.

If she wanted him to do an interview, and watch over Chris, then he wasn’t tangling with her.

The bottom line was their family worked so well because they could all step up when it was needed, and clearly, it was needed.

They were all under so much stress lately, and he wanted to help alleviate it.

In fact, he’d been so worried about leaving home, he’d canceled a trip to California because of it.

Now, as he headed into the manager’s office, he found the man waiting inside behind the counter.

It was time to earn that paycheck. Besides, he was hella intrigued by the skinned people.

This could be a book.

He made the introductions to get this started.

“I’m Director Callen Whitefox of the FBI,” he said, flashing his badge. “I hear that you were the one who had to deal with this mess this morning?”

The man nodded.

“I sure did.”

Well, that was short, sweet, and right to the point, now wasn’t it?

Callen pulled out his notebook, and began getting ready to do the interview.

“Tell me what happened, but first, how about your full name, George?” he asked, reading his name tag.

The man cooperated.

“It’s George Butler. I’m the manager here on site. I was in my robe, and I suddenly heard shouting. I opened the door, and some man was in in his underwear screaming.”

Callen looked up.

“Some man? You’ve never seen him before?” he asked, trying to figure out if Max was a frequent flyer in this dump.

He shrugged.

“No, I saw him last night when I rented him the room. It was about eleven, and he was drunk as a skunk. He could barely stand up. I don’t know how he drove here.”

Interesting.

Callen was making notes.

“What did he say as he was checking in?”

“Not much. He told me, ‘I can’t make it home and I need a bed fast’. Then, he handed me his ID and some cash. I took that as he was about ready to pass out, and I didn’t want to deal with that, so I gave him the keys.”

“Then what happened?” Callen asked.

The man was to the point.

“He stumbled out.”

Well, that painted the picture of the man being either rocked by booze, or something else. Since he had a copy of the police detective’s notes, Max had told them he only recalled two drinks.

That screamed drugs.

“Did he come in with anyone or was he alone?” Callen asked.

He shrugged.

“Honestly, I didn’t look. I saw the Mercedes pull in, but that was it. I went to bed right after I checked him in.”

Callen kept talking.

“Then, what happened?”

The man contemplated it.

“Not much. It’s mid-week, so we are pretty slow until Friday night. I woke up in the middle of the night to take a leak, around one, and that was it. The next thing I knew, I was up with the shouting.”

Callen needed more.

“I saw cameras outside. Is there any way I can get the footage?”

He had bad news for the man.

“They are dummy cameras. They don’t record anything. They are just to scare away criminals or the hookers from picking this motel. I run a clean business.”

Well, when a body shows up, that’s anything but clean in his book. As for seeing the killer…

Clearly, that wasn’t happening.

“I’m going to need a list of people who checked in the last week. Did anything seem odd to you during that time?” he asked, knowing the killer would have scoped the place out.

“Not really. It’s been the same old. It’s usually quiet here.”

Great.

That didn’t help Callen out.

Because he was out of questions, the man went and printed out the customer’s names.

Then, handed it to him.

There were about fifty names, and he was going to be hella busy trying to connect them to Max.

As he was tucking the list away, George was curious.

“Did he really kill those people?” he asked.

Callen kept it short and sweet.

“He did until we can prove otherwise. Once we can eliminate him, we’ll have an answer,” he stated.

The man seemed to accept that.

Callen needed to know.

“And you’re sure that you didn’t see anyone lurking around?” he asked, really needing something.

The man shook his head.

“It’s usually calm here. This is the first time we’ve had an incident like this. I hope it’s the last.”

Callen knew that motels in DC held a lot of secrets.

Powerful men with hookers.

Powerful men with other men.

Who knew what went on here? Clearly, not George Butler.

That was for damn sure.

“I’m going to need all your paperwork on the incident last night where he checked in.”

The man looked confused.

“You do?”

“Yes, the originals.”

Oh, his wife would want to make sure this stayed on the DL, and that the man couldn’t sell it to the media.

“Don’t stress it. You’ll get it back after.”

The man handed over his book, and the photocopies of the man’s driver’s license.

They were nipping this in the bud.

Here.

And.

Now.

When Callen had what he’d come in for, he headed out.

Chris was just packing up, and when he took a seat on his one kit, letting the techs do most of the heavy lifting…

Callen knew.

Something was up.

Elizabeth was absolutely right.

But what?

Chapter Seven

En Route

To Max’s Home

Wednesday Noon

During the escape from the precinct, The United States Attorney General was absolutely silent. It wasn’t like the homicide captain could blame him. It had been one hell of a day to have to live through.

When Dex finally got him free from holding, and was walking him out the door to his truck, he expected the man to say something, but that was anything but the case.

Nothing was said.

Not a peep.

It appeared he was still processing the gravity of the situation.

Well, Dex couldn’t blame him. This was one hell of a predicament to find yourself in. Dex would be freaking out if he were him, except Elizabeth Blackhawk was handling it.

If anything he’d seen while being here in DC, it was that the woman could save a person’s ass and close a case.

Max was damn lucky.

As for getting the man to his home, that he knew would be torn apart by techs at some point since Elizabeth was thorough, that was step one in his babysitting gig.

Thankfully, they knew his address and they owed all that to the driver’s license that they’d brought in with his wallet.

If not, Dex wasn’t one hundred percent sure Max would have told them.

Maybe he was in shock.

Well, now, so was Dex.

Why?

As they approached the neighborhood the man called home, Dex knew that this was not your average area in DC. There was only one kind of person who owned property in this location.

Someone was rich.

Like RICH-RICH.

Like generational wealth—rich.

Not only that, but he had to be making a killing as an attorney.

The giant stone house was monstrous, and in front of it was a gate. When Dex pulled up, he glanced over to get the man’s help.

“I need the code to get in.”

Max rattled it off.

“Twenty-one, five-seven,” he said without even looking over.

As the gate rolled open, Dex drove through, and up the drive. When he parked, he was honest when Max went to open the door.

“I have to follow you around in your home. I’m sorry,” he said.

Max said nothing.

What could he say back?

Today was a shit show, and he wanted off this ride here and now.

Maybe he was asleep, and this was all a dream.

Instead of arguing with the man that he wasn’t arrested, because then, he’d likely do just that, he got out of the car, and headed up the stairs.

At the door, he checked his pockets for his keys, like he would in a normal situation, only to remember this wasn’t that.

“I don’t have my keys. I must have left them…,” he began before realizing what he was going to say.

He stopped talking.

Because they had to get in, and breaking a window in this neighborhood was probably a really bad choice, Dex moved closer.

“Do you have a key hidden anywhere in case you get locked out?” he asked.

He didn’t, but he remembered something.

“No, but I can go in through the back door. It’s a keyless entry,” he admitted.

That worked for him.

They walked around the back, and in the rear of the house, Dex saw that someone liked the finer things in life. This backyard was an oasis.

If this was his, he’d never want to go away.

There was an outdoor sitting area with a hot tub, TV, and outdoor kitchen.

“It’s nice back here,” he offered.

He shrugged.

“I never have time to really use it. I’m busy most of the time.”

Jesus.

That was hella sad. His boss would have to drag him to work kicking and screaming if he had this set up.

Dex would park his ass in that hot tub and become a prune on a daily basis.

Because he was in no mood to talk, Max headed toward the door, and punched in the code.

Dex noticed that it was the same as the gate. Someone liked consistency when it came to his security. That was for damn sure.

The lock clicked open, allowing them access.

As they walked inside, the house was…perfect. There was no other word for it.

Nothing was out of place, and it looked like the man lived like a neat freak. It was all dark leather and gold. It was masculine and ice cold.

That told Dex all he needed to know about this man.

Someone lived his life as a cold fish. There was no shock there, since Dex hadn’t seen an iota of the man’s personality.

Oh, he was nice to look at, and clearly smart, but he gave off no welcoming vibes. He was in one club, and Dex was not invited.

There was no shock there.

Politicians and people who worked with the powerful people in DC tended to be like that.

The haves.

And the have-nots.

That was what he’d learned from moving here from Big Sky. He’d figured out quickly that the rich in DC were uptight, snobbish, and that they only looked out for themselves.

Then again, the Blackhawks weren’t like that, but they were the aberration—not the rule.

“You should grab some things,” Dex offered.

Max was aware.

“I need some clean clothes,” he said, looking down at the police sweats they had given him when they took all of his things into evidence.

Just.

In.

Case.

“Okay,” the other man offered.

Instead of saying anything else, Dex followed him up the stairs, and to the master suite. When he got there, he saw that it was massive, and the bed…

Holy.

Shit.

It was impressive.

Dex took back his opinion of the hot tub. He’d be staying in bed all day.

It looked like a cloud and comfy too.

In the big walk-in closet, he found about one hundred suits—or more. They came in every color, but the majority were dark blue and black. On the other side were the shirts, in color order, but the majority were in shades of blue or white.

Someone had a style he preferred.

“This is some closet,” he said, standing in the doorway.

The man turned.

“Why do you say that?” Max asked.

“You have more suits than the place that sells suits,” he admitted.

He shrugged.

“I have to wear suits to work,” he said, tension in his voice over the whole conversation.

Dex backed off.

“I wasn’t criticizing it. It’s a nice closet. It was more of an observation, Counselor.”

Max was vastly uncomfortable with having been remanded to a stranger. Yes, they’d worked together a few times, but that had been work.

What would this man know about what he was going through?

On top of that, he was watching him with his blue eyes, and it made him feel…exposed.

“I’d like to change. Do you want these travesties back?” he asked, pointing at the gray sweats. He was commando in them, and he hoped the last person hadn’t been too.

That was just…weird.

“No, you can do whatever you want with them.”

Max stood there.

“Again, I’d like to change.”

Dex reminded him of one thing.

“I’m your shadow. You have to get changed with me in the room. What if you have a weapon in here?” he asked.

Max sighed.

“And here I am a common criminal going to hurt the cop with what? My shoehorn?”

“That you have one of those things is weirder for me than that you needed an escort.”

Max stared at him.

Dex just stared back.

This was a standoff of sorts.

“Can you at least turn around? I’m naked under my clothes, and would like to have an iota of dignity today.”

Max shrugged and turned. He faced the doorway, and he could hear the man moving around. He could also see Max from the mirror across the room that reflected into the closet.

Was he watching?

Absolutely.

Was it all kinds of wrong?

Well, let’s just say those gray sweatpants left nothing to the imagination, and as a gay man…

Sue him.

Changing, Max pulled off the offensive sweatshirt and dropped it into the hamper. He’d burn it later. Then, before he tugged off his sweats, he looked over at Dex.

“Is this really necessary?” he asked.

“Yep. Just do it and get it done, Counselor, and then, we can get the hell out of here.”

“I have no reason to hurry.”

“We believe someone is framing you for murder of three people, and they skinned them. That screams serial killer, Max. You should be afraid. You could be a target.”

Well, shit.

Since he put that in those terms.

He pulled down his pants, tugged them off, and dug in his dresser inside the closet.

When he turned his back to Dex, Max glanced over his shoulders at the man.

He was sleek, had a nice firm ass, and those sexy hip flexor muscles.

Now, Dex knew what was under the man’s clothing, and that made him grin. Someone was incredibly sexy, and the sweats hadn’t done him justice.

For some reason, finding out he was gay turned something on in Dex.

Something needy.

When Max went to turn around, Dex turned his head before being caught. He’d always thought Max Holder was hot, but now, he saw him naked.

He had confirmation.

As he kept his back to him, Max finished getting dressed, and then began packing his things.

What he wanted was a shower, and there was no way he was taking one here, so the cop had to join him.

Then again… would that be so bad?

Jesus!

What was he thinking? Now, Max was horrified by that thought.

Instead of thinking about anything else, he filled a bag, and then, he grabbed his toiletries from the bathroom.

The whole time, the man was right behind him.

Dex said nothing about the bathroom.

Why?

It was as big as a small country.

This man was going to be vastly disappointed in his home when he saw it. The safe house was nowhere near this luxurious.

Not.

Even.

Close.

It was an old Victorian that he’d saved from falling apart from neglect, and he was putting back together in his spare time.

It only seemed right. His father had been a carpenter, and he’d learned it from him.

“I’m ready,” Max said.

His voice was icy, and Dex was hoping that he hadn’t made a big mistake with this one. He’d done it to be nice, but Max was definitely not feeling anything but angry.

At the messenger.

“Okay, Mr. Holder,” he said, letting him lead the way.

Downstairs, in an office, the man grabbed his laptop and briefcase so he could work from wherever he was being taken.

Then, without another word, he followed Dex out the front door.

When he sat in the truck, he was silent once again.

Being cautious, Dex made sure it was locked up, and safe. The last thing they needed was it being broken into.

He made a mental note to tell Elizabeth that the house didn’t have any blood or look like someone had been there, even if he was sure she would be sending someone there to poke around—if not herself.

He couldn’t blame her.

When he got behind the wheel, Max finally broke the tense silence.

“Are you satisfied that I didn’t kill someone inside?” he asked.

Oh, it was clear that the man was intelligent, and knew exactly why the homicide captain had been with him inside.

“Yep. You’re not skinning women alive in your home,” he said.

Max cringed.

He didn’t even bring men to his place, let alone women.

“Good.”

Yowza.

Dex knew it was going to be a long week with Max if he was going to be non-stop angry. Someone was about as cordial as a cactus, and he was blaming the messenger—or was that the babysitter?

Well, he volunteered to do this, so that was on him.

As he drove away, leaving the wealthy suburb behind where Max laid his head, he drove toward his home so he could start his vacation.

Weeeeeeee.

This was going to be exciting.

Not.

First though, he stopped and got a coffee for each of them.

Somone needed one, and he grabbed a bagel for the man next to him. For some reason, he gave a shit, and Max had to be hungry after all that puking.

Why did he care?

He had no fucking clue.

Since he’d worked with him on a case or two, he knew how he took it, and there was this need to take care of him while he was struggling.

Yeah, he was a masochist.

When he drove around and picked it up, he handed it to him.

“You need this,” he said, handing him the bag with the bagel too.

Max took it, surprised. He didn’t expect him to buy him something to eat.

“Thank you.”

Max was hungry—well, as hungry as a man who was accused of skinning three women, and woke up in bed with one of them could be.

As he drove away, Dex sipped his coffee and left the man alone to eat his bagel.

He watched him from the corner of his eye to make sure he was okay.

He had promised to watch him—not to have titillating banter that clearly wasn’t wanted.

If Max didn’t want to talk, so be it.

On the highway heading away from Georgetown, Dex focused on the drive he did twice a day. It was nice, and the traffic wasn’t too bad.

Why he opted to be this man’s mood punching bag, he had no freaking clue. It probably had everything to do with him being a softie and always rooting for the underdog.

Oh, and that the man was attractive.

He was an idiot.

Clearly.

Dex was still thinking about his body naked in the closet, and trying not to get attached.

When this case was over, this man wouldn’t ever see him again, except when a case made them cross paths.

They had nothing in common.

NOTHING.

When he finished his bagel, he looked over.

“I’m sorry that you’re saddled with this,” Max admitted, after drinking half of his coffee. “I appreciate that you’re doing this for me,” he said, realizing he was being a dick for no reason toward this man.

He wasn’t being callous or cruel.

Dex was just doing Elizabeth a favor, and since she was a mutual friend, he needed to chill out.

Dex was honest.

“I couldn’t see you go into the general population. Let’s face it. You’re fucked in the cage,” he admitted. “They’d shank you in your cell before the sun went down.”

He was aware.

“Well, I appreciate it.”

Dex shrugged.

“It’s nothing. Don’t stress it, Counselor. I’m sure if the situation was reversed, you’d help me out.”

Would he?

Max wasn’t so sure.

Truthfully, he didn’t make connections easily, since no one understood how much he loved his job, and that it would always come first.

Being a friend was…unnecessary.

For him anyway.

Dex didn’t say anything. Instead, he took in the scenery as they drove out of town.

Where they were going was more in Virginia and less in DC, but the surrounding area was pretty.

There were a lot of trees, and spring was in the air. Dex hoped the man enjoyed the trip.

As if reading his mind, he spoke again, trying to have small talk.

“It’s nice out here,” he said, out of the blue. “The sky looks so blue.”

Dex agreed.

“That’s why I bought my house out here. I wanted a fixer upper. I like working with my hands in my downtime. If you’re expecting my house to look like yours, I hate to disappoint you, Counselor. I’m a lowly cop. You’re The United States Attorney General. We don’t get paid the same.”

He glanced over.

That was an odd thing to say.

Max tended not to judge people. His job was solely based in facts. That’s what he did. Find the facts, present them in a way that was beneficial in the case, and call it a day.

Judging was the job of a judge.

“You’ll be safe there though,” Dex admitted.

Max went there.

“Well, you’re not accused of being a murderer, so who has the advantage of the better life?” he asked.

Dex glanced over, and he looked into the man’s eyes. In them, he saw the pain and misery. In that moment, he wanted to protect him.

Damn but he was attractive and that was going to bite him in the ass.

“Good point.”

Dex wanted to offer him comfort and protection, but he knew that wouldn’t be welcome.

Why?

This was one rodeo he absolutely was not going to, and honestly, he didn’t think he had to worry.

Dex was NOT Max’s type.

He’d discussed the man he was meeting at the restaurant and Dex was far from that.

He wasn’t a successful hedge fund manager running his own business and raking it in. He wasn’t a suit-wearing pretty boy who bent the lines between masculinity and stylishness.

That was the furthest from the truth.

He was a hyper-masculine captain of a homicide division who liked boots, jeans, and bikes. He barely cleared six figures, and the last five were zero, following a one.

There was no way the man would even think about looking twice at him. Dex knew he was a little too rough around the edges, like someone who rode off the range in Montana.

He had to forget the man was attractive, and just try to help him through this until Elizabeth solved the case.

As he pulled down a driveway, they were almost to his house. It was set back from the road, and gave some seclusion by way of old pines.

“Is this it?” Max asked.

Well, that didn’t sound good.

“Yeah, this is it.”

Max caught the tone.

“I didn’t mean that in a derogatory way. I just don’t see a house. That’s all,” he said, trying to explain to the man who was hosting him.

“It’s ahead. You’ll be safe here,” he said, clueing him in. “When I got on the highway, no one got on after me—that I saw. So we aren’t being followed.”

That he knew.

Max was confused by that answer.

“Why would I be followed?” he asked.

Yowza.

This man wasn’t thinking straight, and that told him everything he needed to know.

“Both Elizabeth and I think that this was aimed at you, or your job. So you could be in danger, possibly from one of your dates or someone you worked with in the office.”

It took him a second.

His eyes went huge.

“Oh, no. You think those women died because of me?” he asked.

Yep.

This was going to be fun.

“Max, I’m going to be honest. People don’t end up in the situation you’re in out of coincidence. Someone is angry at you for something. Add to it, they are likely pissed at those women too.”

This was a nightmare.

Dex continued.

“Elizabeth is going to investigate everyone you hooked up with, and slept with, or didn’t. She’ll get you out from under this. By tonight, they’ll have visited your matchmaker and have a list.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

This was horrifying.

Why?

Max slept with a good amount of men that called him after the fact, and he never replied.

Damn it.

He was screwed.

He was distracted when Dex pulled up in front of a big Victorian that loomed in front of them.

It was a big old house, and it had a lot of charm from the cut outs in the trim, to that big porch that wrapped around the side.

This man thought his home wasn’t like his? Max knew that couldn’t possibly be. This house looked lived in, where his was just a place to lay his head.

“Welcome to my home,” Dex said, getting out and closing his truck door.

Instead of saying more, he grabbed the man’s bag out of the back, and handed it to him.

Then, he headed toward the door to unlock it.

Max took in the area around the house, and it was definitely secluded. He could see the lure in that of not having neighbors all over you.

As for the way the house looked, it was under restoration, and the man nailed the ‘doing the repairs’ part. That was an unfamiliar world to Max. He wasn’t handy anywhere but in a courtroom.

When they went inside, Max looked around. While the outside had repairs going on, the inside was a really nice place. There were beautiful wood floors, and stunning built ins that looked loved and cherished.

It was warm and inviting with the tile fireplaces, and the gorgeous trim.

Someone was restoring this old lady to her regal days, and he could appreciate that. He only wished he could have a hobby like the man clearly did.

When Dex opened the pocket doors in front of them, they led to the dining room, a living room, and the kitchen toward the back of the home.

“You can go anywhere you want in the house,” he said, “but you can’t leave without me. I’m your alibi in case more bodies show up because someone else has died.”

That said it all.

Max got it.

Honestly, they were too far out for him to slip away, and frankly, he was tired.

Bone.

Weary.

Tired.

“I’d like to lay down a bit. I’ve had a rough night, and I feel like death warmed over. Is that possible? Can you show me where I can crash and be out of the way?”

Dex hated that the man looked good in his space. He disliked watching him touch and appreciate the woodwork that he’d lovingly restored.

It made him think the man wasn’t as big of a cold fish as he came across.

Could he be misunderstood?

Was this a fire waiting to be lit?

Now, he was curious about what he’d be like in bed, and if that was the ONLY reason the man had hookups. Would he be a shitty lover?

God.

What was he even thinking that for anyway?

“Sure. I have a guest room. I haven’t restored the other three bedrooms. Let me show you,” he said.

“I’d appreciate that.”

Dex led him up a big staircase, and upstairs, he showed him to a guest room. There was a bathroom across from it, and it was the furthest from his room at the other end of the hall.

Thank God he’d done this renovation first.

“Here you go. If you need me, I’m beginning my vacation. I’ve waited all year for this.”

Max was surprised.

And a little horrified.

“You offered to waste your vacation by babysitting me?” he asked, not recalling the last time he took time off—other than today.

Post-arrest.

He reassured him.

“Don’t sweat it, Counselor. I was just going to be working on the house. I’m working on the downstairs pantry and some shelving. You can rest in here, and not have to hear me when I’m outside working.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

The man nodded, and headed out.

Dex left him there, and closed the door as he walked away.

When he was alone, Max sat on the bed, and felt so…isolated. Truthfully, and sadly, he didn’t have family or friends to lean on in this situation, and that sucked.

The bottom line was that he led a solitary life, dedicated to his job. Now, he had no one to back him up—with the exception of Elizabeth.

Yeah, that didn’t feel good.

As he heard a door shut downstairs, beneath him, he was curious if he was really going to be working on the house, or that was his excuse to evade spending time with him.

Max watched the man step off his back porch, and head outside. He’d changed his other clothing, and was in a shirt, flannel over it, as he walked toward a garage.

When he opened the door, inside, there was so much wood.

Yeah, he was definitely renovating the house. Max felt terrible that he was wasting his vacation.

Only, he was grateful.

Curiosity got to him, and because he was alone in the house, he crossed the hallway and saw the bathroom.

Oh, hell, yes.

That’s what he needed.

In there, he planned to take a shower. The whole room was masculine with a big claw foot tub, and plenty of man things.

Like a razor.

Shampoo.

And musky soap that was very masculine.

He ran back across the hall and got his toiletries bag, and realized he’d forgotten some of his things.

Well, shit.

He hoped Dex didn’t mind.

When he locked the door, Max stripped down, and hopped into the clawfoot tub.

It was difficult not to think about what had happened, and who could hate him this much. Honestly, he was a fair man, and he played by the rules.

This kind of rage…

It scared him.

As he washed his hair, he liked the scent of the shampoo as the suds dripped down his body and toward the drain.

While he was in there, he let the stress wash away, so he didn’t have a stroke. He was super tense, and he had a killer headache still.

Getting out, he wrapped one of the fluffy towels around his body, drying off.

It was soft and he liked the feel of it on his skin. When he was dry, he hung it beside one that had been used that morning by likely Dex.

Or someone he was dating.

The man wasn’t married, but he hoped if he had someone in his life, they wouldn’t mind him being there. It appeared he was going to be a third wheel.

As his head pounded, he wondered if the man had any pain relievers in his medicine cabinet to help him chase the pain away.

When he opened it, it looked pretty much like his own minus the fact that Dex had a small twenty-two tucked away between his things.

There were condoms.

Lube.

A toothbrush and toothpaste.

Well, someone clearly liked being prepared if a bear tried to sneak in and eat him.

Cops had to cop.

There were also all of the other accoutrements that were owned by a man from deodorant to pain pills.

Opening the one bottle, he popped two, and dry swallowed them. Then, he put them back in the cabinet and headed across the hall.

As he looked outside, he saw Dex with some tools. His flannel shirt was now tied around his waist, and he was in a tank top working.

He had a baseball hat on backward, and he had a pencil sticking out of the side of it.

That sight caught him off guard.

Holy shit.

His one arm was filled with tattoos, and his shoulder on the other arm. Someone had a fixation with tattoos, and Max couldn’t help but to check them out.

It posed a question.

Why was he ogling the tattooed man?

This was odd.

When Dex picked up the large, heavy piece of wood, and carried it toward the door over his strong shoulder, Max enjoyed the show.

His muscles bulged, and honestly, he didn’t think the man was in shape under his uniform, but he was. It had to be the body armor making him look…square.

That was anything but the truth.

He had broad shoulders, and they tapered to his waist. His ass filled out his jeans, and his body…

Max swallowed.

This shouldn’t turn him on.

Not.

At.

All.

Dex wasn’t his type—not even close. Yet, here he was, taking in one of the best things he’d seen in a long time. When he bent over, Max swore he stopped breathing, because the view was spectacular.

The man was beyond sexy. He was virile, strong, and had one hell of a body on him.

When the man got closer to the house, he looked up, and unfortunately for Max, he saw him watching him.

BUSTED.

All he did was nod, and keep on walking as Max continued to objectify the homicide captain.

Holy shit.

He was hot.

Because he was flushed with embarrassment, and masculine appreciation, Max backed away from the window and climbed into the bed. When he closed his eyes, he tried to get some sleep.

And it wasn’t easy.

The whole time, he dreamed about only a couple of things. First was a dead woman, skinned in the motel bed, and a cop who was tattooed, strong, and sexy.

And he was so goddamn confused.

By everything.

Chapter Eight

Stop One

Reckoning Day

The White House

Post-Crime Scene

Now that her team was doing its job, Elizabeth had one of her own that had to be handled, and that job required her to sashay herself in to see the president, and break the news about his US Attorney General.

And his arrest.

Oh, this should be so much fun, and if she said she was having a good time…

SHE WAS LYING.

When they rolled up, there was the same old bullshit at the gate, and for that, she was annoyed. This day was definitely on her nerves.

Only, what was she going to do about it? Most of her days were somehow irritating when she came here. She and the Secret Service were NOT copacetic.

Honestly, fighting it wasn’t on her BINGO card for today. She had too many things to deal with, and this was not high on the list.

Once they cleared the gate, Gene patted her leg in reassurance, knowing she wasn’t amused.

“Way to go not losing your temper. You’re getting better at it.”

She snorted.

“Yeah, or I just don’t give a damn anymore, and they can all go fuck off.”

Or there was that.

The tone pretty much said it all.

Because she didn’t want to think about it, she glanced over and changed the subject, so she didn’t have a migraine or stroke.

“Are you and Ethan okay? Is there anything you need or that I can do for you guys?” she asked.

Oh, they were more than okay.

Because he appreciated her worrying, Gene kissed her on the cheek.

“Honey, we’re good. You just worry about you. You’re stressed out.”

She laughed, and it wasn’t the good kind either. Stressed was an understatement.

“Yeah, I know. Now I’m worried about Ian wanting to end his life, and this Max situation. Something is up with Chris, and then I have my plate full with being backup for everyone.”

He understood.

Her life was a hectic one. As of late, the men had been handling school projects, and bake sales.

As in they purchased the cupcakes, and let Wyler make cookies.

“Breathe. We’re all good. You just focus on what you need to worry about. Ethan and I are settling in with Willa, and it’s running smoothly. Today, she wanted to learn sign language so she and her new bestie can communicate easier. Honestly, I think I have this fatherhood thing down.”

She was glad.

At least something was going right. All of their relationships were doing great, and that was a weight off of her shoulders.

“I saw you with Willa last night before I headed to the hospital. She looked happy, and so did you.”

Gene grinned.

“I am. I couldn’t be happier. My life is fulfilled and peaceful.”

Demeter was staring at Gene in the seat beside him.

“Yes?”

“I’m just staring at you,” Demeter said.

Gene was confused.

“I can see that, Demeter. Why?” he asked.

The man shrugged.

“You gained some baby weight so…”

Gene glared at him.

“I’ll shoot you in the ass, and she’ll let me,” he admitted, pointing at Elizabeth.

She snorted.

“Demeter, don’t provoke Gene. He’s a bear and cuddly,” she said.

The man grinned.

“No one wants to cuddle with me,” Demeter said, sadly.

“Gee. I wonder why?” Ivan asked. “It’s freaking mind boggling to try and figure out the reasons.”

Because it was best to ignore Demeter, that’s what they did.

As for Gene and Ethan falling into fatherhood and nailing it, she was thrilled. That’s all she wanted for Ethan and Gene.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to clear a date night to spend some time with you both,” she said, knowing he’d understand.

He reassured her.

“Don’t stress it. It should be organic and happen naturally. If we can’t, we wait.”

Now Demeter was curious.

Only, before he could say anything, Ivan slapped his hand over his mouth as he tried to drive at the same time.

“Don’t. She’s running on fumes. It makes her mean, and then, she takes it out on me—who is tired with a newborn at home.”

That was the truth.

Wisely, Demeter closed his mouth.

“You’ll find time,” Gene said.

Only, she didn’t know when.

Elizabeth had just come off a case, and went right into ‘watch over Gryphen’ mode. She didn’t sleep more than a couple of hours here and there in a hospital chair.

The only silver lining now was with Gryphen awake, she could sleep at home.

She missed being the filling in a sexy-man sandwich.

As the blacked-out Navigator pulled to a stop at the curb, they all climbed out of it.

When they approached the White House, Gabe’s head of Secret Service was waiting there for her.

“We were notified that you were here,” Tiffany Westworth said, greeting her.

Oh, Elizabeth knew what this meant. She was going to try and keep her from seeing the man, despite him telling EVERYONE that she had full access to him. Her security level was right below his, and she was his family by marriage.

Unless he was banging his new press secretary in the Oval Office, there was nothing she couldn’t be privy to.

Seriously.

“I need to see Gabe. It’s important,” she said, “or I wouldn’t be here.”

Tiffany held her ground.

“He’s in his office with the Press Secretary. They are having a meeting.”

Oh, she bet.

That explained why she couldn’t be in there. Only, that wasn’t going to stop her.

Call her crazy, but Elizabeth was willing to guess what they were meeting about, and it wasn’t national security.

It was naked shenanigans.

“Well, I’ll have his secretary announce I’m here and he could make that decision, or we can play, who is he going to be angrier with, you or me?”

That made Tiffany pause.

Yeah, it should.

When the woman stopped her yapping, Elizabeth walked past the woman, and headed into the White House to get this shit done.

Gene was with her, and as they approached the Oval Office, Gabe’s secretary stood up trying to stop her.

“He’s in with…”

Honestly, she didn’t care.

Oops.

Her bad.

Did she say that she’d announce herself? Yeah, no. He wasn’t a goddamn king.

Walking past her, she opened the door and headed in, Gene with her, and the Marines staying outside the door.

Oh, and she’d been right.

There was nothing going on that couldn’t be interrupted. Gabe was in his chair, and Alessandra was on the edge of the desk, in a skirt with her legs crossed.

The president was definitely not taking a meeting. He was taking in the woman’s legs and heels.

Whatever.

“Elizabeth,” he said, glancing over when the door opened, and she walked in.

He got up, headed her way, and the whole time, he was smiling.

Oh, well, he should live that up.

It wouldn’t last for long.

Because they were family, she went into his arms, and he kissed her on the temple.

“Honey, what’s going on? Why are you here?” he asked.

Oh, well, someone had definitely NOT been watching the news, and his press secretary didn’t see it either, or he would have been well-aware.

That was for damn sure.

“Something came up,” she said, glancing over at Alessandra. She’d gotten off the desk, and it amused Elizabeth.

She always perched on Gabe’s desk too. They were two birds of a feather.

“Hey, Girlie,” she said, coming her way.

Elizabeth greeted her with a hug, and smile. It was good to see her too. Alessandra delivered a killer article hours after Elizabeth’s last case, and it blew shockwaves through the city.

She wouldn’t be surprised if the whole District began gunning for her.

That was Elizabeth’s luck.

Not far away, Gabe was calm, and that was a good thing.

“How’s the new job?” she asked, making small talk until she could give Gabe a heads-up.

Alessandra laughed.

“Well, after that exposé I dropped, and the follow up I’m writing…this job has been a good place to hide. We stirred up The District.”

That happened a lot when she got a bee in her bonnet. Only, she wasn’t done. Gabe was about to have a few issues that they were both tied to again.

Speaking of the man, Gabe updated her.

“Agent Natalia visited me just a few hours ago,” he said, talking about the ECAP FBI agent who she’d passed the child pornography case off to.

“Oh, and?” she asked.

Gabe escorted her to the couch, and they sat down. Gene parked it across from them with Alessandra beside him.

“She’s about to drop the hammer, and the two senators don’t expect it.”

She was glad.

Elizabeth wanted them to swing from the gallows, and swing hard. Like hard enough for their heads to snap off, and what was left of them became worm food.

Yeah, she was that angry.

“I hope they’re twitchy and sweating,” she said. “The fucking foul pieces of shit they are.”

Gabe intended to keep his promise. They would pay for what they did because he wouldn’t have that foulness in The District.

Not on his watch.

“I could have called you with the update,” Alessandra offered. “I’m sorry. I was…tied up.”

She smiled.

“God, it’s good to see you got away before I came in here,” she joked.

It took Gabe a second.

Then, he sputtered.

“ELIZABETH!”

The other three people laughed as he went red. Oh, they all knew what the president was embarrassed about. Someone had already considered that sexy fun a possibility.

He composed himself.

“Yeah, you didn’t have to come here.”

She snorted.

“And what? Miss this? Honestly, I’m glad to see you’re in a good mood,” she admitted. “It’s about to go downhill, rapidly.”

Uh-oh.

Gabe didn’t like that.

Immediately, he lifted a brow.

“Uh, I don’t like that tone.”

That made her shake her head. Oh, he wasn’t going to be thrilled about this, at all. She couldn’t blame him on that one.

“Welcome to my world. Anyway, Baldini, I have a case that is tied to you.”

He closed his eyes.

“Oh, Jesus in a taco truck,” he said. “What now? I can’t handle another child porn nightmare or killer employed by the White House, Elizabeth. Couldn’t you just clean it up and leave me blissfully unaware?”

No, because he was her cover for not mentioning this case to her boss.

Instead of sugarcoating it, she dropped the bomb.

“This morning,” she said, picking up the remote and turning on the TV, “United States Attorney General, Max Holder, was found in bed with a skinned dead woman, and in his trunk, there were two more. He brought spares to the party, allegedly.”

Gabe gasped.

The look on his face…

HORRIFIED.

“Oh, boy,” Alessandra said, knowing there was going to be a press conference at some point. It looked as if she was going to be answering a lot of questions—based on the media swarm on the TV, and Elizabeth having the case.

“What the holy Hell’s bells?” he asked. “How the unsanctimonious fuck did this happen?”

Well, that was a good question.

One she couldn’t answer yet.

“I wish I could tell you that, Gabe, but I just got this case ninety minutes ago, give or take thirty. I’m just starting to work it after I leave here.”

Gene agreed.

“It’s a doozy too.”

Oh, Gabe didn’t like any of this.

Before he could complain, Elizabeth went there.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” she asked.

He blinked.

With her, he knew neither would be good. One would just be less career ending.

“The bad news,” he said, as she geared up to wreck his day.

She smiled.

“It’s all bad news and there’s no good news,” she said, making him close his eyes and rest his head on the back of the chair.

“So, here’s what we have. Max is being accused of homicide, and he called me to help him instead of an attorney. So tag, I’m in, and so are you. I have yet to tell my boss. You get to do that.”

Gabe blinked.

“Pardon? Why do I have to tell your boss?” he asked, already suspecting it wasn’t because of the case, but because her and Axelle were still not on good terms.

He knew Elizabeth.

She had nerves of steel. She just didn’t want to bitch slap the woman.

“Oh, you heard me. I didn’t tell Axelle, and we’re on bad terms after you ambushed her at the office, making her think I wanted her job. So you’re telling her that YOU wanted me to handle this, and YOU’RE updating her.”

Gabe blinked.

Oh, boy.

“I don’t know if you know this or not, but she hates me a lot more than she will ever hate you.”

Gene leaned over and whispered in Alessandra’s ear.

“He had sex with her, and then ghosted her,” he explained to the woman, so they were all on the same page.

Alessandra gasped.

The president pointed at Gene.

“I’ve saved your ass many a time, Agent Cantrell. Don’t make me stop that streak! As for sleeping with her, it was before I married my wife when I was an agent myself.”

Gene knew he wasn’t playing, so he closed his mouth and tried not to laugh.

Elizabeth poked Gabe in the chest, as she drove home her point.

“And I don’t know if you know this or not, but she’s afraid of you because you can fire her, I can’t. So, in this clusterfuck, you have the leverage, and to the victor goes the shit work.”

He gave up.

It was easier to just do it than argue with Elizabeth.

“Fine. I’ll call her. Tell me what’s going on, so I don’t get my ass kicked around the room.”

He dropped his arm over her shoulders as she sat back and did just that.

As Alessandra watched them from where she sat, it wasn’t lost on her that the two of them were so connected that they’d never be able to be separated. They were a team, of sorts. He used her to help him, and she relied on him to save her ass too.

They were definitely a family.

Before Elizabeth had come in, Gabe had been heavily flirting, and she was pretty sure he was going to make some move on her.

Now, she was bummed because the sexy man was now focused on work.

Oh, well.

Maybe later.

“Anyway,” Elizabeth began, “he went out last night, and met a date. Somewhere between that and the morning, he was likely roofied, and managed to get to a motel before passing out.”

Gabe was listening.

This was wild.

“Someone deposited the bodies in the bed and his car. It wasn’t someone good at setting up a crime scene either. The bodies were dead before being dropped there, and according to Chris, they were all dead for a couple of days.”

She pulled out her phone, and showed him.

“Jesus Christ,” he said, when he scanned the crime scene photos. “That’s foul,” he added.

Yes, yes, it was.

She continued.

“They were kept somewhere cold. There was blood on the scene, but it wasn’t coagulated yet.”

“So what’s that mean?” Alessandra asked.

Gene clued her in.

“Despite what the testing says, we can tell that it won’t be their blood. By now, the blood would have been nothing more than goo had they died and were placed there. This was fresh blood.”

She got it.

“Thanks,” she said.

He didn’t mind.

Elizabeth added what they knew.

“They ran the blood using a test before we got there, and it’s animal blood. Do I know what kind yet? No, but Chrissy is working on it.”

Gabe shook his head.

“Who was the date with?”

Here’s where it got fun.

“Off the record?” Elizabeth asked, focused more on Alessandra than Gabe.

The woman nodded and Gabe lifted a brow.

“Uh, if it has to be,” he said.

She went there.

“Your United States Attorney General is gay. He likes random hookups to keep the libido happy, but nothing more than sex.”

“He is?” Alessandra asked.

Gabe, on the other hand, wasn’t showing any shock, and that just proved to her that he was aware.

“You knew?” Elizabeth asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, one of my staffers was out with a date at a nice place, and saw him in the back with a man. They were side by side, and they left in a hurry.”

That sounded like a horny man’s booty call to her.

“They reported it to me immediately, and out of respect for Max, I told them to un-see it.”

That sounded like him.

“Well, it adds a layer of issues to this,” Elizabeth admitted.

Gabe sighed.

“What?” Alessandra whispered to Gene, hoping he’d give her the play-by-play. It was clear she was missing something.

He kept his voice low.

“That might mean he pissed off an ex-booty call, and now, someone’s targeting him.”

She understood.

“Ohhhh,” she said. “I like this game.”

Elizabeth laughed.

“Seriously?” she asked the woman.

“Hey, listen, I’m good at tracking a story, and dogging a cop, but my knowledge of forensics and police investigation are shit. I’m living vicariously through the three of you who have investigated things.”

Gabe winked at her. What he loved most was she stayed in her lane. Like he wouldn’t tell her how to be a reporter or press secretary, she wasn’t bossy and telling them how to investigate.

He didn’t like to compare, but Livy would have.

Gabe had news for her.

“You’ll learn rather quickly. Elizabeth shows up here, A LOT.”

She didn’t let that go.

“Yeah, to cover your ass, Baldini. That’s your employee, technically. I’m not looking bad in the media when your GAY US Attorney General is run through the media wringer for having a fetish for bedhopping with skinned women.”

“Put the lotion in the basket, or you get the hose,” Gene said, getting Gabe to stare at him.

“Why are you just like her?” he asked, pointing at Elizabeth. “Why can’t you be more like…anyone else.”

“Because Ethan has a type,” he stated.

Yeah…

He was aware.

Instead of arguing, he went there.

“Okay, how’s the investigation going so far, and is there any way to keep this out of the media?”

She snorted.

“First, I just got the case, and second, the media is already all over this. Right now, Max is hiding out because I talked the homicide captain into babysitting him so we can see how this plays out.”

Gabe hated this.

All of it.

“He’s gay, why would he get shitfaced and kill women?” he asked. “Max is a very laid-back, law-abiding man. I can’t see that playing out. Someone had to set him up.”

“Samesies. That’s why when he called me, as his one call, I took the case. As for what’s about to happen, well, we all know that. The media is going to bone us good—and by us, I mean you and I, Gabe. ”

Alessandra was curious.

“How far up your ass is the media? Because at some point, that’s going to come up here for us.”

She shrugged.

“Now, not too far. I had a tail here, so expect someone to start the byline in the media. We have most of the information safe. No one knows he’s gay, or that the women were skinned. That’s a detail we aren’t letting out.”

That was probably for the best.

“Okay, well, I trust you to have this under control. I’ll contact Axelle, and tell her I put you on this. She’ll stay off your ass.”

That was all she needed. Axelle liked to play the chain of command game, and Elizabeth liked to just get shit done.

“Thanks, Gabe.”

Before she could head out, he glanced over at Gene and Alessandra.

“Can I have a moment alone with the Deputy Director?” he asked. “It’s related to something else that has come up for me.”

No one argued.

When the president said shit like that, it was often national security.

Both people got up, and they headed out of the office, leaving them alone. When the door closed, he went there.

“Why are you and Axelle still having issues?” he asked.

Oh, that was easy.

“Because she and my brother called me a cunt. Catch up, Gabe.”

Yeah, he was caught up all right.

“And you’re still angry?” he asked.

Elizabeth didn’t miss a beat.

“Yep.”

“Well, it’s not like you to hold a grudge,” he admitted. “What’s going on, Honey?”

She could tell Gabe anything, and there was no one else to talk this out to. She didn’t want to rain on Ethan’s happy parade, or burden Chris. He and Callen were holding up the whole family.

Because she could trust him, she went there.

“Honestly, I’m burning the candle at both ends, Gabe. With what happened to Gryphen at the airport, and the sorry-ass apology they gave me…”

He got it.

He put his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. Then, he kissed her on the temple.

“I know, Honey. How is Gryphen?” he asked.

Oh, not good.

“He woke up, but we have a whole other slew of issues,” she admitted. “Ian was ready to eat his gun. He thought Gryphen wasn’t waking up, and he was taking a one-way trip to no more land.”

His eyes went huge.

That shocked him.

“Really?”

She nodded.

Yeah, he’s got some bad PTSD from the assault, and add to it the Gryphen almost dying thing. He’s a man on the edge.”

He could see that.

Gabe was horrified in so many ways. He liked Ian. The man was a good, decent person. He saw that once he got past the anger of losing Livy.

His heart broke for him.

“What can I do to help?”

She laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“Get him free and clear of the bullshit charges that the local DA wants to slap him with for putting ten bullets into his assaulter. Max was handling it, and now, he’s not. I’m at a loss. Jane Winters hates my fucking guts.”

It wasn’t like her to ask. Elizabeth fought her own battles, and that she was…

Yeah, Gabe could do that.

“I can talk to…”

He paused.

“Uh, she doesn’t have a boss.”

Tell her something she didn’t know.

“That’s the issue. I can’t lean on her via her boss. You can call her and do your thing.”

Gabe was curious.

“What are the charges?”

She told him.

“They said it was excessive force. They are just riding his ass because he works for me. You know I have made PLENTY of enemies, and the DA is one of them. She’s still cranky over me hiring a shark attorney to get that one victim off after she killed her rapists.”

He was aware.

“I’ll handle that and Axelle for you.”

That took the weight off, somewhat.

She was grateful.

“Thanks, Gabe.”

He was serious.

“Get Ian help. If the man is going to hurt himself, he can’t be a Fed, and he can’t be left alone.”

Oh, she was aware.

“That’s the plan. We’re having Callie talk to him. Ethan is handling that right now.”

Now that he’d handled that…

“What can I do about the Axelle situation to make it better?”

She shrugged.

“I just have to get over that on my own, and right now, I’m not there.”

He got it.

Elizabeth could be a tough nut to crack when someone hurt her heart.

When she changed the subject, he knew why.

She.

Was.

Done.

“So…how are you and Alessandra doing?” she inquired, already suspecting she knew the answer.

He giggled like an idiot, and it was charming.

She snorted.

“Oh, boy. I haven’t heard that in…like twenty-three years.”

Oh, he was aware.

Gabe grinned.

“We had a date night the other night, and it was really nice. No one suspected anything with us working late in my office. We had dinner, some wine, and dancing. I put on some moves…”

She didn’t try to stop him.

“You’re not horrified to hear the details?”

She shook her head.

“No, I’m actually good with it. Alessandra did me a solid with the last news story, and trusting me to be bait. She’s a good egg. I like her.”

Well, in that case, he was honest.

“Me too. It’s only been not even a week, but Lyzee, I’m stupid about her.”

She could see that.

He had a spring in his step that wasn’t there two weeks ago. The man looked…younger.

“When are you going to consummate it?” she asked.

He wasn’t sure, and while this should feel awkward, it didn’t. So, Gabe went there.

“I don’t know. She told me she’s not a ‘sex on the first date’ kind of a girl, and that she’s old fashioned. When would be an appropriate time to…you know…consummate it?”

She clued him in.

“She’s wearing things that say she’s waiting for you to make the move. Why don’t you work late tonight? It’s a school night, so the kids will be out of commission. Have a romantic dinner and…you know...put the moves on the lady.”

He was up and pacing.

Now, here came the nerves.

“I haven’t had sex with a person other than Livy for a long time What if it’s…?”

Oh, boy.

Now was the awkward part.

“You’re not going to ask me things that will make me want to weep, are you?”

Oh, hell, yeah, he was.

“I’ve been out of the game. What if I can’t be what she expects in bed? Livy toward the end was bored. What if it was me? What do I do?”

She had news for him.

It certainly wasn’t him.

Livy held a mean grudge, and made him pay by way of his masculinity.

Listen, she was a raging feminist, but she knew when it came to your man, you had to do what he needed, and that meant kid gloves at times.

“Gabe, she’s stupid over you.”

He needed assistance with this, and she was the one he needed to advise him—not Ethan.

“I need help. Please, Elizabeth, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but help me get laid.”

She didn’t even laugh, since she knew his ego was on the line.

“Okay,” she said.

That caught him off guard. Where were the ass busting and the jokes?

“That easy? Really?”

She nodded.

“Sure,” she said. “Here’s the plan, okay? Send her home from work at an earlier time. Be mysterious about it, but have flowers waiting for her at her home. In the card, invite her back to a late-night date. Let her sleep over.”

He was worried.

“What if she’s not ready?”

This time, she did laugh.

“My dude, she’s wearing a push up bra and five-inch heels for you. That’s not comfortable having your tits squished like that. You wanted to woo her, so do it. Get her back here when the kids go to bed, and then…have her bring a bag for tomorrow so no one is any the wiser. Sneak her into your room, and make your move. It’s like riding a bike. You know how to get the lady off. Oral, oral, oral, fucking, more fucking…nap time. Wake up and repeat.”

She was right.

Gabe did know how to do this.

The hardest part was sneaking her into his room, but it was also exciting to get away with it.

“I think I can still do it. I mean, I know I can still do it, but I think I can woo the girl.”

She reassured him.

“Gabe, it’s sex. Let the lower brain kick in, and then follow its lead. It’s going to get you there if you stop worrying.”

He had a huge concern.

“I’m older…”

Elizabeth stopped him.

“And she thinks that’s hot. We all have Daddy issues somewhere in there. Her’s left her, mine was so far up my ass I rebel at everything. Use that and go with it.”

He laughed.

“I’ve met your father. You are his daddy issues, not the other way around.”

She snorted.

“I know. Charlie deserved it. He made this mess. I hope he’s horrified about what I’m planning on doing,” she said, thinking about Ethan, Gene, and her date.

He grinned.

“I think I can do this. Can you have flowers delivered for me? If I do it…”

She got it.

“Want me to do up the card this time?”

He didn’t, but he did.

“I don’t want her laughing at me. You can’t be that wild. I’m not a wild person.”

Oh, she was betting that wasn’t the case when he was in the mood.

“Just leave it to me. Now, I’d love to stay and chitchat, but I have to get to my interviews. If not, Max is going to swing, and swing hard.”

Gabe reminded her.

“If I have to fire him…”

Oh.

Hell.

No.

“You can’t. He’s not guilty. He’s fallen into a mess, but he didn’t do anything to deserve it. Give me time, and I’ll handle it.”

That was all he could do for now.

“Got it. I believe you can do it.”

She hoped so.

“If you need help with the Ian situation,” Gabe said, “I’ve got you.”

She knew he did.

Gabe had a special place in his heart for the man, and was always trying to hire him away from her.

Heading his way, she went back into his arms, and he hugged her. It was loving and something they always shared. They’d always had each other’s backs.

That would never change.

“You got this, Gabe. She’s going to have an amazing night and be stupid in love with you. I can tell.”

He hoped she was right.

He was counting on it.

“I really love spending time with her. I know this is moving fast.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“And how do you feel about that?” she asked.

He giggled again.

“I’m happy. For the first time, in a long time, I’m happy. I have a second chance. You don’t understand that since you have back-to-back-to-back men.”

Actually, she did understand it. When she lost Chris, Ethan was her second chance, and it had been what saved her.

She reminded him.

“I married Ethan in four days. I’m the queen of moving fast, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Forget what the media says if they find out. Do what makes you happy. There’s no rule on how long you have to grieve before you get back on the horse. This is a nice pace for a romance. Sex after almost a week of seeing each other…”

He dropped the bomb.

“We slept together.”

She lifted a brow.

“You know, sleep-sleep. Not sex-sleep. She was struggling before you used her as bait, and I snuck to her room and slept with her. We cuddled. It’s been a long time, Elizabeth.”

She was happy for him.

Only, now, she needed to know.

“Am I going to be a problem?” she asked. “Is our relationship going to take us back to Livy-Ville because it sucked there?”

Gabe had good news for her.

“No, she’s not jealous of what we have. That’s why I’m not afraid to be genuine when she’s around. I don’t have to protect every aspect of my life from a woman.”

She laughed.

“Well, I have bad news for you.”

He lifted a brow.

“What?”

She told him.

“Well, Gabe, she thinks I’m her bestie, and you are my bestie, so… if she calls and asks for help, I kinda have to help her too.”

That made him so happy.

Elizabeth knew him best.

Now, Gabe needed a favor.

“She needs a friend like you. Can you maybe stop fighting it and offer it up? You know, girlfriend code her? Maybe give her something for me.”

She sighed.

There was one bad part to that.

“I’m going to hear about the sex and your dick. I know it. She’s going to want to tell me how awesome it is, and I’m going to have to digest those facts. I better go get some antacids. I feel heartburn coming on.”

He laughed.

“I hate to burst your puritanical bubble, but Ethan is my other best friend, and what do you think we talk about?” he asked. “Newsflash, I hear way too much, sister from another mister.”

She snorted.

“God. I have so many questions, but they have to wait. I have to keep Max from swinging in the media’s gallows.”

That she did.

Gabe gave her a fist bump, and she then headed toward the door. She blew him a kiss.

“You got this.”

And oddly, he believed her.

When she left, Alessandra headed back in, and Gabe looked at his watch.

“We’re going to cut today short,” he said, clearly catching her off guard.

Alessandra was worried.

“Did I do something?” she asked. This was the first day that she was sent out of his office. Normally, he let her hang out with him as long as she wanted.

“No, I just have to handle a few things for Elizabeth, and we can pick up with work tomorrow morning. Is that okay?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Sure it is.”

He smiled.

“Cut out around three and have a good night, Alessandra.”

That sounded so…dismissive.

Instead of arguing, because he was her boss, after all, she gathered her things, and she wasn’t sure what was going on. Had Elizabeth said something to Gabe?

No, she wouldn’t burn her like that.

Maybe she was just reading into it.

“Okay,” she said, heading toward the door as the President went to his desk to make a call.

When she left, he called down to the kitchen first, needing a favor. He didn’t want them to cook. He needed someone to get him her favorite food.

Why?

Because he wanted to eat it naked in the bedroom at three in the morning like she said she liked.

After that, he had the pastry chef take care of some of those little petite fours she liked too.

Now, the plan was set.

He was going to woo the girl tonight, and get back on the horse after a rough last five years.

As he dialed Axelle, he put his feet back up on the desk, and it didn’t take her long to answer.

“Yes, Mr. President?” she asked.

It was time to cover for Elizabeth.

“Hey, Ax, something came up, and you’re likely to hear about it. I pulled Elizabeth to handle a certain situation that just came up.”

There was a pause.

“You did?” she asked.

He went there.

“Max Holder was found in bed with a dead woman and two in his car. I’m putting Elizabeth on it, so if she doesn’t check in, it’s because I dumped this on her,” he said, covering for her.

Loyalties mattered.

And his to Elizabeth were strong.

“Oh, okay,” Axelle said, caught a little off guard. “I hadn’t heard from her yet today, but I did see the news regarding Max.”

He made sure Elizabeth had space to breathe.

“She’s working it for me. I’m sure she’ll update you later with a report, but she’s buried. You know how she gets when she works.”

“Yeah, I do.”

There was sadness there.

So, Gabe went there.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, willing to help Elizabeth out because he loved her.

“Yeah, sure. I just wasn’t sure if she was dodging me or not. We aren’t in a good place right now,” she admitted, regretfully.

Gabe was curious.

“Well, you apologized, right?” he asked.

There was a pause.

“Yeah, but it didn’t go the way we expected. Elizabeth won’t take her brother back, and now, he’s quit and is miserable.”

He gave her a clue.

“Did he apologize alone or with you there? Because that’s her brother before he was your husband. He called his sister a cunt, Ax. That’s a special kind of groveling that needs to be done. That’s a multiple times kind of a deal. That’s a ‘show up at her house and eat a whole lot of crow when you humiliate your boss in front of her peers’ thing.”

Axelle was honest.

“He’s stubborn.”

Gabe laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“You’re kidding? LaRue DNA that is stubborn? Say it isn’t true,” he said, still amused. Then, he tried to help her out. “Listen, we both knew Charlie. You know how that was.”

Oh, she did.

That stubbornness was legendary.

“I just feel bad. Like I caused this, and now, my husband is sitting around a house, rotting because he misses his job and partner. I can handle her not talking to me, but he’s really struggling.”

Gabe clued her in.

“Well, in times like these, and when you screw up, you eat crow. Lots, and lots of crow. Maybe he didn’t belly up to the table quite long enough. I’ve known Elizabeth longer than you and him. She’s predictable. If she didn’t accept his apology, she didn’t buy it. It wasn’t sincere.”

Maybe.

Only, how did she get Duke to saddle up and go back to that rodeo?

“Anyway, I was just clueing you in that she’s buried right now, so give her some space, and let her do her thing. She’s not out cowboying it. She’s doing it for me.”

Axelle knew better than to give the President of the United States shit.

“Okay, Gabe. I’ll give her space.”

He hoped she did.

Honestly, it was for the best when it came to dealing with Elizabeth.

“If you need me, let me know,” Gabe said. “I don’t want the Max Holder thing blowing up in any of our faces.”

She understood.

“Gotcha.”

He hung up, and focused on his calendar.

Making one more call, it was out to his secretary. He was canceling his evening plans.

In fact, he was going to go hang out with the kids when they got home, and lead them off the scent. He knew at some point, they’d get sick of him, and hide.

And that was going to give him time to sneak Alessandra into his room after dark.

Yeah, this might just work out after all.

He was a man with a plan.

And he planned on a night of sexiness for the first time in a long time.

Gabriel Rothschild wasn’t letting anything ruin it.

PERIOD.

Chapter Nine

The Hospital

Gryphen’s Room

Wednesday Afternoon

After returning the wounded man back to the hospital, he had to be re-hooked up to everything, and a new IV put in his other hand. The whole time, he kept asking for Ian, who was outside of the room.

As for the medical staff, the doctors weren’t amused by the man’s choices, and the nurses were not playing either. They kept ‘tsking’ him, and giving him the look.

No more jackassery was going to be tolerated.

None.

At.

All.

If he pulled them out again, he’d find himself tied to the bed, and not in a fun and kinky way.

Oh, and the nurses weren’t playing around with the big guy.

Since that wasn’t his gig, he opted to take it seriously, and listen to them.

Hell.

He would do anything they asked for some pain meds. He was in that much pain.

When he was back in bed, and had some meds in him, he felt much better.

Jet had been in the hall keeping an eye on his fiancé, and he was grateful.

Know who else wasn’t playing?

Jet.

He was on Gryphen and Ian duty until tonight when Uriel took over for him, and that couldn’t come soon enough. These two were making him work for it.

At least Elizabeth wouldn’t be killing him.

There was that.

As soon as the nurses let Ian back into the room, immediately, he climbed onto the bed, and tucked himself into the side of Gryphen, taking up what little space was left.

Gryphen knew he needed comforting.

He was on duty.

“Hey,” Gryphen said, kissing him on the top of the head. “Are you okay?”

The man shook his head.

“No,” Ian said. “It’s been a rough three days. I’m struggling,” he admitted.

He knew he was going to have to be up on his feet pretty fast with how broken Ian was.

That meant one thing.

Gryphen looked up at Jet.

“My dude, can you get me some real food? I’m starving, and so is Ian.”

Jet crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m not to leave you alone no matter what. Apparently, the boss lady has heard about what went down, and she’s not happy.”

Gryphen stared at him.

Then, he knew how to get him to understand.

I need to talk to him alone. I’m worried about his well-being, he mouthed.

Oh, well, that was a different story.

Jet got it.

“If you can promise to both stay here, and not to do anything that will get me fired…I’ll go get you some burgers and fries.”

That worked for Gryphen.

He was appreciative too.

“Thank you, Jet.”

Without another word, he nodded and headed out to do just that.

When the door closed, he knew that he and Ian needed to have a ‘come to Jesus talk’.

He wasn’t thrilled with what nearly happened, or how Ian was going to end his life.

What the hell?

“Baby?” Gryphen asked, as his mate was cautiously clinging to him.

“Yes?” Ian inquired, grateful that Gryphen hadn’t left him.

Gryphen was direct and to the point.

He needed to be.

As someone who struggled with mental illness and PTSD…

He got it.

Only, that didn’t mean taking your life was acceptable by any means. Thus, why he fought so hard for years to stay alive, having faith.

“What you planned on doing scares me. I’m terrified now that if I close my eyes, or take a nap, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

He stayed trapped against Gryphen, and tried to explain to the man.

His emotions were a mess. Ian didn’t know why he’d wanted to die. It’s just in his head, something was telling him he was worthless without Gryphen, and that it was all his fault.

He tried to articulate it.

“I’m in a freefall. I’m back to where I was after he hurt me,” he whispered. “I’m so scared, Gryph. I’m so fucking scared that I don’t know how to do this. The voices…”

He made him sit up and face him.

Gryphen knew how serious this was.

Ian’s life was on the line. While Gryphen fought hard to not die, he didn’t know if Ian had it in him. The sexual assault, and then being forced to kill the man who hurt Ian, and him…

Yeah, he was worried.

Gryphen was going to have to start all over, and try to get Ian back to whole again.

It was going to take a lot of work. Each time a person broke, it was that much worse, and harder to recover.

He of all people knew that.

“Ian, look at me.”

Ian did, and there were bags under his eyes, and tears dripping down his cheeks. It was clear the man was struggling with that invisible weight.

It was crushing him.

“I’m here. We’ll get through this.”

The dam broke.

“They want to put me in jail for killing a man that hurt me. The justice system is fucking foul. It doesn’t protect people. I just…”

Gryphen knew this was going to take time to undo. More damage was done, and they had to work through it. There was no way he could force the man to see the truth. Ian needed to be walked through it again.

“I need you to see someone.”

He blinked.

“What do you mean?”

Gryphen was honest.

There was no way he could sugarcoat it.

This was dire.

“You have PTSD, and I think you need to get some help. Had I been a minute late, Ian, you would have hurt yourself. Had I not dragged myself out of here, you would be dead, and then, what? I would have been in the same situation you thought you were in. You weren’t thinking clearly. I wasn’t dead. You needed faith in me.”

More tears dripped, and Gryphen held his hand in his big one.

That being said, now, he needed to start putting the man back together again.

“I understand that fear. I had to go to therapy for a long time to learn to cope. You’re going to need to start therapy before anything else we planned in our life. Your mental wellness matters.”

And it scared Gryphen that he’d go back to work, and those demons would get Ian.

They were invisible, and he couldn’t fight them.

Ian’s voice was low and shaky.

“Are you going to dump me because I’m broken?” he asked softly. “Are you canceling our wedding?”

Gryphen could see the necklace he’d given him, and on that same chain was the ring that Ian had given him during his proposal.

Gryphen lifted his chin.

“Absolutely not, but you’ve lived through two traumas that were brutal. You still have to get through this last part, and then, we’re getting married. In fact, I think I’d like my ring back. Thank you for holding onto it,” he said.

Ian hurriedly took off his necklace to give that ring back to the man he loved.

“Please don’t stop loving me,” Ian whispered.

Gryphen held out his hand, and Ian put it back on his finger, all the while, tears dripping.

“What has you hurting right now?” he asked, gently. “What can I do to help you?”

He went there.

“What if I’m in jail and we can’t get married. What if I’m gone for a very long time?” he whispered.

Gryphen reassured him and wiped his eyes with his thumbs.

“You are not going to jail. Do you think Elizabeth or Max would let that happen?”

No, but…

He was so scared.

“I just want to go back to Scotland, and hide there. I don’t want to deal with this. I should have never made us leave. You got shot because of me.”

He stopped him.

Okay, it was time to go back to what had worked for Ian to give him a sense of calm.

He put that roughness back in his voice, and went there.

“We made a contract, Mr. Patterson, did we not?” he asked, that edge there.

That seemed to work.

He nodded.

Gryphen wasn’t done.

Not.

Even.

Close.

“In it, you asked for my protection, and I gave you that. I had to protect what was mine. I barely survived this. You wouldn’t have lived had he shot you in the chest or face. I did what I did because I love you. You’re my mate, and I need you in my life.”

He picked up his hand and kissed his knuckles.

Gryphen wasn’t done.

“We are a team, and we took our vows. My duty to you is to keep you safe, and your duty to me is to listen to me. You promised to obey.”

He said nothing.

Gryphen reached into Ian’s shirt and found the platinum rectangle that he’d just put back on.

He showed it to him.

“Remember who you belong to.”

“I’m yours,” he said. “I’ll always be yours. I made my promise to be your property and other half,” Ian said, feeling a little safer.

“Say my name,” he ordered, helping Ian find that safe ground where he could stop thinking and feeling. Now, he could just let Gryphen drive this bus.

“My Lord,” he whispered.

Because Gryphen loved this man more than anything, including himself, he pulled his mouth closer to him, and he kissed him.

He knew what Ian needed, and he was going to make sure the man had it.

That was his duty.

That was his responsibility.

Now, Gryphen was back in control.

Because Ian needed it, Gryphen kissed him like there was no tomorrow, shoving peace, calm, and need deep into the man’s body.

He refused to break the kiss until he knew Ian was back to being stable. If he went to sleep, and Ian hurt himself…

He’d never forgive himself.

Ian held on, and the kiss took him deep into the memories of Scotland.

His man was back.

His protective Gryphen had returned to him.

Ian never wanted to let go, and instead stay close to the man for the rest of his life.

When Gryphen broke the kiss, he stared into his eyes.

“You’re mine, and going forward, you’ll obey and trust me, correct?”

He nodded, trusting Gryphen to stay in control and get them both through this.

“Yes, my Lord.”

Gryphen smiled, and that dimple in his chin made Ian’s heart thump.

He’d missed seeing that.

“I just want to make you happy, my Lord,” he said, meaning it. By letting Gryphen lead, he could sit back and try to heal.

Gryphen was honest.

“Then, I need you to trust me when I say there is NO WAY that Elizabeth is going to let the DA put you in jail for this. If need be, I’ll go to the media, and I’ll tell them what is going on. I’ll spill my guts, and it will be all over the news. They won’t be able to do this to you.”

He simply nodded.

“I won’t let my fiancé go to jail. We have to get married and have our honeymoon.”

Yeah, when the holes in his body were healed.

“Yes, my Lord,” he said, able to breathe again.

Gryphen wasn’t done.

“Next, you’re going to go to therapy, and we’re going to stay at the Fort. You’re not ready to be out in the world quite yet.”

Thank.

Freaking

God.

Ian wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to live outside The Fort’s walls. His heart and psyche were too shattered. He would always be afraid.

“Okay, my Lord.”

Gryphen ran his thumb over Ian’s lower lip, and he forced him to stare into his eyes.

“Tell me how you feel now.”

Ian was honest.

“I’m a little shaky, but I feel better. Thank you for taking care of me. I might just be okay.”

Oh, Gryphen knew he would.

AFTER extensive therapy.

He knew there would be a ‘come to Jesus’ talk as soon as Elizabeth saw Ian.

And the man needed it.

Because he was exhausted, and needed to rest before Jet got back with lunch, Gryphen lifted his arm, and Ian moved back under it.

When he was tucked against him. he lowered the bed back a little so they could both be comfortable.

“I’m going to take a nap, Ian, and so help me God, if I wake up and you’re gone, I’m handcuffing you to the side of the bed—AFTER I pull down your pants and put you over my knee!”

He actually laughed.

“My Lord, promises, promises,” he said, knowing he planned on being his fiancé’s shadow until they were old.

Gryphen grinned.

Now, that sounded like his man.

Ian curled into him, and he placed his hand right over Gryphen’s dick, as if claiming it for his own.

Gryphen had bad news for him.

“Uh, Mr. Patterson, I am in no shape for that kind of nap,” he said, the meds kicking in.

Oh, he was aware.

“I know, my Lord,” Ian admitted. “It just makes me feel better to touch you and know you’re back. You won’t leave me, right?” he asked, needing a nap himself.

“No, Ian. I’m back. Where am I going to go? I’m hooked up to monitors and you’re practically on top of me.”

He went to move.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” he warned. “Keep your ass right where it is. You touching me makes me feel safe too,” he admitted.

That soothed Ian’s battered soul.

“Good, because I can’t exist without you, Gryphen. What he took from me, you filled with you. If I lose you, too, there’s no amount of therapy that will help me.”

Gryphen understood that. Honestly, he wasn’t going to do anything crazy to risk himself.

Or Ian.

They’d formed a unit, and he understood that fear of losing it. They were already a family, and like they’d said in Scotland, the contract was their official license.

The wedding was for the family.

They already took their vows.

Because he needed it, he held him, and made another promise.

“We’re getting married in that castle, Ian. There is no doubt about that. I promise. Just give me time to heal, and give yourself time to work through therapy, so we can both be happy on our special day.”

Ian wanted that more than anything.

“Yes. my Lord,” he whispered, because it gave him peace to know that Gryphen was back in control. There was no way he could ever be again.

He was broken.

What he said next to Gryphen didn’t surprise him at all. In fact, he fully expected it.

“I don’t want to go back to work,” he whispered. “I never want to hold a gun again. I don’t think I can ever pull a trigger again. I took someone’s life, and even though it was Will’s, and he deserved it, I don’t think I can be a Fed anymore.”

Gryphen kissed him on the top of the head.

“Then you get to be the one who stays home with our children,” he said. “You can do that. Once we figure out what we want to do.”

Ian was so grateful he understood.

“Please,” he whispered. “I need that. I want to be a stay-at-home dad.”

That was the least he could do for the man.

“Close your eyes, my love, and sleep,” Gryphen said, and Ian listened.

Gryphen fought sleep for as long as he could. When Jet came back in, he was carrying bags of food.

It wasn’t easy, but Gryphen focused on him. Ian was out cold, clearly exhausted.

“I got you something to eat,” Jet whispered.

Gryphen kept his voice low.

“We’ll eat after I rest. Ian needs some sleep too. Can you stand outside the door, and not let him go anywhere?” he asked.

“I can do that,” Jet said, putting the food not far away on the table. “If you need anything, call for me,” he stated.

“Jet?”

The man looked over.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for trusting me, and believing I wasn’t out of my mind earlier.”

He offered him a fist bump.

“What are brothers for? And as for you not being out of your mind…who said you weren’t?” he joked.

Gryphen winked at him.

The man wasn’t wrong. That was for damn sure. He’d made some questionable choices, but the best thing he’d ever done in his life was love Ian Patterson.

That was for sure.

Now, because they were both so spent from what happened, but safe from any danger, Gryphen followed Ian into sleep.

God knew he needed it.

A.

Lot.

This time, there was peace.

And they both deserved it.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Maverick’s

Home

Same Time

The days were starting to blend.

It was the third day where Duke had nothing better to do with his time, but play house Dad.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved his girls. They were the apple of his eye, but he felt empty.

How did one go from busy and a dedicated investigator to a TV watching lump?

Well, maybe piss off your boss by crossing all kinds of lines.

Honestly, he didn’t blame Elizabeth for being angry with him. He’d crossed a line you shouldn’t even approach.

Oh, and in true LaRue genetics, he did it up spectacularly.

Apparently, he had his father’s temper.

Yowza.

And it had cost him everything.

Standing in the living room, he went to a shelf where his wife had put out pictures.

In them, there were their girls, Abby, and Charlotte. They were sweet and angelic.

And he was anything but.

As he scanned down the shelf, he came to a picture of his father and his sister, a man he’d never met.

He looked like his dad.

They had the same build, and the same idiotic behavior, apparently.

Now, Duke wished he’d met the man, or he could talk to him one time.

He honestly didn’t know how to fix this.

The apology days ago didn’t work.

Not.

Even.

Close.

How did he reconnect with his sister when she was so goddamn angry with him that he didn’t only burn that bridge, he blew it the fuck up?

How?

Yeah, this was bad.

When Charlotte crawled to him, and it was clear she needed a nap, he scooped her up.

“Abby, Baby, it’s nappy time,” he said, as the little girl got up from watching cartoons, turned off the TV, and headed his way.

They were both growing up so fast, and if he’d learned anything from being a girl dad, it was that patience mattered.

It’s ironic since he’d torn into his sister, not showing her an ounce of that.

As he walked them down the hall, and to the stairs that led to their bedroom, Duke wished he could figure this out.

“How about we all take a nap?” he said, and neither girl was arguing that.

Both of them liked sleeping.

“In daddy’s room?” Abby asked.

“Sure. We can do that,” he said.

Maybe a nap might help clear his mind, so he could figure some shit out.

“YAY!” Abby shouted, running up the steps to the bedroom the girls shared to grab her bear and Charlotte’s blankie.

Then, she beat him to his and Axelle’s room.

Once there, they all got into bed, and he put a kid on each side of him.

Would they stay there?

That was funny.

He fully expected them to roll around, change spaces, and keep him wide awake.

Only, that wasn’t what happened.

Both girls went right to sleep, and he was tired, so he closed his eyes.

Was he hiding?

Yes.

Was he going to stop?

Nope.

As he drifted off to sleep, he felt calm, at peace, and without a trouble in the world.

In his dream, he was building something in the back yard. It looked like a playhouse.

As he constructed it, that’s when he heard a voice.

“Need help, Son?”

When Duke turned, there stood the same exact man in the picture from downstairs.

He was young, had dark wavy hair, and those icy-blue eyes that the LaRue family was known to have.

“Dad?” he asked, looking around.

“Yeah, it’s me. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Charlie said, smiling at his boy.

Often, he followed Elizabeth, to be her guardian angel, but he could feel his son calling to him, needing him.

“Wow. I’m really in a deep sleep.”

Charlie laughed.

“Hardly. You’re dreaming, and I can slip in and help you. Who better to talk you down off the Elizabeth cliff you backed yourself onto?”

He laughed sardonically.

“Listen, if my conscience wants to give me advice, I’ll take it.”

Charlie wasn’t shocked.

Elizabeth struggled with the woo-woo too. He’d made her like that, and boy, had he been wrong.

“So I’m your imagination, huh?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, but I’ll take the advice and help building this playhouse for the girls.”

About that.

“Thanks for taking in Abby. I did a really bad job when it came to my son. Georgie was tainted by his mother in ways I never thought possible.”

“Yeah, well, he’s dead. Thanks to Elizabeth.”

“That hurt her in ways she’ll never admit,” he said, picking up a saw. “She never told anyone, but killing him…that was the one thing that destroyed her, and she’s had to do a lot to survive.”

Duke listened.

“She didn’t kill him the first time because she wanted to hold onto one last piece of me. She wept when I died, and when Ethan killed my ex…she hoped he could be fixed.”

Duke was measuring some wood.

“Know why she took what you said to her so hard, Duke?” he asked.

He waited.

“You’re all she had left of me. When she found out about you existing, it gave me back to her. That was something she always wanted, and it also gave her back a brother. George was too broken to be there for her.”

“I love her so much, but I broke us.”

“We’ve all been there. I broke her too. I married a woman who abused her. What my ex-wife did to her…I carry those chains to this day, Duke.”

He was confused.

“What did she do to her?”

Charlie went to a cooler and took out two beers. Then, he twisted off the top, and handed one to his son.

“She cut off all of her hair for being ungodly. She beat her on a regular basis. She was just a kid, no older than CJ and EJ.”

Duke swallowed his beer and that hurt his heart.

“That’s terrible.”

“She tried to break her at every given chance. Imagine having a mother figure tell you that you’re too skinny, too fat, not smart enough, and not good enough to exist.”

“Why didn’t you stop her?” he asked. “Why didn’t you protect my sister?” Duke asked.

“I didn’t know at the time. When she beat the hell out of Elizabeth one time, with one of my belts, and my belt buckle, she ran away. She ran to Sam’s house, and he cleaned her up. That’s why to this day, she wears belt buckles. They are a reminder to protect the weak and innocent. They are her talisman.”

Duke listened.

“Anyway, Sam saw the abuse, and he called me. He called me at work, and I showed up there fast.”

“And?”

“Elizabeth was a mess. She had welts all over her body, and she was…”

Tears filled Charlie’s eyes.

“I failed as a father, but I was never going to let Elizabeth be touched again. Sam let her stay there, and I divorced my ex. I’d say her name, but then, she’d likely manifest like Satan.”

Duke was angry.

He couldn’t imagine what his sister lived through. He had Caryn, and she’d struggled raising him—due to money—but there was always love. There were always hugs and affirmations.

“Want to know why that one word you called her hit so hard?”

He did.

“My ex called her that all of the time. She’d tell her she was nothing but a worthless whore and cunt.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

Duke really hurt her in ways he didn’t even know.

“Dad, how do I fix it?” he asked. “How do I get her back? I love Elizabeth so much. She got me through so much, and she didn’t deserve what I did. I just can’t get her to speak to me.”

Charlie thought about it.

“When she needs you, you show up, and you tell her what she means to you. She didn’t forgive you because…it didn’t seem genuine. You really hurt her, and instead of trying to dig beneath why it hurt her this much, you slapped a generic apology over a festering wound.”

He could see that.

“She might be your older sister, Duke, but she carries everyone on her shoulders. She holds up the world, alone.”

He felt terrible.

“I love her so much,” Duke said. “She’s my only connection to you too.”

He hugged his son, and it felt so real.

“I know. You’ll make it better. She does love you, and she’s trying to work through the fact that someone close to her, who was supposed to protect her, didn’t—again.”

He understood.

“I should have let Axelle and Elizabeth handle it. It was above my paygrade, and I immediately got sucked in.”

“Notice how Callen, Ethan, and Chris didn’t?” he asked. “Notice, they didn’t go after Axelle, until after you made the mistake?”

Oh, he was aware.

His brothers-in-law were far smarter than him.

“Elizabeth needs someone in her life that loves her unconditionally. Look at her husbands.”

He kicked back his beer.

“I’m going to make this right.”

Charlie knew he would.

“You’re a LaRue. Of course, you’re going to fuck it up before making it right. That was the story of my life. I had Catherine, and I cheated on her. I rushed into marrying my ex-wife because I wanted a mother for Elizabeth, when Sam was the best mother that she ever had.”

“I’ll fix it.”

He patted him on the back.

“I know.”

He began walking away.

“Where are you going?” Duke asked. “We aren’t done building this monstrosity.”

Charlie turned and grinned.

“I don’t know what you heard about me, but I don’t build shit, Son. I was a cop. Hey, when you talk to Axelle, tell her I said thank you for the letter she put in my coffin when I died.”

“Okay. Will I dream about you again?” Duke asked, having enjoyed this moment.

“You might if you need me. Now, wake up, because Axelle is about to text you,” he said, snapping his fingers.

As soon as he did, Duke sat up and looked around.

Shit.

That had been a dream.

When his phone chimed, he pulled it from his pocket, and it was his wife.

Well, that was…

Odd.

Reading over the text, he was still thinking about the dream he just had about his father.

‘I’m going to try and get out of here early. Elizabeth is in the field. She caught a case from Gabe. I think she’s avoiding me, and I feel terrible. Kiss the girls for me. I’ll see you around four. Love you, Duke.’

He read it again, and was compelled to do something. He needed to see if that dream…

It couldn’t be real, but he was hella curious.

So, he went there.

‘Babe, when my dad died, did you put a letter in his coffin? I had this weird dream, and he told me to tell you thank you for the letter.’

He sent it, and it didn’t take long to get a response from his wife.

Only, he really wasn’t expecting it.

‘How the hell did you know that? Yes, I put a letter in there saying how much I loved him, and how he was like a father to me. I told him I’d watch out for Elizabeth, and keep her safe.’

Now, he was staring at his phone, and he couldn’t breathe.

HOLY.

SHIT.

He’d just dreamed about his father, and it was really Charlie.

How was this even possible?

What the hell?

The whole thing freaked him out.

Why?

Because if what Charlie said about the letter was right, everything he’d told him about what Elizabeth lived through as a child was right too.

Yeah, he’d really screwed up, and Duke knew one thing.

No, two.

He needed to make this right with Elizabeth because she needed him.

And he’d actually got to meet his dad.

Charlie LaRue showed up.

At.

Last.

Chapter Ten

The J Edgar Hoover

Building

Autopsy One

Wednesday Afternoon

When they returned to the building, it was chaos at first. Chris had been prepared to dig deep, and do everything he needed to get all the autopsies done. Only, after arriving in his morgue, there was a surprise.

He came face-to-face with two other MEs waiting for him to help out.

Oh, he expected Zane, but Dalia?

No.

Freaking.

Way.

Dalia Cooper was in her gear, and she was ready to jump in and take one of the bodies for him.

Oh, and he couldn’t be more grateful. He’d been ready to cry over how lousy he felt, and now, he might just make it through the day.

They got down to work, and not a word was said about Elizabeth calling her in.

As it was unfolding, Callen held his breath for the explosion when Chris found out that his wife had called in the other ME, but there wasn’t one.

Surprisingly.

That should have told him everything he needed to know.

Instead of friction, they each took a victim, and got ready to do their jobs.

The whole time, Autopsy One was pretty quiet, minus the normal sounds of techs, equipment, and an autopsy, times three.

Still, Callen was concerned.

How could he not be?

Callen watched his husband, and noticed that Chris was definitely not all right. He was moving slower than usual, and struggling to do the simplest things that he normally could do in his sleep.

Yep…

Elizabeth had called this one.

Something was up, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Elizabeth dug in and made the man insane. Only, someone had to do it.

All that Callen could hope for was that it didn’t end in a fight.

But it would.

It always did.

The bottom line was that Chris hated it when he was hovered over, and they really tried not to do that, but he’d been off for a while, and at his last doctor appointment, his numbers were elevated.

Only, how did you bring up concern when someone clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

When Chris looked up, their eyes met.

Callen didn’t want to say anything out loud, but he knew he needed to say something to Chris.

Are you okay? he signed, hoping the man would just tell him so they could cut to the chase. You’re off your game today. What’s going on?

Chris just shook his head, and clearly, had no intention of going there with him, or anyone else.

Yeah, there was no explanation.

Nothing.

Yeah, that was pretty much what he thought would happen. Instead of talking about it, he went back to the autopsy and nothing more was said.

Well, he hoped the man was ready for hurricane Elizabeth to roll in and stop that jackassery. She’d be calm, until it annoyed her.

To challenge her in the middle of a case was ballsy and wild. Clearly, Chris hadn’t learned.

The bottom line was that she would only tolerate it for so long.

Oh, well.

Play stupid games with their wife, win stupid prizes like an ass kicking.

Getting comfortable, Callen pulled out his laptop, and got down to researching for his wife. Already, he was eyeball deep in the victims, running the system to find any missing persons that matched Chris’ TOD.

By the time he got through those, Elizabeth would be hitting up Clandestine Connections to get information on all the people tied to Max.

Then, Callen would be searching through those potential dates to see if they matched the dead women, and crosschecking all the motel guests against Max’s life.

Only, first, she needed information, and he was up to bat. Callen found the website, pulled up the address, and then forwarded it to his wife so she was ready.

It was clear that she got it.

‘Thanks, my love. Can you run the owner for me? I want to be on my game, so I don’t have to skip anything and come back. I told Gabe about this, and he wants this handled quickly and quietly for Max’s sake.’

Oh, he bet.

He rattled off a text back to her, and then did some deep research on Kian Berry.

What he found out was that he was the son of a very wealthy man who lived in The District.

Oh, boy.

That never boded well for them when they had to tangle with someone rich and powerful in The District.

Only, they would still do it because his wife liked rattling people’s cages.

So, Callen kept digging, and found more.

Oh, and it was exactly what he’d expected to find.

Kian’s father had basically given him everything in life, and the man’s only job was playing matchmaker and getting paid a shit ton for it too.

When he saw the value of the company online, he nearly fell over.

There was some money in that.

Apparently.

Who would have thought randomly hooking up men and women on dates with other ‘indiscriminating’ people would lead to a massive amount of revenue.

Why were they killing themselves as Feds?

That was a damn good question.

They had the mother of all matchmakers in their family, and could be raking it in without being shot at.

Instead of going there, Callen kept digging, and sending Elizabeth information to her shared drive, so that when she hit up the business, she wouldn’t be behind.

When something hit the floor, the metal on concrete made him jump.

“Sorry, everyone,” Chris said, picking up his tray of tools. “They slipped. Darn gloves.”

Callen stared at him.

Yeah, they had a problem. Chris was already sweating, and he hadn’t even started the autopsy yet.

He was on the paperwork part.

As he uploaded everything he found on the motel, the manager, and the crime scene, Callen sent another text but this time to his brother.

‘Yo! Something’s up with Chris. He looks sick. Did he say anything to you? Elizabeth called in Dalia, going over his head, and he didn’t even flinch. That’s not normal for him.’

It didn’t take long for his brother to reply.

‘No. He hasn’t said a word to me about anything. Uh, he didn’t get pissy that she fucked with his budget for overtime? That’s not good. Something is definitely up with him.’

Yeah, he was aware, and that was problematic.

His husband, or should he say their husband, was definitely hiding something.

Now, they had to figure out what.

Before Hurricane Elizabeth hit port.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Hoover Building

Same Time

The Psychology Division

After pondering his brother’s text,  Ethan knew he had to do the things his wife requested from him.

Later would be a profile.

But now…

He needed to get Callie to make a little house call to a certain Fed who was struggling.

In their shared division, in her office, he found Callie, and had to wait until she was done on the phone with an agent before he barged in.

When she hung up, and before she could get busy again, he knocked on her door.

“Hey,” he said, getting her attention.

She motioned him in.

Callie didn’t realize that he was working in-house today. She knew Elizabeth had pulled a case, since Axl Thorn, their office intern, and Elizabeth’s team member, got the text that she was going to be out of the office working.

“I’m about to have lunch. Quinn dropped off a hoagie, and it’s the size of a small child. I don’t know who he thinks he’s feeding. Want to go halfsies with me, so we can put this bad boy down?” she asked.

That amused him.

Because they needed privacy, and the universal sign not to barge in for them was a closed door, he did that and headed in.

“Sure. Thanks,” he said. “I know what he was thinking,” Ethan said. “He knew Elizabeth caught a case, and he wanted to likely fuel you up for a while.”

She laughed.

“Oh, boy. When will my husband and Kane stop giving her cases.”

About that…

“Oh, well, here’s a fun fact. She stole it from them this time.”

That had her curious.

“Really?”

He nodded.

When he sat, she unrolled the wrapper, and gave him half along with some napkins.

Then, they had lunch together.

“Well, I can only imagine what it’s about.”

He told her, and she looked just as shocked as they all were. Max had used her professional services a few times when he had a case, and she never suspected he was gay.

“Poor Max,” she offered.

Yeah, he was aware.

As they were eating, he had to get something handled first before they even started talking about any case.

Then, he wanted to talk to Callie, not as a fellow doctor, but as his doctor.

Granted, he hadn’t needed therapy in a while, but he was there and confused.

“We had a situation today,” Ethan began.

Callie was chewing her food, and honestly, she wasn’t sure where this was going.

“What?” she asked. “Is Willa okay? Are you and Gene having an issue with parenting?”

He appreciated her asking.

“She’s good, and no, Gene and I are great, but this is more about Ian Patterson, Elizabeth’s office manager.”

She was curious.

The last she’d heard, from Elizabeth, was that she sent them someplace safe.

“What happened?”

He told her everything starting with them sending the man to Scotland to their castle, to Will Jackson, and ending with today where the man tried to end his life.

She gasped.

“You have a castle?”

He began laughing.

Well, he’d not seen that one coming. Then again, everyone had the same reaction to that, pretty much.

“Yeah, Callen and Chris, in their infinite wisdom, thought that buying our wife a haunted castle was going to be a good plan of action. Spoiler…it wasn’t.”

She lifted a brow.

“And how do you feel about not being able to reciprocate your love in a monetary way like that?”

Oh, she was funny.

“While I agree my masculinity takes a beating sometimes, when I can’t do the same things that they can, this time, I was glad. She was PISSED. It’s rare for Elizabeth to get that angry, but she was unhappy for—well, she’s still unhappy about it.”

Ethan knew that there was no reason for his masculinity to take a hit. Their money was shared, and they all had joint accounts and credit cards that were tied to it. They were a family.

“Oh, I bet. She would HATE the premise that a man bought her a castle, taking away her power, and reverting her to princess in a castle.”

He blinked.

“Oh, is that why she’s so stirred up?” he asked. “Not because they bought it, but because she feels like they made her the damsel in distress?”

Callie laughed.

“Absolutely. What were they thinking?” she asked.

Ethan shrugged.

“You got me. They told me, and I warned them. I’m the only one not on her bad list. Now, about the rest?” he asked, redirecting to the real problem.

She knew what he was talking about.

“We have to pull Ian’s creds,” she said. “If he’s contemplating suicide, and tried, he can’t be running around with a gun.”

Ethan was honest.

“I already did. I did the paperwork when I got back into the office.”

“Is he safe?” she asked.

Oh, he was.

“Right now, he’s under the watchful eyes of a Marine. He won’t be going anywhere. He’s with Gryphen, and Jet is babysitting both of them. Tonight, Uriel will do it.”

She put her food down and sat back in her chair.

“He’s been through so much trauma. The rape, the shooting, and now being charged with it. This is all coming to a head.”

Ethan was honest.

“My wife texted me. She asked the president to step in. Apparently, the only reason the DA is doing this is she and my wife have beef. BIG beef.”

She got it.

When two powerful women went head-to-head, this happened. That Elizabeth tended to be the alpha in the room, and the DA was trying to best her at that…

It would rumple feathers.

“Well, that will make him feel better. If Gabriel Rothschild calls her, she’d be stupid to not listen. If she has any political aspirations in The District, she’ll drop it. While Elizabeth can’t ding up her career, the President of The United States can.”

“Well, if Jane Winters thinks that the stunt my wife pulled last time was wild, if she keeps poking the bear, she’s gonna get clawed.”

She leaned in.

“What did she do?”

Ethan laughed.

“Remember the case where the bodies were showing up at the Harrisonian and the killer was a victim of the men?”

She nodded.

“My wife paid for the attorney to get her off or get her reduced charges. Jane Winters was pissed, and Max offered up a plea deal, superseding Jane’s plan.”

“Oh, boy.”

“Yeah. My wife wasn’t playing with that woman, and now, it’s a tit for tat kind of a thing. I hope Jane backs off, because Elizabeth will sit down with all the major networks in DC, and do a scathing interview that will make Jane look really bad.”

Oh, there was no doubt there.

“Now, though, until that happens, what would make us feel better is the fact that he isn’t a danger to himself. This is more up your alley. You tend to talk people down from the ledge.”

She laughed.

“The crazy you know. I will absolutely talk to him. Because he’s tried to take his life, I have no choice. I’ll take a little trip tomorrow to the hospital to see Gryphen too.”

Ethan figured she’d say that.

“Thank you, Callie. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

She waved her hand.

“Ethan, you know that it is never a problem. Now, want to tell me what has you twitchy?” she asked. “Because you’re tense. Something is up with you.”

He lifted a brow.

Oh, she was good.

“What do you mean?” he inquired, knowing he had wanted to talk to her about personal things.

She explained.

“You never have lunch with me, and you absolutely never share food that I offer. You’re a creature of habit, and that tells me you want to talk, but don’t know how to do it. So go ahead, and just tell me. You have my undivided attention.”

He actually laughed.

She was right.

“Remind me to never play this game with you. You’re mind shrinking the mind shrink.”

She winked at him.

Oh, she knew this man well. She’d been in his mind, and she’d pieced him back together again after his abduction and burial.

“Imagine how Quinton feels. I make him work for it, and he’s insane about it. When I stare at him, even if it’s just to admire my husband, he blurts out something he’s done that he shouldn’t have. Yesterday, he told me he ate my candy bar in the freezer.”

Ethan was amused by that.

That was crazy.

“I actually do want to talk to you, but it’s as Ethan the patient. Not Ethan the co-worker. You’re right. I am twitchy about something.”

She understood.

Sitting back in her chair, she let him decide how to handle this.

“Absolutely. Do you want to finish this over our lunch, or head to the couch and…”

He was to the point.

There was no reason to put this on the record.

“I don’t want this in my file. It’s personal and embarrassing, but I’m struggling with it.”

She could do that.

As long as it wasn’t him thinking about harming himself, too, it didn’t have to go on his record. How everyone in the family didn’t have more sessions with her befuddled Callie. She and Quinn couldn’t imagine having that many spouses and not having it be a free-for-all.

“Absolutely. Fire away.”

Ethan was embarrassed, but there was no one he could talk to about this. He trusted Callista Gaines—with his life.

“I’m in a committed relationship with four people. Yet, I’m struggling with something.”

She just kept eating.

It was rare Ethan opened up about anything, but she could see he was definitely tripped up.

It had to be big.

“When Gene and I were young agents, we had a really…spicy sex life,” he admitted, leaving that right there for her to assume.

She tipped her head.

Oh, well, she was a curious cat.

“How spicy? Are we talking illegal, almost illegal, or kink?”

He was honest.

“The middle one. It was pretty close to being arrest-worthy in at least half the states.”

Interesting.

Now, he had her attention.

“Okay, and? He wants you to go back there again, and you just can’t?” she asked, taking a shot at what could be bothering him.

Oh, that wasn’t even close.

HARDLY.

So, Ethan explained.

“When we broke up, I hid that part of me from everyone. It hurt because I really had been blindsided when Gene left me. I tucked that part of me away.”

Callie was following.

“And?”

Ethan shared.

“Here I am, back with Gene, and that cat is back out of the bag. We revisited that particular activity.”

She waited, not sure which way this would go with Ethan. He was a complex person. What she did know was that it was best to just let him talk, and not interrupt.

“And I liked it. A lot.”

She reassured him.

“Sex should be fun, Ethan. Enjoying it is a sign of a healthy sex life. There is no shame in it unless someone is being hurt. Is someone being hurt?” she asked. “Or manipulated? Or forced?”

He struggled to articulate it so he could keep it as private as possible, but it was so difficult to do that.

Callie saw him struggling, so she stopped him.

“Ethan, just tell me what the sex act is that has you tripped up, and I can help you better. There’s nothing you can tell me that will horrify me.”

He hoped not.

For so long, it freaked him out, even though he craved it like an addict.

Oh, well, here went nothing.

“I get off on voyeurism. Now, I kinda want my wife to join in, and watch the man I love get me off. Maybe help. It makes me feel all kind of something,” he said, not knowing what it made him feel.

Thus, why he was struggling.

She picked up her water bottle and took a sip so she could think of an answer for him.

“And that’s it?” she asked.

Blackhawk nodded.

He was honest.

“It freaks me out. I’m overthinking it, but how do I not? She’s going to see what our sex life was before her, and I don’t want her to be hurt. I in no way think sex with Gene is better, or worse. I’m feeling pulled two different ways on this, and I need help.”

Clearly.

“Did you talk this over with her to see how she would feel watching Gene and you having sex?”

He nodded.

Yeah, he had.

“Elizabeth has her own kink, and please never say I told you this,” he admitted. “If she finds out I told you, it might hurt her.”

Callie doubted that.

She knew the woman, and if Ethan was telling her in therapy, there was no way she would get upset.

In a bar, as a joke, yes.

To help him come to grips, no.

Elizabeth had a huge heart and a mile-wide streak of compassion for this man.

“I won’t. What gets discussed in a session is private, and you know that. This is a safe space for you, like I also offer her when we speak.”

“You speak?” he asked.

She nodded.

“About what?”

It made her laugh.

“Ethan, you know I can’t tell you that. Anything she says to me in confidence, that she calls Dr-Patient privilege, is just that.”

He was curious, but Ethan was also grateful for that. At least his wife had someone to talk things through with. That mattered.

Now, he had to go there.

“My wife’s kink is watching the men in her life get hot and heavy.”

Callie grinned.

“Newsflash, Ethan. That’s a very common fantasy, or kink if you will, for women everywhere. Let’s be blunt. The men in Elizabeth’s life are handsome. It’s natural.”

Well, hers was.

His kink…not so much.

“I want her to watch me. Worse, I want her to participate in it. I get incredibly turned on thinking about it. The idea that she and Gene…”

“Dominating you?” she asked, guessing.

He nodded.

Then, he explained why this was so odd for him, and why he was struggling.

“I’m almost never a bottom, Callie. I built this persona and this life as a dominant, tough man who takes no shit, and now, I want to be a bottom so bad. I want to shut my brain down, and just feel.”

Callie had to ask questions.

“And how does your wife feel about this fantasy of yours, and how does Gene feel?”

He shared so that Callie could help him work through it. Ethan really needed help, and he trusted her.

“They can switch from top to bottom. Gene is a bottom by nature, and Elizabeth has a stressful job, and she likes to be dominated but she can also take control. So far, neither has seemed like this is traumatizing, but I don’t know if they’ll enjoy it, or they are doing it for me.”

She reassured him.

“Ethan, if they didn’t enjoy it, they wouldn’t do it. Your relationship isn’t really odd. Gene and Elizabeth are the same person. Their personalities, their sarcasm, and their hearts. You fell in love with the same person in two vessels. Of course, they are going to want you to be free and feel pleasure. You give that to them, so they are just doing what a good partner does. They share it back.”

He let her talk.

“What’s the big thing that’s causing you trouble. Just say it. Get it off your chest. You’re beating around the bush. I can’t help you if you aren’t one hundred percent honest.”

He blurted it out.

“I don’t want my wife to think I’m some pervert.”

And there it was.

Now, she could address the issue better.

“I happen to know your wife very well. She is pretty damn tough, and she doesn’t take shit. I also know that the way to her soul is by way of you. She genuinely is madly, stupidly, crazily in love with you. There is nothing you can do during sex that will traumatize her. She has a side to her where she wants to dominate the world, and then come home to her men to just forget. Partaking in your fantasy isn’t crazy. It’s her immersing herself in you. You’re her happy place. Her safe place to go.”

His heart skipped as she said that.

God.

He wanted to always be that for his mates.

“Is it weird though? You know…that I want her to watch?”

She was honest.

“Nope. Most women like watching two men together. It’s sexy. Two hot men going at it? That’s our most common kink. The trick is finding men who are comfortable with it. If I asked my husband to make out with a guy, he’d think I lost my mind. Yours can do that.”

He laughed.

“Well, that’s definitely her kink. She’s always trying to get me and Callen to cross lines.”

“Well, can I be blunt?”

He waited.

“You and your brother are very attractive, and she loves you both. The idea of you both together isn’t that odd, and you being in love or sexually attracted to him is perfectly normal.”

He paused.

Ethan hadn’t been expecting that.

“Pardon?”

“It’s called Consanguineous Relationships or Genetic Sexual Attraction.”

He thought back to school, and tried to remember those terms.

Why couldn’t he?

Callie continued.

“We have seen incidences of this all the way back to biblical times, and before with Pagans. What does your own upbringing tell you being Native?”

Ethan thought about it.

“Natives are pretty laid back. We have two spirit people, and we don’t tend to shy away from gay situations. It’s welcome. The Great Spirit made us to enjoy life.”

Here came the big question.

“Do you want to have that kind of relationship with your brother?”

Ethan considered it.

Then, he was honest.

“We both would love to cross that line. It’s just that it’s a line, and…”

She reassured him.

“It’s a line created by society. Mostly, to protect children from adults. Incest is ugly, when one party isn’t willing, and it is forced. Are either you or Callen being forced to do that?”

He thought about it.

“No.”

Callie shrugged.

“So do what makes you happy and makes you feel comfortable. The media already says you do it, and no one came to your house with pitchforks and torches, right?”

She was right.

“Sensationalism sells, but what happens in your bedroom is your business.”

Ethan took it all in.

She was right. When Callen joined their relationship, everyone thought he was having sex with his half-brother. He wasn’t, but eventually, the media and society adjusted. Now, no one batted an eye.

They didn’t get questions anymore.

It wasn’t even on the media’s radar. At first, he’d been afraid it would destroy his career, and that’s why they didn’t go there with the media.

But it hadn’t.

He’d still climbed the ladder, and he still got the invites in DC. Ethan was still a power player there, despite that.

“So you’re saying crossing the line with my brother isn’t a big deal?”

She nodded.

“Trust me, Ethan, I don’t think about it. I know my husband, a cop, doesn’t think about it. The media made its money from it, and now, it’s a dead topic. No one cares but you.”

She was right.

“You’re both consenting adults. If you want to, and there won’t be any children born…”

He laughed.

“Unfortunately, neither one of us has working uteruses anymore,” he joked. “We had them removed when Elizabeth was bought a castle. Our balls almost went with them.”

She laughed.

Oh, she knew Elizabeth well. She bet the woman was hella pissed. She hated surprises.

“Anyway, what you feel is normal. You’re in a polyandrous relationship, and you and Callen didn’t really have that relationship like a normal sibling. When did he join your family?”

“When he was twelve. Then, I was gone at eighteen.”

She kept asking questions.

“And you shared a room?” she asked.

He laughed.

“Let’s just say I’ve known about my brother’s erection for many, many years. We bunked in the same bed, and we cuddled when it was cold out. When you don’t have heat, and you’re poor, body heat keeps you alive. Morning wood happens. We’ve always had few boundaries.”

Callie figured as much.

“Have you crossed lines with him?”

He didn’t hesitate.

“We’ve kissed plenty of times. At first, it was hesitant, but he just told me if we weren’t brothers, we would have been a couple.”

Again, no shock there. She saw the way his brother looked at him, and how he protected Callen. They were a couple—just minus the sex.

“And in that moment, how did that make you feel about it?”

He laughed and flushed red.

“I like kink, Callie. I think we both know how that made me feel.”

She shrugged.

“If it happens, it’s not the end of the world. You’ll stop being freaked out when you normalize it. Again, he’s not a woman, and you’re not going to bring a child into the world that might have medical issues due to it. As for your wife and Gene, let that ebb and flow too. You guys have a relationship that few have mastered. Let your instincts do the leading in this case. If it feels right—no worries.”

There was a weight off of his shoulders. Honestly, Ethan didn’t even know it was there, but now, he could feel it lifting.

“Thank you, Callie.”

She didn’t mind.

“You’re always welcome, Ethan. You know I’m here for you.”

For the longest time in his life, he didn’t have someone he could trust with his mental health, and the day he opened up to Callie, and she helped him…

He pieced his life back together.

Because he knew they both had work to do, and he didn’t want to tie her up, he went around her desk, and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you for being my doctor, and my friend. I appreciate how you help me, and are gentle with my heart.”

She cared about him.

The Blackhawks were their friends, and family. There were many times she and Quinn needed help, and they were the first ones to show up.

Every time she had a child, Elizabeth came with a gift, and enough food for her kids and husband so she could just be a new mom.

When Quinn needed help, Callen and Ethan showed up, to help him too.

They were their tribe.

“Never a problem. We’re family, and I am grateful you trust me with your troubles. I know you’ve carried mine for me too.”

And he always would.

At the door, he smiled at her, and it was genuine.

That was her payment enough.

Taking his lunch back to his office, Ethan sat down, and he was thinking about what Callie had said to him.

He wanted to stop thinking of his life in shades of black and white.

He wanted to be free to be happy.

So, he trusted her advice.

Pulling out his phone, he texted his brother. Since he was opening up to all the possibilities of his relationship, he was curious.

‘Do you think it’s weird we flirt with crossing the line and having sex?’

He hit send, and sat there.

It didn’t take long for his brother to reply. At first, he expected to be hurt, since that was his first response to everything.

He’d been conditioned to think that, but his family had yet to break him. Maybe it was time to trust the people he loved by being genuine and showing them the real him.

True to Callen form, he wasn’t a dick, and he didn’t break Ethan.

The opposite was true.

He was the sweet, kind brother he’d always been, and for that, Ethan was grateful.

‘Honestly, no. I told you we would have already crossed that line had we not been brothers. Why? What’s going on? This is an odd text to get. Are you okay? Do you need me to come up to your office?’

Ethan stared at his phone.

It took all he had to be completely honest.

‘I do need you to come to my office. I just got out of a session with Callie, and it involved us. I think I want to go further. I think I want to see what happens, and instead of holding back, just see where it leads.’

He held his breath the whole time as his brother didn’t return the text.

As his heart was pounding, he heard his door open, and saw Callen peek his head in.

“Are you okay?” he asked, coming in and closing the door behind him. “I didn’t know you had a session today with Callie. Do you need to talk?”

Clearly, he did.

He went over to his couch, and patted it.

“Yeah, I kinda do.”

Callen came over, and he sat beside Ethan, worried about his brother. It was rare he had a therapy appointment. In the past, it usually meant a storm was brewing.

“Talk to me, EJ.”

“I love you, and I’m in love with you. I’m tired of pretending it’s only because of you being my half-brother.”

Callen took his hand, and he held it.

“Okay.”

“I had the session with Callie, more or less because of the ‘Elizabeth and Gene’ thing, not so much the ‘us’ thing. In the process, it came up.”

Callen was as calm as ever, and Ethan loved that most about him. In all of their lives, nothing he ever told him in confidence ever rattled him.

NOTHING.

“As I was talking out the Gene-Elizabeth date, it came up about my attraction to you, and it’s not just kink. I want more between us. I know that’s shocking.”

Callen stopped him.

“It’s not shocking. We spend a lot of time together, and most of it is when we’re naked. In bed, you don’t feel like my brother. You’re my husband. You’re my other half.”

He felt that too.

“I don’t want to cross the lines, CJ. I want to erase the lines, and just be free. I’m tired of locking myself in that box, and I want to be able to just feel.”

As soon as he said the words, Callen moved at him, catching his mouth with his. As soon as he did, that heat exploded between them.

Their tongues tangled, and their hands went into each other’s hair as Callen pressed his brother into the couch. The kiss was one they always shared with Elizabeth, Gene, or Chris.

Now, it was being shared between them.

That heat whipped through both of them, and with their eyes closed, that passion felt exactly the same as when they were their other spouses.

That said it all.

The line only kept them at arm’s length. That love brought them closer together.

As Ethan kissed his brother back, the scent of his cologne, and the feel of him against him felt as natural as anything.

There was no shame or disgust.

There was love.

As the heat went up in the room, slowly, Callen released the kiss, and stared into his brother’s eyes.

“I’ve told you many times about how I’ve felt about you. If you want the lines erased, Ethan, I’m good with that.”

Ethan was honest.

“I don’t want to force you…”

He took his hand, and put it over the rock-hard bump in his pants.

“You aren’t forcing me to do anything,” he said, and then he touched Ethan, making him moan. “And I’m not forcing you. Let’s just be happy and married. What happens, happens. I’m curious, and I’m willing to take a chance.”

It felt good not to have his feelings betrayed. His brother could have laughed or backed away from him, damaging him, but he didn’t.

He felt loved.

Safe.

Protected.

That was all Ethan ever wanted.

With tenderness, he tucked Callen’s long hair behind his ear.

“I love you so much, and I will love you no matter what,” he said.

“If we cross that line, and it’s horrible, at least Elizabeth gets a really good birthday present.”

Ethan laughed.

“She’d cut off both her feet, and Ivan’s for that gift.”

He was aware.

“I love you, EJ. If our lives had been different, and we never found out we were brothers, and we met, what would have happened?”

Ethan knew.

“We would have been a couple.”

Exactly.

“We are a couple. You can get up in my personal space, and I’m not scared. You’ve never hurt me. You’ve never forced me. I’m safe with you, and I know it.”

Ethan kissed him again, and that same heat was there. It whipped them up, and sent the lust cascading through their beings.

It was hard to breathe.

When Ethan broke the kiss, he stared in his brother’s eyes.

“You need to go.”

Callen grinned wickedly at him, and palmed his cheek with his big hand.

“I’ll go, Ethan, but another time, I won’t. I want to see what it’s like, and I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

Callen got up, and he adjusted his clothing, so he didn’t look disheveled.

When he leaned down, he whispered in his ear.

“I love you, EJ. Later,” he said.

Then, he bit him on the earlobe, hard enough to shoot even more need and lust through his body.

Ethan moaned, and he watched Callen leave the office, closing the door behind him.

Holy.

Shit.

His dick was rock hard, and now, he was thinking about all of this.

How the hell could he not?

When he went to get up, his phone chimed, and he pulled it from his pocket.

That’s when he saw it was a text from Callen.

What was this?

He could only imagine.

‘Gene’s not the only one who’s going to top you, EJ. When it happens, be ready. I’ve waited long enough to know exactly what I want. Your ass is mine.’

He read it three times.

And each time, that wetness in his boxer briefs told the tale. He absolutely wanted it.

Oh, and he wanted it badly.

The way his brother made him feel wiped away anything he had worried about before.

It appeared that he was going to have a whole other kind of kink to add to his list.

And he was going to enjoy it.

With shaking fingers, he composed a text back to Callen, hoping he could get a full sentence out, so it made sense.

Only, his brain was fuzzy from what he was feeling.

‘Yes, please, Mr. James.’

And there it was.

In that moment, Ethan erased the line, and let his needs lead the way.

Forget what everyone else thought.

Ethan wanted to be loved more than anything in his life because love healed him.

Chapter Eleven

The Hospital

Post Nap

Lunchtime

When Gryphen woke up from his little sleep break, Ian was still beside him, and he was out cold. It was clear that they both needed that nap after the last few days, but now, Gryphen needed something else that he was craving more than sleep.

FOOD.

He couldn’t remember the last time he ate something. It was time to change that. He could smell the food not far away, and his belly growled.

Whatever they were feeding him in the tubes into his arm had NOTHING on that bacon burger on the table.

Now, if only he could reach it.

That was the dilemma.

When he stuck out his arm, it just touched the bag with his fingertips, but it must have jostled Ian, because his eyes opened, and he sat up fast.

Gryphen could see the artery in his neck thumping in fear.

“Morning, my love,” he said, smiling at Ian.

It took him a second to acclimate himself with his surroundings.

Ian was blunt.

“I dreamed that you were missing,” he said.

Gryphen knew he was going to have to be gentle and patient for a while until Ian realized he was going nowhere.

“Nope. I’m right here.”

Ian seemed to visibly calm down when he realized that was a fact.

“Did you get any sleep?” he asked Gryphen.

The big man nodded.

“Yeah, but now, I have a problem.”

Ian waited.

“I’m starving,” he said, pointing at the burgers in the bags not far away. “Can my man maybe help me out, and get me some of that protein waiting there.”

That was all Ian had to hear.

He climbed off of the hospital bed, and began pulling the food from the paper bags to put them on the rolling table. He laid out all of Gryphen’s food, and then, moved it toward him.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Gryphen asked Ian when his food was still in the bag.

“No, I’m okay.”

Yeah, no.

That shit wasn’t happening.

“Well, then, you can put mine away for now. I’ll eat when you eat,” he stated. “I can wait.”

Ian argued.

“Gryphen, you need to eat. I’m good.”

He didn’t believe that.

“When’s the last time you ate something?” Gryphen asked, knowing it had been three days since he had been shot.

“This morning.”

Gryphen whistled, and that got Jet’s attention outside of the door. When he came in, Gryphen was curious.

“Jet, did Mr. Patterson eat this morning?” he asked.

The man was honest.

“I haven’t seen him eat yet. Elizabeth holds him at gunpoint at night and forces some calories into him.”

Well, then, Gryphen had his answer.

“Thanks, Jet.”

When the man went out, Gryphen adjusted himself in the bed, and stared down the man he loved. Oh, he’d been there, so he knew what he was doing.

When you didn’t eat, you were tired more often. When you were tired more often, you slept. When you slept, you escaped reality.

Well, not on his watch.

That wasn’t happening.

“Take your food out, Mr. Patterson. We’re about to have a hospital bed picnic.”

He went to argue, and Gryphen lifted a brow almost daring him.

That shut that down fast.

“Yes, my Lord,” he said, taking the food out for himself, and spreading it out.

When Ian placed the table over the bed, so Gryphen could eat from it, the big man waited.

“Climb on, and join me. It’s not dinner at the castle, but it’s still nice to share a meal with you.”

Ian said nothing, but instead climbed onto the bed and did as Gryphen said.

“I remember when the positions were reversed,” Gryphen said. “I hope you don’t mind taking care of me,” he admitted, trying to distract him.

Ian stared at his food.

When he didn’t answer, Gryphen lifted his chin with his fingers, and stared into his eyes.

“Why are you struggling? Just tell me so I can cut to the chase, and make this better.”

“I feel responsible for this. I can’t stop feeling it. I’m sorry, Gryphen.”

He ate a fry as he tried to figure out how to handle this with the man. He was no psychologist, so that made this tricky.

“You’re not responsible. I’m not telling you that this is your fault. It’s not.”

Ian was honest.

“You could have died.”

“And you could have died had I not protected you. This is the life you chose, Ian, and again, now, you’re not trusting me. I was fine.”

“You died multiple times. They almost couldn’t bring you back.”

“But they did.”

“But what if they didn’t?” he argued.

“Then, I would have died protecting the man I love. I didn’t die doing something illegal or bad, Ian. I would have died for love, and there’s no better reason to leave this big ball than that.”

“But what about me?” he whispered.

“Ian, I can’t answer that. Only you know what would have happened. I can’t police your life, but now, you’re trying to police mine. You’re withholding the man I love because of guilt. That doesn’t make me feel good.”

He stared at him.

“It was calm and peaceful,” he admitted. “I remember all of it. I was on this beach, and the sand was so white and warm. The water was the same color as your eyes, and when it lapped the shore, the sound was peaceful.”

Ian let him talk.

“I was on the beach and everything I wanted was there. If I wanted a beer, one appeared. If I wanted something to eat, it was there.”

“So you wanted to stay there?” he asked.

“I would have. I won’t lie, Ian, but I’ve done battle a long time, and the voices that told you that you were to blame were the same ones that said the same thing to me.”

He was curious.

“Why did you come back?”

He was honest.

“I had no intention to. Then, I saw this man in the water swimming toward me. I didn’t know him, but I knew him. He was the first person I saw in I don’t know how long. When he came ashore, it was you.”

Gryphen fed him a french fry.

“You knew me, and I knew you.”

“What happened next?”

He kept going.

“We had some really spectacular sex. Well, we tried, but the water wanted you gone. It tried to pull you out of there. We went into my hut, and by the end, I remembered you. That’s how I woke up. You were talking to me, and I could hear you.”

“Are you sorry you came back?” he asked.

“No, I’m not. You know all those voices?” he asked, eating another fry.

Ian nodded.

“They are gone. I needed that time away to let my body and mind heal. Maybe dying reset me. Maybe that fixed what I believed was broken. All I know is you were my first thought when I woke up.”

“It’s relentless,” Ian whispered.

Gryphen knew.

“We’re going to work through it, but I need you to know I’m good now, Ian. I feel like a new person, and I want to start to live. I just need you to start to live with me. You have to make that choice.”

Ian looked at the food.

And he looked at Gryphen.

“I can do this,” he said, picking up his burger, and taking a bite of it.

Gryphen handed him some napkins, and then, he joined him.

That first bite of food was amazing. Gryphen was so hungry that he ate his whole burger in a few bites.

“I love food.”

Ian knew he did. He slid him the last half of his burger.

“No, I need you to eat that,” Gryphen said. “I’ll be good.”

Ian shook his head.

“I actually am in the mood for something sweet. You can have my burger. I want ice cream,” he said, fighting back those voices all over again.

He was going to survive this.

He was going to fight hard to stay here with Gryphen so they could start a life, and have a family.

“I can have Jet…”

Ian stopped him.

“No, I can go. I’ll go get us some sundaes for dessert,” he offered.

The look on Gryphen’s face said it all.

“I’m not going to hurt myself. Jet can follow me if you need him to. I’m just going to go grab them, and come back.”

He still hesitated.

“Ian, I can’t drag my ass out of this bed again. I’m in pain, and…”

He took his hand.

“You have to trust me.”

He sighed.

“Please don’t do anything you’ll regret. I love you, and I need you in my life.”

Ian hopped off the bed, and came around to kiss him. It was soft, gentle, and totally Ian.

When he broke it, he held Gryphen’s hand.

“I’ll be back. What kind of ice cream do you want?” he asked.

“Chocolate.”

Ian walked out, and in that moment, Gryphen knew the truth.

The man he loved was going to need a lot of help—more than even he could give him.

Ian Patterson was shattered inside.

His man was broken.

And Gryphen was scared.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Dex’s House

Wednesday Afternoon

Post-Nap

Waking up in a strange place caught him off guard and it confused the hell out of him. He didn’t know where he was at first, and that worried him.

Then, he took in his surroundings, in the spare bedroom belonging to the cop. The whole time, he recalled the whole thing.

Oh, and it sucked.

He was in so much trouble, and his career was basically over.

Honestly, Max wished it was all a dream, and none of it happened. What wouldn’t he give to go back twenty-four hours, and not go on that date?

The answer?

ANYTHING.

The whole situation made him want to hide, panic, and never show his face out in public again.

By now, it was all over the news, and the people he worked with would start gossiping about him.

What went down…

That was anything but the kind of man he was like, and he knew it.

Still…

He was trapped in a loop of waking up beside a skinned dead woman over and over again.

Oh, and losing his job.

What had he done in his life to deserve this? Who hated him this much that they’d frame him with this crime?

Max wanted to weep.

Only, he was stronger than this. Because he had to get through this, and pull himself up by his bootstraps, as his father would always say, he began fighting his emotions.

There was no crying in adulthood.

There was no weakness.

There was no…

HOPE.

As he laid there, he could smell something delicious cooking, and instead of focusing on his disastrous life, he tried to focus on that.

Truth be told, curiosity got the best of him.

Glancing at his watch, he wasn’t sure how many hours it had been since he’d eaten that bagel, but his stomach was grumbling. The smell coming from downstairs had reminded him of that.

Yeah, it was lunchtime.

As he headed downstairs, he looked at the pictures on the wall descending with the stairs.

They were of Dex with a bunch of people.

Dex in a kayak.

Dex hunting with a gun.

Dex with three other men who looked just like him.

They had to be brothers, cousins, or family because they were spitting images of each other.

Max wondered what that would be like.

He was, after all, an only child, born to people who had no business raising children. His father was a senator, and his mother a socialite with a five martini a day habit.

Yeah, Dex had a very different life.

Apparently, his was about a family, and happiness. Well, good for him. Max knew the man deserved it. He was doing something nice for him, and frankly, he’d been a dick.

That needed to change.

Max knew that Dex was saving his bacon.

Heading into the cop’s kitchen, he saw the door leading out onto a patio was open, and he opted to follow the smell.

When he went out there, the man was showered and in different clothing. He had on a pair of jeans, and a black henley. It fit his body like that tank top had, and showed off his physique.  

He looked calm.

Collected.

And like he fit in here in the woods.

This was someone Max would check out if they crossed paths on the street, but wouldn’t give the time of day on a date.

They were exact opposites.

This man screamed ‘I’m going to be Dudley Do-Right and save a raccoon’, and he was more ‘raccoons exist’?

They couldn’t be any more opposite if the universe tried, but here he was, checking out the man’s body while he wasn’t aware.

Or was he?

“I hope you had a good nap. Are you hungry?” Dex asked, not even turning around.

That caught him off guard. Then again, as a cop, that was probably a skill you learned to stay alive.

“The nap was great, thank you, and yes, actually, I am starving. That smells really good.”

That was all he had to hear.

Dex opened a cooler that was not far away, and he pulled out a beer. Being a gentleman, he twisted the top off, and handed it to the man.

Then, he went there.

“I’d make you a martini, Counselor, but apparently, you can’t hold your liquor.”

That caught him off guard, and Max hadn’t been expecting it.

So, he actually laughed.

“Well, you still have your skin and no breasts, so the odds are in your favor that we won’t end up in bed with you dead.”

Well, the bed part…

What the hell?

Why was he even going there?

The man was straight, and likely had a girlfriend—not that it mattered because he wasn’t his type.

Was he?

Dex clinked his bottle off of his.

“Bottoms up, Counselor,” he joked, seeing the man had calmed down a little.

Now, this was the man Dex was accustomed to when they worked together.

Maxwell Holder was a good dude, and he didn’t hesitate to laugh once in a while. Hopefully, this version would stick around.

He liked him.

“Thank you for making me something to eat,” Max said, sipping the beer.

It was quiet there, and calm.

He liked calm.

“It’s no problem. I was hungry too.”

Dex moved the cooler closer, and Max parked his ass on it.

“I’m cooking steaks for us. I was going to make them for dinner, but I figured you had to be hungry. We can order a pizza later if you’re peckish.”

He lifted a brow.

“Peckish, huh?” he asked.

Dex just laughed.

“Thanks either way,” he said, sipping the beer.

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had a beer. It was always a martini.

And it wasn’t bad.

It seemed to fit here in the middle of nowhere with a man making him a steak.

Max was curious.

“As I was coming down the stairs, I saw your pictures there,” he stated. “Brothers?”

He laughed.

“Yeah, I have three—Sylvester, Heathcliff, and Edison.”

Max stared at him.

“You legit have three brothers with those names?” he asked, trying not to laugh.

Dex nodded.

“I’m Poindexter. Apparently, my dad is a sick human being who should have his ass kicked. My one brother goes by Steve, his middle name, Heath goes by that since he was named after a cartoon cat, and Edison…he hates Ed, so he’s shit out of luck.”

Max was staring at him.

“Legit, Poindexter?”

That made Dex laugh.

“Yep. My mom let my father name us. I have no goddamn explanation for it. She laughs whenever we bring it up.”

Oh, he bet.

“What do they do for a living?” he asked, enjoying learning about his family for some reason.

He had no clue why, but he did.

“Sylvester is a tour guide in Big Sky, and does adventure tours with a business he owns. Heath is a dentist, and has five little girls, Edison is a lawyer, and I’m the cop. My dad, as I mentioned is a carpenter. My mom is a park ranger, and she raised us.”

“She was brave. All that testosterone.”

He laughed and kicked back his beer.

“She’d tell you that repeatedly if you let her,” he admitted. “Do you have any siblings, Max?” he asked, flipping the steaks one last time.

“No, I’m an only child.”

That explained why he was so driven. He was an only child and first born. That said a lot about the child hierarchy.

“Lucky you.”

No, he wasn’t. If he was lucky, he’d have some brothers or sisters who came to his rescue, instead of being all alone in the world.

“And your parents?” he asked.

“You didn’t research me? That seems like something a cop would do.”

He was honest.

“Well, I could have, but I like to learn about people from the source. I figured if you wanted me to know, you’d tell me, and if you didn’t…”

Max appreciated that.

“My father was a senator. He retired five years ago,” he said.

Since Dex wasn’t from here, he didn’t make the connection.

“Oh,” he said.

He laughed.

“Yeah, that’s him. Very conservative, very stodgy, and very much not by biggest fan.”

He didn’t have to say more.

Conservative answered all he needed to know, since Max was gay. It was probably one more reason he kept it quiet.

“My mother, if we’re calling her that, since she hated that name, was a socialite. She had parties, and that’s about it.”

“Wait. If she hated being called mother, what did you call her?”

Max didn’t miss a beat.

“Kathy.”

He actually stared with his mouth open.

It made Max laugh.

“Yes, you heard me.”

Yowza.

This told Dex all he needed to know about the man, and why he lived his life as a power player with no time for anything but work.

He’d been raised that way.

It was crystal clear that someone had a difficult childhood, and that continued on into his adult life.

Now, Dex wanted to be even nicer so that the guy wasn’t so sad. It had to be difficult to be alone, and something he didn’t understand. No matter what happened in his life, he had three best friends.

Changing the subject, Dex tried to change the temperature in the conversation. Max sounded chilly.

And not because he was cold.

“How was the shower and nap?” he asked.

Max lifted his brow, unsure how the man knew he took a shower. He’d cleaned up the bathroom after himself.

As if sensing his curiosity, he went there. Never let it be said he couldn’t read a person.

“In case you’re wondering, I can smell my shampoo on you,” he said. “That’s how I knew, so you can relax. I’m not spying on you.”

Immediately, he apologized.

“I’m sorry. I forgot mine in the rush to gather my things.”

He reassured him.

“You don’t have to apologize. It’s fine. It’s only shampoo. Mi casa es su casa,” he offered.

Max was befuddled by his hospitality. God knew he wasn’t being easy to deal with, and no one signed up for this duty out of the kindness of their heart.

Did they?

“Why are you doing this for me?” he asked the man. “We’ve only crossed paths once or twice. We have a professional relationship, but you didn’t have to do any of this for me.”

Dex could see that was tripping him up, so he went there.

He was honest.

“Because you’re a decent guy from what I’ve seen and learned from working with you, and you’re struggling. I don’t like lawyers often, but you’re one of the good guys, and we’re on the same side. That makes me want to help clear you from this.”

And he was handsome.

Dex wasn’t stupid. He knew when he was attracted to someone.

Oh, and he was.

He had a type, and it always, always, always got his ass into trouble.

This was his type.

Aloof, well-dressed, and too handsome for Dex’s own good.

Oh, look...

He was already up to his eyeballs in shit.

The bottom line was that now that he knew he was gay, too, he was struggling with keeping those needs in check. It wasn’t a lie about why he was helping him, but there was definitely more motive behind it.

Curiosity.

Attraction.

Compassion.

Those three things ALWAYS got his ass handed to him.

What he suspected was that Max would be a tough nut to crack. He only did one-night stands, and that was NOT what Dex wanted in his life.

He was looking for more, but he would be lying if he said there wasn’t a spark, and he wasn’t curious.

Because he really was.

As he listened to Dex, he was only more confused.

Honestly, Max didn’t know how to deal with that. It wasn’t often that people were nice to him. The people he worked with were gunning for his job, and when they had a gathering, they never invited him.

He was forever the pariah.

In fact, he was on the outside looking in most times. The only person that he could really call ‘his friend’, was Elizabeth Blackhawk.

More often than not, he was a loner.

That, unfortunately, was the story of his life.

“Well, I appreciate it. Thank you,” he offered, leaving it at that.

During the lull in conversation, Dex pulled the steaks from the grill, and turned off the propane. Then, he picked up the platter, and held out a hand to the man to pull him to his feet.

“Before you come in, can you grab us two more beers? I’m on vacation, and need some down time,” he admitted.

As their hands touched, there was a spark, and Max felt it.

Oh, Dex did too.

Yeah, he was going to regret this. He already knew it. Someone was going to get hurt.

HIM.

His fatal flaw was he gave everything in a relationship, and that was almost never reciprocated.

Stupid was as stupid did.

That was him.

As soon as he set his hand free, Max couldn’t speak. He’d felt something when his hand had been in Dex’s, and he didn’t know how to rationalize it.

Maybe it was static electricity.

That had to be it.

Instead of speaking, Max opened the cooler and grabbed the two beers. Oddly enough, his was almost gone too.

It was crazy he was in a stranger’s house having a beer, and he felt…calm.

Max felt like he belonged for some strange reason. It had to be the man’s hospitality.

Because he was hungry, he followed him inside.

“The woodwork you did in here is beautiful,” Max said, really liking it. The whole place felt warm and cozy, like when you were inside a cabin in the woods. From the outside, you’d think it would be completely different.

But it wasn’t.

“Did you make the cabinets and countertops all by yourself?’

He nodded.

“Yeah, my father taught all four of us boys carpentry skills when we were younger. He considered us free labor,” he said, covering the steaks with some foil so they could rest and stay warm. “He built everything back home.”

When he put the two beers down, once more, Dex picked up Max’s, cracked it open, and handed it to him. Few men he dated were legit gentlemen, but this one clearly was.

He was making him dinner, he was opening his beer, and he was treating him like he was…

A human being.

This was all confusing to him. Everyone he ever met wanted something from him because of who he was, but this guy…didn’t.

What was this?

Because he didn’t know what to say, Max sat and watched Dex move around the kitchen. He remembered what was under his henley, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.

The cop gave off the bad boy vibe, and he’d never taken a trip on that train before.

Jesus.

What the hell was he thinking?

This was a really bad time to want to have sex with a person he had to work with. That would go wrong at some point.

It would blow up.

Spectacularly.

On top of that, he was kind of trapped there and he didn’t think that would be a good way to thank the man helping him out.

A fuck and run was out of the question. Don’t get him wrong, it would be a hot interlude, but then what?

It would be awkward.

As Dex pulled two baked potatoes out of the microwave, he juggled them because they were hot.

“Jesus. If only I was smart enough to use oven mitts,” he muttered as he got them onto the plates.

Max actually laughed.

“If only I was smart enough to not have random hookups in a bar where I end up in bed with a dead body. We all have our life lessons to learn.”

Dex grinned at him, and it stole Max’s breath. The man was attractive, and he was just now seeing it. He had a mischievous grin on his face, and he looked…

Unpredictable.

“I mean, when you do it, Mr. Holder, you do it good,” Dex joked. “Clearly, there’s no halfway with you.”

Yeah, tell him about it.

When Max got quiet, Dex looked over, and he saw the man looked worried about the outcome.

“Elizabeth will clear you. Just be patient. She’s really good at this. Calling her in was the smartest thing you’ve done.”

He was aware.

“I just know that the president…”

Dex stopped him.

“Elizabeth mentioned she was heading there. If anyone can soothe that savage beast, it’s her. From what Jack has told me, she has the president’s ear. That she is your friend, that means you’re going to be protected.”

“You think?” he asked.

Dex nodded.

“I know. If I’ve learned anything about that woman, it’s that she’s loyal, and batshit insane when solving a case. That’s going to work out for your best interests.”

That helped.

Now, though, Dex was curious.

“You like steak, right?” he asked. “Because you’re going to be underwhelmed with the potato. I hope at least a third of this meal is exciting.”

It distracted Max, and he grinned.

“I do like steak. I eat out a lot. That’s pretty much what I eat as takeout most nights. It’s that or sushi.”

He was curious.

A part of him wanted to ask, but he wanted to be polite and not stir the man up even more.

Then, he went there against his best judgment as he hoped he didn’t offend the man.

“Can I ask why?” he asked.

Max looked over at him, and he wasn’t sure where he was going with that.

“What do you mean? Why do I eat out? I can’t cook,” he stated.

Maybe, initially, that had been what he was asking Max, but now, it was more than that.

So, he rolled the dice, and took a chance.

“You’re one of the most eligible bachelors in The District. You could literally have any life you wanted. You’re rich, you’re smart, clearly, and you have a kickass job. Why are you trolling for dick and not having a life? That’s what I’m confused by.”

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he looked genuinely upset. For that, Dex was sorry.

Yeah, he crossed the line.

“You don’t have to answer that. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I’m just curious. That’s all. It goes with being a cop. We tend to ask a lot of questions, and most of them are ill-timed.”

Max answered for some reason, and he wasn’t sure why. It really wasn’t anyone’s business.

“Because I’m gay, and people won’t respect me if they find out that’s my private life. My family…,” he began, as he kind of just stopped there.

Oh, Dex got it.

Yeah, this was ‘do not enter’ territory.

Dex could see it.

When it came to his personal life, too, he tried to keep it as quiet as possible. The only one who really knew he was gay was Elizabeth Blackhawk, and it wasn’t because he told her.

She had gaydar that worked overtime, apparently.

Because he crossed a line, again, he stopped him.

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me jack shit,” Dex admitted. “I wasn’t judging you. I really was just curious. I get the need to be low key. I can tell a lot about you, and I understand.”

He was curious.

This man continually tripped him up. He was on an emotional roller coaster with him.

“What can you tell about me?” he asked, curiously. It was probably a bad idea to ask, but this man was freaking him out.

It was as if he was staring into his soul, and Max didn’t know how to handle that.

Spending time with him…well, it was nice to have someone to talk to, and they both had the same kind of job—in law enforcement.

It took Dex a few seconds to ponder a response that was appropriate.

First, he placed steaks on the two plates, and went to the refrigerator for the salad he’d made. Then, he carried it to the table he’d built not far away.

He grabbed the plates, and jerked his head toward the food.

Max followed him, grabbing the beers. The whole time, he believed he wasn’t going to answer him.

That was short-lived.

When they sat, Dex was honest.

“I can tell you come from wealth. While you live in a big house, and you have a powerful job, that’s generational wealth. You carry yourself like a man who’s accustomed to things being done a certain way.”

Max said nothing simply because he told him about his father and mother.

Instead, he let Dex talk.

“You have an Ivy League degree. I’ve seen it on your wall, from Yale, in your office. I’m going to bet that you had private schools and a good upbringing. You’re not only rich, but you’re smart. That’s a weapon not everyone can pull out and wield.”

Dex stared into his eyes knowing he’d nailed it.

“You’re cynical, and you don’t trust people. You need to have that proven to you, or else, you put everyone in one category. GUILTY.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“You don’t make friends easily, since you don’t know what they want from you. While you’re excellent in court, you’re not in social settings.”

Again, he’d nailed that.

“Work is the love of your life, and you’ve never met anyone you were willing to give that up for, so hookups are the way you meet those needs. Because of that, you don’t have to start something with someone, when you think they’re going to just walk anyway.”

Max stared at him.

Well, that was an uncomfortable truth.

“Guilty on all charges,” he said.

Dex didn’t say anything more about him, personally.

“Let me know how you like the steak,” he said, as they began eating and left sleeping dogs lie.

It was for the best.

When Max tasted the steak, it was absolutely delicious. It made his mouth water.

The man across from him must have seen his face because he smiled.

“Good?” he asked.

Max nodded.

“Yes, it’s incredible. I don’t have the words for it. It’s spicy, sweet, and meaty all at once. What is this witchcraft?”

That amused him.

Okay, maybe he picked this particular food for a good reason. He could cook a steak like no one’s business. Was he showing off for the man?

Yes.

Was it dumb?

Also, yes.

“It’s all in the seasoning,” he stated, leaving it at that.

Max could eat this each and every day. It was tickling his tastebuds, and making him want more.

“About what you said,” Max offered, wanting to revisit what he’d figured out about him.

Dex served him salad, and they continued eating their lunch.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, Max. I just don’t get why you hide the man you are? You’re funny, and not a douchebag. I know. I’ve met a few.”

He shrugged.

“It’s tough being gay. That’s all a lot of people have to hear, and that’s it. I’d lose how people view me. In court, it wouldn’t be Maxwell Holder, United States Attorney General, it would be ‘that gay dude’. I go to a lot of presidential things, and people expect a power player on my arm, like an Elizabeth Blackhawk. I can’t make that happen.”

Dex warned him.

“I don’t think you’d want an Elizabeth Blackhawk, She is scary,” he joked.

Max laughed.

“That she is, but gossip in The District is brutal. When she and I have to attend a function, she walks in on my arm, and I get respected. If it was a man on my arm, it wouldn’t be the same. I just don’t have it in me to be picked apart. Already, I’m terrified about what is being said about me now.”

Dex didn’t let it go.

Any man who scored Max Holder would be a lucky guy. He was smart, charming, and a good person. He fought for justice, and that was always sexy.

Well, for him.

“So showing up with a man would be difficult?” he asked.

Max was honest.

“It makes my life harder, and there are times I wish I wasn’t gay. Like today. Last night pretty much did me in. I’m never dating again. If I get through this, I’m going to give up men.”

He laughed.

Why?

He’d said that a few times himself.

Unfortunately, they all made mistakes when it came to sex lives. He had a few under his belt too.

For Dex, it was clear that someone’s gaydar was off getting fixed, or broken.

Why?

Because he was interested in the man, and he was willing to bet he got back on the horse at some point.

“So, that’s why I’m single. What’s your deal?” Max asked as he looked around the man’s home. “You have a nice place that you’re making into exactly what every person would want. Not to mention, you’re a cop. Where’s the wife?” he asked. “You said your brother had kids. Where’s your brood?”

He lifted a brow.

Yowza.

He’d been right.

Someone couldn’t read a room. Maybe he’d have to be a little more obvious.

“Uh, a wife and kids are never going to happen for me, Max,” he offered.

Max was curious.

“Why not? Have you been burned before?” he inquired, eating his steak.

From where he sat, Dex weighed out his words, carefully. He sipped his beer, and watched the man.

Clearly, the smart man was off his game.

“I have a very similar problem,” he said, and when the man looked confused, he dropped the bomb.

Oh, and it landed.

“It’s because I’m gay, too, Max.”

Holy shit.

That hung there.

Max didn’t know how to respond to that. Instead, he sat there and blinked.

“Oh,” he finally said, not sure if he was surprised or happy to be told that.

Dex went there.

“You assumed because I have a hyper-masculine job, and I like woodworking that I like women. Man…you are a mile off there. That’s not even close to the target.”

“Oh,” Max said again.

For some reason, this news changed a few things. He’d been ogling him from the room, and then outside on the patio. Now, those sparks were more welcome.

Was the room getting warm?

He was pretty sure it was.

For some reason, he doubted the tank top showing off his body was accidental, or the cooking him food was either.

Was this man trying to subtly tell him something?

Shit.

This was a bad time to be known for hookups and now swearing off sex and men.

A REAL BAD TIME.

“I see,” he said.

Dex laughed.

How could he not?

Someone was flushed red, and Dex was acutely aware it wasn’t because he was embarrassed. He knew that Max had been watching him work.

Why did he think he took off his flannel shirt?

It was chilly out, and his nipples through the fabric proved it.

Sue him.

He was an idiot for even trying.

When Max still didn’t talk, he reassured him. He didn’t want the man freaked out.

“Relax. I have self-control. I didn’t open up my home to you because I plan on abducting and molesting you. You’re safe in the guest room. I make it a point not to run around forcing myself on men. That’s how you lose your job.”

He flushed even a deeper red.

Then, he panicked.

“I didn’t mean…”

Dex stopped him. This clearly was not the same man that he’d seen in court. This was a different version of him, and honestly, Dex liked it.

He was human.

“I’m sorry,” Max said.

The other man reassured him.

“Don’t be. The bottom line is that I’m new here, and I’ve not acclimated myself. I had a boyfriend in Big Sky,” he said. “We had a bad breakup, and I moved here. I had to get away from the memories.”

Max knew it had to be bad if he left his family and came all the way across the country, leaving them behind.

Now, he was curious.

Max had one relationship before, but it didn’t end well. Thus, the booty call hook ups.

They hurt less.

Dex saw the look on his face.

“Go ahead. You can ask. I opened the door, so you can walk through, Counselor.”

So he did.

“Do you miss him?” Max asked.

He laughed sardonically.

“There’s no easy answer to that question,” he admitted.

He waited.

Finally, after chewing, he went there.

“I mean, I miss him being around. I miss waking up with someone and having meals with someone. I miss coming home to someone so I’m not alone at night. I don’t miss him cheating on me with a woman. That’s almost worse than if he was with another guy.”

That registered.

“Oh.”

He shrugged.

“Yeah, he was having sex with a woman behind my back. His secretary to be exact. That was going on for about five months, and we’d been together for five years. I thought he was the one, but he wasn’t.”

That made Max sad for him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, familiar with that betrayal.

Dex shrugged.

“We built a whole life, and had a routine. We went to my parent’s home on Sundays for dinner. We had holidays with family. We had a pet dog together. I thought I was finally with someone I could love forever. He didn’t feel the same. I was his back burner person once he hired his secretary.”

Yeah, that sucked.

Max was really taking the guy in now. He saw the vulnerability, and it was…alluring. There was something about a person who was honest.

Max preferred honesty over everything else.

It was safe.

Dex had dark hair, and really pretty blue eyes. In them, he saw that pain of betrayal.

That was exactly what Max was trying to avoid by bed hopping.

“So you moved here?”

He nodded and finished his second beer.

“I saw the opportunity. I was a detective there, and now, here I’m a captain. This town gave me a do-over where I could find what I needed in life.”

Max wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“I don’t blame you. Betrayal hurts,” he said, but he didn’t elaborate.

Someone sounded like they knew that from experience.

Dex was willing to bet that he’d been burned before in his life, too, and that was the real reason as to why he hid in plain sight—plus, had one-night stands.

Call it a hunch.

“Yes, it does,” he admitted. “I learned you don’t give your heart away unless you’re a million times sure.”

Amen.

Been there, and done that.

Max tried not to get attached to anyone, but this man was making it difficult.

Because he was uncomfortable, talking about feelings, he went there.

“Thanks for lunch,” Max offered. “It was really good. I should do the dishes.”

For some reason, Dex didn’t want the meal to end. He was having a good time with Max, and he was curious.

Was it going to get him hurt?

Yes.

Was he smart enough to not do it?

Nope.

No one ever accused him of being a smart man. That was for damn sure. Only, his gut was saying dig deeper and figure this man out.

His brain…

It said run.

He had his own baggage, and the last thing he needed was this man’s to compound it. Attraction only got you so far.

Now, he had to make a choice. Well, here went everything.

“No, you’re a guest here, so you get to just take some time off and relax. Hey,” he said, setting up the question. “By any chance, do you like ice cream?” he asked.

Max lifted a brow.

That was weirdly positioned in the middle of an odd conversation. Only, who was he to question it.

“Yeah, I do. Who doesn’t? Those happy little sprinkles always cheer me up.”

Hot.

Damn.

Now, Dex had an idea.

“Want to go with me to get some?” he asked. “You know, for dessert.”

Max was confused.

His heart was thumping, but his mind was warning him that this was too bizarre for him to possibly be experiencing.

Was this man asking him out for ice cream? He wanted to spend more time with him, the mess?

What was this?

“As in go out, out?” he asked. “I thought I was on house arrest.”

He laughed.

“No, Elizabeth said you can’t go anywhere without me. She never said you couldn’t leave the house. I’m in the mood for ice cream, so let’s go. It’s a nice day out and we could use something to distract you.”

That was the understatement of the century.

That was for damn sure.

Honestly, Max didn’t mind. He was having a good time with the man, and this thing between them was oddly laid back.

At that moment, now that the truth was out, Max didn’t feel like he had to be anyone he wasn’t. The cop seemed to like spending time with him.

Worst comes to worst, he might just make another friend.

“I think I’d like that.”

Hearing that, Dex put the dishes in the dishwasher, and cleaned up the mess. Then, he pulled on his boots by the door, ready to go.

“Come on. Let’s have some fun. I’m on vacation,” he admitted.

This was odd for Max.

He wasn’t sure how ice cream could constitute fun. It was ice cream.

But who was he to question it?

So, Max pulled on his shoes, and followed him out. When they walked toward the garage, and not his truck, he was confused.

“Uh, is the ice cream in there?” he asked.

Dex laughed, and went inside.

This guy was funny.

When he rolled out the chromed-out Harley motorcycle, Max’s eyes went huge. There was no freaking way he was talking about them both on that motorcycle.

Was he?

“Here,” Dex said, handing him a helmet.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Max said, thinking about how he was going to be pressed to the back of the man.

Yeah, it wasn’t about dying—since he really didn’t have much to live for now, but more so the man was going to be up close and personal with him.

REALLY.

CLOSE.

Dex reassured him.

“No one will see you. You’ll have a helmet on. You’re anonymous. What are you afraid of?” he asked.

There was one glaring answer for that.

Max was afraid of making a mistake and falling into bed with the man who was being kind enough to let him hide at his house.

Then, walking away and making an enemy.

His track record was one-night stands and hurt feelings—which likely got him into this position.

Besides, who in their right mind wanted on the ride called HIM?

Yeah, this was problematic.

BIG.

TIME.

Someone was really bad at predicting the future. Max’s choices were…generally bad. So, he tried to get out of it.

“I mean, there’s dying, road rash, and becoming a speed bump,” he began, trying anything to avoid getting on that motorcycle.

Nothing good would come of this with his dick pressed to the back of the cop as he got a hard-on because the man was sexy. That would be a dead giveaway of what he was thinking.

“Well, lucky for you, I have riding leathers too. Here,” he said, handing him a leather jacket, and not taking the excuses.

Max knew he was trapped.

Fuck.

Well, it looked like he was putting his dick against this man’s ass.

To make it worse, when he pulled the leather jacket on, it smelled like Dex.

Oh, Jesus.

Now, he was inundated with the man’s scent. It was going to be a constant reminder of that attraction.

For Max, it was okay ogling a straight man, because he was safe.

Now, he wasn’t that.

This man was far from safe.

Up close, he was dangerous.

He was attracted to the cop, and he shouldn’t be. This was not the kind of guy he dated—for a reason.

Or slept with.

He liked powerful men with important jobs. Not men from the mountains who knew how to build a table. Not cops who worked just as many hours as he did and who would break his heart to get ahead.

But his hands…

Jesus.

He was so screwed.

Max desperately wanted Dex’s hands on his body.

“Now, get on,” Dex said, getting on the motorcycle and starting it.

Oh, shit.

Shit.

Shit.

He looked sexy on that motorcycle. In that henley, with his tight jeans, and boots…

Christ.

Max was screwed, and quite possibly in the way he liked.

Only, someone would get hurt.

Dex.

Maybe him.

When Dex smiled at him, and put on his sunglasses, Max already knew what he was going to do.

He was going to fuck this up spectacularly.

Well, he’d already made questionable choices the last two days. Why not die doing something dangerous?

When Dex held out his hand, to help brace and balance him, he got on, and put on the helmet.

As soon as he was on, Dex began pulling out of the driveway.

Max held on, and the whole time, he was pressed to the back of the man. His hands were around his torso, over his abs, and they felt amazing.

Oh, boy.

Their bodies fit perfectly.

When they hit the paved road, Dex floored it, and they took off like bats out of Hell.

And Max knew one thing.

Somehow, someone was going to get hurt.

And he hoped it wasn’t him.

Again.

Chapter Twelve

Clandestine Connections

Wednesday

Later Afternoon

Holy shit, but traffic was a bitch, and so was trying to get in to see Kian Berry. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, the man was trying to ‘play duck the cop’, and she was having to suck it up—and tolerate it.

This interview was an integral part in trying to get Max clear by solving the three murders.

At that moment, her team had better be getting positive ID on the three victims because if they weren’t, she was going to be behind the eight ball on this one.

On top of that, she was in no mood to play any games today.

The man partnering up with her in the field, Gene, pulled up the drive, and found everything that Callen had researched on the man.

Well, someone was being a busy teammate at the morgue. She didn’t doubt it was because he didn’t want her losing her nut when she showed up.

Call it a hunch.

Now, he’d uploaded all the guests to the motel, and NONE of them tied to Max. Well, that was out of the running for possibilities.

Because she wanted to talk it out, she shared with Gene what she was thinking.

“If we find how the women connect to Max, we can go from there.”

Oh, he figured that was the way she was running this.

“From what Callen found,” Gene began, “it looks like Kian was given everything in life from his parents. His father is Paul Berry.”

That name sounded familiar.

Oddly familiar.

“Why do I know that name?” she asked. “Place it for me.”

Oh, he did.

Gene clued her in.

“He owns a few news stations, mainly, your favorite, GTNN—your adoring media fans.”

Yeah, well, not quite.

She’d burn GTNN down, and dance around the embers naked on any other news station.

That was how much she hated those vultures.

“What else did he find?” she asked, curiously.

Her husband back in the morgue, didn’t let her down.

“Callen researched him. He’s the only child, he’s done private schools, an Ivy League college and law school, and is daddy’s favorite person on the planet. He funded the boy’s dream job of playing matchmaker.”

No shock there.

While they were wealthy, she only promised each kid their education, and a home when they got married or wanted one.

As for everything else…

As she told CJ and EJ…

They were poor.

“Apparently, he’s his father’s biggest fan. Now, is that because he loves him, or he likes his money.”

That was a good question, but it brought up one important thing.

“Great,” she admitted. “So anything I say in this interview could leak right back to the media. I do love when my job is that much more exciting.”

Gene laughed.

“More exciting than three dead skinned women and a United States Attorney General on the hook? Come on. You know Callen is only pissed he’s in-house because this is a book right up his alley.”

She snorted.

“Exactly.”

As they were waiting for the man, still, Kian’s secretary came over, and she was carrying a tray of…get this, smoothies.

What in the holy hell?

Who served people smoothies as they waited?

This was befuddling.

What ever happened to coffee?

Tea?

Little bottles of Fireball to pass the monotony and boredom?

Yeah, and she wasn’t the only one who was thinking it. Gene glanced over, and his face said it all.

Was this place for freaking real?

Unfucking believable.

Then, it got worse.

“I’m Bayleigh Hinton. Kian asked me to get you some refreshments. He said your auras are tainted, and you need to drink the smoothies to refresh before he can let you into his sacred space.”

Gene couldn’t help himself.

“Uh, I don’t know what Mr. Berry heard about us, but we rarely go hard into someone’s sacred space.”

Elizabeth snorted.

The woman, not so much.

“Here you go,” she said, ignoring them and passing them both a smoothie.

Yeah, Elizabeth actually laughed.

Then, it hit her.

This nut wasn’t going to let her go back unless she drank fruit in a cup.

“Wait. You were serious?” Elizabeth asked.

She nodded.

“Kian is very serious about energy. Once you finish them, I can bring you back. If you won’t, then he suggests you contact his attorney.”

She put the man’s business card on the lid of the one cup.

Well, this was funsies.

Call her shocked. This was a new one. Apparently, that new-age hippy shit was coming back full force, and she was stuck in the middle of it.

“Can we ask what’s in them? You know since we don’t just take drinks from strangers. We investigate cases where people are poisoned.”

Bayleigh smiled.

That didn’t make them feel better.

“I made them myself. This one is strawberry, chia, and spinach, with some electrolytes, and this one is blueberry poppy seed with kale and chard. They both have healing properties and keep your chi flowing.”

It was the Twilight Zone up in here.

That was for damn sure.

Since they didn’t have time to call an attorney, and schedule a meeting, it looked like it was bottoms up.

Because he was a gentleman, Gene let her pick.

“Which is it, Honey? Are you feeling like you need some electrolytes or a bowel movement?”

She snorted.

Oh, her life was insane, and this was the proof.

“I’ll take the strawberry,” she said. “Kale is a freaking garnish, not a drink accompaniment. I’m taking that to my grave with me.”

Before today, he’d thought that, too, but here he was, having a kale smoothie with his lover’s wife, who was also his fiancée, all while in a dating service that might be tied to three skinned dead women.

His life was seldom cut and dry.

They took the smoothies, and when Bayleigh walked away, they both took a sip.

At least they tasted good.

Now, they had to hope they weren’t poisoned.

“I can’t believe I have to have my fruit and veggies in order to do an interview. My life used to be so simple, Gene. I used to hop up on desks, make a scene, and get my way. Now, I’m pandering to Vegans and their chi.”

“This is definitely new,” Gene said taking a big sip. “I feel cleansed. That burger and fries I ate yesterday was just counteracted and my cholesterol dropped five points.”

She laughed and elbowed him.

“The things we have to do…”

Oh, he was aware.

Their jobs were insane.

As they sipped their drinks, Gene figured it was a good time to bring up the wedding. It wasn’t like they could go back until they chugged twenty-four ounces of good chi.

“Thanks for having a pergola built at the new house. It’s going to be amazing for our wedding.”

She smiled.

That was her little gift to both him and Ethan. She wanted it to be a memory.

“Ethan knows you just married Preston at the courthouse, so he wants to give you the whole wedding experience. I will NOT be attending the honeymoon—just as a heads-up.”

He winked at her.

“Too bad. I do like a wild honeymoon,” he joked.

Speaking of that, since they were talking about sex, and Ethan…

“Has Ethan changed his mind about the whole Tala thing?” Gene asked. “He hasn’t really brought it up,” he said, knowing that morning’s talk made him paranoid.

She sipped her smoothie.

“I brought up Tala, and he was very receptive. He reacted to it. I’m going to assume he’s over analyzing it, and worried. You know how he gets. He’s trying to figure out every possible outcome, and have a solution ready.”

Yeah, Gene figured about as much.

“And you’re still good to join us? Or have you changed your mind?”

He sounded worried, and she wanted him to calm down. Since she wasn’t going to be having sex with Gene, and they were just both going to be focused on Ethan, there was nothing to worry about.

She’d seen his dick, and knew the man was going to be all about Ethan.

As was she.

“I am still up for it. We should probably figure out our parameters,” she said, grateful she turned off her com, and security was outside the doors.

Gene agreed.

They hadn’t had an ‘outing’ as he was calling it, so he needed to make sure she was comfortable. If Elizabeth wasn’t, Ethan would be a mess.

He’d be trying to read her to gauge her enjoyment. If she wasn’t, Ethan would be a freaking stressed nightmare, and that was the opposite of what this should be.

This was their shared gift to the man they both loved, and planned on sharing for many more years.

“Okay, Gene, you go first. What’s your boundary?” she asked.

He didn’t hesitate.

“I don’t want intercourse. That’s too far for me. Don’t take it personal, but…”

She understood.

“I don’t either. I’m completely content with eluding to it, to get Ethan wild, but Callen and Chris aren’t comfortable with it. I have to take everyone’s feelings in consideration.”

Gene knew she would.

“How about nudity?” he asked. “You’ve seen my dick out, so it has to be about you being comfortable with me seeing your…”

“Titters?” she asked.

He looked ill.

It made her laugh.

“Relax, I’m good with it. I’m sure you’ve seen breasts before.”

Oh, he had.

In high school, when he was trying to be straight—or on dead bodies.

Elizabeth was curious.

“Will you be upset if he loses control and has sex with me?” she asked.

Oh, Gene was betting that would be the outcome. When Ethan was Tala, he was pushed to his breaking point, and when he finally snapped, he was so wild it was like a hurricane.

He fully expected both of them to have plenty of sex.

“Nope. I’m not going to be upset. As long as we have our boundaries.”

She went there.

“Can I sit in your lap?” she asked. “Clothes on or off?” she inquired.

“Because I don’t want Callen beating my face in for funsies, on. Definitely on.”

That worked for her.

“Good point. Can I kiss you and I mean really kiss you?” she asked.

He didn’t hesitate.

“I’m good with that. It’s not going to get either of us off, but it will do that for Ethan.”

Yes, yes, it would, and since this was Ethan’s fantasy, they wanted to give him that.

“He really likes to be degraded,” Gene said. “He’s the bottom of bottom. Are you going to be able to get him there? If not, I absolutely can.”

Oh, he had nothing to worry about. Callen liked Miss Kitty to do that same thing to him. Elizabeth was going to slip into Miss Kitty mode, and go even harder.

“Oh, I can degrade people. Like now, I want to go over to the secretary and tell her that her sweater is hideous.”

He actually choked on his kale smoothie.

Elizabeth had to pat him on the back.

“You’re out of control,” he said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

Elizabeth lowered her voice.

“Scarlett Valentine likes to be the bottomest bottom, so I know how to make that happen.”

It looked like he and Elizabeth had a lot in common.

“Me too. I like it when Ethan dominates me, but I do love bringing out Tala. It’s nice to watch him enjoy sex, and not having to overthink it.”

She snorted.

“After is when he does his thinking.”

He clinked his smoothie cup off of hers. It was clear they both had the same issues when it came to Ethan. It was good not to be alone. He was a tough nut to crack.

“I know.”

Elizabeth pointed one thing out.

“We need to catch him off guard,” she said. “He’s a runner,” she stated. “And when I say off guard, he can’t have any inkling we’re going to make him crawl.”

Oh, Gene was aware, and he happened to agree.

“Deal. I want to really raunch it up. I hope you’re going to be okay.”

She held out her hand, and he shook it.

“Hello. I’m R. Aunch, sex fiend and all-around wife hooker.”

He snorted.

“I’m D. Tease, the man who likes to put dick in his mouth.”

They were having too much fun.

So, of course, smoothie time was over.

When the secretary came back over, she smiled at them.

“How were your smoothies?” she asked. “Do you feel like your auras are better balanced?”

She wasn’t sure how a strawberry and blueberry could do that, but at least they didn’t taste like shit. Even if they did taste like shit, she still had to get their job done.

That was a win for them.

“Sure. Can we see Kian now?”

She nodded.

“Right this way.”

As the woman led them, Elizabeth was curious about the place. It was in an office building where they had a few rooms.

“What made Kian open this business?” she asked, keeping up the friendly chitchat.

You learned a lot about people by doing that.

“Oh, he loves, love. Nothing makes him happier than setting up people.”

She understood that.

As Cupid, that was kind of her off-the-clock gig, and she was good at it.

“Kian gets a personal satisfaction from making matches and seeing their lives come together.”

She was curious.

“Even for just hook ups?”

She was a little more cautious. She gave them the standard line anyone protecting a business would.

“What happens after the match isn’t our business. Of course, we hope for the best, but fate leads the way.

Yeah, whatever.

Heading into a room, they found Kian sitting cross-legged on the floor. He was on a colorful mat, leaning on a big, bean-bag-like chair.

Apparently, she’d left the land of grownups, and was now in Kiddy-Ville.

Party of one.

“Kian, this is Elizabeth Blackhawk, and her associate, Gene Cantrell.”

The man opened his eyes, and smiled.

“Welcome. I’d offer to find your perfect match, but we all know you’re plenty busy.”

Yeah, he could say that.

She wasn’t sure if that was an observation, or a dig, so she was taking it as the former.

“How about you tell me about your business?” she asked, getting things started. They were still waiting on the warrants to come back that Gene had sent out.

They needed them for his dating records. She hoped they arrived soon. This dude had a rich daddy. She was betting that he had already called him.

Kian was to the point.

“I set up the rich and powerful in DC. My goal is to make people love again.”

Uh-huh.

“Make love, lots of it, not war.”

She lifted a brow.

“One, that’s recycled from before I was born, and two, we aren’t at war. Not yet, anyway. We might be if you don’t get to the point.”

He blinked.

Now, she was done drinking smoothies and playing games with this man.

“Was Max Holder one of your clients?” she asked knowing she needed to tread lightly.

“He is. I’ve set him up a few times.”

Okay, so far, so good.

“Has anyone complained or had a hard time with their Max hookup?” she asked. “You know, since he was only using the matches for dinner dates and a night of bump and grind.”

The man thought about it.

Oh, and she could tell one thing.

He wasn’t easily offended. God knew she was trying, and trying hard.

“Well, there was one man, and I promptly refunded him.”

Okay, and now, they were cooking.

“And that man would be?” she asked.

He looked hesitant.

Yeah, and she knew why.

“Kian, we have warrants on the way. You can tell me now, or we can sit here talking about colon cleanses and wait. The choice is yours. I’d like to get out of your hair. Plus, after that smoothie, my night is booked up.”

Gene snickered and covered it with a cough. Someone was raring to go.

Before speaking, he picked up his phone and sent a text. It didn’t take long for another woman to come in. She was in a long flowing gown and fit the company craziness.

This was no longer a party of one.

It was a cuckoo party of three.

“This is my personal assistant, Aileen. She handles the disgruntled daters. I can’t do it. It kills my mojo. I like to be positive because it helps me set up people.”

Oh, she bet it ruined his mojo.

Elizabeth was betting that mojo was rolled and smoked a hell of a lot during the day.

Call it a hunch.

“How can I help you?” she asked, sitting right beside Kian.

Elizabeth started again.

“I’m here about Max Holder. He’s had some issues with dates. Has anyone had a problem with him?” she asked, wondering why Max used this nut farm.

Seriously.

The man was good looking. He could have picked up just about any man in DC.

Aileen laughed.

“Yes, just this morning, we refunded a man who had a date with him.”

That had their attention.

“Whom?” she asked.

She pulled out her phone and read them the email that they had that morning when they got into work.

‘Kian, I’m very disappointed in my match. You promised success, and I ended up leaving the date due to incompatibility. I would like a refund or a rematch.’

When she was done, she explained.

“We promptly refunded him. We don’t jerk our clients around. If they found the date unsatisfactory, Kian promises a one hundred percent guarantee. It was odd though, since no one has ever complained about Max before.”

Gene was curious.

“A guarantee of what?”

“Sex,” Kian said. “I deal with the rich and famous, and their needs. They use my service to find clean, discreet dates.”

And here they went.

Back down the rabbit hole of prostitution. This seemed to be a theme in most of their cases.

“So you’re a pimp?” Gene asked.

Kian gasped.

Aileen did too.

“Absolutely not! You’re a crass man,” he stated, accusing Gene.

Well, Elizabeth found a way to rile him up. Let Gene go at them. Apparently, pointing out the obvious was offensive.

Go figure.

“It must be my aura. You didn’t use water that was left out on the full moon, did you? It makes the werewolf come out in me.”

Elizabeth had to cover a laugh with a cough because the crazy was driving the bus, and she didn’t even mind.

God.

She loved working with Gene. It was like having two of her in the field.

The man stared at him.

“Of course not. We use filtered water.”

“Thank God,” he said, deadpan. “I was worried. I’m behind on my rabies shots.”

Elizabeth took over, because the two looked confused. Never let it be said that the rich nepo babies were smart.

They weren’t.

“Good to know about the water. That must be why my colon feels squeaky clean. Now, how about we discuss that you want people getting down and dirty and for money—which by the way, is technically pimping.”

“And it ain’t easy,” Gene muttered, amusing Elizabeth even more.

Kian, on the other hand, wasn’t amused.

“That’s the service I offer. Max, and I say this only because you are going to warrant the shit out of my business anyway, is a tough match to make. He has specifics he wants in a man.”

She was curious.

“Like?”

Eileen went to a cabinet and got the file. She handed it to her boss.

He began discussing it.

“He prefers successful men, he’s attracted to men who like the finer things, and they have to be professional. He doesn’t want to…slum.”

The man was looking at Gene.

“Hey now,” Gene said, getting it. Apparently, he was the definition of slum in their books.

He preferred bear, but whatever.

Elizabeth stopped the looks.

“You can stop looking at my partner like that. He’s fantastic in bed, and that’s something money can’t buy. I like the way he looks, and for the record, we’re dressed the same, but I come with a bra.”

Gene appreciated her defending him. It was clear she didn’t like her family to be insulted.

“I see.” Kian said.

Elizabeth wasn’t done.

“It’s his massive dick. In case you’re curious,” she offered, holding her hands up and giving them a size. It was about eighteen inches, and absurd.

Gene laughed.

“If you think that’s going to upset me,” he said, winking at her. “Thanks.”

Kian was staring at the man’s crotch, clearly, not getting it was a joke. Who was letting someone with a dick that huge anywhere near them? That wasn’t sex, it was getting your pipes cleaned.

“Anyway,” Elizabeth said. “You matched him to a Ken Yasin. He was disappointed he didn’t get laid? Why didn’t it happen?”

They shrugged.

“We don’t ask why. If one of our clients complains, we give them their money back.”

Gene was making notes, and they went there, needing confirmation.

“And has anyone else ever complained about Max Holder?” she asked, knowing the woman had just stated that earlier.

They both shook their heads.

“No,” Kian admitted. “Max is one of my best clients. He pays me well to find him dates.”

Elizabeth knew she shouldn’t ask.

“How much is a matchup, or date?” she inquired.

Kian shrugged.

“Twelve hundred dollars,” he stated. “That gets you one phone number.”

Holy shit.

That was insane.

“Just for one-night stands?” she asked.

He defended his business again.

“What clients do in their own time is their business. If Max wants to keep paying me to find him suitable bed partners, I can promise you, I will. This is The District. Sex happens. You of all people should know that.”

“Yeah, but I’m a whore, so…”

Gene laughed.

“I wouldn’t call her that if I were you. You’ll have four men knocking on your door. They get angsty. I’d redirect if I were you.”

Kian said nothing.

Oh, and it spoke volumes.

He was just about done with his. Apparently, his chi was souring.

When Gene’s phone chimed, they knew what it was. Their warrants were in, and they could get everything with less chitchat.

That worked for them.

He pulled them up, and passed them to the man.

“We’re going to need the names of everyone Max Holder had a date with,” he said. “Oh, and the personal information on his date, Ken Yasin.”

His assistant raised her hand.

Yeah, it wasn’t kindergarten.

“Yes?”

“Can you send it to the printer?” Eileen asked. “We’d like to keep it for our records.”

Gene did just that.

“There you go, Miss…?”

She picked up the warrant and answered him.

“Marshall,” she stated, nodding at Kian, who then got up and went to his computer.

He punched in some keys, and then, information was printed out.

Eileen made up a file, and passed it to Elizabeth. As she was doing that, Gene was updating the drive so Callen wouldn’t be bored.

Oh, he had two more people to research.

Cuckoo and cuckoo-er.

“Oh, I thought of something else,” Kian said, surprising them.

“Yes?”

“We have our clients rate their dates. I’m afraid that Max is often rated low, and wouldn’t likely get a second date regardless.”

She waited.

Elizabeth couldn’t imagine what a handsome guy out only for sex with other handsome men who wanted the same thing was getting low ratings for on a date.

Kian went there.

“He’s a bit of a cold fish. A few of his dates have said he’s not really…fun—in bed. He’s aloof.”

Well, it was a one-night stand, and just to get off. What was he supposed to do?

Write them sonnets?

Build them a shrine?

It was wham, bam, thank you, Sir—not love.

“Did anyone have anything really bad to say about Ken Yasin?”

He shook his head.

“He rates high. He’s a frequent flyer.”

Well, that was a dead end for them.

“Thank you for helping us,” she said, as she and Gene got up from the floor. “Oh, and thanks for the smoothies. They were refreshing.”

Kian smiled.

“You’re very welcome, Director,” he said, as they walked out.

In the hall, they passed by the secretary too. Immediately, she began waving goodbye like a lunatic.

Elizabeth lowered her voice.

“Is it me, or is this place nutty?” Elizabeth asked. “Like the floor sitting, the Himalayan music chants playing, and the smoothies.”

Gene put on his sunglasses.

“You’re just not hip like I am. I can see why Ethan digs me. I’m the fun one.”

That made her legit laugh. Gene was an absolute nut, and they all knew it.

“Yeah, my bad. I’m not cool. By the way, the hippest thing about you is how your actual hip creaked when you had to get your ass off the floor.”

He snorted.

She had him there.

“It needs lubrication from movement. When I need to use it, it’ll be just fine. My hips are like Old Faithful.”

“Unpredictable?”

He dropped his arm over her shoulder, and she just shook her head.

Their jobs were sometimes too much fun.

When they approached Ivan, he was glad to see they were in one piece. He wasn’t happy to be left outside.

“You didn’t burn the place down?” he asked.

“No, we were too busy drinking smoothies and sitting crisscross apple sauce on the floor.”

Ivan blinked.

“Are you having a mental breakdown? Did it finally happen? Can you move your left side?”

She snorted.

“Legit, Ivan. They served us berry smoothies to cleanse our energy, and then we sat on the floor in this nut’s office, talking murder. It’s been a day so far.”

He still didn’t believe her.

Elizabeth busted ass.

“Really?” he asked Gene.

The man nodded.

Well, in that case, he absolutely did NOT want to know about it. He had enough kindergarten shit with Demeter hitting on everyone, and Michael being giddy as he got ready to propose to his man.

“Where to?” he asked.

She rattled off Max’s date’s name and work address. They needed to see what the hell went down last night, and he was the LAST person to see him before this whole shitshow went down.

And if he was roofied…

That was their main suspicion.

“We have to see why a man didn’t consummate his date, and instead wanted a refund.”

“Sounds like fun,” Ivan said.

Their jobs were weird at times.

This was one of them.

Chapter Thirteen

Yasin Hedge Fund

Management

Wednesday

Three P.M.

Never let it be said it wasn’t non-stop fun when investigating a case. Now, Elizabeth had to get another interview out of the way before she could even think about hitting the morgue.

It was time to talk to the man who went on the booty call with Max, and find out why the hell he walked out. Men on the hunt for sex seldom walked away from an easy score.

She knew men, and they’d rather have the given, getting laid, than anything else in the world.

So this man had some explaining to do.

When they showed up, Ken Yasin was in his office, working on some portfolios for his rich clients.

His secretary, Bethany Clark, gave them the minimal amount of aggravation.

“Why do you need to see Ken?” she asked, chewing her gum.

Oh, well, they had a guard dog at the door.

“He’s involved in one of our cases.”

Gene was watching Elizabeth work, and he really hoped this woman had the common sense to back up.

FAST.

“So, tell him I’m here.”

“I can’t really…”

“Can’t or won’t?” she asked, giving the woman the hairy eyeball.

The woman just stared, stone-faced.

Oh, someone had some balls.

“Like I said, he’s not available.”

Elizabeth pulled out her phone, and dialed Gene’s. She knew his was on silent.

“I need four FBI vans outside this office, and I need a warrant put in on each of the employees for their records. I want to tear this place apart,” she stated.

Gene had felt his phone vibrate in his pants, and he knew what she was doing.

He played along.

“Yeah, her name is Bethany Clark,” she said, reading the woman’s name off her desk plate.

That seemed to work.

“Fine,” she said, picking up the phone and buzzing her boss’s office. She spoke to him in hushed tones.

“Good one,” Gene said. “You’re lucky my phone was off.”

“You’re a creature of habit,” she said.

That was when the woman hung up.

“You can go back,” she stated. “He’s on the phone, but he’ll see you.”

Well, that worked.

Together, they headed back to the office with Ken’s name on the wall beside it.

The door was open, and they headed in.

In one ear, the man had a Bluetooth earpiece, and he was talking to someone on the phone.

The whole time they stood there, the man was ignoring both Elizabeth and Gene, as if he didn’t know WHO they were, and WHY they were there.

She hated games.

As he made himself richer, and some idiot poorer, someone’s patience was about used up. She had better things to do than pander to some sleezy looking, Ponzi-scheme planner.

When another minute went by, she was done.

Elizabeth was patient up to a point, but she was burning daylight when it came to interviews.

When she looked at her watch, and then Gene, he knew what he needed to do.

Walking over to the man, he grabbed the earpiece, and disconnected the call.

Ken gasped.

“Are you insane?” he asked. “You can’t just hang up on one of my clients. KAYLA!” he shouted. “You could have waited for me to finish!”

The man was big angry, and they didn’t give a shit.

Really.

He had to interrupt his call to take Bethany’s out in the lobby. So this was all show.

When his partner came in, she was also in the same Bluetooth earpiece.

“Yes, Ken?” she asked.

“I need you to contact Davis Leeds and apologize. They hung up on him! He was about to deposit five million into investments! I’ve been working on that for weeks!”

The woman gasped.

“Oh, no!”

Elizabeth didn’t care if he was investing his testicles to be used as ping-pong balls. She had business, and her badge made that more important.

As Kayla went to leave, Gene stood in front of the door, blocking her way out.

That’s when Elizabeth laid down the law.

“Both of you, sit your asses down before I put you in cuffs for shits and giggles, and then bring you to the FBI building. Then, your clients will really be freaked out when the media that follows me sees that. Do you want them to think you’re being arrested for some money scheme?”

That seemed to work.

Damn well.

Kayla sat down and not another word was uttered between them.

Finally.

Elizabeth was in control, and they were sitting in chairs and not on the floor.

“Now, here we go for introductions, but I’m sure you don’t need them. I’m Deputy Director Elizabeth Blackhawk. This is my partner, Special Agent Gene Cantrell. Who are you?” she asked, mostly because of the woman.

They did the same thing as the man did the introductions.

“I’m Ken Yasin, and this is my sister, Kayla. We’re partners and own this hedge fund company.”

So far so good.

“We’re here because of a date you had last night with a Maxwell Holder,” she said.

Kayla gasped again.

Her brother gave her a look and it said, ‘loose lips get fired’. The woman must have gotten it.

She stayed quiet.

“What about it?” he asked, suspiciously.

Did no one watch the news? It was on every channel, and she’d had multiple calls to the FBI building from the co-workers who worked for Max.

It was literally everywhere.

“Let’s just say we’re asking questions regarding something you need not worry about, if you can give us a play-by-play of your evening.”

He looked uneasy, and that told her more than if he actually said something.

She’d bet her car this man saw the news. He watched the financials every morning, and he would be online.

She called BULLSHIT.

“I was matched up with Max, and met him for a couple of drinks. I didn’t know he was The United States Attorney General at the time. I was only given his first name. We had drinks, and what I thought was going to be a discreet hookup.”

Kayla just shook her head.

“I told you that using that company was a bad idea. If our clients…”

Ken wasn’t having it.

It was clear who was the bossier partner.

It wasn’t her.

“Kayla! Stop.”

She did.

“Anyway, Max got drunk—like really drunk, and I told him I was out. I came home, and went to bed. I was disappointed. This morning, I called Kian, and asked for a refund. Normally, he hooks me up with decent people. Max was anything but.”

So far, it matched up from the matchmaker, from what Max could remember, and now to Kian’s recollection.

“What did he do that turned you off so much from a sure thing?” she asked.

He looked horrified.

“Listen, Ken. We know why you use the service. We know it’s to get laid. I don’t give three shits, a smoothie, or a pile of fucks at this point.”

Now, he looked confused.

“Just tell me what happened, and we’ll keep it in our report, and off of the news.”

That seemed to work.

Finally.

“He had two martinis and got sloppy drunk. Like embarrassingly sloppy drunk. When he spilled his third drink on me, in an attempt to stay awake, I bailed. That’s all I can tell you.”

“So you had two drinks?”

“Yes.”

“And he was sloppy drunk at two martinis? A man who can hold his alcohol?”

He shrugged.

“He had one as I was getting there, and one with me.”

Elizabeth went with her gut.

“He was roofied.”

Ken gasped.

“Are you saying…?”

Gene nodded.

“Yep, he was slipped a drug. We’re running his blood and vomit now.”

“Oh, man,” Ken said.

Elizabeth was curious.

“Who brought him the drinks?”

The guy looked confused.

“Uh, I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention. I was focused on him. I remember his second one coming, and my first, because we were leaning into each other and whispering. Someone put them on the table.”

“Okay.”

She changed directions.

“Have you ever had a hookup with Max before?” she asked.

“No, he was my first…male date.”

What?

She lifted a brow.

“So you’re not gay?”

His sister said nothing, but Elizabeth could tell she was annoyed. It was clear she was worried about the company’s publicity.

“No, I’m bi. I mostly date women, but I was curious, and that didn’t work out well. I’m back on the ladies. When I went that route, the talking beforehand was titillating, and I like the idea of trying something erotically new. Lately, women are boring me. Max was sexy, and I was into him until…”

“He was drugged.”

“Is he okay?” he asked, genuinely concerned for the man’s well-being.

“He is now, but he’s got issues.”

Oh, that was saying the least.

“Have you seen the news?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“I only watch the financial news so I can help my clients get wealthy.”

Again, she wasn’t buying that. The US Attorney General turned up with a bunch of bodies, and he’d been planning on being his bed bunny.

That had to rattle a cage or three. Something went on between that second drink, and that night.

Oh, and she needed to find out what.

ASAP.

“Well, let me clue you in. Max was found with dead women. Three of them, to be exact.”

He stared.

“Pardon?” he asked. “He told me he was gay.”

“He is.”

The man was back to looking confused, so Elizabeth kept going.

“He woke up in a motel, and there were dead women with him.”

He whistled.

“I mean, that’s crazy. He seemed like a nice guy, but just couldn’t hold his liquor.”

Uh-huh.

“And you’re sure he only had three drinks?” she asked, already knowing his BAC, but wanting to revisit the conversation.

Ken nodded.

“Like I just said, he was working on a Martini when I got there. He bought me a double Jack, and I caught up. Then, we both had one more drink. The third one was spilled, and I can’t give you more than that.”

Gene kept making notes.

“And when you got there, was he drunk? Give me your impression, since you’re the last one to see him that we know about.”

He shook his head.

“No. We were leaning in, and he smelled good. His breath was still minty, and he wasn’t slurring. In fact, he was hitting on me, and I was hitting back. I really thought we were going back to his place.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“How did you know that?” she asked.

“He had an erection, and so did I. That’s usually the next step, even if it’s a straight date. I was into him, and he was definitely into me. He wanted me, just as much. There was a vibe that we both picked up.”

His sister went there.

“I’ve warned you about random hookups. If he killed women, what was to say you weren’t going to be hurt?” she asked.

He reassured her.

“I’m good, Kayla. I have excellent security here at the office, and at my house.”

She sighed in exasperation, and Elizabeth got it. It was a sister worried about her brother.

That used to be her thing too.

Until her brother burned her.

Only, now wasn’t the time.

“And you use that dating service to get dates often?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, they have good quality clients. I don’t want to waste my time with just anyone. I will say that if you can’t find a good match, that the owner, Kian, will find you a date, and they don’t always have to be members who pay the fee.”

So pimping.

Jesus.

No matter how you dressed it up, if Kian was looking for women to have sex with men, or other women, that was sketchy.

A rich man’s son would know that.

“Where did you guys have ‘drinks’?” she asked.

“Nagato, over in the Park Hyatt. You know, that really fancy restaurant.”

She did know it.

It was super expensive, and you had to have reservations. You couldn’t just walk in off the street and get seated, even if you stayed in the hotel. Oh, you could wander around, maybe slip by the Maître d’, and get to the bar, but that was it.

They catered to the power players in the city.

That they went there meant Max likely used his name to get them in.

“Who made the reservation? You or Max?”

“Not me. That was where Max told me to meet him. That was another reason I knew it was a sure thing.”

“Oh, it was,” she said. “Max said he had every intention before he was drugged.”

“Damn,” he muttered. “Maybe I should text him…”

Elizabeth stopped him.

“We have his phone, so unless you want me or my burly friend here to send you feet pics into your DMs, I don’t recommend it.”

Gene stared at her, and then began laughing. He couldn’t help himself.

The only more absurd person in the room…

Was him.

“Thank you for your help,” she said, getting up.

Ken stopped her.

“I really am sorry that this happened to him, if he is innocent, and didn’t hurt the women who died, can you tell him give me a call? No one should be hurt like that. He might need a friend.”

She was sorry, too, but that wasn’t happening. Call it a hunch, but she didn’t think Max was going to be setting up dates for a while.

Lesson learned.

Heading out of the man’s office, Gene shook his head.

“This is getting us nowhere. We need more, like the IDs of the victims. So far, this is everything we found out from Max, and the detectives.”

She was aware.

“I hope they have them by the time I get my ass into the morgue. This might be one of those cases that are made in forensics.”

It might be.

Gene pulled out his phone and took what she was saying as a hint. He rattled off an email to Callen to give him the heads-up.

Hurricane Boss Lady would be making shore soon enough.

Looking at her watch, she knew they needed a break.

“Let’s go grab lunch, and then, we’ll head to the morgue to see what’s going on.”

That worked for him.

Why?

He suspected where she wanted to go.

“Nagato?” he asked.

She gave him a fist bump.

“Does that work for you?” Elizabeth asked.

“You had me at killing two birds with one stone,” he said, as they both got into her blacked-out ride.

What they didn’t notice was the killer.

They had company.

And the rage was about to go up ten notches.

To unbearable.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Twist and Shout

Ice Cream Place

Outside of D.C.

It was a gorgeous spring day, and everything was so pretty outside. On top of that, the ride to the ice cream place on the motorcycle was something.

Like ‘never forget’ something.

Truth be told, Max had never been a passenger on a motorcycle, and he was pretty sure he never would again—but not because it wasn’t fun.

He was having the time of his life.

Oh, and he was holding on for dear life, his arms wrapped around Dex, as he was living in the moment.

This was so novel to him, and he was experiencing something so new that he was in awe.

As they took the turns, on Dex’s Harley, he kept his body pressed to the man’s back. He was sure the man could feel EVERYTHING.

And instead of being embarrassed…

It.

Was.

Nice.

The whole time, the trees flew by, and he was able to breathe in the fresh air and the man’s bodywash.

He smelled damn good too.

Jesus.

That was a whole other experience.

Now, as Max put away the problems, and instead just enjoyed the scenery, he couldn’t recall another time when he felt so…free. It was odd that he wasn’t thinking about work at this time of the day.

But he wasn’t.

Normally, he’d be planning out his work for the night when he got home from work. There’d be a drive through dinner, a glass of wine on the couch, and then he’d prepare his briefs for work the next day.

Or for a case.

Or for…

Only, for now, all he was thinking about was the man driving the motorcycle. For some reason, he had cop on the brain. Whether that was going to bite him in the ass later, or not, was yet to be seen.

Odds weren’t in his favor, and he knew it, but damn, he wanted them to be. For the first time, in a long time, he wanted to connect to someone who understood him.

He wanted to feel.

As they pulled off of the road at a tiny little shack of an ice cream place, Dex parked his bike.

No one was there, and it was peaceful.

Turning off his bike, he helped Max get off the bike, and out of his helmet.

“Well, how was the ride?” he asked, thinking about how he had thoroughly enjoyed Max’s body pressed to his.

That was a part of taking the bike.

First, he wanted to see if the man would step outside of his comfort zone, and second, he was curious about how he’d feel.

Dex knew he wasn’t his type, but he wanted to show the man there was a life out there.

When his hands had been on his abs, and more than once, he felt him hold on tighter.

It sent shockwaves through him, and now, he had an erection. He knew Max did because well…

He’d been pressed to his back.

“It was fun,” he said, being honest. “I’ve never done that before.”

Dex was amused.

“Haven’t slummed with the normal folk, huh?” he asked, busting his ass.

He laughed.

“You’re anything but normal, Dex. I think we both know that. Cops are a special kind of crazy,” he admitted.

And that was dangerous.

Max knew it.

“Let’s get some ice cream,” he said. “I do like something sweet after dinner.”

Max patted his pants.

Oh, shit.

Dex made him dinner, so it was only fair he bought him ice cream, but there was a problem.

“I didn’t bring my wallet,” Max said. “In fact, I don’t know if I still have one.”

Dex reassured him.

“Well, you don’t, since it’s in evidence, but beyond that, I asked you out for the ice cream date, so I’m paying,” he stated.

That hit Max hard.

Was this a date?

Was that what the man was doing?

Immediately, those warning bells went off in his head, and he knew he was in dangerous territory.

Cops and him…

The reason he picked men so far away from the hyper-masculine cop was he’d been burned before.

Now, he was in panic mode.

Max was a smart man, but he couldn’t read this guy. He came across laid back, but now, he saw that this might be a date.

Why did that give him a little thrill even though he wanted to run for it?

As they walked up to the counter, they both checked out the ice cream flavors. Dex let Max order first.

“I’ll have a medium vanilla with rainbow sprinkles,” he said.

Dex grinned.

Yeah, someone was coming out of his shell, and he was a really great guy. He was funny, kind, and smart. Dex liked being around him.

Then, he ordered.

“I’m going to have the hard ice cream. Make it a Cherry Jubilee. Medium.”

He paid, and the girl went off to get them their ice cream.

“Cherry, huh?”

“I like to live on the wild side. Look at you, Mr. Attorney General getting sprinkles on your ice cream. I think you’re a party animal under all that suit and tie.”

He blushed.

Oh, and Dex loved every second of it. He was beginning to believe no one ever tried to date Max. It was just wham, bam, thank you, sir.

He wondered if he could get him to open up more.

Max was honest.

“It reminds me of my childhood,” he admitted. “We used to go to Nantucket in the summers.”

And he’d nailed that.

“I told you. Rich-rich.”

Max said nothing, since the woman was coming toward them with their ice cream.

Dex tipped her, and they headed to a table. They both sat on the same side of the picnic bench, watching the cars go by.

“What did your family do in the summer?” Max asked, suddenly wanting to know more about this man.

“We did a lot of hiking. Have you ever been to Montana?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“The views alone…we would pack up, get the horses, and take to the trails. That’s how I met my ex.”

Max ate some of his ice cream.

“How?” he asked.

“My mom is a park ranger. He got lost, and we all saddled up to help find him.”

Why did that not surprise him at all? Dex seemed like the kind of guy who would hop on a horse, and save a guy who was lost.

It was that cop gene.

Some men had it, and they always became cops.

“So you rescued the man? Do you find yourself doing that a lot?” Max asked. “It sounds vaguely familiar.”

Dex turned his head, and focused on the handsome man.

“I am who I am. Do you think you need to be rescued?” he asked, staring right into his eyes.

Holy.

Shit.

The heat turned up outside, and he would have sworn summer had just landed.

Max’s heart skipped in his chest. From Dex’s five o’clock shadow to just the way he was licking his ice cream…

Max was struggling.

He really began freaking the fuck out. This felt too easy. This felt too calm.

In his world, that meant it was going to destroy him in ways he’d never recover.

“Anyway, that’s what we did for summer vacation, and it was skiing in the winter.”

Max tried to have a normal conversation, but he was watching Dex’s big hands, and jawline.

“So, you like it outside?” he asked.

He nodded.

“It’s nice to see nature. You don’t like it outside?” he asked.

He was honest.

“I don’t often do it anymore. I own the family’s beach house in Nantucket. I just don’t go there.”

Dex was curious.

“Why?” he asked.

The man said one word, as he licked his sprinkle covered ice cream.

“Ghosts.”

That word hung there.

Oh, and Dex didn’t think it was because it was haunted by legit ghosts. This man’s life was regimented, and he was betting that was the case from his youth too.

Dex held out his ice cream.

“Want to try it? They make the best Cherry Jubilee ice cream in Virginia.”

Max stared at him.

“Legit?”

He laughed.

“No, I was going to pull it away at the last second, and bust your ass.”

He found him amusing.

Leaning in, he tasted the man’s ice cream, and the whole time, he could feel Dex’s eyes burning into him.

God.

He was in trouble again.

When he offered up his ice cream, Dex tried it, even though he knew what it would taste like. Now, he was wondering what the man would taste like.

And he was curious if he’d ever find out.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t hella curious.

“I like it here,” Max said out of the blue. “It’s calm, peaceful, and no one knows who I am. I feel safe.”

Dex let him talk.

“And I’m scared,” he said.

And here it was.

“About what happened this morning?” he asked. “Or because of me?”

Jesus.

Someone was right to the point. Dex Corbin did NOT beat around the bush. Well, it was clear that he wasn’t imagining it.

The man was flirting with him.

Normally, he was the aggressor, but after last night…

“Both,” he said, being honest.

There was no point trying to pretend they were both on the same page. The man wasn’t dumb.

He could see that.

“Well, I already told you. Elizabeth is going to take care of this. I wouldn’t be shocked if she already had a bead on the killer. Just don’t freak out. Relax, and enjoy the time off from work.”

He said nothing.

“As for me, I won’t hurt you.”

He glanced over.

“I wish I believed that.”

Dex was beginning to put the pieces together. Something happened to make Max as stringent as he was. Someone broke his heart. He had a type, and it was some dressed up twink in a suit, but yet, he’d been watching him from his spare bedroom window.

He took his hand earlier, and he felt that spark.

Something was definitely making him uncomfortable, and he didn’t know what it was.

Or if it was him.

He was intentionally trying not to be attracted to him.

It was time to ask questions.

“What was his name?” Dex asked. “The man who did you dirty. Because you have trust issues. That’s something you learn, not something that happens from birth.”

Max didn’t want to talk about it. In fact, that he knew that was the case, and he’d nailed it so fast…

It unnerved him.

And made him angry.

Max worked so goddamn hard to be unreadable. That was part of his skill at his job, and now, one bike ride, and someone knew too much.

When he didn’t say anything, Dex let it go. He figured when the man wanted to talk, he would.

“Okay, fair enough. When we get back to the house, want to watch a movie on the couch? You can pick. Do you like scary movies, or…?”

He was stopped with one word, and the tone…

It said it all.

“Why?” Max asked.

“Uh, because I’m curious what kind of movies you like, and I’m on vacation. I mean, we can build a swing for the porch if you are all about woodwork. I just figured you’d…”

Max stopped him.

“No. You know what I mean. Why are you doing this? What’s your end game? I’m trying to figure you out.”

He lifted a brow.

What?

What was this?

Ouch.

That was insulting.

“There’s no end game. I’m just being nice.”

He laughed.

“People aren’t nice for no reason, Dex. They are nice when they want something. What do you want from me? Because I have nothing left to give,” he said, emotionally spent from the day, and his life. Seeing Dex’s serenity, it pissed him off that at his age, he couldn’t have it.

It was already too late.

It was too late for him.

As soon as he said that, it ended the conversation. Dex shut that door, locked it, and threw away the key.

He wasn’t going to be accused of being scheming, or trying to be sneaky.

All he was doing was trying to get to know the man, and give him a day off from his life.

Now, he was done.

Standing, he surprised Max.

“I get it. Skip the movie. I have some more work to do around the house,” he said, tossing his ice cream. He wasn’t in the mood for it anymore. He understood the man was stressed, but he was no man’s doormat.

He’d played that role once in his life, and he wasn’t going back, even if he thought there might be chemistry. His heart was worth more than that.

Max watched him, and he heard the hurt.

“Dex,” he said, realizing he’d taken his mood out on the man, and that wasn’t fair.

He stopped him from saying anything more.

“Finish up your ice cream, Mr. Holder. I’ll get you back. I’m sure there’s some work you can do. I’ll leave you alone.”

Uh-oh.

And just like that, the man handed back that same shittiness. Now, Max felt terrible.

Was he just a nice guy?

“Dex.”

He put on his sunglasses, and sat on his bike. Then, he waited for Max to get on. When he did, his body was tense when Max put his hands on his hips. So much so, that he moved them.

Then, they headed out.

Dex said nothing the entire way, and Max did the same.

The whole time, Max had that sinking feeling like he’d crossed a line and really fucked up.

And it didn’t sit well with him.

Not.

At.

All.

The guy must not have wanted anything from him, and he’d miscalculated.

And just ruined a possible really good thing.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Nagato

Washington D.C.

Third Interview

When they rolled up to the fancy-schmancy restaurant, no one gave her a hard time, despite how she was dressed. Most of the time, people judged her by her beat-up boots, and her jeans.

The media tore her apart for not wearing red-bottomed five-inch heels and a fucking ball gown on a crime scene because they thought she should.

It was refreshing to be recognized, and not given flak about it.

For a change.

This was a place none of them came to for dinner. Honestly, with kids, you tended to eat on the go, or have kid friendly food.

This place screamed fancy schmancy.

Not that there was anything wrong with that for a business lunch or date night.

Now, it was about business.

Once inside, the Maître d' didn’t even bat an eye when they asked for a table. It was when she specifically requested the waiter who waited on Max the night before, that she figured they crossed a line.

Here they went.

When he walked away, leaving them there, she thought for sure that they weren’t having lunch there.

Only, she had been wrong.

Shortly after, the man motioned them to a table, placed a linen napkin in her lap, and one in Gene’s before telling them their waiter would be right with them.

“I don’t know how to explain this,” she said. “Normally, I get dirty looks for my clothes, and wearing a gun in a restaurant. I feel like the Emperor in his new clothes.”

He snorted.

“Well, naked lady, you can thank me. I’m the reason, it’s me,” Gene said, taking credit.

She laughed.

“Oh, is that it?”

He shrugged.

“I class the joint up,” he stated, but then stopped when a waiter was heading their way.

“Deputy Director Blackhawk, it’s a pleasure to have you in our establishment. What can I do for you this afternoon?” he asked.

They didn’t even have menus.

“Uh, food?” she asked.

He smiled.

“Here at Nagato, you tell us what you’d like, and our chefs make it. We cater to an exclusive clientele. You’ve been on our wish list.”

Yeah, not creepy at all.

“Uh, I hope not to eat. I’ve had cases like that,” she said, expecting horror.

The man actually laughed.

“No, Deputy Director, to have at our restaurant as a customer. You’re a commodity.”

Gene lifted a brow.

This place was fifty shades of bizarre. That was for damn sure.

Well, now, she needed to see if they really would make her what she wanted. It was time to test it out.

“Can we each get a burger and fries?” she asked. “I’m not talking a pretentious burger with fancy-dancy cheese. I want regular cheese, crispy bacon, and a vat of mayo. He’ll have a vat of ketchup—and not homemade aioli and ketchup. The stuff from a supermarket.”

The man nodded.

“We can do that. How would you like it cooked?” he asked. “Still mooing? Or so dead you need an arson investigator?”

She laughed.

“I like you.”

He grinned.

“Medium for both of us.”

The man wasn’t done.

“And to drink?”

“Coffee?” she asked. “Not in tiny cups with weird-ass spoons. Normal, unpretentious…”

He got it.

“Drip coffee, creamer in little individual cups on the side, so you can make your own.”

Well, holy shit.

This was freaking OZ.

The man nodded his head, and was ready to go put in their order.

“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

And with that, he was gone.

She actually laughed as she looked around and the place was filled with powerful people in DC. They were eating normal food.

“I think I found my new favorite place. Gene, that’s the mystery of this place. The rich can come here to enjoy normal things, and the people outside think it’s snails and foie gras.”

Gene laughed.

“Uh, before you move in, remember that something nefarious might have gone on here. That might be a bit premature, even if they give you ketchup in a bottle.”

He was right.

What was she thinking?

Oh, she was thinking with her stomach and the fact that the windows were tinted, and you couldn’t see in.

The media couldn’t get in here either. Just through the hotel access, and they’d be spotted by the person at the hostess desk.

When the man came back carrying two coffees in pristine white cups, and a man behind him with a bottle of something in an ice bucket, she leaned into it.

Oh, she was accustomed to this kind of service. Chris and Callen had broken her of her fear of it. While it was a normal food place, it was still somehow upscale.

“Thank you,” she said, as the waiter opened the bottle of sparkling water, and poured for them.

As her waiter put down her coffee, she had to do this now before she was full and not focused.

“Did the Maître d’ tell you that I needed to speak with you about Max Holder?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Max is my personal customer when he comes here. I always seat and serve him.”

That was good to know.

“What’s your name?” she asked, needing it for the file, and to do research on him.

“I’m Vaughn Burk, Ma’am.”

She recalled Max saying the name Vaughn.

“Just Elizabeth,” she offered. “Now, can you tell me about last night when he was in?”

He stood there.

At first, she thought he was going to not help, but she was caught off guard.

“I will be more than happy to help you, on one condition.”

She lifted a brow, and was about to flash her badge, but she went with her gut.

“What?”

“That when you come here again, you’ll let me be your personal waiter, like with Max.”

Was that all?

“Uh, sure.”

“Then, I can help you.”

This place was making her day. Pulling out the chair, she patted it.

“Join us, Vaugh,” she said.

The man contemplated it, and then sat.

“Yes, I can. I suppose this has something to do with what happened on the news?” he asked, as he sat in the chair, all prim and proper.

“It is. I’m trying to clear him.”

He relaxed.

“Mr. Holder is a good man. He’s decent, and he’s kind. We all like him. He has a standing table, and you’re in it. He treats us like we’re human, and not here to serve him. A lot of wealthy people don’t understand we are.”

“Listen, Vaugh,” she said. “If we come back, my family is as redneck as they come. Look at this one. He’s banging my husband.”

Gene laughed.

“Really? You let me. What does that say about your mental status?”

She snorted.

“Anyway, Max was here, and he sat at this table?” she asked.

The man nodded.

She looked around, and they were close to a coat room, and that was it.

She pointed.

“What leads through there?” she asked.

He looked.

“That’s the coatroom and an exit.”

Interesting.

Now that she had the lay of the land, it was time to get this done.

“Okay, and what happened last night?”

He told her all he knew.

“Max came in around nine, which was his usual. He ordered his regular drink, a martini, very dirty. It had three olives, the Spanish kind, and two onion pearls.”

Gene was making notes so she could interview.

“He was meeting another gentleman. We also know him. He comes in often, but with women and his sister.”

Gotcha.

“His name?” she asked, already knowing it.

“Ken Yasin.”

So far, everything lined up, and that had been consistent in all of her interviews.

“And?”

Vaughn continued.

“Well, they sat together, and were talking. Max ordered another martini, and his guest ordered a double of Jack on the rocks, and then another.”

So far, everything was lining up, again, and nothing was out of place.

“Then, before I knew it, Max ordered another drink, and it got spilled. When I went to clean it up, he was slurring, and acting weird.”

She listened.

“His gentleman friend got up, looked disgusted, and left the restaurant. Mr. Holder was out of it. I went to call him a cab, and when I came back, he was gone. He must have made it out to his car.”

That was also filling in pieces.

“He was gone, and I put his drinks on the tab, and cleaned up his table.”

“The man he was meeting with, what was that like?” she asked.

He paused as if trying to find words.

“I hate to gossip.”

She stopped that.

“This is an official investigation. This isn’t gossip. I’m trying to clear Max. He’s my friend, and someone did him dirty, Vaughn.”

The man must have agreed because he went there and told her.

“The gentleman was all handsy. He had his hand in Max’s lap, and he’d kissed him a few times, whispering in his ear.”

Again, nothing that Ken didn’t tell them, and perfectly normal behavior on a hookup date.

“How was Max’s mood?”

“When he got there, it was normal. He was neat as a pin, and aloof to anyone who spoke to him, but me. By the time I saw him shortly after, he looked drunk. I will say that’s a rarity. Max can hold his martini’s. He usually does two or three through a dinner date, but they never ordered food.”

Interesting.

“Thank you, Vaughn.”

He nodded and got up from the table.

As she sipped her coffee, and Gene did the same, she went there.

“He had to be drugged. I’ve had dinner meetings with Max. He always gets the same thing. Two dirty martinis, a steak, fries, and a Caesar salad. He’s a creature of habit.”

That he was.

“He doesn’t deviate. He gets to the office the same time every day, and he works late most nights. It’s rare he does Tuesday night dates—most are the weekends. I’ve had to call him a few times on cases, and have interrupted them. But he always answers for me.”

Gene admitted that it was suspicious.

“He wouldn’t be drunk on two drinks. He had to have been drugged. That’s the only possibility at this point.”

Gene played the Devil’s advocate.

“Or he faked it to build an alibi, and he actually did do the deeds.”

She didn’t buy that.

“No, I know him.”

“Are you willing to put your professional name on this, Elizabeth, because so far, we’re not really finding anything that is standing out. He looks guilty unless his date drugged him.”

No, there had to be more.

“He works a lot of high-level cases. I just have to keep digging.”

That meant one thing.

They needed to go hard, and move fast. There was no doubt now that this was going to take forensics.

As Vaugh brought their burgers over, they looked delicious and exactly what she wanted. They weren’t stuffy rich folk burgers.

They were Gene and Elizabeth food.

“Thank you,” she said. “Oh, and Vaughn?”

He paused.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“Were you the only one who brought him his drinks last night?”

He thought about it.

“I am usually the only one, but I didn’t bring him his second martini. The bartender said another waiter must have picked it up. I was with another customer.”

That meant that maybe Ken wasn’t the only one who could have drugged him.

“Who was the waiter?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“I don’t know. I can’t answer that, Elizabeth,” he admitted. “I wish I could, but at nine thirty at night, Nagato is busy.”

She bet.

Well, that didn’t help.

Elizabeth tried the hail Mary pass.

“Is the bartender here so I can interview him or her?” she inquired, hopefully.

Vaughn shook his head.

“No, she works the night shift. You are more than welcome to come back, Deputy Director.”

She’d have to.

What choice did she have?

When he walked away, they kept eating. The whole time, she knew one thing.

“These are far superior burgers. This is a diner quality burger. This is my kind of food.”

He laughed.

“The rich have all the benefits. They get the diner food without having to slum it with we poor folk.”

Oh.

Hell.

No.

If she had to suffer with money, they all had to suffer. Gene included.

“Hey now!” she said.

He busted her ass.

“You’re rich, LaRue. Face it. You’re shacked up with a bestselling author, a doctor, and you have your own money.”

Oh, well, she had bad news for him.

“When you marry me, you have my money too. Your name will go all of on my accounts.”

He stared at her.

IN.

HORROR.

“I don’t want your money.”

Oh, well, she was going to get her giggle on because it was share and share alike. Just like Ethan’s name was on everything that she, Chris, and Callen owned.

“Tough titties,” she said.

Hell no.

“Elizabeth!”

She stopped him.

“You can call me sugar momma,” she joked, busting his ass.

That broke him.

He laughed.

“Elizabeth, I can fucking promise that those words will never, ever come out of my goddamn mouth.”

She liked a challenge.

And she found a new one.

One day, she was going to get him to say the words.

Bet on it.

Chapter Fourteen

Alessandra Barber’s

Home

Almost Four P.M.

To say that she was bummed would be one hell of an accurate statement. After being dismissed by the president, she had to fight the negative thoughts all the way home.

Oh, and they were bad too. She even stopped at the gym to try to beat them out of her body with physical exercise.

And the outcome?

It didn’t work.

Not even close.

The whole time, Alessandra was thinking about what could have possibly made Gabe go from hot to cold, since they’d been good, until Elizabeth came. As soon as she left, he was distant.

Was he upset about something?

She wasn’t sure.

When he’d sent her home, he didn’t flirt, or tell her he would see her tomorrow.

It felt…

Cold.

Now, she was freaking the hell out.

As she parked her car, she was so confused, but she didn’t want to call Elizabeth. What if it turned out that she’d talked Gabe out of whatever it was they were beginning?

The President and Deputy Director were close.

Had she been the reason?

God.

She hoped not.

Up to that moment, she had a friend, and it made her sad to think that the woman would try to sabotage her after getting her hopes up.

But women…

They were difficult.

Getting out of her car, she headed to the kitchen door, and that’s when she came to a dead stop.

Oh, shit.

She saw them.

On her one step, covered on the portico, there was a big bouquet of flowers sitting there.

LIKE BIG-BIG.

Now, she was really confused.

Getting closer, she pulled off the plastic covering, and was assaulted with the same smell as the ones she received a few days ago.

Hot house roses were the absolute best.

Only, this time, there were pink AND red ones.

Oh, boy.

Alessandra couldn’t believe it. She knew what that meant, and who they’d be from without having to look at the card.

Now, her heart was racing in her chest, as she was giddy all over again.

Thank God she didn’t call Elizabeth and make a complete and total ass out of herself by accusing the woman of trying to make Gabe not like her.

That would have been really bad.

Picking up the card, she opened it and read over the words—the whole time, she was going to be sick, but not for bad reasons.

These were all good.

‘You are cordially invited for a date night at the White House. Pack accordingly. If all goes well, it just might be a sleepover.’

Oh, shit.

Shit.

Shit.

She actually began squealing in glee as she bounced up and down like a lunatic.

Thank God her neighbors couldn’t see her looking this ridiculous.

She couldn’t believe her luck.

Was the president asking her to sleep over with him at the White House?

As in sex?

Together?

Holy Hell’s bells!

Now, she absolutely had to call Elizabeth, but not because she was upset. This called for advice, and she knew the woman would know how to handle this.

Her friend would help her through this whole thing, and she didn’t want anyone else to advise her.

As for the sleepover…

Did she want to go?

YES.

Was she ready for sex?

YES!

As the woman’s number rang, it didn’t take long before she answered.

“Yo. Blackhawk.”

Alessandra was giddy. She almost couldn't get the words out.

“I need your help.”

That’s when Elizabeth actually started laughing. Oh, she knew why the woman was calling—there was no doubt about that. Someone got her gift.

She knew they were delivered thirty minutes ago.

“Let me guess. You got flowers again from the man in the Oval Office.”

That was all she had to hear.

Oh, this woman…

She was in on it.

“You knew!” she accused, laughing.

Elizabeth didn’t deny it.

“Yep.”

Alessandra needed to know.

“And you didn’t warn me? I thought he was getting me out of there because I did something wrong.”

Yeah, well, Elizabeth couldn’t warn her, like she couldn’t warn Gabe when Alessandra told her something in confidence.

“Oh, hell, no. I’m playing a dangerous game here, Alessandra. I’m balancing between two friends. Like I told Gabe, I’m going to hear all about the sex after the fact, and he can’t stop it, because girls gotta chat.”

That they did.

Her words hit the woman in the feels. She genuinely loved this woman’s heart. She was nothing like people thought, and she was blessed that she’d gotten behind that wall.

Alessandra would never forget this.

EVER.

“Well, I need help to get ready. I know you’re working a case…”

Oh, she knew where this was heading. She’d just spoken to Callen, and they didn’t have anything for her yet, so to buy Chris time, she could make a stop.

“I just left Nagato. I’ll be there in five. I don’t have much time, but I can swing in since you’re on the way,” she admitted.

That worked for her.

“Thank you!”

Elizabeth laughed.

“Thank me with dessert. I hope you have something sweet. Oh, and I’m bringing Gene. He’s riding with me.”

She didn’t care.

She could bring Jesus Christ himself, and she was inviting him in to help her pick out sexy bras. She needed all the help she could get.

“I have cake if you’re interested.”

Oh, she was.

Elizabeth liked something sweet after a delicious burger and salty fries.

“See you in a few.”

When she hung up, Alessandra carried the flowers in and put them next to the other ones. They were still alive, proof that they were the good roses.

The expensive ones lasted a while, and she was beginning to have a home that smelled like a florist.

She actually spun on her chair, giddy with the prospect of a date night with Gabriel.

Then, she knew she had to pony up some dessert, so she got that ready.

Going to her refrigerator, she pulled out another cake she’d made. She was going to bring some to Gabe, or hope he’d show up there. She’d learned he had a sweet tooth, and she wanted to make sure if he showed up, she was ready.

Besides, who didn’t want a cake on standby?

When there was a knock on the door, she opened it, and the woman was standing there.

“Okay, show me the flowers,” she said.

She practically dragged Elizabeth to them. Then, she pointed.

“There are RED ones!” she said, jumping up and down in absolute excitement.

It made Elizabeth smile.

She remembered the time Gabe sent flowers to Livy, and she’d been happy, but didn’t react like this. This woman was stupid over Gabe, and Elizabeth wanted that for him.

When she’d been ordering them, Gabe had texted her, asking if red was too forward, so that was the final outcome.

He wanted the woman to know his intent. He wanted to be crystal clear where this was heading.

To bed.

Elizabeth played dumb for Gabe.

“Well, someone is smitten. That man has it bad. Red and pink?”

Gene knew what Elizabeth had done, and he loved her for it. Cupid loved a good pairing off of potential love birds.

He pulled a fifty out of his pocket.

“I say engaged by next year,” he stated, winking at Elizabeth.

“I say engaged by Christmas,” she stated, laying down her own fifty.

Alessandra fanned herself.

“I’m going to pass the hell out. I can’t believe today. This is the best day of my whole goddamn life!” she said, bouncing again.

Yeah, they could see that.

“Okay, so you summoned me here. What’s up, Alessandra.”

She told her.

“I need help. Tell me how to seduce the president and make this sleepover happen.”

The peanut gallery couldn’t keep their mouth shut.

Gene actually laughed.

“Well, this should be good. Yeah, Elizabeth, how should she seduce Gabe? Asking for Ethan, Chris, and Callen,” he joked.

She pointed at him.

“I swear to God, I’ll show you my tits and you’re going to have nightmares.”

He shuddered, and Alessandra was confused. She didn’t know what was going on.

“I have so many questions.”

Elizabeth stopped her.

“Hold them for now. I don’t have a lot of time, and this is about you and Gabe,” she admitted. “We have to get you set for tonight’s event. Gabe wants you to stay there, as in he’s hoping this will be date two, and he can put the moves on you. YOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT FROM ME,” she added, clueing her in.

She grinned.

“It’s technically the third date, so that makes me not a wanton hussy, right?”

Elizabeth was amused.

She was likely the last person to ask about wanton hussiness. That was her middle name.

Elizabeth ‘I have a lot of men’ Blackhawk.

“Technically, but your lingerie is going to tell the tale. That’s going to be how he reads the room. What you wear will determine the night’s outcome. So where’s the dessert.”

She stared at her.

“NOW?”

She laughed.

“Cake before I riffle through your panty drawer. That’s my payment for helping you. You feed me cake, and I help you crack the presidential nut. From this day forward, if I come here, that’s my payment.”

She hugged her.

“Oh, hey,” she said, as the woman jumped on her, and wrapped her legs around her waist.

“I love you!” Alessandra said. “God!”

“And not my type, unless you have a dick, and boy, is Gabe about to be hella confused.”

She laughed.

“No, seriously. Thank you.”

Elizabeth didn’t mind.

When the woman peeled herself off of her, she cut them both a piece, and wasn’t in the mood for herself. She needed to look hot in lingerie.

Cake would have to wait.

“Tell me how to get his attention,” she said, leaning on the counter.

Gene laughed.

“Show him your tits. For some reason, hetero men like them,” he stated.

Alessandra laughed.

“I mean, I can do that.”

Elizabeth slowed that down.

“Don’t listen to Gene. He’s a whore,” she said, making him laugh. It wasn’t like she was wrong. When it came to Ethan, that was a fairly accurate statement.

Then, she continued.

“Uh, girl, you have his attention. Look at those roses. It’s like a flower shop in here.”

She was aware, but she knew Elizabeth would know him best.

“What kind of you know…does he like? Oh, and it’s awkward having this discussion in front of Gene.”

He looked over.

“Me? I’m the crazy part of all of this? You’re asking Elizabeth how to catch a man? They fall into her lap. Ivan says it’s the Medusa snakes. I say it’s drugs.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth, and then ate the cake off his fork.

“You’re so seeing my tits.”

He snorted.

“Come on!”

Since Alessandra was being legit, she’d clue her in.

“I only know what Livy told me. I’ve never done the mattress mambo with him, so… What I do know from Livy is that Gabe doesn’t swing wild in bed. I mean, she said the sex was hot and heavy, but he’s not into whips and chains like Gene.”

The man shrugged.

“I gotta be me, and Ethan doesn’t complain, Chickadee.”

She was well aware.

They all swung wild.

REALLY WILD.

“Okay, that’s good because I’m not into that kind of kink. I like straight sex. I’m kinda old-fashioned. Your sex life blows my mind.”

Half the time, it blew hers too.

As for straight sex…

That was boring as hell to Elizabeth, but who was she to say anything?

To each their own.

“He’s the president, so think that. He’s looking for more than just sex.”

She lifted a brow.

Alessandra didn’t understand.

“Like?”

Oh, lordy.

Did she have to spell it out?

Clearly, she did.

“This is your trial run for First Lady. The ‘behind the scene’ dating is his way of seeing if you can hold up in the limelight, and if you’re First Lady material. Gabe likes classy. That’s his kink. Jackie O classy.”

Oh.

Holy.

Shit.

If she ended up the First Lady of the United States…shit.

She’d die.

Oof.

It was probably not a good idea to say that, since the last First Lady did die.

In shock about all of this, she actually sat on the floor, and Elizabeth had to look over the counter at her.

“You good?” she asked. “Or are you going to pass out? If you do, we’re stealing this cake, and leaving you.”

Gene laughed.

“It is good cake.”

Alessandra focused.

“No. You just told me that the sexiest, most powerful man in the whole world wants me by his side. I don’t know if I’m going to recover.”

She snorted.

“Dramatic.”

She got up.

“Are you being serious? Because remember, I dated absolute losers who you found out were rapists. I can’t get this lucky if I tried. If you’re exaggerating, I’m going to cry—because I’m in my thirties, my eggs are drying up, and that man is hot.”

She was serious.

Lordy, someone’s clock was ticking.

First Gene’s, and now hers.

She was honest.

“Gabe really likes you. Again, you didn’t hear shit from me. If I was trying to lock this down, I’d do classy First Lady sex or go with sex that makes him feel powerful. He wants his masculinity back. He wants to be the man.”

Gene couldn’t help it.

“As opposed to how Elizabeth is in bed. She’s got the balls.”

She snorted.

“My dude, I swear to God, I’m going to gag you with a rubber dick if you don’t stop.”

“Kinky.”

She snorted.

Alessandra on the other hand was working through this in her head.

Okay, she could do this, if she had help.

“How?” she asked.

Oh, Elizabeth knew.

“Call him Mr. President in that breathy voice and sit in his lap. He’ll take care of the rest. I guarantee it. And under no circumstance are you to tell me about the sex.”

She looked bummed.

Jesus.

It looked like she was hearing about Lower Gabe over coffee and ice cream on someone’s couch.

Without.

A.

Doubt.

“Okay, you can tell me, but then you gotta hear about my sex life. That’s the girlfriend code.”

She lifted a brow.

Alessandra was confused.

“What’s that mean?” she asked.

The bottom line was that a friend she loved dearly had asked her to assimilate Alessandra into her world, so she had a friend.

So she would.

“It appears that we’re getting bestie necklaces and talking inappropriate things as we get mani-pedi’s. You know…men talk.”

She gasped, ran around the table, and when Elizabeth stood up, thinking she was getting a hug, the woman jumped up, wrapped her legs around her hips, and kissed her on the mouth.

AGAIN.

Gene clapped, and had some cake.

“More tongue next time,” he joked. “I think what you heard about her is right. I’m not the only one in this room who likes the same sex.”

Elizabeth put her down.

“You need help. You’re out of your mind.”

Oh, she was aware.

“I know, and I’m about to cuddle up with Gabriel Rothschild tonight in a sleepover! I’m the luckiest girl in the whole world!”

Yep.

She was in love.

Because of that, she didn’t mind helping her.

“You mean the big, bald, surly man who grumbles and growls?”

She giggled.

“God, he’s so sexy.”

Well, someone had a type.

That was for damn sure.

Elizabeth shoved the last part of her cake into her mouth because she didn’t trust Gene with it. He would eat it, like all the men ate her food.

He laughed.

“I was going to poach that.”

Yeah, she called that one.

“Help yourself,” Alessandra said. “Just leave a piece for the big sexy president.”

Yeah, she had it bad.

“Take me to your lingerie. Gene, you can stay here,” she said.

He pouted.

“Oh, and miss out on picking out women’s panties for a night of debauchery? Oh, shucks. My day is totally ruined now.”

Both women laughed at his sarcasm as they headed toward her room. Once there, Alessandra let her have the closet to look around.

Elizabeth went to the lingerie, and pulled out something sexy and pink. It had black trim but had that classy look to it.

Yeah, this was up his alley.

As she was staring at it, Alessandra had to know.

“You’re thinking.”

She was.

In fact, she was profiling him. Oh, Ethan wasn’t the only one who could read a room.

“This will get the presidential juices flowing. Let him unwrap you and find this.”

That she could do.

“So a dress over it?”

Elizabeth knew Gabe well. If anything, the man was predictable. Elizabeth once complimented Livy on a dress that was very Jackie O, and she rolled her eyes, saying Gabe picked it out.

He was looking for that kind of a wife.

Someone to be by his side, who he knew appreciated the highest office in the world.

“Yeah, something feminine.”

Then, she went there.

“Cut back on the makeup. Just do some lashes and red lips. He likes the girl next door. That’s how to pique his interest.”

She could do that.

Hell.

She’d move into a house on Pennsylvania Avenue to BE the girl next door if that’s what it took.

Rifling through her clothing, Elizabeth found a dress. It was very feminine, and it screamed ‘First Lady candidate’.

“This is it,” she said, handing her the dress.

It was a pretty blue, and it made her dark hair stand out. It was perfect.

Alessandra looked worried.

“It’s simple. Are you sure? It’s just a wrap dress.”

Yeah, she was.

“Oh, well, Gabe is auditioning you for the role. He’s thinking about sex, but he’s three steps ahead, thinking about how the world will take you. The first lady has to be wholesome, mother material, and very wifely. Remember that he’s a father, so too sexy is going to draw more bad attention than good. Keep the sexy in the lingerie UNDER the clothing.”

“I guess I just wanted to wear something sexy like I see you wearing at Galas at the White House.”

She laughed.

“Well, there is one in a month. May I suggest you pull out all the stops there? You’ll be there as the Press Secretary. You can wear something crazy.”

She stood there and looked lost.

“What now?”

“Can you help me find a dress for that?”

Elizabeth was honest.

“No.”

The woman looked disappointed.

“Oh.”

She stopped her.

“Lessa, I don’t find my own dress. I have a stylist that works for Callen. He picks mine. BUT…”

She looked up.

“I could ask him to style you too, so when you walk in, you blow Gabe’s mind and socks off all at once.”

She grinned.

“You’d do that for me?”

Elizabeth took a chance.

“Girlfriend code. That’s an exclusive club. I don’t let everyone in. That means if you call, even in the middle of the night, I’m coming. It means your secrets are safe with me, and I have your back.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“I’ve never had a best friend.”

Elizabeth understood that.

“You do now.”

Alessandra was so happy, she wanted to explode from joy and happiness. This was the best day of her whole freaking life.

REALLY.

Since she had the woman there, she was curious and went there.

“Can I ask you something?”

Elizabeth kept rooting around. She didn’t have much time, and as soon as Chrissy texted her that they had results in, she had to go.

“Sure.”

Here.

Went.

Everything.

“Do you think he wants more kids? I mean, I know he has six, but…”

Elizabeth was honest.

“Here’s the situation on that. He’s never said that he has, but I think he would want more. He loves them. I know that Gabe would have more, but Livy got fixed. She was done. There’s always been a running joke about which of our family could have more. You’re younger, so there’s the opportunity.”

“But? I feel one somewhere in this.”

“The kids he already has are going to be a BIG battle. Amy is going to be the toughest one. Gabe Jr. is sad, but he’s more like his dad than people think. Right now, he’s ambivalent about everything.”

She got what she was saying, and was honest.

“Amy kinda gave me attitude already. She told me I wouldn’t make it for three weeks. I bet her I would.”

Elizabeth wasn’t shocked.

The problem with Amy was she had zero Gabe in her, and a lot of rage from somewhere. It was likely from her biological dad. She was sneaky like her mother, and angry like that rapist.

Nurture versus nature was a messy thing.

“She’ll be your biggest obstacle. I’d pace yourself and get them to adjust to you two dating. At some point, you’re going to have to have that uncomfortable talk when they find out. I would give the baby thing some time. Let the kids adjust to Gabe having you in his life.”

That was her plan.

“Do you think he’ll really marry me?”

She laughed.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he would have you married to him fast if he didn’t have to worry about the public and his kids,” she admitted. “He asked me how I knew Ethan was the one. We got married after four days.”

“And you said?”

“I just knew. I think Gabe knows. I’m going to share something with you that I swear if you ever repeat, Alessandra, I’ll never forgive you. It will start a war.”

She shook her head.

“We’re friends. I can keep secrets.”

Elizabeth went there.

“You know how Livy was kidnapped?” she asked.

She nodded.

“There’s more to the story. I think you have to know about it. He should be the one to tell you, but Gabe is a man. As your friend, and his, I’m going to break the rules for you.”

She waited.

“When Livy and I were both at Quantico, we had to compete for placement. There’s a test we all take.”

She said nothing.

“Livy slept with the one instructor, and got him to switch her test with the woman who placed second in the exam.”

She gasped.

“The top ten spots went to the FBI. The next ten went to the US Marshalls. The last ten went to the Secret Service. I was at the top of my class, and Livy, thanks to that test, placed second. Had she not switched it, she would have been in the Secret Service.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

She already knew where this was going.

“The woman she had stolen the test from was placed in the Secret Service. She stole her position, and that’s how Livy became a Fed.”

“Yikes.”

“The woman figured it out, and for all these years, it was stewing in her, and then, when Livy got to be FLOTUS, and she had to protect her, she took her revenge out on her. That’s why she was killed. The media was told the agent was deranged. It was revenge. She cheated, and that’s how she and Gabe found each other.”

“Oh, that’s heavy.”

Well, buckle up.

“Here’s something no one knows.”

She waited.

“And again, my whole relationship with Gabe hinges on this. If you ever bring this up, in a fight or anything, he’ll be angry with me.”

“I swear, I won’t,” she offered, holding up her pinky.

Here went everything.

“Livy was raped by a killer. She didn’t die because I showed up at her place.”

She gasped.

“She became pregnant, and Gabe married her because he felt horrible. He wanted to protect her, and he failed.”

“Oh, no,” she said.

“So Amy…?”

“NO ONE knows she’s not his. NO ONE. Amy doesn’t even know. The reason I’m telling you is his hand was forced. I knew then he didn’t want to marry her, but he felt guilty. He thinks you were always meant to be his soulmate.”

Her heart thumped.

“Is it crazy I’m in love?” she whispered. “Like ‘marry him if he asked at a courthouse’ crazy?”

“That’s how Ethan and I got married, so no. It’s been the best fifteen years of my life. Just know, and it’s going to get hard at points, because of his job, but he’d likely do the same with you.”

That was all she had to hear.

Alessandra was all in.

“Before you run out of time, can you help me pick out clothes for the morning after?” she asked.

Elizabeth could.

To stick with the theme, she picked out some clothes for the next day, and she took her right back to pin up in the pencil skirt. This time, it was bright red with a white VERY high collar shirt—to hide any evidence if someone got a hickey.

“Now, you should be good.”

Alessandra was packing the things in the bag.

“Grab my birth control for me. It’s on the dresser,” she said, and Elizabeth dropped it into the overnight bag.

“You good?” she asked.

Alessandra hugged her.

“Thank you. You will never know how much I value your friendship, and this gift you’ve given me. I’ve never had a best friend. Thank you for being mine.”

She patted her back.

“I hope this works for both of you. I want him to be happy. I love him, Alessandra. He’s like my brother, and he’s had my back for many, many years. Please love him and protect him. He may be the most powerful man in the free world, but he’s fragile inside.”

Oh, she understood.

“I will,” she promised. “I will always do that.”

She smiled at her.

“Then, you should be good. Don’t forget the perfume in all the spots,” she said, winking at her.

With that, she walked out, down the hall, and shoved some of Gene’s second piece of cake into her mouth. Then, she jerked her head at the door.

“Lessss voll,” she muttered around the food.

“You’re going to choke,” he said, amused, but he followed her lead.

Gene followed.

Outside, security was waiting for them. It was nice having Will Jackson dead so she could have a little breathing room and not them up her ass twenty-four-seven.

“Morgue?” Ivan asked, as Demeter sniffed her.

She stared at him like he was insane.

“You had cake!” he accused.

That she did, and she normally shared, but not chocolate cake.

NO.

FREAKING.

WAY.

“Uh, personal space?” she asked, as Ivan gave him a shove so he could squeeze between them.

The big man pouted.

“We didn’t get cake.”

Yeah, well, if she found more cake on the way to the morgue, it would then be any man or woman for themselves. Unlike the dynamics of her relationship with Gabe, cake was easy.

There were rules.

Deep down, Elizabeth hoped Alessandra would keep that in mind.

And she’d follow them.

Chapter Fifteen

Morgue

Garage Bay

Autopsy Two

Finally, she’d gotten the text from her husband that the bodies were handled, and she could come in for information on their deaths. It looked like she’d timed this perfectly.

Elizabeth had a sneaking suspicion that forensics was going to save her bacon on this one, again. So far, she didn’t have any major leads. She’d interviewed the business owner, and she’d talked to the man Max met, and nothing stood out that made her suspicious.

Everyone had the same story across the board.

Unless she found a deviation, they had a problem.

When she pulled into the parking garage, it was a short trip to the forensics vehicle lab.

By now, Chrissy should have Max’s vehicle pulled apart. Hopefully, there was something in it that would give her a clue as to who this was.

For Max’s sake, she hoped so.

Because there was no way that Max had done this, what she needed was a direction to take this. Granted, it was day one, and she wasn’t behind on this one. This was her normal progress, but because this was Max, she wanted more.

For his career’s sake.

As she walked in, Chrissy rolled out from under the Mercedes, and she was dusting for prints.

Underneath.

Now, that was thorough.

Then again, never let it be said she wasn’t that, times at least ten.

“You’re thinking someone touched the underneath part?” she asked.

Chrissy laughed.

“No, there’s a drain plug. I was getting all the body soup out of the back of the car to have the lab test. They leaked, and I wanted to be thorough. I just didn’t put this kit down before I did it.”

The idea of body soup…

Yeah, not exactly something she wanted to think about.

“Uh, ick?”

Chrissy smiled.

“I know. It’s awesome.”

Yeah, her people were nuts. Never let anyone say they weren’t. If they didn’t work for the FBI, most of them would be institutionalized.

“What did you find?” Elizabeth asked.

She was one hundred percent honest, but she did it with the car between them.

“There were NO prints other than The United States Attorney General’s. I went over this car with a fine-tooth comb. He was the only one behind the wheel. There were no smudges or anything to say they were wiped.”

Shit.

Well, the forensics angle was beginning to look like a long shot.

Elizabeth knew what that meant.

“Okay, then, he drove himself to the motel and wasn’t driven there by the killer. It’s not that far from Nagato.”

Chrissy looked over.

“Nagato? God. What wouldn’t I give to go there?” she asked.

Elizabeth looked around as she tried to avoid eye contact. Only, Christina was like a hound on the scent. She knew Elizabeth’s process.

If Max had been there, then she did interviews.

Now, she was suspicious.

“Wait. What’s in those take out containers?” she asked, moving closer toward them.

For safety reasons, Gene lifted them above his head so Christina couldn’t get to them.

“I smell rich people food,” Chrissy said.

Elizabeth pointed at her.

“Back off, hollow-legged woman. That’s lunch for my husbands.”

She stared at her.

“And nothing for us poor, starving techs?” she asked, disappointed. “Not even a crumb?”

Oh, here they went again.

“Christina, you didn’t give me anything to earn a crumb.”

She protested.

“I give you anxiety, stress, and possibly angina. That’s plenty,” she stated.

Elizabeth laughed.

“Uh-huh,” she said.

Then, as if on cue, another tech stuck her head into the room.

“Chrissy! We have pizza!” she said, excitedly.

It appeared the boss had delivered.

“Oh, shit,” Chrissy said, going to fast-walk past Elizabeth, but she was grabbed by the back of the overalls before she could escape. She wasn’t leaving until they had something.

“Freeze. Talk first. Pizza later.”

“But it’ll all be gone.”

She smiled.

“Then, might I suggest you talk really fast?” she asked, grinning.

Oh, someone was sadistic.

Because she wanted pizza, Chrissy did just that.

“He was the only one in the car, but the trunk is a different story. They were shoved in there, and they were in rigor at the time. Someone was pissed. I found traces of other carpet fibers. They are too ambiguous to trace. I can say it looks like the two dead women were transported there.”

“Who are they?”

She gave her what they found.

“Callen gave this to Chris. We think it’s the victims, but we don’t have all The Dentals in. Faith Lee, Zara Tyler, And Eden Andre are the missing women who were reported MIA that fit the bill. Tony is still working on them to match up height etc.”

She was curious.

“He won’t speculate, but tell me…are those my victims?”

She was antsy.

“If I speculated, and was a guesser, I’d say yes.”

That was all she had to hear.

When she went to walk past her again, again, she grabbed her once more, not letting her leave.

“His bloodwork. You got it from the hospital, Correct?”

“Yeah, if he was roofied, it wore out of his blood stream, BUT his stomach contents found at the scene say otherwise. At some point, when he got there, he puked next to the bed.”

“And?”

She smiled.

“Everyone’s favorite rape drug was present, Rohypnol.”

Damn.

She had been right. Max had been drugged.

Oh, and Chrissy wasn’t done.

“I ran it, and it’s a street version. Someone bought roofies off the street and used them to take down the Attorney General. I will also say that they really dosed him. That he could drive to the motel…he fought for that. Someone should give him an award. You know, like a pizza.”

Elizabeth ignored that, and instead, thought about the case. Now, she had a lead. The drugs explained why he didn’t recall anything.

“Okay, thank you, Chrissy.”

“Can I get pizza now.”

Elizabeth shrugged and busted her ass.

“It’s likely gone by now, but you can go try. There might be crumbs. You know how the techs are.”

She sighed.

Oh, she was aware.

“I’m so hungry.”

She felt bad for her.

When Elizabeth whistled, Michael came in carrying a pizza.

“What’s that?” Chrissy asked, getting excited all over again.

“I saved you one.”

She hugged her.

“I could kiss you!”

Apparently, that was a thing today, and not a thing she enjoyed.

“I’ll pass on that, and now, I’ll thank you for the work. Enjoy.”

As she was walking away with Gene, Chrissy was making yummy noises and talking to the truffle pizza.

She’d earned it.

As they walked toward the morgue, her personal phone chimed, and she pulled it out of her pocket.

It was Ethan.

Well, speaking of someone she didn’t mind kissing her.

‘Hey, my love, security told me you’re back and in-house. I hope you were safe. I missed you. I’m working on your profile. I’ll get it to you later—EJ.’

“Well, you’re smiling, so that means someone solved the case, or it’s a husband,” he joked.

Oh, she wished it was the former, but she’d take the latter.

Instead of telling him what, she showed Gene, and then, as she was closing her texts, she saw she had an email. Since this was her personal phone, she wanted to see if Takoda had maybe emailed her.

Only, it wasn’t from him.

Pulling it up, she noticed it was from one of Chris’ doctors.

That worried her.

She didn’t understand why they’d be emailing her. They only did that after follow-up appointments.

When she opened it, she read it over, and couldn’t believe it.

“What the actual fuck?” she asked, her blood pressure going through the roof.

Immediately, Gene was concerned.

“Uh, are you okay?”

Was she?

NO.

Instead of saying anything, she showed him so Gene could understand what had her so shocked.

Oh, and he was shocked too.

“Wait. He went to the doctor’s today and didn’t mention it to you?” he asked.

She shook her head.

That couldn’t be good.

Her husband was keeping secrets, and from the looks of his report, not good ones.

HE.

WAS.

SICK.

Elizabeth was trying to calm down.

“He also didn’t mention that his meds aren’t working, he had a fever, and that he wasn’t supposed to work a whole day. I knew something was up when I saw him!”

Gene whistled.

Oh, Chris was going to get his ass kicked. They all knew Elizabeth took his health VERY seriously.

“You gotta stay calm.”

She laughed, and it wasn’t a good one.

NOT.

AT.

ALL.

“Oh, I’m anything but calm. His health is vital to my life. I don’t give a flying Fig Newton over the dead bodies, as long as he’s not one of them!”

Gene knew he needed to calm this runaway train down before it led to a big battle.

It was headed that way.

“Breathe.”

She couldn’t.

How the hell could he not tell her? What was he thinking?

She.

Was.

Pissed.

“We have a relationship where we don’t keep secrets. Had I not told the doctor to email me the notes after each appointment, he wouldn’t have told me.”

Gene knew this wasn’t going to go well.

Not for Chris.

In fact, he was betting Chris was going to get a lecture, and the next time he saw a naked wife was not going to be any time soon.

It was rare to see Elizabeth this riled up personally, but worrying about the men in her life was her big stressor. Oh, and Chris just added on the irritation.

Oh, there was going to be a fight.

Gene could see it.

When she went to walk past him, he stopped her by grabbing onto the back of her jeans. He yanked her back, and wouldn’t let her go.

“Nope. That’s not happening. Breathe. I can’t let you go in there angry.”

Poor Chris didn’t stand a chance against the Tsunami getting ready to swamp the morgue.

As for Elizabeth…

Well, she was hella angry.

Gene pointed at her phone. Then, shoved her ass onto a bench in the hallway. It was time to distract her.

“You have the victim’s names. Call Max and see if he knows them. That will give you time to calm the hell down before going at him. Nothing good comes from a fight.”

She wasn’t happy.

“I don’t need a man micromanaging my anger when men are what makes me angry!”

Oh, Lordy.

She was angsty.

Only, Gene didn’t back down. He’d wrangled Ethan for seven years. He knew how not to get horned by a feisty bull. Now, he tried to save Chris’ life, and he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Are we getting married?”

She blinked, unsure where this was coming from.

“Uh, yeah. Why?” she asked.

Gene clued her in.

“Well, then, I have JUST as much skin in this crazy ass game. You can’t go at him pissed.”

She kept her mouth closed.

“I’m not micromanaging you. I’m keeping you from committing husband homicide. I’m doing it for Chris. He must have a reason for not telling you. If he’s sick, and his meds aren’t working, he’s likely trying to digest that.”

Well, she’d find out, but he was right. Chris had to have had a reason.

Right?

Taking his advice, she pulled out her work phone, and she called Max. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” she said. “You good?”

Max didn’t know what to say.

Was he?

No.

Currently, he was being ignored.

Dex had gotten them back to his house, parked his bike, and then went back to woodworking. He didn’t even speak to him when they got back.

It was clear that they had an issue.

He’d really hurt his feelings.

Apparently.

“Let’s just say I’m as good as I can be—all things considering.”

She could only imagine.

It was time for her to start clearing him.

“I have three names for you. Tell me what you know about them,”  she said, and then rattled them off. “Faith Lee, Zara Tyler, and Eden Andre.”

There was a pause.

It was about thirty seconds, before he answered her.

“I don’t know any of them.”

That caught her off guard.

It really did.

“Wait, you don’t recognize any of those names?” she asked. Honestly, she figured they’d be someone who worked for him, or someone he met in his job.

But they weren’t.

That was confusing for her. It was incredibly rare that a person didn’t know the victims—unless they were lying.

Homicidal maniacs rarely just picked random people.

How did a man end up dead in bed with a woman, and have two in his trunk that he DIDN’T know?

HOW?

“No. Who are they?” he asked, still not sure what she was talking about. “Should I know them?”

She was getting that feeling.

It was the one she got before being boned really good. If she couldn’t clear the man, Gabe would have her head.

On a silver platter.

“Well, two of them were shoved in your trunk, and one was in bed with you.”

Jesus.

He was adamant.

“I don’t know them, Elizabeth. Really. I have no idea who they are.”

This felt off.

Only, she didn’t know why.

“And you didn’t work with them? You didn’t cross paths with them?”

Max was good with names.

He was good with faces.

These names…absolutely not.

“No. I’ve never heard of them. I’m a gay man who doesn’t really have female friends. You’re about it.”

Well, shit.

That didn’t add up.

Not.

At.

All.

“And you never dated them?” she asked again, trying to find a connection to them. Maybe he just needed to hear the name again.

Max wasn’t having it.

“Again, I like dick, so no.”

She pulled out the paper with all the people he’d dated from the matchmaker.

Just to make sure he was being honest. Oh, she trusted Max, but still, she had to check.

She looked for last names, and addresses of the victims and the missing women.

No one was related to them. So this wasn’t tied to it that way.

She needed to regroup.

“Okay, Max. I’ll keep working on this. You just hold on until I figure this out.”

He was curious.

“Do you know what happened to me?” he asked. “The unknown is making me crazy.”

She had a question.

Then, she’d fill him in the best she could with what she’d pieced together. She had the date’s side of the story, the waiter’s, and the manager of the motel.

It was pretty clear, for the most part.

“You got to Nagato, and you got a drink. Who brought it to you?”

“Vaughn. I always have the same waiter. That’s kind of their thing there. You get one person who caters to your needs. They know you best, so your service is always spectacular.”

So far, so good.

That matched up.

“Okay, so then you ordered another drink. Who brought that one to you?”

He thought about it.

“You know, I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention. I was focused on my date, and we were whispering to each other. His head was blocking mine, or vice versa depending on the side of us you were on.”

And that was what the date said.

This didn’t look good for her.

OR HIM.

Now, Elizabeth had to piece this together.

“What we know is that it wasn’t Vaughn. I’ve already spoken to him. Who came to your table, Max? I need you to think about it.”

He was trying.

REALLY.

“Elizabeth, it’s all hazy.”

Well, she knew why.

“Someone slipped you roofies in your dirty martini. It was beyond dirty. It was drugged up. From what I can tell, you had that second martini, and you started getting handsy.”

Oh, no.

“Oh, Jesus.”

This was horrifying.

“Apparently, your date for the night didn’t like a drunk. Your date got up, and he left after you spilled your third drink. There’s no way you were that drunk after a second martini.”

His heart was racing.

“I don’t like this.”

Oh, her either.

She continued.

“We analyzed your motel vomit.”

He felt horrible that all of this happened. In fact, he wanted to weep.

“I’m sorry someone had to do that.”

She almost laughed. Then, she explained.

“Don’t be. The techs love gross stuff. They found Rohypnol in it. That vomit might have just saved your bacon. You barely made it to the motel on your feet. The manager said you couldn’t even talk. You paid for a room, and that was it. There was no way you could function.”

What she didn’t tell him was that if the bodies had a TOD of prior to the motel moment, she couldn’t exclude him. Jane Winters would say he killed them elsewhere, and dragged the one in and couldn’t do the others.

She knew her well enough.

He was honest.

“I don’t remember driving, and that’s scary. I could have hit someone.”

In a way, she wished he hit something so this killer wouldn’t have been able to put the bodies in his trunk, and the cops would have gotten his blood ASAP.

As for him driving, well, they had forensics that said he did.

“Well, you did. Your prints were all that were in the car. The killer had to have followed you there, and snuck in right before you closed the door and passed out. Now, if I can figure out how those women tie to this…”

Again, he was adamant.

“I didn’t kill them.”

Elizabeth tried to reassure him. She didn’t believe he did this, but now, she had to prove it, and she didn’t have long. In a day or two, the media would find a way to buy information and sensationalize this.

Then, his career was DOA.

“I know, Max,” she offered. Then, she changed the subject. “Hey, how’s Dex treating you?” she asked, expecting it to be a much lighter conversation to change his mind.

There was a pause.

She’d been wrong about that.

“Oh, no. What?” she asked. Dex was easy going, and laid back. He was a pain in her ass, but he was genuinely a good, decent cop.

The man needed to talk it out because he was feeling all kinds of confused. The man ignoring him shouldn’t bother him, but it did.

A lot.

“He made me lunch, took me for a motorcycle ride, and bought me ice cream,” he said.

She lifted a brow.

Well, that sounded like a date to her. She knew Dex was gay also, and maybe, just maybe, that had played into why he offered to babysit the man.

Could he be attracted to Max?

The were both attractive men, and they worked in law enforcement. Weirder things had happened in her world.

“And?” she asked, curiously.

“I asked him what he wanted from me, and I think I insulted him. He was being nice, and I took that as some sort of manipulation. I don’t understand why he’s being kind to me. I’m basically a stranger, but here I am, in his house.”

She clued him in.

“Uh, Max, maybe it’s because he’s a nice guy. There doesn’t have to be a motive. All of the times, I’ve had to deal with Dex, he’s done the right thing, and had my back. I trust him, or I wouldn’t have let him watch you. He’s literally your alibi.”

He was aware.

Only, he was stuck on the whole ‘he’s a nice guy’ part. Living in The District, you learned fast not to trust people. Nothing was taken at face value.

Still, it bothered him that he’d upset him.

“Well, he thinks I’m a dick because I think I hurt his feelings. Currently, he’s building a bookshelf and ignoring my existence. I don’t think he needs the bookshelf, which makes it more obvious.”

She sighed.

Men tended to fuck just about everything up.

Because he needed to hear it, she was to the point. Someone needed a wakeup call.

“Max, he’s not the cop that burned you. At some point, you need to know that everyone who carries a badge isn’t going to betray you. That guy was a douche.”

He wanted to believe that in the worst way. The only reason Elizabeth knew that was because once, when they were drunk at a dinner meeting, he spilled the beans.

Max always believed that someone would betray him, including the Blackhawks, and they hadn’t.

Not Ethan as the head of the FBI

Not Elizabeth as the Deputy Director.

“I want to believe that,” he said.

She tried to help him.

“It was a long time ago,” she admitted. “You had just become The United States Attorney General, and you made a bad choice. You can’t be responsible for that.”

Oh, but he felt like he was.

“Elizabeth, he went to the opposing council and testified using something I told him in private. It nearly destroyed my career, and that case.”

She was aware.

Elizabeth remembered the fallout.

“And you have never trusted anyone again. Dex is a good guy. Like I said, I wouldn’t have asked him to keep an eye on you. You’re going to have to stop being so feral with your personal life.”

He let her talk.

Why?

Someone had to talk him down. It appeared that someone was her.

“He’s just a decent human being. You’re not seeing that because you’re afraid of being hurt. Look where it got you. Those one-night stands might be fun, but…”

He was aware.

“You don’t have to remind me.”

“Fix it, and move on,” she said. “Maybe he just wants to spend time with a good guy. You’re that guy.”

Max considered it.

Only, it didn’t really matter. The man wasn’t talking to him, and he didn’t know how to change that.

“Thanks for the advice.”

Oh, he was going to be a hard nut to crack. Dex had his work cut out for him.

Because she had her own men to wrangle, she glanced at her watch.

“Stick close to him, and don’t go anywhere alone. I’ll call you in the morning.”

He would try.

“Okay. Thank you.”

She hung up, and had work to do. From beside her, Gene was curious.

“What’s up?”

She actually laughed and rubbed her temples. There was a low-grade headache brewing behind her eyes, and she was going to need a break from all of this.

“Well, when I asked him about the women, he doesn’t know any of them, Gene. Not a single one.”

That was problematic, and he knew it.

“Really?”

Oh, she wasn’t kidding about this.

“Yep.”

Even Gene knew that was odd.

“Let’s go see what killed the victims, and then, I can go from there. I have to hope something stands out.”

Gene was curious. Before he let her anywhere near her husband, he had to know.

“Feeling calmer?”

NO, but she wasn’t telling him that. She was faking it until she could make it. Unfortunately, in her world, she sometimes had to keep going, even if she had a broken heart.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Deep down, she was freaking out as to why her husband would keep his medical visit a secret. That wasn’t like him.

As they headed toward Autopsy One, and she entered, all three MEs were done with their autopsies and working on the paperwork.

She put on a calm exterior, even when she wasn’t feeling it.

“Hey, Team. Chrissy just updated me. I want to know what we found out with the victims,” she said, kissing Callen hello, but ignoring Chris.

For now.

If she went over, she was going to go there, and in front of a room full of people was likely a bad idea.

“How were your interviews?” Callen asked as the team got ready for rapid fire questions and answers.

“Good. Enlightening. I’ll let you in on it in a minute. After I get information on the victims, I need to see Chris privately.”

Oh boy.

Gene knew that wasn’t going to go well.

This was a one-way trip to Fight-Ville with an angry wife at the helm. If there was one thing Elizabeth hated it was secrets.

It destroyed their relationships.

“Sure thing, sweetness,” Chris said, sitting on a stool in his aqua scrubs.

It was clear the poor bastard didn’t know the jig was up.

“Hit me with the victim in the bed. Who do we have, and what killed her?”

Tony rolled over with answers to her questions. She looked tense, and he wasn’t going there.

That was suicide.

“We have the MPRs, but we don’t have full dentals,” he admitted. “We’re working on getting them clear through the families of the victims.”

No shock there.

It wasn’t like the victims’ families were dragging their feet. They were having rough moments too.

“How sure are you that you can ID her?” she asked, her fingers crossed.

Tony gave her a number.

“I’d say eighty seven percent. They have a lot of markers. We went with height, eye color, and previous injuries to the body. I believe that they all match up, and that’s enough for me. The MEs want more.”

She wasn’t shocked.

“And the same is true with the two in the trunk?” she inquired.

He nodded.

“Same.”

Well, she had a choice. Wait for The Dentals and the MEs to sign off, or assume they had the matches thanks to her equally talented and smart anthropologist.

She glanced at Jaxon, her other anthro.

“And what do you think?”

She didn’t mince words.

“I’m just as comfortable using the markers to say it’s likely them. There’s a small window, but I don’t think so this time. We have them ID’d.”

Yeah, well, now, she was good with that.

Sometimes, you had to take a chance.

“If both of you say that, then those are numbers I can handle, and frankly, we’ve been doing this a long time. I trust my people, and know they don’t screw up or intentionally to miss lead me.”

She looked right at Chris.

And Gene cringed.

Oh, boy.

She.

Was.

Pissed.

Maybe he should have made her wait outside a little longer or got her tranq’d before letting her in here.

“What do we have?” she asked him.

Chris took that one.

“This one is likely Faith Lee, according to the missing person report. I checked her over, and I can say that she was strangled to death. That’s her COD, asphyxiation.”

Gene made notes, and every time she looked at him, he shook his head in warning, and each time, she had that look on her face that was always the same when she was about to interrogate someone.

Lordy, but Chris didn’t even sense the shark in the water chummed with lies.

Chris was a goner.

Still, he continued.

“On top of that, her hyoid was broken. She was still alive when she was skinned, and then, chocked out. She died likely a day ago. I can’t tell if she was restrained at the time, but I’m willing to bet she was.”

“Tox?” she asked.

Tony handled it since Chrissy wasn’t there.

“She had everyone’s favorite date rape drug on board, and in enough quantity to take down a horse.”

Well, the MO was the same.

“How much did Max have onboard?”

“The same amount,” Tony said. “But he was bigger, so he didn’t go down as easily. Maybe that’s why the killer freaked out and dumped the bodies instead of killing him.”

“Speculation, Anthony?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“Zane is afraid to anymore, and my sister never does. I’m trying to keep it familiar up in here.”

And Chris didn’t bitch, which was more ammunition for her when they had their talk.

Not far away, Gene was making notes and was curious.

“What do we know about her?”

Chris flipped through his report.

“If that’s her, she’s twenty-five, and an accountant. She has an apartment on the West Side. Her friends called in the MPR. That’s all I can give you until we get positive ID.”

She pointed at Zane.

“And yours?” she asked.

He rattled it off.

“COD is the same as the first female, she died more than a day ago—more like two or three, but the TOD is going to be off since she was refrigerated.”

“Like a side of beef?”

He nodded.

“And someone strangled her too. That was her COD. Asphyxiation. The only difference was that she was dead when she was skinned. That’s why she started leaking fluids because she was kept cold. Almost frozen.”

Oh, boy.

This was a fun one.

“Tox on her?”

Tony was up again.

“Samesies. She had Rufus onboard.”

Elizabeth stared at him.

“No, you know what? I don’t care. I have bigger fish to fry. If you want to call Rohypnol Rufus…have at it. I know what you mean.”

He laughed.

Her other ME continued.

“She didn’t react well to the drugs,” Zane admitted. “That might be why she died.”

That could be.

“Tell me more about her, Anthony.”

He did.

“She was a reporter for a local news agency. She was thirty-one. Her co-worker called it in.”

That meant she was going to have to deal with the media, up close and personal, at some point.

“Do we know if she did any stories on Max?” she asked, going there.

Callen had this one.

“Nope. I also couldn’t find a connection between the bed body and Max. He does his own taxes, and never used her accounting services.”

Great.

She focused on Dalia. This was her last chance to connect the victims to Max.

“And your victim?”

“COD is also asphyxiation, and she died likely last weekend sometime. Maybe Friday? The timing is tough since she was put somewhere cold too. Luckily, she was also dead before someone decided to peel her skin off of her. She was drugged with the same thing.”

Oh, boy.

She couldn’t get a break.

“What did she do for a living?” she asked.

Dalia flipped through her papers until she found it.

“She was a yoga instructor, age twenty-four, if that is her. Her co-worker called in the MPR,” she said, mimicking how Chris had stated it.

Elizabeth glanced over at Callen, and she was curious.

“Did you find any ties to Max when it came to the yoga instructor?” she asked, knowing what Max had already told her.

“Not yet, but I’m still searching.”

Elizabeth didn’t like this.

NOT.

AT.

ALL.

When she stood there, saying nothing, Callen was curious.

“Want to talk it out? That tends to help.”

It did.

“How do three dead women connect to a man if he doesn’t know them?”

Zane went there.

“Maybe he did know them. You know…dated them or…”

She stopped him.

“Between all of us, and confidentially? He’s gay. He’s not picking up a bendy yoga instructor.”

“Ohhhhh,” he said.

The collective was finally on the same page.

Callen shook his head.

“Are you telling me that for the first time, we have victims and no killer to tie them to? They are complete strangers?”

She nodded.

“It looks like. He’s definitely not the killer. Add in the quantity of roofies in his drink, and that he’s gay…”

Callen got it.

“So what do we do with this?”

She wasn’t sure.

“I haven’t talked to his co-workers. I wanted to wait until tomorrow so I can get the gossip to work in my favor. They’ll be willing to talk to me because they’ll be curious themselves.”

Oh, he bet.

“What I do know is that killers rarely pick people they aren’t tied to somehow. I’m willing to bet that those three women tie to the killer. Once we find that person…”

Yeah, IF they found them.

This was an odd case.

Now that she’d been updated…

She looked at her watch.

“Christopher, can I speak to you?” she asked. “Preferably alone in your office?”

He didn’t argue.

Honestly, he didn’t feel well, and was just trying to get through the day. Now, he just had to not let on that he was feeling like ass.

“Sure.”

When Callen went to get up, thinking it was a fun meeting, he was shut down.

“Gene, give him the food I brought him,” she stated, clueing them both in.

This was a private meeting.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, grabbing the other one for Chris as she headed toward the office.

Her field partner just shook his head.

“What?” Callen whispered.

“This is bad,” Gene said.

Callen was confused.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Gene told him about the doctor appointment, the meds not working, and him not telling Elizabeth.

His eyes were huge.

What had Chris been thinking?

Clearly, he wasn’t.

“Oh, fuckity. There’s going to be a fight,” Callen said. “And Chris doesn’t have a chance. She’s collected the evidence, and here is where she bitch slaps him with it.”

Pretty much.

There was no doubt about that.

Doctor Leonard was about to face down his angry wife.

A scared one.

That made it so much worse.

Inside the office, Chris took a seat, and she handed him a takeout container of food.

So far, she was keeping her temper in check.

Oh, and it wasn’t easy.

Not.

At.

All.

“You should eat,” she said. “You’ve had a busy day with a dead body.”

That he did.

Instead of eating, he put the container down.

“Thanks for getting me something, but I’m not hungry.”

Oh, hell, no.

“Oh, is it because you’ve been handling a skinned victim?” she asked, already knowing that answer. Investigators, and mothers, didn’t ask questions, unless they already knew the answer.

Someone was off his game.

Well, while she had him there as her captive audience, Elizabeth went in for the kill.

“I’m just not in the mood to eat,” he stated.

Oh, well, she was done playing.

“You should probably rethink not eating.”

He lifted a brow.

“Why?”

She lit the fuse and lobbed the bomb.

“Well, you know what the doctor told you this morning. He told you to eat more. It seems that you lost some weight. What was it? Six pounds?”

As soon as she said it, he tried to stay neutral, but she caught it.

His cheek twitched.

Nailed it.

“He also told you that you shouldn’t work more than four hours, and by my count, you started at nine, and it’s almost four. That’s almost double what your immunologist suggested.”

Chris knew he was caught.

“Who told you?” he asked, getting angry. Someone ratted him out, and he knew it wasn’t him.

She shrugged.

“No one snitched on you, Christopher, but if you recall, I’ve asked your doctor to email his notes in case we need them one day if we have to get you back into a trial, and he did.”

Shit.

SHIT.

S H I T.

He was in some trouble now.

“We would have had this talk earlier, but I didn’t have my phone this morning, and that’s why I just found out.”

He said nothing.

Only, she was mad enough to go there.

“Why would you keep that from me? We’re supposed to be partners.”

Chris didn’t want to fight.

“Can we not do this now? Clearly, you’re at an advantage. I don’t feel up for it.”

And that said it all.

Now, she was even more upset because instead of leaning on his partner, his wife, he was being stubborn. He admitted he was feeling sick, and didn’t trust her to help him.

That.

Was.

Her.

Job.

How he didn’t see that, as a smart man…?

Befuddling.

This was why multiple spouses were not an easy thing. Each man was different, and difficult at times.

Like now.

Well, since he wanted to take that route, and admitted he was ‘tired’, that rope was his to hang himself.

That meant one thing.

She was going to adhere to the medical professional’s advice. While Chris was a doctor, his specialty was not one she wanted his advice on when it came to him and his health.

He gave her no choice.

“Okay, Christopher. Since you’re tired, consider yourself off duty, and staying off duty tomorrow.”

He gasped.

Oh, but she wasn’t done.

Not.

Even.

Close.

“And I’ll have another doctor cover for you. If you plan on working an eight-hour day, you’ll work every other one then. Schedule yourself accordingly.”

He stood up.

“You can’t do that!”

She laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

He was a funny, funny man, but he was forgetting one thing.

She could and was.

“Oh, I really can. See, here’s how the hierarchy goes. At the top of the chain Axelle, my boss. Next up, that would be the Deputy Director of the FBI. See, that’s me. Under me is the Director of Forensic Medicine. That’s you.”

He stared at her.

He couldn’t believe this.

She was yanking him.

Elizabeth wasn’t done.

“Your doctor told your boss that you can’t work a full day, and that your meds aren’t working. You didn’t come to me to discuss it, but tried to hide it. That means I have to act in the best interest of the FBI and the Director of Forensic Medicine, YOU.”

Oh, Jesus.

He could feel his temper rising.

She softened.

“Chris, you have a fever,” she said, touching his forehead. As she did, he shoved her hand away.

For the first time ever.

“Don’t baby me,” he said, knowing she was right, and that made him even angrier.

When he shoved his WIFE’S hand away, she got pissed.

Elizabeth drew the line.

“Then don’t act like a child by not telling your partners you’re struggling. Then don’t act like we are nothing to you, when you’re sick, Christopher. How would you feel? Oh, I know how you’d feel. When I was shot at not long ago, and we didn’t tell you, YOU RAN MY ASS THROUGH THE MARRIAGE WRINGER. You’re just lucky I have more patience and compassion for you.”

He protested.

“I’m…”

She stopped him.

If he wanted to argue, she could give him that, but no one would feel better—specifically not him. Had he come to his wife, maybe. Because she had to hear from a stranger…

Nope.

Elizabeth was to the point.

“NO. You’re not fine. Your viral count is high enough that your doctor wants you to wear a condom if you come near us. Did you not think that we would want to know that to protect ourselves? You’re not thinking straight. Logical Christopher would be worried about us first and foremost, and allowing us to worry about him.”

He was so upset.

In all of his career, he’d been able to pull his weight, and now…

He felt like a burden.

The albatross.

Instead of telling her she was right, he kept digging that grave.

“Well, then, if you think I’d risk you, and get you sick, we just won’t have sex if that’s your concern.”

Yowza.

He was going there?

Elizabeth had two choices. She could stay calm and put space between them, or they could have a really bad fight that would damage their relationship.

She wouldn’t risk that, even if he was crazy enough to challenge her.

Instead, she stared at him and planned to take a break to regroup.

“Doctor Leonard, you’re off duty effective now.”

With that, she walked away, slamming the door behind her, and leaving Chris standing there.

As soon as she was gone, he sat down.

This was a mess.

And he hadn’t made it any better.

Damn it.

Out in the morgue, everyone jumped at the slam.

For the most part, the morgue was a place of work and forensics, but the walls were NOT thick.

Not even close.

They all heard the fight.

That was clear.

Only, Elizabeth had to do what she had to do. The weight of the FBI was on her shoulders, even if Chris didn’t get it.

And he didn’t.

This put her in a bad spot. If she let it go, and something happened, she was culpable. So, she had to be the boss.

From where Callen and Gene sat, they stared at her. Oh, they heard the shouting, but it hadn’t been her. It had been Chris, and that didn’t bode well for ANY of the men in their family.

You didn’t talk to their wife like that, and live to tell about it.

Because she needed to fill the void in the morgue, Elizabeth focused on the other MEs.

“Dalia, can you do overtime tomorrow?” she asked. “Doctor Leonard is ill, and he won’t be on duty until Monday, IF I DON’T FIRE HIS ASS FOR INSUBORDINATION!” she said loud enough for him to hear her back through the door.

Callen and Gene cringed.

Oh, you knew it went bad if Chris was insubordinate to Elizabeth. He’d walk barefoot on bear traps for her.

Luckily, Dalia didn’t mind the OT.

Her father liked watching the twins, and the more time with them, the better for him.

“Sure thing, Boss. I don’t mind OT.”

Elizabeth was appreciative.

“Thank you, Dalia. Doctor Legend, you’re in charge of the lab until Monday. Drive it like you stole it, and remember, if Doctor Leonard tells you that he’s in charge, you call me. If you don’t call me to inform me that he’s here, you’re fired. That goes for everyone!”

Holy.

Shit.

That was bad.

Apparently, Chris really pissed her off.

When she walked out, Gene and Callen both did rock paper and scissors to see who was taking who. Neither seemed like a good option at that time.

Unfortunately for him, Gene lost, and he knew who he was going to have to calm down.

Damn it.

“I’m taking Chris,” Callen said. “You’re on the angry wife. Bob and weave when she starts swinging.”

Gene shook his head.

“You took the easy one.”

Callen laughed.

“Hell, yeah, I did. I can fight Chris off. Elizabeth is not going to be calm.”

Great.

This was not his idea of fun, but he grabbed his bag, and took off after her. He knew he was going to need back up, so as he was trying to find her, he got his partner ready.

Call it a hunch, but this was going to be bad.

Thank God Ethan was in his office.

His fiancé’s wife, Elizabeth, was pissed off and about to go rogue.

Chapter Sixteen

The Morgue

Same Time

Post Hurricane Elizabeth

Well, he had no choice but to make sure their husband was okay. Heading into the man’s office, that’s where he found Chris, and he was in a really bad place.

In fact, he was laying on the couch, covered with a blanket that he must have brought from home.

That said it all.

Locking the door, Callen knelt by the couch, and touched Chris’ forehead.

This time, he didn’t swat the hand away. Oh, and he felt bad about doing it to his wife.

Really bad.

When he opened his eyes, Callen was there, and the look of concern on his face had him worried.

“My love, what’s going on?” Callen asked, not expecting him to be in this bad of condition. He figured he’d be angry.

He was anything but.

“I did something really bad,” he said, hoping the man would understand.

“We heard about the doctor’s appointment, Christopher.”

He stopped him.

That was the least of his problems.

“No, I just shoved Elizabeth’s hand away when she touched me, and now, I’m really worried that I just hurt her. I was angry that she benched me, but I pushed her hand away from my forehead, and I saw the hurt in her eyes.”

Callen sat there, and he gently brushed Chris’ hair from his face, tenderly sharing love with him.

“She won’t hold a grudge, Christopher.”

He had tears in his eyes.

“I pushed her away once before, and it was right before I went out and cheated on her. I hurt her then too.”

He tried to calm him.

“This is different. She’s more scared than anything,”  Callen admitted. “You know how we have irrational fears of her getting hurt?”

“Uh, they aren’t irrational. She gets hurt.”

Callen laughed.

“Good point. Know how she scares the shit out of us?” he said, rewording it.

“Yeah?”

“She feels that way about each one of us. Elizabeth fears losing you to HIV as we all do. When you don’t tell us about issues, it makes us feel out of control.”

Chris was honest.

“I feel out of control. I was so good for so long, and now my meds aren’t working. I made the mistake of looking online.”

“Oh, boy.”

“If the next batch of meds fails, there’s not a lot left for me, CJ. I’m going to die.”

Tears filled Callen’s eyes.

He didn’t want to hear that. Chris was part of their world, and he was so important. They loved him. He was theirs.

Callen had to be positive.

“They’ll work.”

He took his hand in his, and Chris kissed their joined knuckles.

“If they don’t…”

Callen wasn’t having it.

“No. We aren’t going to go down that dark path. We’re going to fight and stay positive.”

He understood.

The only thing that kept him calm was that his will and his legal things were handled. All of his businesses, like Leonard Industries, would go to Elizabeth to hold for his children. She’d make sure Bethe, Addison, and DJ were set for life.

Then, custody of his kids would go to Ethan. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust Callen, he did, but Ethan was always saying he wished he and Elizabeth had more children.

He would.

Chris’.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys. It was like a punch to the chest. I feel out of control, and I don’t know how to handle this. I’m scared.”

Callen kissed him on the forehead.

“I’ve got you. We have you, Orion.”

He closed his eyes and was honest.

“For the first time in my life, I’m afraid of death. I was never scared before. My brain knows that it’s the circle of life. We are born, and we die. Only, now, I have so much to live for, and I’m scared that my body might not be able to hold up. I don’t want to have to say goodbye to you, Ethan, Elizabeth, or Gene. I don’t want to make my kids live without me.”

Taking his hand, he blew warm breath on it, since Chris’ fingers were red from being in the morgue. He then tucked them into his blazer, against his body to share his body heat.

Again, he tried to go there.

“If I die…”

And again, Callen wasn’t hearing it.

“You won’t die,” Callen said. “I’ll find something to help you. We have money…”

Chris was honest.

“You can’t buy off the reaper, my love. When it’s my time, it’s my time.”

He didn’t want to hear that.

Callen refused.

“No. I’ll fight for you. Elizabeth will fight for you. Ethan will fight for you. Gene will…”

He lifted his head, and kissed him softly on the lips.

“I’m tired, CJ. That’s the first time I’ve said it and meant it like this. I feel about one hundred.”

He stared into his eyes.

“Then take a break. She told you to not run yourself into the ground. Take some time off. We’ll be okay. Sleep in, and get your meds situated.”

Chris listened.

“I have to help…”

Callen put his fingers over his lips.

“She has two other MEs. It’s not that you’re not needed, Christopher, but you’ve trained them. Take a break. You earned it. We have the most advanced forensic team and lab in the country. You built that legacy. Now, let the doctors you’ve hired carry it.”

He just closed his eyes.

Letting go was so hard. When he broke Elizabeth’s heart years ago, and she left him, this job was the only reason he stayed alive.

He threw himself into it, and he loved it.

Not as much as his family, but it was part of him.

He was Autopsy One.

His businesses paid for the top-of-the-line equipment, and he was beyond proud of that.

Callen was worried.

“Want to take a little nap?” Callen asked.

He knew Gene had the bigger battle ahead, so Callen had time. He’d brought his lunch in, and he could keep Chris company.

“Yes, please.”

“Want to put your head in my lap?” he asked.

He nodded.

As Callen got up from the floor, Chris made room for him on the couch. Callen got comfy after taking off his sports coat.

When Chris laid back down, Callen put it over the blanket to keep him warm.

That made him feel all safe, so he pulled it closer, and breathed in the man’s scent.

“I love you, CJ.”

He leaned down and kissed him on the temple.

“I love you too. After you have a little nap, we’ll figure out how to handle Elizabeth. I’ll be by your side when you talk to her.”

Only, he didn’t hear him.

Chris was already asleep.

He was out for the count.

The whole time, Callen worked on researching the women they’d gotten ID for, mostly, and got ready for their wife.

To break down.

Because it was coming.

Elizabeth was known for three things.

Her job.

Her family.

And her fear of losing one of her men.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Ethan’s Office

Afternoon

When he got the text, he had been working on profiles for other agents, but the text changed everything. He focused on the message, and that alone.

It was from Gene, and it seemed like the shit was hitting the fan.

Something had gone down.

‘Elizabeth and Chris had a fight. She’s on the way to decompress. Callen is handling Chris, but I could really use backup here. Security will update you as to where we are.’

Well, that said it all.

There was no way he was leaving Gene to handle Elizabeth. Callen could go to the Christopher rodeo, but he would be the easier one to talk down.

When Elizabeth was angry…

She.

Was.

Pissed.

Packing up his things, he headed out to find security. There was no way he was letting Gene handle this all by himself.

She was his wife.

And Elizabeth needed him.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Ten Minutes

Earlier

Wednesday

The Den

When they were dropped off, Elizabeth headed in, and Gene told Ivan that he had it. Sometimes, you needed to burn off a little anger.

He’d let her use him to do that.

The Den had boxing equipment, and for what reason, he had no damn idea, but he wasn’t asking whose kink that belonged to.

He didn’t want to know.

He was beginning to think that Elizabeth came here a lot to work out the mad. He couldn’t imagine how frustrating all of the testosterone had to be.

When he followed her in, she was pacing.

It was when he was right there that she moved at him, unsure of what was going to happen. One never knew with Hurricane Elizabeth.

Instead of taking a swing, she went into his arms, and he held her.

Okay, he changed plans.

She wasn’t in a fighting kind of a mood. She needed someone to talk her down.

Well, he was a pro.

He’d talked Ethan down a lot over seven years.

“Shhhh, I have you, Honey,” he said, kissing her on the temple.

Elizabeth broke.

The tears came.

“I can’t watch and see him die,” she whispered, that fear finally breaking free and surfacing.

Gene figured that was what this was going to be about. If there was one way to break Elizabeth, that was it.

It was time to reassure her.

“He’s not going to die. He’s going to sit his ass home, and listen. He’s going to get better, and then, everything will be fine again.”

She listened, and let him talk her down off of the ledge.

“He’s combative about this because he’s likely scared, and thinking about his own mortality. Don’t stress it, and don’t take it personally.”

“But he didn’t tell me. That’s new.”

He ran his hands up and down her back.

“Yeah, it is, but he might have been caught off guard and needed time to process it. When you get bad news, do you not need the same thing?”

He was right.

“Yeah.”

Gene had calmed her right down.

“Just put it to the back of your mind, and rest assured. Callen is talking to Chris, and you know he’s the calmest person to handle this.”

“Really?”

He reassured her.

“Yep. We might just have to come to grips with the fact that he’s been working too many hours. Cut him back, and give him some vacation time. If he won’t take it, stand your ground. You’re doing it from a place of love. In fact, I’m so exhausted. Tahiti would be nice. Send me there.”

She actually laughed.

“You have access to the family money. Book tickets,” she said. “My breasts in a bikini…”

He shivered, and not in pleasure.

That’s when she started laughing.

When she lifted her head, he wiped her eyes and kissed her on the forehead.

“He’s going to be okay, Kitten.”

She snorted.

“That’s new.”

“Well, you are being a pussy, so…and if I call you that, Ethan will shit his very expensive man pants.”

That got her laughing.

“You’re really bad at this cheering up shit. Who taught you this level of sarcasm?”

He looked around and then smiled at her.

Then, he placed his arm around her waist, and they walked into the main area of The Den.

This was mission accomplished.

He.

Could.

Tell.

“You going to be okay, Boo?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Yeah, I just get wonk-a-doodle when it comes to Chris and his well-being. His HIV scares me. The doctor said to bag up. That means it’s a high level. That means there’s a concern that his virus will get past our meds.”

He got it.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Really, Kitten, he’ll be good. Let’s see what the meds do before we have an irrational breakdown. Okay?”

She knew he was right.

“I’m sorry, but I’m still telling Ethan you called me a pussy,” she stated.

He found that amusing.

“Go ahead. What’s he going to do? Hurt me so good? That’s my kind of day. Pussy. Pussy. Pussy,” he joked.

She snorted.

“As for being sorry, don’t be. Just don’t bring up bikinis again. Someone should wear a wetsuit to the pool. Zip that bitch up.”

She snorted.

“Newsflash, my dude, your white swim trunks show EVERYTHING,” she said.

Gene grinned.

“I know. My man likes a sneak peek.”

Well, she couldn’t blame him. Chris, Ethan, and Callen liked her in a white bikini for the same reason.

It was a tease.

Apparently, they were the same person.

Because she appreciated his help, she cuddled against him, and he let her. She felt better now that the voice of reason showed up.

Gene was curious.

“Now that I talked you down, want to talk about work? Or have sex?” he asked, joking.

Elizabeth picked work.

Oh, and for a good reason.

“Well, right now, we should talk about the job. I’m afraid of your dick.”

He wiggled his eyebrows.

“I get that a lot.”

She just shook her head. He was one hell of a nut, but he fit in just fine.

Elizabeth loved that they’d integrated him into their family to the point he felt comfortable comforting her or joking around.

“What’s the plan for us next now that you’ve been talked down off the ledge?” he asked.

She thought it over.

“Honestly, I’m stuck. Until I interview Max’s coworkers, I can’t piece this together. We gave everyone to Callen, and nothing popped.”

“Want to go now?” he asked.

She looked at her watch.

“By the time we get there, with the DC traffic, we’ll miss them. It looks like tomorrow is the interview. Later, I think I want to go back to the restaurant and talk to the bartender. I need to see who served them that drink. It had to be when Max was drugged.”

Gene had an idea.

“Why don’t we have dinner while we’re there. We don’t ever get to do a family dinner—minus well, the family,” he said, laughing. “I don’t think Nagato is meant for kids—especially ours.”

Elizabeth liked that he included himself. They were a family, and Gene fit in perfectly.

Actually, a date would be nice.

“I think a working dinner would be good. It might help us figure this out, or it might just be a good break. I don’t want to beat my team down.”

He laughed.

“Uh, too late. We’re broken. Chrissy has a pillow and blanket. She sleeps under her station.”

She snorted.

“You love it. You’re a masochist, and the techs…nutters.”

That he was, and so were they.

“See if you can get us a reservation. You’re the power player in this little sex fest.”

Pulling out her phone, she called and got the owner. He was more than happy to have her and the men in her life there for dinner.

When she hung up, she gave Gene the time.

“They will have an opening for five at nine tonight. It’s in the main area, so everyone will be staring at us.”

“Oh, voyeurism. I love it. Hey, speaking of which…since we have some time, I texted Ethan to meet me here because you had a fight with Chris.”

She lifted an eyebrow.

“You know, in case I failed at talking you down. Clearly, I didn’t.”

No, he hadn’t.

“He should be here soon. I could use a break, and we can’t work anymore without the interviews…,” he admitted, trying to lure her into it.

She kissed him on the cheek.

“Oh, intriguing. Will Tala becoming out to play?” she asked. “Because he won’t be able to see this coming.”

Gene grinned.

“I can get him out, if you want to make him cum.”

Oh, she did.

Elizabeth was hella curious.

“Tell me your plan, Gene.”

And he did.

It was down and dirty, and Ethan didn’t stand a chance of not being horny and out of control. He knew his man, and he knew Tala well.

“And you’re okay with that?” Gene asked her.

Oh, she was.

“I’m more than okay with it. It’s ‘Operation Get Tala off’,” she stated.

Oh, he was intrigued.

How could he not be?

This was going to blow Ethan’s mind.

“And you’re good with it too?” she asked, wanting to make sure. She saw plenty of dick, but Gene was strictly gay, so her tits and bits all over the place…

He might not want to see that.

She didn’t need to worry about him. Instead, he nodded and grinned wickedly.

“Absolutely. Let’s set the scene. This man is never going to be the same again.”

And she loved that.

It looked like Ethan was going to get his fantasy, and they were going to get a break.

Because all she wanted to do, at that moment, was forget Chris was sick, and that they’d run out of suspects to interview.

It was time to take one hell of a break.

Chapter Seventeen

The Den

Ten Minutes After

The Call To Ethan

It was a rush to get there, since he wasn’t sure Gene could handle Elizabeth on his own. When she was upset, she needed a particular kind of reassurance, and that tended to be from him.

So, they hauled ass.

Raphael drove like a demon was chasing them, and he got them there in fifteen minutes with traffic.

When he finally arrived, he was so worried about his wife. He told Raphael to wait in the house next door, and he fully expected to be going in and finding a sobbing mess where his wife was broken-hearted.

That was NOT what he found.

Not.

Even.

Close.

Inside, the main area was lit up, and leaning against one of the pieces of sex equipment was Gene.

And he was in different clothes.

Oh, he wasn’t in FBI gear. He was in things that made Ethan’s heart skip, and his dick go rock hard.

The second Ethan saw him, and he turned around, the big bulge in his leather pants told the tale.

Oh he knew what was about to go down.

Him on the man.

Somehow, he was able to focus long enough to think about his wife, and not his erection.

“Where’s Elizabeth?” Ethan asked, looking around. “You said she was…”

He whistled, and when he did, Ethan heard the heels. They crossed the wood floor, and when Elizabeth came out of the bedroom, she was in the most scandalous of leather dresses.

The heels alone…

Holy shit!

Now, he was pretty sure he knew what was about to happen.

As Elizabeth walked past him, letting her fingers trail across his chest, he watched, mesmerized. Then, she went to stand beside Gene, who slapped her on the leather-clad ass.

As soon as he did that, Ethan’s dick jumped.

Oh, holy fuck.

He had been a very good boy, apparently.

Someone was about to get fucked.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Elizabeth asked, walking around Gene, but watching Ethan. She could tell he was incredibly turned on. His dick was hard, he was flushed red, and he was breathing heavily.

The profiler just figured out what was about to happen there at The Den.

“Oh, God,” he whispered, looking back and forth from Gene and then to Elizabeth.

His man was in a leather vest, and pants, mimicking that night in the biker bar.

His wife was in a scandalous dress that barely covered her girly parts, and her tits were almost out.

Yep.

Ethan couldn’t breathe.

Because they knew what got Ethan off, they put on the act, letting him create his own fantasy in his head.

It was all about him.

Gene got the party started.

Slipping his hands into Elizabeth’s hair, he pulled her mouth to his, and kissed her. Gene put everything into that kiss to get his man off.

Oh, and it worked.

He felt nothing, and he knew Elizabeth was acting too, but the third person in the room was feeling it to his core.

“Please,” he whispered, making Gene set her free. His voice was filled with lust and heat.

Both of them moved at him, and Ethan dropped his bag, and stood there, paralyzed. He was too busy looking between Elizabeth’s body, and Gene’s rock-hard bulge.

This was going to be what killed him.

This.

Right.

Here.

As they reached him, they both walked around him, running their hands across his body. All the while, he whimpered.

Someone was now in bottom mode.

Tala was at the party.

He was, now, the bottomest bottom that was ever going to be bottomed.

“Look at my sexy fuck toy,” Gene said, undoing Ethan’s belt as he didn’t even move.

Elizabeth and Gene had planned this out, in a sexy script to make Ethan insane.

They likely wouldn’t do this often, or ever again, so it was his one shot to have this fantasy.

This was his gift.

She licked his ear, and he shook.

“I want to see what he looks like on his knees. Make him beg,” she said, taking the belt that Gene just took off Ethan to make the leather crack.

Ethan moaned.

Since someone was way too overdressed, Gene’s fingers were on his shirt, undoing all the buttons. When he pulled it from his body, and the undershirt too, it bared his body to them.

Ethan’s pants dropped, and they could see his rock-hard dick bulging in his boxer briefs.

“Someone wants to be our dirty little Tala,” Gene said, getting the man’s precum to wet a spot on his blue underwear.

Yeah, this was exactly how he liked him.

Ready to beg.

Before Ethan could move, or speak, he felt the leather of his own belt land across his back and shoulders.

He gasped in pleasure and dropped his head back to revel in how fucking lucky he was.

He was loved and cherished so much, that two people who were NOT attracted to each other sexually, would still give him this.

This was so precious to him.

When Elizabeth handed the belt to Gene, she gave his dick a squeeze, and then headed toward the chairs that were set up not far from the implements of sexual torture.

The whole time, Ethan was breathing heavily and watching her.

She sat in the one chair, her legs over the arm as she watched Ethan staring at her. Oh, and she gave him one hell of a crotch shot.

Spoiler, she was naked under that leather dress.

“I can’t wait to see the show,” she said, and from the look of rapture on Ethan’s face, it was clear that was exactly what it would be.

Because they agreed that Gene would lead, since he had a long history with breaking Tala in, Elizabeth got to see the man how he’d been so long ago.

To get the show started, Gene wrapped the leather belt around Ethan’s neck, and already, Ethan was so hard that he was aware he would cum easily.

They’d caught him off guard.

Completely.

Ethan never expected this since he’d left the office and texted Callen.

There really had been a fight.

Now, he was about to fight for his life against a fantasy that had him by the balls.

“You wanted an audience,” Gene said. “It’s here and now. Beg for it.”

Gene walked away, and leaned against the one wooden cross.

Ethan knew what he needed to do.

“Please dominate me,” Ethan said, his whole being shaking from Elizabeth watching him.

“Do better.”

They both watched as a chill rushed across his body, and that wet spot on his underwear only got bigger.

Someone was ready to be worked over.

“I want to be your fuck toy today,” he said, his voice shaking. “Please. I need you both to break me.”

And there it was.

Elizabeth said nothing, trusting that Gene would bring it out in him, and believing that Ethan wanted this. His whole body was vibrating in pure, unadulterated lust.

She didn’t like to compare herself and Gene when it came to sex with Ethan, but it was crystal clear that her husband had been holding back.

He got horny, but this was ‘I’m out of control and have no limits’ horny.

She could see it in his eyes.

His brain was off, and his lust was on.

“Come here, Tala. It’s been a while since you had cock down your throat,” Gene said, and the man obeyed.

Leaning on a table, Gene spread his legs, and watched as Ethan went to his knees. Being well-trained, he crawled, his whole body moving like a sleek panther.

It was hot to watch.

When Ethan reached Gene, he unlaced his leather pants, and pulled his dick out.

The whole time, he looked incredibly hungry for the man’s cum.

Oh, it was going to be wild today.

From where she sat, Elizabeth watched the show, and she could see the difference in Ethan. He was willing to do anything.

Now, she understood.

This was his secret.

“Make me cum, Tala, and show the lady how you like to be degraded and made to be my cum slut.”

He moaned, and then started blowing Gene. He was choking on his cock, and lubing it up. He knew where it would be going.

Gene would put on a show, and his ass would be sore the rest of today.

Gene let him work him hard, and then, he shoved his head down his dick, burying it so far down his throat that Ethan couldn’t breathe.

When her husband was choking, she moved closer, and leaned against Gene to talk. Oh, they were both well aware that the man was running out of air.

The panic would come, and then, he’d fight a bit.

“He sucks cock good. But I want to see him fucked. Bend him over, and let’s play.”

“He takes cock like I’m betting you’ve never seen. He loves it rough, and to be fucked over and over again.”

Ethan’s whole body shook. To hear the two people he loved talk like he was not even important and nothing but a sexual toy for them...

It just made him wilder.

He wanted to serve them both. After telling them his fantasy, he feared being ashamed.

Ethan was anything but.

Now, his brain was off, and his body was theirs to command. He could do this all of the time, and never feel anything but…

FREE.

When Gene loosened up his grip so he could slip his mouth off of his erection, that long line of spit went from his engorged erection to Ethan’s chin. He had tears in his eyes, but he wasn’t sad.

Not.

Even.

Close.

Elizabeth went over to the chair, sat, and crossed her legs. Ethan watched them the whole time. He was an ass man, but he loved her legs in heels.

Gene moved to the second chair, and leaned back in it.

“I think I want a show. Tala, come here, and show the pretty lady how well trained you are.”

Ethan wanted that.

He moved on his knees, and his brain shut off. He should feel something more than eroticism, but he didn’t. He was so turned on knowing his wife was watching.

When he stopped in front of them, Gene gave him the order.

“Remember when I made you jerk off in front of all those bikers?”

He slowly nodded.

“Pretend she’s a biker. I need you to cum for me, three times, and then, we’ll start using your body.”

He didn’t hesitate.

“Lose the boxer briefs.”

Oh, he did.

Then, his dick was out, and hand went to his erection. Obeying, he began jerking off. He was stroking his dick, and watching Elizabeth and Gene.

The whole time, he felt loved and safe. Now, he knew how Scarlett Valentine, and Gene felt when he dominated the fuck out of them.

When his wife uncrossed her legs, and he saw full-on pretty kitty, he couldn’t hold on.

That was all it took.

He came.

The moan was deep, animalistic, and told them that he was going to be easy to get off today.

“That’s one,” Gene said. “Only, you got cum on the pretty lady. Lick it from her leg,” he said, dominating Ethan, but showing Elizabeth the things Ethan really liked.

He whimpered, and opened his eyes. Ethan crawled toward her, and held her leg in his hand. Then, doing what he was told, he licked from her ankle to her knee, catching all of his wayward cum.

That was so fucking hot.

Just watching him, Elizabeth was wet.

Truth be told, she loved watching her husband enjoy sex. There was something freeing about it for everyone involved.

When Gene pointed back to the spot he’d been in, Ethan went, and waited on his knees.

Then, he tossed him the ring.

Not the one that made him keep cumming, the one that stopped him cumming.

“Oh, God,” he whispered. “I won’t cum. Please,” he begged.

Gene shook his head.

“Wear it, and show the pretty woman how hard you’ll jerk off to obey, Tala.”

That was all he had to hear. He obeyed, and started jerking off. When Gene held out his hand, and Elizabeth took it, Ethan watched.

It was when Gene pulled her into his lap, and kissed her that he nearly died.

Jerking off with a ring on was like driving to the store without a car.

It was impossible.

As they made out, Ethan whimpered, his balls so goddamn tight as he watched the two people he loved making out. Gene’s one hand was on her ass, and the other was holding her mouth to his.

He couldn’t handle it. He jerked off furiously, desperate to cum.

“Please let me cum,” he begged. “Oh, God, please let me cum!”

Gene looked over.

“Not yet. You wanted to be degraded and treated like a very dirty bottom, and here we are. What better way than to make you watch the one thing you defend fiercely.

Elizabeth knew what that was.

HER.

At his words, Ethan moaned, and he couldn’t think of anything but that moment. His heart was racing, his balls hurt, and he wanted to be used by both of them.

When Gene went back to kissing Elizabeth, she wasn’t getting him off. It was like kissing his sister if he had one. Only, it was driving Ethan insane. He was slowly creeping toward them.

Little by little.

When Gene caught him out of his peripheral, he broke the kiss.

“Do you want to cum, Elizabeth? Because I’m betting Tala would love nothing more than to service you.”

A part of Ethan didn’t know if he’d be able to touch his wife when Gene was in control, or if he’d be allowed to fuck too. This was new to him, and he wasn’t sure of the parameters that they’d set.

But he was dying to find out.

Clearly, there were very few.

“Absolutely,” Elizabeth said. “I want to see how well trained your little fuck toy is.”

Oh, well, let the games begin.

Gene held her on his lap, and Ethan was so close that he could see how wet she was.

“Make her cum,” Gene said, and Ethan dove in, shoving her legs apart so he could fit between them. The whole time, Gene held her, and Elizabeth leaned against his much bigger body.

Now, Ethan was wild.

He ate his wife out like he hadn’t been fed in a very long time.

His fingers were on her thigh, and he was brutalized when Gene grabbed him by his hair, and forced his face deeper into her body.

He moaned, and went even wilder.

Ethan couldn’t believe he was seeing any of this, let alone experiencing this.

It was beyond hot.

It was erotic.

When she shook, he sucked on her clit, and sent her over the edge. She came, and Gene held Ethan’s face deep between her thighs.

He whimpered as he furiously beat at his dick, wanting to cum.

“Take a breather, Tala,” he said, watching Ethan’s face come away wet from Elizabeth’s body. He stayed kneeled in front of them, but kept trying to cum with that fucking ring on.

He wasn’t.

When she came back down, Gene helped her into the chair beside him, and he pointed at his rock-hard dick.

“Tala, time to fill your belly. Since you haven’t cum again, it’s my turn.”

That was all he had to hear.

From how well Elizabeth and Gene were working in tandem, you’d think they both did this before.

They were mastering him beyond his wildest fantasies, and they were pretty wild.

Without wasting time, Ethan went to Gene’s dick, and began blowing him. Gene’s lap was a mix of Elizabeth’s cum, and his own precum.

He loved the taste of both of them.

The whole time, Ethan couldn’t get off, and his balls were painfully tucked up into his sack.

This was torture.

And he wanted more.

When he was swallowing Gene, and trying to milk his balls, he didn’t see Elizabeth go find the biggest butt plug they had, with a vibrator in it, and lube it up.

Just as Gene was about to cum, he glanced over at Elizabeth.

“Make him scream,” he said.

When she shoved the plug into his ass, he wasn’t expecting it. He stopped blowing Gene, as his body bucked, and he screamed in pleasure and pain.

It made Gene cum, and he erupted, that hot wave of wetness coating Ethan.

It didn’t end there.

His wife turned the plug on high, and his body was rocked with so much pleasure.

When she moved to lick some cum off his cheek, Ethan knew he was going to die.

This was it.

This was the filthiest, dirtiest, and wildest sex he’d ever had.

Oh, God.

Ethan had expected Elizabeth to watch.

Not to participate.

There was no way he’d ever forget this day for the rest of his life.

EVER.

In fact, he loved his life.

His dick was so red and swollen, and he’d yet to cum except that first time, but he’d never complain about this gift.

Ethan felt so loved and safe with the two of them, and he knew they’d never hurt him.

“Thank you, Tala,” Gene said, as they watched him try to compose himself.

“Now, here’s where the fun part happens, Kitten,” he said, making her grin. “Ever see a cum slut erupt?” he asked.

Oh, apparently, that nickname was going to be their little private joke forever.

She could tell.

“Oh, let me see how well trained he is.”

Ask and she shall receive.

Gene reached down, and pulled the ring off of his super swollen dick.

That’s all it took.

Immediately, he began cumming. He shot load after load out of his dick, and was breathing heavily.

Because the best part of dominating Ethan was keeping him off guard, Gene switched out the rings.

This was the one that vibrated nonstop.

“Time to use some of Tala’s favorite things,” Gene said, as Ethan moaned from that need starting all over again.

Their sex toy was manhandled.

Gene pulled him up, tossed him over his shoulder, and carried him to one of the wooden devices. At Gene’s favorite one, he strapped Ethan into the cross, his back side facing out.

“Oh, God,” he whispered, as his hips were already jerking, as if they had a mind of their own.

The bottom line was that he wanted to keep cumming. He’d eaten his wife out, and blew his mate, but he craved more.

He was awash in so many emotions.

What Ethan wanted was to beg, scream their names, and cry because he felt full. He wasn’t afraid of anything anymore. The only woman he’d ever love saw him, and wasn’t disgusted.

She liked what she saw.

He knew when his wife was into sex, and she was INTO sex. She wasn’t turned off by Gene being there, or vice versa. They were comfortable with each other, and his world had sealed together.

He could cry because he was so happy.

“Time for pain, Tala. You don’t cum until I tell you,” Gene said.

Elizabeth loved watching Ethan in so much pleasure. He held this back, and he’d not had to. She wasn’t disgusted by seeing him need this.

Not.

At.

All.

When Ethan felt the lashes of his own belt, across his back, he wanted to cum again. It was when Gene began leaving lash after lash of leather across his ass, that Ethan struggled.

“I’m going to cum!” he screamed.

Gene kept punishing his body, and Ethan was so excited, cum dripped.

“Ask me to cum, Tala. Call me by my name,” he said, not sure if he would in front of Elizabeth.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Please let me cum, Daddy!” he shouted, and it was too late. His body couldn’t hold back, as his back was kissed with that leather over and over again.

Because she knew Ethan, and because he’d been on the edge, she went to the other side of the apparatus.

When he came...

Elizabeth caught his cum, making sure to have a mouthful. Then, she got out from behind the apparatus, and moved toward Gene.

The man stopped punishing Ethan, and made him turn his head to watch.

“Oh, Kitten, do you have a present for me?” he asked, as Ethan stared as his wife kissed his man, and they shared his cum.

Jesus.

He couldn’t handle the lust. It beat at his body, and he never wanted this to end.

“Please,” he whispered.

Gene pulled his head back, and kissed him next, sharing his saliva, Ethan’s cum, and Elizabeth’s saliva.

His body bucked as that degradation gave him freedom.

“More, please,” Ethan begged. “Please fuck me, Daddy. Please fuck me so hard,” he said, the plug in his ass tickling his prostate, and making his balls tuck all the way up in his body.

Oh, Gene could do that.

WILLINGLY.

When Ethan had asked for this, he’d worried it would feel awkward with Elizabeth, since they weren’t attracted to each other.

Only, it felt very normal sharing this man with each other.

“Has my fuck toy been a good boy?” he asked.

He nodded, struggling to not cum again. If he did, he’d be punished, and not in the fun way.

Gene unstrapped his hands, and Ethan had to hold onto the St. Andrew’s Cross, or his legs would give out.

Gene knew what the man liked.

“Then, how about a rim job before I fuck you?” he asked.

Ethan moaned.

He loved a rim job. Out of every sexual thing he and Gene had ever done, that was his favorite thing.

It was his secret, dirty pleasure. The idea of Gene buried between his cheeks, rimming him…

It was beyond hot.

“Please, Daddy,”; he whispered, as that plug was pulled out.

Gene made him work for it.

“Beg Daddy’s Kitten. You have Miss Kitty, but I have my Kitten.”

And now, Ethan wanted nothing more than to have to beg his wife’s permission to allow his fiancé the opportunity to spread him open, and make him weak.

Only, he didn’t get to ask.

The mere idea made his dick explode as his wife was watching him, with that look on her face.

Oh, and he knew it well. He watched Scarlett Valentine with that same satisfied grin.

Fuck!

He loved his life.

Ethan couldn’t stop himself. His hips bucked, and he came again.

This time, without permission, and he paid for it. Well, his ass did.

Gene punished him with ten hard lashes of his own belt. His ass was crisscrossed with red marks, and the stinging…

God.

He loved it.

“MORE!” he begged, and Gene delivered. When his balls were full again, Gene stopped at ten.

He needed to keep some cum in him.

For now.

“To the table, Tala. I promised you a reward,” he said, as Gene strapped his arms to the side, and he couldn’t move. He was bent over at the hips, his toes on the floor, as he was bare-assed facing them.

“I love this view,” Elizabeth said, running her hands over his reddened cheeks.

His body shook, and he whimpered.

Ethan wanted her to keep touching him.

“Wait until Tala begs you to put him over you knee and spank him. Won’t you be doing that?” Gene asked.

Ethan moaned.

“Answer the pretty lady. Won’t you be asking her to spank your already red ass?”

He nodded.

“Please spank me after this. I want to feel it for a week,” he whispered.

There should be embarrassment, but there was none. There was only need.

Ethan was still horny.

Because he wanted Ethan to cum again, he knew what would do it.

“Now, you get your rimming,” he said. “It’s time for Tala’s reward.”

He couldn’t wait.

Ethan felt the wetness around his asshole, and he was enjoying Gene giving him it. It made his dick tingle, and he knew he’d cum if he kept it up. The eroticism alone was enough to do him in.

Only, it was short-lived.

Why?

When Gene moved to stand beside Ethan, so he could see him, the rimming never stopped.

That’s when he figured it out.

Elizabeth was rimming him. That was the first time she ever did it because he’d been too embarrassed to ask for something that intimate.

“Oh, Fuck!” Ethan shouted, as he came without anyone touching him. Between his wife’s mouth, and the ring that was vibrating.

He erupted again.

And again.

And again.

She didn’t stop.

Now, he was helpless to her mouth, and that secret pleasure he craved. He’d never be able to not have this. They opened the door, and Ethan wanted to live in this world. He wasn’t sure if he could leave it.

The joy was just so overwhelming.

When she stopped, Gene grabbed a bottle of lube. As he did, Elizabeth switched cock rings.

Ethan whimpered.

“Oh, God. I won’t be able to cum,” he said, as she went under the table, and he felt the difference.

Gene laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry, Tala, we will. Kitten, make him service you. I’m about to fuck his ass like he’s never been fucked before. I want him pussy deep into you, and unable to breathe.”

Elizabeth hopped onto the table, and Ethan had no choice but to be face-to-face with her pretty kitty.

When Gene started sliding into him, his body shook, and bucked. Oh, but he took all of him, and he began feasting on Elizabeth’s clit because her hands were buried in his dark black hair as he was forced to her pussy again.

And he ate.

And he took.

Oh, and he wanted to explode from being taken by the two of them.

All Ethan knew was that his life was now complete. Both halves had come together, and he was at peace.

From behind him, Gene was enjoying watching the whole show. He didn’t think he’d get off from something like this, but watching Ethan have such a good time, and Elizabeth being so willing to do this with him…

He had a family he loved and who accepted him.

Because he was leading this show, Gene focused.

“You know the rules, Tala. The lady cums, and then every drop of my cum stays in your ass. If you let a single drop out of you, I’ll punish you like you’ve never been punished before.”

He moaned as he was busy feasting on his wife. His hands were clenched, and his ass was being pillaged. If anything, he wanted to please them both.

As his body was invaded, Ethan’s whole being was flushed with heat.

“Tala,” Elizabeth purred, as Gene enjoyed the show. Funny, he wasn’t so sickened by lady parts when his man was tongue deep in them.

Elizabeth came.

“You make her cum again,” Gene ordered, as he slapped Ethan on the ass.

He moaned, and dove right back in. He was suffocating in wife pussy, and this was how he wanted to go. He’d never expected this, but he was so turned on that he’d only have to think about this.

To cum.

Because he loved Ethan’s ass, Gene was about there.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, as he couldn’t watch Ethan clit licking any longer.

It shoved him off the edge.

That’s when he poured into the man, filling his ass with his cum.

Elizabeth came again when Ethan was writhing in so much pleasure, and couldn’t get off.

“Please,” he whispered. “I need to cum,” he begged.

Gene was ready to cum again, as he watched Elizabeth getting off and Ethan struggling.

“Shit,” Gene muttered, as more cum exploded, lubricating his ass.

Fuck that felt good.

When he opened his eyes, he used the belt around Ethan’s neck, and tightened it.

“Please let me cum,” he begged. “I need to cum again.”

Gene pulled out of him, and Elizabeth hopped off of the table. She slipped her leather dress back down, and Ethan watched them both, all while he was wracked with need. His dick was bright red, and he was out of control.

“Want to join me in bed?” Gene asked Elizabeth. “I’m sure our cum slut has more to show. I think I’d love to watch him fuck you.”

Ethan couldn’t think.

He was so horny because they got him to that point. He’d fuck anything or anyone they pointed at him to obey. His rational brain had shut off, and lust was driving the bus.

He was able to stop fighting that need.

To change rooms, Gene unbound Ethan, and put him over his shoulder to carry him to the bed. Once there. He knew what they needed to do.

“On your back, Tala.”

He obeyed, and they bound his hands above him to the headboard.

Elizabeth flicked her mouth over one of his nipple rings.

That made his body buck. He was in sensory overload, and it was a beautiful thing to see.

Because it looked like fun, and it was torturing Ethan, Gene joined in, and they each worked his nipples over so much that he was shouting in pleasure.

“Fuck! Please! Someone jerk me off!” he begged.

Only, they refused to touch his dick. Everyone knew the way to break Ethan was his nipples.

When he was so wound up, Gene got out of bed.

“I’ll be back, I still have more cum in me. Ethan’s belly hasn’t been filled quite enough. Hygiene first.”

As he went to go wash off his dick, Elizabeth whispered in his ear.

“Is this what you craved?”

He moaned.

“God. Lyzee. Please sit on my face. I need more. I’ve never felt this free before.”

Well, ask and he would receive.

That he was so happy made her happy too. She loved that he was no longer holding back. He was gorgeous as he was wild and free like he deserved.

She straddled him, and he went wild all over again. It was like sex with a whole new Ethan. It was clear that before, he always held back in bed, but this was definitely not that.

When she came again, he moaned as the taste of his wife filled his mouth.

“Please let me cum in you,” he begged. “I need to fuck you so badly,” he said.

Only, Gene heard him.

“No, Tala. You’re the fuck-ee—not the fuck-er,” he said, landing a crop across his thigh.

His body bucked.

“MORE!” he begged, not believing that he still craved more of them tormenting him, but he did. He never wanted this pleasure to stop.

Gene was so happy his man was finally free. He was wild with him, but he was out of control now. They found his sweet spot.

When Elizabeth got off of him, they slid him up a bit, and relocked his arms to the headboard.

“Go ahead, Kitten, ride his cock and make him beg like the cum slut he is.”

Gene took her hand, and she straddled Ethan’s waist. When she slid down his dick, Ethan couldn’t breathe. He needed to cum so bad.

But she rode.

As she did, Gene played with his nipples, and made him beg.

“Please let me cum. God. Please!”

Elizabeth did her worst, grinding down, and cumming on his dick. His groin was wet from her.

She got off, and Gene used his mouth, fucking his face in abandon. Ethan choked on his dick, and craved more. When Gene finally came, he choked the man on his cum.

So much so, that it almost came out his nose.

Because they knew how much he loved his nipples played with, Gene got two clamps connected with a chain. As Ethan’s body bucked, Gene uncuffed him.

“On your knees, Tala. It’s time for me to fuck that ass,” he said. “I have one more load in me.”

Ethan obeyed, and got in his knees.

Gene went behind him, and used the belt to control his body. He gave the man credit. He was holding his cum in like he’d ordered him.

Someone was living his best life.

“Kitten, join in. He wants to fuck and be fucked at once. He once asked me to let a big, burly biker take his ass as he fucked me. Didn’t you, Tala?”

He had.

“God. Yes. Please!”

She moved under him, and as Gene began fucking him, he drove Ethan into her body.

Only, he couldn’t cum.

But they could.

Elizabeth moaned at the forcefulness of Ethan being driven into her, and his helpless whimpers only added to the eroticism.

The sounds and visuals all around Ethan made it so damn difficult to stay in control. Gene was ball’s deep in his ass, and he was dick deep in his woman.

This was the best day of his life.

Gene stopped to get out of his pants, so he could get a better thrust.

“Please, let me see your body,” Ethan begged his wife.

“Ask your Daddy for permission.”

He’d ask the devil himself.

“Please, Daddy, can I see her tits. I want to see all of her,” he whispered.

Gene stopped, and when Elizabeth got out from under Ethan, she went to Gene, and he made Ethan watch as he undid the ties across the back of her dress. Then, he helped her out of it.

He moaned at the visual as another man, not one of her husbands, helped her out of that scandalous dress.

She was stunning, and he was desperate for her. Ethan couldn’t believe they were both his.

They both loved him so much, and it brought tears to his eyes, thinking how he’d been afraid to be honest, but it had only set him free.

It was the slap on her bare ass that made his body react like he was drugged.

“Oh, God,” he whispered.

Now that they were all naked, the fun continued.

“Now, we fuck,” Gene said, getting in position with his big dick tickling his asshole with the head of it.

Right before they began, Ethan was suffering. He was keeping the last load from Gene in his ass, he couldn’t cum, and he was watching a naked Elizabeth beneath him.

This.

Was.

Torture.

At the same time, he knew what they were giving him.

When she tugged on the nipple chain, sending shocks through his body, Gene slammed home, cumming.

Ethan was driven hard into her body, and she came too.

The only one who hadn’t been allowed to get off was Tala.

“Please,” he begged, breathlessly as Gene’s cum oozed from his ass, and his dick was wet from Elizabeth. His own cum was dripping.

Gene laid on the bed, and Elizabeth cuddled into his side, forcing Ethan to watch them.

“Oh, Jesus,” he muttered, licking his lips. She was playing with Gene’s nipple piercings, and Gene moaned.

That made Ethan wild.

He never wanted anything more in his entire life than this one moment.

Gene knew he’d suffered long enough.

“Tala, take off the ring, but you can’t cum. We want to watch you jerk off.”

Oh, Jesus.

If he touched his dick, he was not lasting long.

“Please,” he begged. “I’ll cum the second I touch my dick.”

Neither cared.

“If you cum, you spend the night with that plug in your ass as we go back to work.”

Oh, well, Ethan had news for him. That didn’t make him not want to cum.

“Come on, Tala, show me that dick,” Elizabeth said.

He went to his knees, and he pulled the ring off. As he watched them, curled up together, their nudity not bothering them, he kept stroking his erection.

When Gene kissed her, Ethan fought not to cum. It was when they both stared into his eyes, and told him to cum for his owners that was too much for him to bear.

That did it.

Ethan couldn’t hold on.

He exploded, jerking off, and sending cum everywhere. It hit Elizabeth in the neck, and Gene on the chest. He kept jerking off, as he watched Elizabeth lick cum off Gene’s chest, and he removed it from her cheek the same way.

He came again, and again, as they grinned wickedly at him. Mostly, because Elizabeth said the one thing that she knew would make him.

“I can’t wait until Chris and Callen play with Tala too. I think we all will.”

Now, he was in the freefall.

As he stopped touching his dick, his body shook, and he struggled to breathe. It was when he collapsed onto his people that he closed his eyes.

They curled around him, and they cuddled.

When she looked up at Gene, he signed one thing.

Here comes the storm, he said. Buckle up. He’s going to crash.

Oh, she knew it.

Now, it was time to put him back together again.

Chapter Eighteen

The Den

The Aftermath

Hurricane Ethan

No one moved for a good three minutes, as they tried to catch their breath and be able to talk. It had been a lot of line-crossing, and that was going to be a problem for one of them, and that one was not Gene or Elizabeth.

That’s when they heard him crying, as his whole body shook from the weeping.

Elizabeth went into protection mode because she’d always do that for Ethan. 

“Don’t cry,” Elizabeth said, holding him.

Gene joined her, and they held him together until he was okay again.

“We have you, Babe,” he whispered.

Yeah, in that moment, they believed they went too far, because Ethan was upset.

Only, they were about to be surprised.

When he opened his eyes, and saw the two people he adored being so loving. They came together for him, and despite not being attracted to each other, they gave him a gift. He couldn’t be happier.

“Why are you crying?” Elizabeth asked, moving some of his sticky hair from his face so they could see his eyes. “Did we go too far?”

Ethan touched both of their cheeks with his fingers, caressing them with nothing but love.

“I’m crying because I’ve never been happier. These are tears of joy,” he admitted. “I love you both. I’m finally free. I don’t have to hide anymore. You’ve seen all of me, and you love him too. You’re not embarrassed by my weakness or how I need to just let that side out to protect myself.”

That broke both of their hearts.

That this sweet, loving, gentle man believed that someone wouldn’t love even his dark spaces…

Well, he was absolutely wrong.

They all had them.

Honestly, since he was willing to be honest with them, they’d love him more now than ever. A good partner came to them and would be honest with his needs.

That mattered.

“I’m so happy,” he whispered, finding both of their hands, and holding them in his. “Thank you for what you’ve both given me.”

They each kissed him on the forehead as their bodies cooled from the sex.

This was the best-case scenario for them. A few tears were nothing.

Honestly, they both expected him to have ‘buyer’s remorse’, but in the sex version.

When she touched his cheek, he turned his head and smiled at her. It was the first real smiled he’d ever given them. There was no more secret shame or hidden parts to him. He was his true self.

Now that he wasn’t crying, Elizabeth covered them up with a blanket.

And it was nice.

“I know this was outside both of your comfort zones, and I want you to know I love you both.”

Well, they loved him too.

Only, Elizabeth was honest.

“EJ, it’s not outside my comfort zone. This is a part of sex that makes you happy. I had a good time. I really did. You didn’t see me not cumming, did you?”

No, he didn’t.

“Gene?” she asked.

The man was grinning like an exhausted Cheshire Cat. There was no way he didn’t enjoy it.

“I’m happily sexed. My motto is go dirty or go home,” he said, still focused on Ethan.

When he’d seen him crying, he’d been worried, but now…

He knew the man he loved was content.

Cuddled up between them, he was playing footsies with each of them.

Yeah, he was good.

“It was fun,” Elizabeth said. “Who knew Gene was such a freak in bed?”

He actually laughed.

“Uh, we knew. Welcome to the party.”

That made her laugh.

Honestly, she needed the break. She was so worked up about Chris, she needed time to come down and not be so stirred up over him.

As Ethan just chilled out, he watched Gene tuck some of Elizabeth’s hair behind her ear. It made his heart happy that he didn’t seem to even notice that she was still naked.

Just like he wasn’t aware he was.

This felt…natural.

“I have everything that I’ve ever wanted in my life,” he said, sitting up to face them.

When he did, he was honest.

“I love you both. You’ve give me myself back. I’m not ashamed of the needs I have. I can never reciprocate what you’ve given to me. I hope you both feel the love that happened here.”

Gene really did.

“EJ, I love Elizabeth. I didn’t go cave spelunking like Callen and Chris said was off limits. I still enjoyed myself. Seeing her in love with you, and you loving her back doesn’t upset me. My bottom line is you’re loved. All I’ve ever wanted for you was that you’d have all those bad memories replaced with good ones. That’s what I tried doing all those years ago.”

She shared her feelings.

“Where he left off, EJ, I picked up. It was a long time coming, but now, you can be happy. When you need this, all you have to do is tell us.”

“And you’re okay with it?” he asked.

She smiled.

“Nudity doesn’t bother me, EJ. I walk around naked with four men. Gene seeing me doesn’t freak me out. I wear tiny bikinis, and he doesn’t vomit.”

Ethan hoped not.

They busted each other’s asses, and he’d never want anyone to be uncomfortable for him.

Gene saw the wheels turning, and he was honest.

“Her body doesn’t make me sick,” Gene admitted. “When she says ‘titters’ and I shudder, it’s a joke we share. I’m looking at them right now, and I’m not horrified.”

Ethan relaxed.

“I love Elizabeth with all of my heart and soul. I’m going to marry both of you. If we went to bed right now, and slept completely naked, I would be fine. I’m not feeling the need to run or jump her. Our common thread is you.”

He was glad.

“I’m beyond happy,” he said. “I’m messy as hell, but calm. I’ve never felt this calm. The fear…it’s gone.”

Good.

“Well, we have another problem,” she said.

Both men looked at her.

“We do?” Gene asked.

Oh, they absolutely did.

“We’ll have to shower,” she admitted, pointing at someone’s cum on her shoulder. “You two are animals.”

That made them both laugh.

Why?

It was true.

In bed, Gene didn’t hold back, and he couldn’t count the times he had to strip a bed over and over because he and Ethan couldn’t keep their hands off of each other.

“That would be mine,” Ethan said. “I’m a sloppy cummer,” he admitted.

Gene laughed.

“That’s my line, sexy. I get royalties.”

That amused her.

“Can I ask a question?” Elizabeth inquired.

They nodded.

“If Chris and Callen aren’t around, can I come climb into bed with you and Gene?” she asked.

Gene grinned.

“Ethan, I’m sorry,” he said.

The man looked at him.

“About?” he asked, thinking Gene was going to say no to her request.

“Your lady fell for me. I didn’t try. Everyone just likes a bear.”

He began laughing.

So did Elizabeth.

“It’s the chest hair,” Gene said. “Being hairless isn’t always a blessing, now is it, Mr. ‘I don’t have to shave my face every day’?”

Ethan snorted.

“You’re a nut.”

Yes, yes, he was.

Gene knew she was waiting for an answer.

“As for your request, absolutely. You’re always welcome to cuddle up with us, Elizabeth. Always. I wouldn’t want you sleeping alone.”

In that moment, she made a decision.

“Ethan?”

He looked over.

“Yeah?”

She went there.

“You know how you found that company that made our bed so it would fit us?”

“Uh, yeah? Want me to order a bigger bed for Gene?”

She shook her head.

“No. I want you to order us a bigger bed. Gene shouldn’t sleep alone. He should be able to cuddle with you and us. He’s part of us.”

Tears filled Ethan’s eyes.

“Really?”

She nodded.

“If you two want a night of sexiness, you can head to his room.”

“But Callen and Chris…,” Ethan began.

She palmed his face.

“If they were here right now, and they could see how the stress lines were gone from your face and how you’ve relaxed for the first time in fifty years, they would agree.”

He closed his eyes and rested his head on her chest. He wanted Gene to be included. He wanted Gene to be part of their family. He couldn’t share him with his brother or Chris, but sleeping…

Elizabeth focused on Gene.

“Will you be okay?” she asked. “Do you want to sleep with us?”

He was hesitant.

“I don’t want to interrupt your sex lives,” he began, but she stopped him.

“Gene, Callen can jump me in a shower as well as in a bed. Same for Chris. I’ll give up morning bed sex to have Ethan happy. To see this joy…”

Tears filled her eyes.

“I’ve never seen him this happy.”

Ethan held her, and Gene held them. That Elizabeth wanted Ethan to be at peace made Gene fall in love with her. There was no doubt he’d die for this woman.

“I’d love to sleep with you guys. Thank you for including me.”

Ethan smiled at Gene, and there was nothing but joy there.

“I love my life,” he admitted.

Wiping her eyes, she kissed Ethan, and then, kissed Gene.

When she broke away from them, she pointed at Gene.

“Fun is over, Bear. It’s clean up time.”

He laughed.

“Told you she liked a bear,” he whispered, and then got out of the bed to clean up the sex toys.

She reminded him.

“We have a date tonight. You’re going to have to go shower. We all do.”

That was all he had to hear. Plus, he wanted to give Ethan a moment with Elizabeth. There was no doubt he was going to be worried.

Not about them.

About Chris.

They’d interfered with his worrying.

When he was gone, Ethan moved into Gene’s spot, and pulled his wife into his body.

“Thank you.”

She nuzzled him.

“You can stop thanking me. I wanted to know what other side of you there was, and now I know.”

Since it was just them, and he trusted her, Ethan went there.

“Are you horrified? You can be honest. It’s just us,” he said.

She ran her fingers over the raven tattoo, and couldn’t love this man more.

“Remember the first time we had sex?” she asked. “We were in my Daddy’s house in Salem, and you put it out there, and thought I didn’t want you?”

He laughed.

“Because you were gorgeous, and out of my league. I was shooting my shot, and it was a longshot.”

She pinched him.

“I hate when you say shit like that. We’re equals.”

He reminded her.

“Men have worshiped women all through history. There’s a reason. None of us are in the same league. Where are you taking this?”

“Remember the feeling after?”

He did.

It had been euphoric.

“Yes.”

“It feels like that. Like I found my tribe, and I’m never going to be alone again. We did good with what we built, EJ, and I’ll never regret it.”

“But?” he asked.

“But nothing. I’m happy. All I wanted was for you to find that sweet spot. When you love someone, and they’re completely happy, so are you.”

He smiled.

“I might have a surprise for you.”

She lifted a brow.

“Please don’t say haunted castle two-point-oh. I swear to God, I’ll kill everyone here and burn the place to the ground before I go into the mental institution.”

He snorted.

Well, that said it all.

Only, he reminded her.

“No. I’m not Chris and Callen rich. What they have in money, I have in sexual gratification. Frankly, I’m the luckier one.”

That she got.

“What then?”

He’d debated about telling her this, versus just surprising her, but he wanted to share.

“Callen and I are going to stop being brothers,” he said.

She stared at him.

Oh, and she was confused about what that meant.

“Uh, I don’t understand.”

He said two words.

“In bed.”

She blinked.

Then, she blinked again, like she was doing the math, and trying to figure out what the hell kind of equation this was going to be.

Why?

They’d told her Hell would freeze over, pigs would fly, and the end of the world would be upon them first.

None of that was happening.

Ethan could see she was confused.

“I don’t want to miss out on anything. I’m attracted to him, and he’s attracted to me. I don’t know if we’ll have intercourse, but we’re going to let whatever happens in bed happen. I’m tired of living in a box, even with that.”

And that was all he had to say.

She giggled maniacally.

For Elizabeth, this was one hell of a day. She got to see Ethan’s alter ego, and use him, and now, this?

This was going on her calendar.

Hell!

In a diary somewhere.

‘Dear Diary,

I don’t know what kind of witchcraft I accidentally did, but hell, yeah!’

At her laughter, he kissed her on the tip of the nose, right on top of her freckles.

“You heard me. You’re getting your big wish.”

Yep.

In a diary.

“Oh, well, this is a surprise I can get behind. This is turning out to be a damn good day. You guys aren’t doing this for me, right? Because if it’s going to make you uncomfortable…”

He stopped her.

“It has nothing to do with you. Well, it does since that’s your particular kink. I was thinking about how you did this for me. It had to be difficult.”

She was honest.

“It really wasn’t. Like I keep saying, I love Gene. Could we do it together alone? No. With you, yes. You’re the cream in this cookie, like I was the cream in yours and Callen’s cookie.”

Yes, yes, she was, and always would be. It always astonished him how their lives changed and morphed, but how happy they were.

“Callen and I were going to surprise you for your birthday. I want to give you something memorable.”

“Well, you two up in each other’s business would be that. I know I won’t ever forget that birthday.”

He laughed.

“Me either. I love him so much that he doesn’t feel like my half-brother. Will it be every time we come together? I don’t know.”

She knew why he held back.

“Many cultures cross that line because there’s no line to cross. Christianity made the categories. We as a society can’t be breeding with our relatives. It creates genetic chaos. But you and Callen having a moment…I’m not judging. We’ve already been crucified for that sin, and we’ve never done it. Remember the first time we stepped out as a couple?”

He laughed.

Oh, did he ever.

“The media said we were perverts, and you and your brother were having sex. I mean, half of that was right.”

They kinda were perverts, but they were in the privacy of their own room.

“I remember. We never spoke about it, so it died down.”

She reminded him.

“And look at us now? What we thought would be our downfall wasn’t. No one talks about our sex lives anymore. I’m one walking scandal they can’t ignore.”

She was right.

They talked about her rise to the top, his fall from grace, and now, his boyfriend.

“I want to feel free in all aspects of my life. When we were kids, we’d cuddle up, and we’d offer each other comfort. He needed it then, and so did I. I just want to be able to have sex, and not hold back.”

She shrugged.

“So do it. Who are you hurting? You’re not breaking up a home, and you’re not going to bring a child into the world. It’s only sex. That’s why I like the Heathens. All those orgies.”

He snorted.

That was about right.

“I talked to Callie about it, as my doctor. I felt the need to get it off my chest.”

Ethan had come a long way. When he first had to see a therapist, it was a battle tooth-and-nail. Now, that he’d just go like it was normal…

That was how hard he worked on himself, and she was proud.

She waited for him to tell her all about it.

“She said the same thing you just did. Basically, it was that one man’s kink is not another man’s business.”

“Agreed.”

“Thank you for supporting me all these years when I made you work for it. From my abduction to this.”

She palmed his cheek.

“EJ, when you were abducted, I didn’t know about the case you worked where you’d been taken once before. Had I, then, I would have handled it differently. I didn’t know what you were fighting.”

To this day, she only knew the basics about that case. Ethan and Gene didn’t talk about it much, and she got it. Could she pull the file? Yeah, but that seemed intrusive. All she really knew was he’d been kept in a crypt after an abduction.

“Now, I know everything about you, and I can do battle for you when I’m not kept out of the loop. Standing by you…I took vows.”

He was honest.

“I’m glad you married me on paper. My one big saving grace was that you were legally tied to me. It helped me because I knew you wouldn’t divorce me. It bought me time to clean up my act.”

She kissed him softly on the lips.

“Newsflash, Ethan Jackson Blackhawk. I wouldn’t leave if we didn’t have the paper. I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m stubborn, pigheaded, and I don’t give up easily.”

He did know.

And he was grateful for that.

He was about to say more, but then, Gene came out, and he had a towel wrapped around his hips.

“Are we good, fam?” he asked, seeing that they had both stayed in bed.

It worried him.

Ethan was blunt.

“I’m going to have sex with Callen.”

Gene paused.

“Uh, that’s such a random thing to just shout out. Did I miss something?” he asked.

Ethan shared, trusting the man he loved.

“We decided to not hold back. I’m tired of locking myself in that box. It makes me miserable. I want to be me, and I want to love how I need to love.”

Gene sat down.

“Uh, I didn’t know you were holding back. I’m not there when you and Callen are rolling around with Elizabeth and Chris.”

He explained.

“We don’t cross the line. We never have. I’m deeply in love with my brother.”

“Okay.”

Ethan was honest.

“Remember our boat trip where you thought I was pining away after a lover?”

He laughed.

“EJ, that was the start of our relationship, so hell, yeah, I remember. The S.S. Cuervo is a fond memory for me.”

He went there.

“I was pining away over him. I didn’t realize it for years, but the reason it hurt so much to be away from my brother was that I was always in love with him. You weren’t my first love. He was.”

And Gene was okay with that.

Ethan and Callen had hard lives, and they’d been forged in that fire.

“I hope that doesn’t hurt you.”

He reassured him.

“Babe, I had the best seven years of my whole life with you. Who you loved before me, or after me, didn’t matter as much as the fact that you loved me.”

And that was exactly why he adored this man.

And woman.

“So, I guess I’m asking if you would be weirded out if we crossed that line?” Ethan asked his other partner.

Elizabeth said nothing. She was trusting Gene to be gentle with Ethan’s heart. It was a fragile thing.

“Can I be honest?” Gene asked.

Ethan nodded, not sure what he had to elaborate on a yes, or no, question, but he’d give him a chance.

Gene was blunt.

“I’d pay good fucking money to watch it happen,” he said, catching Ethan off guard, and making Elizabeth laugh. “That is something goddamn hot. You and your brother rolling around? Jesus. I need another shower,” he said, as he pointed down at his erection.

It was back.

As he said that, Blackhawk was amused.

“Yep. I have a type.”

Gene was serious.

“You and your brother are gorgeous. I have a Native kink. The idea of you two having a moment, and getting to watch…that’s hot.”

Elizabeth shrugged.

“We all pretty much feel like that. Chris thinks it’s sexy too. It’s not just my kink. I’m pretty damn sure that two hot men going at it is a lot of women’s kinks. The foreplay up to this point has been killing me.”

Gene gave her a fist bump.

HIM.

TOO.

Before he could joke around, Ethan had to ask him.

“Do you think it’s wrong if we cross that line?” he asked, knowing he’d be honest too.

It took him a second to figure out how to word that. Ethan took everything and analyzed it to death. He couldn’t count the fights they had over misunderstandings.

“No, as long as it’s for you, and not us. We joke about it, but we aren’t the ones who have to make that decision. You’re brothers, but you’re also not. You straddle both worlds. Your genetics are vastly different. That’s why your sons are very different. You only share a portion of each other.”

He was right.

“Thank you for that.”

Now, Gene was curious.

“When is the blessed occasion happening?”

“For Elizabeth’s birthday.”

He sighed.

“My kingdom for a vagina. Can you at least record it so I can watch it later? I’ve been a good boy. I need the hot Native porn.”

She snorted.

“That’s all kinds of wrong, but I get it. To the vagina comes the spoils.”

Ethan kissed them both.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he admitted. Then, he was ready to get back to the reason they showed up here.

“Are you ready to talk about Chris?” he asked his wife.

She sighed.

Then, she told him about the email, the argument, and the whole thing.

The entire time, Ethan just listened.

Then, he gave her his opinion.

“He’s scared, Elizabeth. I know I would be too. Every day, he’s faced with the knowledge that he might not live as long as us. That has to be terrifying.”

She was aware.

“I am faced with it too. It hurt when I went to touch his face, and he shoved my hand away.”

Ethan got that.

“I say you give him a chance to talk to you. He will come to you when he calms down.”

“Do you think I did the right thing of yanking him?” she asked.

“As his boss? Yes. As his wife? Yes. Chris weighs his value by how much he can keep up. Honestly, he could hire another ME, and just supervise them. He doesn’t have to be in the trenches with them.”

He was right.

“I hate being angry with him.”

Gene shrugged.

“Then, don’t be. He upset you, but he didn’t do it intentionally. I know if I was in his situation, I’d be freaking the fuck out. He’ll come around. He loves his family.”

Gene and Ethan were right.

“Okay, I’ll give him time to come to me. You’re right. There’s no point in arguing about it. I believe he would have told me eventually.”

Ethan reassured her.

“He would have. Cut him a break, like you’ve cut me a million breaks.”

She would.

“Okay, EJ. I’ll let him make the next move.”

And there was another fight averted.

Ethan changed the subject because he knew how difficult this was for Elizabeth.

“I’m going to go shower while you talk about Callen’s dick. He’d be thrilled to know he was the focus after our sex,” he joked.

She snorted.

“Oh, he would be.”

When Ethan got up, they both watched as he walked away. He was covered in cum and had slashes of red from his belt across his ass. With all those tattoos…

It was damn sexy.

When he went into the bathroom, they both looked at each other and snorted.

“He’s so ridiculously sexy,” Gene said. “When I look at him, I can’t even function half the time.”

She agreed.

“He should be illegal. Thank God he’s married and in a relationship. The gays and women would be stampeding, and I can’t fight off the world. I’m getting old.”

That was the truth.

Lowering his voice, he needed to know.

“Is he really okay?” Gene asked, wanting to know what they’d talked about.

She nodded.

“Yeah, he is. More importantly, are you? You can be honest with me.”

He kissed her on the mouth.

“I am. I was focused on him. It was kinda fun though. I got to see him having sex with you, and it’s pretty much what I thought.”

“Is it?” she asked.

He was honest.

“He watches you with the same lust and love he watches me with. In theory, it should make me hella jealous, but it only makes me happy. I feel like for the first time, I’m where I need to be. When it was him and I years ago, it was amazing, but then I lost that.”

Elizabeth let him talk. She knew plenty about loss. She’d lost Chris.

Thanks, Timothy.

“Then, I filled my life with anyone who would make me feel. I loved Preston, and I would have been happy, but I never loved him like I loved Ethan.”

She understood.

“Now, I’m so happy. I feel like I’m surrounded by family, and I’m about to marry people I love.”

She needed to know.

“And it’s not weird to marry people but not have it be legal?”

He shook his head.

“No. Because what is a marriage but a vow. We put a paper to it, but before there were marriage licenses, there were vows. That’s my promise to him and you. I’ll love this family and protect it with all I have.”

She hugged him.

“We love having you. You’re a good egg, Gene Cantrell. A damn good one.”

Before he could make a joke, the phone rang, and she saw Chris’ number.

“Oh, boy.”

Gene moved over and let her lean on him. There was no doubt she was worked up, but trying to stay calm.

“You got this. Let him come to you and work it out first.”

That was the plan.

“Yes, Christopher?” she asked, answering.

There was a pause, and finally, his voice came over the phone.

“Can you meet me at the house? We need to talk. It’s important.”

Oh, she heard it in his voice.

He was miserable.

“About?” she asked, like she didn’t know.

Chris was struggling, but Callen was holding his hand beside him.

“Us.”

Gene kissed her knuckles, and offered up his strength so she could pull this off.

“That’s fine.”

Chris hesitated.

“If you’re not busy.”

Oh, she wasn’t now. Besides, she wanted to have a conversation with him now that she was much calmer.

“Just let me shower. I am at The Den with Ethan and Gene,” she said. “Calming down.”

There was a pause.

“Oh. Okay,” he said.

Elizabeth turned Gene’s wrist to look at his Rolex that Ethan had given him, and she read the time.

“I’ll be there in thirty.”

Chris hoped they could work through this.

“Okay, Elizabeth.”

Then, he hung up.

“Well, need backup?” Gene asked.

“No, I have to do this alone. Can you guys give me a head start, and maybe have Ethan work on the profile and Callen give you some names to research?”

He kissed her.

“Sure thing, Honey.”

When Ethan headed out of the bathroom, she walked right past him, saying nothing.

He watched her close the bathroom door.

“Uh-oh. What happened?” he asked, sensing the mood shift in the room.

Gene clued him in.

“Chris called. She’s going to face him down. I hope you have somewhat of a profile for her. She might be riled up after the fact.”

Yeah, he could see that.

And he hated it.

All Ethan wanted was peace for his family.

Especially his wife.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Hospital

Same Time

When the doctor came in, Gryphen was raw dogging another fast-food burger like his life depended on it.

Jet was off duty, and Uriel had showed up, bringing him dinner.

If someone was feeding him, he was eating. It made him happy to fuel up.

And he needed it.

Why?

The doctors were being a pain in his ass. Well, not intentionally.

Currently, the doctor on duty wanted Gryphen to get up and walk. When he told him to hop out of bed and meet him at the door, Gryphen actually laughed.

Why?

His leg was on the floor.

“Uh, Doc, I need a little help.”

The man had gotten the report of him hauling ass out of there from his colleague, so he should be able to get up.

“Mr. Carter, I get that sometimes we like to take our time, but you need to get up and move.”

“Again…”

The man was a little huffy.

As Uriel was about to step in and point out the reason, he didn’t need to.

Ian got up, picked up Gryphen’s leg, and headed toward the doctor.

“MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE HE NEEDS HELP PUTTING HIS LEG ON!”

The doctor opened his mouth.

“My suggestion, Doctor, is read the files a little better. So now, you can escort your ass out of here, and I’ll help him up. We don’t need assholes in here. Two more aren’t necessary.”

The man stared.

From his bed, Gryphen just laughed.

Someone was spicy.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

Ian held out the leg.

“I mean, we can have someone shot in the back hop around for you if you’d like. I’m sure that’s going to do his stitches a world of good.”

The doctor went red, and backed out of the room to escape.

Uriel laughed his ass off.

“Sorry. I pictured it. You hopping. Your ass out, and all of us seeing your sac swinging.”

Gryphen winked at him.

Oh, he pictured it too.

“Riled up, Baby?” he asked.

Ian just headed his way.

“I don’t need them helping you. I’m going to take care of you until you’re back on your feet. It gives me something to do.”

“Can you maybe get me another gown, so Uriel doesn’t get his wish? He’s a perv.”

The Marine snorted.

“I’ll go. Right now, the doctor is telling the charge nurse to watch out for the crazy man in khakis.”

He headed out, and Gryphen patted the bed.

“Sit and tell me where that outburst came from. As soon as I pulled the blanket back, the doctor would have seen I only have one leg.”

“I’m just protective.”

Gryphen could see that.

“It’s my job to protect you, Ian. You can relax. I’m good, and I’m going to be okay.”

Ian sat there.

“What?” Gryphen asked.

Pulling out a letter, he handed it to Gryphen.

When the man read it, he saw the name of the sender in the corner, and looked up.

‘Moira Patterson.’

The minute he read it, he knew who it was going to be from because that was Ian’s mother. He saw her name in his phone one time, when he was looking up something in Scotland.

“Do you want me to read it?” he asked.

Ian nodded.

Opening the letter, he scanned it, and that’s when his heart broke for Ian.

‘Ian,

I hope you’re well when you get this, and you’re recovered from the incident. I needed to reach out to you after seeing you on the news.

It’s time we cleared the air, and said our goodbyes. It’s been a long time coming, but I can’t, with good consciousness, keep telling people you’re my son. What I saw on the news was an embarrassment. I’d hoped for your sibling’s sake, you’d keep your perverse lifestyle quiet, so we wouldn’t be embarrassed.

But you didn’t.

Now, everyone here knows the truth. One of my children is gay. That is beyond humiliating. Do you know how horrible it is to go to church and have someone pray for your son’s sins?

No?

I do.

I had hope you’d eventually figure it out, since you were raised better than this. I didn’t raise a faggot as a child, and yet, here we are.

So please, stop contacting us. Don’t call, don’t send cards at Christmas, and if possible, forget us. We don’t want to be associated with this mess.

You murdered someone on the street, and I hope when you do jail time, you fix your mess and find Jesus. If you do, come home.

If not, our journey ends here. You’ll never know how painful this was for me. Goodbye, Ian. The only good thing is your father isn’t alive to see the mess you’ve made.

Moira.’

When Gryphen folded the letter, he looked up, and Ian was sitting there.

“Baby.”

He held up his hand to stop him.

“You’re all I have left, so I’m going to take care of you. No one loves me in this world but you. My family is disgusted by me, and I’m a disappointment. My siblings want nothing to do with me. Just let me take care of you.”

What was he going to say about that?

It was clear Ian was suffering.

When Uriel came in with the extra gown the room was silent. He stopped dead in his tracks.

“Uh, what happened? I was only gone a few minutes,” he said.

Gryphen looked over.

“Can I tell him?”

Ian shrugged.

He handed Uriel the letter, and the man read it over. When he was done, he headed toward Ian.

Gryphen wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but Uriel pulled Ian up and hugged him.

“You don’t need them. You have us. Gryphen is our brother, and when you marry him, you’re our brother too. Family isn’t blood, Ian. Look at the Blackhawks. They took us all in. This is her loss, not yours.”

Ian started crying.

The whole time, Uriel, the once Archangel, and all around badass, just held him.

“It’s okay,” he said.

When the doctor peeked his head back in, Uriel glanced over and growled.

“OUT!” he said.

The man took off.

“We protect our own,” Uriel stated. “You’re one of us, and always will be.”

Gryphen held out his hand.

“Thank you, Uriel.”

The man shook it, as he held Ian.

“Yeah, thanks, Uriel,” Ian said, wiping his eyes.

He stopped him.

“It’s Caspian. My family calls me by my name, and I’d love it if you did too. I’m Caspian Collins, and now, our family just got bigger.”

And in that moment, Gryphen knew two things.

He had an amazing family, and that he and Ian were going to be all right.

They were loved.

More than Moira, that horrible human being, could ever offer up.

Ian would be fine.

He’d bet on it.

Chapter Nineteen

Thirty Minutes Later

The Fort

Wednesday

Evening

When Ivan pulled up to the Blackhawks’ home, he glanced over at Elizabeth. She had been silent the whole way, and he was worried about her. That was anything but her norm. If anything, she could talk your ear off.

That she wasn’t…

Yeah, something was up.

As they were leaving, she had him switch rides with Raphael, and they took Ethan’s mustang.

While he didn’t mind a silent ride, if she was thinking about a case, this was different.

“Okay, Medusa. Tell me what has the snakes all in a tizzy.”

She shrugged.

“Men. This time, Christopher.”

It was rare that Chris was the problem. Most of the time, it was her worrying about Callen as he was out on a book tour, or in California for his movie production.

Or it was about Ethan, and his dark spaces.

Chris?

He was the easy one.

“Do you need backup?” he asked. “I’m willing to go in and try to intimidate the man if that’s what you want. It likely won’t work since the men are afraid of you more than anything.”

She didn’t laugh.

Yeah, she was freaked out.

At his question, she shook her head.

“No, I’m good. This is something I have to do,” she admitted.

He patted her leg.

“I’m here if you want me to handle the situation for you.”

She laughed.

“That ‘situation’ will be missed if you try to drag him off into the woods.”

He winked.

“Who told you?”

She just shook her head.

“I appreciate it, but I have this. Oh, and by the way, we’re going out tonight.”

That caught him off guard.

“What?”

“You know, going out. For dinner. All five of us. As a date.”

He was staring at her like she had ten heads and was venomous if she bit.

Only half of that was right.

“You’re leaving the house? After dark? Intentionally?” he asked.

She snorted.

“I have to interview the bartender of the restaurant we hit today to see if anyone can tell me how someone got roofied there.”

“No security cameras?”

She shook her head.

“It’s that kind of place. You know, where meetings happen that shouldn’t be seen.”

Ohhhhh.

“Well, then, if five of you are going out, we should have a few people ready to go. I can go, and Michael…”

She stopped him.

“No, go home.”

He lifted a brow.

“What do you mean go home? You’re my security detail, and I have to make sure you’re safe. If you’re leaving at three in the morning, I get alerted to get my ass here. You’re MY target. I have to keep that target hole free.”

She reassured him.

“Ivan, it’s that fancy restaurant and we’re going on a date. At night, they only let people inside if they are power players and dressed appropriately. I think I’ll be safe.”

He wasn’t having it.

“You can’t go alone.”

She met him halfway.

“I’ll grab Gunny and Gideon. They can handle us. Tell them to get out their nighttime attire, and they are on duty. We don’t need five bodyguards staring at us through tinted windows.”

He stared at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Did I do something? I’m always your security. Now, you’re telling me you want someone else? Today you haven’t really talked to me, or joked around…”

She was confused.

Was she acting differently?

Honestly, she’d just been busy.

“Ivan, you’ve been on duty since seven this morning, and I don’t want you to have to be out all night. That’s all. We didn’t joke around because I’ve been on nonstop interviews and shit shoveling missions to get people out of trouble.”

He said nothing.

That’s when she realized it.

“Why is this bothering you?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“I just felt replaceable for a moment there. You’re pretty predictable. You’re going to snarl, be inappropriate, hump one of the men, need a snack, and be back to inappropriate. Today you weren’t.”

Yeah, some days, she was on her game, and some days, it was catch up from the get-go.

She hugged him.

“You are my brother from another mother. You are never replaceable. You have a new baby, and I’m sure your wife wants to see you.”

He said nothing.

Oh, and that silence was telling. Chris wasn’t there yet, so she stared at him.

“Spill it. What’s going on?” she asked. Maybe they weren’t bantering today for other reasons, and not all of them were her.

“Blue and I had a fight. She’s not happy with me, and I’m freaking the fuck out.”

Elizabeth was concerned. Ivan didn’t ask for advice or help often, but clearly, he was struggling.

It was time to help him. She had time. Chris hadn’t gotten there yet.

“What was the fight about?” she asked.

“We were good, and then, I asked about another baby,” he said.

She cringed.

Oh, lordy.

Men.

They just didn’t get it.

“Ivan, my dude, she just had a baby. You have three babies under four. Back off of the vagina. She needs a break,” she said.

He laughed.

“I didn’t mean at that very second. I just like kids. I’ve come to the conclusion I’m going to be a girl dad, so now I need a Rose or Scarlet.”

Elizabeth clued him in.

“I love Scarlet. That’s my hooker name with Ethan.”

He stared at her.

“Well, that killed that name.”

She snorted.

Ivan got serious.

“All I know is that now, she is angry with me because she’s a bit hormonal and said all I see her as is a baby machine and that’s it.”

Yeah, been there.

Hormones were a bitch.

Elizabeth had to help a Marine out.

“Okay, here’s what you need to do. Go home, but on your way, stop at the florist. Buy her the best and prettiest roses. Use my card. Make sure they smell like heaven. Bring them home, and get her some takeout.”

He was listening.

“Don’t ask her what she wants. Just do it. You should know what your wife’s favorite food is.”

“Ethiopian.”

“You can tell Blue grew up rich. I like tacos from that truck down the block.”

He laughed.

“Same.”

Elizabeth continued.

“Then, give her the food, the flowers, and point upstairs.”

He stared at her.

“We can’t have sex. She’s only four weeks post…”

She actually slapped him.

HARD.

“HEY!”

She shook her head.

“Men. That’s where they always go. No, Ivan. You’re giving her a night off. You’re going to play Dad to the crayons, and let her have a night to herself. Tell her to take a bubble bath, watch a show, and have ice cream after.”

He seemed skeptical.

“And this will work.”

She nodded.

“It will work. Why do you think the men make breakfast and I never have to? Or I get a mani-pedi monthly? If your woman is down, she can’t be up for anyone. Trust me.”

He could do this.

As a Marine, he saw things differently than his wife, but if this was what she needed, he’d do it. After all, she gave him three beautiful girls.

Now, the elephant in the room.

“Can you survive without me?”

She snorted.

“Yeah, make Gunny put on a suit and tie. Same for Gideon. It’s a fancy ass restaurant, and we’re going to be the center of attention.”

That he could do.

“And you won’t get shot or blown up?”

She stared at him.

“Who is going to shoot at me? Will Jackson is dead, and you, yourself, told security that you guys could lighten up the coverage.”

She was right.

Elizabeth hadn’t pissed anyone off as of late. In theory, she should be good.

“Okay, Medusa, I can do all this. Thanks.”

When Ivan looked up in the mirror, one of their other blacked-out rides pulled up, and the men got out. Chris walked past her and Ivan in the car, not knowing they were there.

Callen followed.

When Chris went onto the porch, Callen leaned down, whispered something in his ear, and then went inside.

Well, it was time.

“Have a good night with Blue, and don’t try to have sex. No matter what. If she suggests it, tell her no.”

“Again, she’s only four weeks post-delivery so…”

She stared at him.

“Fine. No to blow jobs either.”

It made her laugh.

“Thanks, Elizabeth,” he said, as Ivan leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“Good luck with the doctor.”

She suspected she was going to need it. Chris looked absolutely miserable.

When she got out, Ivan parked the car in the garage, and she headed toward her man.

Because he wanted this talk, she was there to listen, and not speak.

Going up on the porch, Elizabeth parked her ass. That’s when he immediately began.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you, and I should have let you go to the doctor with me.”

“Is there a reason you didn’t?”

Yeah, there was.

“I’m scared. I keep thinking I’m going to die. When the doctor was telling me, I was scared that I’m running out of time, and I have so much more to do. I was freaked out, and I just needed to digest it.”

She understood.

Instead of speaking, she held his hand.

“I was so tired and scared that I thought it was best to just keep it to myself. You have this case…”

She stopped that.

“We’re together on this journey. You’re not alone. When you pushed me out last time, we broke up. It was over a misunderstanding and you cheating. We’re a team, Christopher. We have to be honest and up front with each other.”

He agreed.

“I don’t want to die.”

That made her heart sink.

Only, she fought for him.

“You aren’t going to. I’ll go with you to your next appointment. I’ll fight for you.”

He stared into her eyes.

“I feel like you’re going to have no choice but to leave me behind. I can’t keep up with you anymore, Bethe. I’m not the man I once was. You can run nonstop, but I’m fallible.”

That was all she had to hear.

Moving, she sat in his lap.

“You’re the man I love. I will never leave you behind. Fuck that whole idea.”

Chris loved that she would do battle for him, but he needed to know.

“And if the day comes?”

She didn’t hesitate.

“Then, I walk away from work, and we settle down for our retirement. I will never walk away from you, Christopher, and I sure as hell won’t leave you behind. We’re ride or die bitches. All of us. If you have to quit, we all go. Remember when I didn’t want to come back?”

He did.

“We’re a family and team. You can’t forget that.”

He just held her.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“Okay, now tell me about the doctor’s appointment. I got the abridged version.”

Chris did.

“He said I have to start a new cocktail. I picked them up from the pharmacy.”

She let him talk.

“I have to cut back on work, and I have to start eating more. Apparently, I’m one big bone.”

She whispered in his ear.

“I like that bone.”

It made him laugh.

“God. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Sometimes, I forget that I can’t be me without you.”

She kissed him on the temple.

“We’ll work something out. Give me some time to mull it over.”

What choice did he have?

She kicked him off work until Monday.

“Now, I have to go there. Are we good?” she asked.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, always. Thanks for meeting me. Sometimes, I just need to be near you and not at work.”

Well, now, she had to see if he was up for tonight.

“How do you feel physically right now?”

He didn’t lie.

“Bleh.”

Well, that said it all.

“Okay. I need to cancel tonight’s plans,” she said, going to get up.

He pulled her back down. For some reason, he didn’t like the idea of plans being canceled.

“If those plans are about me talking about just stopping sex, I lied. I’ll die first. Let’s keep the sex plans.”

She laughed.

This was her point. Men went there.

“It wasn’t about sex.”

Now, he was curious.

“What plans?”

“I made reservations at Nagato for five. It’s our first night out on the town as a couple. I thought we could have a nice dinner, and dress up…”

He stared at her.

Who?

Was?

This?

“Like go out-out? During a case? Together?” he asked, not sure he believed it.

“Yes, Christopher. As a family. You know. Me and the mens.”

He laughed at how she said that.

“Mens, huh? Well, I’m not missing this. Isn’t that the fancy place in the Hyatt that is almost impossible to get reservations unless you’re on their ‘wish list’?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, that’s it. I know this is usually Callen’s gig, and it’s tough to get seats, but I managed. Plus, I won’t lie, I have to interview a bartender.”

He laughed.

“So work.”

“No, five minutes of work, and a night of four sexy dressed up men, and me talking about our lives and family. We can all go and have dinner. You know, dress up, look like actual people not slaves to the machine?”

Now, he was curious.

“And you’ll cancel if I can’t do it?” he asked.

She didn’t hesitate.

“Yep. I can run out and do the interview and come back in an hour. Instead of looking nice, I’ll go like this, and I’ll wear my badge and gun.”

Because of her heart, and willingness to take care of his needs, he kissed her.

It was soft, filled with love, and gentle.

“If you feel, meh, then we stay in.”

He was honest.

“I had a nap at the morgue. I want to go. It’ll be nice, and it’ll get my mind off of the meds not working.”

She looked hesitant.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll go with you. Let’s have a moment out tonight. I’m not working tomorrow, so…”

She was aware.

“I’m sorry I yanked you, but you didn’t give me a choice. Think of it this way. Now, you can sleep in.”

He laughed.

Oh, and he was too.

“God, I love you. I love you more than you’ll ever know,” he said, and it wasn’t because she was giving him the chance to sleep in. “Really.”

Gene and Ethan had been right. By sitting back, and letting Chris work through this, she’d managed to keep them all stress free.

On top of that, Chris was being rational.

When Chris wanted to sleep in instead of go into work with them during a case…

He was struggling.

Now, she was really scared.

There was no way they could lose Chris.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The White House

Eight P.M.

Special Night Together

When Alessandra cleared the gate to return to the White House, she was in her feminine dress and wearing the lingerie underneath.

Tonight, Alessandra was ready to go.

She had her overnight bag packed, and inside were things to knock the president’s socks off. Knowing how big, strong, and virile he was, added in that he hadn’t had sex since before the First Lady died, she was betting they’d go multiple rounds.

Call it a hunch.

Oh, and she couldn’t wait to be below him, and above him in bed.

Truthfully, she couldn’t believe that two months ago, she was being investigated, and now, she was going to sleep with the president.

If she became First Lady…

Her mom would be so proud.

As she parked her car, she noticed there were a lot of vehicles in the employee lot.

Uh-oh.

What was going on?

By this time, it should be less full.

Grabbing her bag, she headed into the White House, and she knew immediately something had gone down—and not anything good.

How did she know—next to the packed parking lot?

Well, the hive was buzzing.

When she saw a military general walk by, she knew that was a bad sign.

Had a war broken out?

“There you are,” Gabe’s secretary said. “He told us you were coming in, and to catch you up to date before you headed into the Oval.”

Alessandra looked around, and she was confused about the chaos.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

His secretary lowered her voice and moved closer to Alessandra.

“There’s been a shooting on one of our Marine military bases. The gunman is holding someone hostage, and people were shot. We don’t know if anyone’s dead yet.”

Oh, shit.

That was horrible!

“Oh, no.”

His secretary warned her.

“The president has to handle it, and the media is gathering in the press room. You’re going to be giving your first press conference as soon as they get all the facts.”

Holy shit.

Well, it was a good thing she came looking presentable. It appeared they were working late.

“Can I go in?”

She nodded.

“Yes.”

When she headed into the Oval Office, the military was in there, and so were so many other people.

This had to be more than just a shooting. Something else was up.

As soon as the president saw her, he headed her way, and he looked all business.

Because he was.

“Can I speak to you, Ms. Barber? It’s about your first press conference,” he asked, taking her by the elbow to lead her away while he had some time.

They went into a conference room not far away where they could be alone.

When he closed the door, he turned her to face him.

That’s when he dropped the presidential façade. This was all Gabriel.

“I am so goddamn sorry. I wanted to surprise you with a nice night, and then the world went to Hell in a handbasket. I have to handle this. I’m not sure if I’ll be free of it tonight.”

She went to go there but he cut her off.

It was clear that he was worked up.

“Please don’t be angry, and hold this against me. It’s hard to balance all of this and then disappoint you,” he said, thinking of all of the times where Livy nearly shit herself when he had to break a date. “It wasn’t intentional.”

Again, she opened her mouth.

“I’d do anything to not have to handle this tonight, but there are extenuating circumstances regarding this base.”

He was worried.

Breaking dates had contributed to the demise of his relationship, and he didn’t want that with Alessandra.

He’d been looking forward to tonight, and he had the perpetual blue balls to prove it.

“I’ll make it up to…”

She kissed him.

Alessandra shut him up by finding his mouth, and rocking his world with one hell of a kiss. She opened for him, and when he pressed her to the wall, he took over, driving that passion.

Gabe stopped thinking, and all he could do was feel. His mouth was moving over hers, and he had his hand on her ass. The whole time, he was overwhelmed with the passion that exploded out of him.

God.

He wanted her in the worst way.

Honestly, he’d never felt this kind of heat before with any woman.

Not Axelle.

Not Veronica.

Not Livy.

The whole time, Gabe held onto that tenuous control as he drove the kiss. It wasn’t easy not to lock the door and do something insane.

Alessandra’s arms were wrapped around his neck, and her body was pressed to his. He had her lifted off the ground, and his knee between her thighs.

She was trapped.

And his.

When someone moaned, he slowly broke the kiss, and stared into her eyes.

“Well, holy shit,” he whispered.

The whole time, she was staring up into his eyes, and saying nothing.

She couldn’t.

She was in love with The President of the United States of America.

“Alessandra,” he said, trying to string a complete sentence together, but his lower brain was on, and his upper one…

It was stunned.

That kiss…

Now, he wanted more.

Alessandra was curious.

“As your press secretary, shouldn’t you be telling me about the extenuating circumstance?” she asked.

He blinked.

“Oh, sorry. My son-in-law was at artillery training there. The military thinks it was aimed at him, and instead, the shooter got his roommate instead. Takoda is Elizabeth’s son.”

She gasped.

“Oh, no.”

He nodded.

“I know. I’m going to have to tell her, but I can’t right now.”

She was curious.

“Is he safe?”

He nodded.

“He has security on him. One of the Marines there, who was put on him to hide in plain sight, got him out.”

Thank God for that.

Now, Gabe was curious.

“So, you’re not angry with me?”

She shook her head.

“Absolutely not. How could I be? Situations like this are our jobs. It comes first. Our duty is to the people of this country, and they’ll want to know that our military has it under control, and so do we.”

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

That was the exact answer he needed from her. She wasn’t even the least bit angry.

“And…”

He braced for it.

“How could I be angry after you sent me those gorgeous roses. I’m a sucker for them,” she admitted. “Thank you for planning out this date. I know how difficult it is with your job, and I appreciate it. I’ll take a raincheck on our date night.”

Gabe couldn’t believe how lucky he’d gotten. This was the best-case scenario.

“Really?” he asked.

Because she messed him up, she fixed his tie.

“Absolutely not. You’re the president. You have a tough work schedule. Surprise me when it’s the date re-do.”

Oh, he would.

She wasn’t done.

“I will say that you are about to be disappointed though.”

He lifted a brow.

“Why?” Gabe asked.

She went there. Oh, Alessandra wanted him thinking about her as they worked closely the next hour before she gave her press conference.

“Because you’re missing out on what I have under this dress that I planned for our first time sleeping together.”

He blinked.

“Oh, Jesus. Can I have a clue?” he asked, grinning mischievously like a young guy.

She felt bold, and after that kiss, there was no doubt that she was going to let this man catch her. She undid the belt that was wrapped around the dress, and showed him.

He stared, and didn’t speak.

Not at first.

“That makes my brain shut down.”

“Then, you should see the thong that matches,” she said. “But it’s only for POTUS’s eyes,” she said winking at him.

Oh, hot damn.

Yeah, he was definitely rescheduling this date. He wanted to see that thong. He’d not felt this young and excited in a long time.

Gabe might just have found a woman who wanted him for all of him, age, family, and job.

And that was priceless.

He lifted her chin, and lightly kissed her lips.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous, and this night is definitely my loss. I will make it up to you, and me.”

She went up on her toes, and whispered in his ear.

“Surprise me. I love a wild president who is out of control,” she said.

Then, she stepped back, fixed her dress and hair, and focused on him.

“Shall we, Mr. President?” she asked. “We have a press conference, and situation to handle.”

Well, holy hot damn.

Gabe found a sexy woman, who didn’t hate his job, and liked girly things under her clothes for him, and only him.

His night was made.

And he would make it up to her.

On that, she could bet.

AND SOON.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Next Victim’s House

Eight P.M.

When he got home, he parked his Jag in the garage, and headed inside.

Throwing his keys and briefcase on the counter, he poured himself a glass of wine.

A.

Big.

One.

It had been one hell of a day, and now, all he wanted was to take a shower, chill out, and not be bothered by any of today’s problems.

Mainly, the FBI.

Oh, and his sister.

All day, she nagged and bitched about how he was going to do something stupid that was going to get him killed. That he was risking the business.

He didn’t know what the hell she was worried about.

It was only sex, and people had a lot of it in DC. As for him deciding to take a walk on the male side, sue him. He liked a little dick now and again.

Max had been sexy, and he was disappointed. Maybe when this was all done…

And if Max wasn’t a killer…

He laughed.

Oh, he was criminally insane himself. He was actually willing to get fucked by a man who might have killed people.

Yeah, he should probably keep that one to himself.

As for sleeping with a man, it was much easier to deal with. You didn’t have to woo a man. You got them horny, and then, you fucked.

Men were far less annoying, and they didn’t bitch nearly as much as women.

For now, though, it was no sex. Tonight, he’d try to just chill out, and tomorrow, he’d contact Kian and see if he could set him up with another man.

He’d also tell him to flag Max for his account. If by some miracle, he wasn’t homicidal, he’d love a piece of that man.

He’d touched his dick through his pants while flirting, and the man was big and hard.

Two of his favorite things, as of late.

Oh, don’t get him wrong. He’d marry a woman to keep the show going. That was why he dated women too. As a hedge fund manager, he wanted the client to think he was the American standard for masculinity.

Then, he’d make sure his wife had no clue that he couldn't help but be tempted.

Yeah, he was bummed about not getting plowed last night.

As he walked into the bathroom, pulling off his suit, he saw something from the corner of his eye. When he turned, he felt the hit to his head, and his legs giving out beneath him.

His whole body collapsed and landed on the marble floor.

There was laughter.

When he tried to focus on whoever was standing above him, it was a nightmare.

And he’d never been more afraid in all of his life.

Chapter Twenty

Almost Nine P.M.

Dinner Date

Wednesday Night

The Fort

Thankfully, it would be a short trip to the restaurant that Elizabeth made reservations at, and it wouldn’t take that long to get there. That was a good thing since getting the five of them dressed and ready for anything was a project.

With the kids.

And their phones.

It was chaos on a good day.

Finally, though, the men managed to get dressed, as Elizabeth wrangled the kids, and then, they did the same for her to get ready.

Since Nagato was a fancier restaurant at night, with music and dining, they couldn’t go in jeans and badges. That wasn’t the look they were going for.

Instead, they each put on a suit.

Ethan wore all black because well, he was Ethan, and if it wasn’t broken, why fix it? Black, on black, on black was his thing.

Callen wore a deep blue and a blue shirt that had cost more than dinner likely would. Again, if he was stepping out, it was as Jackson James, and his publicist insisted.

Their doctor was predictable if anything. He pulled on a fancy blue suit and a bowtie. It was his wife’s favorite, and he knew how to get her attention.

Gene, on the other hand, was easy.

He put on a grey suit with a white shirt, and called it a day. He didn’t do fancy. Oh, he could, because he cleaned up nicely, but a suit was a suit was a suit to him.

He was like Elizabeth, and more comfortable in jeans while doing his job.

As they waited for her, the men had a little surprise for the lady. You didn’t go out to dinner and not get your lady something.

And yes, they made Gene part of it. If he wanted to be part of the whole, he had to take the horns and wrath of the woman when they gifted her something.

That was life in their home.

They gave him credit though.

He tried to climb out a window and jump to his death to escape it. Spoken like a true Blackhawk male when dealing with gifting the queen.

As they heard her coming, the oldest boys were on the couch, waiting, since it wasn’t their bedtime yet. On top of that, they were momma’s boys, and they adored her like their fathers.

As she came down the stairs, she had definitely cleaned up.

She was in a pricy cocktail dress, all in black, and wearing each of the necklaces the men had given her. She layered them, and there was the Orion constellation, Callen’s diamond and ruby rosary, and Ethan’s feather.

As the men beamed, Gene knew he’d have to find something for her. While he was marrying this family, he knew that each man viewed Elizabeth as the center, and he wanted to keep that tradition alive.

“Wow!” CJ said. “Mom’s a babe,” he added.

Yes, yes, she was.

From the mouths of children…

Because she had an image to keep up, since she was both the Deputy Director, and Jackson James’ wife, she made sure she was perfect.

Her hair was pulled up, still in a messy bun, but it managed to look styled.

“Look at the Dads staring like idiots. I think she drugs them,” EJ said.

His father laughed.

It wasn’t drugs, but she did have something they were addicted to.

Her heart.

“Thank you, babies,” she said. “I think.”

Both boys headed her way, and they were getting taller. They were about ready to start that growth spurt that made them tall like their fathers, and Takoda.

She hugged them both.

“I love you guys, and I need you not to bust Granddad’s balls while we’re out tonight. You have a science test tomorrow,” she said to EJ. “And you have a paper due,” she said to CJ. “Go make magic happen.”

She kissed them, and they fist bumped the men like they were trying to be initiated into some man club. Then, they raced each other up the stairs in true sibling fashion.

Now that they were gone, she walked over to the men, and she smelled like Heaven. Someone was wearing some delicious perfume that made the men incredibly interested.

Well, three of them.

“Ready?” she asked.

Callen actually laughed.

“That’s it? Not, ‘hey, sexy men. You four look amazing so let me kiss all of you’?”

She snorted.

Someone was spicy tonight. She blamed it on the fact that she made him stay in-house and do research. That tended to happen.

“Callen James, you’re predictable if anything.”

That he was, but he wanted to cuddle up with his wife. She looked amazing, and it was rare they did a full family outing.

The media ruined it every single time.

“You guys look amazing,” she said. “Some of you clean up real nice. A bowtie, Christopher?” she asked, grinning at him.

“Not just any bowtie. Come a little closer,” he said, holding out his hand.

When she did, it only took her a second. On the bowtie were tiny pictures of her face.

It made her laugh.

Someone still had some game in him.

“The media is going to say I bought you that and forced you to wear it.”

He snorted.

As far as he was concerned, let them.

“I can’t help it. My girl looks gorgeous, and I like her face. As for clothes, Sweetness, that dress is perfect on you.”

Well, she’d picked it out with this night in mind.

She turned, showing them the full effect of the dress, and the wicked looking black heels. They had red bottoms, and they all knew she was not only getting ready for them, but for the media.

She was dressed impeccably. When the limo pulled out of there, the media would follow.

It always did.

Unfortunately.

It made them want to get a second limo to trick the media into following an empty one.

That might be happening at the next house.

The men actually felt sorry for their wife. They could wear trash bags out, and she could be in the finest things, and still, the media was going to tear her to shreds about something on her person.

Because he wanted to be the first to partake in the deliciousness of his wife, Ethan moved closer and opened his arms.

Without an iota of hesitation, she went into them, and they looked good together.

Without her sexy Devil knowing, she managed to slip her gun and badge into his pocket.

She was going to use him as a purse for the night.

Tag.

He was it.

“Hey! How come you’re kissing on him?” Callen asked.

“Because he’s slicker,” Wyler said. “You were busy looking at her shoes. He’s not.”

Callen laughed.

Oh, the peanut gallery got spicy when they were told the parents were going out and the man had to be on kid duty. They got him two full-time nannies.

What more did he want?

“Those were not her shoes I was checking out, Dad. You know me better than that.”

Yeah, he did.

Ethan kissed her, taking that moment to just enjoy a date night with his wife.

It had been a while since there was a date.

In fact, this would be their first full group night out, and it was going to be in the news in the morning. She’d be the headliner, and they’d be fodder for the media outlets.

Bet.

On.

It.

When she broke the kiss, she tucked his hair behind his ears.

“Mr. Blackhawk, you’re as sexy as sin, as always,” she admitted, nuzzling him.

You’d think they didn’t just have incredibly hot sex, but she couldn’t help herself.

He grinned at her.

“Same, my wife.”

Yeah, this wasn’t happening. Callen knew they’d cuddled up at The Den earlier.

It was time to share.

Callen took her hand. He got her into his frame, and kissed her on the neck, taking in Elizabeth’s scent. It made lust rush through his body.

Like always.

“You, me, soon,” he whispered. “I miss my wife, and I really miss her body. A little birdy told me that you were at The Den.”

She played with his one long braid that was over his shoulder.

“You don’t say?”

He teased her earlobe.

“I want a date there.”

She wasn’t saying no to that.

“Deal.”

Chris wanted to show them all up, but he didn’t have the energy to play it up. He had to work smarter not harder.

So he did.

“I’m too worn down to put the moves on you. Have pity,” he said, and she did.

That pulled her away from Callen so fast, the man stared with his mouth open.

“Really, Christopher?” he asked. “Did you just lady-nap my lady?

Elizabeth was in his arms, and doting on him.

“Yes, Callen,” he said, winking at him. “What can I say? She likes a bowtie.”

And she did.

“Where does it hurt?” she asked.

He pointed at his mouth, and Elizabeth took care of that. He proved he might be under the weather, but he wasn’t missing an opportunity to kiss his woman.

Oh.

Hell.

No.

When she broke it, she checked his forehead for a fever, but he didn’t appear to have one.

“Are you okay for tonight?” she asked. “You don’t have to do this.”

There was no way he was missing out on their first night out as a fivesome. The media would make something shitty up about how they were on the outs.

Pass.

It was all or nothing for them.

“Ethan medicated me with some fever reducer, and I can’t have alcohol. Maybe later you’ll take care of me?” he asked.

“Absolutely. You, me, later. We’ll cuddle and I’ll make sure you’re okay.”

He grinned.

Much to her other husbands’ chagrin.

“HEY!” Callen and Ethan said at the same time.

Gene just laughed.

“He stole the woman right out from under you two. He’s got your numbers.”

Yes, yes, he did.

Sue her.

Elizabeth always doted on one of them over the others if someone was injured or sick.

She headed toward Gene, and he kissed her on the cheek.

“You look good, Elizabeth. Nice heels.”

She wrapped her arm around his waist, and was grateful that after the afternoon with Ethan in The Den, they were still comfortable with each other.

Sometimes, seeing someone naked made it weird. Both of you fucking the same mate…when you’re not attracted to each other? Yeah, that could be a problem.

It wasn’t.

Since she had them together, Elizabeth needed to clue Callen and Chris in.

“I invited Gene to start sleeping with us,” she said. “He shouldn’t have to sleep alone. That means, going forward, if any shenanigans are to happen, they have to be moved to a location like the shower or…”

Gene held his breath.

He wasn’t sure they’d be thrilled.

Or not.

“Closet?” Callen asked. “I love a good closet romp before work.”

She laughed.

Of course, he did.

Chris was good with that.

“I remember sleeping alone, and it wasn’t fun. Welcome,” he said to Gene.

The man didn’t want to impose.

“I don’t have to if…,” Gene began, but was cut off. There was no way anyone was feeling left out.

“No, Gene. You can sleep with us. Most of the time, it’s really just sleep until the Hump Meister gets going,” Elizabeth said.

THEY ALL LOOKED AT CALLEN.

And he grinned.

“What? I’m proud of these hips. They get the job done. No one has complained yet, right?”

She snorted.

Well, that said it all.

Ethan ran his hand down his wife’s back, grateful she was in love with Gene so he could be part of their family. It gave him the warm fuzzies in his belly.

“Okay, so, now that I passed inspection, let’s roll,” she said. “I’m hungry, and they have a decent steak, or so I hear.”

They stopped her.

Yeah, that wasn’t happening yet.

“First…,” Callen said.

She was confused.

“We have something for you,” Callen added, grabbing a box that was on the couch.

As soon as he said that sentence, she tried to make a break for the door, but Gene caught her around the waist to stop her.

“Runaway wife,” he said, making the men laugh.

He scooped her up, and put her right back where she’d been.

“I lied. I don’t like bears. I like kangaroos,” she said, busting his ass.

He snorted.

Oh, she was going to get his ass later and likely with her boot.

“Come on! Why ruin the night with presents?” she asked. “You guys are present enough, and so is the media tomorrow when they tell me I’m using witchcraft on all of you.”

Ethan laughed.

Oh, they weren’t letting her out of this.

“You’re an odd duck, Elizabeth, and that’s wildly sexy.”

She winked at him. She couldn’t help it if that was part of her charm.

Because he was excited, Callen handed her the present that they’d gotten her.

She stared at it.

“What is this for?” she asked. “And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but the last thing I was bought was a HAUNTED castle. So I’m wary.”

Chris and Callen laughed.

She was NEVER letting them forget that, apparently.

Oh, well.

That was their cross to bear.

“Our bad?” Chris asked.

Because he knew his wife, and how skittish she was, Ethan was honest.

“This is just a small present. We saw it and wanted you to have it, so you remember our night out as a full unit,” he said.

She loved making memories, and gave them a chance. If it was insane, she was killing them.

No.

Doubt.

Because she was curious, and it wasn’t jewelry sized, she had a fighting chance. Honestly. It was the size of her boot’s box, so…

She took the box, and since it wouldn’t fit a castle, she should be good.

“Read the card,” Chris said, watching her. He was sick, but he loved giving her things.

This was something she’d never ask for, but would love. He’d bet on it.

He knew his woman.

Taking it off the box, she opened the card, and then, began reading the words there.

‘To the woman who makes us a family. Thank you for how hard you work to keep us a unit. We all love you.’

That touched her heart.

Okay, so far, so good.

Opening the box, she pulled back the tissue paper, and saw something there. It looked like an animal curled up in a box.

Uh, what was this?

“Taxidermy?” she asked. “The gift that keeps on terrifying?”

Callen laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

Of course, she’d say that.

“Pick it up,” he stated. “Then, you’ll figure it out. We’re not crazy enough to kill something and get it mounted for you.”

She shrugged.

“I thought it was a new dog.”

“NO!” Ethan said loudly. “I can safely say I’m never giving you a new dog.”

She snorted.

That was okay because she was a rich bitch, and she had her own dog money.  

And kids who liked puppies.

When she touched the fur, that’s when realization dawned. This wasn’t just any dead animal. It was a stole.

“Oh, holy hell,” she said, picking it up to cuddle it in her arms.

The whole time, Callen grinned.

Yeah, his wife liked pretty things that she could enjoy. She just hated the price tag.

Unfortunately for her, though, she was wealthy, and needed to play that game. They donated a shit ton of money, so there was nothing wrong with a little reward every now and again.

She deserved a mink stole.

“Jesus. Why is it so soft?” she asked. “What kind of animal is this?”

He clued her in.

“Don’t ask,” he said. “It’ll make you sad. You said you needed something like a shawl for Takoda’s wedding, and we didn’t want you to not have one for the next event. We figured this would work.”

That they remembered her saying that off the cuff, and getting her one…

Now, this was a good present. She’d been chilly at the wedding, and took turns wearing their suit jackets over her shoulders.

Now, she was in fluffy nirvana.

She tucked it over her shoulders, and it felt like heaven. Oh, she was sure she looked ridiculous, but damn it felt good.

The men knew the way to her heart. It was through comfy boots, soft fuzzy PJs, and now this.

“I’m not asking what this is again, because in my past, anything this soft was a cute, cuddly animal. Callen was right. I’ll feel bad,” she said.

Gene laughed.

“Like you feel bad about the cows your boots once were?” Gene asked.

She flipped him off.

“Don’t be saying shit about my boots. They’re sacred,” she joked.

He understood that.

When she was touching the mink, she gasped, catching them off guard.

All the men jumped.

“What?” Callen asked, looking around.

That’s when she squealed.

“IT. HAS. POCKETS!” she shouted, moving toward Ethan to take her gun and badge out of his pockets to put in her stole.

“Uh, when did you put them in there?” he asked, amused that she slipped shit into his pockets.

Elizabeth didn’t answer. She was too busy enjoying the pockets and fur.

Chris laughed.

“We cracked the woman code. It just needs to have pockets,” he said.

Callen shrugged.

“The castle has pocket doors. She wasn’t nearly as excited.”

They all laughed.

She smiled so much that it was worth it. The men liked seeing her happy, and after the stress that buried her, they were just trying to save her a little.

When Ethan went over to his brother, he kissed him for thinking of this gift. It had been all Callen. The man just lurked around, trying to find presents for Elizabeth.

When he shared, they all looked good.

As for the mating of mouths, it was a spectacle.

Everyone stared because it was definitely not the normal kiss Ethan shared with Callen.

It was a kiss that the others got.

Because he wanted one like that, Chris looked at his wife.

“Uh, how does a guy get someone to kiss him that way?” he asked.

It made Ethan laugh.

When they broke the kiss, Callen dropped his arm over his brother’s shoulders, and kept him by his side. They both had erections, and there was a good reason why.

The lines were removed, and they were both set free from the box.

Ethan knew Chris was the only one who didn’t know what he’d planned, and he wanted to share that with him.

“Before we go get in the limo, Chris, Callen, and I decided that we’re going to drop the barriers. We want to see what happens.”

Chris blinked.

He looked at Ethan, then Callen, and then Ethan again.

Finally, he began laughing.

“If the universe cares one bit about me, I’m going to be there to see that happen.”

Elizabeth immediately started laughing, and Gene too. They all said the same thing.

Well, not her.

“It’s my birthday present. I’m definitely going to be there.”

Chris pouted.

“I want sexy brother action for my birthday,” he stated. “Where is the gift registry.”

Callen winked at him.

“Same,” Gene admitted.

Because she told Ethan this earlier, she pointed out the obvious.

“See? It’s hot. I don’t make the rules. I just play the game,” she said. “There’s not one person here who doesn’t want to see you two having sex.”

Well, there might be one person.

Ethan glanced over at his father.

“Comment?” he asked, expecting Wyler to freak the fuck out that his two boys were going to cross the line. It was one thing to assume it, and it was another to do it.

He shrugged.

“Listen, that you haven’t already is more shocking than anything to me. If you’re comfortable with it, who am I to judge? We’ve all had sex with the same woman.”

Gene looked at Elizabeth.

She raised her hands and backed up.

“Hold your horseys,” she said. “I don’t know what the hell you heard, but that was not me. I didn’t bang Wyler like a drum. I like brothers—not whole families of the same gene pool. That’s Kaya Cheek territory—before my time.”

He laughed.

“So I don’t have to sleep with Wyler for initiation?” Gene busted.

That was all the older man had to hear. Wyler grabbed his root beer and ran.

FAST.

The men found that amusing.

Ethan laid down the law.

“No sleeping with my dad, or my brother—and I don’t mean literal sleeping. I mean, and as my wife put it, ‘banging him like a drum’. This family is fucked up enough.”

They all laughed.

Because that was the truth—according to the media.

Glancing at his watch, Chris knew they needed to get going if they were making the reservations.

“We can talk about this in the limo. We have a wife to feed,” he said, holding her hand in his.

It appeared that Elizabeth was sticking close because he was sick, and he’d use that to get plenty of lip time.

Sue him.

He also played the game.

As they headed out, Gunny was in the passenger seat, and Gideon was following in a security car. They were only running with two because they were pretty safe.

This outing wasn’t publicized, so unless someone was following them, they would be off the radar. With Will Jackson dead, they were finally able to breathe.

Once in the limo, Callen poured them all a drink, and handed Chris a bottle of apple juice.

“Sorry, my love, but we like your liver.”

He actually laughed.

“Not as much as I do,” he admitted. “Carry on. I’ll be the sober one during sex later.”

Gene was smiling a little too brightly, and that told the men in the vehicle all they needed to know.

He was getting laid more than them.

“Don’t boast, Gene,” Callen said. “We know you’re getting more sex,” he stated.

Ethan laughed.

“He molested me in the closet. I called for help, but no one came to save me.”

It made Elizabeth laugh.

No one believed Ethan didn’t want the big man all over him.

NO.

ONE.

Because Callen could read a room, and no one was stressed—anyone who had been at The Den, he figured it was a safe topic.

And he was a curious bitch.

Sue him.

“So, how did ‘Operation Tala’ go?” he asked, filling up a glass of whiskey for his brother.

Immediately, Ethan flushed thinking about it.

That told Callen and Chris everything right there, but they still wanted details.

Who wouldn’t?

“It was a good time,” Elizabeth said, not going into specifics. That was Ethan’s moment, and if he wanted to discuss it, he would.

Callen went there.

“No one went cave spelunking, right?” Callen asked, staring at Gene.

The man liked to bust Callen’s ass as much as humanly possible.

“Only a few times.”

Callen went to get up, and his brother stopped him. Apparently, he needed to intervene.

“He’s kidding. The only person in our wife was me. Gene was all over me. They took turns, so you don’t have to worry.”

They knew where this was going. If anything, the men in the family were curious—and protective of Elizabeth.

Or was that territorial?

“And you guys saw each other’s bits?” Callen asked, making a hand motion between his own legs.

She laughed.

Her husband was trying to get as much information with as little descriptive words as possible.

“Yes, he saw my ‘bits’, Callen. It’s really hard to have sex with Ethan and not have them being out on display.”

Ethan was honest.

“In my defense, it was my mouth on them most of the time, since Gene is bossy.”

Gene just grinned, reliving it in his mind.

It had been spectacular, and so had the quickie in the closet. Tala had still been available for the fucking. There was no way he was saying no to that.

In fact, Ethan was underwear-less, and likely still wet from Gene’s cum.

Callen was focused on his wife.

“And you saw Gene’s dick?” he asked.

Oh, she knew her husband.

“Bad news, Callen, His dick is bigger than yours,” she stated. “Now we know why Ethan is happy all of the time.”

Callen gasped.

From where he sat, Ethan laughed. How could he not? On top of that, his man was sadistic. Ethan had cum so much today, and he was wearing a ring on his dick to make sure he didn’t cum until later when Gene got his hands on him again.

No one knew, and he loved it. He was still holding in the man’s cum from the closet fucking. Because he wouldn’t let him wear underwear, if he let that cum out, his suit pants would show it, and Gene would know.

Today was the best day of his life.

Callen stared at his brother.

“Say she’s lying,” he joked, trying to make sure everyone was happy.

That’s all he wanted for Ethan. The man had a rough life, and he was in his sweet spot.

“Sorry, bro. It is, and for the record, I’m happy because I have love and no more secrets. It’s not only about the fantastic sex.”

Callen was only focused on the ‘big dick’ part.

“I don’t like this anymore,” he joked, winking at Gene when no one was looking.

The man winked back.

Because he didn’t want him to think they all didn’t appreciate his dick, Chris reassured him, which was ridiculous since Callen was beyond big.

“It’s not the size but how you use it,” he said.

Callen was grinning again, and it had everything to do with proving that point later.

That was the plan.

While Elizabeth had said Gene would be sleeping with them, he couldn’t until they had a bigger bed. That meant he’d have Chris and Elizabeth to himself later.

“So is that going to be the norm?” Callen asked. “You, Gene, and Ethan?”

She shrugged.

“I guess if Ethan needs to feel safe and be a bottom, yeah. I’m good with it. It was fun, and I had a good time. God knew I came plenty.”

Gene chimed in.

“Same. I’m good with it too.”

Because he was right there, Ethan spoke for himself. He knew Elizabeth and Gene were glossing over it because they wanted to respect him.

Honestly, he didn’t mind.

“Most of the time, I like manhandling Gene. When I don’t, I’ll let him, and Elizabeth know. When he was molesting me in the closet, I was still in bottom mode.”

Callen was curious.

“And now?”

Gene laughed.

“Oh, he’s still thinking about it, aren’t you, Tala?” he asked.

The man flushed red.

That said it all.

Oh, he wasn’t embarrassed, but he was thinking about how Gene was sadistic and liked to make him work for it.

“Yeah, I am. I’m incredibly calm and relaxed right now,” he added.

They all knew how he felt.

Sometimes, you just had to put your trust in your partner, and they’d let you float.

Ethan had never been able to do that with them. Now, he was learning they’d accept it and not judge him.

Chris pouted.

“I want to be manhandled in the closet and be calm like Ethan,” he said.

Callen grinned.

Yeah, well, Gene had news for him.

“Oh, he’s not calm. His heart is pounding, his pulse is racing, and he’s thinking about sex, aren’t you, Tala?”

He slowly nodded.

Oh, he was.

“I want to be all horny like my brother,” Callen said, staring at his wife.

She laughed.

“My dude, you lost the coin toss and had to be the research monkey, or you would have been with me at The Den. Blame yourself.”

He kissed her knuckles since she was next to him.

Since they were talking sex, and no one seemed to be offended or closed off about it, Gene was curious.

“What’s a guy have to do to see when Ethan is all over Callen? Asking for a dirty boy who likes to watch.”

Elizabeth snorted.

“I think we’re all in that boat.”

Ethan placed his hand on his brother’s leg, and Callen put his over it.

“We’ll sell tickets,” Callen said, joking.

Ethan was honest.

“It’s Elizabeth’s present. I think you need to talk to her and see what she wants.”

Gene and Chris stared at her with the same look. It was between begging and willing to offer bribes.

There was no need.

“I’ll share,” she offered. “Who am I to keep all that sexy to myself? Have a bite of the apple, Adams, in the plural. Take a big bite.”

Yeah, well, Eve was offering up something they all wanted.

Before the bribery began, Callen was honest.

“I don’t know how far we’re going to go. What happens, happens. I know we’ve had to pull back before, and next time, I won’t. I just want to know what it’s like.”

Ethan had his head resting on his brother’s shoulder. Honestly, he did too. It wasn’t like the media didn’t already rip them to shreds over it.

If it felt weird, or gross, they’d abort.

“Thank God the media already said it happened,” Chris said. “At least there won’t be that.”

That was the truth.

When they found out Elizabeth was with brothers, there were months where one of the questions was if they were living in sin.

For Callen, he wanted to sin so deep, and not feel bad about it. That would be the test. Could he cross that line without it throwing him off?

There was no way to know until it happened.

“I’ll record it,” Elizabeth said. “So, if it goes down, you and Gene can watch it. If it’s a disaster, it won’t go further than me.”

They all knew why.

She’d protect her men.

When the window of the limo rolled down, interrupting them, it was Gunny’s face.

“We’re here.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said. “Well, let’s have a nice date night. I’ll only work a few minutes, and then, it’s all of us and nothing else.”

That worked for the men.

Why not kill two birds with one stone? It was nice to see their wife calm and relaxed, but they knew she had a job to do.

As they pulled to the curb, the driver came around to open the door. When he did, Gene and Chris got out first, and then, Callen. When Ethan got out, he held out his hand, and Elizabeth took it.

The media that followed them from their house began taking pictures. The lights were blinding.

Yep.

They were going to be in the news tomorrow.

Fuck it.

The walk to the door was filled with people calling her name, and Gene’s, since he was the newest member of their family.

Elizabeth was an old pro. She moved into his side, and he put his arm around her waist, letting it rest almost on her ass.

The media went wild, and they protected their truth. At the door, she kissed Gene on the cheek, and he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh.

Ethan loved watching them, and he appreciated that his wife was making a statement.

Gene Cantrell was off limits to the media.

She was his hero.

As they headed into the restaurant, once inside, when the media couldn’t see them, on the opposite side of where the restaurant opened into the Hyatt, they waited for the hostess to return.

As she hustled over, she saw Elizabeth, and smiled warmly in greeting.

“Right this way, Deputy Director Blackhawk, and family.”

Callen was amused that this time, she was on their wish list, not him.

Together, they followed to their table, and EVERYONE was staring. There were Senators, the wealthy, and people whose momma didn’t teach them manners.

If they stared too long at Gene, or Ethan, she gave them a look that made them want to be swallowed by the earth. Never let it be said that Elizabeth, while gorgeous, couldn’t make people quake in fear.

She did.

As they sat, a waiter headed their way. She shook her head, and pointed toward the man who helped her earlier. If anything, she was loyal, and Vaughn was nice.

If Max trusted the man to keep his mouth shut, she could do the same.

“No offense, but I want him.”

They all looked, and she waved at a man holding drinks. Immediately, he smiled at her, and it was huge.

Like she’d given him a gift.

The other man wasn’t as thrilled.

“Yes, Ma’am,” their waiter said, leaving just as quickly as he appeared.

They watched as he tagged Vaughn in.

“Uh…?” Callen asked. “Why him?”

Gene kept his voice low, and clued him in.

“That’s the waiter we interviewed,” Gene said. “He’s really good at keeping things to himself, too. Apparently, in here, the powerful have a waiter that is their regular. They are more than willing to keep their mouths shut when they see shit.”

Ohhhhhh.

Now they got it.

Callen liked that.

“We should eat here more then. Our biggest issue is not being able to trust the wait staff from gossiping with the rag papers.”

They were aware.

When Vaughn headed that way, he was all smiles, and looked hella excited.

“Deputy Director,” he said. “Twice in one day? People will talk,” he teased.

She laughed.

Why?

They already were.

They were just thankful the windows had a dark tint, and there was security blocking the hotel entrance.

“Vaughn, it’s Elizabeth since I’m off duty. I’m sure you know my husbands from the media. This is Ethan, this is Jackson James, this is Doctor Christopher Leonard, and this is Gene Cantrell, my husband’s significant other.”

The man didn’t flinch.

Holy shit.

They found Shangri-la.

Elizabeth continued.

“We wanted something delicious for dinner, but I have my security. Is there any way we can put a table not far away for them?”

He was more than happy to help.

“Absolutely,” he said, whistling. When he did, people headed his way, he lowered his voice, and then, someone went to get Gunny and Gideon.

“Their dinner is on our tab,” she said. “Give them the best meal of their lives. I love my Marines.”

The man nodded.

“Beverages?” she asked.

She smiled, and it was rare she got to handle the drinks for her husbands, but here, in DC, this was her arena. Sitting among the powerful, she was with her ‘people’.

“Wine for us, but Christopher isn’t a big drinker.”

The man smiled.

“I can have the bartender serve him non-alcoholic wine, so no one is the wiser. We have alcoholic customers who like no one to know.”

It sounded good.

“Thank you.”

When he headed off, Gene looked around.

“Holy shit. There’s about six congressmen here, and a few Senators.”

No shock.

“There are no cameras,” Elizabeth told her husbands. “A blessing and a curse,” she added.

Oh, and it was when you were working a crime.

“I like it here,” Callen said. “It’s nice to be able to come to a place and people mind their business.”

She knew what he was referring to. No one was asking for an autograph. Among the rich, it was gauche.

“That means we can come here more often,” Chris said. “I like date night,” he admitted, holding Ethan’s hand that was on his thigh.

“Me too,” Callen admitted.

So far, they were getting stares, but it was Elizabeth making some senators uncomfortable. Word was spreading she was hunting down pedophiles in The District. Arrests started, and the ones there, if they got nervous, would never come back again.

As Vaughn appeared, he had glasses of red wine for them, and one white—for Chris.

He served them, as other helpers put out buckets of sparkling water.

“I know you enjoyed it this afternoon,” he said, placing her wine in front of her.

She tasted it.

“I like it.”

Vaughn beamed.

“Now, can I get you a meal you’ll never forget?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Steaks. Everyone here likes them medium,” she said.

The men watched unsure what was going on.

“Then steak it is.”

With that, Vaughn walked away.

Chris was confused.

“We didn’t look at a menu,” he said. “Are we just eating half a cow?”

Gene laughed and told them.

“They pick the meals for you. Apparently, they have a wish list, and the chef researches you. He’ll pick out the perfect meal for you.”

The men looked skeptical.

“Legit,” she said. “I came in, and they brought me and Gene burgers. It was awesome.”

Well, if she said so.

When Vaughn came back with warm bread in baskets, she stopped him.

“Unfortunately, Vaughn, I’m also here to work. Is that the bartender that you told me about, earlier?”

He glanced over.

“Yeah, that’s her. Would you like me to hold dinner until after you work, or…?”

“You can bring it out. This won’t take long.”

He nodded, and was gone.

“This is all going too easy,” Chris said. “Normally, we’re scrutinized. I can’t believe this.”

She laughed.

“It’s real. Max brought his hookups here, and it never got out. Apparently, they don’t like phones and pictures. If you get caught taking one, you’re out forever.”

That was good to know.

Before she could work, Gene put his one hand on her thigh, getting her attention.

“Ten o’clock,” Gene said, sipping his water so his mouth was blocked.

Elizabeth turned her head, and saw a senator heading in their direction.

So it began.

She was wondering if anyone would dare approach her with her family.

Now, she was curious as to what he could possibly say to her. They weren’t on the same side when it came to the man’s politics or behavior.

“Deputy Director,” he said, as she stood to shake his hand and be eye-to-eye with him.

Well, mostly. She was in four-inch heels, and was taller than him.

“Senator Boxer. What a pleasure,” she said, playing the game.

Why did she want to tower over him?

Well, maybe because he was on that porn list and possibly had got his rocks off looking at her daughter in a tub.

It made her want to punch his face in, dance on his dick with her heels, and then feed him to some vultures.

IN FRONT of everyone here so they knew not to fuck around and find out in her District.

What she would do was fake it until she could make it.

“I see you’re out for dinner. Me and my wife are too. Maybe we can have dinner one day.”

She smiled.

The men at the table knew that wasn’t a good smile. It was downright feral.

Now, she was all fangs and claws. It was feminine rage at its finest, but this man was too dumb to read a room.

“Oh, I’d love to do that. I’m sure we’ll be sitting down at a table together real soon.”

An interrogation table.

He looked around the table, and Elizabeth made the introductions.

“You know Ethan,” she said, and he nodded. “This is another of my significant others, Callen.”

The man acknowledged his presence.

“Christopher,” she said, pointing at Chris, and he nodded. None of the men got up, and that should have told the man what they thought of him.

“Oh, and this is Gene.”

“Another?” he asked, laughing.

“Yes, I collect them like pictures. I’m obscene like that,” she said through clenched teeth.

Ethan touched her leg, and she bit her tongue. She couldn’t go there and alert him as to what was coming down the line for him.

JAIL.

As she stood there, nothing more was said. It was an uncomfortable silence that said, ‘get the fuck out of my face’.

No one did that flip off quite like her.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, Gentlemen, and Deputy Director,” he said, heading away.

When he was gone, Ethan sighed. His wife was hella pissed.

“Breathe.”

Oh, she was.

She was also picturing his head on a pike.

“I wanted to stab him with that shrimp fork,” she admitted. “Right through his kiddie-porn-watching eyes!”

To help calm her down, Gene broke the ice.

“Is that what that little fork is for?” he asked.

That had her attention.

Elizabeth turned her head, and she stared at him. Then, because that was absurd, she began laughing.

Because Gene knew how she felt, he winked at her. Never let it be said he didn’t know how to calm the savage woman.

Now that she was calm, she needed to get the work part over so they could enjoy their night.

“Who’s joining me for a questioning?”

Callen’s hand was up first.

“I’m in, Angel. Gene can suck rocks. He had all day with you.”

“It’s not rocks that I like to suck, Callen, but okay,” Gene joked.

Both Ethan and Chris laughed—mostly at the look on Callen’s face.

Because she was anxious to get back to her family, so the filth didn’t creep toward them, she held out her hand, and he took it.

Leaving her furry little buddy behind so the men could babysit her stole, she went to the bar.

When the woman headed her way, she flipped open her badge that she’d taken from her fluffy friend’s pocket.

“Yes, Deputy Director?” she asked. “Was something wrong with your wine?”

“No, anything but. It was fantastic,” she admitted, reading her name tag. “Miss…?”

The bartender introduced herself. She was a brunette, and she had pretty green eyes.

Hopefully, those eyes saw something.

“I’m Harper. Harper Blake.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Blake. I’m working on a case. Max Holder was in the other night, and he ordered drinks.”

She nodded.

“He likes a dirty martini, extra dirty, three olives, and a pearl onion, or two.”

That was great that her memory was so good. Hopefully, that would help them.

Now, she had the important questions.

“You made his drinks last night for Max Holder, correct?”

She nodded as she wiped down the bar.

“Who brought them to him?”

She contemplated it.

“Honestly, Director, I don’t know. I make them, and I put them right where you are. The waiters come over and pick them up. They take them. I don’t always see who grabs them. I saw Vaughn pick up the first one. After that…I was busy.”

Well, shit.

“Does Max come in a lot?”

She nodded.

“Yes, he and the man he was meeting does too. I’ve seen them both here at different times. Last night was the first time together though. I was surprised.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“Why?”

She was honest.

“Well, you know…Max is gay, but Ken…he likes the ladies. He normally brings them here and woos them. Sometimes, he comes in alone during the day at lunch and flirts with the staff. He’s hit on everyone here.”

Could that be why Max was targeted?

Or could it be a mistake? What if the wrong drink was spiked with roofies?

Then again, Ken was a hedge fund manager. Who would want to skin women and frame him over that?

“What can you tell us about him?” Callen asked, helping his wife. He could tell she was thinking.

Harper was honest.

“Again, he’s a flirt. He was pouring it on heavy with Mr. Holder. Then, a drink was spilled, and he hauled ass out of here FAST. The look on his face…he was disgusted.”

Well, that matched up, and was now suspicious for Elizabeth. The man told her he was Bi, but…a flirt?

“How did Mr. Holder leave? I hear he was inebriated,” Elizabeth asked.

She thought about it.

“I saw a woman helping him out to his car. She had his arm over her shoulder.”

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

“What did she look like?”

Harper tried.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I saw brown hair, but that’s it. It was her from behind.”

“Was she tall? Short? Thin? Heavy?”

Harper went there.

“She was average. I didn’t think anything of it. I’m sorry, Director. I saw the news. I hope Mr. Holder is okay. He’s a nice guy. He treats us well when he comes in, and we respect him. Not everyone is kind to people in the service industry.”

Yeah, she was aware.

“Thank you, Harper,” she said, as Callen peeled off two one hundreds, and placed them on the bar as a tip.

“Thank you, Mr. James!” she said, smiling.

Then, she was back to making drinks.

For Elizabeth, this got her nowhere. Then again, that wasn’t true. She now knew he had help getting out of the restaurant. Did the woman get him to the motel? Or was it just some patron?

Elizabeth felt like a hamster in a wheel.

SPINNING.

“Well, that gives us a little,” she said. “The woman might have just been a good Samaritan. Or she could be the person who drugged him.”

Because she’d be thinking about this for a bit, her husband took advantage of that.

Callen led her to a dance floor.

There was music playing, and a few couples swaying to it. Truth be told, Callen loved dancing with Elizabeth. She fit against him like no woman ever had.

“True, but why?” he asked, letting her talk it out.

This was her process when she didn’t have access to a whiteboard.

She laughed sardonically.

“I don’t know, CJ. I keep looking at the victims, and none of them fit. Max doesn’t know any of them. I might have to ask the friends and family who called in the missing person reports tomorrow if I can’t find a way to tie him to them.”

That was going to be a lot of interviewing. Well, at least he’d be out in the field then.

“You’re struggling with this.”

Elizabeth sighed.

“I am because it doesn’t fit in my head. Max is as old as I am. He’s not one to hang out with women. I think I’m his only female friend. He’s gay, and I mean gay-gay. Not he swings both ways.”

“So why would a killer place the dead women in his bed? They didn’t know he was gay, maybe? Or was it a warning?”

That was a good question.

“I have no idea. It doesn’t fit. What does an accountant, a reporter, and a yoga instructor have to do with The United States Attorney General?”

She already knew some of what he could tell her, but he’d remind her that he’d done the legwork.

“That’s a good question. I ran the reporter, and she’s never done anything that is tied to Max. His financials say he’s never done yoga, and that isn’t his accountant.”

So again, nada.

As she thought about the case, Callen just danced with her. His hands were on her ass, and he was happy.

When she looked up, he looked content, so she kissed him. The second she did, is whole body reacted as he held her against him.

When she broke the kiss, he was curious.

“What was that for?”

There were a list of reasons.

“You took research today, and you didn’t argue,” she said, rattling off the first reason.

“I know you’re trying to connect to Gene for Ethan. I can take a day in-house working. I want my brother to be happy. He needs you to love Gene too in order for him to let go.”

She was aware.

“Oh, he let go plenty today.”

Callen lowered his voice.

“Was it hot? Did he get all bottom-y like I do when you play Miss Kitty?”

She nodded.

“Was it weird seeing Gene naked?” he asked, wanting to make sure she was comfortable too.

“Not really. I saw his dick before. On the last case when I had a little breakdown.”

Callen was honest.

“I can’t picture my brother a bottom.”

She laughed.

“Callen, he made you look sanitary when you’re in the mood to be dominated. It’s clear he and Gene liked getting dirty-dirty. I had fun. It was a good time.”

“But?”

She shook her head.

“No buts. If he asks you and Chris to do it, get hydrated, because there was cum everywhere, mostly Ethan’s.”

Callen put his lips by her ear.

“I heard them in the closet. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I forgot my tie.”

She lifted a brow.

“Well? Share?”

He did.

“I heard Ethan begging to cum, and Gene telling him he was putting a ring on it. Then, he fucked him, and told him to hold his cum in his ass.”

That sounded about right.

“I’m kind of jealous that right now, my brother is hard, horny, not wearing underwear, and has a bowel full of cum.”

She kissed him.

“I can feel how hard you are,” she said.

“Was it that wild?” he asked.

“That’s tame.”

He wanted that.

“Is Ethan going to let Chris and I have our fun with Tala?” he asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know. You’ll have to take that up with him.”

Oh, he would.

He’d probably wait until after they figured out their whole boundaries thing.

“If you want Miss Kitty to take you to The Den,” she said, grinning.

Callen actually giggled.

“Yes. The answer is always going to be yes. Can you maybe show me what my brother got? I want to see which of us is dirtier.”

“It’s not a competition,” she said, as he danced with her.

“I know. I just like when you drip wax on me, and make be beg.”

Oh, she was aware.

“It’s a date. Maybe if you’re a good boy, Chris will join me when he feels better.”

“Sold. I can’t wait.”

Because she loved Callen, she wanted to let him know she wasn’t fooled.

“You bought me that dead animal, and you let all the men have credit. I know how slick you are,” she said.

He kissed her again.

“Oh, no. My girl found out. Now what ever will she do? Take me to bed and drive me wild?” he asked, winking at her.

She grinned.

“That’s on the list of plans.”

Only, now that she had Callen alone, she was curious.

“Are you really okay with getting up close and personal with Ethan? I don’t want you guys doing this for me. Yes, it’s hot, but…I know your past and his.”

Callen appreciated that she was thinking about him.

“Yeah, I am. I’ve wanted to for a long time. I know some people would be grossed out by it, but I’m attracted to him. I have always been. Do you think it’s weird?”

It was wild that she had the same conversation with his brother. They were two peas in a pod.

Elizabeth reassured him.

“No. I mean, I think it’s hot, but you guys are Native. Two white men who are half-brothers? It feels weird and backwoods. Two sexy Natives in buck skin….holy shit that makes me wet.”

He laughed.

Callen was honest.

“I don’t think of him as my brother anymore. When I had sex with Chris, something happened to me. I stopped being afraid of that male-on-male contact. It helped me relax. When I see Ethan, I see my spouse. I know he’s my half-brother, but him as my spouse is my main focus.”

She understood.

“Well, it’s sexy. Does it bother you when we talk about it?” she asked. “Or joke?”

He reassured her.

“In our group, no. Strangers might not understand, and the way we’ll be crucified…”

Oh, hell no.

“I’ll protect you both.”

He was aware.

“I hope you always are attracted to me, Beautiful,” he admitted. “My life has become so rich and full because of you. I was so lonely on the rez, and you came back with my brother and saved me.”

She nuzzled him.

“I’ll always save you. I love you just as much as I love Ethan.”

That was the best part of his woman. She didn’t play favorites. She might dote on someone if they were under the weather, or having a rough moment, but her love was all encompassing.

Before Callen could say anything, there was a tap to his shoulder, and they were interrupted.

By Chris.

“Pardon me, but when I’m sick, I need Elizabeth,” he said, playing that card again.

Callen stared at him.

“Really? That’s your excuse? Again?” he asked, shaking his head.

Chris just grinned, and then, he fake coughed.

“Oh, Jesus. He’s playing sick,” he said, trying to keep it light because he knew Chris was afraid of being sick and dying.

When Callen passed her off to Chris, he then headed back to the table to have his drink as they waited for dinner.

For a few seconds, he danced with his woman. With his mouth by her ear, he whispered to her.

“Everyone is watching you.”

She fixed his bowtie.

“I think they’re all watching you,” she admitted. “You’re a very sexy man, Doctor Leonard. I’m a lucky girl to be in your arms.”

He found her mouth, and kissed her. As they did, she held on, and he danced with her. They’d done this many, many times, and it brought back so many memories.

When he broke the kiss, he stared into her eyes.

“Would you be upset if I took a vacation?” he asked. “As in not in DC?”

That surprised her and caught her off guard.

“No. Do you need one?” she asked, figuring this was about his meds and illness.

He decided to be honest.

“I do. You were right. I need to prioritize my well-being, and I can’t do it here. I’ll get sucked back into work.”

That hurt her heart.

Not because he was leaving, but because she couldn’t go with him and take care of him.

“I can’t get time…”

He stopped her.

“It’s okay. I’m not talking a month away, but I do need a week of no bodies, sleeping in, and getting food in. I have to look good for my girl. I have to live for my wife and children.”

That brought tears to her eyes. Lovingly, she ran her fingers over his face. She remembered him as a young man, and she couldn’t love him more.

“Take the time. Your vacation is approved. I’ll abuse your back up MEs when you’re gone. In fact, when you get back, hire another one.”

“The budget…”

She stopped him.

“I’ll make sure it’s fine. That way, you can supervise more, and not kill yourself. I’ll make this work for you.”

God.

He appreciated her.

“Thank you, my love.”

Now that they’d worked that out, she was curious.

“Where will you go?”

Oh, he’d thought about it, and he knew. At first, he thought somewhere tropical but then, it didn’t feel right to go without her. Fiji wouldn’t be the same.

So, he picked a place where security would have a much easier time keeping him safe.

“I’m going to fly out to the Sound. I’ll stay in the house there. I’ll take Demeter so Saint doesn’t have to be away from Raphael for too long.”

His kindness was something she loved most about him. He was sick, and still worrying about others.

“If I can get out there…”

He stopped her.

“It’s okay. I’ll miss you terribly, but I’ll survive. I promise. You just do your thing, and I’ll take a week to build up my resistance and heal.”

Elizabeth stared into his eyes.

“You’re not going to die on me. I won’t let you. I’ll move fucking heaven and earth to make sure I keep that promise.”

While he loved her, and believed she try, Chris knew better. They all had an expiry date, but his would be before them all. In a way, he was okay with that. If they got old, he didn’t want to have to say goodbye to them.

He’d go first to not have to mourn the loves of his life.

“I know you will,” he said, and as she kissed him, once again, it was interrupted.

This time, it was Gene.

“Hey, your husband needs you,” he said to Chris, getting him to leave. “He sent me over to get you.”

Chris kissed her knuckles, and set her free. Then, he headed back to the table.

When he walked away, she was curious.

“Which one needed him?” she asked, assuming it would be Callen to bust his balls for interrupting their dance.

He shrugged.

“Neither. I made that shit up.”

That made her laugh.

“You too?” she asked.

He grinned wickedly.

“I like the game. Sue me,” he said. “Now, I can talk to you alone.”

Elizabeth wasn’t sure what he was worried about, but she could see it in his eyes.

“People are staring with me being included. Are you okay with me and you,” Gene asked. “Because we don’t have to…”

She stopped him.

“Yes, we do. We’re family, and honestly, Gene, the talking will stop as they get bored with it. When we don’t acknowledge it, they have no choice but to let it go.”

He hoped she was right because he loved these people. The last thing he wanted was to upset them.

For the next few minutes, they danced, and then, she needed to talk to him about something.

“When I go back to NOLA, you need to come with me,” she said.

He tensed.

Oh, he knew why.

“Tommy?” he asked.

She nodded.

“He’s making a mess down there. I need you to talk to him. When I was there, I spoke to him, but he thinks we’re holding you against your will. He thinks you’re a hostage.”

He sighed.

That was anything but the truth.

“I’ll go.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“Do you miss him?”

Gene actually laughed.

“Uh, no. I have an amazing life, and I’ve moved on. Ethan is going to marry me, and we have you and Willa. Elizabeth, I’ve never been happier. I thought all that was left was sadness, but I was rewarded. I have everything I wanted. I have a family.”

She was glad.

When he kissed her, it was sweet, and gentle. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but it told the world what they needed it to know.

He belonged.

When he broke the kiss, he was honest.

“I’ll get him to see that I’m not coming back. It’s over, and when he told me to make a choice, I did. That’s something he has to live with, not me. I was willing to adjust my life to fit him, but I couldn’t stay there. We could have come back here together.”

She was curious.

“Would you have been able to resist that attraction between you and Ethan?”

It was clear he was thinking about it.

“No. I won’t pretend. Would I cheat? No. That’s not my vibe, but I would have likely had to leave here with Tommy. He was right. I love that man more than anything, and now, I feel that for my family.”

She understood.

“Can I ask a favor?” he asked.

Honestly, Elizabeth thought it would be about what they were talking about, but it wasn’t.

“Sure.”

“What do I have to do to be able to watch Ethan and Callen rolling around? My first born?” he asked.

She laughed.

Why?

Willa was already hers.

“Well, Gene, you gotta talk to them. Not me. That’s their thing. Like our thing today with Ethan, the collective has pockets where the kink happens, and if you want to see Ethan and his brother, go to them.”

“Will you be upset?”

She shook her head.

“I’m going to have a ringside seat, so no.”

“I can’t help myself. That’s sexy as hell,” he admitted. “All that Native in one bed…maybe it’s the hair.”

On that, she agreed.

That’s when they heard someone clearing their voice. It was one of the Natives.

“Someone is hogging my girl,” Ethan said, busting him.

He grinned.

“Sorry. A man has to man,” he said, kissing Elizabeth on the cheek, and heading away.

As soon as she was free, she went into his arms.

“How do you like your surprise dead animal?” he asked, joking around.

“I love it. I know it was all Callen.”

He lifted a brow.

“Why do I think you don’t believe I can surprise you anymore?” he asked.

“I didn’t mean it that way. Callen is just known for his surprises. Thus, the castle.”

Oh, well, he had news for her.

Looking over at the musicians, the music changed. It was more of a paso doble, and something they both learned for a party once.

While he might have Gene on the brain, and dealing with some torture from the man, he could multitask.

The second she heard the music change, she grinned.

“Mr. Blackhawk, you are a slick devil.”

Oh, he was aware.

He held out his hand.

“I still have some surprises in me, Lyzee, my love. Dance with me,” he said, and they did.

It was fast.

It was intense.

And she had the time of her life as everyone watched him spin her and move her around the floor.

When the song ended, he dipped her, and everyone in there stood and clapped.

He pulled her upright.

“I’ll love you until I die. When I see you, I think of moments like that. You make my heart free.”

She kissed him.

When she broke the kiss, she was happy.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she took in his scent, and it was clear he had sex again.

He smelled like Gene.

“So you did get molested in the closet,” she said, teasing his earlobe.

Oh, he had.

“I can also tell you’re tense,” she said. “Someone’s clenching those nekid ass cheeks.”

He laughed.

“Who told you?”

She grinned.

“Callen’s jealous. He wants to know why I didn’t abuse him and put a ring on it to make him suffer all dinner.”

Ethan was worried.

“Are you okay with it?” he asked.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and held onto him.

“Always.”

“God, Lyzee, I’m so at peace,” he admitted. “Well, not now because I’m horny, wearing this ring so I can’t cum, and have to obey and keep Gene’s cum in my ass.”

She giggled.

“I’m glad I’m not you. I want to focus on dead cow,” she teased.

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for being so kind, loving, and so compassionate that you’d let me have this. You didn’t have to.”

She sighed.

“I did because your happiness is connected to mine. For the last months, I’ve not wondered once if you were happy. Happy people stay, Ethan.”

He was horrified.

“I’d never leave you.”

She put her fingers over his lips.

“I know, but unhappy men emotionally check out. The sex now is off the chart hot, and I legit love Gene. How often do I get a break and have a dinner date during a case?”

“You had to work.”

“I know, but I’m not working now. We grind ourselves into the ground, working so hard, and we’re getting older. Chris is sick and taking a week off. I need to follow his lead. If a night off keeps me going more years, I’ll do it.”

He knew she meant it.

The media was all over the Max thing, but here they were, having dinner.

“Let’s start living a little.”

He agreed.

“Absolutely, Elizabeth.”

Because there would never be another woman he loved like her, he kissed her.

It was gentle and soft.

As they surfaced, he kissed her knuckles, over their wedding rings.

“Dinner?” he asked.

That sounded perfect.

“Yes, please.”

That was all he had to hear. Escorting her back, he got them to the table.

It was just in time for the commentary.

Callen shook his head.

“You’re a fucking showoff,” he said.

He laughed.

“Hey, don’t blame me. She makes me want to dance,” he admitted, as they sat down to steaks, broccolini, and fluffy mashed potatoes.

Ethan pulled out Elizabeth’s chair.

“And since everyone wants to know, yes, Gene is tormenting me as we speak. He’s got my least favorite cock ring on me, and he left a deposit in my ass that I’m fighting to keep in.”

Gene grinned.

It was Callen who pointed at Gene.

“You lead a charmed life. There’s no cum in my ass,” he said.

Chris laughed.

“A little louder,” he said, amused. “The serving staff is only half staring.”

Elizabeth stopped that conversation. What was going on in Ethan’s pants was her business, but not at the dinner table. They weren’t raised in a barn.

“God. I could eat a horse,” she said, changing the subject.

Callen whinnied.

She stared at him.

“You have some serious issues.”

Yeah, now tell him something he didn’t know.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Somewhere

In DC

Eleven P.M.

As he fought to stay awake, the monster kept knocking him out. It was hit after hit to his head.

And his balls.

And his face.

The creature made him bleed, and he was helpless to stop it.

The whole time, the mask being worn hid the horrible creature’s face.

“Please,” he whispered, as he was no longer in a chair. “What did I do to deserve this?” he asked from his bloodied mouth.

“You didn’t love me like I wanted,” the monster said, as he was tortured even more.

That was the first time he’d heard it speak.

Immediately, he knew the voice.

That fear shot through him, and then, it was even worse. He saw the monster rear back, and a knife was shoved through his limp dick, destroying it.

Now, he was freaking out.

He screamed in pain.

To shut him up, there was only one thing to do.

The killer sliced his throat.

When he bled out, the monster went to the mirror, and looked at the face staring back. That reflection was horrible, and yet, the creature didn’t understand.

“Why didn’t you love me?” the hideous beast asked. “You loved her,” that monster said, wearing the first victim’s skinned face.

It hung sickly, the eye holes agape.

In anger, the face was ripped off and thrown into the trash where she belonged.

The dead man deserved to die.

And painfully.

Now, there was only one person left.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Nagato

Same Time

Eleven P.M.

It was a damn good dinner, where they laughed, talked about life, and celebrated. After she’d interviewed the bartender, and talked to random waitresses to see who helped Max out.

Unfortunately, no one on that shift had any answers. So, they took a night off.

What was the point of continuing to work? No one recalled seeing who helped Max out.

The drink was spilled, and then, he was gone.

So, they enjoyed themselves with good food, and even better company.

It was rare that they were able to do that.

Heading out the doors, her two security guys fed and content behind her, they were getting ready to walk across the street where the limo was parked.

The night was crisp, and she was grateful for her fur stole. It was wrapped around her, keeping her shoulders warm. She was walking between Ethan and Gene, with Callen and Chris behind them.

They were busting Ethan’s ass, asking if he was leaking because that’s what family did.

The were assholes.

Elizabeth was about to tell them to leave him alone when she heard it.

While she wasn’t on duty, some things never changed. Her sixth sense kicked in, and that warning rang through her head.

Not far off, there was the sound of a revving engine, and at eleven at night, that was…odd.

Turning her head, she saw the car come into view, and the figure behind the wheel.

It was when the nose of the gun came out of the window that security moved, seeing what she was seeing.

Gunny grabbed Chris, and shoved Callen to the ground. Gideon grabbed Gene’s arm, and wrapped his arm around Ethan’s waist, tugging them to the ground too. He’d tried for Elizabeth, but she slipped from his fingers.

Then all Hell broke loose.

The bullets began spraying all around them as she reached into her stole and moved to stand sideways, so she was a smaller target.

Charlie once told her to do that, and for some reason, it popped into her head.

All around her, she could hear the hitting of bullets, and she could hear her heart beats.

One heartbeat.

She pulled the trigger, taking out the back tire with one shot.

Two heartbeats.

She moved into the street taking out the back window and a spray of glass going everywhere.

All around her, there was silence, and she wasn’t focused on anything else but that car. Her family was safe, and she had this under control.

Three heartbeats.

When the car hit the pole, a woman jumped out, and she pulled the trigger before she could try to shoot at her again.

It hit the woman dead in the center of the head, and she went down.

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

In The District.

Chapter Twenty-One

Day Two

Of The Investigation

Twelve Thirty A.M.

At the hospital, everyone around her was telling Elizabeth that she led a charmed life. When the bullets rained down on them, she stood there, no body armor, no protection, and she didn’t get killed.

How she pulled it off was anyone’s guess.

The vehicles around them were riddled with holes from the extended-clip Uzi, and the restaurant’s windows were too. Patrons had hit the ground, and it had been pandemonium.

Yet, Elizabeth, nothing.

Yeah, she had a grazing wound on her arm, and one on her cheek, but she was alive.

Thankfully.

In that moment, she was only thinking one thing. Ethan, Callen, Gene, and Chris were unarmed. She’d been the only one with a gun—other than security.

To her, she had to protect her family.

Frankly, it was automatic, and she reacted instinctually, even as she heard the men she loved screaming her name, and the Marines pinned from the gunfire.

Maybe she was crazy, but she wasn’t letting that car get away.

She’d been calm.

Cool.

And collected.

Afterward, that was a whole other story. After she killed the woman who tried to end her family, the police came.

Then, Jack came.

Then, even more media came.

It was a free-for-all, and her gun was taken away from her by Jack to hold until he could sign off on the paperwork, and get it to Axelle.

Oh, her boss was going to kick her ass. She’d had drinks and discharged her firearm on a public street where someone was shot.

INTENTIONALLY.

The media fallout…

It was going to be wild.

As for her family, they were brought to the hospital to be checked out. Ethan landed hard on his back with Gideon over him. They wanted him checked out to make sure his old spinal injury wasn’t going to paralyze him for good this time.

He wasn’t happy either.

He had to explain to a doctor why his dick was in a ring, and his ass was wet.

Oh, she wished she was there for that. He was going to be hella bitchy for the foreseeable future.

As for his partner in fuckery, Gene was okay. He was the first to get to her to make sure she wasn’t hurt. He was scratched up and bruised, but he didn’t have any holes in him. His suit was wrecked, but they could buy more.

The only bleeding on him was from a scrape on his chin from when Gideon took him down hard.

Yeah, Marines didn’t do anything gently.

As for Chris...

He had gotten the worst of it. Callen went down over him to protect him, and Gunny was over him. He was squished in the man pile.

Other than being squashed, he was freaked out because he couldn’t get to her.

Callen too.

Let’s just say all the men, and the two Marines, were stirred up and pissed.

And her…?

She was calm.

In that moment, everything had slowed down, like it always did when she pulled her gun. She knew her intent, and it was her or the woman in the vehicle.

She won that round.

Maybe.

No, definitely.

Why?

Because she knew who she killed.

Now, as she was sitting in the ER bay, after being looked at, and waiting for the shit to hit the fan, Elizabeth heard footsteps running down the hall.

They were heels, so that meant they were going to be only one person.

Someone had called her boss.

Of course, Jack did. Yeah, she’d kick his ass later. Elizabeth asked him to call Gabe, since he would get her ass out of ‘your gun is being held hostage’ purgatory.

When she came in, unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. Not even close. Duke, her brother, was right behind her.

Well, great.

“Elizabeth!” Axelle said, having seen the news. It was all over the TV, and she was surprised that the woman was alive. She’d been on her way there when Jack called, telling her that Elizabeth was okay.

Mostly.

The police were saying bullets were fired wildly, and luckily, no one died but the woman Elizabeth had tagged in the middle of the forehead.

It was a miracle.

She hugged her, and made sure she was okay.

“Honey!” she said, staring into her eyes. “Jesus Christ!”

Yeah, Jack was a deadman.

It was when Duke hugged her next that she stopped being angry at Jack. The emotion was there, and she felt it to her core.

Her baby brother was scared shitless.

In that moment, everything that happened between them disappeared.

“I was so worried! It’s all over the news! Mostly you returning fire in a cocktail dress and red bottomed shoes!” he said, holding her.

She was honest.

“Well, yeah. I always carry my gun. This is why. People try to kill me a lot.”

Unfortunately.

Her brother hugged her again, and she let him. Who was she to negate his fear?

In a little bit, her husbands and Gene would be tearing her three new assholes. All she had to hope for at this moment was Ivan the Terrible wouldn’t find out until she got home later.

Duke kept talking.

“I’m so sorry. I was a jerk, and I could have lost my sister. Please forgive me for what I did to you. When I saw you on the news…”

He had tears in his eyes.

All he could think about was his dream and how his father told him to eat crow.

Well, he was definitely going to follow that advice.

“I thought I lost you. I love you, Elizabeth, and I don’t care about the job. Fuck it, but I can’t lose you. You’re my only sister, and I’ll be broken if I don’t have you in my life. You found me, saved me when Salem died, and brought me and Ax together. I owe you everything!”

She was crushed in his bearhug, but that was the apology she wanted. It wasn’t forced.

It was real.

“Hey, I’m good, Duke,” she promised.

Staring into her eyes, he rested his forehead against his sister’s.

“You scare me.”

She laughed.

“You’re not the only one. The men gave me nothing but shit the whole ride over here in the ambulance,” she admitted.

Oh, and they would as soon as they got their hands on her there too.

She’d bet on it.

Now that they knew she was okay, Axelle wanted her side of the story. She just saw Jack, and he told her the police version.

“What happened?”

Elizabeth knew she’d be replaying this over and over, and putting it in a report.

God.

She hated paperwork.

“We were coming out of dinner at Nagato, and a car pulled up, and Uzi’d the shit out of the area.”

She stared.

Uh-oh.

She didn’t like that kind of gun was used. That tended to mean gangs or…

“An Uzi?” she asked.

She nodded.

Pulling out her phone, Elizabeth showed her a picture of the woman.

With a bullet hole in her head.

Then, she continued.

“She lost control of the vehicle when I shot out the tire and back window, and was put down like the rabid dog she was.”

Axelle swiped, and saw her wrist.

On it, there was a tattoo.

A SIX.

Oh, shit.

They both knew what that meant.

Not that long ago, Elizabeth had gone to NOLA, to help the Hunters and Crofts. There, they’d found out that Alexsandr Dominik had set his security free, and into the general population.

Tonight, one of Alexsandr’s Russian female assassins popped up to take her out.

Clearly, they had a problem. There were two more unaccounted for in the country. Apparently, he’d put a bullseye on her.

Great.

“You came close,” Axelle said, touching the graze wound on her cheek.

She shrugged.

“I took three shots. Jack took my gun, and really, Axelle, I didn’t fire wildly. I’m in the middle of the case, so I need you to get my gun back.”

“He said you were drinking.”

She laughed.

“I had one drink at nine P.M. They already took my bloodwork and a breathalyzer. I barely registered. Plus, I buried that wine under a steak, mashed potatoes, and dessert. If I was drunk, do you think I could take out a tire, a back window, and then dead center in someone’s forehead? I have nine bullets left. I only fired three.”

Axelle didn’t like this.

“Do you think that was one of the assassins he sent out? That we’re not done with his bullshit?” she asked.

She nodded.

Unfortunately, that tattoo gave it away.

Axelle sighed.

“That must be the one he sent to DC. I hope the other two don’t randomly show up.”

Yeah, her too.

“Where is everyone?” Axelle asked. “I expected to show up here and have them screaming at you.”

Yeah, her too.

That was more inside of the ambulance.

She explained.

“Chris got banged up. Ethan did too. They are being checked. Gene and Callen are with them. I think they’re pissed at me.”

Duke was confused.

“Because you shot back?”

She laughed, exhausted.

“No, because I didn’t duck, and security was pinned down and was smart enough not to stand up. They didn’t have Kevlar on.”

Well, that was a whole other argument for another day. Axelle knew better.

“What do you need?” Axelle asked.

That was easy.

“My badge back. You can’t pull me. I’m handling Max Holder’s case. If I stop working it, he’s done in The District. Gabe put me on this, and I have to wrap it.”

So she heard.

“I read your report earlier. Do you think this is connected?” she asked.

“No. I think the Russian was all about us putting Alexsandr down like the rabid piece of shit he was. They were likely told if he went down, come for me.”

Probably.

She wasn’t done.

“As for my current case, it’s bonkers, and I don’t mean Russian mercenary bonkers. I mean I can’t tie Max to the three victims. He doesn’t fit it.”

Axelle lifted a brow.

“Really?”

She nodded.

“If you pull me, another team will have to start at the beginning, and after forty-eight hours, the odds aren’t in our favor.”

She was aware.

On top of that, Axelle knew Gabe put her on this, so he superseded EVERYONE.

Axelle knew it was important.

“You can stay on the case. What do you need for that?” she asked.

She was honest.

“I was good with this case until the Russians popped up. We know there are two more, and I don’t have a goddamn clue where they are. I don’t like that they just can pop up and play Hogan’s Alley with me and my family.”

She understood that.

Her brother spoke, breaking his silence.

“Do you need me to follow you around?” Duke asked. “I will. I can help guard you. You didn’t have enough bodyguards tonight. I’m in. I won’t let anyone hurt my sister.”

She appreciated that.

Only, she couldn’t let him do that.

“You can’t. You’re back on duty on Monday. Your vacation is over, and Cam is bitching.”

At her words, he paused and stared at her.

Then, he argued.

In typical LaRue fashion.

“You need me on you more.”

“Duke…”

He stopped her.

“I didn’t come here to get my job back. I came here because you’re my sister and I love you. I can’t lose you. Fuck the job, Elizabeth. I want my sister to be safe!”

And that was why she was giving him his job back. He had his come to Jesus, and realized the issue.

“I know that. I just wanted a legit apology, Duke. You gave it, and I believe you this time. Last time felt like you were obligated. You made me feel like you didn’t love me.”

He gasped.

That was never true.

Next to his mom, Caryn, she was all he had left who were connected to him by blood.

“I love you so much! You’re my blood, Lyzee,” he said, his lip quivering. “You’re my sister. We share a life. Dad gave life to both of us, and he’s not here to protect you, so that’s my job.”

She loved him too. Staring into his eyes and handsome face reminded her of Charlie.

God.

She missed him right now.

“Come back to work in The Violent Crimes Unit, and then, I can focus on my job.”

He held her in his arms and kissed her on the temple.

“Okay, much older, wiser sister. If that’s what you need me to do.”

She snorted.

“By a year and a half. My daddy knocked your momma up when I was not even a year old! Much older my ass.”

Granted, she had almost aged ten years tonight.

Because he loved busting her, and now, they were back to being okay, he winked at her.

Before she could say anything, they all heard boots on the hospital floor. They were running toward her, and she knew that sound anywhere.

MARINE.

BOOTS.

Oh, holy shit.

Someone called Ivan.

“Oh, Jesus. Here it comes,” she said, knowing who was hauling ass her way. From the sound of it, he was in full body armor, guns, and gear.

When he came into the bay, she’d been right. It was Ivan, and he was three days past frazzled.

The second he saw Elizabeth, he hugged her, and then, began giving her shit.

“You are an idiot!”

She laughed.

“For going out to dinner? I mean, a girl has to eat. I was in a public place!” she yelled back.

He was pacing.

“What the hell? I was watching my daughters, and low and behold, the news breaks in. I think it can’t be bad because it’s eleven at night and all of the assholes I’m responsible for should be at home having an orgy!”

She laughed.

“Then, I see it is the assholes I’m responsible for and they are in fact, NOT at home having that orgy! Oh, and IT’S BAD!”

She snorted.

He was bright red.

He was all worked up.

Well, if he had a stroke, this was the place to do it.

Ivan wasn’t done.

“There you were with a goddamn mink stole and expensive heels shooting at people! Can I not leave you alone for a single minute? You told me to go home and babysit when you need the babysitter!”

She picked up her stole.

“Is that what it is? Mink? I mean, it’s really soft, and I think lucky.”

She rubbed it on his face to really get him going, and it worked.

“Plus, I only got grazed twice,” she said, making Ivan lose it again.

“WHY were you not down on the ground eating dirt while YOUR DUTY handled the woman?”

“Ivan, this dress was a couple thousand dollars. I’m not lying in the dirt so the media can see me face down.”

He sputtered.

“What the hell? Who is goddamn shooting at you now? Who is left?” he asked.

She said one word and he got it.

“Six.”

That made him pause, and when she showed him the picture of the dead woman’s wrist, he looked even more worried now.

Oh, shit.

“Alexsandr?” he asked, lowering his voice.

It was supposed to be classified, but he was her protection, and MRR. He needed to know.

Elizabeth nodded.

“Yeah, he sent them out and one of them must have been put on me or all of them are. I don’t know yet.”

Axelle had bad news.

“You took down their boss. All of them most definitely will be gunning for you now. This is just the beginning.”

Ivan sat on the bed, pulled the leads off the monitor, and stuck them to his chest.

Funnily enough, to his Kevlar vest.

“If you fry MATE, I’m gonna have to do paperwork,” she warned.

Axelle laughed.

Ivan, not so much.

“I think I’m going to have a stroke.”

She clued him in.

“That’s in your head. A heart attack is in your chest, Toadstool. That’s basic anatomy. How did you make kids?”

Ivan flipped her off.

Before he could tear her another new one, Gunny stuck his head into the bay.

“I thought I heard you.”

He went off on him next.

“How did you not protect her?” he asked. “You told me you’d be all over her. She’s got gunshot wounds!”

“Uh, more like a grazing,” she corrected.

Ivan wasn’t having it.

“DONE WITH A BULLET!”

Gunny and Ivan went way back.

“For your information, we were busy with FOUR OTHER PEOPLE, Ivan. I was on Chris and Callen, and she is slippery.”

He was aware.

“We were pinned down, and two dead Marines can’t help five Blackhawks. Calm down. Tex held her own. We were up the second that she began taking the woman out. She did it in three shots. That’s wild since she shoots better than you.”

She laughed.

Ivan did not.

“I mean, I did kill the Russian spy so she couldn’t send our intel back to Mother Russia. That’s gotta count, right?”

Ivan sat back down.

“I’m moving into the house. I hope the new one has a big space for Blue and my crayons.”

She laughed.

“Hell. NO.”

Then, he’d be up her ass all of the time.

“When I run with scissors or take apart the bombs EJ and CJ make, you’ll be twitchy.”

He stared at her, not sure if she was being legit or busting his ass. She wasn’t smiling.

And frankly, that graze wound across her cheek was freaking him the fuck out. That was CLOSE.

TOO.

CLOSE.

Before he could argue, Ethan walked in, and he had blood on his shirt.

“Oh, Jesus. You too? Why the hell didn’t Gideon tell me you were shot!”

Ethan knew how he was feeling. The ride there in the ambulance had been a rough one.

There had been a lot of yelling and nausea.

Mostly by the men.

Elizabeth, true to form, wasn’t even fazed. They didn’t know if she was just that badass or suicidal.

That was up for debate yet.

“It’s not my blood, Ivan. One of the bullets clipped her. She’s a bleeder. It’s from her arm.”

Because he was scared shitless, Ethan went to stand by his wife.

“Baby, are you okay?” he asked, meaning if she was fine with her brother being there. He thought he heard his voice.

“Yeah, it’s all good.”

Ivan protested.

“NO, IT’S NOT. She’s a menace.”

Yeah, well, tell Elizabeth something he didn’t know, but she’d disabled a killer with three precise shots while all hell was going on around her.

Tex was Tex-ing.

He was beginning to think they didn’t need Marines. They needed to clone Elizabeth. Even at her age, almost fifty, her reflexes were spot on.

“I can’t believe this,” Elizabeth said.

Only, because it wasn’t a circus enough, in came the rest of the family.

Ethan and Callen were there with Gene pushing Chris in the wheelchair.

Elizabeth was concerned.

“Are you guys okay?” she asked.

They were physically fine, but mentally, that was another story. As security held them down, they couldn’t get to Elizabeth, and that had been terrifying.

When none of them spoke, she knew.

They were big mad.

Well, Elizabeth was going to have to handle that one on her own.

Later.

Honestly, she wasn’t in the mood. She had a shit ton of problems, and the least of them were four men who were scared.

For now, Axelle needed to know.

“Was anyone hurt that was a civilian? Because guess who also called me? GABRIEL ROTHSCHILD, and he requests your attendance at the White House.”

“I’ll stop tomorrow.”

She shook her head.

“Nope. His majesty, the bald dictator said, and I quote, ‘Tell the stole-wearing media nightmare to get her ass to the White House or I’m coming to find her, and then, I’m going to be pissed’.”

Well, that sounded about right.

“Come on!”

Axelle shrugged.

“If you want your gun back, and this case, you’re going to go have fun there. He’s all over this and bitchy. He’s dealing with some kerfuffle on a military base. That’s the only thing bigger on the news.”

She sighed.

Damn it.

Elizabeth knew she had no choice.

“Ethan, can you take everyone home? I’m going to the White House. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

He was tense.

“Sure. Be safe.”

Well, that tone said it all. Now, she not only had to worry about Russian assassins, Max going to jail, and Gabe up her ass, but now, her family was pissed off too.

Great.

It was time to be cranky.

“Gideon, get us a car,” she said.

Only, Ivan wasn’t having it.

Not.

Even.

Close.

“We are all back on duty. Raphael and Michael are outside with the Navigator. Do you want to change before we go to see the president?” he asked.

She looked down at her dress. Other than where she got skimmed in the arm, she was still looking pretty good.

That’s because she didn’t hit the dirt face-first.

“Nah. I don’t have the energy for it. Let’s just get this over with so I can work,” she said, as she walked away without kissing the men. They didn’t really want her near them anyway.

Oh, and she got it.

The media was going to skewer them, too, and the male ego could only take so much. Six men had hidden behind cars, and she’d taken out the problem.

When she was gone, Axelle lowered her voice.

“Cut her a break. She has to be scared. You guys were almost gunned down.”

Ethan rubbed his eyes.

“I’m trying. I’m just getting goddamn tired of someone always trying to kill our wife. It’s getting old. I need to know where those assassins are, Ax.”

She nodded.

“I already have a Spider on it. The Huntsman is handling it. He’s trying to locate them. Homeland has been looking, and they are not in Cali and New York. They are somewhere else, and we have to find them.”

Yeah, no fucking kidding.

Call it a hunch, but he was willing to bet they were going to show up in DC sooner or later.

“Keep an eye on her,” Axelle said, walking out with them. “And don’t go to bed angry. We won this round.”

Oh, all the men would try.

But when it came to someone hurting Elizabeth, anger was all they felt.

And it was often.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

One A.M.

The White House

Debriefing

There were days it sucked to be her, and right now, that was one of them.

It was the middle of the night, she was working on saving Max, but she had no choice but to head in to debrief the president about the shooting and likely her case.

When he said get your ass to the White House, you did it. The time didn’t matter, the craziness of your life didn’t matter…

All that mattered was his desire to see you. So, she was on her way. Elizabeth knew when to bust balls, and when not to.

This was NOT the time.

As she rolled up to the big building, surprisingly enough, the Secret Service left her alone.

The gate guard wished her a good night, and only asked for her badge to scan it.

Holy shit.

What was this?

They didn’t even try to pat her down, and that was wild for her.

They normally drove her insane. Gabe had to be on a tear because that was the only reason this could be happening.

He was a nightmare when he was pissed off, and the Secret Service was running scared.

Oh, she was good with that.

Honestly, the assholes deserved it.

Well, at least they were smart enough to know that no one wanted him screaming or firing them from their jobs.

Smart.

Walking down the hall to the Oval Office, she headed in to find all the staff in there, watching clips of her taking down the Russian spy, and on the other screen, some sort of standoff.

Well, at least there was other news to distract him.

Because she walked right in, and there was no secretary at the desk outside, she announced herself.

“You wanted to see me, Mr. President?” she asked, being nice as she got their attention.

When they all turned, all of Gabe’s staff clapped for her. Clearly, they heard from Axelle who the dead woman was.

Elizabeth had taken out the Russian trash.

Because she was amused to be clapped for by this caliber of people, she curtsied.

It was the least she could do.

One didn’t get Generals and Colonels to clap for you all that often. Plus, she worked with most of these nuts, and they were friends.

“You’re funny,” Gabe said. “In a stole?” he asked.

She snorted.

“Listen, it had pockets, or that Russian POS would have gotten away. I had Marines on me, but I didn’t have short, temperamental, and MRR. Ivan is never leaving me alone again.”

He could see why.

Gabe wanted to see if she was okay, but most importantly, he needed to tell her about the other news story. Ironically enough, there were two Blackhawks in danger.

Go.

Figure.

He looked around.

“Now, I need a minute with my ROGUE director. Give me twenty, guys.”

Oh, boy.

The ass tearing was about to begin.

All of the military guys went to leave, giving her fist bumps on the way out. They were going to bust her ass for the rest of her time working with them.

They were in military shined shoes, and she was in Louboutins. There was a vast difference.

When Alessandra went to leave, he stopped her from doing so.

“I’m going to need an alibi,” he said. “When I kill Elizabeth, I need you to say that she attacked me because she’s crazy.”

Hey now.

She resembled those remarks.

When she opened her mouth to explain, it set the man off like fireworks.

“What the bloody hell?” he asked. “You’re on the news in a dress and stole, killing someone on the street. Are you absolutely insane?”

Since she was probably the only person on the planet not afraid of him, she yelled back.

“It was a Russian, terrorist-spy that Alexsandr sent out. For the record, I was having dinner. With my husbands. NOT in body armor. This is what I wear to date night! It’s not my fault that you stuck me in this fucking job and now I have media so far up my ass I feel like I have a troupe of Boy Scouts discovering how knotted up my guts are!”

Oh, boy.

Alessandra shook her head.

This was the only woman with the balls to yell at the president.

They’d been watching the military mess when the news broke. Gabe had been calm until he saw who was at the center of it. The media got a good shot of her standing in the melee, blood dripping down her arm, that graze on her cheek, and her gun pointed at the ground.

At first, he lost all the color in his skin, and then, he lost his shit.

Gabe pointed at her.

“You have Marines on you! How the hell did you get pulled into a shootout? You can’t die! You have to stop risking your life!”

She got it.

He was scared.

There was no doubt that she was his emotional support person, and the one helping him secure his relationship with the woman in the room.

WHO was trying to soothe Gabe.

Yeah, like that was happening. He needed to just get it out, and he’d be okay.

“We were walking out, I heard the engine, as did my security. They took down my men, and I fired three times. The first shot hit the tire. The second spiderweb’d both windshields and took the car into a pole. The third and final was when she got out and tried to shoot me. It was justified, and she was the only casualty.”

Holy shit.

He’d seen the footage of customers in Nagato who gave their recordings to the media.

Instead of yelling, he hugged her and kissed Elizabeth on the temple.

“You were hurt. Are you okay?” he asked, touching her cheek with his palm.

“It’s a grazing wound,” she said, touching her face and arm.

And they were close to a headshot.

“But hey! Good news, Duke and I made up. Bad news, the media is allllllll over this. Which means they are going to dig and try to figure out why I killed someone in the street. You’d better have your people get that body from the city morgue. When she comes back with burned off fingerprints and the DNA of a wooly mammoth, questions will be asked.”

He was aware, and amused by her.

Moving out of his personal space, she parked her ass on the couch, and noticed that Alessandra was not having sexy fun. She was working.

Uh-oh.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one having a bad night. Hopefully, she read the room, and didn’t blame Gabe. That would turn him right off.

Thanks to Livy.

“I guess you had your first press conference. I hope you rocked out with your cock out.”

Gabe stared at her.

“Can you stop. Please? The last thing I want to hear or see is a cock out, and I hope to Jesus himself she doesn’t have one.”

She snorted.

And so did Alessandra.

She definitely did not.

“Sorry. It’s adrenaline. I have no choice but to ride it out. Now, you wanted to see me?”

He sat across from her.

There was something he needed to tell her, and this seemed like a good cover.

“Mostly it was to see if you are okay, and to see if we have verification you took down a Russian spy. Do we?” he asked.

She nodded.

Then, she looked over at Alessandra.

Gabe knew why.

“I know it’s classified. I’m going to tell her anyway, since she’s the press secretary, and my girlfriend. I trust her. You can speak freely in front of her.”

And that was the truth. If he was going to have sex with her at some point, he wanted an open and honest relationship.

Elizabeth smiled.

“DON’T,” he said, even though he wanted to celebrate calling her that too. From the vibes she gave him, he was taking that chance and calling her that.

Not far away, he could see Alessandra was just grinning, and apparently, she was good with that title too.

As a man, it felt good to take the lead.

Elizabeth listened, for a change and didn’t bust his balls. Instead, she explained.

“Yeah, she had a number six tattooed on her wrist. One is on our side, two, and three were offed by Reaper in New Orleans, and the Hunters, so…

She knew this sucked for him.

“If we can prove she’s Russian, I have that commie-bastard oligarch over the barrel. We need to find the last two,” Gabe admitted.

She shrugged.

“Well, I got you the body of one. We called out the Spiders. Axelle did, or Ethan was finally fed up and did it himself. All I know is Huntsman is on the prowl. In time, he’ll find them. What we’ve been told is that they aren’t in Cali or New York.”

Alessandra said nothing. She just listened. She was just freaking ecstatic that he’d said girlfriend.

Not bed buddy.

Not friends with bennies.

She.

Was.

His.

Girlfriend.

Oh, if her mother was only alive. She was freaking dating THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Gabe didn’t say more. If the Spiders were hunting, well, then, call it a day.

“Thankfully, you took that one down with one shot.”

Speaking of which…

“It was a crazy good shot,” Alessandra said. “Your form was magnificent. The media caught you raising your arm, and pulling the trigger. Can you teach me to…”

Gabe was staring at her.

“We’re in a guarded building. I like my women less wild and more…sane.”

Elizabeth snorted.

He was only saying that because of what happened to Livy.

Alessandra read the room, and she could see he was worried. So she headed his way, and sat on his lap. Little did he know that grumpy look made her panties wet.

The second she was in his lap, Gabe struggled to put his thoughts together, but he had to get this done.

Immediately.

Now came the second part of trouble that was tied to the Blackhawks.

Gabe knew he needed to tell her.

It was now or never.

“Unfortunately, you’re not my only issue tonight,” he admitted, going there.

She waited.

Truth be told, Elizabeth figured as much. She saw the military presence in the room before she arrived, and Alessandra was not getting her sexy sleepover.

“Is it bad?” she asked.

Oh, she might think so in a second.

“Right now, I have a military base with someone holding soldiers hostage, and dead Marines. I’ll worry about the Russians later.”

Marines?

That had her attention.

“Oof. Uh, this isn’t Koda’s military base, right?” she asked.

When he didn’t reply, she focused on him.

“Gabe? It’s not KODA’S base, where he’s getting his artillery training, is it?” she asked again.

He was honest.

“It is actually.”

That was all she had to hear.

Elizabeth was up.

“I have to get there,” she said, going to walk past him. Only, he moved Alessandra off his lap and grabbed her arm.

“Stop.”

She stared at him.

“NO, I can’t stop. If my son…”

He told her.

“I’ve already spoken to him. He’s safe. Right now, Koda is pissed off because he was pulled out of there and transported because he’s related to me. He was bitchy. I think he gets that from his insane mother.”

That helped her calm down.

Of course, Gabe would prioritize him for her and Coraline.

Thank fucking God.

She needed to know.

“Was he the target?”

He stared into her eyes.

“Yes.”

Oh, holy shit.

She was going to be sick. Immediately, tears filled her eyes, but it wasn’t Gabe that got to her side.

It was Alessandra.

She hugged her.

“Hey, he’s good. Gabriel got him yanked so fast, and he’s protected there by his own Marine. He’s safe. I promise you,” she said.

Elizabeth stared into her eyes.

“He didn’t get hurt?”

She shook her head.

“No, and let me tell you, he’s brave like you,” she admitted. “He tried to get his gun and go help. He wanted to jump into the fight for his brothers.”

Alessandra wiped Elizabeth’s eyes with her thumbs.

“He’s safe, Honey.”

Elizabeth was able to breathe again.

Gabe watched them handle it, and he realized that he definitely had to marry this woman. She was an extension of him. They worked well together, and one of his best friends loved her.

He could tell Elizabeth cared about Alessandra, or she wouldn’t let the woman take care of her like she was.

Gabe patted her on the back.

“You have to trust me with this.”

She did.

“I’m good,” she said, still holding Alessandra’s hand in hers because she needed the support. This was her big fear in life that someone would come for her kids because of who she was.

Gabe needed her to focus.

“Now, sit down. We have to deal with this shootout, Elizabeth. We need to minimize this.”

Alessandra laughed.

“She killed a Russian spy while wearing thousand-dollar heels and a six-thousand-dollar designer stole. Tell the media that. She’ll be a hero. The people will be grateful. That should be your angle,” she said, getting Gabe’s attention.

He stared at her.

“What?” she asked, looking around.

Gabe saw a way out of this, and Alessandra had a good point. He could see the story now.

‘Deputy Director of the FBI takes out rogue, Russian-sleeper-cell spy when attacked in Georgetown at dinner.’

“Want to spin all the news stories for me? I could use a smart person to dig my ass out of the hole when it comes to Elizabeth.”

Alessandra liked the sound of that.

“I can even write the story, Mr. President. I have many skills.”

It was when she winked salaciously at him, that she could tell he was thinking sex.

The whole night, he’d been watching her, and checking her out. Oh, she saw him, and it got the juices flowing.

Alessandra couldn’t wait to get him alone for one minute.

After hearing that, Elizabeth pointed at the stole that was over the back of the couch.

“Is that how much that delightful, floofy, hug bunny is?” she asked.

Gabe stared at her when she called it that mouthful of nonsense.

“Did you hit your head?”

“No, but my life flashed before my eyes as all four of my significant others were there, and could have died. So, I’m struggling not to get really bitchy and lose my mind, especially after you tell me my son was a target.”

He got it.

Back off.

This wasn’t the time.

“Okay, still, take it down a notch, Cowboy,” he stated, using that nickname again.

She snorted.

“Like how? Let the next Russian get away? Gabe, you’re pissy because of me, and I didn’t do anything. I was out to dinner. I just happen to have pockets in the stole.”

Alessandra was trying to mitigate the stress for her friend. She felt obligated. Elizabeth had nailed the dress and heel thing.

“Oh, can I try it on?” she asked.

Elizabeth passed it over.

“Sure. It’s really…,” she began, but felt eyes on the back of her.

She paused.

“He’s staring at me, isn’t he?”

She nodded.

It made everyone laugh, and it was needed.

Now that the temp in the room had come down a bit, she wrapped it up.

“That’s all I have, Mr. President, on that. On the Max stuff, I was at the restaurant interviewing waitstaff on the DL, so no one gets any hints as to the case I’m working.”

He figured she was working.

Elizabeth didn’t do shit like take a night off to get fancied up for funsies.

“Thank you for the updates.”

It looked like Elizabeth had done her job. She updated him, and now, she was done. She had a case to handle, and now that she had her gun and badge back…

She.

Was.

Out.

“And on that note, I’m going home. When you hear from my son, make sure you tell him to call his mother, or I WILL hunt him down.”

Oh, no doubt.

“On a more pleasant note, I’m delighted that your Secret Service was smart enough to back off.”

Gabe was well aware, and he likely knew why too.

“Well, yeah, you killed a Russian spy with three shots in a public street dressed like a starlet. I’m pretty sure they think you’re even more crazy than before.”

She tossed the stole over her shoulder like some old-time movie star.

“Hot. I know.”

He just laughed because it was absurd. Sometimes, their conversations were absolutely insane, and he had no control of it.

Instead of arguing more, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Elizabeth, be careful,” he warned.

At the door, she turned to give him a warning of her own.  

“You make sure my son is safe, and we’ll be fine. If one hair on that boy’s head is hurt, I’m suiting up and going to find whoever hurt him myself, and no one wants that.”

He didn’t doubt that.

Not one bit.

You didn’t mess with the baby birds.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Fort

After The News

Update

At home, Wyler was up pacing the house as he waited for them to show up.

When the men came in, it didn’t take long for Wyler to be all over them.

“Where’s my daughter?” he asked.

Well, so much for his concern for them.

Callen clued him in before their father went off the reservation looking for her.

“Chill, Dad. Your favorite is at the White House getting her ass torn a new one. When she comes home, she’ll be getting the same from us,” he said.

Oh, boy.

Someone was testy.

“Why?” Wyler asked, looking at them, genuinely concerned.

Callen laughed sardonically.

“Oh, maybe because she went cowboy in the street, and took out a Russian spy as we were being bombarded by Uzi bullets.”

When they went to get past him, Wyler was NOT having it. There was NO way he was letting these four start shit with his daughter.

PASS.

Someone had to protect her, and the chuckle heads weren’t thinking clearly.

“STOP.”

Because it was said in irritation, they did.

When they turned around, he laid into them like he rarely did.

“This comes from a place of love, but if even one of you side-eye her, or make her sad, I’m going to go shit nuts up in this goddamn asylum.”

What the hell?

Where did this come from?

They stared at him.

He warned them.

“She’s carrying the load of this country on her shoulders, and she’s doing double duty sleeping with Moe, Larry, Curley, and Shemp. NONE of you will give her shit, or you’re going to see the definition of cantankerous old man up close and personal.”

“Dad,” Ethan began.

Wyler shut that shit down.

“You have a woman who will stand in the spray of bullets to put down someone who wants to hurt her family. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, it’s hard on the ego, but you married her. You looked at the badass in boots, and you thought that was a fun ride to get on.”

They were shocked he was tearing into them.

Mostly Gene.

Why?

He hadn’t said shit.

Only, Wyler wasn’t done.

“You love her wild and free spirit when it benefits your needs, but when she’s just being herself, BRAVE, you get your egos in a twist. You’re not angry with her. You’re angry she defended you, and the media made a comment.”

No one said shit.

That told him he was right.

“You put the weight of this family on her, Ethan. My father saddled her with being the core of this nut fest. She took it to heal our family. You, Callen, made her bend the rules and take care of your issues too.”

“HEY! Maybe mind your business?”

He threw an apple at him.

HARD.

“No. She deals with the insanity of this gene pool, and does it with grace. She has to worry about you,” he said, pointing at Chris. “Because you’re sick.”

He said nothing.

Wyler never raised his voice, unless it was about the kids trying to kill him.

Now, he was on a tear.

He pointed at Ethan again.

“Then, you bring home a boyfriend, and she takes that with grace too. She opens her heart and gives you what you need to be happy. HOW ABOUT YOU GIVE HER WHAT SHE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY?”

They stood there.

“And that would be?” Ethan asked.

“Four men who support her and know that she is who she is. She can’t help that she’s fearless and strong. She can’t help that she’s damn good at her job—a job that was dumped on her by the president. Instead of being assholes when she gets home, how about you try something novel?”

They didn’t say a word.

“LIKE SUPPORT?”

Wyler was bright red, and Ethan didn’t need to go back to the hospital with their father having a stroke.

“Okay, breathe,” he said. “You’re right. We’re just riled up.”

He wasn’t done.

“Then go to bed and leave her alone. Tomorrow, put her first, and swallow the fear, anger, and terror. God knows she does it for you. Callen is always traveling, and his fans are nuts. Chris has HIV, and is sick, and you, Ethan…you’ve made her work for it. For fifteen years, she’s hung in there supporting you when you wanted to rise to the top, only to hate it when you did. Just leave the woman alone, and let her handle things.”

Gene wanted to point one thing out.

“Notice, he didn’t yell at me,” he said, smiling.

Wyler focused on him.

“Are you having sex with my son?” he asked.

Gene swallowed.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then, you’re part of this shitshow. I saw her protecting you tonight by doting on you so the media wouldn’t bother you. They fear going after her because she fights back. So if you give her shit, I’m giving you shit.”

He raised his hands.

“I won’t,” he said.

Ethan continued to calm his father down.

“Okay, Dad,” Ethan said, hugging him. “You’re right. We’ll go to bed and be better in the morning. We won’t start an argument with her. I promise.”

Callen hugged him next.

Then Chris.

Finally Gene.

“I’m not being Shemp,” he said, making the man laugh.

Wyler wanted to see if his ONLY daughter was okay, so he sent them to bed.

“I’ll wait up for her. You just go to bed,” he said, not trusting the testosterone in this house.

In a house full of masculinity that tended to get out of hand, poor Elizabeth was the one dealing with all of it.

And frankly, if she walked from the men, he absolutely was getting stuck with custody of them.

And the kids.

Oh, and he didn’t want that.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dex’s Home

Middle Of The

Night

Three A.M.

Laying in the man’s spare bedroom, it had been a rough night for Max. When they got back from ice cream, he let him get off the Harley, and rolled it back into the garage for safe keeping.

Then, he took his spare helmet from him, and his leathers, and hung them up.

Closing the garage up, he walked away.

There was not a word said to him. In fact, there was nothing said for the last ten hours.

And it sucked.

Earlier, they’d had idle chitchat, and laughter. They had conversation and easiness.

And Max ruined that.

It was crystal clear that he’d insulted the man to the deepest part of his soul.

All evening, Dex had stayed outside working on a bookshelf—one that Max really believed he didn’t need, and when he came in, he showered and went right to bed.

At seven thirty.

There had been no pizza, no talking, and certainly no laughter. Once inside, he hadn’t been out of his room since.

And it freaked Max out.

Truth be told, he missed the easy conversation, and being around the man. He’d made him the best lunch he’d ever had, and taken him for ice cream.

No one had ever done that.

With most men it was a quick drink, a wild fuck, and then they were gone sometime in the middle of the night.

Dex had treated him like he was special, and Max really fucked that up. In the time he’d had to think about it, he realized that maybe, just maybe, all of that was what a date was supposed to be like.

Dex was just showing him what he could have, if he put a little more value in himself, and a little less in his all-consuming work.

For someone who was supposedly smart, he’d missed the lesson in this.

A good guy was going to treat you decently.

A shit guy was going to watch you get drunk or drugged and walk away because he didn’t want to take care of you.

He’d bet that if Dex saw someone drunk or in distress, he wouldn’t just shove him in a cab and walk.

Max didn’t know what to do with a gentleman, and he certainly didn’t know what to do with a cop anymore.

He’d been burned big-time by one.

When Dex left him alone, giving him space, Max tried to work, but he couldn’t focus on anything at that point.

Not his cases, and certainly not what was going on with him. For some reason, this man ignoring him was making him insane.

And he didn’t know why he cared.

He didn’t trust cops, so he shouldn’t give a shit if Dex hated his guts.

Well, he didn’t trust male cops. Elizabeth was a federal cop, and he trusted her with his life.

Obviously.

But a male cop?

No.

Now, he had to figure out first, why the silence was annoying, and second, why he cared what this man thought of him.

Because he did.

There was something there, and he knew it. The whole thing caught him off guard, and tripped him up.

As he lay there, arms behind his head, he listened to the silence of the house.

That’s when he heard a noise.

Sitting up, at first, he thought it was someone creeping around, but then, he realized it was Dex moving around his room.

Slowly, he opened the door and glanced down the hall. There was a light coming from under his door.

It appeared that Dex was up.

Maybe he needed to go apologize.

Maybe he needed to go talk to him.

Maybe he just needed to be near him.

For some reason, he liked being close to the man, and the chemistry…it was there. The ride on the motorcycle had been Heaven and Hell.

He’d loved it.

Now, he wanted to talk to him again. When he was a kid, his mother and father would silent treatment him, and it was damaging.

Max knew that he needed to apologize and hope that Dex would forgive him. He wanted more moments like yesterday.

For the first time, in a long time, since being betrayed by a cop, he wanted this one to look at him.

He wanted this one to see him.

Leaving the guest room, Max walked silently down the hallway, and stopped at his door to gather his courage. It wasn’t easy, and Max wished he had the courage he normally did in court.

There, he was unstoppable. Out in the world, he was anything but.

Only, he wanted to be near this man. So, he did the deed, and prayed it worked out.

When he knocked, he waited.

“Yes?” Dex finally asked.

Well, here went everything.

“May I talk to you for a minute?” Max asked through the door.

Inside, that caught the other man off guard.

Dex had been twitchy all night, and the worst thing was coming face-to-face with Max now. The bottom line was that he was attracted to the man, and when he accused him of wanting something, that rubbed him the wrong way. He wasn’t manipulative or being sneaky.

Dex was only trying to show him that there were people who would value him. With the one-night stands, and the man hopping, it was clear that Max was looking for something.

He said it was sex, but he was betting it was more.

LOVE.

He just wanted to do some things with him that clearly no one ever did before.

To him, it was distracting the man, but he knew better. He was attracted to Max, and he liked him.

Dex made up his mind.

“Sure.”

When he came in, the man was in a big bed that was made of wood and carved. He suspected he made it with his own hands.

Only, that wasn’t all he noticed.

Dex was in his bed, sheet at his waist, and his glasses on as he was reading a book.

And he looked sexy.

Jesus.

How did Max navigate this?

For him, sex was just a fundamental need men had. What he was feeling was more than that, and it had been a long time since anyone gave him this fluttering in the pit of his belly.

Why did the man have to be so goddamn good looking, and why the hell was he attracted to a flannel wearing cop who would likely trounce all over his damaged heart?

“You needed something?” Dex asked.

It was time to do the dance. As a child, he apologized a great deal. As an adult, he hated having to go back there, but this was the right thing to do.

Now, he felt so stripped bare.

“I came in to say that I’m sorry. I’ve clearly insulted you, and I didn’t mean to.”

Dex stared at him.

“That, Counselor, was a lie,” he said, bluntly calling out his apology.

That caught Max off guard.

He actually looked startled.

“Pardon?” he asked.

Dex got out of bed, and the whole time, Max was acutely aware of the man and his size. He was bigger than him, bulk wise, but not height.

Not only that, but he was in his boxer briefs, and they left NOTHING to the imagination.

Holy shit.

He forced himself to look up and not at the man’s dick. If he kept staring…

Dex didn’t want a confrontation, and it was rare that he’d instigate one, but this man had him all twitterpated, and that didn’t sit right with him.

He was attracted to him, and that was going to be a huge problem.

“You are cynical, and you meant what you said. You think I want something. I don’t.”

And that was a lie too.

A.

HUGE.

ONE.

This man had him all tied up in knots. Now, Max was standing there before him in his pajama bottoms, and Dex was curious.

He was wondering what was under them. Of course, the wealthy attorney was going to sleep in silk pajama bottoms, and of course, Dex was suddenly going to find that attractive.

Damn.

Why was he stumbling down this rabbit hole? Because it was a horrible idea to get involved with someone with so much baggage, but yet here they were.

Call him Alice.

The big question was why did he always feel like he needed to fix someone?

WHY?

“You’re right,” Max said. “Everyone in my world has an angle. Everyone has a goal. I just wanted to be up front with you and ask yours. No one is nice for no reason. You’re being incredibly nice. So why?”

Dex stood there.

They were eye-to-eye, and he desperately wanted to touch him. Having him wander around his house, his sacred space, and trying to avoid him…

It had been rough.

Now, he was in his bedroom, and this was the worst place he could come to confront him.

“You should go back to bed. There’s no point in having this conversation,” he said, wanting him to leave.

Dex knew he needed him out of his bedroom before this really went to the worst possible place.

Because the man was right.

He did have ulterior motives.

Dex was attracted to him.

“No, I’m not leaving until you tell me what it is that you want. I’m not some kid who has no clue. I’m a fifty-year-old man who has been around. I’m smart, Captain, and I know a scam when I see one.”

A scam?

Was he insane?

Jesus.

“You think I’m scamming you?” he asked. “You think me being nice is a scam? Maybe I’m a nice guy, Max. Maybe I’m doing something because I respect the work you do? Could that be it? Could it be that we’re both on the same side? I catch the criminals, and you put them away so they can’t hurt anyone else.”

He stared right in his eyes.

“No, it can’t be that. You know I’ll give you nothing back. I don’t do relationships, and I don’t do kind. I take care of me and business. That’s it.”

And that was exactly why Dex should send him to a safe house and call it a day.

This man was going to take his calm world, turn it upside down, and make him regret trying to start something. He knew the second he put his arms around him on the motorcycle.

And that pissed him off.

Max just told him, in his own way, there’d never be ice cream dates, or steaks on a grill in the backyard. He just told him that he was a mistake that would break Dex’s heart.

He didn’t love.

He fucked and walked away.

Oh, and Dex didn’t want that, but now, he was angry at how easily this man could just dismiss him, and not want to even get to know him.

He was a good guy.

He was a great guy.

“So just tell me. What do you want from me, Dex? Let’s be grownups here. Let’s lay it out on the table, and go from there,” Max said, angry that the man seemed not to have ulterior motives.

If that was right, he’d misjudged him, and Max was an EXCELLENT judge of character. He had to be.

It was his job.

From where Dex stood, he snapped.

Be grownups?

Dex was actually being one. Maybe Max should try that.

“What could I possibly get from you?” he asked. “Your autographed prison photo? We already know, Max, that your ‘fuck the world’ attitude will only get you in more of a mess that someone else has to clean up. So what can you actually give me but a mess to clean up?”

It was a low blow, and Dex knew it.

The words were out, and the hurt registered on the man’s face.

And there it was.

The truth.

It always came out. He might be nice to him, but he was thinking the same thing everyone else was.

He deserved this.

“I see. Thanks,” Max said, backing up from him. He’d come here to try, and he could see it wasn’t worth it. “I’ll leave in the morning. Thanks for the room,” he said. “I’m safer alone,” he whispered walking away.

Oh, shit.

That went too far.

Goddamn it.

This man brought out so much in him, and he hated that. He loathed that he couldn’t control his emotions around a man who wouldn’t give a shit about him.

He’d fuck and leave.

Been there.

Done that.

Only, Dex was a good guy, or he liked to think so.

“Max, wait,” Dex said, trying to fix this. Never let it be said that he wasn’t an idiot. If he was smart, he’d go back to bed, and let the man leave in the morning.

He was on vacation.

This was Elizabeth’s friend.

NOT.

HIS.

When he ignored him, he grabbed his arm, and the man spun to pull it away.

“Let go of me,” he said.

Dex dropped his wrist.

“Don’t put your hands on me. You can’t even fucking be honest with me. You have to make shitty comments. I’m entitled to ask why you’re being nice when I’ve met so many people who weren’t. I’m entitled to want to protect me when no one ever has. Life made me like this, Mr. Corbin. I wasn’t born cynical, or broken. I was made this way, so excuse me if I protect myself when no one else cares to.”

And that hung there.

It was shocking to hear him say it.

Max was done. He opened the door, and walked back down the hall to the spare room.

When he did, Dex cursed.

He’d fucked this up, and that wasn’t like him. He was good at reading a room, and now he saw that Max had really been hurt by someone before.

And he didn’t think it was only a man he loved at one point. This was a deep systematic abuse that he was recovering from, and that likely meant the man’s childhood.

When he pulled on pants, he heard footsteps down the stairs, and to the front door.

Holy shit!

Was he insane?

Was he leaving?

That was dangerous.

Because he had no choice, Dex pulled on his shoes, grabbed his hoodie, and ran after him.

Max was already halfway down the driveway when he caught up to him. Someone was hauling ass to get away.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

Thank God he didn’t have neighbors. They were about to make a scene.

He could tell.

“Anywhere but here. You don’t want me here, so I’m going. I’ll walk back to my home. I need time to calm the fuck down.”

They were twenty miles outside of DC. It was dark, and this was dangerous.

He wouldn’t be safe.

“Max!” he said jogging after him. “Come back inside and we’ll both calm down.”

It was chilly out, and he could see his breath.

“No thanks. I’m not doing this with you. You’re an asshole for thinking I don’t have the right to want to protect myself.”

He sputtered.

Dex was the asshole?

What?

He was protecting him by bringing him to his house. They didn’t know if this killer was targeting him or not. That put a potential bullseye on Dex.

“Don’t make me carry your ass back into that house because I will, Max. It’s not safe doing this, let alone pissed off.”

He laughed at the man.

“Oh, okay. Have a good life, Captain Corbin. Good luck with your next charity case.”

With that, he kept walking.

Charity case?

Was that what he thought this was?

Someone was oblivious.

Dex was incredibly attracted to the man. This had NOTHING to do with charity, and everything to do with need.

Which made it worse.

Because he was done, Dex knew he had no choice. He pulled out his cuffs, and caught up to him again. Once he did, he grabbed the man’s arm, and locked the cuff around his wrist.

“WHAT THE HELL?” Max asked, his eyes going huge outside in the dark night under the stars.

Dex said nothing.

Instead, he spun him, knocked his bag out of his hand, and pushed him against the tree to finish cuffing him.

Max was outraged.

“Are you insane? What the hell are you doing? You can’t treat me like a prisoner or criminal!”

Clearly, he was because he wasn’t done. He turned him around, tossed him over his shoulder, and carried him back into the house.

Like he’d told him he would.

Well, never let it be said that Dex wasn’t going to keep his word. He’d warned him.

“I gave you a choice, and you opted for this,” he said, fighting not to drop Max.

The whole time, Max was writhing and not making it easy for his captor.

“I’m going to drop you! Knock it off,” Dex said.

That didn’t calm him down.

Max fought harder.

Inside, he kicked the door closed, and carried him back upstairs. There, he brought him to his bedroom, and dropped him on the bed.

Then, he took the skeleton key that locked his door, locked it from the inside, and dropped it out his window.

Max gasped.

“ARE YOU INSANE? You can’t kidnap people, and lock them in your bedroom. What kind of lunatic are you?” he asked.

Only, he was incredibly turned on. No one had ever dared to do anything like that to him. No one had tossed him over their shoulder and took him to a bedroom.

What was wrong with him?

Why was this erotic?

He should be terrified.

Only, he wasn’t.

Dex pointed at him.

“Clearly. Because you were right. I did want something from you,” he said, as Max was up and fighting mad.

“Let me out of these cuffs!” he ordered, and when he went at Dex, the man caught his face in his hands, and with gentleness, he kissed him.

Dex hoped it calmed the situation down.

Well, it did something all right.

It caught Max off guard.

As Dex’s mouth moved over his, he was dumbstruck. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one that had been checking the other man out.

He deepened the kiss, and Max wasn’t fighting it. In fact, he was kissing him back.

With the key in his hand, he fumbled to unlock the one cuff, so Max’s arms were free. When he did, Dex expected a fight.

He didn’t get one.

Oh, it was anything but.

Instead, Max wrapped his arm around his neck, and held on through the kiss.

It was picking up heat like a newly lit fire. It started as a spark, but went to a raging three-alarm fire.

Neither man stopped the kiss, but they both added fuel to it, desperate to get as much from this mating of mouths as they could.

When they broke the kiss, Dex stared into his eyes.

“That’s what I wanted. That was my ulterior motive right there. I’m attracted to you, and for the life of me, I don’t know how to make you see that I only want a chance. I’m a cop, and you hate me.”

That hung there.

Max had never been kissed like that before, and he didn’t understand how he felt that adoration in just a kiss. The man before him didn’t make him feel anything less than…cared about.

This was a first.

Dex was honest.

“I made you lunch, and took you for ice cream, Max, because that was a date. I wanted you to see that not all men are like the ones you sleep with. Not all men are going to watch you get drunk and not care if you get home okay. I’m not one of them. If you got drunk on a date with me, I’d make sure you got home safe, and then, I’d go home to call you in the morning. I’d protect you.”

No, he certainly wasn’t like the others.

Dex wasn’t done.

“I don’t do one-night stands, Max. If that’s what you want, I’ll let you go. I’ll climb out the window and go get that key. Just tell me to.”

Max’s heart was thumping.

He’d only ever felt love once in his life, and it burned him bad. He’d trusted once, and it cost him nearly everything he had.

That was the problem.

He was scared.

“I don’t know how to do anything else than have one-night stands. A cop broke me,” he whispered. “I don’t know how to react to you, Dex. I’ve never had someone care about me. It’s always been about what they can get.”

Dex was a patient man.

“Then let a cop fix you. I only want to see you happy like you were with that ice cream. I only want to hear you laugh. I’m a good guy. I swear that you can trust me. I won’t hurt you. I’ll protect you no matter what.”

They stood there, staring into each other’s eyes, as Dex waited for Max to make up his mind.

Honestly, Dex could read people, and this time, he had no idea where this was going to go.

Then, he saw the answer in the man’s eyes. It was quick, and his mind was made up.

Max found his mouth again, and this time, it was a four-alarm fire. It was nuclear as he went against the man, showing him trust.

Even when he couldn’t muster it anymore, he found a little left that he could use.

Honestly, Max didn’t want any more one-night stands. He just hoped Dex was legit. If not, this was going to break him all over again, and he was already at rock bottom.

He was a lonely fifty-year-old man who wanted what everyone else had.

LOVE.

Dex pulled him against him, and his hands wandered. He pulled off his hoodie, and tossed it aside.

Max did the same thing.

As they fought that kiss, they clawed and dug at each other’s clothing to get it free from their bodies.

When they were naked, Dex used his strength to turn them, and get Max with his back toward the bed. Then, he got them onto the bed.

Max moaned.

Neither man spoke, but Dex was definitely planning out his moves. He knew Max had plenty of sexual partners, but he wanted this to be different.

He was going to woo the man.

Just in case he planned on making this a one-night stand, he had a plan.

As Dex began kissing down Max’s body, he arched into his mouth and those wet kisses.

“Please,” Max whispered, as Dex was focused on his belly button, and the trail that led to his dick. He should have felt silly with one hand in a cuff, but he didn’t.

He felt calm.

Oddly so.

Dex blew warm air across his erection, and it bobbed. He wanted to taste the man in the worst way.

So he did.

When he began blowing him, Max’s hands were in his hair, as he held on. Max had gotten and given plenty of head in his life.

He was the king of one-night stands, and perfected the fucking.

But this felt different.

There was tenderness and love. Dex was worshiping his erection, like he mattered.

That was what was missing from his life.

THIS.

When he looked down, the man was staring up at him, watching him with his mysteriously dark eyes.

He was struggling to hold on.

“I’m about to cum,” he warned, his body shaking from the man’s oral assault.

Dex dragged his teeth up his entire dick, setting Max off like fireworks.

He came so hard.

Shouting his name, he felt the man swallowing every drop, and letting Max ride out the wave of pleasure. When he opened his eyes, Dex was above him, staring down into his eyes.

“That was amazing,” Max whispered.

Dex grinned.

“Well, Counselor, buckle up. I’m going to show you how non-one-night stand sex is done.”

Truthfully, Max didn’t know what that meant.

Until the man locked his wrists above his head. When he did, Max moaned.

Oh, Jesus.

This man was ridiculously sexy, and really good in bed. There was no way he’d be able to walk away after this, and he knew it.

Deep down, Max prayed that Dex did it right. He was rooting for him. Max needed a hero for once. It was exhausting being everyone else’s.

Now, Max was desperate for a chance. Money and power didn’t buy you this one feeling.

Joy.

As he locked him to his headboard, Dex went back to torturing him with nips, bites, and kisses. Max was moaning in pleasure, and he knew he was doing it right.

“More,” Max begged, his dick hard again, and his balls tucked back up into his sac. “Please.”

Oh, well, he was going to get that.

And more.

He grabbed a pillow, and shoved it under the man’s hips, so he could feast on his dick, balls, and ass. He’d wanted to see what was under the man’s silk pajama bottoms…

And now he did.

Dex knew how to make love to someone. He’d had plenty of practice before he’d been burned. So, he showed Max a good time, and how a lover worshipped a body. The whole time, he could tell that Max was lost in the eroticism.

Not one inch of him was spared, and by the time Dex had his fun, Max was so hard that he, clearly, needed to cum again.

Reaching into the nightstand, he grabbed a condom, and tore the metallic package open. Then, he slowly rolled it down his erection.

The whole time, Dex was making sure Max was watching him. There was nothing more erotic than watching someone roll a condom down.

You knew what was coming.

“I hope you like being fucked,” he said, giving him the chance to stop him.

“I like both,” he said, knowing Dex would understand what he was saying.

He was a switch.

“Perfect,” he said, nudging his ass with his erection. As he began sliding into him, Max bucked from the thickness of the man’s cock.

It filled him.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, as his legs went around Dex’s hips, and he prepared for sex. When he was ball’s deep in him, he stared up into his eyes. “Set me free,” he whispered. “Please.”

Ask and he shall receive.

Dex made the key appear, as he got accustomed to being in the man’s ass.

He was tight, and he was perfect. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t already on the cusp of cumming. Only, he had to hold on.

If he was only getting one chance to make this man want more of this with him, he had to deliver.

When he unlocked the man’s hands, Max pulled him down, and started kissing him, as Dex’s hips took over.

Instead of fucking, he made love to him.

It wasn’t rough, it wasn’t insane, but it was deliciously wicked.

“Oh, God,” Max whispered, opening his eyes, and struggling to focus. “If you keep that up, I’m cumming,” he admitted.

Dex knew.

He was hitting that one spot, over and over again. He wanted to cum too, but he wanted to show Max what he could give him.

Love.

If he took a chance on him, there would be so much more than just sex.

Dex had it once before, and that was what he was looking for again.

On top of that, he was willing to bet that was what the man needed.

A good.

Old-fashioned.

Fucking.

Dex kept moving, and when he held onto Max’s hips, he shoved him over the edge, making the man cum again. He shot cum onto his own chest, as Dex worked his ass over.

“OH, FUCK!” he shouted, as he saw stars, lights, and colors flash before his eyes.

It was when Dex let him float, and he began licking and kissing the splash of cum from Max that the man’s dick went right back into the upright position.

Dex smiled down at him.

“And that’s what I wanted from you,” he said, when Max was staring into his eyes.

He’d been wrong.

The man was just kind and giving. It made him want to question the lover who broke his heart. Why would you give up someone who made you feel like this?

For a woman?

He’d never.

Max had seen plenty of bad in his life to understand when someone good was before him. Dex was super giving in bed.

This was more than a one-night stand. He’d given him all the pleasure, and taken none for himself.

Max wanted to be with someone like that.

He wanted to be someone like that.

Since Dex had told him he didn’t sleep and run, Max knew he’d have to do things differently. He’d have to work for it, and maybe, just maybe, they might work out.

He just hoped he didn’t get scared and screw this up.

When he pulled him down, their tongues tangled, and they both fell back into the pleasure.

This time, Max took control, and rolled, getting the bigger man under him. When he straddled his body, he ran his hands up his chest.

“I was watching you,” he admitted. “You have a really nice body, Captain.”

He grinned.

“I know you were. It was distracting. If we’re going to be honest, Max, I wanted you watching me. I’ve always thought you were sexy, but I couldn't shoot my shot until I found out you were gay.”

Max was honest.

“I’m going to fuck this up, Dex,” he admitted. “I don’t know how to be like you. I’ve been running a long time.”

Dex believed in him.

“Don’t think. Just do. We’ll fix it along the way. You didn’t leave when I warned you. You can’t leave now, Max. You’ll break me now. I’m vested in us. I’m putting all the faith I have left in me on you.”

He didn’t want this man to be broken.

No.

Instead, he gave him the same treatment, kissing down his body, and right to his dick. Expertly, he got the condom off, and dropped it off the bed.

Then, he ran his tongue around the tip, wetting it. He could taste the man’s pre cum, and it made him want more.

It was his turn to make him wild.

He began blowing him, and he went hard. He pulled out every trick in the book, and Dex just held on like his life depended on it.

“Oh, Jesus! Max!”

They both had different styles, and it was clear they were going to do it their way,

Yeah, and Dex was here for it.

As Max worked him hard, his body shook.

“Please make me cum,” he begged, as his balls ached, and he wanted to pour down this man’s throat in the worst way.

He gave him what he wanted.

By sucking on the tip, and jerking him off, Max made the eruption happen.

Max took him deep, swallowing all of his cum, and then, he went right back to blowing him. It caught Dex off guard, and he moaned as his dick was right back in the same precarious position.

Upright.

Max stared up his body, and enjoyed the man’s pleasure. He was drinking it up, like no one he’d ever been with before.

His one-night stands were rough, hard fuckings, where the alcohol drove the bus, and in the morning, the shame came knocking.

He wasn’t going to feel guilty in the morning.

Not.

At.

All.

When he stopped blowing him, to suck one of his balls into his mouth, Dex whimpered.

“Please,” he begged.

Max got him right to the edge, and kept him there, so he was tortured by the pleasure.

He begged.

He pleaded.

“Tell me what you want,” Max said, still stroking Dex’s dick.

“Fuck me. Please,” he whispered, wanting to feel the man in him.

Max went to grab a condom, and Dex stopped him.

“I trust you,” he said. “I’m safe,” he whispered.

Max was too.

“I don’t have sex without condoms,” he said.

Dex took that as he wanted one. When he reached into the drawer, Max stopped him.

“No, Dex. I’m clean.”

He stared at him.

“I’m not offering up a one-night stand,” he admitted. “I want more.”

That was what Max wanted. Suddenly, he wanted to know what it would be like having someone he could trust. Someone he could talk about his day with, or see occasionally at work.

“Why?” Dex asked.

Max was honest.

“Because you’re a good cop, and one of the good guys. I’m putting my faith in you.”

And that said it all.

Max moved closer, and he let Dex use his thighs to support his hips. Then, he slowly began slipping into him. The whole time, Max moaned.

He was really tight, and it was clear it had been a while. When he was finally buried in his ass, he caught his breath.

He wanted to see where this went because honestly, he’d tried doing it the other way, and Max didn’t like that outcome.

Slowly, he began moving, and he didn’t like the angle. He wasn’t getting deep enough.

Pulling out, he caught Dex off guard.

“I can’t do this.”

He stared at him.

“Roll over. I need a better angle,” he said, wanting to check out the man’s ass, and look at all of his tats up close and personal.

There was relief, and he did as he asked.

When he was on his knees, Max got into place, and was back in his ass.

And he enjoyed every second of it.

Both men did.

He rode him hard, watching his dick slide in and out of his ass. He enjoyed the ink, and most of all, he loved how his ass tightened down on him.

“Not lasting long,” Max whispered. “So hard,” he added.

Dex moaned, and he felt the second Max exploded, filling him with his cum.

It made him insane, and now, he needed to cum again.

As Max leaned on him, Dex gave him a second, and then, was up, and moving behind him. He slipped into his body, and kept him braced against his chest.

“Mr. Holder, you make me insane,” he said, as his hips began doing all the work, and Max moaned at the invasion. Dex’s one hand was on his chest, and the other on his dick.

He suspected they were going over together.

“Can you give me one more?” Dex asked, jerking him off.

Well, if he kept that up, hell, yeah.

He nodded, and when he turned his head, they began kissing and fucking.

For the first time, in a long time, Max got lost in a kiss, and he stayed that way until his balls quaked.

Breaking the kiss, he warned him.

“Oh, fuck! I’m going to cum!” he shouted, as Dex really began pounding into his ass.

Max was torn from the edge, and he took the other man with him. Together, they fell through the freefall, landing on the bed.

Spent.

Beneath him, Max couldn’t move. It was likely because the bigger man was pinning him to the bed. Now, his brain was scrambled.

It was when he felt Dex taking care of him, covering him up, and pulling him against him that he sighed in contentment.

He didn’t know how they’d make this work.

Or if they could.

But he knew the chemistry was real.

Closing his eyes, he knew when the lights went off, and Dex returned to cuddle with him.

And he was scared.

This time for one very different reason.

Max might get hurt.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The White House

Five In The Morning

Unfortunately for everyone, it had been a long sleepless night. The closest that Gabe got to sleeping was a ten-minute nap at his desk before the Secretary of State woke him up.

It wasn’t long enough to be refreshing, but that was his cross to bear. This was what he’d signed up for, and now, he needed to lead.

When he first woke up from his nap, Alessandra was passed out on the couch, and he’d watched her for a few minutes while he waited for coffee to come up from the kitchen.

All night, he’d prayed that she didn’t get angry at him over not being able to give her the time a new relationship needed.

That was his big fear, and even though she told him that she was good, he was still wary.

He’d been trained to expect an angry woman, and now, he was waiting for it.

After the coffee came and she woke up, Alessandra went to go get situated in her office. Now that the shit had calmed down a little, Gabe needed to talk to her.

She was going to be doing another press briefing shortly, and he knew he was going to be tied up until later that morning.

When he’d schedule in a nap.

The military issue was resolving, but now, unfortunately, he’d missed his window of opportunity to get the lady alone.

And that sucked.

He wanted a date night.

Because he needed to see her, Gabe made up an excuse to the people in the Oval, and went to go find her.

She wasn’t in her office, and that worried him. So much, so, that he went looking for her.

That’s when he heard her on the phone, talking to someone. She was in the hallway leaning against the wall with her voice low.

“Yeah, no, I’m not giving you a scoop, Donald. I don’t care that we worked together. I don’t work for GTNN. I work for the President of the United States and the people in this country.”

Oh, shit.

Now, he had no choice.

Gabe eavesdropped, stepping into a room nearby.

“No. I’m not leaking anything. That you think I would risk National Security for a news scoop is insane. I’m loyal to Gabriel Rothschild and this administration.”

She paused again.

“I’m not a reporter anymore. Like I just said, my loyalty lies with Gabriel Rothschild. I’m his freaking Press Secretary. What I see is none of your goddamn business. What I hear is not getting leaked by me. So pound sand.”

Then, she hung up, and sighed.

In that moment, Gabe was aware that he had gotten lucky. Alessandra Barber was a good one.

And he wanted her to know that.

As he heard her heels coming down the hallway, it was when she was by the door that he reached out, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her into the room.

He caught her off guard, and had he not had her, she would have fallen in her heels.

“Gabriel!” she said, gasping.

He grinned at her.

“What? You’re going to show a man what he’s missing, and not think he’s going to dwell on it?” he asked, holding her against him.

And he was hard.

ROCK.

HARD.

“What are you doing in this little room?” she asked, enjoying how he felt against her.

“This,” he said.

Finding her lips, he slowly, wickedly kissed her, making love to her mouth.

Immediately, she melted into him.

As his hand was on her ass, he didn’t let go. This kiss felt too good, and he was excited to have a woman he could trust.

Alessandra was a gem.

When he slowly broke the kiss, they were both breathless.

She blinked, the lust making it hard to think.

“Ms. Barber, I’ve been thinking about you all night,” he whispered.

She wrapped her hands around his neck.

“Well, Mr. President, watching you work has been nothing short of spectacular.”

His body craved hers.

“I know I ruined our date.”

She stopped him.

“You didn’t ruin anything, Mr. President, but I do look forward to you ruining my lingerie at another time.”

Oh, Jesus.

Gabe pictured it.

He was so hard.

“You’re making it difficult to think, but I have a plan. Are you up for a different kind of date?” he asked, knowing that he needed this woman.

She was curious.

“You have my attention, Gabriel. What are you thinking?” she asked.

He kept his voice low.

“My kids will be in school all day, and I have some free time after your press conference. How about breakfast in bed? My bed?”

Her heart was racing.

“Oh, Mr. President, that is intriguing.”

He loved how she actually enjoyed his job and called him that. It made it wickedly erotic, and hard to resist the fact that she was letting him have the power.

Yep.

She was absolutely a treasure.

“Will there be more than breakfast in bed?” she asked, flirting.

He had his hand on her ass, and he didn’t feel panty lines, so there was no doubt she was in that G-string. The mere idea was driving him insane. What he wanted was her beneath him in bed, as they had a moment.

“Absolutely. We can have some time together, and then, maybe nap because I’m old.”

She didn’t like him talking like that about himself. He’d pulled a marathon night, and done good things to make sure people were safe.

Taking a chance, she cupped him through his dress pants, and it did what she wanted.

He went harder.

“There are no old men here,” she said.

That was all it took.

He found her mouth with his, and Gabe went wild. He loved how she made him feel virile, strong, and sexy. He craved how she let him lead.

The man was back.

She brought that out in him.

When he pressed her to the wall, his knee went between her legs, and she opened for him. He loved that she was letting him do whatever he wanted to do.

When he was almost out of control, he slowly set her free.

“Oh, Lessa, the things I want to do in bed with you,” he whispered. “You make me insane.”

“Yes, please,” she said.

His lips were by her ear.

“You’re not wearing that G-string, are you?” he asked, his whole being devastated by how she felt and smelled.

She shook her head.

“No, I took that off hours ago to lure in the President of the United States.”

His brain nearly went haywire. It was that not-so-obvious flirting that made him insane. She was a lady, but she had a wicked side.

That was his kink.

“God, I want to touch you,” he admitted.

Oh, she wanted that.

“Then touch me, Mr. President,” she said. “I’m yours to touch.”

That masculinity rose up, and his hand slipped up her thigh, under that pretty dress, and to the wetness between her legs.

She was soaking wet, and he’d done that to her. He’d turned her on, and she wasn’t faking it.

Gabe knew they shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help it. He found her clit, and rubbed it.

The whole time, she shook in his arms.

“Oh, Lessa, when I get you under me in bed, I’m going to dine on you like no man ever has before,” he promised. “I can’t wait to cum in you,” he admitted, driving her wild.

“Mr. President,” she whimpered.

What he wanted was to lay her on her back, and slide into her body until he could cum.

What he’d do is show her what it could be if she gave him a chance.

“When I get you in my bed, Ms. Barber, you’re going to scream my name,” he whispered, slipping fingers into her to make her moan.

She was dizzy.

“Tell me what you’ll call me,” he whispered. “Tell me who’ll be fucking you.”

She was on the cusp.

“You will be, Mr. President,” she whimpered.

God.

He wanted her.

“I want to break so many rules with you,” he admitted, keeping her trapped against the wall. “When I need you and want you, Ms. Barber, I’m going to have you in my bed and the Oval Office.”

He pictured her riding him in his desk chair, her gorgeous dark hair wild and free.

With his free hand, he tugged her dress open, and tugged on her bra. Her deliciously full breast came free from her bra, and he caught the nipple with his mouth.

“Mr. President,” she whispered, as he bit her nipple and made her shake.

When he set it free, he stared into her eyes.

“You’re mine now, Alessandra. Do you understand? I won’t take no for an answer. We’ve started something, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

She was ready to cum.

With his lips by her ear, he told her what he wanted. Oh, he was desperate.

“Let me see you cum,” he whispered. “Let me see you break apart.”

And she did.

She came hard, and he’d been holding her up as her legs got weak, her pussy got wetter, and her nipples pebbled.

Fuck.

She was hot.

As she floated back from the orgasm, he watched her with so much need.

And she saw it.

Before he could say anything, she went to her knees and stared up at him.

“Let me take care of you, Mr. President,” she whispered, undoing his belt.

Oh, fuck.

He couldn’t breathe.

Was she going to give him head?

Without him asking?

Apparently, she was.

When she tugged down his boxers, his rock-hard dick popped out, and she went wild on it.

Alessandra had never been manhandled quite like this, and honestly, it was beyond erotic. She wanted this man to feel free to trap her against any wall in the White House.

As she blew him, Gabe couldn’t breathe.

He was mesmerized as he watched her head bob up and down his erection. She was lavishing all the attention on it, and his leg was shaking.

Oh, God, he loved his life.

When she stopped, and looked up at him, his heart thumped in his chest.

“I hope I get to do this a lot,” she said, going right back to blowing him.

His balls ached, his hand was wet from her pussy, and his dick was being manhandled by a hot, younger woman.

This was the life.

“Lessa, Honey, if you keep that up, I’m cumming. It’s been a while.”

She didn’t let up. Instead, she gave his balls a tug, and it did what she wanted.

Gabe came.

HARD.

He had to muffle his shout by biting his lip, but he’d wanted to scream in joy.

He.

Was.

Back.

For the longest time, he worried he’d not be able to get back on that horse.

Well, he was definitely fine.

No.

He was good.

As he watched through blurry eyes, she licked him one last time, to catch some wayward cum, and then tucked him back into his pants.

Lessa redid the belt, and then, he helped her up.

“Mr. President, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed that,” she whispered in his ear. “That’s a little preview of what you’ll get later in your bed.”

He loved his life.

“Lessa…”

She stopped him.

“You’re the most powerful man in the world,” she whispered. “I’m lucky you picked me to be with you. I’ll never forget that I was your choice.”

His heart skipped.

She was definitely his choice.

When she picked up his fingers, and sucked her own wetness from them, Gabe was back to being hard all over again.

“I love that you’re pantiless,” he whispered, as he rubbed his thumb over her berried nipple.

“So, then tell me you want me pantiless, Mr. President, so it’s easier to fuck me.”

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

Gabe knew what he wanted, and this woman brought it out in him. This desire…

He’d never felt it before.

With Livy, and he loved her so much, she was tough and liked to be in charge. It emasculated him in a way, but with Lessa, she liked him bossy, demanding, and in control.

He’d make that worth her time.

He vowed it silently in his head.

“Later,” he whispered.

For now, he had to let her go. There was no other choice.

Someone would come looking for him.

“We’ll finish this in my bed.”

She ran her fingers down his cheek.

“Okay, Mr. President.”

God.

He loved it when she called him that. It gave him his masculinity back.

“I’ll have the staff set you up in the Jefferson bedroom. Sneak down to mine, and we’ll have our date. We have to make sure we’re up before the kids come home. They’ll come looking for me.”

She could do that.

“I should go first, Mr. President. We wouldn’t want anyone to think you were in here fucking me on that table.”

He swallowed and admired his younger girlfriend. Then, he was honest.

“Uh, yes, I actually might want that.”

She laughed.

“See you in bed later. You know what I want for our bedroom picnic. They’re small, square, and filled with cream.”

Oh, he knew.

“You’ll have them, Ms. Barber.”

She had news for him.

“And that’s not all I want filled with cream,” she added, and with that, she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Holy shit.

He was so hard all over again.

Gabe couldn’t wait for after the press conference. He was going to have breakfast, and Alessandra Barber, in bed.

A few times.

And he was going to love every second of it.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Fort

Six A.M.

Her Office

For Elizabeth, nothing was making sense. She’d pulled an all-nighter, caffeinating herself, as she tried to work this out, but it wasn’t connecting. It was so bad that Elizabeth had her whiteboard up, and couldn’t fill it in.

Nothing was matching up.

There was no way she was going to sleep until she figured this out. It just wasn’t happening. First, she was working on the case, and then, she was worried about Takoda.

An hour ago, she got a text message back from him, that he was safe—but it was short, sweet, and to the point.

That was the first time all night she was able to relax and the pounding in her heart stopped.

An armed crazy could come at her, trying to kill her, and she would be calm, but not when one was shooting at her baby.

Now that she was focused on Max and his case, she was befuddled as to where the hell this case was taking them.

It was a wild goose chase.

It had to be.

She’d worked over one thousand homicide cases in her career, and this one was the first where on the start of the second day, she had NOTHING.

Literally, nothing.

On the list on the board, she had all of the victims, and not one connected to Max.

​Faith Lee—the accountant.

​Zara Tyler—the reporter.

​Eden Andre—the yoga instructor.

They ran Max’s financials. His accountant, and she looked, was a man, and didn’t connect to Faith Lee.

Callen ran it.

She ran it.

Hell!

There was nothing to find.

On top of that, they ran EVERY news story that Zara Tyler did, and not one was on Max. In fact, most of them were fluff pieces, where she talked about travel—something Max never did.

Lastly, she re-did Callen’s deep dive on Eden Andre, the woman who taught HOT YOGA at a local sports club. She’d had Gabby hack into their system, bless her tired soul, to see if Max attended there.

He didn’t.

NOT.

AT.

ALL.

So much for the ‘he paid cash’ angle. The man was clean, and this was leading nowhere.

Could this killer just be picking random people to kill, fucking with her?

To draw her out?

Was this all about the Russians spies?

Jesus.

This wasn’t a fun one.

After figuring out this didn’t tie up in a bow, she called Chrissy, and the tech team headed over to Max’s house around four in the morning to sweep for trace.

In case she was wrong.

What did they find there?

NADA.

Like Dex had texted her last night, when they left the man’s home, it was pristine.

No one was skinned there.

To make sure that it hadn’t been cleaned up, which would bite her in the ass in front of Jane Winters, Chrissy called her ten minutes ago with results.

Scientific ones.

Max’s bed only had his DNA, and there wasn’t a speck of blood, except for in the bathroom on his razor.

And it was his.

On top of that, they found out that the blood on the crime scene was definitely animal—a pig.

What was that about?

Was the killer telling her something?

Or was it just the fact that the killer was setting a bloody scene that was meant to startle?

Yeah, she needed a profile on this.

Also, since nothing was adding up to Max being a killer, that was making it difficult for her to set up interviews. She was running out of possibilities.

They basically only had Nagato as a possible place where this killer could have targeted him. Max went there a lot, and he’d been roofied there. What they did know was there was a brunette who helped max to the car.

According to the bartender.

How did a skinned accountant, a dead reporter, and a dead yoga instructor all tie to The United States Attorney General?

When Chrissy couldn’t find anything damning at Max’s, she had her close up his house again, and head back to the morgue.

Hopefully, today, with more interviews, they’d figure this out.

Later that morning, she had to go visit Max’s office, and talk to the attorney who openly said she wanted to get his job. That was the ONLY person so far that she knew might be gunning for Max.

That would be a good motive for setting him up.

Yowza.

She was tired.

An all-nighter was a bad idea at any age, but knocking at the fifties was making it even worse.

When there was a knock on her door, she looked up and was surprised at what she saw. Standing in the doorway was Takoda.

Oh, she was up fast.

“Oh, God,” she said, racing toward him.

When she reached him, Takoda held her. The bigger man tucked his mother’s body into his to reassure her.

Yeah, he was a grown Marine, but he was her baby bird, and always would be.

“Koda, are you okay?” she asked, taking his face in her hands.

He knew she was worried. His mom was the best mother in the world, and he was lucky to have her.

“Yeah, I got yanked from training,” he said, brushing her hair from her face. His wedding band shined on his finger, and she just took in the man he’d become.

She was proud.

“What happened?” she asked, leading him in to sit on the couch in the office.

He told her.

“We were in line for food, and all of a sudden, the alarms started going off. We all ran out, and there was gunfire. Someone killed a bunch of Marines. They said they think it was because of me.”

She listened.

“This Marine that I now believe has been following me around grabbed me, shoved me in a Humvee, and went with me as two Marines got me to the airport. I’m hella pissed about that. I think the president put a Marine babysitter on me and I had no freaking clue. I’m already getting enough shit about being stationed at Quantico, and now this special treatment. I should be there with them.”

She pointed out one thing.

“Getting you stationed at Quantico was NOT me, and neither was getting you pulled after the shooting. I didn’t know what happened until about one in the morning.”

Oh, he was aware.

He reassured her.

“I know, Mom. The president was all over me like tan on Native. The Marines babysitting me told me he wanted me removed from danger.”

Thank God for Gabe.

She was going to kiss him when she saw him.

“Well, in his defense, you are the father of his grandchild and his son-in-law.”

He was aware.

Coraline was the ONLY reason he wasn’t losing his shit over this. Koda knew there were some battles he could fight, and some he couldn’t.

That was one of the ‘couldn’t’ ones.

“So,” he said, trying to be calm but there was a big pink elephant in the room.

Her insane bravery.

“Want to tell me why were you on the news getting shot at?” he asked. “Last I looked, we have a houseful of security that is supposed to deter that kind of thing. Did you kill Ivan with this stunt?”

She laughed.

“Oh, God. Not you too. Your fathers are already going to kick my ass today. I’m waiting for it. As for Ivan, he’s asleep in my Navigator. He said he can’t trust me not to do, and I quote, ‘more dumbass, overly brave woman shit that’s going to get my ass full of holes and trouble’.”

He wasn’t amused.

“Maybe stop that,” he stated. “It makes me twitchy,” Koda admitted.

She shrugged.

“Why? What did I do to you now?” she said, palming his cheek with love.

What did she do?

Oh, he could go with the ‘scare the shit out of him being a cowboy’ because she had no sense of well-being, but he went with the other part.

“Maybe because as I was being transported in a private plane, I had to listen to a bunch of soldiers talk about how they’d do you in a heartbeat. Apparently, my Mom has quite the ass on her, and they would love a piece of it. I don’t know if I need to track them down and kill them or just go directly to therapy.”

She snorted.

“I mean, I am hot, so…”

He laughed.

“Mom, you scare me,” he admitted, hoping she understood.

She had news for him.

“Baby bird, you do the same. If you think for one second having a child who is a Marine is a non-stop trip down Funsies Lane, you’re out of your mind, Soldier.”

He got it.

“Point made, Deputy Director.”

She was curious.

“Other than the shoot-a-rama, how was training going?”

He shrugged.

“Good. I can now load a gun in the dark, with teargas, and flashbangs going off all around me. I hope I never have to prove that.”

She understood that.

Honestly, she could do the same, not because she had been a soldier, but because of Charlie and the lunatics around her.

She did love her some Marines.

When Koda yawned, she knew what he needed.

“Come on, let’s get coffee,” she said. “It’s going to be a long day for both of us.”

He reminded her of one thing.

“You didn’t tell me how you were getting shot at in a party dress and that dead animal hanging off your shoulder.”

She snorted.

“It’s a mink stole. Your fathers bought it. It has pockets.”

He knew she was deflecting for him.

Only, that wasn’t going to work. He might only be eighteen, but he would do whatever he had to do to make sure she was safe.

She was the other love of his life beside Coraline, and their baby.

“Mom. You’ve got to be careful. You’re the part of this family that keeps it together. Try a little less crazy, and a little more bob and weave. You didn’t even duck.”

She was well aware.

“I had to stop the car. I was focused on that, but I was aware of the bullets. You’re always aware when you’re being shot at.”

He shook his head and then touched the bullet graze on her cheek. That had been way too close for him.

“Duck next time. Do it for me, and for Oliver. He’s going to need his Gigi.”

Oh, well, he had her at ‘next time’.

“I promise. Come on, and let’s have some coffee. I need it before I get my ass handed to me by your fathers. Hopefully, they don’t see the news.”

Oh, he hoped not.

The jet that transported him had a TV, and he would never forget the way his mother stood there in her red-bottomed shoes and shot her gun. She legit didn’t flinch as the car behind her took round after round of hits, and she stayed steady.

The Marines on the jet didn’t just think she was hot. They thought she was a Marine in a past life, and he believed it. His mother was beyond badass.

No one was coming near his kid when Gigi was watching his son.

That was for damn sure.

Together, they headed into the kitchen, hand-in-hand. Once there, they had coffee.

Elizabeth was in a much better mood. This was far more productive than staring at a board that was getting her nowhere.

“Did you stop and see Cora?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“She’s stop two. I would have headed there first, but I was terrified you’d try to find me and dismantle the Marines in the process.”

She laughed.

“It did come to mind.”

“Also, Cora wasn’t getting shot at, so…you seemed to be the top of the list when it came to making sure a woman in my life was okay.”

She loved this boy.

“Ah, Koda, if only your fathers had that calm that you have.”

Oh, he wasn’t calm.

He was just accustomed to hell going down around him. Marine training prepared him for anything.

While they were reminiscing, that’s when she heard the men heading down from the bedroom.

“Duck,” she said, getting him to hide behind the counter near her legs.

Maybe, if she threw Koda at them, they wouldn’t ride her ass like a cheap pair of panties. The last thing she wanted was a fight.

She.

Was.

Tired.

When the men came in, she waited for them to argue with her. Instead, they sat at the island and were calm.

What was this?

Did they get swapped out for pod people?

Instead of asking, she went with the obvious.

“Coffee?” she asked, not wanting to have the men come around the counter and see Koda.

They nodded.

“Good, because we have to talk,” Elizabeth said. “I know you’re angry, but we have other issues that take precedence.”

Chris lifted a brow.

“Angry? No. Scared. You’re terrifying, Elizabeth, and this conversation is exhausting.”

Well, she had news for him.

She wasn’t the only one who had a close call. Only, she was battle scarred and trained to handle shit when it hit the fan.

“I’m with Chris,” Callen said. “No one terrifies me more,” he admitted.

Oh, she knew one person who could put him in a tizzy more than her.

He was in fatigues and sitting on the floor by her legs as he tried not to laugh.

“I want to yell,” Ethan said, “but I’m trying to stay rational,” he admitted.

It pissed them all off that she never came to bed. They just weren’t sure if it was to work or avoid them. Then again, she looked tired, so it was likely the latter.

Gene shrugged.

“I’m staying out of this, since you’re my boss, and not my wife yet. Then, we’ll have a different discussion.”

Oh, brother.

Not him too.

Well, she had news for them.

“I saw Gabe, and he told me something disturbing, and you four need to hear it.”

They all waited.

She was about to distract them off of her stunt.

“Yesterday, an armed person got onto a Marine base and shot the place up. Six Marines were killed. It was a bloodbath.”

That was all she had to say.

Callen stared at her.

“What Marine Base?” he asked, holding his breath. There was no way she was going to say…

“It was Takoda’s. Apparently, this was about him being the president’s son-in-law. As we suspected, he’s going to be wearing a bullseye.”

That was all Callen had to hear.

He stood up.

“Is my son okay? I have to go!” he said, the stool he’d been sitting on crashing to the floor.

She pointed.

“Sit. I’ve been up all night, and…”

Callen was sweating.

“I can’t sit. My son is in danger. I have to get to him. I’m not going to be able to work…”

She stopped him.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said. “Takoda?”

As she said his name, he popped up from the floor, and all of the men jumped.

It only took a second.

Callen hopped over the counter, got to his son, and held him tight.

“Are you okay?” he asked, leaving kisses on his face. “Did you get hurt?”

Takoda wanted to lighten the situation.

It was clear he needed to. Normally, he’d be irritated, but the dads had a long-ass night with his mom and her antics.

“Uh, Dad, I felt your tongue. That’s weird.”

From where he sat, Gene laughed.

The boy was just like Elizabeth.

“That’s how we all feel when your father tries to kiss us,” he joked.

Callen flipped him off without even looking at him. That made it even more amusing.

Takoda’s father wasn’t playing.

“I mean it. Are you okay?”

He nodded.

“The President had me grabbed, shoved on transport, and dumped at the gate. Apparently, they thought I was safest around Mom. Hey, didn’t someone just shoot at her?” he asked, deflecting from him to his mother.

“HEY!” she said, laughing. “Did you just throw me under the husband bus?”

He nodded.

Ehhhh, that sounded about right in her world.

When Callen set him free, Takoda went and hugged each of his father’s, and his Uncle Gene.

“I hear congrats are in order,” Takoda admitted. “Mom emailed me and said you’re planning on marrying my one dad and her.”

Gene smiled.

“That’s the plan, Marine,” he said, patting him on the back. “Are you good with it? You weren’t here when I proposed.”

He was more than good with it.

“Take care of both of them. One of them is wily, and the other, ironically has a few bullet-wound scars too.”

Gene looked over at Ethan.

“It’s been an adventurous life, Son. I’ll keep protecting him, and your mom.”

He believed him.

Hugging Chris next, he was concerned.

“You don’t look so good. Are you okay, Dad?” he asked him.

Chris sighed.

“Here we go,” he said.

“His numbers are up, and his meds aren’t working,” Elizabeth said, throwing him under the bus so they could be there together.

“What?” Takoda asked. “Dad! You should be in bed relaxing!”

Chris laughed.

“I’m good, Son. New meds, taking time off, and a vacation is planned. You don’t have to worry about me. Focus on your mother.”

He did.

“So, what are you working on?” Koda asked. “Anything I can help with? You know, maybe follow you around protecting you?”

She laughed.

He didn’t.

“I’m serious. I’m done with training. Apparently, it’s too risky. Let me help guard you.”

She wasn’t having it.

“First, I don’t need a babysitter,” she admitted, pointing at the men. “Second, if you follow me around, I’m going to be more worried about you than me.”

He understood that.

“Lastly, I have this. We pulled a case. The United States Attorney General, Max Holder, in being accused of murder.”

She told him, since he wanted to be into crime solving in the Marines, and because he couldn’t work with her. He had his own job for now.

He grinned.

“Skinned?”

Chris slid him his phone, and he looked up the autopsy photos.

The whole time, he flipped through them, and checked out all the details.

“That’s cool, and all kinds of wrong,” he added when they were all staring at him.

He looked around.

“What? I’ve been staring at sweaty, hairy Marines for what seems like years. I need a distraction. If you won’t let me help, I’m going to have to go with plan B.”

Elizabeth lifted a brow.

“I’m going home to see Cora when she wakes up. She sleeps until nine, so don’t come a-knocking after that time. I’ve been away for weeks. I miss my wife and unborn child. I have plans for the day.”

Spoken like a Blackhawk boy.

His one father was concerned.

“Are you really done?” Ethan asked. “Like home for good and we’re going to see you every day?”

He sipped his coffee.

“Yeah, it looks like. The president is not happy. The Marines that jumped me told me that I’m lucky. I’ve been pardoned by the President of the United States to go back to Quantico.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“While you were away, did anyone give you shit?” she asked, willing to take names and handle it.

He snorted.

“Yeah, the Marines that saw you in a party dress on TV. I told you that hearing about ‘your fine ass’ makes me want to go to therapy.”

That was all Callen had to hear.

No.

Thank.

You.

He pulled out his notebook—the one he wrote case information in—and slid it toward his son.

“I need their names, ranks, and serial numbers. We’re having a little talk. I’m going to warn you right now that I’m going to Gabe and getting their locations.”

He laughed.

Takoda reassured him.

“Hey now, calm down. Mom is hot. That’s not their fault. Make her wear more clothes and stop shooting at people on the news.”

They all looked at her.

“Yeah, no,” Callen said. “The shooting, yes, but the more clothes thing…pass.”

Chris clinked his cup off of Callen’s, and that amused the woman they were discussing like SHE WASN’T EVEN THERE.

When the kitchen door opened, Wyler came in and saw his grandson.

“My boy, look at you. You look like you’re starving. Did you lose weight?”

Oh, Takoda knew how to play this man like a fiddle, and he did.

“They don’t feed you, Granddad. There wasn’t a cookie to be found. I feel like my body is eating my organs to survive. It’s been so difficult.”

That was all he had to hear. He pulled out the mixer, and started making cookies.

Elizabeth laughed.

“Never let it be said that Wyler doesn’t like his grandkids—when he has two nannies, a housekeeper, and…”

Wyler pointed at her.

“I liked you too, up to this point.”

She snorted and winked at him.

“You let me make my eldest grandson whatever he wants. What kind of cookies do you need?” he asked him.

“Chocolate chip, and a double batch. I’m going to see Cora next, and we like cookies in bed.”

No one blamed him there. He was a newlywed, and Callen’s son. The man also liked cookies.

That wasn’t lost on Callen.

“How come you do that for him, but I couldn’t even get a hello from you as a kid?” Callen asked.

Wyler didn’t miss a beat.

“I’m making reparations.”

Ethan laughed, but it was mostly at Callen’s face when he heard that answer.

When there was footsteps, they all looked over, and it was Dolly and Willa. Gene and Ethan getting out of bed must have awoken them.

Takoda pointed.

“Did the kids have a sleepover, or are we replacing me now that I’m married?”

Elizabeth gave him a kiss.

“There’s no replacing you,” she said, as Dolly came running at him, and the other child followed.

He scooped up both of them, despite not knowing the other little girl—who reminded him of Bethe.

His mother clued him in.

“Ethan and Gene had a baby. That’s Willa, your new little sister.”

Takoda looked over at his father and his fiancé. When he did, with his mouth open, Gene pointed.

In warning.

“I’m not your daddy. I’ll whip your Marine ass if you ask how labor was.”

He laughed because that was his next question.

“My bad. Mom getting shot at makes you all cranky,” he said, tossing her back under the bus.

“Well, know what makes Cora testy? Me telling her you came here for cookies instead of sex.”

He gasped.

“Mom! You wouldn’t.”

She grinned and that told him that she absolutely would do just that.

“Evil.”

When Dolly climbed down him, he was still holding Willa. She took off his Marine cap, and put it on her own head. Then, saluted him.

He laughed.

“She’s smart.”

“That’s likely because she’s not genetically ours,” Elizabeth said, as Callen was trying to stick his fingers into the turned-on mixing bowl to abscond batter.

Callen knew she was talking about him.

“It’s cookie dough. I’ve had a rough night. Don’t judge me,” he said, when Wyler slapped his hand with a wooden spoon. “I know where those hands have been!”

Chris was amused.

They’d not had sex because of his viral load being up, and him being exhausted. His hands were nowhere bad—for once.

Unfortunately.

“Congrats, Dad and Gene. I’m happy for you,” he said, meaning it.

When Ethan hugged him, he put the little girl down so they could steal chocolate chips from Wyler.

Ethan needed to know.

“Are you okay with Gene and I getting married?” he asked.

Takoda immediately looked at Elizabeth as if he knew how that was going to go.

She was amused.

“He is his father’s child,” she said, pointing at Ethan. “I’m happy for both me and your father. I love Gene.”

Gene explained.

“I want the whole deal. I want to be part of the family and have all of you kids as my own too.”

He was curious.

“And now what do we call you? Uncle Daddy? Isn’t that Dad’s kink? Sure you want to share?”

At his words, Ethan choked on his coffee—being caught off guard.

Then, stared at the boy.

“I can see being away from your mother has done nothing for your sarcasm and sense of humor. Are we positive she didn’t birth you?”

Oh, Takoda wished. There was no woman he’d rather have be his biologically mother than this one.

Amused, she gave Takoda a fist bump. There was nothing better in her life than her sarcastic, perfect children.

All.

Of.

Them.

“You can just call me Gene,” he admitted. “Or Uncle Gene. Your father is really the only one who calls me…”

He didn’t get to finish.

Ethan stepped on his bare foot and made him yelp out loud.

“Fuck! That hurt!”

He smiled.

“I know,” he said, sipping his coffee like he’d not just done what he’d done.

Takoda lifted a brow.

“Can’t I call you dad?” he asked. “Or don’t you want us to?”

Gene stared at him.

“You want to call me Dad?” he asked, caught completely off guard. He’d not expected the older kids to want to do that.

“Well, you’re marrying one of my dads, and my mom, so…”

He was actually going to marry all of them.

“Of course, I want you to call me Dad. I just don’t want to make you feel obligated to do that, Koda. I know I’m new to the family…”

This time Ethan kicked him in the shin.

Gene stared at him.

“What is it with you today?” he asked Ethan. “You’re very handsy, and not in a good way. Why did you wake up and choose violence?”

Ethan laid down the law.

“You’re an idiot if you think my kids aren’t now going to be your kids,” Ethan said. “They are all Elizabeth’s children, despite the father, so of course, they are now yours.”

“Even CJ and EJ,” she said, quickly.

They all yelled one thing.

“NO TAKE BACKSIES!”

Gene didn’t laugh despite them trying to make him do just that. The look on his face…

It was clear this hit him in the feels.

“I want all of your kids. I want to be part of this big, miraculous family. Of course, I want you to call me Dad,” he said to Takoda. “That’s a dream come true.”

Takoda headed his way and hugged him.

“I love you, Dad. Welcome,” he said, as Gene had tears in his eyes.

The whole family watched, and no one was shocked. Takoda was sweet, just like his father, and his brothers. He was just a little less hellion than the others.

Which wasn’t a bad thing.

NOT.

AT.

ALL.

Gene set him free.

“I love you,” he said to Takoda, and the young man reciprocated.

“I love you too. Take care of my Mom and Dad,” he said. “They’re important to me.”

Oh, Gene would.

Because she knew they needed to work, Elizabeth looked at the time.

“Need a ride to Coraline’s location?” she asked. “We’re heading out to do interviews at eight, and we can drop you off.”

He was honest.

“No, I’m going to sneak in.”

Gene was confused.

“Is it a good idea to surprise a pregnant woman? I wouldn’t jump out at her.”

He laughed.

“Not how I planned on surprising her, Dad,” he said, calling Gene that. “I was going to sneak into bed.”

The man grinned.

“Well, the genetics are strong in this bloodline,” he said, putting his arm around Ethan.

Takoda looked at his watch.

“I hope it’s okay, but I’m going to go wake the kids for breakfast,” Takoda said. “With loud, annoying-ass Revelry. You know, so EJ and CJ get ready for that military school you’re sending them too when they start stealing cars.”

Elizabeth laughed and so did Wyler.

“Oh, well, where did they get that from?” the other man asked, popping cookies into the oven.

Both Callen and Ethan pointed at each other.

Their wife just shook her head.

“You’re sick, Son. I love it.”

Because the man loved his brothers and sisters beyond anything else, he headed out, and not long after, they indeed heard a recording of Revelry.

It.

Was.

Loud.

“He takes after me,” Elizabeth said, as she sipped her coffee.

When they didn’t say a word, she knew what time it was. It was time to get bitchy.

“Now that we’re alone, let me have it. I know the four of you plan on lecturing me on the dangers of my job, and how I take unnecessary risks. Before you do, though, let me just point out that none of you were armed, and protecting my family is a NECESSARY risk—to me.”

Because they had the whole night to dwell on it, and they’d calmed down, the men shrugged.

Maybe it was because Wyler was standing there staring at them with a big spatula in his hand, and bad intent in his eyes.

They got it.

She was off limits even to them today.

“Actually, Elizabeth,” Callen said, “we’re good.”

What?

Now, she was confused.

“I got shot at, and you’re good?” she asked. “What is this? A trap?”

They all shrugged.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Chris said. “You were right. We weren’t armed.”

Oh, well, Ethan and Callen would be from this day forward if they had two Russian spies wandering around, and she was in danger.

She couldn’t believe it.

There had to be a catch.

With these men?

Absolutely.

“What is this witchcraft?”

They just shrugged nonchalantly, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with that, so she focused on work.

“Well, okay, then. While I was up stressing Takoda, and this case, I filled in the whiteboard. I came to one conclusion.”

Ethan waited.

“What?”

She was blunt.

“Nothing fits. Somewhere, we’ve either gone off the trail, or there was no trail to begin with at the start.”

Gene lifted a brow.

As someone who investigated when he and Ethan were partners, he knew what that meant.

They were screwed.

The few cases that ended up like that for him almost always went to cold cases.

That would suck.

“Still nothing?”

She shook her head.

“I’ve been home since almost four. I went over everything. Not one of those victims even comes close to Max. I have no fucking clue what is going on.”

Jesus.

It wasn’t often she said that.

“They might get away with it. I don’t have any leads, and Max might just have to take the heat.”

And no one wanted that to happen.

No.

One.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Seven A.M.

Dex’s Bed

It had been a very restful night. When Max finally woke up, he found that he was alone in bed.

Dex was MIA.

What Max did know was that it had been the best sleep of his life. After they’d gone to sleep, about an hour later, Max had been awoken by kisses to his neck, and the man’s hand on his ass.

He knew what that meant.

Middle of the night sex.

It had been a very long time since anyone had woken him from sleep to have sex with him. As a rule of thumb, he left after the first round, or he made the person leave.

He wasn’t a ‘sleep with a guy all night’ kind of a man—until he suddenly was.

And he wasn’t complaining.

They’d had sex again, another round, and fell back to sleep in each other’s arms. It had been the kind of night he always craved before being broken.

Now, he was getting it.

And that scared him.

Max didn’t want to screw this up, even though he knew that potentially, he was absolutely going to do just that.

Call it a hunch.

This was the happiest he’d ever been. So much so, that he wasn’t focused on going to jail for the rest of his life.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to freak-out about this.

Stretching, he was going to enjoy the facts. At that very moment, Max was naked, and still curled up in the man’s bedding.

When he rolled onto his back, from the corner of his eye, he saw something. There was a daffodil picked and placed on the pillow next to him.

Along with it was a little note.

‘I had to climb out the window to get the key to get us free from my room. You missed seeing the spectacle. Let’s just say that it was a travesty. I fell into the daffodil patch, killing most of them. This is the one that survived, and it made me think about you. That made me smile. The fall onto my ass, not as much. When you wake up, I’m in the kitchen making breakfast. Come find me, and we can talk about it.’

Oh, boy.

The whole note made him smile, but it was the last part that terrified him.

‘Talk about it’?

That didn’t bode well for him, and he knew it. Honestly, he hoped the man didn’t change his mind about what they’d done.

It was a little too late.

Now, Max was invested. The man sucked him in, and now, he didn’t want to be alone.

Immediately, he began praying.

Just give me this one chance. I know I can do this. I know I can be what he needs. Don’t let him throw me away. I can’t be hurt again. Amen.

Looking around, all he found was his jeans that he’d been wearing when he was carried back into the room. His shirt was MIA.

So he grabbed one of Dex’s flannel shirts, and headed down the stairs. He was carrying the flower, and hoping he wasn’t going to be hurt.

All the way down the stairs, he checked out the pictures again, and he enjoyed that feeling of having someone. All the Corbins in the pictures looked happy.

He wanted to know what that felt like.

As he approached where Dex was, he was cautiously watching him in the kitchen. He knew what was on the line, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared.

HE.

WAS.

When the floor creaked, Dex looked over, hearing him approach.

Yeah, and his heart kicked in his chest. He’d been thinking about the previous few hours, and he’d been incredibly happy.

They had a connection, and they’d found it together last night. Dex didn’t regret a single thing.

He also didn’t mind that the prim and proper United States Attorney General was in his flannel.

Holding a flower.

It was kinda sexy with his tussled-up hair.

Because he was afraid to scare him away, he went with keeping it simple. Someone had commitment issues, and he fully expected a runner.

It was going to be about Dex being able to stay one step ahead of him. This was going to be one hell of a foot race.

He could already tell.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Dex said, opening the microwave to pull out bacon that he’d cooked in there.

The man was wary.

Honestly, he didn’t want to beat around the bush. If Dex was going to tell him that they’d made a mistake, and he should go, he wanted to do it on an empty stomach.

Because he was going to puke.

Max held up the note.

“Before we eat, what do you want to talk about?” he asked.

He heard the tone in his voice.

Dex sighed and went there.

“About last night…I’m sorry.”

And there it was.

Without saying a word, Max turned and started walking up the stairs. This was exactly why he did one-night stands.

They didn’t get your heart broken.

Again.

Max knew he’d never trust anyone again. What little he’d had left had just been destroyed. Instead of fighting, since he had nothing left, he went to the room where he’d been staying, and grabbed his bag.

Downstairs, it took Dex a few seconds to figure out what the hell he’d said wrong.

Did the man just walk away?

Now, he was so worried that Dex had to chase him up the stairs.

“What are you doing?” he asked, standing in the doorway as he watched him packing up his things.

AGAIN.

Max was blunt as he fought the tears. He had cried enough in his life. When his parents never showed him love. When he never had anyone proud of him. When that cop broke his heart. When this cop did the same.

“I’m leaving. You’re going to tell me it was a mistake, and you’re not into me. You’re going to tell me it was a one-night thing, and I don’t deserve more.”

Dex stared at him.

What the holy hell?

Was this man insane?

Those few hours ago were the best moments in his life, and already, Dex knew he was the one.

He was in love with Max.

When he watched him sleep, he’d pictured a whole life with this man. He wanted to wake up with him, and go to bed with him.

Dex wanted to marry him one day—if he could keep this guy from running.

That was going to be one hell of a task.

Clearly.

Why?

Someone was jumping to hella conclusions on this one, and he was wrong.

“Hey, Babe, stop,” he said.

Max looked at him.

“Babe?”

Okay, maybe he didn’t like that term of endearment, so he tried out others.

“Sunshine? Sexy? Love bug? Hot stuff? What do you prefer? I mean if you don’t like nicknames, I can call you Max, since that’s your name.”

What was this?

Max looked confused.

“I don’t understand anything anymore. I’m all confused. You said you were sorry.”

Dex realized how that could be construed.

“I wanted to apologize for throwing you over my shoulder and dragging you to my room. I manhandled you, and I feel bad about it. That’s all. And for snoring. I snore a lot. I was sleeping and thought it was you. I woke up to find out it wasn’t.”

Max stared at him.

Was this legit a real conversation?

Was this man really that sweet and considerate that he was apologizing for snoring? And possibly the hottest moment of his life by tossing him over his shoulder?

Really?

“That’s all?” he asked.

“Yeah, really. Come on,” he said, leading him back down the stairs.

Honestly, Dex wasn’t sure how a man so powerful and smart as the top lawyer in the country could not be so self-assured in his personal life.

But he wasn’t.

Clearly.

This man commanded the president’s attention, and was one step away from the Supreme Court. One day, he’d likely preside over cases that reached that level.

He was a catch.

On top of that, he was sexy. Someone definitely did this dude dirty.

Well, that was over.

In the kitchen, he pointed.

“Sit,” he said, putting him at the table to bring the bacon over, and a stack of pancakes with it. “Let’s have breakfast together.”

The whole time, Max said nothing.

Because the man looked wary, he poured him coffee, and then some freshly squeezed orange juice. As someone who could read a room, someone was ready to bolt.

And there was no need.

The breakfast table should be a safe place, or that was what his mother told her sons all of those years ago.

It could be she just wanted silence, but…

He was going with it.

When he sat, he handed him the warm syrup for his pancakes.

“Go ahead. Eat something.”

Max watched him like the man was going to jump him, and not in the fun sexy way.

Someone was suspicious.

Yeah, that was fine with Dex.

It was kinda sexy.

Knowing how the man thought, he opted to lead the way with the conversation, being transparent. With Max, he’d always have to do that.

It was clear that Max didn’t trust easily, and Dex wanted him to believe he’d never hurt him.

Intentionally.

“Before you ask why I’m cooking you breakfast, it’s not because I want something. I just happen to like feeding you.”

Cautiously, he took some pancakes and poured syrup on them. When he ate some, he realized that they were delicious.

Max wasn’t accustomed to being fed in the morning. His housekeeper didn’t make him food then. Instead, he grabbed a bagel on his way into work.

It was just easier.

What he did know was that breakfast was really good, and the man knew how to cook.

“It’s fresh squeezed,” Dex said, as he noticed that Max was really enjoying the juice. “I pulled out all the stops to impress you after last night.”

Max was chewing, and he didn’t know how to deal with this man. He wanted to believe he was acting, and this was fake, but he didn’t think it was.

Someone was just a really conscientious person. The steak yesterday, the ice cream, the flower, and note…

Max hated that he was falling in love and knew that he was likely going to pay for that. This man had found a way to get past his wall.

He was romancing him.

“It’s very good,” he said. “I don’t usually eat breakfast at home. I grab something so I can get to work early. My housekeeper doesn’t get to my place until nine.”

A housekeeper?

Jesus.

That was wild to Dex.

He couldn’t imagine someone taking care of him like that. Instead of going there, he changed the subject to calm Max down.

He looked skittish.

“So, what do you want to do today?” he asked. “We can go for another ride, or there are some hiking trails in the back that lead to a lake...”

Max stopped him.

“Are we glossing over last night?” he asked. “Because I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”

That would break him too.

Because he saw the stress on Max’s face, he tried to get him to calm down.

Dex put his fork down.

“No, we aren’t glossing over it, but you look like you’re ready to run, so I thought I’d move slow. We have a lot to talk about.”

Max waited.

“Like?”

He went there.

“How are we going to pull this off? You know, us,” he said.

Max was confused.

“Pull it off?”

Dex was to the point. He’d told the man he didn’t do one-night stands, so that meant they were starting a relationship.

The end goal?

Marriage.

Now, he just had to get Max on the same page, and that was likely going to be much more difficult.

“You said you’re in the closet, and so am I. I don’t care as much if I get outed, but you said it’s detrimental to your career. So, we have to have a plan with how we’re going to proceed. That’s what I meant by ‘pull it off’. Do we come out, or do we not? What?”

Max actually relaxed.

“Really?” he inquired. “You want to see more of me?” he added, trying not to get too excited that this man was willing to be seen with him.

HIM.

Dex stared at him like he was insane. They had chemistry in and out of bed. They had great sex last night, and except for this morning’s misunderstanding, they were doing well.

He just needed to move cautiously with Max.

“Why wouldn’t I want to see more of you, Max? You’re THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL. My dude, I won the man lottery. I’m just a cop. That’s why I’m trying to woo you with breakfast and the only daffodil I didn’t crush with my ass.”

Max was quiet.

No one had ever ‘wooed’ him before. Well, no one except the cop who broke him. Now, he was worried that maybe it wasn’t the cop’s fault.

Maybe it was him.

The man across from him lifted a brow.

“Are you having second thoughts about us?” Dex asked. “Is that it?”

Max looked directly at him but said nothing.

And there it was.

Heartbreak.

Dex wanted to be ill because he knew he’d made a mistake. Some guys were always going to want one-night stands, and some…

Well, it didn’t matter either way. Max wasn’t interested in him like that.

“I see. Okay. I get it. What was said in the heat of the moment isn’t necessarily what we mean,” he admitted, getting up to put his dish in the sink.

Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry.

His heart hurt.

Now, he was fighting that need to walk out the door and keep walking to put space between them so he could cry. This man was the first in a long time he’d trusted to sleep in his bed, and he wasn’t sure about them.

This had been a bad decision since he was about to be hurt.

Only, when Dex turned around, Max was right there, and he went into his body without warning.

Dex held him.

“Oh, hey.”

“I’m scared,” he whispered. “I’m really terrified,” he added.

Dex tried to soothe him.

“About?”

He was honest.

“If you make me fall in love, and you betray me, I’m not going to do well. I may look tough, Dex, but I’m not. I keep that image up because it’s my job. I don’t have friends or a life because I’m not easy to love. I’m fifty, and I don’t want to start something that won’t last. I want to find my person before I die alone.”

Hold up.

What was this?

He lifted his chin so that he was staring into his eyes. Dex was confused.

“Who told you that you’re not easy to love?” he asked, completely confused by that. He was also confused that someone so self-assured was this battered inside.

That was all he had to say.

Max laughed and began pacing like a caged tiger. Someone was struggling.

From where he stood, Dex watched him. Giving him time was important. What he had in front of him was a thinker, and that meant giving him time to get it all out.

It was a good thing he was patient—to a point.

“My Father was a Senator, and my mother is a socialite. I grew up alone, and I never did anything right. I killed myself to be who I am today, and I paid the price. Elizabeth is my only friend. I don’t make connections. I’m suspicious, and I’m not good with people.”

He tried to reassure him.

“I’ve seen you in court. I’ve seen you in front of Congress. YOU own the room. You conduct court like you’re in charge of it all. I once watched you make a judge clap, Counselor. You do a lot right.”

He shrugged.

“That’s my job. I don’t know how to deal with a man who leaves me flowers, and makes me pancakes for breakfast. I don’t know how to deal with a guy who takes me on a bike ride for ice cream, and buys it for me. I certainly don’t know how to deal with a cop who makes me feel what I’m feeling inside. You’ve taken the ordered life, and made it into a whirlwind of emotions.”

He understood.

Maybe he came on too strong.

Cops tended to be pushy.

All Dex knew was that he didn’t want Max freaked out over this. It should make him feel good—not bad.

“Okay, then, we can slow down. Tell me how to make you feel secure, and I’ll do it, Max. I don’t want you to fear this and me.”

That was just it.

Max, for the first time, in a long time, had no clue.

“I don’t know. It’s easy to fuck and run. This is so much harder. There’s so much more on the line now! I don’t know how to do this. I’m broken.”

Okay, someone was stressed.

Wanting to help him, Dex walked over to him, found his mouth, and kissed him. He held him, and let Max lean on him through the storm.

When they were kissing, he was calm. If he had to keep Max like this for a while, he was good with it. They were going to end up back in bed, but there were worse things.

Really.

When he broke the kiss, Max rested his head on his shoulder.

It was time to keep the man calm.

They’d start at the beginning, and work their way through this. He could tell Max was accustomed to law and order, so he’d do what he could to make him feel safe.

“Okay, let’s restart this,” he said.

Max stared at him not sure if he’d just gotten really lucky, or what, but this man was calm, sweet, and he held him just how he needed him to.

“Do you want to date me?” Dex asked.

He nodded.

“Okay. How do you want to do that? Do you want to meet here? Do you want to have me sneak into your house? What would make you feel safe?”

His heart hurt.

Dex saw it and put on the brakes.

Again.

“What’s up with the face? That didn’t make you happy. Communicate with me. I can’t read your mind. Pretend we’re in court, and you’re explaining to the judge.”

He could do that.

“I’m a little caught off guard that you want to sneak around, and…”

Oh.

Hell.

No.

He stopped him.

“YOU told me that your career mattered. I’ll come out right now, and call my whole precinct. I’ll tell them that I’m gay if that’s what you want.”

“I don’t know what I want.”

Okay, he had to give him time.

“How about we put that on the back burner, and instead just enjoy the day? Spring is in the air, and there’s nothing like a nice walk.”

“You want to take a walk?” he asked.

Dex nodded and led him out of the house.

“There’s this nest of ducks down by the water. I sometimes go down to just watch them. They built their nest, and laid their eggs.”

He couldn’t focus on anything else.

“Do you think we have a chance?” Max asked him as they navigated the trail. “You know…dating.”

Dex didn’t hesitate.

“Absolutely. I know you can feel the chemistry when we kiss. I’ve checked you out plenty before yesterday, Counselor. When I was first introduced to you, I noticed a few things.”

They were walking toward the lake.

“What?” he asked.

“Well, first that you’re incredibly sexy, Counselor. Then, add in that you’re smart, fair, and a good judge of character. You help people, and that’s attractive in a partner.”

He didn’t know what to say.

Dex took his hand in his, and Max stared at their joined fingers.

The bigger man noticed.

“Does me holding your hand make you feel uncomfortable?” Dex asked.

He shook his head.

The opposite was true. He liked the way this felt, and he liked the way the man held his hand.

“No, it doesn’t. I just don’t think anyone’s ever held my hand before in my life.”

Dex stared at him.

What?

How was that possible?

“No one?” he asked incredulously.

Max shook his head and then paused a second as if he remembered something.

“Well, my nanny did when I was growing up. If she had to walk me to school, or to a lesson, but that’s it.”

Dex stopped walking.

He faced him.

“So you’re telling me not your parents, not your boyfriend, not…?”

Oh, Max wished.

“My parents weren’t lovey-dovey. My mother had the maternal instincts of a tree stump. She has never told me in my whole life that she loved me, let alone cared about me.”

Holy shit.

Well, this explained a lot.

Someone didn’t know what love felt like.

Max wasn’t done.

“My father…well, we don’t talk to this day because all he wanted was an accessory, but he was the same. I went to Yale because of him. I became a lawyer because of him. I just got lucky that I liked law and my job. I’m fortunate that I’m good at it. When I’m at work, I take all that emptiness and fill it with justice.”

Dex brushed some of the man’s bangs out of his face and this broke his heart. He came from a family that didn’t have wealth, but they had a lot of love. His mother, to this day, called and told him that she loved him.

And asked if he was going to get married anytime soon. Now, that was the plan, if he could get Max to trust him long enough to start a relationship.

He was the one.

“I’m sorry.”

Yeah, so was he.

“I’m an only child, and now that my parents are divorced, and retired…I never even see or hear from them. I got my inheritance from my grandparents when I turned twenty-five, and that was it. That was the day I became alone. That’s why I’m a cold, emotionless…”

Dex put his fingers over his lips.

“No. The man I slept with last night was far from cold and emotionless. He was passionate, full of life and love. You can’t convince me otherwise.”

He stared at the man.

“I’m just telling you what has been said about me. I’m sure everyone I’ve met isn’t wrong.”

Dex was to the point.

“You said Elizabeth is your friend. She’s a good judge of character. She loves you, or she wouldn’t have taken your case to clear you. She trusts me, so that should tell you all you need to know.”

He looked skeptical, so Dex continued.

“So how do you explain what we both experienced then? Were you faking it? Was the sex not good?”

His heart began racing.

“No! I wasn’t faking it. It was good.”

Dex gave him some food for thought.

“What if it was because finally, you found someone who doesn’t want anything from you, and actually finds you funny, sexy, and smart?”

Max was so confused.

“This is what I meant, Dex. You tossed my whole world upside down.”

He grinned.

“Good. You need a little excitement in your life, Counselor.”

Apparently.

They kept walking down the heavily wooded trail, and Max couldn’t help but enjoy the trees and company.

“It’s pretty here. I have woods behind my house, but I’ve never gone into them.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yeah, they are private property, and I like to follow the rules.”

Oh, he was aware.

“This is my property, so we can walk on it all you want,” Dex offered.

When he saw a spring flower peeking up through the green grass, he picked it and handed it to Max.

The look on his face was priceless.

“What’s wrong, Counselor?” he asked, loving how he was caught off guard.

This man was a shark in the courtroom, but outside, he was there waiting to be romanced.

And Dex was there for it too.

“No one’s ever given me an ass-daffodil and a violet before.”

Dex grinned.

“Good. I like being the only one to woo you. Buckle up, Counselor, because there will be plenty more where that came from.”

Max didn’t know what to say.

Because he was silent, Dex handled the conversation.

“I like walking back here. When my mother comes to visit, she loves spending all of her time in the woods. She picks those violets and makes a jelly that is to die for.”

Max blinked.

“Really? Is that a thing?”

He laughed.

“When you meet her, don’t be shocked when she takes you mushroom foraging.”

He stared at him.

“When I meet her?”

Dex laughed.

“That was the part of the sentence that confused you, Maxwell?” he asked. “That?”

He just stared at him as if he was trying to figure him out, and Dex liked keeping him off balance.

“Yeah, she, my Dad, and my brothers will be visiting over a few weeks this summer. She’s going to make sure you’re proficient with mushroom identification.”

Max was hella confused.

“I think I woke up in another world.”

Well, he had news for him.

“You absolutely did, Max. This is what a relationship feels like. We’ve begun something, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.”

Holy shit.

Max didn’t know what to say.

So he said nothing.

When they walked down a path toward the lake, it was covered in branches. Dex made sure to block them with his body, so Max didn’t take them to the face.

“Watch where you step, Babe,” he warned, when he moved over a fallen log in the path.

Max had never had this before. This man was so protective and kind. He was definitely falling for him. Now, all he had to hope and pray was Dex didn’t do him dirty.

The ball was in his court.

“We’re here,” he said, when they came through the trees, still holding hands.

Max checked it out.

There was a mist on the lake, since it was early, and it was gorgeous here.

“What do you think?” Dex asked.

“It’s pretty. I can see why you like nature.”

That was the truth. Dex’s plan was to remodel the Victorian, and then build a smaller cabin back here on the lake. He owned all this land, and he wanted to be close to nature.

“That’s the duck nest over there,” he said, as they sat on a log, watching the two ducks. “I think Lois and Clark are still waiting on the eggs to hatch.”

Max looked at him.

“Lois Lane and Clark Kent?” he asked, grinning.

Dex winked at him.

“Listen, as far as I’m concerned, anyone going to the rodeo with a female is Superman. Men are easier to deal with for the most part.”

Max knew that wasn’t always the truth.

“I’m sorry I’m not easy. I’m sorry that I’m broken,” he admitted.

Dex looked over at him.

“Oh, Mr. Holder, you’re very easy, and I like it that way,” he said, finding his mouth with his.

The kiss was spectacular.

When Dex slowly broke it, Max was breathing heavily. Yeah, this man was going to make his life complicated. All Max could hope was he’d stick around.

He was attached.

When they heard squawking, they looked over. One of the eggs rolled out of the nest and into the water.

“Well, I’m back on duty,” Dex admitted.

Getting up, he headed toward the nest and water. When he got closer, the ducks went crazy.

Max watched as he rolled up his sleeve and reached into the water where the egg had sunk to the bottom.

The whole time, the ducks were quacking and freaking out. They were nipping at his leg, trying to get him away from their nest.

Only, the man didn’t care. He was saving that one egg no matter what, and Max watched enthralled.

You could measure a man by his compassion. Elizabeth had told him that once.

When Dex pulled the egg out of the water, he placed it back in the nest, ignoring Clark trying to bite his ankles.

God.

This man was so foreign to him.

He saved baby ducks in his downtime. There was no way this was real. Max had never met anyone like him, and it gave him so much hope.

When Dex sat down, he said nothing like he’d not just gone lake spelunking to find an egg.

When he turned his head, Max tugged his flannel shirt covered body toward him.

And kissed him.

It was heated, wild, and out of control. Max straddled his lap, and wouldn’t stop kissing him. He could feel Dex’s body go hard beneath him.

Still, he rocked his world. That one simple act of compassion without wanting any recognition told Max one thing.

This guy was the real deal.

He could trust him.

Who knew he’d find his compassion beyond sexy? But he did.

When he did finally stop, Dex opened his eyes, and blinked.

“Holy shit, my Dude. I can’t feel my brain,” he admitted. “I think it’s numb.”

Max actually laughed.

“What did it feel like before?”

That was easy.

“Confused on how to get you to see that you’re perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you. How to get you to want to give me a chance because I will never hurt you. In fact, I’d die for you.”

Max believed him.

That one declaration changed everything.

“Ever had sex in the woods by a lake with Lois and Clark watching?” he asked.

Dex grinned.

“Hell, no, Counselor, but if you feel like rolling around in the grass with me, I own this lake, so…”

Max rode him to the ground, and they began tearing each other’s clothing off, ignoring the ducks.

There were more important things.

Like finding their way back from betrayal.

And it looked as if they were on the right path.  

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Somewhere

Georgetown

Washington, D.C.

Hours Earlier

Upon arriving at the man’s home, that’s when it was evident that there was a problem.

There were FBI vans outside, doing something.

Yeah, that wasn’t good.

This was the dumping spot that had been chosen for that asshole.

Now, the killer would have to wait to dump the man’s body. It helped that she was good at researching, and was able to find where he lived.

Why did she need to know that?

Because he dared to flirt with a man who had no business being in Nagato having drinks with the other man.

There was a line.

And it had been crossed.

Now, Ken had to pay, and leaving him in Maxwell Holder’s home…

It sent a message.

What was that message, exactly?

That he was fucked.

Oh, if he thought that the dick grope under the table, or the flirting would be forgotten…

No.

Ken had been a little too attached, and that just wasn’t happening.

He was hers.

PERIOD.

The bottom line was that if she couldn’t have him, no one would.

That man had someone who loved him and wanted him in her life. Oh, and she was tired of watching him do foul things, but this…this was crossing the line.

A MAN?

What the hell?

Now, as the FBI van was wrapping up whatever they were doing, this was going to be the icing on the cupcake.

Max Holder would know that he’d tried to poach what wasn’t his.

This dumping spot was more than just a convenient place to leave Ken.

It was a place for the FBI and cops to get the picture of what kind of man they were dealing with.

With the pig blood, they clearly missed the point.

Ken was a pig for trying to find a way into a man’s bed, and this man had been damned for trying to fuck her man.

Ken had been off limits.

Until he tested her patience.

Now, he was just…dead.

As the vans pulled away, she didn’t move for a good hour, making sure that they didn’t come back.

Then, and only then, she made her move.

It wasn’t going to be easy to place this man. She had to drag his body around back. She couldn’t get around his gate, but the man’s home backed up to some trees, and that had been the easiest way.

Looking back, she dragged the dead man behind her, and she told him off.

“You deserved this, Ken. If only you saw what you could have had. We would have been fantastic together. You knew you wanted me. I saw the way you stared at me with lust in your eyes.”

Ken said nothing since he was deceased but nodded his head as he was pulled over rocks, tree roots, and dirt.

“See? We agree.”

Finally, she got Ken into his backyard, and moved toward the door where the camera was pointed right at her.

She didn’t care.

After all, she was glad to let them see her.

Why?

She was wearing someone else’s face.

Reaching up, she yanked on the wires, destroying the camera feed. Well, now, she could move around freely.

Breaking the glass door, she dragged him over the jagged pieces of glass, and got ready.

She had to move fast.

It was time to send Max Holder a warning.

That he needed to stop trying to steal people’s men.

She was over it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Department Of Justice

Washington D.C.

Thursday Morning

There was nothing like interviewing nosey-ass people who wanted to ask just as many questions as she did. It was annoying, but she had to get it done. The three people who worked closest to Max were sitting in front of her, and she knew one thing.

She.

Hated.

Lawyers.

Oh, and these three were making her dislike them even freaking more.

She’d opted to interview them all at once, since she could read people pretty well, and since they tended to play off of each other.

Elizabeth could use that to her advantage.

With Ethan beside her, and Gene and Callen in the car, she knew it was time.

“Mr. Stevens, what can you tell me about Max’s personal life?” she asked, looking at her notes from the Christmas case she’d worked. She’d interviewed this man, and he’d talked some trash about his co-workers.

Granted, nothing was pointed at Max, but still…

Competition made people do crazy things.

The man laughed at that question.

“Max doesn’t have a personal life. He’s a robot. He comes to work, he destroys in the courtroom, and then, he goes home to repeat it.”

She showed him the pictures of the victims WITH their skin on.

“Have you ever seen him with these people?” she asked, pointing at Faith Lee, Zara Tyler, and Eden Andre.

He studied them.

“No. Never. Max didn’t have social calls at work. He ate his lunch in his office, and the only two people who ever visited him here were you and your husband,” he said, pointing at Ethan.

She was aware.

“How about you, Ms. Chandler?” she asked Max’s secretary.

Betty shook her head.

“No, I don’t recognize them. Are they the people that Max killed? It’s all over the news, and the media has tried to interview us.”

The other lady interjected.

“Not that we’d talk to them,” Estelle Holt said. “With Max out, I’m in charge of the office. I have senior tenure here,” she admitted.

Ethan nudged Elizabeth’s leg with his knee to help her direct her conversation.

“Thank you for that, Estelle,” she said. “How about you? Have you ever seen him with these women?”

Estelle checked out the pictures.

“No, but if you ask me, you won’t find him checking out the ladies. He’s as queer as the day is long.”

Betty gasped.

“He is not! Don’t spread rumors, Estelle!”

The woman laughed.

“Betty, you’re such an innocent lamb. As a gay person myself, I’m telling you that he’s into dudes. You can stop flirting with him. It’s embarrassing.”

She pointed.

“I’m not flirting. It’s called being respectful. You’re a cunt to him because you want his job.”

Elizabeth and Ethan just let them go at each other.

Why?

This might help them get a lead.

“Hey, listen, you don’t end up with three dead women in your car if you’re not sporting some mommy issues. We all know Max’s parents were iffy.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“What do you mean ‘iffy’?”

She shrugged.

“I heard him in the elevator one day on the phone. He was trying not to speak so much, but I could hear his mother. She was loud.”

Ethan was curious.

“What did she say?”

“Basically, she was critiquing his attire that he’d worn to court that day. She saw him on the news, and was telling him he needed to clean up his act.”

Elizabeth was confused.

“What was he wearing?”

“A suit. She didn’t like his light brown shoes. She said it made him look like he was raised in a barn.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

Jesus.

That was ridiculous.

“Anything else?” she asked.

Estelle shrugged.

“He sighed when he hung up, and as usual, he went into his office, and stayed in there. Listen, Max is a good boss, but he’s easily swayed. I would have punched her in the face.”

Elizabeth lifted a brow.

“Swayed?”

“He came out two hours later, and he’d changed his shoes. Max keeps plenty of things in his office in case he needs to change for court.”

“So you’d punch her?”

“Yeah, because he has a tough enough job. I don’t blame him from running from women right to men. If that damaging debutante was my mother, I’d do the same.”

Betty rolled her eyes.

“Max is a gentleman. He’s quiet and he’s nice. He’s not going to kill three women. He’s being framed.”

Pat Stevens said nothing.

And that was likely for the best.

“It’s always the quiet ones, Betty. Look at all the serial killers. They are mentally damaged by their mommies, and quiet. Max fits. He could do it. I’m just surprised his mother isn’t one of the victims,” Estelle offered.

Yowza.

Dealing with Estelle was wild.

Because she had more to do, she pulled out a picture of Ken, and showed them.

“Have you ever seen him around here? You know, maybe stalking Max?”

They all looked at him.

“Not here,” Estelle said. “I’ve seen him at Nagato. It’s this exclusive restaurant in the Hyatt. You have to be pretty powerful to be in there. Hey, wait. Weren’t you shot at yesterday in front of that place?”

Oh, Elizabeth knew Estelle knew the answer to that. Lawyers were sneaky, and they didn’t ask questions they didn’t have the answers to already.

“Nah, that was my nicer twin. I don’t wear designer things.”

Estelle laughed.

She was the only one.

“Right, Director.”

Elizabeth got them to focus.

“Okay, so you saw him at Nagato. Who was he with?” she inquired.

Estelle shrugged.

“A brunette. They were having an argument at the table, and he got up to leave. She sat there crying.”

Interesting.

A brunette had helped Max to the car. Was that woman going to be the key to all of this?

“What did she look like?” she asked.

Estelle thought back.

“Plain. Nothing fancy. Brown hair, and about Betty’s height.”

Elizabeth made notes on her drive so Callen and Gene could read them.

She needed to get a suspect list together—and soon. It looked as if Nagato was going to be her focus.

After she had a profile.

“And that was the only time you’ve seen him before?” she asked again to make sure.

Estelle nodded.

“Hey, I have a question though,” she said.

Elizabeth waited.

“Yes?”

“Since Max isn’t coming back, thanks to his ass going to jail, what’s a girl have to do to get his job?” she asked.

Well, that was tacky.

“Uh, who said he isn’t coming back?” she asked. “I know I didn’t.”

She lowered her voice.

“He killed three women. He’s a serial killer. You wouldn’t be working it if he wasn’t.”

Oh, well, she had bad news for the woman.

Immediately, she stopped that line of thinking.

“I’m working it because I’m one of the top cops in this city, and the president wanted me on it. Not because he’s guilty. We don’t decide that. We look for evidence.”

She shrugged.

“Evidence can be turned and bent. All lawyers know that, and so does Max. He’s the king of manipulation in a courtroom.”

She wasn’t going there.

“He still has his job, and to get it, the president has to remove him. I spoke to Gabriel Rothschild, and he isn’t planning on bumping Max. So…”

That shocked Estelle.

“But the three women…”

Elizabeth didn’t say anything else. Instead, she stood.

“Thank you for your time,” she said. “In best interest of security, the president asks that you keep this quiet.”

“It’s a cover up,” Estelle said. “The man is covering for another man. That’s not fair. If I killed three women and shoved them in my trunk, I’d go to jail.”

Betty rolled her eyes again.

“Estelle, shut up. Max didn’t kill anyone. He’s a good guy. He hasn’t been proven guilty yet.”

Pat sighed.

“I’m exhausted from these two. I’m heading home. If you have more questions, Director, you can find me there. I need a break from these two.”

Oh, she understood that.

She’d only been here an hour, and she was tired too. There were still more questions that she didn’t have answers for—like how Max tied to the dead women.

As they walked out, she and Ethan waited for the elevator.

“He didn’t do it, and I still can’t tie them to him,” she said, her voice low.

“I know, Baby, and I’m sorry. This killer has really played this game well.”

As they got into the elevator, she glanced over at Ethan. They were alone, so this was a good time.

“Profile this for me. Who am I looking for?” she asked.

He stared at her.

“EJ, you can’t tell me you have nothing.”

Oh, he had plenty.

None of it she was going to enjoy.

“This killer is smart, and angry. You don’t peel the skin off another human for no reason.”

She waited as the elevator went down.

“Why then?”

“You do it because you want to strip them away of their identity. This is going to be about rage. Max did something to someone.”

She shook her head.

“I don’t feel like he’s tied to it, EJ. He’s not connecting on paper or in my head. He’s gay, and we have three dead women. This feels more like a set up.”

Ethan tried to see it from her side.

“I know you’re thinking that it might be Estelle, and how she wants his job, but this is beyond that. This is someone did someone dirty. Like REAL dirty.”

“Handsome, if it’s not Estelle, I literally have zero. I have nothing.”

He was aware.

“I can’t give you age or sex. I mean, I can guess…”

The elevator doors opened.

“I need something.”

He hated doing this without more information, but his wife was legit struggling.

“It won’t be a man. That’s basically all I can give you. If this was a man, those women would have been sexually assaulted.”

“What if it was a man but he’s gay?” she asked, thinking about Ken. “What if it’s the guy that Max went on the date with?”

He considered it.

“Talk it out,” he said.

“Well, we know he was having drinks with Max, but what if he roofied him, and ‘left’? Instead, he waits in the parking lot for him, only to take him back to the motel. Max is out of it, so he’s not thinking danger. He gets the room, and that’s it.”

“So Ken killed the women?”

“EJ, nothing else fits. I have to be pointed in the wrong direction because nothing is popping. When I say I was up all-night researching Max, I mean I was. Those women don’t touch his life. I had Gabby hack into businesses to see if he paid cash to go to yoga. Nothing.”

Ethan thought about it.

“I mean, Ken could have Dissociative Identity Disorder, where his personality is split. It could be that one half of him is attracted to men, and the other to women.”

She was standing in the spring air thinking about it.

“It doesn’t feel like that to me. I talked to him. He’s prissy, and he’s wealthy. He’s not peeling someone.”

“One of his identities might have done the dirty work. We’ve had cases like that. If you say it’s not Max, we only have one other possibility. Ken had the most opportunity to drug Max. His drink was right there. They were kanoodling and getting their flirt on, and…”

She was honest.

Elizabeth had to be.

“I don’t like how we don’t know who the brunette was that helped him to the car. I don’t know what happened between the time Max got up to leave, and showing up at the motel.”

He hated to be the one to tell her this, but they might never know.

“We need more.”

She was aware, but more meant one thing. They needed another body, and to hope that the killer made a mistake.

If not…

Max was in some serious shit. That was why she put him with Dex. He needed an alibi.

“Why don’t you call him? Maybe he’s had time to think about it, and he has remembered something.”

Maybe.

“Okay, let’s get in the car, and I’ll call him.”

And Elizabeth knew one thing.

They needed something.

Or Max was losing it all.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

En Route

To Max’s

Home

One of the things that Chrissy prided herself on was her ability to do her job, and do it right. When she made a mistake, she liked to make it right.

That’s why she was on her way back to Max’s home to get another test done.

She’d sprayed the place with luminol, but there was one place she didn’t look.

The refrigerator.

As she got back to the lab, it occurred to her that the bodies had been kept cold. The coldest setting on a refrigerator would work.

Max had a backup fridge in his garage.

While that was common, since she had one too in her garage for Kane’s beer for when Quinn or company came over, she didn’t look inside.

There was NO FREAKING WAY she was leaving a single, solitary stone unturned.

If there was something there, and she missed it…

Heads.

Would.

Roll.

So, as she pulled back up to Max’s gate, she punched in the code, and got out of the tech van. When she went into the back of the vehicle to get her kit, she saw something from her peripheral.

Turning, she felt the pain as it hit her in the head.

Chrissy went down.

When she stared up, right before the darkness came, she was looking into the eyes of insanity.

And someone’s skinned face.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Heading To

The Morgue

Zero Leads

Elizabeth knew that at some point, she was going to have to interview the people who called in the MPRs on the victims.

They were the ONLY people left to talk to that might know how Max connected to the victims.

She was running out of people to interview.

Pulling out her phone, she called Dex, hoping he had a few moments to talk.

When he answered, he was laughing.

“Yo. Captain Corbin,” he said.

Well, someone was happy.

Good for him.

“Hey, it’s Elizabeth.”

That changed his tune.

“Oh, hey. Are you okay?” he asked, focused on the call. He held up his hand, and Max got it.

He had to take this.

Moving away from him, he left him pulling on his clothes by the duck pond. They’d been rolling around and having some really fantastic sex.

“Yeah, I am. How’s Max doing?”

He laughed.

“Good.”

Elizabeth knew that tone.

“You slept with him, didn’t you?” she asked, and everyone in the car turned to look at her. “Dex! You’re his babysitter. You don’t sleep with him!”

He calmed her down.

“I’m not just sleeping with him, Elizabeth. I’m falling for him.”

Well, shit.

That said it all.

“This from the man who wouldn’t admit he was gay? I’m telling you right now, Dex, I have a special place in my heart for Max...”

He stopped her.

“I do, too, and I don’t really have to explain myself to you, Elizabeth. I get that you’re Max’s friend, but it’s none of your business. I know what I’m doing.”

Elizabeth was honest.

“That’s great. Here, I thought we were friends too. Let me talk to Max.”

Oh, Jesus.

“Elizabeth…”

She shut that down.

“I need to talk to him, Dex. We’re struggling with this case, and I can’t clear him. I need to speak to my suspect, if you don’t mind or I can have you bring him to the FBI so I can talk to him there.”

Gene shook his head.

“Oh, he’s gone and pissed her off,” he whispered. “Now, she’s going to be feisty.”

She whipped her badge at him, and it hit the man on the side of the head.

“SEE?”

Dex knew he screwed up.

“Not until you listen to me,” he said. “I didn’t mean that to sound like we’re on opposite sides. I just know I won’t do anything to hurt him, and we are friends.”

Dex saw Max heading his way.

“Elizabeth?” he asked.

He nodded.

“Let me talk to her,” he said, as Dex handed him the phone.

He gave the man his phone, hating that he’d put a divide between him and Elizabeth. He was just protective of his love life—for good reason.

“Elizabeth?” Max asked. “Is it bad news?”

She sighed.

“Can you move away from Poindexter for a few seconds so we can talk?”

“Sure,” he said, holding up a finger to get the man to see he needed a few seconds just like he had.

Dex didn’t follow when he put space between them, but he was pretty sure he fucked up. Max had told him multiple times that Elizabeth was his only friend, and he’d just annoyed her.

How could this go wrong?

It looked like he was about to find out.

On the phone, Max was holding his breath. He knew this was likely bad.

“We can’t tie you to any of the victims,” she said. “I’ve gone through all your things, your bank statements, and had your home swept.”

“That’s good, right?” he asked. “I’m not tied to them, so how would I have picked them?”

She explained.

“Except this makes it look like you randomly chose people to throw it off. Max, has anyone been giving you a difficult time the last few months? A stalker? An angry employee?”

He was blunt.

“I don’t have many people who hate me, unless I lock them up, Elizabeth. Will Jackson hated my guts, but Ian handled that.”

She was aware.

“How is Ian?” he asked, changing the subject for a second. “Is Gryphen okay?”

She told him.

Then, she added in the part that concerned her.

“Jane Winters is gunning for him. She wants to hang him in public effigy to make me bleed.”

Max was curious.

“Do you think that maybe she is behind this? So she could get me off this to not be able to help Ian? I’m representing him as a favor to you.”

She was aware.

“I don’t know. We need something. I just can’t go to her and ask her if she’s a killer trying to frame you,” she said.

He figured as much.

That would make her even more difficult to work with on a daily basis.

“Gabe is going to handle it. He’s worried about you, and so am I.”

“Am I going to jail?” he asked, his voice low, but he was looking at Dex. They’d just had fantastic sex, and were rolling around in the grass.

Now, reality was back.

“No. I’m far from done. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Is Dex treating you right?” she asked.

He was honest.

“I slept with him.”

That hung there.

“I know I shouldn’t have, but…Elizabeth, I think I’m in love with him. He’s kind, he’s funny, and…”

She stopped him.

“Don’t break his heart. Dex is a good cop and a nice guy. He’s good for you. You two are opposites, and if I were going to match two people up, it would be you two.”

Max was struggling, and she was his only friend.

“I don’t know how to be in a relationship.”

She reassured him.

“Yes, you do. What happened before was just with a bad choice. He’s a good one. I can tell.”

“He took me for ice cream, and now a hike in the woods. The man saved a duck egg from the cold water. He’s a unicorn.”

She smiled.

“He’s your unicorn. Get on and hold on,” she said. “I can feel it in my gut. He’s going to keep you safe.”

Max was honest.

“I have no one I can ask this to but you. I’m sorry if it’s inappropriate.”

“Hey, Max, we’re friends. You came to my son’s wedding, and you come to my house for parties and BBQs. We’ve been working together in and out of courtrooms for a long time. How many cases have we worked over the years?”

She was right.

“Can I trust him with my already destroyed heart. I need you to be honest, Elizabeth. I’m that attracted to him. I feel young and happy when I’m with him. He made me pancakes and squeezed orange juice for me. I love being near him.”

She didn’t hesitate.

“Yes. I trust him with you, so you can trust him. Do you feel safe and happy?” she asked.

Oh, God.

He did.

“One hundred percent.”

Now came the hard part.

“Then, you can’t break his heart with a one-night stand, Max. Don’t do it to him. I don’t know much about his past, but I know enough that he’s been hurt too. You can tell by how defensive he gets.”

Max didn’t give her anything since that wasn’t his story to tell, but he knew she was right.

“I think we’re beyond that. We’ve had sex a few times, and I really like being with him. I’m sorry I am talking about this…”

She stopped him.

“Max, we’re family. Talk.”

She knew she had work to do, but he was her friend, and so was Dex—even if he didn’t see that. Never let it be said that she wouldn’t show up for a friend.

No.

Matter.

What.

“He’s good to me. No one’s ever been that way. I’m wealthy, Elizabeth, and he bought me ice cream. He doesn’t expect anything from me like everyone always does. To him, I’m a lawyer—not THE lawyer.”

That she understood.

“Then grab on and don’t let go. When you find that person, hold onto them,” she said, as Callen ran his hand up and down her thigh. “Don’t worry what the world thinks. You worry about what you think.”

“I think I’m going to.”

She warned him.

“You can hurt him more than he can hurt you. You’re accustomed to the fuck and run. He’s not. He’s a good cop, and he will never hurt you.”

Max was struggling.

“How do I make this work?” he asked.

Oh, she knew what he was worried about.

His image.

“You come out.”

“My job…”

Oh, she stopped that then and there.

“Fuck that, Max. Look at my job. I’m second to the top cop in the country. I have four men I’m accused of banging like a drum, I don’t give a shit. The problem is you do.”

He did.

“You gotta stop caring. Then, you can start a relationship.”

He was watching Dex, and the man looked worried. He looked scared.

Please, he mouthed.

That made Max sad that he was thinking he was being talked out of what they’d begun.

“I know you didn’t call because you suspected me to hook up,” he said. “What’s going on?”

Before she could answer, her phone beeped, and it was Chrissy. If she was lucky, the woman found something.

“Hold on, Max. My tech is calling. Stay on the line.”

When she clicked over, she was ready.

“Tell me what you found,” she said.

There was a pause.

“Elizabeth, help,” came the whisper. “I need your help,” she said.

She sat up straight in her seat.

“What’s going on, Chrissy,” she said, putting it on speaker. “Are you okay?”

There was more of a pause.

“I…I…just woke up. Someone hit me in the head. I came back to Max’s to recheck something, and someone hit me.”

Jesus.

“And you’re at Max’s?” she asked.

“Yeah, but Elizabeth, I’m not alone,” she whispered. “I woke up with a body here. Someone’s dead with me. I’m scared.”

Well, holy shit.

“Do you have your gun?” she asked.

“No.”

Ivan looked up at her in the rearview mirror.

“Get me to Max’s house FAST.”

Then, she focused her attention on Chrissy.

“I have to hang up. I have to get people there. Ethan is going to call you right back, Chrissy,” she said, as her husband pulled out his phone. “You stay on with him until I get there. I have to mobilize a team.”

“Hurry. Please.”

It had to be bad if Chrissy was scared.

“We’ll be there in five,” she said, making Ivan accelerate to make that happen. “Don’t move unless you’re in danger. You’re evidence, Chrissy.”

God.

She was hoping this had been a woman. If she rolled up there and Chrissy had been sexually assaulted…

Yeah, she couldn’t even think that.

“Okay, Boss.”

Elizabeth clicked off the call, and was back with Max. Now, she had to really get moving. They had a body.

That might help her clear the man.

“Max, I need you to stay with Dex. Chrissy was at your place just now and someone’s dead. DO NOT LEAVE HIS SIDE!”

“Who is dead?” he asked.

She didn’t know.

“I can’t tell you that. I have no clue. Just be safe, Max,” she stated.

When she hung up, Ethan was talking to Chrissy, trying to make the woman calm.

She began calling her team. When she dialed the morgue, Chris answered.

“Doctor Leonard.”

“What the hell, Christopher? Why are you at work?” she asked. “We left you at home to rest. Aren’t you supposed to be packing for a trip?”

He laughed.

“Tony needed help packing equipment for his trip to Scotland. I have to sign them out, so that’s why I’m here. What’s going on?”

Shit.

“I need you to get the MEs to Max’s house. Chrissy is hurt, and we have a body.”

“WHAT?” he asked. “She’s hurt? She just left her thirty minutes ago to recheck something!”

Well, she interrupted the killer.

Clearly.

“Just get the full team there. I have to call Kane and let him know.”

Chris understood.

“Be careful, Elizabeth. This is the second time this was pointed at Max.”

Yeah, she was aware.

Honestly, she was beginning to think that Jane Winters might be behind this.

That was crazy, but logical all at once.

When she hung up, she looked at Gene and Callen. It was time to go deep, and she needed her best researchers.

“Guys, start digging into Jane Winters’ life for me,” she said.

They both looked surprised.

“The DA?” Gene asked.

She nodded.

“Yeah, she hates my guts, and Max’s too. I hate to admit this, but she knows how we both work, and this might be retaliation for the shit I put her through at Christmas time.”

Holy shit.

“You guys stay in this car and see if you can find me something. Ethan and I will walk the scene. If you see a big, angry Native charging the scene, get Kane onto it.”

Oh, boy.

This crazy case that had no answers just got turned upside down.

All over them.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hospital

Thursday

Mid-Morning

It had been a quiet night in his room, and now Gryphen wanted to take a shower. He felt like he was getting stinky. The last thing he wanted was his fiancé having to breathe in man-musk all day.

When the doctor came in to check on him, he told him he could start to walk around, take a shower, and get out of bed.

Apparently, he was on the mend.

Now, he just had to figure it out.

With Ian still sleeping beside him, he tried to untangle himself from his body. The man was tired, and he understood why.

Every time a nurse came in over the night to check on him, Ian had been up making sure everything was okay.

He was a hover fiancé.

Honestly, Gryphen didn’t mind. The man was sticking close, and he’d only left his side to go get him some ice cream.

Getting out from under Ian’s body was the problem. He was sleeping with his leg over Gryphen’s stump. If he pulled what was left of his leg out from under him, he was waking up.

Shit.

“What do you have against sleep?” Ian asked, mumbling.

Gryphen laughed.

He didn’t need much sleep, and the fact that he was feeling that now meant he was healing. Oh, he wasn’t any closer to being discharged, but he at least could function.

“I need to shower, Baby, and I have nothing against sleep, especially when it’s in bed with you,” he admitted.

He mumbled more, but sat up, freeing Gryphen from his body trap.

When he reached for his leg, nearly falling off the bed, Ian grabbed him by the back of the hospital gown.

“Uh, you just keep your ass right there, Marine,” he said, getting out of the bed to grab Gryphen’s leg. “I’ll help you.”

When he got his leg, he helped put the sleeve on, and then the leg. The whole time, Gryphen was watching him.

“You don’t have to take care of me,” he said.

Ian looked up.

Oh, well, he had some news for him.

“For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part,” he stated. “We signed a contract, and that’s our legally binding paper. Did we not?”

Gryphen smiled at him.

Today, Ian seemed more like himself, and for that, Gryphen was grateful.

“We did.”

“Then, I’m here to get you in and out of that shower. We’re a team.”

When he stood up, Gryphen pulled him closer and found his mouth with his.

The kiss was warm, deep, and set off the man’s heart monitor. Still, he kept kissing Ian. It was when the nurse came in and cleared her throat, that he slowly broke the kiss.

“And here I thought you were having a cardiac episode,” she joked.

“Well, my heart is beating faster,” Gryphen said, palming Ian’s face. “It must be love.”

When Gryphen looked over at her, he needed to know.

“Can you unhook me? I need a shower,” he said.

The woman headed his way, and did exactly what he asked.

“If you need my help…”

Ian wasn’t having it.

“I had to search for MANY years for a man this hot. I’m not letting anyone see him naked but me,” he stated.

The nurse laughed.

“Gotcha. Just pull the string if you need help or if he goes down.”

Ian wasn’t worried.

“I have him.”

When the woman left, he headed toward the door and peeked out.

“Jet, I’m going to help Gryph with a shower. Can you keep everyone out?” he asked.

The Marine nodded.

“Sure thing. Want me in the room in case the great redwood takes a tumble?”

He laughed.

“I think I have him. If you feel the building shake though, come get me out from under him. I never thought I’d say that.”

Gryphen reminded them of one thing.

“I am right here, Jet and Ian. I can hear you. I was shot in the back, not the ears.”

Ian shut the door, and headed back toward his man. That’s when he grabbed his toiletry bag that he’d picked up, and his duffle bag.

“I brought you people clothes. I hate seeing you in that gown.”

Gryphen wiggled his eyebrows.

“I mean, you get a nice shot of my ass when I am facing away from you.”

Ian flushed.

“Oh, I know. I’ve looked.”

That made Gryphen happy. Ian seemed to be fighting through the melancholy. He knew he had an appointment with Callie soon.

Taking his toiletries back into the bathroom, he plugged in his razor, and got his body wash and shampoo out.

Then, he came back out for him.

“Okay, out of the gown,” he said.

Gryphen pulled it off, and was careful of his IV port. Then, he handed the gown to him.

“Thank you for helping me.”

Ian didn’t mind.

This was what love was all about.

“If I ever stop wanting to see you soapy in the shower, Gryph, get me checked out.”

He found that amusing.

When Ian pulled him to his feet, he was wobbly.

“Are you going to be able to handle me?” he asked. “I outweigh you.”

He stopped him.

“I can handle my man just fine. No freaking nurse is giving you a sponge bath. I’m distraught, not insane.”

He got it.

Helping him into the shower, Gryphen sat on the chair that was in there, so he could get cleaned up. What he didn’t expect was Ian to start stripping down too.

“Uh, why are you getting naked?” he asked.

Ian stared at him.

“I’m getting in with you to clean you up, and I didn’t bring extra clothes with me.”

Gryphen’s heart thumped.

“This is a really bad time to be shot,” he said, as Ian stripped out of his clothes.

Ian just laughed.

“You can control yourself,” he said, dropping his pants and boxers.

Gryphen stared at his erection and licked his lips.

“God. I miss sex.”

Oh, so did Ian.

“Take off your leg so your prosthetic doesn’t get soggy,” he stated.

Gryphen did just that.

Ian grabbed a sponge and wet it. Then, he climbed in and began gently washing his body, not touching the waterproof bandages on his back. Instead, he leaned over the man’s body, soaping him up.

When Gryphen dropped his head back and moaned at the contact, Ian was in his happy place.

“I love taking care of you, my Lord,” he whispered in his ear.

His body shook, and he got harder.

“Mr. Patterson, keep touching me,” he whispered. “Please. I’ve missed you.”

This was brutal.

He’d gone from a lot of sex to healing, so he was definitely aroused.

How could he not be?

Gryphen was only human, and he was in a shower naked with his fiancé.

His personal property.

“Please,” Gryphen whispered, as Ian’s hands moved over his flesh. The touch was delicate and loving, and that did nothing for keeping his erection from wanting to come to the party.

“I love you, my Lord,” he whispered. “Thank you for coming back to me,” he stated.

Gryphen was trying so hard to be good. Only, he could see that necklace dangling inches from his face as his love soaped him up.

“I love you, Mr. Patterson. I’ll always love you,” he stated.

When Ian moved to rinse him off, the warm water felt good, but not nearly as good as Ian’s hands on his body. When he opened his eyes, Ian was between his legs, kneeling.

“Let me show you,” he said, willing to do anything for this man. This was the greatest love of his life.

Gryphen blinked, and before he could say anything, Ian’s mouth found his erection.

He moaned in pleasure as that wet, warm sensation enveloped his dick.

“Yesssssss,” he hissed. “More.”

Ian blew him, wanting the man to be calm, satiated, and taken care of since that was his job.

They’d signed that contract, and this was Ian’s happy place. Plus, he needed something from Gryphen.

Peace.

As he blew him, Gryphen’s hands were in his hair, and he loved the feeling of his mouth moving up and down his erection.

“Jerk off with me,” Gryphen managed to get out. “I can’t cum unless you cum, Baby,” he whispered.

Ian gave him what he wanted.

As he was being blown, Ian jerked off, and took them both to the edge. Sex was better than head, but he knew Gryphen was recovering.

And so was he.

Nearly losing this man had been difficult for him.

It had been damaging.

As they reached the top, Ian knew that Gryphen was close, and so was he.

“Cum for me, Baby,” Gryphen whispered, his head back and his body on autopilot.

When he fell from the edge, exploding, he felt the warm splash of Ian’s cum on his leg.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

When Ian swallowed all of him, Gryphen opened his eyes to watch.

There were tears in Ian’s eyes, and they dripped down his cheeks.

“Come here,” he whispered, pulling Ian up and putting him on his lap so he could hold him.

“I thought I lost you,” he whispered, the sobs beginning.

“I thought I lost you too, Ian,” Gryphen said. “But we didn’t lose each other. We’re still together, and we will be for a very long time.”

“Please don’t make me go back to work,” he whispered. “I thought I could, but I can’t.”

He lifted his chin, and stared into his eyes.

“If you can’t go back, Ian, that’s fine. I can support us, and our children. I understand.”

He held onto him.

“Don’t leave me,” he whispered. “I love you more than anything in this world.”

He knew he did.

“I know, Baby. I feel the same. We’ll set up our nest after Callie spends some time with you, and Elizabeth handles the Jane Winters thing.”

He nodded.

“And if I go to prison?” Ian asked.

Gryphen reassured him.

“You won’t, but if you do, you’ll find me in the next cell because I’m going to commit homicide and be right there beside you.”

And Gryphen wasn’t kidding.

If Jane Winters didn’t back the fuck off of Ian, she was going to have one big problem.

Gryphen Carter.

Because no one tormented his mate.

NO ONE.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Max Holder’s Home

Georgetown

Thursday Late Morning

When they arrived at the man’s home, the surrounding street was lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. There were cop cars, and there were tech vans—all the lights flashing.

Oh, and there was media.

But of course, there was.

Elizabeth was just getting there as her techs were jumping out of their vans.

That’s when she saw Chris.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “You’re not on duty.”

He stopped her.

“I came to supervise. That’s it. I came to make sure Chrissy is okay. She’s my friend and responsibility.”

Yeah, she got that.

He could stay.

“If I see a single, solitary tool in your hand, Christopher, I’m losing my shit. That’s your one and only warning.”

He got it.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he offered, amused.

Together, they headed into the house, and that’s where they found Chrissy.

She was sitting on the floor, right next to a body. She had blood on her face, and Elizabeth wasn’t sure if it was hers or not.

“Hey,” she said, crouching down.

Chrissy had tears in her eyes.

“Someone came up behind me. I felt the hit to my head, and then…”

Elizabeth let her talk.

“Then, when I woke up, I was next to him…,” she said, pointing.

Chris got down on his knees, and pulled open a medical kit. He began taking care of their head tech. Elizabeth said he couldn’t work. She didn’t say he couldn’t be a doctor when his friend needed it.

“I have her,” he said.

Elizabeth appreciated that.

She moved toward the body, and when she stared down into the beaten face, it was very familiar.

“Well, shit. That’s Ken Yasin,” she admitted when realization dawned.

Ethan lifted a brow.

“Oh, boy. He’s been mutilated,” he said, pointing at the man’s groin.

Ken’s pants were torn apart there, like someone shoved a knife through his body repeatedly.

Only, he didn’t get to say anything else.

They all heard it.

“CHRISTINA!” someone shouted.

Oh, shit. Now, they had company on the scene, and it was a riled-up husband.

When Kane Redwolf came in, he looked like a wild animal scenting for its mate. His eyes were big, and he looked scared shitless.

And.

Pissed.

The second he saw his wife sitting on the floor next to a dead body, he headed her way.

Ethan managed to intercept him.

“Let me get to my wife!” he practically growled at him in irritation.

Ethan knew the truth.

“Kane, we can’t let you touch her. She’s covered in DNA from this killer. We need you to not contaminate the scene.”

Because he was a cop, and knew she was right, he fought to calm down.

Instead, he focused on his wife. The ride over had been torture. His heart was racing, and he would never forget that call from Elizabeth.

“Baby! Are you going to be okay?” he asked as Ethan continued to block his body.

Thankfully, security was out with Callen and Gene in the ride, or they would have manhandled Kane even though he was no threat to them.

“I’m okay, Kane,” she said, as Chris checked her blood pressure.

“Can I please move closer to my wife?” he asked, trying to be patient.

But it was difficult to do that.

That was his wife.

HIS.

CHRISTINA.

When he’d gotten the call from Elizabeth, he’d been on a crime scene, and raced right over there. This was his fear that one day, Christina would be hurt.

Ethan pulled out some gloves.

“No hugging, and if you touch her, you wear these. We’ll process her as quickly as we can.”

The man took them, and pulled the latex gloves on so that he could get to his wife.

When he did, Ethan let him by him.

The man dropped to his knees, and took Christina’s face in his hands.

“Baby, what happened?” he asked.

She had tears in her eyes.

“I forgot to check the refrigerator in Max’s garage. So I came back. When I was getting my kit, someone came up behind me.”

Elizabeth was nearby, so she could hear the woman telling her husband the details. Now, Christina didn’t have to tell them this all over again.

“When I turned, something hit me. I saw this…monster from my peripheral.”

Kane kissed her gently on the mouth, making sure that was their only contact.

Fuck the FBI.

He was kissing his wife.

When Chris was done checking her vitals, he shook his head.

“Well, the good news is her blood pressure was fine—UNTIL Kane started kissing her. She might need some meds.”

The big Native man broke the kiss, and actually laughed sardonically.

“I need meds. This call was something I’ll never forget. I almost ran over my partner to get here.”

Elizabeth shrugged.

“Quinn will forgive you. He gets it. I’ve heard the stories of how he and his wife met. No one knows that panic better than a spouse who knows their love was injured in our line of work.”

She was right.

Only, now that Chris had checked her, he relaxed.

“And is she really okay?” he asked. “Because I’m not feeling so well. I might puke.”

“DON’T puke on the scene,” a bunch of techs said all at the same time.

It made Elizabeth laugh.

That sounded about right.

Elizabeth knew she needed to push for more information. Chrissy was lucky that she saw the killer, and lived to tell about it.

“I know this is the last thing you want to do,” Elizabeth began, but she was cut off.

Christina didn’t hold back.

“It was a woman. She was taller than me. I know it was a woman because I saw her hands. They were manicured and feminine.”

She let her talk.

“I couldn’t tell you about her face because…”

She looked ill.

“What?” Elizabeth asked.

“Boss, she was wearing someone’s face. She had someone’s face with the scalp attached on her own. I could see her eyes from the gaping eye holes.”

Well, shit.

She looked over at Ethan.

If that wasn’t cuckoo times ten, nothing was.

Immediately, he sighed, knowing what that meant.

“Welcome to the DID rodeo,” he stated. “Our killer likely has Dissociative Identity Disorder.”

And that was not what she wanted to hear.

Why?

Because if the person had that disorder, they could have multiple identities, and she wouldn’t be able to spot the evil one if she was focused on them.

They could flip through personalities like the pages of a magazine.

This just got harder. The killer could have been anyone they interviewed.

ANYONE.

When her phone chimed, she pulled it from her pocket. It was Ivan.

“Heads-up, but Dex and Max just pulled up.”

Well, shit.

She’d told Max to stay with Dex, not come to the goddamn crime scene. It was good to see they didn’t listen.

“I have to handle this,” she said, walking toward the door, leaving Ethan with them.

Outside, she found Max pulling off a helmet, and Dex doing the same thing.

Luckily, they were blocked from the media.

Well, well, well…

Dex was looking pretty protective of the man. That told her all she needed to know.

“Poindexter! What the hell? You brought him here?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“You know that annoys me, right?”

Oh, she did.

That was why she did it.

“What happened?” Max asked. He needed to make sure his home was okay, and that everyone was safe.

She told him.

“My head tech got clocked by the killer. It’s a woman, apparently, and she has DID.”

Dex lifted a brow.

“Uh, that’s not good.”

Yeah, well, tell her something she didn’t know—like the name of the killer.

“I have good news, and I have bad news. Which do you want first?” she asked Max.

“The bad.”

“What were you doing the last two hours?” she asked, as Callen and Gene got out of the vehicle to join her.

Dex raised his hand.

“Technically, he was doing me.”

She kept going.

“And you saw him at all times?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Well, then, here’s the rest of the bad news. Your living room is a crime scene, and you can’t stay here.”

Max stood there, and Dex wrapped his arm around his waist to offer him comfort.

“And the good?”

“You’re covered with an alibi. You couldn’t be doing him, and then offing him,” she said, pointing at his home.

He still didn’t look calmed down.

“Why me?” he asked.

Callen interrupted.

“Gene and I were suspicious. So, we reached out to Kian Berry,” he said.

Elizabeth was all ears.

“Apparently, Ken dated all three of the female victims. He’s tied to them, not Max.”

Well, shit.

Now, she had a problem.

“I need a profile ASAP, and I hope to God my profiler can give me one,” she admitted. Then, she focused on the two men. “Max, head back to Dex’s, and stay there.”

Dex didn’t like this.

“Is he in danger?” he asked.

She nodded.

“We first thought that the three dead women were somehow tied to you. They weren’t. What happened to you was a warning shot. The killer was making a statement.”

“The pig’s blood,” Gene said. “That was about Ken being a pig, wasn’t it?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I believe so. We thought it was to set up the scene and make it more graphic to make a point. It wasn’t. The killer was telling us something. That might have been the original personality trying to get back in control, or one of the other personalities holding on for dear life.”

This.

Was.

Bad.

Why?

She had to start all over again.

They’d spent the whole first day trying to connect Max to all of the women without being successful. Now, they needed to reinterview and ask more questions about Ken.

Shit.

They were falling behind, and that forty-eight-hour mark was fast approaching. By tonight, the trail could be cold. Elizabeth had to pick up the pace.

“And you’ve never had contact with Ken before you were set up on your date?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“No. It was the first and only time I’ve met him. Is he bad?” he asked, meaning his death.

She was honest.

“Yeah. Someone worked him over.”

Max hated that someone was hurt. He hated when crime ran rampant, and people died.

“Can I see him?” he asked. “He was a nice guy. I hate that this happened to him. His mother and father died when he was eighteen, and his sister was sixteen. He raised her, and they built their business together. He was a decent guy, and if he ended up dying because of me…”

“This isn’t your fault, Max.”

He hoped not.

“I still feel responsible,” he admitted. “So let me see him. He deserves that at least.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

He nodded.

Well, maybe he might recall something, and it would help her. So, they headed into the man’s luxurious home, and into the living room. When they got there, Max saw the man, and turned into Dex’s body.

It.

Was.

Bad.

To protect Max, Dex wrapped his arms around him, giving him a place to hide.

“This is a warning to you,” Ethan said. “This woman is telling you that you crossed a line by touching what was hers.”

It appeared that finally, Elizabeth’s profiler had something to use to build her a profile.

THANK GOD.

“Is he nailed to my floor?” Max asked, his voice trembling. Normally, he wouldn’t flinch, but this was anything but a normal situation.

“Yes,” Zane said. “The killer put him here, and from the marks on the back of his head, he was dragged here.”

Elizabeth knew how.

“There’s private land behind Max’s house,” she said, pointing at the broken glass in the kitchen door. “I’m betting that’s the way the killer came.”

Max didn’t look at him.

“My security probably alerted me, but I don’t have my phone. It’s in evidence.”

Likely.

Had Chrissy not been here, they likely wouldn’t have found the body for a while. The killer had to have dumped him after the techs pulled out of here earlier.

She looked over at Callen and Gene.

“Pair up and see what you can find out there. Take three techs with you, and for Christ’s sake, if someone comes up to you wearing another person’s face, shoot them.”

Gene laughed.

“You think? If I see someone playing not-quite-Leatherface with someone’s skin, I’m definitely shooting first and asking questions MUCH later.”

On that, Callen agreed.

She focused on Dex.

“Take him back to your place, and put him under watch and guard his ass.”

Now, the homicide captain was worried. This just upped the concern.

“Is he in danger?”

Elizabeth wasn’t one hundred percent sure. The killer looked to be focused on Ken, but with DID, anything was possible.

“I don’t know, but let’s pretend for shits and giggles, he is. Let’s hope she doesn’t know he’s with you.”

That was all Dex had to hear.

“I’ll be careful getting him back.”

She believed him.

“Oh, and Elizabeth?” Dex asked, needing to talk to her.

The Fed looked over.

“Yeah?”

Max had told him what she’d said on the phone, and he felt bad for giving her shit when she told Max to trust him. He owed her an apology.

“I was short with you earlier. I’m sorry.”

She shrugged.

“Despite what you think, Poindexter, we are friends. I wouldn’t give you the time of the day if we weren’t.”

Yeah, he was aware.

Taking a chance, he hugged her, and it was clear that she didn’t expect it.

“Hey, I said friends.”

He was caught off guard, and laughed.

“Thank you,” he said. “I know what you told Max, and I appreciate it.”

“You’re both good together. Just keep him safe. Okay? Max is near and dear to my heart too, Poindexter.”

He smiled at her, and didn’t even get annoyed that she called him that.

“I think it’s fair to say we both feel the same too.”

Yeah, her world was so much bigger, and more difficult with people in it, but she was good with that.

As they headed out, it was just her and Ethan as the techs did their thing. Chrissy was out of her clothes, and into spares they kept in the van. Not far away, her husband was standing guard like a sentry.

Well, she’d be safe now.

That was clear.

“This is going to be a rough one,” she said to Ethan. “I’m behind on this, so I hope you have a good profile ready to go for me.”

Ethan knew this was coming.

“I will after we get some information from the MEs. Then, I’ll have it all in order for you.”

That worked for her.

Heading toward the three MEs, it was clear that Chris was being on his best behavior—as in he was trying to disappear into his surroundings.

Nice try.

“You can head back,” she said, not wanting him to work. They already went to this rodeo yesterday.

He went there.

“I’m just supervising.”

Elizabeth lifted a brow.

“Didn’t you have a trip to get ready for?” she asked.

Chris knew where this was going.

“The jet has been booked, the manifest is in, and I’m taking the two nannies and all the kids. Spring break starts Monday, and you promised Wyler a week off.”

She went to argue.

Only, he wasn’t having it.

“No. I want a week with my kids. I don’t get to see them nearly enough. I’ll have it under control. The two nannies agreed to it, and they’ll get a bonus.”

Well, at least the kids could run wild at the house. So, that worked for her.

“Send them back if they get to be too much.”

He laughed.

“Never,” he admitted, and then looked at Ethan. “Do you want me to leave Willa? Since she’s yours and Gene’s?”

He stopped him.

“That’s bullshit, Doctor. Willa is all of ours. I know Gene. He’ll want her to have fun with Dolly and the other girls. Take her.”

Chris smiled.

“I can’t wait to lay on a couch and watch movies for seven days with the kids.”

Elizabeth began stressing it.

“How will you eat?” she asked, worried.

Chris clued her in.

“I already had a food order put in for delivery. Someone will boat it over, and the groundskeeper is there to put it away.”

“And what if…?”

Chris headed her way.

“Sweetness, I’ve got this. I’m taking Saint and Raphael. They’ll make sure I take my meds because I know you’ll threaten them.”

She would.

“Focus on the case and let me worry about my break. Nothing is better than pancakes with kids, pizza, and movie night, and playing football in the backyard with them. I’ll be the referee.”

She had to let him go.

He needed this break.

Only, she wanted him to know one thing.

“If you need me, I can be there in six hours. I’ll drop everything to get to you.”

There was no doubt in his mind she would.

“When do you leave?” she asked.

He kissed her on the tip of the nose.

“Tonight when the kids get home from school. You don’t need me on this case…”

She stopped him.

“We do need you, but you need to be strong and healthy if we’re going to continue on this journey together.”

“And if I don’t get healthy?” he asked, knowing what she told him last night.

Where he stood nearby, Ethan had been silently listening.

Well, until that moment.

“Then we all retire so we can spend what time you have left together every second of the day,” he vowed.

Tears filled his eyes.

“Thank you for that, EJ.”

There was nothing to thank him for. They were a couple, and that came first.

Ethan kissed him, and then wrapped his arm around his waist to let him lean on him.

Now that they’d settled that…

“What do we have?” she asked the MEs that were working, but they didn’t get a chance to answer her. Someone else was all over it.

“He bled out. The cut to his neck is likely it. He also has some bodily wounds like spikes through his hands into the floor. He was dead at the time,” Chris said. “He was tortured elsewhere or there would be more blood like the set-up crime scene.”

As soon as he said it, both MEs stare at him in horror. That was all kinds of speculation.

Chris just laughed.

“What? It’s annoying, isn’t it? Now you know how I feel when you do it on my scenes.”

Instead of arguing, both just laughed and shook their heads.

Yeah, Elizabeth was going to miss him the next week. They never took separate vacations, and that bothered her. This was a first she never wanted to experience.

“One for the road, Christopher. Since you’re not working, give me your professional opinion on COD and TOD.”

He touched the man’s foot to test for rigor before answering.

“I’m going to say he died sometime late last night. He’s been moved here like I said. You don’t have enough blood on the scene for these wounds.”    

Chris kept going.

“His eyes are cloudy, so we’re talking around twelve hours since someone took the life he was using. He has a lot of damage to his dick. Someone chopped and stabbed at him, and I will say from the blood on his pants, he was alive for that portion of the festivities.”

Both MEs said nothing.

Why?

He was the boss, even if he was off duty.

“You might want to get a profile from Ethan. He’s been tortured. He’ll be able to give you more, but if I were a working ME, I’d say his COD is exsanguination with last night around eleven as his TOD.”

She looked over at the MEs to confirm.

Zane laughed.

“If you think for one second that I’m going to say shit and disagree, you’re nuts.”

Dalia giggled.

“He’s right,” she said. “If we are giving you first guesses on the scene.”

That was all she had to hear.

To thank him, Elizabeth kissed him on the cheek. That was how she liked her MEs.

Compliant.

Leading Ethan and Chris to Max’s kitchen, they leaned on the counter, and she knew what time it was.

“Okay, handsome. Profile this. I’d give you more time, but we’re starting over again.”

Ethan figured as much.

“It’s definitely not about Max.”

Oh, she had just said this outside, but now, she wanted to know what Ethan thought.

“Give me more.”

He did.

“He was on a date with Ken, right?” he asked. “Then, Max wakes up unharmed with three dead bodies. The killer didn’t hurt him at that moment because I’m willing to bet that whoever this is, their dominant personality was able to get back in control to save him—or he would have been killed.”

Holy shit.

Max got lucky.

“So she pulled the evil part of her back down so that Max didn’t get skinned?”

He nodded.

“Yes, because with the amount of roofies she slipped him, he wouldn’t have woken up in time.”

Elizabeth weighed it out in her mind.

Chris had an opinion.

“That might be why the other women woke up during the killing. The killer was testing the dose.”

He was right.

Ethan kept going.

“Now, the killer personality is winning this battle. She likely came here to leave this mess, and if Max had been here, he would have been killed. Chrissy survived since she is just a Fed doing her job. She’s not a threat to the killer because she likely has watched us, studied us, and then possibly saw Chrissy’s wedding band.”

Elizabeth didn’t like any of this.

Not.

At.

All.

“Is he next? Do I need to put him in protective custody?” she asked.

Ethan had to make a guess.

“He will likely be safe since the killer can’t find him. If he was here, that would change my opinion.”

She made up her mind.

“If we start investigating, and we find out that he’s in danger, I’m putting him at The Fort. He’ll be safe there.”

On that, he agreed.

“So this is a warning?” Chris asked, pointing at the mess that was left.

Ethan nodded.

“Elizabeth, if your man was dipping his quill in another well, what would you do?”

Oh, that was easy.

She didn’t even hesitate.

“I’d go shit nuts, cut off his dick, feed it to the girl, and light her on fire as I skipped around her singing happy little ditties.”

They both stared at her.

IN HORROR.

“Too much?”

Chris laughed.

“You think?”

Ehhh, not really.

What wouldn’t she do for the men in her life? If she thought one of them was cheating…off with their junk.

She was ‘Queen of Heart-ing’ them.

Then.

And.

There.

Blackhawk continued.

“Anyway, he was stabbed repeatedly through his junk,” Ethan said.

“He certainly was,” she admitted.

“What’s that tell you?” Ethan asked.

Oh, she knew.

“That he’s a cheater in her eyes, and that they had a relationship at one point. Because if someone knifed someone I didn’t sleep with, while I’d feel horrible, I wouldn’t dance around their boiled bones like a lunatic.”

That was all she had to say.

“Did someone say bones?” Tony asked, popping up from behind the counter.

They all jumped.

Well, except Elizabeth. She knew he was around because she could smell his cologne. If she had a dollar for every time Tony tried to scare her…

“Yes, I said bones, Anthony. Did you find anything with the ones we recovered from the skinned bodies?” she asked.

He wished.

“Nope. Nada. They are all who we thought they were. ID is confirmed by Chris last night.”

Her husband slapped himself in the forehead.

“Shit. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that,” he said.

Honestly, that was okay. They hadn’t spoken to the people who called in the missing person reports because they didn’t think they’d need to.

Unfortunately, that changed.

Plus, it had been a wild night.

Those interviews were up next since they were back at the beginning of this investigation.

“Anything else you need to tell me, Anthony?” she asked.

“Yeah, about this castle and the bones. What if it takes me a while to ID them? Are you going to be good without me?” he asked.

She stared at him.

“I think I can survive. I’ll just take care of it and hire a new anthro.”

He stared at her.

Oh, and the look said it all.

Elizabeth caught it.

“That’s what you get for trying to scare me. Next time, you’ll have to explain to Jaxon how you got shot in the ass.”

He came around the counter and hugged her.

“I’ll miss you. I’ll take good care of your haunted castle with the dead bodies in the basement.”

She snorted.

“Well, that makes me feel better.”

He winked at her and walked away. Before she could say anything, Chris went there.

“Please don’t send me there with him. If you love me at all, you won’t. He’s going to run wild and do stupid shit and need a babysitter.”

She snorted.

“I should for that stunt, but I won’t. You need to rest, and we need to find this killer. Gabby is pretty levelheaded. She can handle him.”

On that, both men agreed.

When a tech whistled from not far away, that had their attention.

“Boss! You gotta see this!” the woman said.

Elizabeth headed that way, and when the tech pointed into the garbage can, she was shocked.

Jesus on a sub-Saharan safari.

“Is that someone’s face?” she asked, staring down at the skin in the trash can. “With hair attached?”

Ethan nodded.

“Yep. It certainly is. We definitely found the cuckoo on this one.”

Yes, yes, they had.

“Okay, that’s gross,” she admitted. “That was the face Chrissy must have seen. So she slipped that on and played some sick dress up. You’d have to be batshit insane to wear someone’s face. It’s all slippery and bloody inside.”

That was an understatement.

Ethan was curious.

“Whose face is it?” Ethan asked. “That might tell us a little about the killer. Anything was possible.

Chris knew what that would take.

“DNA will have to be run, and maybe you can get more DNA from inside. It’ll take time, but…”

Yeah, she didn’t have a lot of time.

All she knew was this ranked up there with some crazy shit. People wearing other people?

That was weird.

Not shocking in her world, but hella bizarre.

“So Ken was banging other drums, and the killer is so pissed that she is walking around wearing the face of one of his conquests?” she said, assuming this was one of the faces of the original three dead women.

Ethan nodded.

“Chris, can you tell me about the decomp with that face? Does it match up with one of the dead women? Or am I going to go open a trunk and find three more?”

With gloved fingers, he touched the skin, and it was definitely beginning to go through decomp.

Someone was saving souvenirs of the murders.

“It’s been removed from its victim for a while. I’d say a few days. Surprisingly, it was removed rather cleanly. They didn’t cut, they peeled.”

Somehow, this got worse and worse.

“The horrible part is that Max got pulled into this,” she said.

Ethan agreed.

“We know that Max was a quick taste of the male deliciousness and not Ken’s norm. That would outrage the killer. It was bad enough he was going after women, but a man now too? Instead of her? That was likely the trigger.”

Elizabeth waited.

“And?” she asked.

He kept going.

“You’re looking for a woman, age close to Ken’s. He’s in his thirties, so give or take a few. This person has DID, definitely, and is likely someone who had a relationship with the man. It’s unrequited love.”

That was a good start.

“Lyzee, my love, you have to focus on Ken, and forget everything you’ve done so far.”

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

“We’re going in the wrong direction,” he admitted, much to her horror.

“So I have to start all over? Holy fucknuts. This is a rough one. I just got boned, no dinner, in the backseat of the car, and dumped out at the local bus stop.”

She rubbed her temples.

Well, she’d handled worse.

“Okay, are you one hundred percent sure with your profile? Because I interviewed a good deal of people, including the ones that worked with Max. Estelle Holt, the woman who wants his job, was my lead suspect.”

He nodded.

“Yes. I’m sorry, Baby, but we have to switch focus onto him.”

Well, it looked like this was going to be a long one.

Okay.

It was time to regroup.

For now, Elizabeth knew that she needed to get back out there. There were people to interview, and she had a notify to the next of kin.

When Callen and Gene came back in, they headed right toward her.

“We found the trail. About a thousand feet back is a dirt road. It’s likely used for cell tower access. We found the drag marks. Chris was right. He was pulled through the woods.”

That made sense since this was a woman who couldn’t come in the front way.

Gene continued.

“The techs are pulling trace and footprints so when this goes to trial, you have this nailed down,” he said, looking over as the MEs were trying to pry the man from the floor. “Maybe that was a bad choice of words.”

Maybe, but she knew what was next.

“Callen, we have to split up.”

He figured as much. If this was not about Max, they would have wasted a whole day on it.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“I need you and Ethan to head out and interview all three people who called in the MPRs. We know the victims dated him, but find out if someone was giving them shit about it.”

They could do that.

She looked over at Chris.

“Do you want in on this?”

He stared at her.

“Pardon?” he asked, clearly caught off guard.

Elizabeth explained.

“You’re not leaving until later. Can you maybe supervise your people, and get me the information as they receive it from DNA and testing? Be my middleman to interpret what I need ASAP and what I don’t?”

He absolutely would.

“Yes!”

She gave him a warning, of sorts.

“Sitting and reading is not draining, and I need all the help I can get. I’m a day behind.”

Chris was down with that.

“Right now, Gene is getting a warrant for the dead man’s financials.”

Oh, hell, yeah, he was doing just that because he knew what was coming if she didn’t have them ASAP.

“Gene and I are going to go notify the sister and go back to the restaurant. The bartender said that he brought women in there all of the time. I want to know if any stood out or if he got his flirt on with someone who took umbrage to his dating.”

At least they knew where she’d be, and that she’d be safe. That was all that mattered to them.

When someone cleared her voice, Elizabeth looked over.

It was her head tech.

“I want to work.”

She lifted her brow.

“Christina, you were clocked by a nut in the noggin. That gives you a day off.”

She didn’t care.

“It’s only a twenty-four-hour break if I go to the hospital. Luckily for me, I’m surrounded by doctors. I’m good. Besides, you need me to process that information and trace as quickly as I normally do. I can get it to you quicker than anyone else can. Someone has to deal with the face in the garbage can. I’ll take it.”

Elizabeth hesitated.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded.

“I’ll be sitting with her in your lab,” Kane said. “Quinn is covering for me, and I’m free. If she’s working, I’m babysitting my wife. Clearly, she needs it.”

Every man in the room understood exactly how he was feeling—especially the ones married to Elizabeth.

As for him staying…

Elizabeth was fine with that. She trusted Kane. He wouldn’t go to the media with anything he heard in Autopsy One.

“Okay, then. Chrissy, run the shit out of every ounce of trace you find on him and that face. Confirm who it belongs to, okay?”

She nodded.

“I’ll start with him and wrap it up with the face.”

That was a good plan.

“I want details before you move on. Maybe someone was all over him. Swab what was left of his dick just in case someone tried to take a bon voyage ride on the ‘S.S. Wandering Junk’ before hacking it up like that.”

She could do that.

Since they had their plans in place, she pointed at her MEs.

“You have until I get back in. I have zero time to waste, so now, neither do you. I want him autopsied and all of the trace processed in the next few hours. We are hitting the forty-eight-hour mark tonight, and then, it gets harder for me. This is NOT going to be a cold case. Hear me?”

Oh, they understood. Elizabeth had a clean record, minus one cold case with Lottie Tipton, and possibly Sally Martinez, since she was on the lam.

The whole team saluted and got to work.

Now, it was her time to get some shit done. Together, they left Max’s home.

Outside, she pointed at Ivan.

“Swap keys with Raphael. We’re taking the backup car. I want the media on my navigator, and not me. I have to move quickly, and I don’t have time to play ‘kiss me-fuck me’ with the media.”

Ivan did what she asked, tossing Raphael the keys, and catching the ones from Saint. They were free until Chris’ jet took off later tonight.

Elizabeth picked her team.

“Demeter and Ivan with me and Gene, Raphael, Saint, and Michael on Ethan and Callen. Let’s go,” she said, and they did just that. “Make sure you upload everything you find out!” she warned Callen and Ethan.

Oh, they would. Elizabeth looked tired, but they knew she would push hard.

What she needed now was a little quiet, so she could think this through.

She was going to be updating her mental whiteboard as they went. Elizabeth didn’t have time to fuck around and find out.

Her two husbands also saluted her before hauling ass out of there.

Yeah, this was about to get spicy.

Elizabeth had a lot of ground to cover, and very little time to do it.

This killer was on the move.

And she had no clue who would be next.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Interviews

Washington, D.C.

Thursday

Almost Noon

They knew they had very little time, and that meant hauling ass through their list of interviews for Elizabeth. She wasn’t playing around, and that meant that they needed to help her out to the best of their ability.

When she was coming up on the forty-eight-hour mark, she got twitchy, and no one liked a twitchy badass in boots.

In the blacked-out Navigator, Raphael was driving, Saint was the passenger, and Michael was behind both men in the third row.

When Ethan looked over, his brother was staring out the window, and he was thinking.

“Hey,” he said, putting his hand on Callen’s thigh to connect them.

He looked over.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Callen shrugged.

“I’m worried about Chris going off on a vacation alone with just the kids.”

“He can handle it,” Ethan said.

Callen was honest.

“I know he can, but we have a rule about sticking together. How would you feel if I went away on vacation alone?”

“I’d be concerned. You tend to like to stick close to home unless it’s work related.”

He dropped the bomb.

“I think we should all go.”

Ethan stared at him.

“You know how crazy work is for Elizabeth and…,” he began.

He stopped him.

“EJ, my gut says we need to go with him. I don’t know why, and I don’t know how to explain it, but I think we need to suck it up, take a vacation, and go with him.”

Ethan hated to be the bearer of bad news but…

He was about to be.

“We’re in the middle of a case. He’s leaving in a little while, later today. Elizabeth needs help. We can’t just bail on her.”

He pulled out his phone, and he knew that his wife was going to be busy, and that they just saw her.

Still…

Callen called her.

Talking about this on the scene was not happening, but now that they were both in cars heading to interviews…

Callen hit the speed dial.

She answered in seconds.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice filled with worry. “You’ve been away from me for seven minutes. What did Ethan do?”

“HEY!” Ethan said, hearing it on speaker. “ME?”

Callen reassured her.

“He’s good,” Callen admitted, “but we need to go on vacation with Chris. My gut says we need to do this.”

She got quiet.

Then, she answered.

“Okay, then help me wrap this ASAP. Duke is back to work, and Gryphen is awake. I can shuffle around meetings to take via MATE from the Puget Sound.”

Ethan lifted a brow.

Well, color him shocked.

“Really? That easy?” he asked, surprised.

Elizabeth explained.

“Yeah, because we’ve been running back-to-back cases since before Takoda’s wedding, and I’m tired. We have a grandbaby coming in a couple of months, so I want to make sure I’m spry for Oliver’s arrival.”

This was shocking.

“Is Gigi prioritizing a baby over work? This is wild,” Ethan said.

She stopped that.

“No, I’m prioritizing Chris’ health. If he can’t do the job, I’m out. I’ll turn in my badge. Just like if you couldn’t, Ethan, or you, Callen. I want to keep working, so I need to prioritize his well-being above dead bodies for a bit. That he’s faltering…”

Callen got it, and he agreed.

“He’s got to be all of our priorities for now. As a family, we have to do this.”

“Agreed,” she said. “So if taking a week off in The Puget Sound is what it takes, sign me up. Let’s wrap this, and then, we’ll get to Washington to stay by his side, so he knows it’s all of us or none of us.”

They got it.

“Can you get free?” she asked Ethan.

He thought about his workload.

“I think so. I’ll have to work on profiles while I’m there, since Callie and I are both buried, but I can stick the extra office work on Axl Thorn for a bit.”

That worked for her.

“Then, make it happen, Number One and Number Two. We’ll take a vaca, and get Number Three back to being healthy before Number Four wants a wedding.”

They could hear Gene laughing in the background. Apparently, he was amused that she’d given them all numbers.

Yeah, that was her life.

“Don’t forget it, Ringleader,” Callen said.

She blew them kisses.

“I love you both, so keep your asses out of trouble,” she stated, and then, hung up.

Well, that was simple.

“How many people will you need for security?” Raphael asked. “Ivan’s on the com and now has to work up a plan.”

“None,” Callen said.

They all began laughing.

Ivan did the same over the com too.

“We’ll be good,” Callen said. “It’s an island. No one has access except by boat. I think we can…”

Raphael shut him down.

“Since you both can’t hear Ivan, he’s cursing up a storm since Elizabeth just said the same thing. He said, and I quote, ‘Over his dead, cold, worm-ridden corpse will you five be left alone to your own devices across the country’.”

Both men knew that there was no point in arguing. Security was on edge after last night’s issues.

“Then give us whoever,” Callen said.

Raphael spoke over the com to his boss.

“Saint and I were already going,” he offered, looking up in the rearview mirror. “How about you, Michael?” he asked.

The man shook his head.

“I need to not leave town. I’m proposing to my boyfriend in a few days. I’ve been working on a killer proposal where he falls even more hopelessly in love with me.”

Callen turned around.

“Oh, well, that sounds like fun. Want to tell us all about him? You keep this man of yours pretty close to the vest.”

He snorted.

“Have you seen the nuts I work with?” he asked. “Demeter is always trying to hit on people, and show them his dick. Pass.”

Yeah, that sounded about right.

When they kept staring at him, he finally broke down.

“Anyway, Riley is his name, and we’ve been seeing each other a good nine months. I want to propose in the next few days when I’m off.”

They understood.

Michael didn’t talk much about his personal life. Saint Michael of the Archangels didn’t like people up in his business, but they did know a few things.

Michael wasn’t his real name.

He was a decorated Marine.

And he’d had a broken heart when they got him years ago to work for them.

As for the rest…

It was anyone’s game. They were all pretty sure that Elizabeth was the only one who knew the details, and she wasn’t saying shit.

On top of that, Michael didn’t kiss and tell, and he certainly didn’t talk about his past.

Well, not to them. Elizabeth knew everything about the man from how many silver stars he had, to what kind of things he liked to eat, but that was because she was up in EVERYONE’S business.

As.

A.

Mom.

“Well, congrats,” Ethan said. “If Elizabeth gets wind of this, she’ll…”

Raphael, Saint, and Michael all began laughing.

“The boss wants to plan another wedding. She’s talking on the com.”

That was about right.

She tended to wear one so she could talk to security and hear any updates.

“I mean, if Mom wants to plan a wedding, then I’m down with that. Riley wouldn’t mind. I can’t wait to introduce him to my family,” he said, meaning them.

Ethan patted him on the leg.

“And we can’t wait to meet him, Michael. He’s getting a great man by marrying you. He’s lucky.”

Michael just smiled.

He’d been broken and damaged by love, and he was finally feeling peace again.

The last man he’d loved…

It blew up in his face. When he’d left the Marines, he wanted the man to come with him.

He didn’t.

So, he left alone to go out into the civilian world without a safety net. That’s when he found the Blackhawks.

“Let me propose, and I’ll bring him over after you guys get back.”

That sounded good.

“What’s he do for a living?” Callen asked, curiously, since they were talking about it.

“He’s a reporter.”

At that, they all turned around, except for Raphael, who was driving.

The man laughed.

“And that’s why I’ve said nothing and have not brought him around. You know how that will go over. You guys are really bad with reporters.”

It was more like reporters were really bad with them.

“Well, that should be fun. You’re just lucky that Elizabeth has a soft spot for Saint Michael of the Archangels.”

He grinned.

“I know,” he said, knowing it was mutual.

As they reached a private driveway, Raphael clued them in. They were at the dead woman’s family’s home.

“This is the address on the MPR for your first victim,” Raphael said.

Both Callen and Ethan got ready to work.

“Okay, let’s go talk to the people that knew Faith Lee best,” Ethan said, as they all got out.

Not far away, there was the media, and when they saw it wasn’t Elizabeth, they looked annoyed.

Oh, well.

That sucked to be them.

As they headed toward the door, they ignored the media behind them as Michael, Saint, and Raphael held them back to give them some space.

At the door, they knocked.

It was opened by a pretty Asian woman.

“Hey, we’re…,” Callen began, but didn’t get to say anything else.

“I know who you are. This is about Faith, isn’t it?” she asked. “I’m her sister, Linda.”

Callen nodded.

“Can we come in and talk to you?” he asked, and was promptly invited into the room.

She backed up.

“Sure. When your ME called us to confirm that you found my sister, we’ve all been here,” she said, as they walked into a room of people.

Then, she introduced them.

“Mom, Dad, David, these are the FBI agents,” she said. “They work homicides.”

The mother began crying, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the Lee family.

They felt for them.

“We are so sorry for your loss,” Ethan said. “We hate to come here and interrupt you, but we needed to talk to you about Faith, and hoped you could help us.”

The older man stood.

“My daughter…who killed her?” he asked. “We need closure.”

They understood that.

Callen sat down, and his brother was right beside him. Linda went to get them coffee, being a good host, and the two men needed to handle the family.

It was part of the job.

“We don’t know that yet, Sir. We’re still working on it. Right now, our wife is working the case.”

The older man wiped his eyes.

“What can you tell us?” David Lee asked with some anger in his voice.

Again, they understood that too.

Ethan handled this.

“That her death is likely tied to something in her personal life. Can you tell us a little bit more about Faith?” he asked. “Like whom she worked for? Who she dated? Anything like that?”

Mrs. Lee wiped her eyes.

“She was an accountant. That’s a safe job. How could this happen?” she asked.

Ethan took the cup of coffee that Linda handed him to be polite.

“Ma’am, that’s what we need you guys to help us with. As an accountant, did she have any big clients or work specifically for someone?”

David nodded.

“She worked from home most of the time, but she did have one big client who paid her well.”

They waited.

“Who would that be?” Callen asked, when they didn’t just offer it up.

“Clandestine Connections,” said her brother. “She did all of his books, and the taxes.”

Callen looked over at Ethan, and a look passed between them.

“Her boss was Kian Berry?” he asked since that hadn’t been in her financials. Someone had to be paid under the table for her work.

“Yes, why?”

Ethan went there.

“Did she have any dates with any men or women who used Clandestine Connections as a dating service?” she asked.

The whole family looked confused.

“Uh, she never mentioned it.”

Callen knew what he needed.

A warrant.

Call it a hunch, but he figured Kian Berry wouldn’t be so forthcoming by handing over all of his dating records for them to go through.

Not willingly, anyway.

“Was anyone bothering Faith?” Ethan asked. “You know, like harassing her?”

David spoke up.

“Someone broke into her apartment not that long ago. They ransacked the place.”

Ethan lifted a brow.

There had been no police report. They would have found it when they ran the woman’s name.

“Was anything taken?”

“No. That’s what was weird about it. No one disliked Faith. She was sweet,” her brother admitted.

They focused on David, who clearly knew a lot more about his sister than the parents.

“Now, don’t take this personally. I have to ask about her life,” Ethan warned. “Was she straight?” he asked.

The brother didn’t get offended, and he nodded.

“Yeah, she liked men.”

Ethan took a wild shot at it because this whole mess was nagging the shit out of him. Something was missing.

“Did she ever date a man by the name of Ken Yasin?” he asked, trying to find a connection for Elizabeth.

He wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know. I know her last few dates, she went to a fancy restaurant, and told me that her date was really nice.”

Callen lifted a brow.

A fancy place?

Oh, they knew one.

“Do you know the name of the place?” he asked.

“Nagato,” David said.

And there was that connection again. The woman worked for the matchmaker as an accountant, and she went to the same restaurant that Max went to before being roofied.

That likely wasn’t a coincidence.

Ethan was updating the drive as Callen kept asking questions about the woman to get a baseline on Faith. They stayed another five minutes, trying to learn more, but it was just things for the file.

There was nothing that would assist Elizabeth in solving the case.

“Thank you for your help,” he said, standing.

Callen did the same.

“When can we get my sister’s body back?” Linda asked. “We want to have a funeral.”

The older woman sniffled.

“I want to see my baby,” Mrs. Lee said.

Callen hated to break it to them, but right now, Faith was in one of Tony’s plexiglass boxes after being a late-night snack for some beetles.

She was just bones.

“We’ll be letting you know,” he said. “Unfortunately, right now, she’s evidence.”

At his words, they all began crying.

“Again, we’re so sorry for your loss,” Ethan said, as he and Callen were ready to head out.

Outside, they kept their voices low.

“She worked for the guy who owned the business that set Max and Ken up,” Callen said. “That’s not going to be a coincidence. I called in another warrant, but this time for all of their records.”

Ethan had been thinking about it.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. That’s not a coincidence,” he stated. “That’s definitely off.”

On that, Callen agreed.

Back at the vehicle, they ignored the media shouting questions at them, and instead, got inside.

“Let’s head to the next one,” Ethan said, as he pulled out his notebook and pencil.

Callen knew what that meant.

It was going to be a quiet ride.

His brother was in profile mode.

Hopefully, he figured this out.

And soon.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Kayla Yasin’s

Business

Thursday Noon

Same Time

The last thing she wanted to do was a notify, but unfortunately, that was exactly what Elizabeth needed to do. Someone had to tell the man’s sister that he’d been found tortured and nailed to a floor.

Hopefully, they’d be able to get some information from her. As she sat in the vehicle, she did some research on the woman.

Well, Gene did.

“What do we know about her?” she asked.

Gene flipped his tablet.

“Kayla and her brother are close. I’m on her social media pages.”

He showed her.

In the pictures, it was Ken and Kayla laughing. Ken and Kayla on adventures. It was Ken and Kayla wearing matching pajamas on Christmas.

“From most of the captions, she looks up to her big brother—which is normal since he raised her when their parents died. I’m going to bet that she’s not going to take this well,” he said.

Likely not.

Not that anyone ever did, but when you were close to the victim, and lost them…

It tended to be really bad.

God.

She hated things like this.

Prior, they’d swung by the man’s house, having a tech team show up there, and they found that his sister lived next door to them.

They had side-by-side mansions.

That told them all they needed to know.

They.

Were.

Close.

Maybe closer than most siblings, but then again, Elizabeth got it. She and Duke were close, minus the little snafu that went down on her last case.

The man was married to one of her best friends, and he worked with his sister.

Unfortunately for Kayla, they were about to blow her world apart.

Funsies.

Heading into the office, they found a secretary sitting there, and it was a different one than the last time. This one was young and pretty, whereas the last one was much older.

“Hey, is Kayla here?” Elizabeth asked. “I’m Deputy Director Elizabeth Blackhawk.”

The woman was focused on her.

“Oh, yeah, she is, Director. She’s on the phone right now with a client, but if you give her a minute, I can ring her office. Her partner didn’t show up today, and she’s doing double duty.”

Oh, well, they knew why he wasn’t there.

He was at Max’s, with some chunky junk.

“Thanks,” she said. “Where’s the other secretary,” she asked. “I was here the other day.”

She shrugged.

“I’m the backup. I don’t really know,” she admitted. “All I know is I got a call from Kayla this morning asking if I could work. I just got here not that long ago.”

Gene was making notes.

“And your name?” he asked.

“I’m Bailey Lawrence. I mostly work for Kayla, but today, I’m holding down the fort.”

When the door opened, they all looked over. The woman looked frazzled when she came storming in.

“Any word from my brother?” she asked. “That was his biggest client on the phone, and he missed a meeting. I can’t do the deal, since I don’t know what he was planning for the man.”

As soon as she said it, she saw them.

“Oh, hey,” she said. “Do you need to talk to Ken about his date again?” she asked. “If you do, he’s not here. You might need to check his house.”

Oh, well, they knew where Ken was, but she clearly didn’t.

Elizabeth pointed.

“Can we go into your office?” she asked. “We went by your houses, and now, we need to talk.”

She nodded.

“Sure. Come on back, Director. Can I offer you a coffee or…?” she asked, leading the way.

In a minute, no one was going to be in the mood for coffee.

“No, we’re good, but thank you, Kayla.”

They sat down, and Gene let Elizabeth handle this one. He was updating the drive so Ethan could profile it. The man was in it right now, since Gene could see the login information.

“So what do you need to talk about?” she asked.

Elizabeth knew there was no easy way to bring this up, and that meant just dropping the bomb.

“Kayla, this morning, we found your brother deceased,” she said.

Slowly, the woman’s face went from happy to confused.

“Pardon?”

Elizabeth went there.

“Ken was found murdered at a man’s home,” she admitted, leaving out the name of the man. There was no point dragging Max deeper into this.

NONE.

AT.

ALL.

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Then, she started crying.

“NO!” she said. “This can’t be happening! I don’t understand!”

Elizabeth knew this was going to be difficult. The woman’s family was dead. It was just her and Ken.

They let her cry for a while, and then, she had to ask questions. It was to help the deceased man.

“When did you see him last?” she asked, trying to get through to the woman.

Kayla was sobbing.

“Yesterday at work,” she whispered. “He was here. We had clients. He left,” she sobbed.

Gene went around the desk and reassured her with his hand on her back.

“We know how difficult this is,” he admitted.

She continued to weep.

“I’ve lost my brother now too?” she asked, crying. “He was my only family. He was my everything!” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m all alone?”

Yeah, that appeared to be so.

What could they say to that?

“We are so sorry for your loss.”

“How?” she asked. “Why?”

Elizabeth wished she could answer that last one, but she couldn’t.

“We don’t know the why. We know that someone was pretty angry with him.”

She laughed sardonically while crying.

“Well, I’m pretty angry now too. He left me!” she stated. “How do I do this alone? He’s the brains behind this business. I’ve just started handling clients!”

Elizabeth needed more.

“Was he meeting anyone?” she asked.

As she was thinking, Gene handed Kayla some tissues from the box on her desk.

She blew her nose.

“I don’t know. My brother doesn’t tell me jack shit about his dates, apparently. All he told me yesterday, before we were both leaving work, was he was going right home.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“And what did you do after work?” she asked.

Kayla thought about it.

“I left before him, I hit the gym, and then, I went home to take a bath and watch some TV. I saw his lights on when I pulled into my driveway. Honestly, I had a rough day with clients yesterday, and I just wanted to go to bed early. I think the situation with the guy you told him about had him stirred up, and he was quiet after that.”

She was curious.

“And you didn’t hear anything?” she asked, knowing that the man was taken from his home. His car was there when they showed up, and the blood inside…

It said it all.

“No. I didn’t hear anything. I was watching TV, and this morning, I wanted to hit the gym early, since I have clients late tonight.”

She surprised them when she jumped up.

“Where is he? I want to see my brother!” she stated. “I need to see him! He can’t be dead. He promised he’d never leave me like our parents. Maybe you’re wrong…”

Elizabeth got it.

Denial was one of the stages of grief.

“I’m really sorry, Kayla. I personally ID’d him myself. He’s really deceased.”

She sobbed and then ran for the bathroom attached to the office. Once in there, they heard her gagging and puking.

“Should we…?” Gene asked, pointing at the room.

Elizabeth shook her head.

“No, but we can give her a minute.”

They waited, and as they did, they walked around the office, checking it out. They’d been in Ken’s, but now, they were in hers.

There were pictures of them kayaking.

Pictures of them mountain climbing.

There were no parents, but just them.

Elizabeth felt terrible for the girl. She knew what it was like to be alone in the world.

It sucked.

Luckily, she found out about Duke after she lost Charlie and Sam.

When the woman came out, she was wiping her mouth.

“I’m sorry. I’m just…”

They reassured her.

“It’s okay, Kayla. We get it. Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Ken?” she asked, trying to continue the interview, but she knew it wouldn’t last much longer. She didn’t want to be tough on the victim’s sister.

It was a bad day for her.

She shrugged.

“I don’t think there is anyone.”

Elizabeth kept pushing while the woman was coherent and focused.

“Was anyone obsessed with him?” she asked. “You know, like if I can’t have him no one will?”

Elizabeth was thinking about the dead skinned women, and how she was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, they tied to Ken—not Max.

Kayla shrugged.

“All the ladies were. Which is why I’m shocked he wanted to try out a guy. Ken has never had trouble attracting women. Sometimes he just finds a date walking down the street. My brother was attractive and fun.”

Elizabeth had to keep digging.

“Was that one date the first guy?” she asked. “Or did he take that ride on the wild side before?” she asked, already knowing what Ken told them, but this might have rattled something loose in the woman’s memory.

Or the truth might come out.

She shrugged again.

“I don’t know. He never told me. Ken kept his sex life quiet. We don’t really talk about shit like that. Now, I wish we did,” she said. “He hated hearing about my dates. He said it was weird to think about his sister having sex, and I felt the same way.”

The woman started crying again.

“Did he date anyone by the names of Faith Lee, Zara Tyler, or Eden Andre?” she asked.

The woman stared at her.

“Faith Lee? She worked for Ken as our accountant,” she said. “Is she the one who killed him?” she asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

“No, she’s one of the victims.”

Gene was on the tablet, and when he saw Ethan updated his information, he handed the tablet to Elizabeth.

She took a second.

Ethan just interviewed the family of Faith Lee, and they admitted she worked for Ken.

That was…interesting. Now, she felt like she was on track. The victims were tied to Ken’s life.

She’d bet on it.

“What the hell is going on?” Kayla asked. “My brother is dead, and now, so is our accountant?”

Elizabeth had to ask her.

“Is it possible that your brother and Faith had a relationship?” she asked. “You know, a sexual one?”

She blinked.

“I mean, Faith was gorgeous. My brother liked sex, apparently, since he got his ass killed by being ridiculous,” she said, getting angry.

Yep.

This was the next stage of grieving after denial.

Kayla Yasin was pissed off.

When there was a knock to the door, Bailey Lawrence stuck her head in the door.

“Kayla, your next appointment is here,” the pretty brunette said. “You have a meeting scheduled…”

Kayla shut that down.

“Send the man home. I’m done for the day. I want to go home. My brother’s dead, Bailey!”

The woman came in and hugged Kayla.

“Oh, honey! No! I’m so sorry!”

Elizabeth knew they weren’t getting anything else out of the sister. She’d told them pretty much all she knew. It was clear that Ken kept his sister out of his sex life.

That was bad for them.

And good for the killer.

“Kayla, we’re going to let you go home. Do you need a ride? For us to call someone?”

She sobbed.

“He’s all I had left. It was just him and me. Our parents are dead, and he was my only family. There’s no one to call! How do I live without him?”

She wished she had an answer to that.

But she didn’t.

Bailey interrupted.

“I’ll make sure she’s okay,” she said. “We’ll close the office down, and I’ll cancel all of her and Ken’s appointments for the day.”

That worked for Elizabeth.

“If you have any more information that comes to mind,” Elizabeth said, pulling her business card from behind her badge and handing it to her. “Call me.”

Kayla just nodded, as Bailey held her up.

Heading out, Elizabeth sighed.

“That sucked.”

Gene nodded.

“That poor girl. She’s all alone. I’ve been there. I’m so glad I have my family,” he admitted.

Yeah, so was she.

Elizabeth looked at her watch.

“How about we hit Nagato? I want to know if anyone there had a thing for Ken. I just feel like that’s an epicenter for this whole mess.”

Gene wasn’t questioning it.

Even he knew they needed to handle this, and fast.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The White House

Same Time

Gabe wasn’t happy.

He’d planned an earlier nap, so he could have some time with Alessandra, and shit got in the way.

Finally, now, at noon, he was going to get some downtime for the day.

He.

Was.

Exhausted.

Only, he had a younger girlfriend, and he needed to represent. What he wanted was her naked in his bed, and all of Alessandra to himself.

Unfortunately, they had less time now because the kids would be back before three from school.

In his bedroom, he paced the floor because he knew how important this moment was going to be. The chemistry he felt for Alessandra was off the charts, but if you didn’t mesh during sex…

It didn’t matter.

Now, he had to hope and pray he could keep up with a woman who was twenty years younger than him.

Oh, he was hella nervous about that.

The way she felt in that conference room as she was pressed against him, and on her knees for him…

Gabe was both aroused and scared stupid.

His gut said this was the single most important moment in his life.

Why?

He had no idea.

Since this was a sleepover, he was in his presidential pajamas, and waiting for her. He’d ordered some food, and it was sitting on a cart not far away.

Only, that wasn’t what he was hungry for at all.

He.

Wanted.

Her.

When there was a soft tap on his door, Gabe knew exactly who it was going to be.

His date had arrived.

The Executive Residence, as his personal space was called, was silent. With all the kids at school in the middle of the day, they would have privacy.

There were no Secret Service agents lurking either.

Opening the door, she, too, was in sleep wear. She was in a silk robe, carrying a bag, and had on heels.

God.

He loved those five-inch heels. They made his mouth water, and his balls twitch. Someone knew exactly what he craved in the opposite sex.

This woman was incredibly hot, and he was damn lucky.

As the heat went up with her just in the room, that was making him want to take off some clothes and roll around in bed.

“Mr. President,” she said, putting down her bag. “You and I have a meeting, don’t we?” she asked, grinning wickedly at him.

Yep.

He was going to enjoy this.

“Oh, Ms. Barber, we certainly do,” he said, moving closer. “I have some food for us, but that’s not exactly what I’m hungry for,” he said, towering over her, even in her heels.

God.

He wanted her so fucking bad.

She moved closer, and ran her hands up his pajamas, to his shoulders.

“Look at you in those PJs. I wonder what’s under them,” she said, moving into his body. When she was against him, Gabe found her mouth with his.

There was nothing stopping him.

Now, alone in the presidential suite, he was about to have his wicked way with his Press Secretary.

Hot.

Damn.

As his mouth moved over hers, he tugged on the tie of her robe, making it open. It was like opening presents on Christmas morning.

In the back of his mind, he was thinking about Livy, and if she’d hate that he was moving on—despite her telling him to do just that before Coraline’s wedding.

When Alessandra released his mouth, she blinked and stared into his eyes.

“Mr. President, you certainly know how to start your meetings.”

Oh, he knew what he wanted.

Stepping back, he saw the sexy lingerie with the pretty bows and seductive material that made him want to touch it.

He’d had a taste of her earlier, but now…

Gabe wouldn’t hold back.

“If you don’t want to do this, now is the time to leave,” he suggested. “Because if you stay, I’m going to have sex with you.”

She smiled.

“Mr. President, please don’t threaten me with a good time,” she teased.

It made him laugh.

“Before we go to bed, I need to ask,” he began. “Are you on birth control? Or please say you brought condoms. God knows I can’t go buy my own.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out her birth control. It was half used up, and she showed him.

“Good. Because I want to feel myself cum in you in the worst way, Lessa,” he said, grabbing the pills, and tossing them aside.

They went rolling across the priceless rug to the corner.

Then, Gabe moved fast.

He was on her, and lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he was carrying her to bed. The whole time, he was leaving kisses and bites across her neck and collar bone.

The heat was turned up, and Lessa was so turned on by this man. She was soaking wet, and dying for him to be in her.

She never wanted anyone like she wanted him.

“Gabriel,” she whispered, as he dropped them both onto the bed, her heels still on.

He pinned her hands above her head, and began torturing her with his mouth. The kisses were heated, wild, and out of control.

Alessandra couldn’t catch her breath.

He was a man on fire.

Gabe was lost in the mating of mouths, and with his free hand, he was between her thighs, wanting to make sure she was wet.

That this wasn’t an act.

That the moans and whimpers of need were real.

As his fingers slid against her clit, she was so wet that he nearly came just from the thought of someone wanting him like this.

He wasn’t broken.

He wasn’t bad in bed.

Gabe was going to be okay.

His ego came back, and he felt like a man again. In that moment, Alessandra gave him the best gift. She gave him his masculinity back.

“I want you,” he whispered. “I can’t stop thinking about you on your knees, and how fucking bad I need you.”

She moaned, as he tugged down her negligée that she was wearing, making her breasts pop free from it.

Then, he began torturing her.

With his mouth, he sucked and bit on her nipples, making her body bow with pleasure and need.

If he stopped, she’d die.

Alessandra was pretty sure that would be the outcome. She wanted him in her.

Because she knew what his dick looked and felt like, she couldn’t wait until he was fucking her.

Hard.

“Mr. President,” she whispered. “Please,” she begged, her body trembling with anticipation.

When he looked up, one of her nipples in his mouth, he looked wild and feral.

As her pebbled nipple popped from his mouth, he was honest.

“I feel wild and desperate. If I cross the line…”

She stopped him.

“Oh, God. Please cross all the lines. Please, Mr. President. Fuck me.”

His body reacted, and while it should be weird that she called him that in bed, he loved it.

No.

He craved it.

This woman who shouldn’t be his, was making all the holes in him slowly close up. Now, he didn’t feel emasculated.

He felt powerful.

“Oh, well, Ms. Barber, keep in mind that you begged me to fuck you any way I wanted.”

She moaned as he went back to destroying her nipples with his teeth and mouth. By the time he was done feasting on her, she was ready to cum. He was rubbing against her, rock hard in his pajama pants, and her clit was so swollen from how he’d roughly manhandled her.

“Please,” she begged, her body bowing.

While he still held her hands in his one, he tugged on that negligee, getting it off of her body.

Then, he plunged his fingers into her.

And she came.

She came so hard that she shouted his name. That wetness flooded from her, and Gabe reveled in the way she was his.

Yeah, this woman…

He was going to make her his as soon as he figured out how to break it to the American public and media.

Later, he’d work on that.

For now, he felt like eating her out until she screamed his name over and over again.

She laid there, naked, and he saw the tie to her robe nearby. Grabbing it from the bed, he wrapped the silken restraint around her wrists and then bound her hands to the post of his bed.

“So I can explore,” he said. “Oh, and I’m so sorry,” he admitted.

“For?” she asked, as she opened her eyes.

He grinned wickedly.

“For making you scream my name over and over again,” he said.

Yeah, he wanted to see his prize.

The one he was about to pillage.

She moaned, as goosebumps crisscrossed her body, and he enjoyed staring down at her.

Slowly, he began unbuttoning his pajama shirt.

“I’ve been waiting to do this all day,” he said, his erection so painfully hard, that he knew he was going to need to cum a lot.

It had been a long time.

Yes, he came earlier, but sex…

It had been almost a year.

She watched and when his body came into view, she enjoyed it.

He had a light spattering of hair on his chest, and on his ribs, he had all of his kids names.

It was a list of them.

“So you don’t forget?” she teased.

He actually laughed.

“Livy once told me that childbirth was more painful than anything. Elizabeth told me a rib tattoo was close. So, I tried to give it back to her.”

She thought that was so sweet.

“The First Lady was so lucky to have you,” she said. “I hope she knew that.”

Unfortunately, she didn’t.

Not in life, but that was neither here nor there. Gabe didn’t want to talk about his dead wife.

He wanted to find a way to live again.

Instead of saying anything, he moved down her body with his mouth, teasing and tasting every inch of her.

“Ms. Barber, you smell like sin,” he said, staring up into her eyes. “I can’t wait to see what you taste like.”

Her heart was racing, as she watched him moving to the V between her legs. She could see her own wetness, and she only hoped this man knew how to dine on a woman.

Because she was desperately horny, even after cumming. The man was too sexy for her own good.

When he shoved her legs apart, and put them over his broad shoulders, the visual alone…

It was erotic.

“Does it hurt to wear them?” he asked, glancing over at the wicked looking heel.

“No,” she admitted, knowing what Elizabeth told her about Gabe.

“When you’re with me, I want you wearing them. It makes me think about this,” he said, diving in.

He began feasting.

Her body was rocked with pleasure as he found her clit and didn’t disappoint.

Gabriel dined on her, and he made sure Alessandra knew he owned her body now too. He needed to find a way to make this woman a permanent fixture here.

In his bed.

He tongue fucked her.

He bit her clit.

Oh, and he sucked her from the ledge into one hell of an orgasm.

She shouted ‘Mr. President’, and the whole time, Gabe loved watching Lessa bound to his bed, and his.

He couldn’t get enough.

Gabe worked her clit like it was his job. It was done thoroughly, and was something she’d never forget.

Lessa came again.

And again.

And again.

Never let it be said that Gabriel Rothschild wasn’t very giving in bed. By the time she came for the fifth time, she was breathless, and he was so hard he could pound nails with his dick.

As he moved back up her body, she loved how he felt rubbing against her. It was the scratching of his chest hair, and that monster of a bulge he’d yet to pull out.

When he stared down at her, he was grinning.

“That’s the kind of lunch I like,” he said. “Now that we’ve opened the door, I can’t wait to have you whenever I want you.”

Her heart was racing.

“And it will be whenever I need you, Lessa.”

How could she say no to that?

Gabe undid the tie to the bed. Leaving her hands bound. Then, he pushed up to get off of her. He stood beside the bed as she watched him drop his pajama bottoms and boxers.

His dick sprung free, and that was all she had to see. Alessandra wanted this man in the worst way. She slid off the bed, went to her knees, and used her bound hands to hold his dick before she deep throated him.

He moaned so loudly, that he swore the whole building heard him.

Fuck it.

He wanted them to all know.

She.

Was.

His.

Gabe was going to have to figure this out, and fast. There was no way he could give her up. She tasted like honey, and those heels.

Jesus.

Christ.

It made him want to sin all over the White House. In a month, there was a gala about to be held at the White House, and he couldn’t wait to dance with her there.

To hold her.

To…

His focus was broken as she did something particularly wicked with her tongue.

“Come on, Lessa. Get my cock nice and wet. It’s going to need to be slick. I plan on leaving your thighs wet from me.”

Her heart raced, and she began bobbing her head up and down his erection, taking Gabe deep.

She tugged on his balls, and he moaned.

“Keep it up, and I’m cumming,” he warned, wanting to do just that.

As she teased and tormented him, he played with her nipples, making her whimper and moan. Oh, he wanted to cum in her in the worst way, claiming this woman as his own.

“More,” he ordered, knowing he had quite a bit of pent up sexual need that had to come out.

He.

Was.

Hard.

All Gabe could think about was taking this woman in his bed, so his sheets smelled like perfume, her scent, and their fucking.

Gabe wanted that more than anything. There was something wildly erotic about their age difference.

When she dragged her teeth up his erection, Gabe had no choice.

He came hard, and he shoved her head all the way down his erection.

Normally, he’d be gentle, but he wasn’t feeling that. Gabe wanted to go wild. He wanted to pillage, fuck, and take her over and over again.

He’d never felt like this in his life.

It was like he was fevered, and out of control. So, this was what it felt like when you found your other half. Thank God he did.

Alessandra choked on the sheer volume of cum. It poured down her throat, and as she was on her knees, she looked up at him.

Jesus.

He was so handsome.

In that moment, she knew she had to be with him, living this moment every day.

She was in love, and she wanted nothing more than to be on his arm, and in his bed. When the heart knew, it knew.

When he slowly pulled from between her lips, there was that long line of saliva from his dick to her chin.

It made him hard all over again.

“God. You’re gorgeous,” he admitted, pulling her up. Her wrists were still bound with that robe tie.

“Mr. President,” she whispered, that purr in her voice that she knew would make him insane.

And it did.

He scooped her up, and placed her on his bed. Then, he dropped his pants all the way off, kicking them onto the floor.

Alessandra laid there, admiring the virility of this man. She never wanted anyone more.

Because he was so hungry, Gabe climbed onto the bed, and picked up one of her legs. He began at her ankle, leaving kisses all the way up to her knee, her thigh, and then her pussy.

“I need to be in you,” he said. “I need to cum in you, Lessa,” he admitted.

That was all she had to hear.

“Please,” she begged. She wanted his still, rock-hard cock in her. “Fuck me, Mr. President. Make me yours.”

Oh, well, that was exactly what he craved.

Going above her body, she wrapped her legs around his waist, trapping him against her. Lessa felt him nudge her, and she needed him.

Gabe couldn’t help himself. That wetness called to him. He hadn’t been in a woman in way too long.

Please forgive me, Livy. I want to live again.

With that last thought, Gabe found his way into Lessa’s body, and he claimed her.

“Mine,” he whispered, as he sheathed himself in her, and undid the ties around her wrists.

Her whole body arched as he filled her.

“Oh, God,” she moaned as Gabe was buried ball’s deep in her.

“So perfect,” he whispered, as he stared down at their bodies touching. He fit perfectly in her, and her against him.

“Mr. President,” she said, and he began moving. Her hands were around his neck, and his hips took over.

And Jesus…

He worked her hard.

Gabe went wild, enjoying the fact that he was able to come back from that dark place to live in the light with this woman.

It was a good place to be.

As he drove her up the climb, he was focused on their pleasure. When she tightened down on him, he pushed her over the edge.

“Cum,” he said, knowing she would.

Oh, and she did.

It took her a few seconds to be able to see straight again.

Gabe pulled out of her, and sat against the headboard.

“Come on, Ms. Barber. You know what I need,” he said, licking his lips.

She did.

Wanting him more than anything, and feeling bereft with him not in her, she straddled his lap. When his hand landed on her ass, she gasped.

He grinned wickedly.

“Ms. Barber, I do like having you in my bed,” he said, as she held his dick still to slide down it.

He didn’t get to say more.

Instead, he moaned.

As she began riding him, Gabe was breathless watching her breasts bounce, and her hair do the same, it drove him crazy.

He loved her dark tresses.

With eager fingers, he found that rich mass of hair, and held on. It was when she came down one more time on his dick, that he couldn’t hold on.

“Fuck!” he shouted, as his balls exploded, and he filled her with his cum.

Lessa moaned as that wet heat filled her.

When Gabe pulled out of her, he wasn’t done. If he was going to make this woman want to be with him, he had to make sure he rocked her world.

Pulling her up, he kissed her, his mouth locked to hers. It wasn’t lost on him that her thighs were wet from him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Breaking the kiss, he knew what he craved.

“Turn around,” he said.

Oh, she did it fast too.

He left kisses on her shoulder blades, and that’s when he saw the tattoo. On her right shoulder, there was a devil’s pitchfork.

On her left one, a halo.

“Oh, well, I think I like you a little devilish,” he said, biting her neck after moving her hair.

She moaned.

“Mr. President,” she whispered, just as he slid into her from behind.

She gasped.

“Oh, Ms. Barber, I do love the view,” he admitted, as he let his hips take control, and he enjoyed the glide back into her body.

His one hand was playing with her nipples, and his other was stroking her clit.

“I need you to cum with me,” he said, pulling all the way out and sliding all the way back in.

She was shaking.

“Oh, God,” she whispered, as he destroyed her control with his fingers and dick.

Gabe loved the way her skin tasted as he nibbled on her flesh. He was trying to distract himself. Her perfect ass was his focus, and he wanted it in the worst way.

She was on the cusp.

When he pulled out again, she gasped.

“Please,” Lessa begged. “I need you back in me,” she admitted.

Gabe was honest.

“I want your ass. I want every part of you.”

She didn’t argue.

“Yes, please, Mr. President,” she begged.

Oh, Gabe couldn’t wait until he was back to work, and he stole delicious moments with her. He wanted to fuck her on his desk in the worst way.

Before her, never, but he wanted to pull a Clinton and Kennedy.

Daily.

When he nudged her ass, he bent her over, and slowly began sinking into her body. His hands were on her hips, and her ass was up in the air for him.

Fuck.

This was hot.

When he was buried ball’s deep there too, he began taking her.

She whimpered.

She moaned.

She held on.

When he was close to cumming, he pulled her up, and her hands went to his hips behind her as she was plundered.

“Oh, fuck me, Mr. President!” she shouted, and he went wild. “Fuck me hard!”

That turned him on so much that she was so vocal in bed. She was legit enjoying it, and that made him do the same.

Because she asked for it, Gabe gave her a fucking befitting of the President of The United States.

When he pinched her clit, she went over, and he couldn’t hold on.

Gabe.

Came.

Hard.

That last wave of cum left him, and he couldn’t even stay upright. He toppled over, Alessandra coming with him. When he landed, he was still buried in her ass.

Pulling her closer, they cuddled on his bed.

“Mr. President…” she whispered.

He braced for the critique.

She just giggled.

“The White House may never be the same again,” she teased. “That’s how you get a woman off,” she admitted.

That made him smile, and he knew he was safe.

It made him laugh.

“Ms. Barber, you may never be the same again. It’s going to be difficult keeping my hands off of you,” he admitted, slipping from her body.

She was a mess.

There was cum on her inner thighs, and her hair was mussed up.

Rolling over, she cuddled into him, putting her leg over his.

“Then don’t,” she said. “I don’t want you to keep your hands off of me. I want all of you, Gabriel. You’re a catch.”

He kissed her on the temple.

“Thank you for that, Lessa. I’m an old man,” he admitted, and was rewarded…or punished, by his nipple being twisted.

Gabe yelped.

“Hey!” he said, laughing.

“You’re not old,” she said. “You’re the perfect age. You’re not anything but perfect,” she said, tucking her head into his neck.

Gabe yawned, but it was his stomach grumbling that had Alessandra’s attention. She set him free.

“How about we eat something quick, and we grab a quick nap before your kids get home?” she asked. “I need to be back to my room before they show up.”

Gabe was curious.

“Will you stay for dinner?” he asked. “I know you probably want to get home, but can I have one of the kids come get you in the Jefferson bedroom, and you join us? I want to see more of you.”

She kissed him softly on the lips.

“I will if you eat something for me,” she said, grabbing his pajama shirt off the floor, and slipping into it.

He watched, and it was way too big on her, but perfect at the same time.

Yeah, he was in love.

“I can do that.”

She lifted the dome on the rolling cart, and there were some snacks. She grabbed a chocolate chip muffin, put it on a plate, and then poured him some coffee.

When she looked over at him, he was pulling on his pajama bottoms.

It wasn’t lost on her that they were a matched set, and she liked wearing his things.

When he climbed back onto the bed, she handed him the muffin on the plate. Then, she put his coffee down on the end table.

He noticed it wasn’t the bran muffin, or the healthy choices. It was what he would have picked.

“Will you be joining me?” he asked.

She picked up a plate and had some of the little pastries she loved so much. Then, she climbed into his bed, handing him a napkin.

“Absolutely,” she said. “I love sweets after some really amazing sex. I’m going to get fat working here.”

He laughed.

“Welcome to my world. Livy…”

As soon as he said it, he stopped.

Alessandra reassured him.

“Hey, you can talk about her. I know she was an important part of your life. I’m not here to replace her and erase her. I’m here to have a relationship with Gabriel Rothschild two-point-oh. If anything, I should be thanking her. Someone trained you in bed.”

He actually laughed.

“You won’t be laughing when she haunts us both in this bedroom,” he teased.

She ate some of the pretty pink pastries that the chef made for her.

“Really. I’m good with her. She did a good job raising your children, and being their mom.”

Gabe had to trust her. So far, she’d not given him any reason not to.

“After I had cancer, Livy went shit nuts on me, making sure I did everything healthy. It’s nice to just have a muffin after sex.”

She winked at him.

“Listen, I like baked goods. I’d have a muffin during sex. I know me.”

He laughed.

“Oddly, that should be the most popular kink out there,” he teased. “Pastry and fornication are perfect together.”

It was nice having a break with her. Oh, he was so goddamn tired, but this moment mattered.

“The White House is having the annual spring Gala in a month.”

She was aware.

“I heard your secretary talking about it,” she stated. “I’ve heard about it on the news. It’s pretty hush-hush.”

That it was.

“We have a lot of dignitaries and leaders of other countries coming, and I have some medals to hand out to heroes in the military, and otherwise. I was wondering…”

She lifted a brow.

“Yes?”

Gabe took his shot.

“Would you be my date?” he asked. “At some point, my kids are going to figure out that I’m dating someone. Bea is super smart, and wants to be a journalist. I have NO doubt she’s going to figure us out.”

She was curious.

“And when she does?”

Gabe sipped his coffee, and ate the last piece of his muffin. When he licked his finger, he looked worried.

“Talk to me, Gabriel,” she said, before answering him. She knew this wasn’t cut and dry. There were circumstances that they had to deal with.

A presidency.

And six other circumstances.

Well, maybe five since Coraline was married and on her own.

“Then, I’ll own it. I don’t lie to my kids. I’m just not telling them about us now since some of them are still struggling. Amy is hostile toward me, and Gabe Jr is still heartbroken. At some point, I’ll have to address it.”

She needed to know.

“Do you want me to back off? Maybe I shouldn’t be your date.”

He stared at her.

“If that’s what you want,” he said.

She touched his arm.

“Gabriel, that’s not what I want at all. I’ll tell them this afternoon if you want me to. I can hold up. It’s can you hold up? I’ll be honest. My one fear is we’re going to start something beautiful, and they are going to make you stop it. I’m just some woman. They are your kids. I know I’m at a disadvantage here.”

He was horrified.

“Lessa, if they gave me the ultimatum ‘them or you’, I’d raise hell. I don’t negotiate with terrorists. If my kids did that to me…then Livy and I raised them wrong. They have the right to be upset with me moving on, but they don’t have the right to control my future by ultimatums.”

She reassured him.

“I’m just saying that I know the odds. I made the choice to risk it when you wanted me in your bed.”

He stopped her.

“I want you in my life. I just don’t know how to do this without someone getting hurt.”

Lessa took the high road.

“Let me be the one who gets hurt then. Don’t let it be your kids. I know how it feels losing a parent, and then losing the other one. My father walked. My mother died. You have to put them first.”

Gabe ran his thumb over her lower lip.

“I’m in love with you,” he admitted.

She didn’t even flinch.

“I know,” she said.

“I just wanted you to know that,” he said. “I don’t expect it back. I just want you to know if this gets rocky…”

She stopped him.

“I’m in love with you, or I wouldn’t have done this. My job is now on the line. If you decide you don’t feel anything for me, or your kids force your hand, I’m the odd man out. I measured the risk before I took it, Gabe. I calculated the cost. It was worth it.”

He leaned in, and kissed her on the lips.

“Then how do we do this?” he asked.

She was to the point.

“You’re going to have to just tell them, and let me take the blowback. I can hold up.”

He stared into her eyes.

“My kids…”

She put her fingers over his lips.

“Gabriel, I can hold up. If they ask, don’t lie. As for the gala, if you want me as your date, and it won’t make your life hell…”

“Stop,” he said.

She did.

“You don’t make my life hell. I don’t want to start a relationship like this. If you feel for me what I feel for you, then we have to just be honest. If we go into this feeling bad about even one part, it won’t work. I’ve lived in that darkness. I don’t want to go there again.”

“Okay,” she said. “Then, I’ll be your date. Does Elizabeth go to these things?” she asked, already knowing the answer to that.

He nodded.

“Why?”

She had already asked Elizabeth for help.

“I’ve never been to a gala. I need help finding a dress, and getting my hair done, and…”

He relaxed.

“Are we going to do this?” he asked. “Really?”

She nodded.

“Are you worried?”

He shook his head.

“No, because as long as there are no scandals, the public will roll with it. You don’t have bodies under your house, and you haven’t killed people for shits and giggles, have you?”

She blinked.

“Uh, no. I’m sure the Secret Service vetted me, but does that happen a lot to you guys?”

He laughed.

“You’d be shocked.”

When he yawned again, she got out of bed, and gathered up his cup, and both of their plates. Then, she climbed back on the bed to be next to him.

“I need a nap, Lessa,” he said, yawning. “Can we catch a couple hours before the kids get here?”

She nodded.

“I could use a nap,” she said, slipping under the blankets, and next to him. When he spooned her, the blankets smelled like him.

“I like having you in my bed,” he whispered, right before he fell asleep.

And Alessandra sat there thinking.

Would they get to do this again?

Or would he cave to his children?

Alessandra was putting it all on Gabe. Now, she had to wait and see how it played out.

Unfortunately.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Interviews Continue

Second Stop

Thursday

One P.M.

They were heading toward the business that employed Zara Tyler. Ethan and Callen needed to cover all of their bases, so they didn’t miss something. If they did skip a step, Elizabeth would fall further behind, and no one wanted that.

As they were stuck in midday traffic, Ethan closed up his notebook, and focused on his brother. He was rapidly texting someone.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Just telling my publicist I will be unreachable when I’m away.”

“Is he cranky?”

Callen laughed.

“Oh, you can say that. Supposedly, there was a last-minute booking for the upcoming movie on one of those shows. Jacob had to pull a lot of strings to get me on it, and now, I’m telling him I’m not going. He’s pissed.”

Ethan knew his brother hated disappointing the fans.

“Oh, well, you can go. We can keep Chris…”

Callen wasn’t having it.

“Fuck, no,” he said, adamantly. “I’m going to be with my husbands and wife on our vacation. The book will be fine without me. Devil’s Escape can hold its own. My family comes first.”

Hearing that, Ethan leaned over, and caught his brother’s mouth with his. He deepened the kiss, and when Callen put his big hand on the back of his head, he kissed him back.

Slowly, they enjoyed the kiss.

It was when Michael laughed that the silence was broken in the vehicle.

“Saint and Raph, I got the good seat back here. That was full on tongue,” he joked.

Callen set his brother’s mouth free and ignored them.

“I love you, EJ.”

Ethan smiled.

“I love you, CJ,” he said, taking and holding his hand. It was something they tended to do with their other spouses, but this time, they were doing it together.

It was pretty spectacular.

“If you two are done playing tonsil hockey,” Raphael said, “we’re at the network building that the missing person report lists as place of employment.”

Callen looked at the building.

“Wait.”

Ethan looked over.

“What?”

“Give me a second,” he said, pulling out his tablet, and researching this particular small news network. When he ran it, he saw why something clicked.

“Uh, Ethan, this network, DCTV is owned by a big affiliate,” he stated.

“Really?”

He nodded.

“Who?” he asked.

“GTNN is the parent company—owned by Paul Berry, whose son owns Clandestine Connections.”

Ethan stared at the door.

“Wait. The reporter who worked here, is tied to Clandestine Connections by way of Kian Berry’s father?” he asked.

Callen nodded.

“Yeah.”

Oh, this was hella suspicious.

“We need to go in there, but as soon as we do, it’s going to be a free-for-all,” Callen admitted.

“Who called in the missing person report?” he asked.

Callen flipped through the report on his screen.

“A Justin Blake,” he said. “He’s the reporter in charge. Zara stopped showing up for work,” he stated.

Ethan wasn’t a fan of this.

Not.

At.

All.

“We have to be really careful in there,” he stated. “Let’s see if we can find anything out.”

“And if they start asking inconvenient questions?” Callen asked.

“Then, we bail. Fast. ”

Callen was pretty sure this was going to be a mess.

Call it a hunch.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Nagato

Afternoon

Post Shooting

When they strolled in, she was pretty much expecting EVERYONE to be pissed she was there. After all, their windows took gunfire, their customers had been scared stupid, and there had been bloodshed outside the building.

Only, that was anything but what happened.

When she walked in, Vaughn, her waiter, saw her and rushed her way.

“Oh, Deputy Director, are you okay?” he asked. “I wanted to talk to you last night, but unfortunately, your security wouldn’t let me.”

He gave them a dirty look.

“Ouch,” Ivan said. “I’ve made enemies,” he joked to Demeter.

“It’s probably because you’re unlikable and like toxic mold,” Demeter said. “Anyone have any bleach?”

Elizabeth gave them both a look, and it was like the kind a mother gave her children to shut them up when they were out in public and misbehaving.

“I’m okay, Vaughn, but unfortunately, I keep getting pulled back to this place, and someone who works here.”

He lifted a brow.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She explained.

“This morning, Ken Yasin, the man who came here on dates, and who was here with Max, was found dead.”

He gasped.

“Oh, no.”

She nodded.

“Oh, yes. See why I’m concerned? It’s been brought to my attention that Ken flirted and hit on anything with a vagina. I know you’ve seen some shit, Vaughn. If you had to point me at anyone here who has danced with that devil…who would it be?”

He poured them coffee once he got them to their table. At first, Elizabeth thought he was going to not say shit.

Then, he surprised her.

Pleasantly.

“Jaylon Hest, the hostess over there,” he said, keeping his voice low.

Gene had his tablet on his lap, and he began researching her. What he really wanted was for a judge to give them the records for Kian Berry’s whole business, but they were still waiting on the warrant.

That one paper might help.

“What about her?” Elizabeth asked, pretending to be focused on putting in an order.

“She got busted at work having sex with Ken in the coatroom. Apparently, he got her in there, and they were going at it when the boss came in. The only reason she wasn’t fired was Ken spent A LOT of money here, so the boss sent her to the front of house so she couldn’t do it again.”

She lifted a brow.

The brunette woman would have been the most likely to escort Max out.

Interesting.

“Who is next? Do we have anyone else who might be jealous that he was dipping his stick in the coatroom girl?”

He went over to a counter and grabbed some bread and fresh butter.

She appreciated it.

Elizabeth was hungry.

“The bartender, Harper Blake. She and Jaylon got into an argument over the man. That’s why they work opposite shifts. I guess she had a few dates with him.”

“Do you know how many?”

He shook his head.

“No clue, but I know every time Ken was in there, Harper would insist on bringing him his drinks. The only time she told me she didn’t want to bring him his drinks was when she saw him with Max.”

Holy shit.

Elizabeth was pretty sure this was going to be the place where evil hunted.

Her gut was screaming it.

“And that happened a lot?”

Vaughn was honest.

“Once, Ken was in here with his sister. She went to the ladies room after eating. Harper brought him a drink, and he slapped her on the ass, whispered in her ear, and then Harper suddenly got sick. She went to the boss and went home early.”

Gene lifted a brow.

“You mean…?”

He nodded.

“He ditched his sister in the restaurant for the bartender. When she came out of the bathroom, she paid the bill, and rolled her eyes when we had to tell her that Ken left with her.”

“And was she angry?”

He shook his head.

“More disgusted. Like ‘here we go again’,” he said. “That was pretty much Ken’s behavior. That’s why I hated seeing him with Max. The Attorney General is a good, decent guy.”

She agreed there.

“Okay, so the coatroom woman, the bartender, and anyone else?” she asked, buttering her bread. Ivan and Demeter were doing the same thing.

“There is only one other one that I know of,” he admitted, going to get more bread, and some desserts for them.

He wasn’t gone long.

When he came back, it was cheesecake for everyone.

“Thank you, Vaughn, but now, who was the last person?” she asked.

“Jessie Oliver, one of our waitresses. She’s not on duty until later with Harper. They are both the later shift employees.”

Gene was running all the names he gave them since they all seemed to be sex partners.

“She was his waitress. Like I’m your waiter, she was responsible for his meals. One time, he came in, and the woman he was with left. He disappeared for a bit, and then, all we knew next was Jessie came in disheveled from her break. Her skirt was hiked up, there were tears in her tights, and her mouth was swollen. Like her lips.”

That piqued her interest.

“Car sex?”

Vaughn was honest.

“Ken was INCREDIBLY drunk. I can’t imagine the sex was pleasant.”

“Are you saying assault?” she asked.

He said nothing.

That silence spoke volumes.

“All I know is she went home right after, and took a few days off. Then, she was back to work, and never waited on him again. Our manager put a man on him.”

Which was just as bad since the man had tried to experiment with males.

“Thank you, Vaughn.”

“Can I get you anything else?” he asked, nodding at her.

“No, dessert is fine. We’ll be coming back in again though. I’m surprised we weren’t kicked out of here.”

He laughed.

“Director, the phone has been ringing off the hooks. Any publicity is good publicity.”

She snorted.

“Who knew?”

When Vaughn walked away, Gene kept his voice down as they all ate.

“I researched them. There’s nothing weird on social media about them. Jessie Oliver though…if he raped her in the parking lot, which seems right up his alley, she’s at the top of the list of potentially angry women.”

She was aware.

“Do you want to talk to them?” Gene asked. “We can come back later to talk to Harper again, and Jessie.”

She shook her head.

“No. We got plenty. If one of them is the killer, then they’ll bolt. The less they know, the better.”

Gene agreed there.

“I think this place is part of it. The killer hunted here. I wish I knew if any of the women here used the dating service.”

Ivan rarely said anything while she worked, but he gave his two cents.

“Didn’t you say that was an exclusive dating service? Clandestine Connections wouldn’t cater to waitresses, or bartenders. They likely get paid well, but not MAX HOLDER well.”

He had a point.

“What I’m focused on,” she said, sharing her cheesecake with Gene when Demeter stole his right from in front of him, “is that this was violent murder. His dick was mutilated, and he was nailed to a floor. Maybe this isn’t just about dating other people and jealousy.”

Gene got it.

“You think the stunt with Max wasn’t so much about being jealous but to lead you off the trail?”

She shrugged.

“Who would take any case related to Max if it popped up in DC?”

They all knew.

“You.”

“The killer is either having a mental episode, like Ethan suggested, or she’s trying to tell us something. It’s definitely a woman. No man is playing chop the meat with a man. Your dicks are sacred to other men.”

That was pretty accurate.

“So now we have another lead, so we’re going to run with it.”

The tablet chimed.

Elizabeth’s vest did too.

“Deputy Director, you asked to be notified when the drive was updated. “Ethan J. Blackhawk has updated it,” MATE offered.

Perfect.

Her husband was right on time.

“Mate, pull it up,” she said.

It appeared on the tablet.

They saw that Ethan and Callen had, indeed, found something.

“They must be wrapping up the MPR for Zara Tyler,” she said, reading the information.

She whistled.

“She worked for DCTV which is owned by Paul Berry, Kian’s dad.”

“The Clandestine Connections dude?” Demeter asked.

She nodded.

“What a coinkydink,” she admitted, skimming through whatever else he uploaded. “Get this. They finished the Lee family notify too. Faith Lee not only worked for Ken and Kayla Yasin, but she actually met Ken at Clandestine Connections.”

Gene shook his head.

“Uh, we have two possible ground zeros for this mess. Right now, you have this place, and Ethan and Callen are tying everything to Clandestine Connections. That’s going to be interesting to see who is right.”

She looked around.

“The killer has been here. I can feel it in my bones,” she said. “That’s the only way Max could have been roofied.”

“Unless it was Ken, and he was chickening out, and wanted to get away from Max,” Demeter said.

She stared at him.

“Pardon?”

The big man shrugged.

“Maybe he changed his mind about wanting dick. You know, got cold feet. What if he regularly roofied the babes, but this time, he drugged him with the intent of getting out of that date?”

Gene stared at him.

“You befuddle me. I don’t know if you’re batshit insane, or actually crazy like a fox smart.”

He grinned.

“I have my moments,” Demeter admitted.

Elizabeth shook her head.

“He’s got a very high IQ, Gene,” Elizabeth admitted. “I’ve seen his military records. Don’t let him fool you.”

Demeter winked at her.

From where he sat, Ivan was curious.

“Does what he said fit?” Ivan asked.

She sighed.

“I mean, he could have done that to have an excuse, not knowing that he was going to lure someone right to Max. Someone got jealous, and skinned his other bedmates.”

“That would mean a stalker followed Ken,” Gene admitted.

Elizabeth nodded.

“I know if that man raped me in the parking lot, I’d follow his ass around to get my revenge too.”

Demeter just laughed.

“No you wouldn’t. You’d just shoot him in the balls, or dick.”

When she stared at him, he got it.

“Ohhhhh. And that’s how he died, kinda, so I just proved your point.”

Exactly.

“What do you want to do?” Ivan asked now that they had finished their dessert.

Elizabeth put down her fork and looked at her watch to figure that out. The forty-eight-hour mark was fast approaching tonight.

“Let’s see what Callen and Ethan find at their last missing person report interview. Then, I’ll go from there. Chrissy hasn’t called me yet, so she’s likely running DNA. I don’t really need a COD and TOD. We know it was yesterday. I think we’ll finish our coffee and wait on that information.”

Demeter leaned in.

“Can I get more cheesecake?”

Gene stared at him.

“You ate mine and yours.”

“You’re slow. Wait until I steal your man away when you’re not looking.”

Gene stared at him and didn’t let him push his buttons to annoy him.

“I will hurt you, Demeter.”

The big man laughed.

“You can’t.”

Gene focused on Ivan.

“They tell me I’m an equal partner with the money,” he began. “So, after I marry Elizabeth, if I tell you to shit can Demeter, will you do it?”

Ivan grinned.

“Oh, hell, yeah, I will. You’re a Blackhawk, and I’ll do it for you for a wedding gift.”

Know who didn’t like that?

“HEY!” Demeter said. “E! He’s threatening me again.”

She didn’t answer.

Why?

Elizabeth was staring at the drive, and trying to get into the head of this killer.

ASAP.

Time was running out.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Outside Of D.C.

Thursday

Early Afternoon

To be safe, Dex took the long way back to his Victorian. He wanted to make sure that he and Max were not followed back there.

This whole thing had him edgy, and Dex didn’t like it.

Not.

One.

Bit.

The mere idea that the man he was really attached to might be in danger…

Yeah, not a fan.

After seeing what had gone down in the man’s living room with Ken, he needed to make sure they were ready for everything. This killer wasn’t playing.

When they got off the bike, Dex wheeled it into the barn, and hung up all of their leathers. When he turned around, Max was right there.

Jesus!

The man needed to wear a bell.

“You’re worried,” Max said, reading the man’s body language.

Oh, well, that was one hell of an understatement, and Dex knew it.

The truth was, he was beyond worried.

He was paranoid.

“I am.”

Max could tell he was off. The whole way back, Dex was tense, and not in a sexy kind of way. Normally, his body reacted when he touched him, but this time, he was just one tied up knot.

“Talk to me,” he said.

Dex was honest.

Why?

Because he was trying to start something here, and the last thing he needed was for this to be fucked up.

This man was really meant to be his. He could tell.

“Max, he was in YOUR house. Someone dragged him in there, and nailed him to your floor. If that’s not enough to make you twitchy, we have a whole lot of problems.”

Honestly, Max was creeped out.

“I know.”

“I wish you never met him,” Dex admitted, and when Max replied, it caught him off guard.

“No, I’m glad I did.”

Dex stared at him.

“Pardon?”

Max was honest.

“We worked together, and neither one of us ever asked the other out. I didn’t know you were gay,” Max admitted. “Did you know I was?”

He shook his head.

“If this didn’t happen, Dex, we wouldn’t have had this moment together. While I’m scared, I know I’ll be okay. I have to believe that the universe knows what it’s doing.”

Dex moved closer to him.

He wanted to hover all over this man.

He.

Was.

His.

“I will keep you safe,” he said, lifting Max’s chin, and finding his mouth with his. The kiss was warm, filled with love, and made them both feel better.

When he broke the kiss, Max sighed.

“I’m glad I get to experience this with you,” he admitted, as calm as he possibly could be.

Dex was curious.

“Do you know how to shoot a gun?” he asked.

Max shook his head.

“No, but do you think I need to?” he asked. “To stay safe?”

Oh, there was no doubt that this man needed a little lesson in self-protection.

Dex was honest.

“I would prefer it,” he admitted. “If for some reason, you have to protect yourself if this nut gets to you here…”

“I have you,” Max said. “You’ll protect me.”

“If I get hurt,” he began.

Max’s eyes went huge, and those four words set off so much fear. It flooded through Max’s body.

“No. You can’t get hurt. I should go,” he said. “If I have to watch you get hurt…”

He stopped him by holding Max against his body.

“Shhhh. I’m just worried about ALL of the possibilities. I’m not saying I’ll get hurt. Breathe,” he ordered to help him calm down.

Max held onto him.

“I’m sorry. I just pictured you hurt, and I don’t think I could live with that. If I die, I can…”

Dex shut him up.

“Then, I’ll have to live with that. How about we teach you how to shoot a gun, and we bypass either of us getting hurt?”

Max had to put his faith in someone, so he was going to put his faith in Dex.

“Are you good with a gun?” he asked, teasing him. “You know…not the one you’re born with,” he joked.

Dex laughed.

“Me and all of my brothers did a four-year stint in the military, and then, I went on to be a beat cop, and finally a detective. I think I know how to use plenty of guns, including mine.”

Oh, he bet.

“So let me teach you.”

“That’s probably a good plan,” he admitted.

Taking his hand, he led him into the house, and to the bookshelf. There, he pulled on the shelves, and they rolled out.

“You have a hidden room?” Max asked.

He explained.

“Well, my one brother has kids, and the last thing I want is them getting into Uncle Dex’s guns.”

They went in, and the homicide captain picked up a handgun and box of shells.

“Let’s go out back.”

Max was worried.

“I can do this, right?” he asked.

Dex nodded.

“Sure. It’s easy. Point and shoot.”

Max wasn’t so sure about that. He’d seen plenty of crime scenes where they were sprayed with bullets. Targets seemed difficult to hit.

Outside, Dex picked up a stump, and laid it on another. He drew rings in it, and then returned to his side.

“That’s the target,” he said, loading the Baretta. “All you have to do is point the gun at it, aim, and squeeze the trigger.”

“That’s it?” he asked.

Dex handed him the gun.

“Pretty much, Max. This is the safety. When you can see the red, you won’t be dead. If the red is gone, this gun can do you wrong.”

He stared at him.

“Uh, okay, Dr. Seuss.”

He laughed.

“My dad taught us boys that, so we didn’t kill ourselves accidentally.”

That seemed logical.

He flicked off the safety, and let the man take a shot. It kicked up, surprising him. It was also nowhere near hitting the target.

“Try two hands.”

Max did, and somehow, he missed the stump again.

Oh, boy.

This was going to take a while.

“It’s probably a good thing that I’m an attorney,” Max said, seeing that he missed.

“Well, I mean, you look sexy doing it,” Dex admitted, grinning at him.

Max pointed the gun down, and gave him a kiss. The whole time, Dex was holding him against him.

“Counselor, more of that,” he whispered. When Max went back to kiss him again, the phone in Dex’s pocket rang.

“Shit. That’s horrible timing.”

Reaching into his pocket, he found his phone and pulled it out.

When he looked at the screen, he saw his mother’s face, video calling him.

“It’s my mom. I have to take this,” he said. “If I don’t answer, she’ll think I’m dead on the job and head here.”

Max didn’t know what that kind of affection felt like. If he died, his parents wouldn’t likely even bat an eye.

“Dexter Corbin, did you forget something?” his mother inquired, relaxing when she saw that he was okay.

“Uh, I brushed my teeth, put on clean undies, and kept my hookups to one.”

She stared at him.

“Dex, you’re not funny. Your father and I have had the ‘hookup’ talk with you and your brothers. You’re supposed to be a decent human being.”

He laughed.

Oh, he was aware.

Hookups got you into trouble. Case in point, Max’s situation.

“Yeah, I am being all kinds of respectful, Mom. What’s going on? What did I forget?” he asked.

She told him.

“Today is the day you text me to let me know that you’re not dead in the big city.”

He laughed.

“Sorry, Mom. I got tangled up with something,” he said, staring right at Max. “It was distracting.”

Oh, and it was the best kind of entanglement.

That was for sure.

“What could keep you from calling your mother or texting her?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure I’m high up on your priority list—or should be since you were a difficult nine-hour labor.”

From where he stood, Dex could see the man watching him, and he hoped that the best way to deal with Max was to keep him off of his guard.

“Well, Mom, I’ve met someone.”

Max stared at him.

What are you doing? he mouthed. Are you insane? he asked.

Oh, well, time would tell.

“You have?” she asked, sounding so much more chipper.

“Yeah, I really have, Mom. I was tangled up with him, and I forgot to text you. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t give a shit about that.

Hell.

No.

Her last single son found someone to be with like his brothers. She was ecstatic that her baby had started the process of healing and settling down again.

This was a good day.

“Tell me about your gentleman,” she said, smiling at him.

Dex did just that.

What he wanted was for Max to understand he was dead serious about this relationship. There was no going back.

Dex was in love.

“Well, he’s a great guy, and I think I’m in love with him,” he said.

As soon as he said that, Max was caught off guard.

Did he just say…?

Apparently, he did.

Oh, someone moved fast.

In that moment, the panic began filling him. This was moving incredibly fast. Just yesterday, he only did one-night stands.

Now, a guy was professing his love to his mother.

Shit.

He felt twitchy, and he didn’t understand why. It was like being on a rollercoaster. 

“Oh, so you’re serious about him. Is he a good guy, Dex? Not like that asshole who cheated on you. I saw him the other day in town with that hussy, and I wanted to slap the shit out of him for being a douchebag.”

Dex laughed.

Since the man was there…he went all in on this one, and kept his fingers crossed.

“Want to meet him?” he asked, much to her delight and Max’s horror.

She was grinning.

“You know I do, Dexter. Is he there? Can I meet the man who caught my baby’s eye?”

This was a big gamble, and he knew it. All he could hope was it didn’t scare him away.

Why?

Because Max looked about ready to run.

“There he is,” he said, turning the phone around so his mother could see Max.

Then, she paused the second she recognized him.

“Son, why is the US Attorney General there with you?” she asked. “Is this a joke?”

Oh, he was amused by that.

“No joke, Mom. That’s the guy I’m going to marry one day.”

Max didn’t know what to say. This man continually caught him off guard. Now, he was saying things that freaked him out.

And did the opposite too.

He was so confused.

“Oh, that’s amazing,” his mother said. “I’m Emily Dickenson-Corbin.”

And now he got the other part of the name thing.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ma’am. I’m Max Holder.”

She laughed.

“Oh, I know who you are. So, you’re going to marry my boy? I can’t wait to meet you. I think I’m going to hop on a plane sooner. I need to meet my baby’s man.”

Max was dead silent.

It was clear this rattled his cage.

Dex went to stand beside him, and flipped his phone to the side so it was a wider shot of them. He put his arm around Max’s waist, connecting them.

He was claiming his prize, and this man was definitely that.

“How did you meet?” she asked, smiling brightly.

The whole time, Max was off balance. Dex’s mother seemed so…motherly. He was willing to bet she baked cookies, and did mom things with her sons.

That befuddled him.

“We sometimes work together, but in this case, I’m on protection duty for Elizabeth Blackhawk. Someone was trying to hurt Max.”

She blinked.

“Wait, I saw something on the news about Mr. Holder. Wasn’t he found in bed…”

She stopped talking.

Oh, boy.

“I didn’t kill them, Ma’am.”

Dex ran his hand up and down Max’s back, reassuring him that it was okay.

Emily was honest.

“Max, I don’t really believe everything I see on TV. All I want to know is if you’re going to cheat on my baby? Because then, I’ll get mean. Momma bear mean. I may look old, but seventy is nothing. I can kick ass with the best of them.”

Max looked so lost.

“Mom, maybe we can talk about this later. I have to…”

Only, she wasn’t having it.

“Give him the phone, and take a walk, Poindexter. Now.”

What started as light and easy going was now going south.

“Mom.”

“Poindexter!”

Max took the phone.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I know how to take care of myself,” he said, his heart hurting and racing all at the same time. This was all so much for him, and that was saying a lot since he was accustomed to being under pressure at work.

He was pretty sure this woman was going to tell him to get away from Dex. He was a mess, and that media attention…

It didn’t help.

Dex did as he asked, and he hoped his mother didn’t fuck this up. Max was skittish enough. He could tell he was on the verge of running.

When he walked away, Max sat on a stump.

“Yes?” Max asked.

“What’s going on, Baby?” she asked. “You look lost and scared. Is my son holding you hostage? Blink once if he is.”

He laughed, but he was so tired. This mess had worn him down.

“No, he was saddled with me, and he’s been nothing but kind and wonderful. You raised a good man.”

As a mother, she needed to know.

“Do you love him?”

His cheek twitched.

“I don’t know,” Max said, being honest. “I didn’t grow up with love, and the only person I ever felt anything for betrayed me. I’m scared. I’m scared of what could happen if I believe in him.”

Jesus.

It was all kinds of crazy that he was saying all this to Dex’s mother, but she just had that kind face that made him want to be…mothered.

For once in his life.

The whole time, Emily let him trauma dump on her.

“My parents don’t talk to me, and I have random one-night stands to feel anything but empty. Then, this big flannel wearing Montanan comes stomping into my life, and I feel…”

“Seen?” she asked.

He nodded.

“He’s so kind and sweet. He made me breakfast, and took me for a ride on his motorcycle. I feel safe with him, but I’ve been burned. I don’t want to be hurt anymore. I’m fifty, and all I want is to be loved. It’s all moving so fast that I’m in a freefall. I don’t do well when I’m out of control of the situation, and Dex is the opposite. He loves and thrives in chaos.”

Max wasn’t sure why he was telling her anything. Only, who else was he going to tell?

Emily understood. It was clear this man needed a mother to protect him.

“Did you tell him it’s moving too fast? If you do, I know my son. He’ll slow down for you.”

“Will he?” he asked. “Because I don’t want to hurt him and lose him, but I’m struggling here. I’ve never had to do this, and I’m really having a difficult time. Please don’t tell him I said that. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Emily respected the fact that he wasn’t intentionally going to hurt her son. The man was definitely struggling.

She reassured him.

“He won’t hurt you. Dexter is a sweet guy, and I’m not saying that only because I’m his mother. He always tries to be what a person needs. His last relationship really broke him.”

Max listened.

“He puts all of himself into it. When he found the man that he loved in bed with a woman…”

Oh, he knew that had to hurt.

“If you feel anything for him, feel compassion. Don’t break him. If you need to slow down, be honest, and if you can’t love him back, let him go.”

Max sighed.

“I’m terrible at all of this.”

She felt for the man.

“Clearly, you’re not because my boy is crazy about you. He swore off relationships. He told me he was never doing it again because real love didn’t exist anymore. That he’s willing to do this again with you should tell you all you need to know. He’s stupid in love.”

Max’s heart kicked.

“I think I love him, too, but again, I need to work through this in my head. I don’t do anything impulsively. My job doesn’t allow that.”

She listened patiently.

“Every step is calculated and measured. Lives depend on it. I run my life like that. It’s very likely that I’ll end up hopelessly in love with Dex, but I have to get there my way, or I will always live in fear I’m wrong.”

She reassured him.

“Baby, you’re allowed to move at the speed you’re comfortable at. You just have to make that clear to him. Poindexter is the baby of his brothers, and the one who is most compassionate. He will understand.”

Yeah, well, he had to find time to tell Dex that he was moving too fast.

That was the difficult part.

“On top of that, I’m just worried that this person who is trying to frame me will hurt him.”

“Dex is a good cop. He’s smart and he’s strong. Stay close, and let him do his thing. He’ll get you through it.”

What choice did he have?

Max guessed that time would tell.

“Thank you for listening to me,” Max said.

Emily smiled.

“It’s never a problem. I can’t wait to meet you. If it’s any consolation, I can already tell you’re perfect for my son.”

He was curious.

“How do you know?” he asked. “I feel so unperfect compared to him.”

Emily didn’t understand how someone so accomplished and good at his job could be so lost. His family had done him dirty.

“I can tell you’re perfect because my son is happy. He’s smiling. The last time I spoke to him, he was lost. You helped find him too.”

He felt a little better.

“Now, tell my son to get his ass back on this phone.”

Max looked over, and he could see Dex sitting on the steps of his porch watching them. His eyes said it all. He believed the shit was going to hit the fan.

Yeah, they were going to have to talk later.

“Your mother wants you.”

He hustled over and took his place beside Max. When he did, he kissed him on the side of his face to reassure him.

“You didn’t say shit, did you, Mom?” he asked.

She laughed.

“Who me? Never. I’m glad you’re both okay, and now, I need to plan a trip. We need to come see you.”

Oh, well, that would be chaotic.

But nice.

“Okay, Mom. Just let me know when you’re invading the area. For now, though, I need to go. We’re target shooting, and I’m teaching Max how to protect himself.”

She knew there was a reason for that. It looked as if they definitely needed to show up.

“Max! When I get there, we’ll go for a walk in the woods. How are you with finding mushrooms?” she asked to keep it light.

Dex just shook his head.

“I told you so,” he said, much to his mother’s confusion.

Max laughed.

“I can find them in a grocery store—I think,” he offered.

She winked at him.

“See you when I get there,” she said. “Love you both,” she added.

Then, she was gone.

Dex knew he needed to apologize. That got out of hand, and he shouldn’t have dropped his mother on Max. Now, he could see that he’d pulled back a little emotionally.

“You good?”

Max opened his mouth, and instead of saying no, he went with something that wouldn’t upset Dex.

“I’m not sure. I am questioning your insanity though,” he joked.

Dex snorted.

“Well, I am insane for you.”

This was all moving so goddamn fast that Max felt off balance. He was falling in love, too, but he was scared.

REALLY scared.

If he fucked this up…

Dex would be gone. There was so much on the line and Max knew it. He had to figure all of this out, and soon.

“Did you mean all that?”

He didn’t hesitate.

“Absolutely.”

“That you love me?” Max asked.

“Yeah, when the heart knows, it knows,” he said, reloading his gun to get back to practice shooting.

Only, now, Max was even more worried.

He tried to broach the subject.

“What if mine doesn’t know as fast as yours does?” he asked, trying to get Dex to understand he was going fast, and it made him uncomfortable. “What if I can’t tell you the same thing right now?”

That was his fear.

That he would let this man walk away and lose all of the feelings he was having.

Dex saw him struggling, and kissed him on the lips.

“You’ll catch up,” he admitted.

And that was the problem.

What if he didn’t in time?

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Killer’s

Space

Same Time

If he thought he was exempt, he had another thing coming.

Ken was hers.

He’d always be hers.

No matter who tried to sleep with him, flirt with him, and be with him, they were out of luck.

If Max Holder thought he’d been absolved of the sins of man poaching, he was wrong.

VERY.

WRONG.

Because she was smart enough to follow him yesterday, she knew right where he was.

Now, it was time to teach him a lesson.

Don’t flirt with her man.

Or it just might get you killed.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

DCTV Station

Thursday

One Thirty P.M.

To say that they were both disappointed would be an understatement. While they had to be careful with their interview, so as not to give anything away, they at least expected to get something.

And they hadn’t.

Everything they found out was exactly what they already knew.

Zara Tyler had met Ken Yasin through everyone’s not-so-favorite matchmaking service—Clandestine Connections.

It seemed she used the same service since she was a reporter that people could recognize.

The co-worker who called in the missing person report didn’t know anything more about the whole situation.

And that was a problem.

For them.

Their wife was going to want something more than, ‘yeah, she paid Kian Berry money to get laid’.

As they headed out of the station, there was a coffee cart not far away.

“How about I get us some caffeine, and you update the drive?” Callen asked. “I’m dragging ass.”

Ethan was good with that.

“Sure. I’ll sit right here,” he said, pointing to a wall outside the business.

When he sat, he uploaded the information, and then watched his brother.

He was in a suit, and he was ignoring the people around him. Well, attempting to do that.

The media was there, and they were asking him questions about his next book, Elizabeth, and their family. All of which was not something he wanted to discuss.

So, he gave them the cold shoulder and their security kept them far enough back that he could get their coffees.

When he headed back toward him, Ethan patted the wall.

Callen sat.

“They are really riled up today, since we swapped vehicles.”

Yes, yes, they were.

When someone got a little too close to Ethan as he was sitting down, Raphael hip checked them, and they fell into a patch of shrubs. It appeared they weren’t sitting there to take a break.

The media was restless.

“We should go,” Callen said. “Let’s hit that last interview for Eden Andre’s best friend, and get this done. I don’t like them this close to me or you.”

On that, he agreed.

Well, so much for a quick coffee in the spring air. That wasn’t happening. How Elizabeth dealt with this day-in-and-day-out was a mystery.

It was annoying.

As they were walking, Callen did something that completely caught Ethan off guard.

He took his hand in his, and held it as they walked. It was so surprising that Ethan actually looked down at his hand.

Callen caught the glance from his peripheral, and gave his hand a squeeze before they both got into the vehicle, taking the back row since Michael had been walking behind them.

“We said we were done pretending and holding back. Did I just cross the line?” Callen asked.

Ethan stared at him, and honestly, Callen expected a freak out. His brother tended to overthink.

Then, something surprising happened.

A slow smile appeared, and there was that mischievous look in his eyes.

“Cross them all,” he said, winking at him.

Well, hell, yeah.

Dropping his arm over his brother’s shoulders, they let security get them out of there. Raphael took them to the next address, and Callen just behaved like he wanted.

Like a man in love.

The old him would have sat there in silence and worked. The new him wanted to be free too.

With his lips by Ethan’s ear, he whispered so no one else would hear them.

“I can’t wait to get a free moment to be in bed with you,” he said. “I can’t wait to touch and be free for the first time in our lives.”

Ethan’s heart skipped in his chest, and he rested his head on Callen’s shoulder. His hand was on his thigh, and it felt so warm and natural.

When his brother left a kiss on his temple, there was peace.

“We’ll be there in five,” Raphael said. “It’s not far from here.”

“Where are we heading?” Callen asked, as he watched Ethan’s hand on his thigh creep higher and higher.

In his head, he was praying he’d touch him.

“The hot yoga place,” Raphael said. “The owner, Harris Kahlid, is the one who called it in. We don’t have a home address for her.”

“Great,” Callen said.

When Ethan lifted his head from Callen’s shoulder, his hand did shift upward, and he placed his palm over his brother’s erection.

Callen went harder.

The whole time, he stared into his brother’s eyes.

“Soon,” he whispered. “I want to be with you soon.”

Ethan nodded.

He wanted that too. After dropping the barriers, he wanted to be free to love and be with whomever he wanted, and this man…

“I’ve always loved you,” he said, his voice low. “I fell in love with you when we were seventeen and sixteen.”

Tears filled Callen’s eyes.

Now that he looked back at it, he knew he did too. Ethan had been the center of his world.

He moved his arm so he could communicate with Ethan using sign language.

So they could have privacy.

I’ve always been in love with you, EJ. You were always the most beautiful soul that drew me in. When we were young, I think I never had sex with any of the girls we chased because I was waiting for you. It wasn’t because I was damaged. It was because I was waiting for now.

Ethan’s heart skipped.

You were, and are my first love, CJ. I don’t want you to be my brother anymore. I want you to be my spouse and love. I need you in my life like I need Elizabeth, Gene, and Chris.

When Ethan wiped a tear that slipped down Callen’s cheek, his heart thumped wildly.

I love you, Ethan Jackson Blackhawk. I’ve loved you since I was twelve. I loved cuddling with you on cold nights in Granddad’s cabin, and I loved raising Hell with you on the rez. I’ll always love you.

Ethan felt the same.

He palmed his cheek, and stared into his chocolate-y brown eyes.

Forever, my love. I promise you forever, Callen James Whitefox, he mouthed.

Callen was at peace.

Not only did he get his brother back, but he would also love him like he’d always wanted.

This was a long time coming.

As they were driven in silence, each man had a hand on the other’s leg.

It was when they pulled into a parking lot of the hot yoga place that they were ready to work.

“Okay, we’ll be right out,” Ethan said, as Michael got out so they could exit the vehicle.

Outside of it, the media was there because they followed.

They were shouting questions now, and most of them had to do with the two men holding hands at the last stop.

Callen and Ethan ignored them, but Callen did put his arm around his brother’s back, to protect him. It went across that bullet wound that almost took his legs from him.

That protectiveness was out.

Once inside the business, they were met by a young woman in yoga gear. She was smiling and bubbly.

“Welcome! Are you both interested in getting sweaty with me?” she asked.

Callen actually laughed.

Oh, the irony.

“With him, yeah, you, no. We’re here on official business,” Callen said, holding up his badge and taking the lead.

Ethan followed.

“Oh,” she said. “I thought…”

Callen didn’t buy that for a second. There was not a single freaking soul in this town that didn’t know them and what they did for a living. When someone flirted with them, the intent was clear.

“This is about Eden Andre. We’re looking for Harris Kahlid.”

The woman looked surprised.

“That’s me. Did you find her? Is she okay?” she asked, looking concerned.

Callen broke it to her.

“She’s dead. She was found in the trunk of a car, deceased,” he said, leaving out the way she was killed. They didn’t want that getting out.

She had to sit down.

“Oh, my God. It was him, wasn’t it?” she asked. “That man she was dating.”

They both stared at her.

“What guy?” Callen asked.

“She met this guy through a dating service. Clandestine Connections, and I told her he was a sicko. He was always making her have sex in weird places, and he once even picked up a woman while with her at a restaurant.”

Oh, well, that was interesting.

“What was his name?” Callen asked, having a good idea who she was talking about without his name being mentioned.

“Kevin? Ken? Something like that.”

Callen helped her out.

“Ken Yasin?” he asked, showing the woman the man’s driver’s license photo.

She nodded.

“That’s him!”

It was time to get some information for Elizabeth.

“What can you tell us about the last day you saw Eden?” Ethan asked.

Harris didn’t hold back.

“She was heartbroken the day before. He actually dumped her.”

Callen was surprised.

“He did? Why? A new woman?”

She shook her head.

“No, he showed up here, and yelled at her. He accused her of ridiculous things.”

Callen was waiting.

“Like?”

“He accused her of breaking into his house and stealing his things.”

That was…odd.

Callen pushed, following that crazy trail.

“What things are we talking about?” he asked.

She began rattling them off on her fingers.

“It was all weird shit. He said she stole his pillow, his clothing, and his used boxers. What woman steals a man’s boxers after they’ve worn them. Maybe to wear them to bed themselves, but just to have them? Why would she steal his worn underwear? That’s creepy.”

Okay, that was weird.

“So she left crying, and the next morning she sent me a text that she was on her way into work, and she never got here. I just figured she was heartbroken, but then, when I went to her place the next day when I didn’t hear from her, the door was open a crack, and she was gone. There was blood all over the place, and her keys and purse were there with her car.”

Well, they knew how the killer took her.

From her home.

It looked like she’d killed and tortured her there too.

Stalkers had to stalk, apparently.

“That asshole definitely killed her. He was sick in the head,” Harris stated.

“Well, we doubt that since he was found dead this morning. He was tortured and killed much like your friend.”

She blinked.

“Really?”

Harris crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well, good for him. He broke my friend’s heart. When you find the killer, let me know. I’ll buy that person a drink. Fuck him.”

Okay, well, that was some anger—so much so that she didn’t realize she was also toasting her friend’s killer too.

“Was anyone bothering her? Or did she have issues with Clandestine Connections?” Callen asked.

She shook her head.

“Not that I know of. She said the three people who worked there were nutty, and that’s saying a lot since we tend to be kinda insane too. She just didn’t like the vibe there, and never used their services after that. She went missing a few days later.”

“Thank you,” Callen said. “We appreciate you talking to us.”

Harris was curious.

“When can I get her body? Eden didn’t have any family, and I want to give her a burial. She was my friend,” she said, tears falling.

“As soon as we close this case, and find who hurt her, one of us will notify you,” Callen admitted.

She nodded and wiped her eyes.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Ethan said.

She nodded.

“Thank you.”

Together, they headed out, and when they got into the vehicle, they were back into the last row.

“Uh, someone broke into Ken’s home?” Ethan asked. “That’s not coincidence. A stalker will take mementos that belong to their targeted person. They keep them so they can be ‘close’ to them.”

Callen shook his head.

“I have a feeling this person is not only loopy, but so damaged that they are going to be a nightmare for us to catch,” he admitted.

Ethan agreed there.

Now, Callen was curious.

“Do you think it was a trial run?” Callen asked. “You know, to see if she could get away with taking something, and then moving up to taking him?”

He believed so.

“Or it was to terrorize him. Imagine going into your home, and finding things missing. You live alone, so it has to creep you out. It has to make you think you’re going insane, or being watched.”

Callen had stalkers because of his alter ego, Jackson James. He had women who thought they were married to him, and wanted to get to his family. So, this was something that hit home for him.

“I know it would creep me out.”

Ethan knew one thing.

“This was definitely all about Ken Yasin. It looks like he had a stalker. A crazy one.”

That was an understatement.

The man definitely was being watched.

But by whom?

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Minutes Later

In The Other Ride

Georgetown

As soon as the information was updated, MATE gave her a heads-up.

The system chimed to life.

“Elizabeth, there are more updates on the drive. This time, Callen J. Whitefox, has put information there.”

“Thank you, MATE,” she said.

Gene was sitting next to her in the blacked-out muscle sports car, and he was reading over her shoulder.

They’d been waiting for this.

“Oh, boy,” Gene said the second he saw what the other men had updated.

“It appears that both Zara Tyler and Eden Andre both used Clandestine Connections to find dates,” she said.

Yeah, that was definitely a situation for the owner. Kian Berry had an issue.

He pointed.

“Not only that, but Zara Tyler worked for DCTV and that’s owned by Kian’s rich father, Paul. That’s two ties to him.”

Elizabeth was putting it all together in her head.

“We have two possible locations where this killer could have come in contact with both Ken and Max. It’s Clandestine Connections or Nagato. That seems to be where the information is pointing me.”

Gene tapped his fingers on his knee as he considered it.

“What do you want to do? Ken’s autopsy should be done soon, and Chrissy should have DNA within the hour.”

That gave her time.

What choice did she have?

“We’re going back to Clandestine Connections to see what the hell is going on.”

She tapped Ivan on the shoulder.

“We’re reinterviewing Kian Berry and his team of merry nuts. Get us there.”

He nodded and pulled out of the parking lot they were in.

Gene was curious.

“Do you feel like we’re running in circles?” he asked. Since he used to run his and Ethan’s team, all those years ago, that’s what this felt like to him.

“Yeah, kind of,” she admitted. “I will admit that I feel better now than when we were focused on Max. Nothing was connecting to him, but now, we have leads, and that’s a good thing.”

That was true.

“Want to talk it out, since we have a few minutes?” he asked.

She actually did.

Pulling out her tablet, she opened the program that allowed her to write on the screen and upload it directly to the system.

“We know all three dead women have a connection to Ken through the dating place.”

He listened.

“He met them there, and then, Faith began working for him off the record as an accountant.”

“Right,” he admitted. “The IRS has no listing of her filing taxes for that business under her name. So, she either started and never did work for him, or was getting paid under the table.”

Elizabeth made notes.

“BUT we know from Ethan and Callen’s interview that Faith’s family said she worked there, and so did Kayla Yasin.”

Gene let her talk.

“We don’t know that the reporter dated him, since Ethan and Callen came up bust for the interview, but we know that the owner of that small news station is one in the same, Paul Berry, the father of Kian Berry—who owns the dating company.”

Gene shook his head.

“What a tangled web this is.”

On that, she agreed.

“Lastly, Ethan just uploaded what he found out about Eden Andre. She was dating him, matched by that company, and then, she was dumped when the man accused her of stealing his britches.”

Gene actually laughed.

“Ick.”

Oh, she agreed there.

“Ethan had notes, where he pointed out that Ken likely had his stalker getting access to his home.”

Gene got it.

“So basically, someone knew how to get in there.”

She nodded.

“We know that he screwed around with the women who work at Nagato. They might have been brought back there, or it’s someone who worked with Ken. His secretary might have showed up at his place for work.”

That was a good point.

Since he was killed in his home, and had his shit stolen, someone knew a lot about him.

That told her the kind of killer she was chasing, and it didn’t make her happy. This person was able to hide in plain sight.

“Who do you have on your list?” he asked, knowing that by now, she’d have one ready to go.

Elizabeth began writing, and when she was done, she showed him.

Jessie Oliver—possible rape victim.

Harper Blake—jealous bartender.

Aileen Marshall—Kian’s assistant.

Bayleigh Hinton—Kian’s secretary.

Jaylon Hest—coat room partner.

Bethany Clark—Ken’s assistant.

She showed him the list.

Then, she explained it to him.

“I have Jessie on there because a sexual assault can break a person. We have this killer pegged with DID, and that could have caused it.”

On that, he agreed.

“Nagato keeps kicking at my brain, reminding me that it’s not a coincidence. Max was drugged there, and he was taken from there or led away from there. The killer is familiar with it. Ken was there, and he hit on Harper. We don’t know if he brought her back to his place…or…”

He saw her line of thinking.

“He could have brought everyone back to his place at some point.”

She was aware.

“Maybe Harper drugged Max. We can’t say if she did or didn’t, but she made the drink, and she had a relationship with the man.”

That was a good point.

“I have Kian’s people on there just because they have full access to the dating list. Whoever this is, they knew Ken was getting down and dirty with our skinned victims.”

He laughed.

“I didn’t even think about that.”

Oh, well, she had to cover EVERY base.

“Do I think it’s them? Not really, but I don’t like surprises.”

That was a fact.

“Jaylon Hest got down and dirty with the man in the coatroom, again, from Nagato. She got moved, and was at the hostess desk the night Max was escorted out by our mysterious brunette.”

Gene chimed in.

“All three women who are on your list from that restaurant have brown hair.”

Oh, she was aware.

“Yep. That’s why they are on there too. Someone saw them together, and tried to send Ken a message. She’d killed all of his dates already, and Max was also a message. All that pig blood…”

He got it.

“Why Bethany Clark, the secretary?”

“She knew his schedule, and with a man like that, I totally see him telling her to get his laundry from the dry cleaners, and running errands for him. She’d have access to his personal life, and his home. Do you actually believe he made his own reservations?”

That was a good point.

“This killer has access to Ken’s life. Anyone tied to Max has been moved off of the list, like Betty Chandler, and Estelle Holt.”

Ivan clued her in.

“We’re here,” he said. “Welcome to Clandestine Connections, your one stop shop for a potential murderer and illicit hookup.”

She snorted.

“I’m pretty sure that slogan won’t help business,” she admitted.

He shrugged.

“The truth hurts.”

Getting out, they all headed toward the office in the building. Once inside, Bayleigh Hinton was all over them again.

“Oh, welcome back!”

Elizabeth stopped that friendliness then and there.

“We aren’t here for more smoothies. Where is your boss?” she asked.

The woman blinked.

“He’s not in today. He takes random days to go meditate and refresh. Matchmaking is a nightmare.”

Elizabeth was to the point.

“We have a warrant,” she said, knowing it came in ten minutes ago. “It’s for all of your files. You know, all your dates. How many clients do you have?” she asked.

The woman blinked.

“I’m not comfortable giving you that.”

Gene showed her his phone. On it, there was the warrant.

“I can send it to your printer if you’d like,” he said.

She nodded.

It was sent, and when it was printed out, she read over it.

“Can I call someone? I’ve never had to deal with this before.”

Elizabeth looked around.

“Where’s Aileen? Kian’s assistant?”

She shrugged.

“She works her own schedule. She doesn’t have to be in the office when Kian is out.”

Great.

“Well, then, we have a problem. You can give me the list of clients, or I can have an FBI team here to seize it. You can decide.”

The woman flushed.

“Well, I guess I’ll print it out.”

Elizabeth wasn’t done.

“Also, give me a printout of ANYONE who dated Ken Yasin, please.”

The woman nodded and got to work.

They took a seat to wait.

“You freaked her out,” he whispered, amused by all of this.

Elizabeth shrugged.

“That’s for making me cleanse my aura while I’m out in public.”

He snorted.

When her phone chimed, she pulled it from her pocket, and read the screen.

‘We are heading back in, Baby. We did all the interviews, and uploaded the information. We’ll meet you back at the morgue. Hopefully, we have found something that helps you. Love you. EJ.’

She showed Gene.

“Hopefully, when we get there, Chrissy has something,” he admitted.

She hoped so too.

When the woman headed their way, she handed them a file first.

“This is everyone Ken was matched with, and this is the file of all of our clients.”

Elizabeth took them. When she opened the file with Ken’s name on it, there were a good one hundred women on that list, and at the bottom, Max.

Holy.

Shit.

Someone got around.

“It looks like Ken was spending a shit ton of money on getting laid,” Elizabeth admitted. “It also looks like we were one hundred percent correct. He was dating the three women found skinned in the motel and Max’s trunk.”

That meant one thing.

“We’re on the right track,” Elizabeth said, glancing at her watch.

“This isn’t about Max. I’ll update the president with what I’ve found,” she said. “After Chrissy gives me something.”

They both got up.

“Thank you, Bayleigh,” she said.

The woman was grabbing her things.

“Uh, going somewhere?” she asked the woman as she was pulling on her jacket.

“I can’t work under this stress and bad energy,” she admitted. “I’m going home. This makes me off balance,” she admitted, walking out the door, and leaving them in the office.

“Uh, the door?” Gene called, as she left it unlocked in her escape.

Elizabeth just laughed.

“I told you. This place…they’re nutters.”

Gene just shook his head.

On that…

HE AGREED.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Hoover Building

Autopsy One

Afternoon

When she walked in, her team was working on the trace and all of the things pulled from Max’s home. Ethan and Callen were sitting on a morgue table, and Chris was on a stool, actually taking heed to his wife’s restrictions about working.

Finally.

When she came in, they all looked over.

“Hey, fam,” she said, greeting each husband with a kiss, and hopping up on the morgue table next to Ethan. “Miss me?” she asked.

Ethan grinned.

“Always,” he said, taking her hand in his.

She focused on Chris.

“I see you’re in civilian clothes, and not digging in the body,” she stated. “You actually listened?”

He was amused.

“I tend to be a rule follower, badass in boots. So, yes, I let my team do the job. I’ve been helping Tony get ready to head out.”

She looked around.

“Where is the nut?” she asked.

They pointed at the bone room. It was where they kept all the Jane and John Does, who they couldn’t give a name. It was the bone ghost room, as Tony called it.

“He’s telling them he’ll be back soon,” Chris said.

She stared at him.

“There’s about one hundred sets of remains in there. He’s saying goodbye to them?” Elizabeth asked.

Jaxon, Tony’s wife, shook her head.

“Don’t even get me started,” she said. “He’s insane.”

Elizabeth was amused.

Yes, yes, he was, but he meant well. Those victims were people he’d promised to find their identities of, and Tony took that very seriously.

Now that she was back, and all of her people were doing what she asked, it was time to see why they got paid well and were on her team.

“Chrissy?” she asked, prepared to cut the woman some slack since she’d been injured.

She rolled over, and apparently, there was no need.

“I have the results on his body,” she admitted. “We pulled his clothes, and there were hairs. We ran them against his own DNA, to eliminate them, and we found some that weren’t his.”

She waited.

“They belong to a familial match. Likely a sister.”

Elizabeth didn’t even flinch.

“He was at work the whole day, and works with his sister. They share a business. I need more than that. Was there anything beyond him and her?” she asked.

Chrissy shook her head.

“No. There was nothing under his nails. He didn’t fight for his life. Mass spec is still running with the DNA inside the peeled face skin.”

Bummer.

Ethan chimed in.

“That to me means he knew his killer. Someone was INSIDE his home, and they knew him. Maybe a date?”

She and Gene had just been discussing that before heading back in.

“Well, I have good and bad news,” she said.

Gene handed him the printout of Ken’s dates. When Ethan opened it, he stared at them.

“What’s this?”

She broke it to him.

“That’s how many people he was matched up with while using Clandestine Connections.”

His eyes went huge as he and Callen saw the sheer volume of people.

“There have to be a hundred people here.”

Oh, she was aware.

Then, she told him all about the restaurant.

“Apparently, Ken liked to get it on with anything that caught his eye. He flirted with the bartender, Harper, was banging the coatroom girl, Jaylon, and word on the street is he may have assaulted a waitress in his car.”

Ethan looked up.

That seemed to register.

“That would be the most likely person behind this,” he admitted, alarmed. “If he assaulted her, she might think that he’s hers, in a sick and twisted way. By watching him bring countless people there, that would enrage that other personality.”

Oh, she didn’t doubt that for a second.

“Well, that would be what I was thinking,” she said. “Jessie Oliver came back into work disheveled, went to her manager, and they had a man replace her as Ken’s waiter.”

Ethan was profiling in his head.

“She’s at the top of the list. If he raped her, she’d want revenge,” he admitted.

Callen stopped him.

“I thought this was ‘if I can’t have him, no one can’,” he admitted.

Ethan explained.

“This person DEFINITELY has DID. While their main persona will hate him, one of the others could see him as theirs. That they had something special. The sexual assault might not register as such to that personality.”

Great.

This got wilder.

“I’d focus on her,” he said.

Elizabeth looked at Gene and Callen.

“Well, research monkeys, get digging. We did a preliminary search on her in Nagato, but I need more. I want to know everything about her, including what she wore to kindergarten on her first day all of those years ago.”

The two men did just that.

Elizabeth focused on Chrissy. Kane was sitting at her station, and he was in full-on hover mode. He looked concerned.

“Are you good, Honey?” she asked her.

Chrissy nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Elizabeth tried to make her feel better.

“I know what would make you feel happy and cheery,” she admitted. “How about I buy everyone their favorite pizza?” she asked. “It’s past lunchtime.”

She shrugged.

“I’m good.”

They ALL looked at Chrissy.

What was this?

“You don’t want me to buy you food so you can eat over dead body trace?” she asked.

That was all kinds of odd.

“I’m not feeling hungry,” she said, rolling back over toward her husband. “Mass spec will be ready in likely ten minutes,” she added.

Kane looked right at Elizabeth, and they shared a look. Chrissy wasn’t…Chrissy-ing. That was terrifying.

Had this killer broken her?

Elizabeth lowered her voice.

“Now, I’m freaked out,” she whispered to her husbands who were within hearing range of what she was saying.

They were too.

Chrissy was ALWAYS hungry.

Now, what did they do with this? Certainly, this couldn’t be good.

“If I lose my head tech because of this nut,” Elizabeth whispered, “I’m going to go shit nuts,” she admitted.

They knew that was the truth.

When the tablet beeped, Gene sighed.

“You’re not going to like this, Elizabeth,” he admitted as he read what he’d found.

“What?”

NOTHING.

“Jessie has no skeletons in her closet. She’s clean. She’s from a decent family, she has a sister, and her parents are still married. She went to college, and has a degree in Art History.”

Which was why she was likely working at Nagato.

What did you do with a degree in Art History?

Callen agreed.

“I’m on her social media, and it’s normal. She works at the local ASPCA on her days off, and raises money for the animals.”

She looked at what they’d found.

And knew the truth.

“Guys, we have to be onto something. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Ethan, could she have snapped after the recent assault and become this?”

He was honest.

“Well, I mean, she could, but it takes years for a DID personality to get in control. If it’s her, I’m likely wrong about the reason Max didn’t die. I’m wrong about the main personality gaining back control and fighting for it.”

They all knew the truth.

Ethan was RARELY wrong.

“So my best suspect is likely not the killer?” she asked, hoping that was not what he was trying to say.

Until he nodded.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Her gut was saying the killer was familiar with Nagato, and Ken’s home. Her instinct was saying the man was targeted for being a man-whore.

The facts…they didn’t say the same.

“Keep digging. Team, keep processing. I need to know who killed those four people, or the President is tapdancing on my badge.”

And he would.

Because Gabriel Rothschild wasn’t only the president. He’d been a Fed.

He would want definitive answers.

Ones she couldn’t get.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The White House

The Presidential Residence

Three Forty-Five P.M.

Oh, together, they had shared one hell of a fantastic nap, and a few times, he’d opened his eyes to make sure it hadn’t been a dream. Finding her still there just made him happier.

Alessandra was still in his bed, her hair on his pillow, and her body pressed to his.

He laid there, breathing in her scent.

God.

This was a miracle in his world. He’d connected with a smart, sexy woman, and now, she was in his bed.

Today was a good day.

Until it wasn’t.

When the banging on his door scared him, and jerked Alessandra awake, they both stared at the door.

“DAD!” Amy called. “The Secret Service said you are in your room!”

That was all he had to hear. He jumped out of bed, and looked around. Lessa had her things all over his floor, and he knew what that looked like.

Because that’s what it was.

She began grabbing her things and tossing them under his bed. When she said she wanted him to be honest with the kids, and tell them about her, this was NOT how she wanted it to go down.

Finding them half-naked in the man’s room was going to be all kinds of shocking, and that was not the way to get off on a good foot with the president’s kids.

Climbing under the bed, Gabe saw her get hidden, and he opened the door.

“Hey,” he said, blocking the doorway with his body.

Why?

Oh, he didn’t want a war where Alessandra became the casualty. He planned on telling his kids about him dating, but this wasn’t the time.

Gabe knew what it looked like.

It was like when Amy was getting laid in the linen closet, and he’d lectured her on being discreet.

This.

Was.

Not.

Discreet.

In fact, it was anything but.

As he was trying to keep them out, Amy pushed into the room, and jumped onto the bed to sit there. Bea was right behind her.

She headed for the cart with the pastries on it, and helped herself.

Gabe was hella nervous.

Oh, this was bad.

Amy was the LAST kid, next to Gabriel Jr., that he planned on telling that he was dating. They were going to be the difficult ones to break it to.

“Can I help you two?” Gabe asked.

Amy held out her paper, and he looked at it.

“You got an A on your paper?” he asked, proud of his daughter. Her grades had dropped when she was screwing around with his old secretary, Josh Lambert, but now, things were changing.

He knew that boy was bad for her.

This was his proof.

“I just wanted to show you that I did listen, and I got the good grade.”

He laughed.

“Baby, I’m proud of you,” he said, heading her way to give her a kiss. “I knew you could do it.”

“I have an A in that college class. So…can I go to the movies?”

He stopped that.

“No, but you can ask Tiffany if she can take you and a few of your friends to that pizza place you like,” he said.

Her eyes went big.

“The Secret Service will let us?” Amy asked. “I can actually do something with my friends in public?”

Oh, here it came.

“If you act accordingly, and stop flipping the media off, then, yes. I’ll tell Tiffany to vet the place, and let you have a moment.”

She smiled.

“Thanks, Daddy!”

His heart skipped.

God.

He loved his kids, but he absolutely didn’t want to go through all of this again. The teen years were brutal.

“You earned it. Go tell Tiffany I said to set it up.”

She hopped off the bed and gave him a hug.

“I love you, Dad!” she said, hauling ass out of the room.

When she was gone, he focused on Bea. She was watching him with her speculative gaze.

“How was your day, Honey?” he asked.

She laughed.

“Good. How was yours? Did you handle the military thing last night?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Sorry I couldn’t have dinner with you guys. I’m going to be available tonight.”

Bea was the smartest of his kids. She was good at reading a room. Had there been a kid he assumed would follow in his footsteps, it would be her.

She was astute, and saw everything.

“That’s okay, Dad. Shit happens.”

He sighed.

“Beatrice,” he warned. “Language.”

That was when she bent over, and picked up the pack of wayward birth control pills that he’d errantly tossed away earlier.

Oh.

Fuckity.

“Yeah, my language is the problem, Dad. Where is she?” she asked, looking around the room from where she stood.

Gabe played dumb.

“Pardon?”

“I can smell her perfume. Ms. Barber has been here,” she admitted.

Gabe’s heart thumped.

“Dad. I’m not stupid,” she said, popping one of Alessandra’s pastries into her mouth.

When she picked up a heel that had been protruding from beneath the tea cart, she held it up.

“Cinderella, you lost your shoe.”

Gabe stopped that.

“Beatrice, knock it off. What I do in my downtime is none of your business. If I am having sex with someone, I’m a grown adult.”

Oh, she watched him.

“I happen to like her,” Bea said. “She’s smart, she’s kind, and I see how she watches you,” she admitted. “She can come out. I’m not going to lose my collective shit.”

Gabe knew this was going to happen.

“Lessa,” he said, finally giving in.

Because he made the decision, she came out from beneath the bed, and she was clearly disheveled.

“Hey,” she said, sheepishly.

What else was she supposed to say?

Neither of them said anything more. Now, the ball was in his daughter’s court, and Gabe knew it. While Coraline was always his little mini-me, this girl was their logical one.

“Well, you found us out,” he admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. “What is the plan?” he asked.

Beatrice shrugged.

“There’s no plan, Dad. Like I said, I like Alessandra. Apparently, you do too.”

Oh, he didn’t buy that.

“What is it going to cost me?” he asked. “Because I know you girls. You spread word like wildfire.”

Beatrice stared at him.

“Not this time,” she said. “It would hurt Gabriel, and start a war with Amy. They aren’t ready to find out, and certainly not from me.”

Alessandra watched, saying nothing.

She had to let Gabriel handle this.

Bea explained.

“You should have more faith in your kids, Dad. We know you can’t stay single forever. Men can’t make it a week without a woman.”

WHAT?

“Hey!” he said. “I’ve made it more than a week. It’s almost a year.

She explained.

“We knew you’d move on, Dad. Mom would want you to. She would never want you to be sad. We know it was rocky at the end, but Mom told us that no matter what, she loved you and that if you two weren’t together, we weren’t supposed to give the new woman shit.”

He didn’t know what to say.

Livy had said that? She’d eluded to their kids that they were going to not be together?

“I see.”

“You need to be honest with the rest of the family, and let them have their feelings about it. Hiding a woman under your bed isn’t going to make the news go over better. You know that.”

He was honest.

“I’m trying to protect you. I don’t want to hurt you guys,” he said. “But I’m in love.”

Bea headed his way, and she hugged him.

“I love you, Daddy. I’m happy that you’ve healed, and you’ve realized that you and Mom were a nightmare together. The fighting…”

He was surprised since they tried not to fight, but tension was detectable.

Clearly.

“Thank you, Honey. I love you, Beatrice. You’re my girl, and for the record, you were the one I said would figure this out first.”

She laughed.

“Dad, you have a cart with two plates, used, two coffee cups, and a pack of birth control on the floor. It’s not that hard to see. Amy missed it because Amy is all about Amy.”

Alessandra relaxed.

She’d been right. She could hold up to the president’s kids, especially if they were going to be like this.

This wasn’t bad at all.

“You’d think you’d be better at setting up a crime scene. You were a Fed. You should be ashamed of yourself. I’m telling Aunt Lyzee.”

He actually snorted.

“That’s my girl,” he said, amused by her words. Love made you do crazy things, apparently.

Gabe knew that he needed to get Alessandra out of there, so he could do this right. He didn’t want to upset his kids.

“Thank you for understanding, Beatrice. I appreciate it,” he admitted.

She looked over at Alessandra.

“Don’t break his heart. I’ll be the first one on the phone to my Aunt Elizabeth, and she will make you bleed while she laughs doing it.”

Alessandra smiled.

“That’s never going to happen. I love and respect your father. Thank you for being understanding.”

She tossed her the pack of birth control.

“Don’t forget to take that, we don’t need any more kids in this family,” she said, giving her father a kiss on the cheek. “Right, Dad?”

He laughed.

“Right, Kiddo. This family is maxed out.”

The second he said that, Alessandra’s heart dropped to her belly.

Wait.

He didn’t want kids?

Gabe didn’t want more?

She thought back to the conversation she’d had with Elizabeth, and she’d said he likely would want more. Alessandra wanted a family, and not just his kids.

What she wanted was THEIR kids.

A baby.

His baby.

That worried her.

“Beatrice, I’ll tell everyone over dinner that I’m dating Ms. Barber. I’ll come clean.”

She smiled.

“Good choice, Dad. Really. Let us be happy with you. She’s never going to be our mom, but she makes you happy, and we love you.”

He kissed his daughter on the top of the head, and she headed out. When she peeked back in, she smiled.

“Can I get a car?”

He laughed.

“OUT. It’s too late. You missed the opportunity.”

Bea sighed.

“Damn it,” she said, closing the door behind her as she left.

When Gabe turned, he focused on the woman wearing his pajama shirt, and smiled.

“Well, we nearly caused a mess. It looks like I’m coming out and being honest. I hope you are right, and you can handle it. She’s the easygoing one.”

Alessandra held up a hand when he tried to hug her.

It caught him off guard.

“Wait. Did you mean what you just said?” she asked him.

“Yeah, I love you.”

She stopped him.

“No, the part where you don’t want any more kids?” she asked.

He blinked.

“Uh, I’m fifty. I won’t have new kids out of the house until I’m in my seventies. Plus, it just might kill me.”

Oh, no.

Alessandra’s heart skipped—and not in a good way.

She was honest.

“I want kids, Gabriel.”

He stared at her.

“Uh, I have six kids. I’ll share with you,” he offered. “In time, they’ll love you like I do. Trust me when I say you can ignore the ‘she won’t be Mom’ spiel. I know them well.”

Yeah, only, that wasn’t enough for her. It was clear they weren’t on the same page about this, and it was a HUGE issue for her.

It was her breaking point.

Oh, she could love and mother his children, but she still wanted to be a mother—as in give birth.

“No, Gabe. You heard Beatrice. She said I’ll never be their mom. I want to be someone’s mom, Gabriel.”

He felt the mood shift.

“Lessa, I’m sorry. I don’t want more children. I’ve done the sleepless nights, the colic, the first days at school, and the boy heartbreak. I got my son, so I’m good.”

Did he hear himself?

“So I’m just to warm your bed, and never have what I need to be happy because it’s all about you?”

He went to touch her, and she stepped back.

“Lessa.”

She shook her head, and began getting her things from under the bed.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his heart dropping into his gut.

Was she walking out?

Was she leaving?

She was to the point.

“I want to have children, and the only reason I’m dating is to find the person to spend the rest of my life with who wants the same thing,” she admitted. “I want a family.”

He began worrying.

“I can give you a family. It’s just a pre-made one.”

She pulled on her things, and slipped into her heels so she could escape.

Alessandra wanted to weep.

This was her fault for not asking him BEFORE they slept together. Thank God she was on the pill.

“I’m sorry, Mr. President, but I have to go,” she said, tears in her eyes.

He tried to stop her.

“Lessa!”

She looked back at him as he stood there in his bedroom. Alessandra took in the moment, and how close she’d gotten to perfection.

He had been the one.

Until he wasn’t.

“I’m sorry, Mr. President,” she said again. “I’m resigning as your Press Secretary too. I can’t work here and know I found the love of my life, but he wouldn’t consider my feelings on motherhood,” she whispered.

He stared at her.

“You’ll throw what we feel away because of the no kids?” he asked.

She stood taller.

“I want more than just what you’re willing to give me. I can’t settle. It’s not meant to be if you already have six kids, and one more is your line. I quit, Mr. President,” she said, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

And Gabe stared.

Oh, holy shit.

He sat on his bed, the bed he’d just shared with her, and now smelled like her, and he couldn’t believe it.

She walked out.

And he let her.

Maybe this wasn’t a happily ever after for him.

Yet again.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

Dex’s House

Target Shooting

Thursday Afternoon

One thing could be said about Max’s handling of a Baretta.

It.

Was.

Terrible.

Honestly, Dex had never seen someone so horrible at hitting an object.

He’d hit the garage.

He’d hit the tree behind the stump.

He’d nearly hit a bird that was flying by.

But he’d missed the target.

It was lucky the man was so goddamn sexy doing it, or Dex would have given up an hour ago. He liked watching the determination the man had, and checking out his ass.

Who was he kidding?

Now that they’d used up an entire box of bullets, it was time to call it a day.

“I’m sorry,” Max said. “I’m a disaster with a gun.”

Dex winked at him.

“But you’re so good at putting people away and making me happy, so we’ll call it a wash. I’ll just have to protect you,” he admitted.

That worked for Max.

“How about I grab us some steaks, and we throw them on the grill? I could eat a horse,” he admitted.

Max wanted to talk to him about their relationship.

“That sounds good. Then, we can talk over dinner,” he offered, knowing that he was going to tell him he needed to slow it down a bit.

The speed was scaring him.

“Sure,” he said. “Let me put the gun away,” he offered, getting up from the chair he’d put nearby to watch the man try to shoot.

Dex put his phone on the chair and gathered the spent shells.

“Okay,” Max said, watching him. All he could hope was when they finished talking, the man would still want to be near him.

He just needed to figure all of this out. Max was a thinker to his core.

As Dex took the gun, and headed inside, he was unloading it at the counter when he heard the floorboard creak behind him.

“Were you lonely?” he asked, turning around.

When he did, he saw the most horrible thing in his life. Someone was in his house, and they were wearing someone else’s face.

Oh, shit.

Before he could say anything more, the intruder raised her hand, and shot him in the shoulder, above his heart.

He gasped, and the box of bullets went falling to the ground with the now-empty gun.

And Dex went down.

Outside, Max heard the gunshot, and it scared him stupid. Had Dex accidentally shot himself?

He raced toward the house, and inside, he saw the monster standing over his man.

“Dex!” he shouted, getting the person’s attention. When he saw her wearing someone’s actual face, he began backing up.

“RUN!” Dex ordered, blood seeping out of his body onto his floor as he tried to get the man he loved out of there.

Max didn’t want to leave him, but he knew Dex would have a fighting chance if he lured the person away. Apparently, he was next to die.

Jesus.

Running out the door, he went past his lover’s phone on the chair and grabbed it. Then, he hauled ass, running into the trees and down the trail that led toward the lake.

Max had to lose whoever it was that had hurt Dex. Hopefully, the man would get help.

Hearing the footsteps following, but not anymore shots, he knew he’d lured the killer away. It was going to be a sick game of hide-and-seek in the trees.

When he realized he’d taken the only phone Dex had, he knew it was up to him to get help.

Oh, and hide in the trees until that help came.

Swiping up, the phone opened, and he got lucky there was no password.

He knew the one person who might be able to save him, and he dialed her.

They were in trouble.

BIG.

TROUBLE.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Morgue

Same Time

When Chrissy’s mass spec beeped, they knew they finally had something by way of trace. As her team kept working, finding nothing on her suspect list, she had to hope trace would be the hero.

Most of her cases were solved with forensics, and this was looking to be the same situation.

“What do we have?” Elizabeth asked, as Chrissy pulled the results from the printer, and read over them.

She looked confused.

Then, she went to her desk, opened up another test, and compared them.

“I must have screwed up,” she said, rubbing her temples. “I had to have screwed up.”

Elizabeth was curious.

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

Chrissy looked up.

“I have the same results from the body swab. I must have contaminated the test or mixed up the samples,” she admitted. “Boss, I’m sorry.”

Ethan lifted a brow.

“You got the sister’s DNA inside the face too?” he asked.

She nodded.

Elizabeth stopped moving and talking.

It was clear to see that the wheels were already turning, and it made sense.

Blackhawk knew exactly what she was thinking. Forensics didn’t lie, and Chrissy, even with a concussion, wouldn’t jack up the test.

“She had a trauma,” Ethan said. “Her parents died. That could have created the break,” he admitted to his wife. “Then, she would have imprinted on her brother—the only one left.”

Kane was curious.

“And she’d kill people who dated her brother?” he asked, not able to help himself. “Why would she care? That would be more people to love in her life.”

The detective wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t fully right either.

“If she was in love with him, that would be the opposite,” Ethan admitted. “If she saw him as more, well, if her other personality did, that changes everything. While her main personality saw him as her brother, the split personality could see him as someone who was interested in more in their relationship.”

Oof.

“That’s sick,” Kane said. “So she’s killing women because of her lust for her brother? Someone’s going to hell in a handbasket for crossing that line,” he admitted.

Elizabeth focused on her team.

“Did anyone test his dick for vaginal fluid?” she asked. “Did anyone see if he had sex right before he got the ‘dick Chiffonade special’?

Chris stood up.

“Test it,” he said, answering her question.

While they waited, Elizabeth began pulling from what she knew.

“Vaughn said that she was at dinner with her brother at Nagato and when she went to the bathroom, he hooked up with an employee and left her there.”

“Uh-oh,” Ethan said. “And there is the point behind this. That pissed her off, and ‘if she can’t have him’…”

Callen finished.

“No one will.”

Jesus.

Now, all the pieces were falling into place, and Elizabeth finally had the full picture.

“Holy, incestuous crazy,” Kane admitted.

Elizabeth kept talking it out, as her techs were swabbing what was left of the dead man’s dick.

“She lived next door to him, and lied her ass off,” Elizabeth said. “I didn’t check her alibi of going to the gym, because I didn’t assume she’d be hot for brother. I saw her as the victim’s family, not his lust muffin.”

Oh, shit.

This one was on her.

She’d done the interview, and dropped the ball, worrying about how full her plate was.

Shit.

This was exactly what happened when you weren’t one hundred percent focused.

This.

Right.

Here.

Chris shook his head.

“The crazy is out of control,” he said. “That would make it easy for her to ambush him in his house, and if she followed Max back to his house after they released him yesterday…”

“She’d know where to leave her dead brother. Oh, holy Hell’s bells. I didn’t have incest for the brother on my Bingo card for this case.”

Yeah, none of them did.

From where he sat, Callen was staring at his brother, and he felt uneasy.

Hella uneasy.

When her phone rang, she pulled it out, and saw it was Dex’s number.

“Yo,” she said, answering. “I was just going to call. We know who…”

Elizabeth didn’t get to finish.

“It’s Max,” he said, breathlessly. “The killer showed up here, and shot Dex. She’s chasing me through the woods. I had to get her away from Dex so I’m trying to keep her out of his house. He was bleeding,” he whispered, as he moved through the woods.

Oh, Jesus.

Hearing that, they all jumped up, and raced from the building to get to the two men.

Thankfully, she knew where Dex lived, and now, Elizabeth had to get there.

“Ethan, get an ambulance there, but no lights and sirens,” she ordered, as they got to the parking lot, and jumped into the vehicles. “Get them a police escort to clear the house to get Dex out.”

He did just that.

Outside, security was in the Navigator, and she, Callen, Gene, and Ethan were in the blacked-out car. For this, she wanted to be behind the wheel.

She was about to break some speed laws.

Elizabeth hauled ass, getting them on the road.

“I need you to stay hidden,” she said to Max. “Find a place and keep ahead of her. We’ll get to you, but keep this phone call going.”

That might be easier said than done.

“I’m trying,” he whispered. “I can hear her,” he offered, going quiet so Elizabeth could hear the woman calling for him.

“Come out, whore! You can’t have him! He’s mine! All of you worthless pieces of trash aren’t meant to be with him. He loves me!” she screamed into the woods.

Oh, this was bad.

Ken was dead, and the woman couldn’t recall that. She was falling apart, mentally.

Because it was a race to save a life, they had lights on, as they hit the highway, driving ninety toward where Dex lived. It was a twenty-minute drive, and she needed to do it in ten. Gene was holding her phone, and she was driving like she stole it.

Because she did.

From security.

In the backseat, Callen and Ethan held on, but Callen was thinking about this mess.

He was freaked out.

Did crossing the line twist you up so much that you became a monster? Had the man had sex with his sister, and this was the result? Did he cross a line, and cause this whole thing? All they knew was something made Kayla Yasin shatter.

Was incest it?

Ken had raped a woman in a car, so forcing himself on his sister was a possibility.

This didn’t seem so far-fetched.

Oh, Jesus.

Callen stared over at his brother, wondering if that was their fate.

God.

What had they agreed to do?

“Max, I’ll be there in ten. You have to stall for me. You have to find a place to go where you can be hidden from her. She’s going to kill you, and you won’t be able to talk her out of it. She’s too far gone.”

The woman continued screaming in the woods, proving how crazy she was.

Oh, the last thing he planned on doing was coming face-to-face with her.

“I killed him, and now, I’ll kill you. You can’t hide from me. I’ll find you. How dare you date him! How dare you try to take what is mine! He had sex with me and told me he loved me!”

Over the phone, they had some of their answers.

“Did you hear that?” he whispered. “He was sleeping with his sister.”

Oh, they heard.

Callen really heard.

Now, as he fought for his life, Max was scared for Dex.

“Find Dex. He was shot in the chest, I think,” he whispered. “He was on the floor bleeding. I’ll be okay. I can stay ahead of her.”

They’d split up when they got there.

For now, this was about keeping the man alive. If he died on her watch, this was her fault. She’d not moved him, thinking he would be okay.

It was clear she was slipping deeper into the DID, since the killer hadn’t ended him at the motel but now wanted to do just that.

She’d been wrong.

VERY.

WRONG.

They could hear Max go silent on the phone, and they knew he was likely unable to talk do to her proximity.

When his voice came over the phone, it was a whisper.

“She’s found me,” he said.

“RUN!” Elizabeth ordered. “Get as far from her as you can!”

And Max did just that.

He jumped up and ran, narrowly dodging bullets that the crazy person began shooting at him.

Oh, and he knew one thing.

He might never see Dex again.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

The Woods

The Chase

Same Time

Yeah, his life had flashed before his eyes, and Max knew that he didn’t have much of a chance with the crazy person chasing him.

She was fast, and she was angry.

In his head, he was only thinking about Dex, and if he’d have to call his mother and tell Emily that he’d died.

Because of him.

He realized that when you let people in, you got hurt in ways you never expected. Seeing Dex dead…

He couldn’t do it.

That scared him more than anything.

As he hopped over a log, his foot caught a root, and he tumbled down a ridge, into a gully below. The phone went flying, into the small stream of water, and it began washing away.

There went his lifeline.

Oh, fuck.

When he got up, his leg was bleeding, but he was okay. Well, that was until he looked up and saw he wasn’t alone.

Ken’s sister was in front of him, wearing someone else’s face. In horror movies, the killer always seemed to move slowly through the woods.

That was not the case.

Not.

At.

All.

She was fast.

Because this was new to him, he did the most logical thing that came to mind.

Max raised his hands, and prayed for a freaking miracle by way of Elizabeth Blackhawk.

“Please,” he whispered. “Don’t do this. The man you shot is a good guy. Let me go help him. I don’t want your man,” he said, playing along.

Max knew now was his last shot. No one was coming, and he was going to have to talk his way out of this—despite what Elizabeth had told him.

There had to be a way.

“You’re the reason he died. You. It was bad enough when he was with the other women, but then a man? I was right there. I was right next door. Who would love him more than his sister?”

Uh-oh.

She’d willingly shacked up with her brother?

Max began backing up, slowly, but the woman wearing the dead woman’s face followed.

“You didn’t have to kill Ken.”

She laughed.

“Oh, but I did. He thought I’d tolerate him sleeping with a man? Oh, hell, no. I swallowed the hookups with women, because he convinced me that it was to keep what we had safe. He had to act outside the house, but a man?”

Max knew he was fucked.

“Why didn’t you kill me when you roofied me?” he asked. “Why didn’t you kill me then?”

“Because I was sending a message to my brother. I wanted him to know I knew what he was going to do. After you were arrested, I heard him on the phone with that matchmaker, and he said he still wanted you on his list, and they could have the refund back—if you were innocent.”

Max swallowed.

She didn’t seem insane. This was all purposeful, except she was wearing a dead woman’s face. There was some insanity there, but Kayla Yasin still had some of her facilities.

“You’re the reason the man in the Victorian had to die. I had to kill him because you’re foul.”

When she pulled off the face that she was wearing, the blood and slime streaked one, it showed so much rage.

“Now, you’ll get to have the final memory that Ken’s sister killed you.”

He wasn’t focused on her. Max was thinking about one thing, and one thing only.

The innocent man who had just been helping him stay safe by being his alibi.

“Please,” he whispered. “You didn’t kill him. Say you didn’t kill him.”

She laughed.

“Oh, Captain Dexter Corbin is dead,” she said. “You can thank Ken. He didn’t love me like he should. Now, you have to pay.”

Slowly, she raised the gun in her hand, and Max had no choice. He closed his eyes and was ready to die. He hoped it didn’t hurt, and he didn’t suffer.

When he heard the gun go off, he flinched, but he didn’t feel anything.

What was this?

Opening his eyes, he saw that he wasn’t hit. In the center of the killer’s chest, a blood stain began spreading before she went to her knees.

Behind her, Dex was leaning against the tree, blood running down his arm.

He wasn’t dead and he’d saved him.

“Dex!” he said, running past the dead body on the ground.

The homicide captain went to his knees, and he was a shade of pale that scared the hell out of Max. In fact, this all scared him to the point he didn’t know if he’d recover.

Tracking him through the woods with a gunshot wound was insane.

Max knew he loved Dex, and now, he was going to lose him.

Max reached him, and held him against his body. He held him and helped lower him to the ground. They were in the creek bed, and the water was cold.

“Stay with me,” Max said, as he saw the blood bubbling from Dex’s body.

“I told you I’d keep you safe,” Dex muttered, his voice so low.

“Dex, you stay with me,” Max said. “Come on, Poindexter! You stay with me!” he said, trying to rile him up enough that he’d fight.

Dex stared up into his eyes, and he fought to stay awake. Only, he was so tired.

“I’m sorry, Max,” he whispered. “I can’t stay.”

And Max began freaking the fuck out.

Justifiably.

Meanwhile…

When they got there, it didn’t take long to find Max and Dex. The cops had cleared the house, meaning Dex wasn’t dead.

Yet.

In the distance, Max was screaming like a lunatic in the woods, and led them straight to him.

On the ground, Dex was half in the water, and half out, as Max was using his shirt to try to stop the blood.

She was the first to reach them.

“Captain, you seem to have a hole in you,” she said, pulling off her blazer to roll it up in a ball. She was kneeling in the water, and shit.

It was cold.

The man didn’t answer. In fact, his head lolled back and forth with each move Max made.

“He needs an ambulance,” Max said. “It’s his chest!” he offered, still freaking out.

Because someone had to, she checked, and luckily for Poindexter, it wasn’t his chest, but more his shoulder.

And it was through and through.

Someone got lucky.

“We have help coming,” she said, as Gene helped her pull him from the ravine, and onto the upper ground where Ethan and Callen could get him flat.

“It’s coming,” Ethan warned.

In the distance, they could hear the helicopter. It was landing in a field not far away.

“Gene, Callen, get him there. The less time on the ground, the quicker they can get him an IV and filled with fluids,” she said.

The two men picked the man up, hefting the dead weight through the trees, and toward where the helicopter had touched down.

Max hugged her.

“Oh, God. Please tell me he’ll live,” he said. “He got shot protecting me,” he admitted.

Elizabeth saw the blood on his face.

“How badly hurt are you?” she asked. “Because when he wakes up, he’s going to ask me.”

That told him all he needed to know. If Elizabeth said he’d be okay, he would. He had to trust her.

“I can wait,” Max said, when she was looking at his leg. “I’m just scratched up. Is that really Ken’s sister?” he asked, as Ethan was standing over the dead woman.

“Yeah, that is his sister, Kayla. She lost both her parents years ago, and she became broken by it. Her other personality believed that Ken was her lover.”

He stopped him.

“Uh, I’ve tried enough cases to know when someone was batshit insane, Ethan. She wasn’t that far gone. She was cognizant of her actions. Ken was doing his sister on the DL, and she was well aware of it. She told me the second he tried to go male, she got angry.”

They listened.

“She also said the reason she didn’t kill me was to warn her brother that she wasn’t putting up with it. He had to know it was her. When she overheard him telling Kian that he still wanted a chance to date me, she lost it and planned all this out.”

Elizabeth stopped him.

“No. She had those women skinned days before. You saw her ‘sane’ side, and I use that word lightly.”

Ethan agreed.

“She might have willingly slept with her brother, and liked it, she was flickering back and forth between control and chaos.”

Well, whatever.

All Max knew was that Dex would live. Now, they could have a talk about their relationship, and start slowly navigating this.

Because Ethan was curious, he pulled back the corner of Kayla’s shirt, near her neck, and etched into her skin, something was written.

Chris hated it when they touched the body before he got there, so it was a good thing Zane was in charge.

“Look,” he said, proving the point that Kayla was NOT okay. She might have willingly slept with Ken, but she was, indeed, broken.

At that one word, Elizabeth moved to stand over the dead woman.

Kayla’s face was all scratched up, and to make it worse, she took something sharp to her skin. The raw, red scratches told the tale.

On her chest, there was one big one.

​‘Ken + Kayla’

Oh, boy.

Ethan was right. Someone had definitely lost control of the dominant personality.

That was for sure.

“The alter ego that came out, the other personality, was just very similar to her main personality. That’s why she seemed sane with some of the things she’d said,” Ethan explained.

When she saw Callen and Gene heading her way, she waited for an update.

“He woke up briefly,” Callen said. “He wanted Max,” he admitted.

That was all the man had to hear. He owed Dex his life, and he needed to be by his side until he was back on his feet. Then, they’d still have to have the talk.

Seeing him nearly die…

Max wasn’t sure he could risk watching someone he loved die.

It was crushing.

“I’ll go,” he said.

They could hear sirens in the distance.

“There are more feds here, and so are our techs,” Gene said, showing her the alert he got on his phone.

Good.

As Max rushed toward the helicopter, Elizabeth sighed.

“We were right. The sister lost it. Do you think she really slept with Ken willingly like she said, EJ?” she asked her husband.

“We will never know if that was the catalyst, or not, but there’s a good chance it started with comforting each other while they were alone, and went too far.”

Callen crouched down and read the message on her chest. Then, he rolled up her sleeve.

‘He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me…’

It was all over her body.

Well, that said it all.

“I’m pretty sure that illicit attraction to him drove her insane,” Callen admitted. “I think I like assuming he assaulted her and broke her than she slipped into the crazy willingly,” he admitted, glancing over at Ethan, and thinking about what they’d planned to do.

He shrugged.

“We’ll never know, but it’s a possibility. Everyone said Ken was all over women. We don’t know how his parents’ deaths affected him. That’s something we can’t answer. Unfortunately, we only have half the picture, and not even the whole half.”

All of this horrified Callen.

He was staring at his brother, and thinking about how they’d planned to cross that line.

Elizabeth sighed.

“Come on. The helicopter is taking off. Let’s get to the hospital, and then, we have paperwork to do. By we, I mean all of us because this was a doozy.”

When Ethan went to hold Callen’s hand, he pulled it away, surprising the man.

“I don’t think we should cross the line,” he suddenly said, catching him off guard, and everyone else too. “It’s wrong.”

“Wait. What?” Ethan asked, his heart dropping. “CJ, what are you saying?” he inquired, hoping his brother wasn’t just going to do this to him here and now.

Without a conversation.

Without a discussion.

Callen continued.

“That you and I…our DNA is fucked up enough. I don’t want to end up like them.”

It was a shot to Ethan’s heart that his brother believed they were anything like Ken and Kayla Yasin.

They weren’t.

The humiliation and betrayal he felt ricocheted through him. It was clear that he didn’t see it coming.

“Callen,” Elizabeth said, seeing the hurt in Ethan’s eyes, and how hard it had been for the man to be honest about his feelings. “You won’t end up like them,” she reassured, knowing how much Ethan was putting on the line to even own up to what he’d felt.

The man kept his emotions locked away because they were fragile. It took him fourteen years to own up to Tala because he didn’t feel safe, and now…

Callen retreated.

“I’m riding back to the office with security,” Callen said, walking away, leaving Ethan standing there watching him.

Oh, shit.

Gene looked at Elizabeth.

The storm was about to make landfall, and it was going to be the kind of storm that they’d never seen before. It was betrayal times ten.

Ethan had trusted Callen with his feelings and the truth, and his brother walked away.

“EJ,” she said, and was cut off as a single tear slipped down his cheek.

“It’s fine,” he said softly, hurting more than he’d ever hurt in his life. This hurt more than when Callen broke his heart by cheating on him. He’d humiliated him by making him feel foul, perverted, and disgusting by owning his feelings.

Then, he dropped the bomb.

“I won’t be going to The Puget Sound,” he admitted. “Go without me.”

He’d trusted his brother, and now…

“It’ll be okay,” Gene said, reaching for his arm to soothe him, only to receive the same treatment.

Ethan pulled away and walked toward the cars, leaving Elizabeth and Gene standing there.

“Oh, this is bad,” Elizabeth said, knowing they had a problem.

A big one.

“I’ve never seen him like this, and that’s saying a lot, Gene. We have a big problem that won’t be solved easily. This might break up our family.”

Gene could see it happening.

When Ethan held a grudge, he held a grudge that lasted a very long time.

Like years.

Oh, shit.

Elizabeth knew this was all her fault.

Why?

Just yesterday, she’d said that the family was in its sweet spot.

Apparently, that had been a lie.

A huge one.

Typhoon Betrayed Brother was about to hit land, and no one would be left standing.

No.

One.

The Epilogue

One Month Later

Alessandra’s house

When she woke up that morning, she wasn’t feeling well at all. In fact, for the last week, she seemed to have some kind of stomach bug. It was making her unemployment suck, that was for sure.

Only, she’d been dodging calls, and flowers from the president, and also from Elizabeth Blackhawk, when it hit her.

Could she be pregnant?

Running out that morning, she grabbed five tests, and took them all.

To her horror—her unemployed, single woman horror, they all said the same thing.

She.

Was.

Pregnant.

Since the ONLY person she’d had sex with in the last seven months was The President, that meant one thing.

Her birth control failed.

She was one of the one percent who could get pregnant on the pill.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Picking up the phone, she knew who to call. She needed help, and there was only one person she knew who could do that.

It sucked since she’d avoided her calls for weeks, hiding in her home.

“Blackhawk,” the voice said over the phone. “Make it quick.”

Alessandra went there.

“I need you,” she said. “Can you come to my house?” she asked.

Elizabeth hesitated.

She was in the middle of a case, and on top of that, Ethan and Callen wouldn’t look at each other. Their family was being ripped apart at the seams, and nothing they did seemed to fix it.

After humiliating Ethan in the middle of the woods, instead of talking to him privately, Callen had calmed down, and realized that he was being silly over the situation.

But it was too late.

Ethan’s feelings had been hurt, and his ego had the shit kicked out of it. He felt betrayed, and he was avoiding Callen like the plague.

Oh, big-time.

Anymore, he only slept in Gene’s room, and stopped having ANY contact with Callen—which meant their cozy foursomes had come to a screeching halt.

Her marriage was falling apart, and there didn’t look to be an end in sight.

She was trying to get Ethan to calm down, and Gene was too. Only, he wouldn’t even be in the same room with Callen, and his brother didn’t know how to fix this.

Oh, Callen tried, and it was breaking him in the process, but he kept trying to bridge the void.

Unsuccessfully.

Elizabeth was buried in a mess.

Add in that there was a gala coming, and honestly, she was contemplating leaving everyone at home because she didn’t have a moment’s peace with them.

Now this?

She’d called the woman multiple times, needing a friend, and each time, it went to voicemail with no return call. It appeared that Alessandra Barber didn’t really want a friend or to be one to anyone either.

On top of that, she’d been summoned to the White House by Gabe, and she heard all about it, since Gabe couldn’t get the woman to talk to her.

He felt horrible.

And he missed Alessandra.

Now, the pressure was on.

Gabe wanted her to fix it.

Callen wanted her to fix it.

Chris wanted her to fix it.

Gene wanted her to fix it.

And now Alessandra too?

Come on!

The only person not asking her to fix something was Ethan, and he was the ONE person who needed her help.

“I’m a little busy,” she said. “I’ve tried calling you multiple times…”

She was well aware, and that was only because she was afraid that she’d crawl back to Gabriel Rothschild, and swallow her pride.

If she did that, they’d never have anything she respected.

“Please. It’s an emergency,” she said, hanging up so Elizabeth couldn’t say no.

Alessandra didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, there was a knock on her door. When she opened it, Elizabeth stood there, and she didn’t look excited to be there.

“Come in,” she said, sensing that chill that had once been there and it was back again.

The friendship was damaged, and that was on her.

She got it.

“What did you need? I’m working a case,” she said being right to the point.

Alessandra pointed to the counter, and Elizabeth headed that way. Normally, there were big arrangements of roses, and that she had none told her the ones Gabe sent were tossed away.

This put her in a bad spot, or it did until Alessandra stopped talking to her.

“What?” she asked.

“Look at the tests.”

Elizabeth saw what she was talking about now, and the second it registered, she got it.

Turning, she stared at her.

“Oh, please tell me you had sex with someone before Gabe,” she said. “Please, please, please tell me that you are NOT pregnant, and this is a joke.”

She began crying and sat on her couch. Alessandra melted down.

Oh, fuckity mc fuck-fuck.

This absolutely was NOT happening. It was bad enough that Gabe was heartbroken, but if this got out, and the media found out…

Armageddon.

She’d just gotten Gabe off the warpath where he was pissed at everyone because of Alessandra walking away from him and the job. He wasn’t threatening to blow up countries and fire generals for now.

But this…

Oh, he adamantly told her that he didn’t want more kids. Now, if only he’d mentioned that BEFORE she’d told Alessandra the opposite.

This was bad, and she was pulled into it.

Going around the counter, she found the silverware drawer, and pulled out two spoons. Next, she went into the woman’s freezer and found two pints of ice cream.

She walked toward her and handed her one.

“What do I do?” she whispered, taking the ice cream.

Elizabeth sat next to her, opened her pint, and shoved a spoonful into her mouth.

Oh, she knew what she needed to do next.

She needed to freak the fuck out.

Because this was going to be a huge problem for everyone.

Her.

Alessandra.

Gabe.

And likely the rest of the world.

* * * Blackhawk-Whitefox-Leonard-Cantrell * * *

His First Day

Back At Work

One Month Later

Monday Late Afternoon

For weeks, Max had avoided the office, and today had been his first day officially back. He’d taken a vacation, mostly to take care of Dex.

He owed him that since the man nearly died because of him. While he’d been taking care of him, he never said a freaking word about slowing down.

How was he supposed to do that and not make it sound shitty?

So, he’d stayed quiet.

Today, when it was time to get back to work, he’d practically run into the office, knowing he needed to be honest with Dex.

Why?

He needed some space.

The whole time he was helping Dex recoup, the man talked about moving in, and starting their life.

Only, he was scared.

REALLY.

TERRIFIED.

So getting back to work helped him ignore the big pink elephant in the room.

His relationship status.

After meeting the man’s family, and being in a hostage situation where he couldn’t tell him his feelings, Max finally was back on two feet.

Did he love Dex?

Absolutely.

Did he know how to tell him that they were moving way too fast?

Hell.

No.

And that was the problem.

All day at work, he dodged the speculative looks from his co-workers, and his secretary trying to be overly nice to him. He wanted this to all go back to the way it was before he met with Ken.

With the exception of his time with Dex.

Max was awash in so much confusion.

How did he navigate work now that he’d been in the news, shoving his private life into the public?

How did he fit Dex into his world?

Could he?

Yeah, well, Max had no freaking clue. All he knew was coming home to his newly remodeled living room and kitchen, that had been torn out and replaced, was a moment of peace.

Now, he could hide away.

Don’t get him wrong. He loved being with Dex, but his family was all over the man, and there was no time to talk about slowing this runaway train down.

As soon as they heard he was shot, they descended on the man’s home, taking over.

He appreciated him saving him, and loved him for it, but Max was a complex creature.

There was no way he did anything as huge as get into a serious, monogamous relationship without thinking it through, and to do that, he needed silence.

That was NOT what he’d had at Dex’s home.

Now, he needed a couple days to contemplate what he was feeling.

When he parked his new roadster in his driveway, he was grateful to close the gate and hide away for the night. He had briefs to go over, and he wanted to just focus on work.

He was backlogged.

When he opened his door, he saw a rose in the foyer, and then another and another.

A trail of roses.

Oh, no.

He wasn’t alone.

Picking them up, he headed into his kitchen, and that was where he found Dex making him food. He was in a sling, and stirring something with his left hand.

His arm had to be hurting, since he only wore a sling when he was in pain.

The second he saw Max, Dex grinned.

“Hey! How was your first day back to work?” he asked, thrilled that he’d been able to slip away from his parents and surprise him.

Honestly, he was shocked that Emily, his mother, wasn’t lurking outside to make sure he was okay. In fact, she’d told him to give Max some time, but he couldn’t stand to be away from him.

“I didn’t text you so you would be able to focus. I made us dinner to celebrate you being back to work, and to thank you for taking care of me the last month.”

Yeah, he could see that.

Clearly.

“It was okay,” he admitted, putting his briefcase down, as he tried to navigate the man being in his space. He was trying to hastily work it all out in his head, since Dex was there, and he only hoped he didn’t screw it up.

“My brothers left, but my Mom and Dad are staying another week, so I thought I’d come see you. It was a bitch driving a motorcycle with a bum arm,” he said, tasting whatever was in the pot. “Thankfully, I brought my sling.”

Max just stood there.

“We are having chicken. I found this recipe online. It’s called ‘Marry Me chicken’,” he said, laughing.

Only, that name pushed Max over the edge. He wasn’t ready for any of this, and the window to tell the man was closed.

He knew he was screwed.

When Dex heard silence, he looked up at Max, and the man was standing there. He looked so handsome in his suit, but the look on his face…

Uh-oh.

“Are you okay?” he asked, putting down the spoon to head toward him.

Max needed to know.

“What are you doing?” Max asked.

Dex paused.

What was this? Yes, Max had been off the last few weeks, but Dex assumed it was his parents being around. They weren’t there now.

“I’m making dinner for us. I thought that you’d be hungry when you got home from your first day back,” he said, that his only intent.

Then, it hit him.

When he’d left that morning, Max had been silent. He’d slipped out of bed, and had disappeared before Dex had been up. They’d been staying in his room, while his parents were there.

He’d believed it was just because he was excited to get back to work just like he was excited to do the same—oh, and to tell him that he was going to be getting an award for saving The US Attorney General from a killer.

Now, he was beginning to think that now that the recouping was over, so were they.

Max couldn’t breathe. Emily said to just tell him he was going too fast, but he didn’t know how to navigate this. Dex was going to get angry. He had plans for their life, and now, he needed to stop the ride.

Albeit temporarily until he could think, but that wouldn’t be received well.

Max was smart enough to know that.

“I see,” Max said, trying to tread lightly.

In that moment, that tone from the ice cream date was back, and Dex knew it was over.

Dex’s heart was breaking. Over the last month, he’d told Max he was in love with him, and that he wanted a life with him.

He’d assumed that was mutual.

What if it wasn’t?

“You don’t want me here, do you?” Dex asked, feeling like an intruder in his space.

Max was bombarded with so many emotions. He wanted the man in his life, but he was a loner, and that meant figuring out how to open his world like Dex had for him.

He wasn’t like Dex.

Max was complicated and clearly, stupid.

“Dex,” he began.

It was crystal clear to the man.

“Don’t,” Dex said. “Please,” he said, feeling that same betrayal as when he walked into his and his fiancé’s home and found him in bed with his secretary.

His happy world where he found love had been turned upside down again.

Max watched him turn everything off in the kitchen, and take off his sling to use his arm. He slipped into his riding leathers, that were on the back of the chair, and didn’t look at him.

“Dex,” he tried again.

Only, there was no response.

This.

Was.

Bad.

And Max didn’t know how to stop it. It was as if he was trapped in the moment, watching it all unfold in an out-of-body experience.

“I’m sorry, Counselor. I didn’t mean to encroach on your personal space,” he said, that pain hurting more than being shot.

It was clear that he’d only been with him the last month out of guilt that he’d been injured by Ken’s sister.

Nothing else.

Oh, he didn’t have a one-night stand with him, but he’d already bailed on what they were building.

Dex knew rejection when it reared up and kicked you in the face.

He walked past him to the back door.

“The chicken is cooked, and you’ll have enough for your lunches,” he said.

“We need to talk,” Max began, knowing he was doing this wrong, but he didn’t know how to have the conversation.

Dex looked back, and there were tears in his eyes.

It was too late to talk. They’d been sleeping and living with each other for a full month. The time to talk was then, not now. They had already begun something.

As it turned out, absolutely nothing.

“I told you I wanted a relationship, and not to climb into that bed with me unless that was what we were beginning,” he said. “Lose my number, Mr. Holder. I’d like to say it’s been fun…but it’s been a lesson in life I’ll never forget. I will never trust another man again. You and my ex taught me that.”

Max was panicking.

Maybe this was for the best.

He didn’t know how to do this.

“Good luck, Max. I wish you lots of happiness in your career and life,” he said, walking out the door to escape the humiliation that he was feeling.

He’d gone to the man’s house and actually was there when he wasn’t wanted.

It was a kick to the balls.

Max was frozen in place.

He heard the motorcycle start up, and he heard the gate opening up front. Walking to the front door, he watched Dex gun it down the street, tearing out of there like a bat out of hell to escape him.

Well, this had gone terribly.

Max only wanted to slow it down—not end it, but because he was horrible at being a human with feelings, he’d destroyed a good man’s heart.

And Dex would never forgive him for that. That one last chance of having something at his age was now officially over.

It was back to the old life he’d carefully crafted into what he now knew was nothing more than a prison.

His prison.

Once again, Max Holder was alone in the world with a consolation prize, a ‘Marry Me chicken’, and his own broken heart.

Coming next:

​The Cruelest Undead

​        A Paranormal Antiquities book

​December 6th, 2024

​&

Pretty Little Predator

​             The next FBI thriller, book 61

January 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) January 2023

Stripped of Dignity (51) February 2023

Mark of the Dead (52) June 2023

Shock and Awe (53) July 2023

Hallowed Eve (54) October 2023

Silent Night, Unholy Night (55) January 2024

A Blackhawk Family Wedding (56) Novella Jan 2024

Judge and Jury (57) February 2024

To the Bone (58) June 2024

Truth and Consequence (59) July 2024

Sin So Deep (60) October 2024

Pretty Little Predator (61) January 2025

Miracles & Mistletoe (62) January 2025

To the End (63) Feb 2025

Bound to Die (64) June 2025

Sticks & Stones (65) July 2025

The Ravensmire Chronicles

Gryphen Carter, Finn Knight, D’Artagnan Graves

The Protective Gryphen (1) June 2024

The Valliant Knight (2) May 2025

The Mysterious Graves (3) TBD

The Ravensmire Wedding (4) TBD

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) TBD

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) March 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) December 2024

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)-