“Another set of burpees, pretty boy,” Rev hollers, squatting down to slap my stomach. It makes a hollow sound, and he lifts a brow. “Need to get you eating more protein.”
By the time Rev’s done with me, I’m worn the fuck out. Everything in my body feels shaky and weak. I wrap the damp towel he hands me around my neck and ask the question that’s been nagging me since my lunch with Cain the other day. “Has he… been with anyone?”
“Cain? He had a long-term partner. Guy named Aiden swept him off his feet. Moved in with him. Cain even bought him a ring.”
My stomach twists as I recall the ring I’d snatched from his dresser. Was it Cain’s or Aiden’s? And if he’d kept Aiden’s ring, what did that mean? That Cain wasn’t over his past relationship?
“Day after they got engaged, they ran into one of Aiden’s old coworkers. Apparently, Aiden worked for the government, not in catering like he’d told Cain.”
“Oh shit,” I mumble.
“Yeah. That whole house of cards bullshit. One lie unraveled a bunch of other lies. Aiden confessed to infiltrating Sinro to keep tabs on Cain. He was instructed to make sure we were operating in a gray area. Never dipping into dark dealings. The government was right to fear us. Sinro is teaming with ex-soldiers.”
I frown. “Why would Aiden trick Cain that way? Why not come on as an employee at Sinro or something instead of playing with his emotions?”
Rev scratches his chin. “Aiden claimed he fell in love with Cain. He was fighting to keep Cain from breaking things off on the walk home from the coworker incident when he was shot.”
“Holy shit.” I rub a hand over the sudden pain in my chest. I mean, I’d seen people die out on the streets, but never anyone I’d really cared about.
If that had been Jakey, I don’t think I’d ever be the same again. I’ve put all the love that should have been shared with a family into that old man. And while he often confuses me with his son, I know in my heart that he loves me for who I am.
“Don’t let it deter you,” Rev says, rising up from the bench. “That happened twelve years ago. But if you tell Cain I told you about it, he’ll make both of us suffer.”
“Got it.” I pretend to lock my mouth, knowing I’m probably going to blurt it out the first time I see Cain. “Actually, I’m really bad with secrets.”
Rev laughs. He gives my hair a playful ruffle, and surprisingly, I find that I don’t mind his touch, either. “You’re so innocent. Why can’t I find a guy like you?”
My cheeks heat, my stomach dipping at the thought of someone like Rev being interested in me. I feel like he would devour me alive.
Rev checks the clock on the wall. “Any minute now, Cain’s going to barge in here in a rage over our spicy pics. You best run and hide. The bloodshed might scar you.”
A smile creeps on my face as my gaze drifts to the boxing ring in the corner. “Or we could mess around in the ring.”
Rev chuckles. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CAIN
Letting Ezra grind himself to orgasm in my office was wrong.
So why can’t I get it to stop replaying in my head? I don’t have time for a relationship. Don’t like the idea of the messy emotions that come with it.
But Idowant to fuck Ezra.
The moment the elevator doors dinged closed last night, and I found myself alone in the office, I took out my aching cock and jacked off, coming in record time and hard enough to nearly black out on my desk.
I’d jacked off again in the shower when I got back to my apartment, too wrapped up in the thoughts of all the depraved things I wanted to do with Ezra to go straight to bed.
Ezra likes it rough. Needs it that way. And I enjoy dominating my partner. We’d be an electric match in bed. Doesn’t mean we should end up there.
Sitting behind my desk the next morning, my focus is still absolute shit. The ticking of my watch has me biting through the skin on the inside of my cheek, a habit I haven’t given into in years.
Aiden used to scold me for doing it in public, especially when he would drag me out to ridiculously expensive restaurants to “show me off”. The clinking of silverware and the banging of doors was enough to set me on edge, tricking my brain into thinking we were surrounded by threats.
I was fresh out of the military. I hadn’t been prepared for the fair-haired, fit guy across the bar to make a move. But Aiden had been incredibly charming and talkative. He made me feel alive, when most of the time, I felt empty. And when I wasn’t empty, I was angry.
Gripping my pen tighter, I tap the end on my desk. Work needs to get done. We need to track down Gabriel. Figure out what he’s selling in those shipping containers and what he’s hiding on that drive that’s taking Alaric far too long to crack.
