Embracing His Syn (12 page)

“
Fuck you,” she flung at
him. “You think your dick is golden or something. I don’t give a
damn about you not fucking me. Probably saved me from getting some
nasty disease.”

“
Oh please, you probably
pop penicillin like Tic Tacs, with all the cocks you fuck on the
regular,” Doug jumped in again.

“
Okay, that’s enough.”
Furi shook his head sadly. “Let’s just go wait for the meeting to
start, Doug.”

“
Yeah, go on, Doug. Go
with your boyfriend. Yours is probably the cock he had in his mouth
last night.”

“
Yep, sure was. And he
gives better head than you.”

Doug and Furi were rounding the corner
and the yelling still reached their ears. “Don’t you think you
could’ve handled that a little better?” Furi asked.

“
What?” Doug feigned
innocence.

“
Not all female performers
are bitches or tramps.” Furi shook his head.

“
No, not all. Just them.”
Doug responded as they entered the meeting.

Furi’s next comment was cut short when
Mack and his assistant came into the cramped room. The furniture
had been removed so they could fit more people in. The studio was
used mainly for orgies and poly scenes. It was the largest space
they had in the building, so all meetings were held there. Furi
looked around the room. There were actually a few people missing,
but he still chose not to draw any conclusions.

Mack’s hair looked like he’d been
pulling it half the morning. His tie was loosened at the collar of
his wrinkled dress shirt. His khaki pants had a couple dark stains
on the front and Furi thought this was the messiest he’d ever seen
Mack look. Furi could only imagine what the man had been through
the last few hours, and if his beard stubble was any indication, he
had been awake half the night.

“
Thanks everyone for
coming on such short notice. I know most of you have day jobs, so
I’ll try to make this quick. Last night a little after midnight,
Jake Starman was killed leaving the studio after his
shoot.”

Mack paused as several
gasps and ‘oh no's' echoed in the room. Doug turned and looked at
Furi for his reaction, but he didn’t really have one. He’d run into
Jake a few times, but he didn’t really know the guy. All he knew
was the man was bisexual, leaning more towards women than men. He
was handsome, with chiseled features, a warm smile, and sexy brown
bedroom eyes. It was his tattoos that had led Furi to have an
occasional conversation with him. Jake had commented on Furi’s
sleeves, asking him about ideas for his next tat. He was always
smiling and pleasant to be around if you were milling around the
break room waiting for your scene to start.
Who the hell would want to kill him?

Mack put his hand up to quiet the room
when questions started to fly. “I don’t know all the details, but I
do know he was shot.” Mack rubbed his neck when more questions came
in quick succession. “Yes, there is someone in custody, but the
police suspect there may have been more assailants
involved.”

Everyone was looking
around at each other, looking for god-knew-what. Hell, Furi didn’t
know if he should make eye contact or keep his head down. Was there
one reaction that made him look guiltier than another? Then he
thought about it.
I was home with my
friend all night. It doesn’t matter what face I make.
Furi lifted his chin up.

“
The police have a list of
everyone’s name and contact information, I assume they’ll be
contacting you at some point to take statements. Cooperate or don’t
cooperate.” Mack turned to the company’s publicist. “Greg do you
want to say something?”

The thin man was neatly dressed and
looked as if he’d had a full night's sleep. His white polo shirt
was crisp and clean, as were his jeans. His neatly trimmed beard
drew your eye to the man’s mouth when he spoke. “I strongly
recommend that you cooperate with the police department. I’ve been
in contact with the Detectives from the drug task force that’s
working with Homicide on this. They are a little intimidating, but
we want Jake’s killer brought to justice, so if you know anything
that may help, come see me in private. I won’t ask any questions,
I’ll simply give you their information or you can contact them on
your own. Illustra’s official position is that we do not condone
our entertainers buying, using, or selling illegal substances and
we are cooperating with the police in any way we can to get this
matter resolved for Jake’s family. Under no circumstances is anyone
to make a generalization about our employees to the authorities.
Nor are you to speak to the press on Illustra’s behalf. Is that
clear?” Greg paused while noting most people nodding their heads.
“Excellent. With that said. All filming is to remain on schedule.
If you are contacted for questioning during a scheduled shoot,
please try to inform us as soon as possible. Any
questions?”

One of the female entertainers sitting
with Sasha and her friends raised her hand. “You said they have a
suspect in custody. Who is it? One of our crew?”

“
No. It isn’t one of our
entertainers, but we don't know the suspect’s identity,” was all
Mack said, and it looked like the girls didn’t like that response
at all.

“
Is it a man or woman?”
she questioned quickly.

“
Female from what we
understand,” Greg answered.

That started a frenzy and
Sasha and her girls stormed out the room.
What the fuck is going on?

“
Please, settle down
everyone,” Greg raised his voice to be heard over the already
too-loud comments bouncing around the room. “We want you all to
know that we are available for you if you need us. We understand
that some of you were close to Jake and considered him a friend. We
have hired a security team to patrol the grounds nightly after
seven. So those of you who have late shoots are not to leave the
building without a security escort. Male or female. Everyone clear
on that?”

People were already getting up and
gathering their belongings. A few members of the set crew were
bringing the furniture back into the room and setting up for
shooting.

The show must go
on.
Furi shook his head solemnly. Doug
tapped Furi’s shoulder. “You ready?”

“
Yeah,” he replied
softly.

“
Hey. You okay?” Doug
embraced Furi, not caring who was watching.

“
Yeah. It's just shitty.
Who the hell would want to kill him ... and a
woman
?”

“
I don’t know, babe. Come
on I’m late for work. I’ll take you home.”

“
No, I’m good. I think
I’ll catch the bus.” Furi left the building.

“
It’s almost an hour ride.
Come on let me drive you home.” Doug ran his fingers through Furi’s
hair.

Furi combed his own hands through his
hair and pulled his rubber band from his pocket, quickly securing a
ponytail at the base of his neck. “It will give me some time to
think.”

“
To think about what?
Don’t over-analyze this. Sometimes fucked-up shit happens to nice
people. Don’t go getting yourself all depressed.” Doug opened his
car door and paused to narrow his eyes at Furi. “I mean
it.”

“
Someone is dead. Have
some compassion, Doug. Jake had a family. But, really, I’m good. I
just want to ride and clear my head. I've got to call your brother
soon, too.”

“
Atta’ boy.” Doug held up
his hand for a high five and Furi left it hanging.

“
Shut up. Go to work.”
Furi leaned in and gave Doug a quick peck.

“
Your lips are soft and
pink like a girl's,” Doug teased him, licking his lips.

“
You’re ridiculous,” Furi
called over his shoulder while walking toward the street. He pulled
his ear buds from his pocket, plugging the end into his MP3 player.
He let the sounds of soft rock fill his ears as he took long
strides towards the bus stop.

I don’t want to talk to
the cops. I’ll just tell them where I was last night, and I don’t
know shit else.

Syn was sitting at his kitchen table
starring into his glass of orange juice. He’d gotten about two
hours of sleep after Ronowski dropped him off. God and Day had
looked like they were extremely anxious to get home. Witnessing the
person you love get shot at makes a man want to affirm life in an
animalistic-stake-your-claim kind of way. Syn heard the bullets
whizzing by him, but there was no one home waiting to show him
their appreciation that he was alive. There wasn’t a warm body to
curl up next to, making sure he slept peacefully. There was no one
to smile at in the morning with thanks in their eyes that they were
with you for at least one more day. There was just no
one.

Syn scrubbed his hand over his hair
and leaned back in his chair, unconsciously surveying his
surroundings. Maybe some curtains and a few pictures would be nice.
Syn had a sixty-five inch flat screen television and one recliner
set in front of it. One lamp attached to an end table next to the
chair. Something to set his beer bottle on. The kitchen possessed
very few amenities: the usual stove, fridge, microwave, a toaster,
a teakettle, and a can opener on the counter. There was a small
three chair dinette set placed by the far wall.

Syn hadn’t felt like this since Rhodes
had moved out of their small apartment in Philadelphia when he’d
met someone. That apartment had felt like Rhodes was always on top
of him. Syn used it as an excuse not to feel weird whenever Rhodes’
hard body rubbed up against him or when they ended up a little
closer together than guys usually sat on a couch … but it was okay
because the living room was only big enough for their television
and a loveseat. So he had to rub thighs with Rhodes. Right? So why
was Syn devastated when Rhodes left? Why was he so goddamn lonely?
Like he was right now.

Furi’s face, his hair, his
taut, firm body all popped into Syn’s mind again.
Fuck.
Syn had been
married to his career for so long. He dedicated every single day to
being the best, so he could live up to, and eventually pass his
father’s legacy. Now that he was satisfied with his job status, he
sensed there was something missing. It felt like his job had
stopped fulfilling his needs. The respect with which the uniforms,
Detectives, and even other agencies treated him gave him a feeling
of superiority. Maybe he shouldn’t feel that way, but come on. Who
wouldn’t relish that feeling?

It was almost seven in the morning,
most people where with their significant other, trading sections of
the paper over coffee, bacon and eggs, before they were sent off
with a kiss and a 'have a good day'. Syn grunted and took a bite of
his plain bagel. Hell, even his breakfast was boring.

Surely God and Day were ensuring right
now that they both started off their day with a smile. It must be
pretty cool working with your life partner. Watching their back
while they watched yours. It was not the norm for couples to
partner on the police force. They were usually assigned to separate
precincts. Syn had heard of the situation God and Day were in when
they’d headed up a raid that resulted with Day having a gun pointed
at his head by a very angry cornered drug lord. The negotiations
were not going well and in what were supposed to be the final
seconds of Day’s life, God snapped. He’d threatened to kill the
drug lord’s parents, children, grandchildren, neighbors and anyone
else he was associated with. Syn heard from some of the officers
that witnessed it that God was nothing short of demonic. He’d asked
the drug lord if he'd ever met the devil, because that’s who’d he’d
become if the criminal killed the man he loved. God had really put
the fear of God into the man. He’d growled and threatened enough to
back the man into the sight of sharpshooters. One shot to the side
of the head, and it ended with another victory for God and
Day.

That’s when Captain Myers learned of
their involvement, but he’d refused to lose his best Narcotics
Detectives to another precinct, so as long as their relationship
didn’t interfere with their work, God and Day were the only couple
that worked together; partners on and off the job. They were much
more effective together than apart, and despite Syn’s irritation
over their quirks, they were a kick-ass duo to work
with.