“I don’t. Have one anymore, I mean.” Kevin sucked in a deep breath. “Talking to you is exhausting.”
“Talking to you is entertaining.”
Kevin rolled his eyes. He sobered. Staring at Walter’s shoes, he said, “I left her. My girlfriend, Sondra. A couple of months ago.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“We’re still friends.” Kevin lifted his head. “We’ve been friends for a long time.”
“Which is why you stayed with her for so long.” Walter took another step closer. “And now?”
Kevin evaded his gaze again.
The silence stretched on between them. Walter wasn’t about to back down. He had years of experience pushing people for the truth.
Something told him with Kevin, there was a fine line between not pushing enough and pushing too hard.
KEVIN DID NOT want to talk about this. Yet a part of him longed to do just that.
Here, in this room, with a gay man listening to him, he couldn’t pretend any longer. He wanted to kiss Walter again, let his tongue wander over those lips, down along the skin of his neck to the warm flesh under his clothes, his chest, and lower to his abs, and even lower. He wanted to taste it all. He couldn’t hide from that fact. Not any longer.
He’d known for months now that he’d been heading to this moment. Whether he’d wanted to admit it or not.
It had been easy to keep the promise he’d made in his youth. At least while he’d been with Sondra. He wasn’t a cheater. Now that she was gone, now that he was here, now that he’d felt this man’s touch…he was done holding back.
Walter cupped his chin and forced him to look up.
“I guess I can’t hide from it forever.”
“That’s good. You don’t have to hide. Not here. Not in this room. Not with me.”
A weight lifted from Kevin’s chest and shoulders as if every lie he’d ever told himself, or anyone else, had been pressing down on him. All it had taken were a few words to a stranger, a man he’d just met, and all of it was gone.
“You haven’t been around many gay men.”
Kevin shook his head. “No.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
“I know that.”
“Good. Then tell me, why did you lie?”
“What?” Kevin’s brain was having trouble processing anything except the intense urge to grab Walter and pull him back to him.
“You lied to Vargas. You weren’t a member of another club. I want to know why you came here. Was it your way of jumping into the deep end before you learned how to swim?”
“No.” Kevin crossed the room and picked up his phone. Gripping it in both hands, he ran his thumbs over the keypad. The screen was off, but the keys under his fingers gave him something else to focus on. Far too late to keep up more than one charade, and he wasn’t sure he could any longer. At least not with this man. “I want to know what’s going on in this club.”
“What do you mean?”
He spun around. “Men are disappearing, and this place has something to do with it.”
Walter’s expression shifted. The open curiosity grew into concern. He frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Men? More than one?”
“Four men in their twenties who either worked here or were members have gone missing in the past five months. And that doesn’t include the one who ended up in the hospital.”
“Four?” The concern grew to shock. Maybe no one but Kevin had put together that the missing men were all from the club. “You know this for a fact?”
“Yes.” He should come clean about who he was so he could get Walter to talk to him on the record. Kevin’s instincts told him Walter had nothing to do with the disappearances or a cover-up. Kevin had been working the crime beat long enough to know dirty cops and politicians weren’t just something the movies made up. The Haven had to have friends in influential places. But that didn’t mean Walter knew who was involved.
But he might know something related. Something he’d heard or seen that he hadn’t realized was important at the time. Kevin couldn’t force the words out. Instead he said, “I knew about the first three before I got here tonight, and I just learned about a guy named Seth.”
“Seth Fisher.”
So he knew. What else did Walter know?
Kevin continued. “There was also a man taken to the hospital earlier this week after spending an hour in this place. Why is that?”
“Vargas said that was just some asshole getting too rough with another member. Unfortunately that happens from time to time. The asshole’s membership has been canceled.” Walter crossed to the opposite side of the room. He faced the wall for a moment, then turned around, the bed between them. He folded his arms over his chest. “So who is he?”
“Who is who?”
“The guy you know who’s gone missing? Is he a friend?”
“No. I don’t know any of them.”
“Then why do you care?”
Kevin glared at him. He didn’t need to know the men personally to give a shit that something might’ve happened to them. Maybe he’d been misreading Walter Simon, letting his lust cloud his judgment. “If you and Vargas are involved in covering something up, I will find out what it is.”
Walter came at him so fast Kevin didn’t have time to move away. Before he knew it, he had his calves pinned against the cool edge of the tiled tub, Walter’s body towering over him. It didn’t look like he wanted a kiss this time.
“Who do you think you are?”
Kevin stood his ground. “Someone who’s going to find out the truth. If it’s dangerous here, then the members have a right to know. The public has a right to know.”
“How did you find out about the man who was taken to the hospital?” Walter’s heavy, warm breaths hit Kevin’s lips, sending a tingle down his spine.
“I know someone who works in the ER. He knew I was planning to come here. He called me when he heard the guy mention the Haven.”
“I see.” Walter shifted a step away. “Do you really want the truth?”
“I do.”
“You’re not the only one.” He snatched Kevin’s phone and keyed an address into the maps app. “Meet me at this address.”
“Why?”
“If you’re so worried about what’s going on, then you’re telling me everything you know about these missing men and helping me find Seth Fisher and the others.”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
“Not now. I’ve got something to take care of first. Meet me there in two hours.”
So much for another kiss. For anything more. Kevin read the address on his phone. An apartment building on the south side near the stadium. Walter’s apartment? Not the neighborhood he would’ve expected. Not for sleek, sophisticated Vampire Guy.
Walter went to the door and held it open, his tall frame half blocking the way. Kevin put one foot in front of the other. He had to squeeze through the space between the man and the door frame, his right hip brushing Walter’s upper thigh.
Walter’s voice was low when he spoke. “That was one hell of a kiss.”
Kevin stilled, his hip still touching Walter. He wanted to believe those words. Wanted to know it hadn’t been only he who’d been moved by their time together. “Which kiss?”
“Take your pick.”
Kevin leaned into the touch, and another low sound came from Walter, more of a moan than a word.
That sound and the look in Walter’s eyes showed it had been just as intense for him.
Kevin forced himself to walk out the door and down the hall, the phone with the address clutched in his hand like the last life preserver on a sinking ship.
Was Walter Simon watching him go?
Should he be embarrassed or thrilled he’d worn the tight leather pants that hugged every inch of his ass?
* * * *
The Protector was there to do a job. An easy job. Easy money. Which would’ve been fine except…
Ten years was a long time to be alone, to be without someone special who meant everything to him. Since he’d lost that, every day had been torture. He’d hurt just watching all the men around him float through their lives, not a care in the world, while a part of him ached for what he’d lost.
There were many men at the Haven he found attractive, but few he’d bother to stop and talk with. Or fuck. That was for the special ones.
Like him.
The younger man in the corner of the bar the Protector had been keeping an eye on for the past hour. The one with the short hair, the sweet smile. The one with the fair skin and young face. The one he longed to touch, to hold, to see begging and crying out in pleasure over and over again.
The Protector imagined the man’s skin underneath the jeans. He’d lick every inch, take in the scent of him, trace his body with bare hands. Kiss his neck while the Protector teased his nipples and cupped his balls. A soft touch—that’s what this young man wanted.
Then he wanted more.
He wanted—needed—to scream. To get out everything he’d been holding inside while other men violated and used him.
This one didn’t deserve to be defiled by all these horny bastards prowling around the club—fuckers out looking for anything, anyone to get them hard, then get them off. They didn’t want special. They wouldn’t know what to do with it.
The Protector knew how to treasure. How to love.
He’d waited a long time to take another chance. Until he’d agreed to come to the Haven months earlier. One night in the place and he’d known the time had come to save someone again.
And now he had to save this one too, this young man who was making all the wrong choices. Just as he’d saved the others from the Haven in the past five months. Just as he’d saved another ten years earlier.
The young man in the corner of the bar drank from his glass, laughed as his friend said something to him. He nodded to some asshole walking by, then stood and headed with the asshole for the stairs leading to the private rooms.
That was all it took.
Decision made, the Protector rose. Tonight he’d watch. And learn. Tomorrow he’d prepare another place in his room.
This time it wouldn’t end like before.
This time…he was holding on and was not letting go.
Chapter Six
“Son of a bitch.” Walter smacked the top of the steering wheel.
He’d been right. The newest member of the Haven was a reporter.
He’d had a hunch when he first guessed Kevin had been lying, and the minute Kevin had said people deserved to know the truth, he figured he’d been right. But still…knowing it for sure was another thing altogether.
Walter hated liars. Hated the press more. They’d put doubt in his heart five years ago.
Actually it wasn’t the press who’d done that, but they’d helped him with it.
He shoved the car into park and examined the office building for the
Daily Voice
, the largest print paper left in the city. Fifteen minutes ago he’d followed Kevin from the Haven and watched him get on a bus, head through downtown, and then walk into the
Daily Voice
’s office building. Well, first Kevin had tripped over absolutely nothing, and then glared back at the sidewalk behind him like it had a vendetta against him. Walter hadn’t been able to hold back the laugh at that.
Until Kevin stepped into the newspaper’s building.
Even though Walter had been right about the reporter angle, there was more to Kevin he hadn’t figured out yet.
The way Kevin had talked about the club and Vargas, about a cover-up, the determination in his voice…this story was personal for him.
Was Kevin even gay? Or was all that a line of bullshit for Walter’s benefit?
No. He was gay, all right. The desire and attraction had been obvious. So had the unease when he’d admitted he wasn’t out, when he’d admitted being so close to a man wasn’t something he’d done much in his life. If ever.
And that kiss…
Walter hadn’t been kissed like that in a long time. Hell, he’d never been kissed like that. All that need and energy and desire pouring out of Kevin and slamming into him. It had been beyond intense.
Sweat trickled down the center of Walter’s back. He cranked up the AC in the car. This heat wave could let up anytime now. Or maybe his body’s reaction had nothing to do with the temperature outside.
That thought had him feeling trapped in the confines of his car. Not the best way to spend two hours, but he had to see if Kevin went anywhere else before their meeting.
As Walter waited, he pulled out his phone and performed a quick search online. He found the list of staff reporters for the newspaper. None were Kevin Dennison. He was certain Kevin had used his own first name. That left one match. Kevin Price. Reporter for the
Daily Voice
for the past four years.
Walter did another search and scanned the history of Kevin’s career. Kevin had been working the crime beat on a couple of papers since he’d left college, finally coming to the
Daily Voice
, where he’d started doing more in-depth investigative pieces. His bio focused on Kevin’s reporting record and his strict fairness and protectiveness of his sources. In his short career he’d uncovered the truth about a number of political corruptions and discovered new evidence for felonies the police had long ago filed away as cold cases. The only personal detail included in the bio was where Kevin had grown up. A rural college town forty miles south of the city. Nothing else.
So the man didn’t like revealing too much about himself. Well, too bad. Walter was going to find out the complete truth about him and what Kevin knew about the missing men.
Out of curiosity Walter ran another search. This time for the false name Kevin had given. Once again Walter chuckled. He’d been doing that a lot since he’d left his place earlier that night.
He closed the search window and dialed Vargas’s number.
“You find out anything yet?” Vargas asked.
“Not about Seth Fisher. I did find out something about your latest member, though. He’s a reporter.”
“What?”
“His name’s not Dennison. It’s Kevin Price. And he didn’t just move here. He works for the
Daily Voice
.”
“Bastard said he worked in a law firm. He’s done. I’m pulling his membership.”
“Don’t. He might have information we need. He says there are more men missing than Seth. All from the Haven. I’m guessing those employees you mentioned a couple of months ago who left without notice are on that list.”