“I gathered as much. Why?”
“Detective Harrison and I believe Gev is in danger.”
“Can’t you assign a bodyguard to him?”
“I wish I could, but unfortunately, no. A ballet dancer doesn’t warrant that much
attention.”
Not like a rock star. Lee sat back. Gev, still in danger. He rubbed his chin.
Gev
. His heart
skipped a beat at the thought of Gev being hurt. “I’ll pay for it.”
“It may come to that, but Detective Harrison and I agree it would be better if you were
around him.”
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Carolyn Gray
That didn’t make much sense to him, but on the other hand, his betraying heart leaped at
the thought of spending more time with Gev. He clamped down on his reaction. “Does Gev
know about this?”
“Not yet. I understand you want to leave Dallas. It must be painful for you here.”
“Everywhere I turn, I see something that reminds me of Stefan. I don’t want to stay here.”
“Would you be willing to stay for Gev’s sake?”
He hesitated. “I’m not sure he would want to see me again. His family certainly wouldn’t.”
The detective stood. “So, you’ll do it?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Do you want Gev to stay safe?”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. “Of course I do. But he needs a bodyguard, not
a bass player.”
“You’re well used to keeping an eye on someone.”
“I’m not Nick’s bodyguard.”
“Not officially, but I know after what he and his partner went through—”
She was right, of course. Despite Mutt’s presence, he never truly stopped watching out for
Nick.
She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Think about it, won’t you?”
He stared at his hands, then looked up at her. “When do I have to decide?”
“We have a patrol car watching his parents’ house for the night, but I’d rather know now.”
He hesitated.
“I think Stefan would like seeing you two spend time together, don’t you?”
He stared at her, mentally backtracking.
Does she know
? But no, she couldn’t. That wasn’t
what she meant. He fought to recover, find his feet again. “That’s not fair.”
“Neither was Chad getting killed, or his friend. I know you miss him. But Gev does too,
and except for his sister, he’s pretty much alone here. And now he’s lost Chad.”
He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. He made for the door, hoping she would follow.
“Guess I better see if this room’s available for another night.”
“It is. I’ve also already alerted hotel security to monitor this hallway continuously. If
someone even comes near this door, security will know.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
She pulled a small leather case out of her purse, opened it, and handed him a card. “Call
me.”
He pocketed the card. “What about talking to Gev?”
She stepped out of the room, one hand on the door. “I’ll see him in the morning. He needs
some sleep. Sorry about the flight.”
“No worries. Marisa will have my head again, but I’m used to that. I can call them, right?
Tell the boss what’s going on?”
“Of course, but we’d rather Nick not come here and try to help.”
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So would Lee. “You have him figured out,” he said, holding the door so she could release
it.
She reached out and squeezed his other hand. “Take care, Lee.”
“I'll try. Good night, Detective.”
He closed and locked the door, put the flip-lock on, then leaned against the wood, eyes
closed. Dallas’s grip was closing firmer around him, squeezing him so tight he felt choked. He
wanted out of here. He wanted to get away from this city, the people, the death. The memories,
both good and bad.
He texted Mutt, asking him to call in the morning. Then he ripped off his shirt, kicked off
his shoes, shucked his jeans, and fell onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling, wanting to clear his
mind of everything, but it was impossible.
Gev. Stefan. Murder. The tickets, the ballet. Watching Gev dance. If he stayed, he’d get to
do so again, he realized. A rush of warmth rippled through him. That would be the one good
thing about it, seeing Gev dance again. Stefan would’ve been proud of his little brother, glad that
Lee got to see him fulfilling his dreams.
As the warmth of the covers, the exhaustion he no longer needed to keep at bay, crept over
his body, pulling him down into sleep, Stef’s face twirled in his mind, a hazy blend of blond hair
and blue eyes fading away as time often steals away the clarity of memories, so other ones can
take their place—that of another, of one alive, very much alive.
* * * *
Gev opened one eye to see the face a bare inch from his own. He groaned as his sleepy
mind slowly caught up with where he was and—he remembered with a jolt—why. “Fuck.”
Colby collapsed into giggles on top of him. “Mom’s gonna yell at you!”
Gev growled, pushing thoughts of the previous day from his mind, and grabbed his
nephew, making him shriek. “You’re not gonna tell her!”
“Yes, I am!”
Gev hugged the shrieking boy, nuzzling his neck. Colby was wiry and stronger than he
looked. It didn’t take much for him to wiggle free and run shrieking down the hallway, yelling,
“
Mom, Uncle Gev said a bad word
!” at the top of his lungs.
Gev held his breath, waiting for his sister to come bop him. It didn’t take long for her to
poke her head in. Colby bounced back in and crushed Gev, giggling. She pointed at Gev. “You
are going to be the death of me.” Then she pointed at her son. “And you? Get off your uncle and
get in the shower. School for you. Your dad will be here in half an hour.”
Colby groaned. “Oh, come on, Mom. Do I have to?”
Gev growled at him and pushed him out of the way. “You heard your mom. Get going,
kid.”
Colby slid off the bed. “Will you be here tonight?”
Gev ruffled his hair. “Probably. Unless your mom kicks me out.”
“Go get into the shower, Colby.”
“I want to stay home with Uncle Gev!”
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Carolyn Gray
“I’ve got to go to work, squirt,” he said, exchanging a look with Nina. “I’ll be here when
you get back, though. I promise.”
Colby pouted but slunk off. Nina turned her head to make sure, Gev assumed, that Colby
wasn’t hanging around for one last try at charming his way out of school. She slid into the room
and closed the door behind her. Gev scooted up to lean against the headboard, pulling the covers
over himself with one hand as he grabbed his cell phone with the other. “He’s a good kid.”
“Yeah, he is,” Nina said, sitting beside him. The bed was old, and her weight made him
lean toward her. He scrolled through his messages, a little surprised to see who all had called or
texted him about Chad. Word got around fast. Good thing he’d left it on silent. He’d never have
slept. He groaned when he saw one from Margot:
Got call from cops about Chad. Call me when
you can.
“What’s wrong?”
He quickly texted a message to Margot, letting her know he’d come in later and that he
was all right. “The cops called Margot,” he said, guilt flashing through him.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” He tried to ignore her doubtful look. “I
am
.” He set his phone down, grabbed her
hand, and squeezed it. “Thanks, though. How you holding up?”
She looked tired—circles under her eyes, hair hurriedly pulled back into a ponytail. “I’m
fine too.” She looked at him. “About as fine as you are.” The corner of her mouth quirked up.
He touched it with his finger. “Liar.”
“Seems to run in families, huh?” She bit her lip, then said, “So, now what?”
“Wait, I guess.”
“You’ve no idea how long before you can go back home?”
He hesitated as images of bloodstained carpet tore through his mind, images of Chad’s
body sprawled against the white sheets soaked with blood on Gev’s bed. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry, baby brother.”
“Me too. Chad didn’t deserve that.”
“Or the other guy. I hope they find them soon. Mom and Dad are gone, by the way.”
“Safe for me to come out?”
“Yeah.”
“Are there any cops out there still?”
“One drove by when the parents left.”
“Bet Mom loved that.”
“Brings it home to her, I think. Dad told me she’s going to get help. I’m glad.”
He got out of the bed, picked up his T-shirt, and pulled it on. “I hope she does. I’ll believe
it when I see it, though. Right now, I need to get to work.”
“You sure you want to?”
He rubbed his bristly chin. “Need to keep my mind off stuff. We’re going on a short tour
soon, so I can’t afford to miss. We’ll be gone about a week.” He walked into the bathroom and
stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like crap, but at least he was alive.
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97
She leaned against the doorjamb, folding her arms across her chest. “Why don’t you leave
your keys with me?”
He turned on the water, held his fingers in the stream. Didn’t have anything to shave with,
he realized, and turned it off. “You don’t need to go in there.”
“I’ll be fine. I can pull out your clothes and stuff for you. So you don’t have to go back
there at all. Unless you want to.”
He leaned in to look at himself in the mirror more closely. “Honestly, I never want to set
foot in that house again. But I better take care of it myself.”
“If you change your mind, or you freak out, call, okay?”
“I will.”
She dropped her hands. “Take your shower. I’ll have some coffee ready for you when you
get out.”
“Thanks. I’d like—”
The doorbell rang.
They looked at each other. “I’ll get it. Take your shower.”
Gev closed the door after her, then stripped off his clothes and stuck his hand under the
shower spray. His reflection caught his eye. Dropping his hand, letting the water slide onto the
floor (and mentally hearing his mother yelling at him for making a mess), he looked at himself in
the mirror. He’d never been a vain person—at least, compared to most of the dancers he knew.
He ran one hand down his stomach, down to his cock. He closed his eyes, breathing deep as he
grasped himself, stroked his quickly responding shaft.
His thoughts immediately went to who they always did whenever he jerked off—Lee. He
turned his back to the mirror and leaned against the counter, made his fingers play over his cock
and balls, imagining it wasn’t his own hand. What would Lee’s hands feel like? Calloused,
strong. Hot. He stroked himself again, his cock hardening, weeping. He bit his lip, tipped his
head back, sped up now, Lee’s image bouncing around in his mind, bending Gev over, pounding
him from behind.
His knees nearly gave out as he came. He bit back a groan as he released, his cock pulsing,
onto the bathroom floor. Chest heaving, he reached for a towel, his free hand rubbing his shaft as
the aftershocks subsided. He tossed the towel onto the floor and got into the shower. The water
cascaded over his heated body. He turned it on hotter, flexing his muscles, arching his back, and
turning slowly around so the needlelike jets could pound away his tiredness, his frustration, the
horrible images in his head.
He stood there until the water started to cool, finally turning it off when he heard someone
pounding on the door. What the hell?
“Uncle Gev! Mom says get out!”
“I’m coming. Tell her to chill.”
Colby giggled. “Okay. Oh, Mom says somebody’s here to see you.”
He jolted. Lee? “Okay.”
“It’s a cop!”
“Shit.”
“Mom! Uncle Gev said a bad word again!”
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Carolyn Gray
Gev finished drying off, then pulled on his T-shirt, jeans, and boxers. He’d have to go
shopping. Rubbing his hair with a fresh towel, he opened the door, then remembered to clean up
his mess. His mom wouldn’t get the chance to yell at him this time. After cleaning up and tossing
both towels in the hamper, he ran his fingers through his hair, then headed, reluctantly, down the
hall.
Entering the living room, he exhaled in relief to see a familiar woman standing at the
window, looking outside. “Detective Ramirez, sorry about that.”
She turned, smiling at him. “Gev.” She held her hands out. “Sorry to see you under these
circumstances.”
He took her hands and pulled her into a hug, then released her. “Would you like some
coffee?”
His sister poked her head in. “All ready.” Colby pushed himself between his mom and the
doorjamb. She ruffled his hair. “I’ll take him out of here, let you guys talk.” She looked
pointedly at Gev. “Call me after rehearsal?”
“Yup. Thanks, Sis.”
“Come on, tiger. Let’s go.”
“Can we get McDonald’s?”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room. “Sure, why not?”
“Yay!”
Gev headed for the kitchen, waving the detective to follow him. He grabbed two coffee
mugs, filled them, then pulled the half-and-half out of the fridge. “You take sugar, right?” He
gestured to one of the stools. “Have a seat.”
She did so, taking her mug. He offered her a spoon and sat on the other stool. They were