“Detective. He got pulled in when they discovered the link to the missing women.”
“Does he know about me?” Logan asked.
Dom was silent for a moment, then nodded. Logan’s heart lurched. Not only had Declan discovered his brother-in-law with another man, he knew Logan was an escort.
Logan laughed. “This just keeps getting better.” Hysteria started twining through him. “I guess everyone knows fucking everything about me now.”
“Logan,” Dom interjected.
“Your wife somehow knew just by looking at me that I wanted you. Shane figured out something was up, Gabe seems to know now too. Cade knew within minutes of meeting me!” he shouted. He slammed his fist against the wall. “My own sister knows I fucked strangers for cash and never told me! You’ve lied to me from day one!”
“I never lied to you!” Dom countered.
“Yeah, but you weren’t exactly honest with me either, were you?”
Dom stilled.
“How long did you watch me for? How many hours did you spend “researching” me? How many others did you consider before you chose me for you and your wife’s little games?” Logan straightened. “You joined right in when everybody decided to play the ‘Let’s Keep Logan in the Dark’ game. And you used it to your advantage!”
Dom’s features hardened and he went quiet for a long time. Logan knew he had overstepped, but he refused to wish the words back. Instead of responding, Dom reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture and handed it to Logan. “His name is Elias. He’s the younger brother of the prostitute that went missing – the one whose DNA was in Reynolds’ truck. Declan seems to think he’s more likely to open up to someone who isn’t a cop.”
Logan was caught off guard at the abrupt end to their argument with the change of subject.
“I thought you might want to come with me because I know how shitty it is to feel helpless,” Dom said coldly.
“Yeah, okay,” Logan replied wearily. It would have been so easy for Dom just to walk out of here and look for the kid on his own. There was absolutely no obligation to include Logan – he’d done it because that’s the kind of guy he was. And Logan had shit all over that.
“He’s been arrested in the past while working International Boulevard near the airport. We’ll start there tonight. I’ll pick you up at your place at ten.” Dom took the picture back as he turned to leave. His voice was empty as he said, “And don’t worry about our ‘little fuck bubble.’ It just burst.”
***
“Stop doing that,” Logan heard Cade mutter from behind him.
Logan turned. “Doing what?”
“That twitching thing you’re doing,” Cade said as he lit up a cigarette.
“Don’t smoke that shit in my place,” Logan said as he snatched the cigarette from Cade’s fingers before he could take a draw of it. He ignored the startled man’s look and went to the kitchen where he doused the cigarette under running water before tossing it in the trash. “And I’m not twitching,” he said as he went back to stand in front of the window. It wasn’t a complete lie – he wasn’t twitching, but knew he wasn’t far from it either. It was hard to stand still as his stomach rolled with anxiety. Something in Dom’s voice had been so final this morning and even though that was what Logan had wanted, it was now burning a hole in his gut. For the first time since meeting Dom, he was less focused on the physical desire that had been haunting him and more concerned that’d he’d pushed away the one person who understood him best.
“He’ll be here,” Cade assured him.
“I know.” And he did – he had no doubt whatsoever that Dom would show up. “How much did you hear this morning at the bar?”
“All of it.”
Logan kept his eyes focused on the street below him. “You think he’d forgive me for what I said?”
Cade was silent for a while, then said, “I don’t know. Are you going to ask him to?”
Logan shook his head and was surprised when he felt the sting of tears. “It’s better this way.”
“For you or for him?”
“He’s just trying to deal with losing Sylvie,” Logan said.
“And what are you trying to deal with?” Cade asked, his voice even, casual, as if they were talking about the weather. He detected the tiniest Southern drawl and wondered if that meant Cade was more agitated then he let on.
“Where are you from?” Logan asked distractedly.
“Alabama.”
“How do you know him?”
“We met in the army. Hung out a bit after he got out and before I was redeployed.”
“Were you…?”
“Lovers?” Cade interjected for him since he couldn’t get the word out. Logan nodded. “No.”
He shouldn’t be relieved, but he was. “Why not?”
“I like ‘em a bit softer, submissive,” Cade said. “He did too. Two tops don’t a bottom make.”
Logan remembered the feel of Dom’s ass encasing his dick. Dom definitely liked being in control, but he’d proven that he could give it up too. For him. Logan felt another hole open up inside of him.
“You said some pretty shitty things to him.”
He nodded. What else could he do? It was one hundred percent true. He’d lashed out at Dom unfairly, taking the trust issues he had with his friends and family out on the one man who hadn’t actually lied to him.
“That’s why he shouldn’t forgive me. And why I won’t ask him to.”
***
Logan twisted his hands in his lap to stop the twitching he was now actually guilty of. It had started when he climbed into the passenger seat of Dom’s Mercedes sedan. There’d been no greeting, no polite head nod, no nothing. Dom had nodded at Cade though before he pulled away from the curb and somehow that had stung. He hadn’t even been demoted to “friend” status after their blowout. Even acquaintance would have meant some type of acknowledgement, but the deadly silence he was getting was a cruel reminder that he’d gotten exactly what he wanted – he didn’t exist in Dom’s world anymore. Less than twenty-four hours ago Dom had been worshiping him and now this.
The silence was broken by a ding on Dom’s phone and Logan glanced at it where it sat on the console between the two seats. Dom picked it up and briefly glanced at the notification on the screen, then put the phone back down. The only hint that something was wrong was the almost imperceptible tightening of Dom’s hands on the steering wheel.
“Everything okay?” he asked Dom, knowing he was completely out of bounds. Considering that he really wanted to reach over and take one of those clenched hands into his own, he figured asking the question was the more appropriate option.
Dom didn’t answer and long, slow seconds ticked by. His jaw was locked, the tension obvious. “Vin’s on his way home,” Dom finally said.
Logan would have been relieved to even get a response, but it was what Dom hadn’t said that had his heart catching.
“Ren?”
Dom shook his head and then brushed his arm across his eyes. “He didn’t find him.”
This time Logan did grab Dom’s hand. “I’m sorry, Dom,” he whispered as he enfolded the shaking hand between his own. But Dom quickly pulled free of him and put his hand back on the steering wheel.
“If we find the kid, let me do the talking,” Dom said, his voice once again even.
Logan wanted to fold in on himself, the pain was so intense. There’d been a little speck of hope that maybe he could still have something with Dom – some contact that would let him keep feeling some of the good things Dom had brought out in him. But the Dom who trusted him, needed him, was gone. The man next to him didn’t even hate him – he just no longer gave a shit. “Yeah,” he responded dully as he carefully put his hands back in his lap, the twitching gone now as the coldness inside overtook him. “No problem.”
***
Dom steeled himself against the need to grab Logan’s hand. He’d been weak for just a second and the other man’s
touch had brought all the emotion back to the surface. Knowing Ren was still out there made him want to seek comfort in Logan’s arms, but that wasn’t an option anymore – never would be again. He was alone again. Sylvie had left him. Logan had left him. Even his brothers had left him. A dark image of himself laying alone in that bed that he’d only ever loved two people in flashed through his head.
It would be so easy to lay down top of the expensive duvet his wife had painstakingly picked out and imagine Sylvie on one side of him, Logan on the other. He could drift off to sleep and be with them forever. He wouldn’t have to choose who he loved more or justify that he’d found love again so soon after Sylvie. And he wouldn’t have to feel the cruelty of Logan’s words tearing him apart over and over again. It had only been twelve fucking hours since Logan had devastated him – how would he get through a lifetime of this?
“Can I see the picture again?” he heard Logan ask.
He pulled the picture from his jacket pocket and handed it to Logan. He turned on the dome light, then turned his attention back to the road.
“He looks young,” Logan said quietly.
“Fifteen.” He saw Logan glance at him briefly.
“What’s his name again?”
“Elias Galvez. He goes by Angel when he’s working.”
They reached the busy stretch of International Boulevard and Dom turned off the light. Logan handed the picture back, then started searching the faces of the men and women striding up and down the heavily trafficked area.
Dom pulled over and lowered Logan’s window. A heavily made-up woman with big boobs in a tiny top stuck her head into the car and smiled, a bit of her bright red lipstick painting her teeth. “You boys looking for a little bit of fun tonight?” she said coyly as she plopped her substantial assets on the window frame.
“We’re looking for Angel,” Dom said as he held out some money.
And so it went for more than an hour. They got a couple of tips, but it wasn’t until an incredibly tall transvestite in a purple mini dress and silver five inch stilettos leaned into the car that their luck changed. They only had to travel a couple of blocks to find their quarry.
As Dom pulled over to the curb, the kid came out of the dark alley. He was wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket, but when he saw Dom’s car he slowed, then pulled his jacket off and sauntered towards them. Behind him, a heavy-set man hurried out of the alley and disappeared down the street. He heard Logan take in a sharp breath as it registered what had just transpired.
Elias was wearing a super tight T-shirt that rode up to reveal his flat stomach. Leather pants showed off his pubescent figure and he’d put some type of eyeliner around his dark eyes to enhance the effeminate look he naturally had.
“Hey sugar,” he said to Logan as he looked him up and down. Then his eyes shifted to Dom. The voice had the right mix of innocence and femininity that he expected helped the kid sell what so many men were willing to shell out big bucks for. But his eyes looked wary and haunted. Dom pushed back the sick feeling that lurched through him knowing what this boy had been through – what he went through every night because there was no one to look out for him.
“How much?” Dom asked.
“To do you both?” he asked, forcing excitement into his voice that he clearly wasn’t feeling. Dom nodded and he felt Logan tense up next to him. But he remained silent, his eyes on the kid. “A hundred bucks to blow each of you. Two hundred and I blow him while you fuck me. Three hundred and you can both fuck me.”
Logan did make a sound this time and Dom reached out to grab his hand, hoping he’d play along. He didn’t want to touch Logan, but he needed this kid to buy into the whole act. He felt Logan’s fingers tighten on his. The kid saw the contact and something flashed in his eyes so quickly that Dom couldn’t figure out what it was. “Deal. Get in,” he said as he motioned to the backseat. Part of him was glad when the kid actually showed some sense and hesitated at getting into the back of a strange car with two men, but his desperation for cash won out and he climbed in.
Dom tried to pull free of Logan’s grasp, but he could tell Logan was on the verge of freaking out so he let him hold on to him as he maneuvered the car back into traffic. It took him only minutes to get to the hotel he had in mind.
“Shit, ain’t never been fucked in no Hyatt before,” the kid said from the back. His tone was cocky, but Dom could see in the rearview mirror that the kid was tense. He pulled into the garage and found a spot, forgoing the valet parking that was available.
“Baby,” he said to Logan. Logan seemed like he was in a daze so Dom gripped his hand hard until Logan finally looked at him. “Go get us a room while I wait here with our new friend,” he said calmly as he handed him a credit card. He gave Logan another squeeze, gentler this time and Logan finally nodded.
“He’s hot,” the kid said after Logan got out. “Can’t wait to suck that dick,” he announced. The kid absolutely could not sit still and he guessed that his own silence was spurring the kid to try to convey his confidence in what he thought was about to happen.
Logan returned within minutes and they made their way to the room. He knew the kid stuck out like a sore thumb, but his only concern was getting them into the privacy of the room. Once they were inside the simple suite with the king-sized bed, the kid tossed his jacket on one of the side chairs and said, “Cash first.”
Dom ignored him and went to the phone and dialed room service. When the attendant came on the line he said, “Yeah, give me one of every entrée you have and a couple of Cokes.” He hung up the phone and turned to face the boy.
“Sit down, Elias.”
***
Logan wanted nothing more than to go into the bathroom and throw up everything he’d eaten today. From the second he’d realized what he was seeing as the teenager came out of that alley, the contents of his stomach had been churning. And now when he saw the look of abject fear in the boy’s face, he felt a hollowness in his chest. He could’ve been this kid. If his parents had been just a couple notches down on the socioeconomic totem pole, this would have been him.
“What the fuck?” Elias shouted as he tried to get to the door.
“Sit. Down,” Dom said firmly as he blocked the only way out.
The kid ignored Dom and looked around frantically.
“Elias,” Logan said gently.
“How do you know my name?” His voice was shrill as the panic threatened to overtake him. Suddenly, he whipped out a small knife and waved it at them. “Stay back or I’ll cut you. I swear I will.”
Dom was on in him in two strides and with one quick move had him disarmed. Elias didn’t even realize what had happened until Dom closed the switchblade and tucked it into his pocket.
“Sit,” Dom said once more and Elias finally did it. “Elias,” Dom began.
“Eli,” came the quiet response. The kid was scared shitless, but managed to say, “Only my mama and sister call me Elias.”
“Eli,” Dom began again. “We have some questions for you about your sister.”
That got Eli’s attention and he sat up straighter. “Elena? Did you find her?” he asked hopefully. Logan felt his heart break for the kid. He saw Dom glance at him briefly before he pulled out a chair and sat across from Eli who remained seated on the bed, his earlier fear pushed to the back as he waited for good news.
“No, we didn’t,” Dom said. “We don’t know where she is, but we’re trying to find someone who might know what happened to her.”
“It was her boyfriend, wasn’t it?”
“She had a boyfriend?” Logan asked.
“Yeah. That’s what she called him anyway. I think he was just one of her regulars though.”
“You saw him? Do you know his name?” Dom asked.
“He had a weird name. Sy or something like that. I remember because that’s my favorite channel. SyFy.”
“What did he look like, Eli?” Logan said as he pulled up another chair.
“Kind of
fat. Old. Older then you,” he said, looking at Dom. “Bald like you too, but some hair on the side,” he said as he touched his hand to his own head to show them what he was talking about.
Logan sucked in a breath at the description that matched Sam’s.
“Did he take her?” Eli asked.
“Maybe,” Dom said. “Do you know where he was from?”
Eli shook his head. “She used to bring him home and I’d have to stay in the closet while they fucked. Sometimes he’d tell her after they were done that he was gonna take her back to his place – that he had a special place picked out for her on the hill behind his house. She was excited because he said it had a pretty view of the lake.”
Jesus Christ. Logan did go into the bathroom this time and stuck his hand under the cold water and then wiped it on his face.
“You okay?” Dom asked from the doorway, his eyes darting back to the other room to make sure Eli didn’t try to take off.
“A special place picked out for her? It sounded like he was describing…” He couldn’t even finish the thought.
“A grave,” Dom supplied.
“Christ,” he said as he gripped the edge of the sink.
“It could be nothing.”
“She’s been gone a year. We know what he’s capable of. He killed her,” Logan whispered so Eli wouldn’t hear him.
“I know.” There was a knock on the hotel room door. “That’s room service. We need to see if we can get him to remember anything else.”
Logan nodded. “I’ll be right out.” He scrubbed his face, then dried off with one of the numerous bright white hand towels. When he left the bathroom, he saw Eli sitting cross-legged on the bed, a plate of food in his lap. The kid was practically inhaling the burger, pausing only long enough to suck down some fries and take a swig of one of the two sodas on the nightstand. There were at least six other plates full of different types of food on the dining cart in front of the teenager.
Dom was watching him in silence and Logan could see he was trying to work through something in his mind. He glanced up at Logan and motioned to the food. “There’s plenty,” he said quietly.
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