by R. Cayden
Pushing the stack aside, he let his thoughts drift back to the night before. Lawrence was shocked when Raiden invited the men to spend the night, and he didn’t totally buy the excuse that they needed to keep an eye on Cash. After Raiden had resisted his flirtations for weeks, Lawrence thought he had a heart of stone. But the second they all started hooking up, something different reached through, and Lawrence realized that Raiden was feeling the same primal draw that he was, like the three of them needed to be together.
It was a ridiculous thought, but then again, Lawrence was sitting there and reading through stolen emails from a senator’s office, so the normal rules were pretty much out of the window.
And now that he’d had a taste, he was desperate for more. Sighing, Lawrence pulled his phone out of his pocket, then sent a quick text to Tyler, Mayer, and Derrick. I’m going to need a whole month of brunches to process the sex I had last night.
Cash walked back into the main area, and Lawrence shoved his phone in his pocket. He had changed into a fresh pair of chinos and a white oxford shirt with a spread collar, neatly tucked in at the waist, and his damp hair was combed back. “You having any luck?”
Lawrence shrugged and tried not to stare at how handsome he was. “A few things make sense to me. I’m not sure how helpful they will be, though. Like, does it matter that the senator and my dad share the same personal trainer?”
Cash shrugged. “Anything could end up helping.” He arrived at the table, then leaned over, scanning the pages. “Cute romper, by the way.”
Lawrence felt his cheeks pink. “Thanks.”
Cash took a seat across from him, and the chair squeaked when he leaned back. “Hey, while Raiden is still out at the pharmacy, I wanted to apologize one more time. You know, for not being truthful with you before.” He dropped his voice, almost like he was confessing a secret. “It felt shitty when I was doing it, especially when I was picking the lock on your father’s office door. I just get a little obsessed with my mission sometimes and lose track of everything else. But I never wanted to hurt you, Lawrence. And for that, I’m honestly, deeply sorry.”
It was true that Cash had been lying from the start, although the more Lawrence learned about him, the more he thought he understood why. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose your parents and to know their deaths didn’t have to happen,” he said. “I don’t like that you were lying to me, but I do like that you’re standing up for what is right. And you’re being truthful now, right?”
Cash scratched the back of his head, and his eyes turned to the papers that were taped to the brick wall.
“Are you still lying to me?” Lawrence asked, suddenly alarmed by Cash’s expression.
“It’s not like that,” he said quickly. “It’s just…” He drummed his fingers on the table, obviously troubled by something. “There’s more to the story, you know?”
Lawrence laughed, then gestured to the old woodworking studio with a wave of his hand. “No shit. Your house looks like some kind of maniac genius villain lives here. You’ve obviously got something else going on. I’m not expecting you to tell me all of your deepest secrets, but just promise you won’t try to trick me again?”
Cash leaned forward. “Sweetheart, it’s a promise.”
A warm feeling bubbled up in Lawrence’s chest, and he laughed nervously, pushing it away. “I think that’s the most serious commitment I’ve ever asked a guy to make.”
“It’s probably the most serious commitment I’ve ever made,” Cash replied with a laugh.
Lawrence turned back to the papers in an attempt to hide his growing grin. When he was pining after Raiden and Cash, he’d only thought about sex with them. It made sense, considering sex was one of his primary obsessions, the way he distracted himself from everything else in that screwed-up world.
But after just one hookup, he felt a totally unfamiliar type of yearning. The night before, Raiden had insisted he take the bed, and Lawrence had stayed up half the night, thinking about the men in the other room and inhaling Raiden’s lingering scent on the pillowcases. He didn’t just want to get laid and run away like usual. He wanted to help take care of Raiden and Cash both. Like he could find a way to reach deep inside each of them and pull out something that they’d hidden away, something the three of them had briefly touched together.
“Anyway,” Lawrence said, his cheeks still warm, “I did see in the emails that they mentioned this resort on an island off of Panama quite a few times. My dad goes there twice a year to meet with some investment group.” He slid the paper to Cash. “I noticed you put some question marks by that.”
“The Copper Retreat,” Cash said with a nod. “I couldn’t find any mention of it online, but that’s not surprising. Men like your father like their privacy, after all, and those resorts are happy to provide it. It’s in Panama, you said?”
“That’s right. I don’t know much about it. I’ve just heard him mention it to his colleagues at dinner. It sounds like they just go there to meet up with some of their colleagues from the EU and China.”
Cash squinted at the paper. “Panama. I noticed a lot of chatter between your father and the senator about Colombia and Mozambique, but not much about Panama.”
“Colombia and Mozambique?” Lawrence shrugged. “I don’t remember my father going to either of those places.”
“A resort in Panama,” Cash mumbled to himself. “Lawrence, my dear, I do believe that counts as a lead.” He popped up from his seat, then gestured to the wall. “Want to put a sticky note on the master map? I always feel like I’ve accomplished something when I put a new sticky on the map.”
Lawrence laughed. “Sure, thanks!”
A minute later, the buzzer went off, and Raiden returned to the apartment. Lawrence sat back on the edge of the table as he watched the two men banter over the medical supplies, until finally Cash relented and accepted the brace Raiden had picked up. Lawrence watched as Cash removed his shirt, and Raiden insisted on inspecting the injury one time, holding Cash’s bicep in his big hands and rotating his shoulder with a ginger, careful touch. When Cash sucked in a sudden breath, Raiden nodded.
“Yup, you’ll need the brace,” he said, then grabbed it from the counter and went to slide it over Cash’s arm. Lawrence laughed to himself as he watched Cash frown, ready to object to Raiden dressing him, then quickly relent and accept the help.
A moment later, they turned their attention to some of the floor plans posted on the wall and launched into a debate about the best way to bypass different security systems. Most of the details were lost on Lawrence, but he didn’t mind. Watching them figure out how to work together was surprisingly sexy, and he realized how strong of a team they would probably make, if they could actually stop competing for five minutes.
Dusk arrived, graying the light that came through the old windows. When Raiden glanced at the door, Lawrence’s chest tightened, and he got worried that they were about to call it a day. Luckily, Cash jumped in first, offering to whip up some veggie pasta for dinner if they both wanted to stick around, an offer Lawrence and Raiden both happily accepted. And even though they said they were supposed to be working through the files, for the next few hours, they spent a lot more time flirting and teasing each other than reading old emails. Cash pushed an occasional curl away from Lawrence’s eyes, and Raiden adjusted Cash’s brace for him, and when they were all done with dinner, Lawrence did the dishes, wiggling his butt the whole time he leaned over the sink in a teasing attempt to seduce the guys into bed one more night, even though it didn’t quite work.
It was almost normal. Or at least as normal as a thing like that could be, with three men plotting against a major corporation, trying to fight something so big they could barely see it.
But Lawrence’s life had never really been normal, not really. And by the time the evening was over and they headed to their separate homes, he realized with an excited startle what had changed.
Finally, Lawrence had something to fight fo
r.
Raiden
Raiden jumped to the side, then thrust a right jab forward, his fist whooshing through the air. He stepped back, throwing his arms up in a block, then forward again with another jab, taking care to model the proper form. “Got that?” he asked, his breath heavy.
Lawrence nodded, then repeated the motion, jumping back and forth and throwing his skinny arms around. They were in Cash’s apartment the next afternoon, and they had pushed some of the tables aside to clear a space for the self-defense lesson. While Raiden filled Lawrence in on basics, Cash sat at his desk, hunched over a computer and typing furiously.
While Lawrence bobbed from side to the side, the tiny pink pair of running shorts he wore bounced up and down, drawing Raiden’s eyes straight to his thighs, lean and muscular from all the dancing. He grunted and shook his head, and when he looked up, he caught Cash, tapping his finger against his full, pink lip, lost in thought.
Damn. It was hard enough to resist Lawrence alone. Now that he’d seen Cash on his knees, Raiden’s resolve was rapidly weakening. He almost liked the guy, in fact. Sure, Cash still annoyed the living hell out of him, but Raiden understood where he was coming from.
Anyway, it just felt good to be with him and Lawrence at the same time. They were pretty damn different from his friends back in Albany, but there was something familiar about their energy, too, and after the hookup, Raiden had finally stopped worrying that he was too much for Lawrence. They’d all been beaten down and tossed aside in their lives, after all, and Raiden had started to believe Lawrence and Cash could understand him, if he gave them a real chance.
Plus, they were fucking hot as hell. Raiden’s heart might have been yearning for more, but his cock had been happily leading the charge forward for a while.
Lawrence finished the round, then grabbed his water bottle and squirted a spray into the back of his mouth. His cheeks were flushed, and his curls were pushed back with a sweatband, making his face shine. “How was that?” he asked.
“Very good,” Raiden said. “Your form is excellent.”
Lawrence stretched a hand over his head, then wiggled his hips. “All the dancing,” he said, “among other things.”
“Good for your endurance, too,” Raiden said, letting his voice roll to draw out some implication. “And I know you can last a long time.” Lawrence’s eyes popped wider, and Raiden chuckled, glad to finally catch the guy off guard.
“Are you two done playing grabass?” Cash hollered over his shoulder.
“Someone jealous?” Lawrence teased.
“He probably just wants me to teach him another lesson. Is that it, Cash?”
“If you think threats like that are going to make me shut up, you’re deeply mistaken.”
Raiden chuckled. “Noted.”
“Lawrence?” Cash asked. “Did you say that your father went to Panama twice a year?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Lawrence said. He and Raiden crossed over to where Cash was working. “Pretty much every six months. Why?”
“I hacked into Senator Dooley’s assistant’s calendar. She’s using her own name as her password—it was the easiest job. It looks here like the Senator goes to Panama next week. But you said your father went there a month ago, is that right?”
“Right,” Lawrence said. He leaned against Raiden, pressing his warm weight against his muscles, and Raiden sucked in a sharp breath from the pleasure of it.
“The trip was planned at the last minute. And when I looked at the congressional schedule, I saw that they’re taking Friday off for an extended working weekend, as requested by Dooley. It’s pretty remarkable for them to cancel a session like that, so something big must be coming up.”
“Fishy,” Raiden said. He stretched his arm around Lawrence’s shoulder without really thinking about it, and Cash smiled slyly at them. “Do you think they’re making moves?”
Cash started typing, his fingers flying across the keyboard as they talked. “It looks that way to me.”
“My father is always making moves,” Lawrence said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started tapping at it.
“What do we know about this resort?” Raiden asked Cash. He’d robbed his fair share of mansions with Gray and Horatio, but he’d never tackled a resort, and especially not one in another country. “Can you hack your way in there or something and figure out what’s up?”
Cash shrugged. “If I had a few months, maybe. But I don’t remember the last time I saw a network as secure as this one. It’s not surprising. People all over the world keep dirty money in some of those Panama banks.”
“What’s the play, then? Fake jobs on the resort catering staff? Robbing their houses while they’re out of the country to dig up dirt?”
Frowning at the computer, Cash shook his head. “I’m not sure… Fuck! This looks big, too. Horizon is moving billions around this month, and one of their CEOs just retired, so they’ll be looking to promote one of their top executives.” He put his head in his hands, cursing under his breath. “Think, Cash. Think!” he muttered.
Lawrence held his phone in the air. “Maybe I have an idea?”
“Oh yeah?” Cash asked.
“I texted my grandma about dinner next weekend, and she replied that my father is going on one of his retreats. That must be Panama. And if he’s going there, it means his colleagues are going, too.” He nodded to Cash. “You remember from the dinner party? Rios, Peterson, and Mackey.”
“That’s right,” Cash agreed.
“If you can’t figure out a way into the resort, maybe you can do something before they leave? Since Rios hit on me when I was a teenager, I could probably pretend to seduce him again. Would that work?”
Raiden felt all his muscles tense as his protective instincts reared up and growled. “This man hit on you when you were a teenager?” he said, barking the words louder than he meant to.
“Easy, champ,” Cash said. “You look like you’re about to bite someone’s head off.”
“Maybe I am,” Raiden answered. He stepped aside from Lawrence to look him in the face. “You want to seduce this creep? How do you know he’s safe? It sounds like he’s mixed up in some real nasty shit.”
“I don’t want to seduce him,” Lawrence answered. “But I’ve already suffered growing up around these people. Shouldn’t I at least try to use what I have against them?”
Raiden gritted his teeth. He didn’t mind risking his own neck, but he hated the idea of Lawrence putting himself in harm’s way.
“Come on,” Lawrence continued. “How dangerous could it be? I’ll just put on something slutty and pout my lips, and while he’s distracted, you two can do whatever it is you do. Tie up his security guards and steal his computer or whatever.”
Cash stood and took a step forward. “Lawrence, I would never ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask,” Lawrence said, a bratty edge in his voice. “And do either of you have a better idea?”
Raiden and Cash turned to each other. Cash raised his eyebrows expectantly, and Raiden sighed, then pinched the bridge of his nose. He considered walking out right then and insisting that nothing was worth putting Lawrence in danger, but he knew he could never stay away.
“If you do this,” Raiden said, turning his eyes straight to Lawrence’s gaze, “you have to make me a promise.”
Lawrence held three fingers over his heart like a Boy Scout. “I promise to blow you both as soon as the job is over,” he answered.
Raiden snorted a laugh. “That’s not what I meant. If you try to seduce this man, I want you to be sober.”
“Sober!” Lawrence blurted out. “But why would I—”
“Smart,” Cash said, cutting him off. “You can be a little sloppy when you’re drunk, Lawrence. And it’s true. We don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. With how powerful these men are, I shudder to think of the repercussions.”
Lawrence threw his hands in the air. “Sober!” he said, as though it was the most absurd
idea in the world. “But drinking is one of the best parts of flirting.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I love a good buzz,” Raiden said. “But there’s a difference between that and losing control. And I will not approve of this mission unless I know we can keep you safe.”
Lawrence pouted, then toed the floor. “But what if I beg you to approve it?” he asked softly.
Cash laughed. “Relentless! No corporate executive could resist a look like that.”
“But if it means keeping Lawrence safe, I can,” Raiden answered firmly, although in truth he knew he might cave if the sweetheart kept at it.
Lawrence looked like he was about to stamp his foot and throw a temper tantrum, which actually would have been pretty cute. Shaking his head quickly, though, he recovered. “Fine,” he said. “I will refrain from drinking that evening.” He turned away, still staring at the floor. “I didn’t realize you were going to be so bossy, though.”
Raiden did feel a little bad, telling Lawrence he couldn’t have something he wanted. But he’d recognized the drinking as self-destructive from the start, and if Raiden could help the kid out, he didn’t want to miss the chance.
“Does that mean we have a plan?” Cash asked.
“Sounds like it,” Raiden answered with a firm nod.
Lawrence turned back to them. Instead of pouting, though, his puffy lips were turned up in a wicked smile. “Is Raiden the only one who gets to demand things?”
Blood rushed straight to Raiden’s cock. Even with all the flirting, he hadn’t been sure whether the three of them were going to repeat the explosive hookup from the other night. But the purr in Lawrence’s voice told him exactly what was coming next, and with Cash licking his lips, Raiden knew he wasn’t going to be able to tell the kid no a second time that day.
“I think we all get to make a few demands,” Cash said.
