Gabriel jerked awake, sitting up straight in his chair, his hands tightly clasping the arms. He froze, his breath trapped in his lungs as he blinked, looking around the room. Nothing had changed. The thin light leaking around the blackout curtains skimmed over Justin’s sleeping form just a few feet away from him on the bed. His soft, steady breathing was the only sound in the room.

Roughly rubbing both of his hands over his face, Gabriel swallowed a groan. A noise in the next room must have woken him. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, at least not for so long. Between the long, sleepless flight in from Geneva following his last job to the previous day’s unexpected adventure, he hadn’t caught much sleep in the past forty-eight hours and it was starting to wear on him. Of course, a few hours of sleep in an uncomfortable chair certainly wasn’t going to be much help. But it would have to do for now.

Dropping his hands back in his lap, Gabriel pushed to his feet and walked silently over to the bed to stare down at Justin. The man hadn’t moved in the night from where he’d initially fallen asleep. Gabriel had woken once to draw the comforter over Justin after he’d pulled on a T-shirt, but Justin hadn’t stirred. Now lost in sleep, Justin’s face looked softer, younger. A wrinkle between his heavy brows drew his attention and Gabriel had to fight back the urge to smooth it with his thumb, ease away the lingering concern that chased him even in his dreams.

Instead, he stepped back, mentally chastising himself as he turned toward the bathroom. Justin might look like a late-twentysomething with a teasing, goofy charm, but there was no forgetting that the man was ex-military, a highly trained killer, and a master at pretending to be anything he needed to be to get close to his target. The person he knew wasn’t real. It was stupid to be drawn in.

The mirror reflected a worn figure Gabriel hardly recognized. And maybe it was better if he didn’t. He didn’t want to know that person in the mirror any longer. The darkness was creeping, sinking its talons in deeper. The killing had never been particularly difficult, but then the argument had always been that if he didn’t, then he would be dead. Simple. But the bullets so easily placed in the foreheads of those two men had been accompanied by something else. Something angry and almost gleeful. There had been no thought about possibly wounding them, incapacitating them so that he and Justin could escape. Hell, there had been no thought at all. Just aim and squeeze the trigger.

Fuck it. Gabriel leaned over and turned on the water for the shower. No point in debating it now when he was in the middle of a job. Not the first time he’d used that excuse to dodge the painful question of when would it be enough? When could he finally stop? Gabriel knew deep down the answer—never—and it didn’t give him hope to keep drawing air into his lungs.

He quickly showered, washing away the grit and doubts from the previous day. The hot water eased sore muscles and cleared the fog from his brain. Only a few minutes passed before he was wrapping a towel around his waist and gathering up his clothes. When he quietly opened the bathroom door, he found Justin sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing one hand through his hair and yawning wide enough to crack his jaw. The man looked adorably rumpled and sleep-warmed.

Gabriel dropped his dirty clothes in the chair he’d slept in and crossed his arms over his chest. “How do you feel?”

Justin’s eyes slowly skimmed over his bare chest as if appraising the muscular body in front of him. It was a struggle not to shift or flex his muscles under that sleepy gaze. When he finally met Gabriel’s eyes, a heated smile was tugging at his lips. There were more and more moments where he couldn’t tell if Justin was just doing things to tease him or if he was truly attracted to him. That long, slow look was not one from a straight man.

“Rough as shit and hung over. Someone drugged the crap out of me last night.” His voice was warm and thick like syrup.

“Drugging you meant that I got the bullet out without a lot of screaming and you slept without moving, potentially tearing the stitches.”

“Thanks. I—”

A knock at the door caused Justin to jump. His hand searched around the bed for a weapon, bringing a smile to Gabriel’s lips. “Room service.”

Justin huffed, trying to relax again. There was no hiding the embarrassed flush to his cheeks, but then Gabriel couldn’t blame him for his anxiety. He was the one sitting in the bed recovering from a gunshot wound.

Gabriel walked to the door, not caring that he was still wrapped in only a towel. The room service attendant blinked and flushed, his eyes darting from Gabriel’s chest to the trolley of food in front of him. He held the door open, allowing the hotel attendant to push it in before he closed the door and followed him. Justin once again stretched out on the bed, the cover pulled over his legs and stomach enough to hide his wound while still appearing to be naked.

Justin smiled broadly, mischief twinkling in his eyes. “Aww, sweetie. You ordered me breakfast in bed. I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”

Gabriel accepted the leather folder with the bill from the server and signed it. “Well, I thought after last night’s rough treatment, you would need some time to recover your strength,” Gabriel drawled. The server coughed and blushed, trying to look anywhere but at the two men, while Justin laughed loudly, pushing his head back into the pillow.

The server accepted the folder and mumbled a nice day to them before quickly scurrying out of the room. Justin’s low chuckle followed him out of the room. Gabriel ignored his companion, pouring some hot water over a tea bag in a cup as he prepared his morning tea. He had intended to put in a standing order for breakfast, but he’d expanded it beyond his usual oatmeal and tea after Justin had fallen asleep. He known the man would need something on his stomach after being so heavily drugged and the blood loss.

“That was brave.” Justin winced as he pushed out of the bed and carefully approached the trolley. He lifted the various covers, looking over the assortment of breads, bacon, eggs, and eventually the pot of coffee. A soft cry of joy escaped him as he grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a mug.

“Why?” Justin demanded, trying not to be amused by his antics.

“Cincinnati…is not the most tolerant town.”

Gabriel lifted one brow, his fingers tightening around the spoon he’d been using to stir his tea. “But you have gay marriage.”

Justin snorted, snatching up a piece of bacon before dropping on the edge of the bed with his coffee. “It took a Supreme Court decision to get it.” But then he shrugged as if re-thinking his comment. “Well, it’s not all bad. People are coming around. There’s a lot worse places in the world.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Justin if he was gay. The question was practically burning through him, but he swallowed it back. There was no way in hell he was opening that door. If he asked Justin, then there was no doubt that Justin would expect him to answer the same question. No. He wasn’t talking about himself. He wasn’t fucking thinking about it. God, maybe he just needed to get laid. It had been too long and jerking off in the shower wasn’t cutting it anymore.

Taking his tea over to desk, Gabriel leaned against the corner and sipped the hot liquid, allowing its warmth to settle his nerves and pull his mind back to the problem at hand. “How long do you think it will take you to go through the information on the hard drive?”

Justin crunched a piece of bacon and shrugged. “Assuming it’s not password protected or encrypted? Probably not long. If it’s either, could take a lot longer. Days even.”

“And there’s no guarantee that there’s anything on that hard drive that will be helpful,” Gabriel muttered, talking mostly to himself. “Do you have a plan for getting into Iaso’s network?”

“Already started some hacks, but they’ve got a solid firewall. I was going to give it a month, maybe two while trying a few other avenues for information, but after last night’s fiasco and the two bodies already dropped in the morgue, we’re gonna need to move faster. My last choice is to go in and actually sit at one of the terminals, but if we’re stuck, it might be our only choice.”

“What if Iaso isn’t the only source of information on this drug?” Justin cocked his head slightly to the left and stared at Gabriel, waiting for him to continue. “It is my understanding that most pharmaceutical companies will work with a local hospital when running drug trials. It means having access to more doctors should something go wrong and additional staff available to take in data.”

Putting his coffee back on the trolley, Justin picked up a piece of wheat toast and took a bite while sorting through the little bottles of jam. He frowned when he didn’t see what he was looking for but continued to munch through the buttered toast. “The hospital would have records. Lots of records. People coming in, test results, names of doctors involved in the trial. Not a bad lead.”

“Could you hack it?”

Justin lifted both his brows as he glanced back over at Gabriel. “Faster than the hack into Iaso? No fucking way. With all the regulation about protecting patient privacy, that shit is locked up tight. Got to be an inside job. Sneak in, grab a password or two, and then get out. But I’d rather sneak into a hospital right now than into Iaso.”

“Which hospital? This city has a few, correct?”

“Several, but if you’re going to run a trial locally, you’re first choice is going to be University of Cincinnati Hospital. They’ve got their own research division.”

Gabriel stood and placed his empty tea cup and saucer back on the trolley before heading over to the closet. Inside, he’d neatly hung several dark suits that he’d brought along with a selection of slacks and long-sleeve shirts. The tattoos forced him to wear long sleeves at all times. He loved his ink, but it was too easy of an identifier if someone saw them. It was important that he moved through the crowd without the risk of being remembered. Of course, that was a pain in the ass when it came to the wretched summer heat in this city. After this job maybe he’d spend a little time up in Canada, where the weather was at least tolerable.

“Then we wait for night fall and go in. Pose as members of the cleaning crew and—”

“Why wait?” Justin demanded, crunching through another piece of bacon.

“You want to go now?”

“Yeah, through the Emergency Room.”

Gabriel stopped in the middle of pulling on a black shirt, his fingers holding either side as if he were about to button the first button. “As doctors?”

Justin shook his head, his grin growing. “As patients.”

Gabriel groaned and resumed buttoning his shirt. “We can’t use your wound even if you’re willing to open it back up again. It’s clearly a gunshot wound. They’d have to report it to the police.”

“No, I was thinking a new wound. Something with lots of blood but not a lot of damage.”

Gabriel finished buttoning his shirt and opened the drawer of a small bureau tucked in the closet to withdraw a pair of black silk boxers. “A real wound?”

“Well, it would have to be.” Justin pushed off the edge of the bed where he’d been sitting and slowly walked over to Gabriel.

Gabriel tensed, fighting the urge to take a step backward but he was already trapped between the closet and the door leading into the hall. There was nowhere for him to go and certainly no way for him to move to give him more room to maneuver. “And what new wound will you be acquiring?”

“That’s just it,” he drawled, scratching his chin. “I’ve already got a bullet hole for this job. I thought it was only fair for you to get the chance to bleed too.” Justin balled his hand into a fist and aimed a hard punch at Gabriel’s face. Throwing up his left arm to block the blow, Gabriel spun him around and slammed Justin against the door, pinning him there.

Gabriel stared into Justin’s wide eyes, their faces only inches away. He was surprised to find that the man wore contacts. He blinked and they shifted just enough for him to see that Justin’s muddy brown eyes were actually blue. A haunting scent drifted up from Justin. A hint of cologne, sweat, and something that had to be pure Justin that caused a stirring in Gabriel’s groin. He jerked back an inch to find soft, full lips smirking at him. He’d been staring far too long.

“Come on, let me break your nose,” Justin taunted.

“Absolutely not,” Gabriel snarled, giving him another hard shove against the door so that it rattled in the frame.

“It’ll just take a second and they’ll be able to fix you up at the hospital.”

“No.”

“Chicken shit.”

“Name calling will get you nowhere. I’ve been in this business far too long to allow my nose to be broken by a ridiculous bastard like you.”

Justin snickered, letting his head fall back against the door, completely relaxed where Gabriel was holding him. “Well, I’ll give you that you’re pretty but a broken nose will give your face character. I’m sure your personality isn’t exactly drawing them to your bed, but maybe a broken nose will get you a pity fuck or two.”

“No.”

“Then what’s your plan other than losing your towel?” Justin asked with a sneer.

Gabriel didn’t flinch but continued to meet Justin’s narrowed gaze. He’d lost his fucking towel in the struggle, but he wasn’t willing to give an inch with this man. If he turned away for a breath, Justin would slam his fist down, breaking his nose. It wasn’t going to fucking happen.

“I’ll slice my hand open. Some blood and a few stitches. Will that give you adequate time to get what you need to access their computers?”

“Yes, but won’t you need your hand?”

“I’m ambidextrous. I’ll manage,” Gabriel grumbled, moving away from Justin enough that he could step around him to walk back into the hotel room with his boxers clenched in one fist.

“Being able to jerk off with either hand doesn’t make you ambidextrous.”

A bark of laughter jumped from Gabriel’s throat, catching him off-guard. There had to be zero filter between Justin’s brain and his mouth. It was completely disarming, making the man dangerous. How easy would it be for Justin to work past his defenses with his charm and ridiculous comments? And then he’d be dead in the blink of an eye.

Gabriel stopped on the opposite side of the room, boxers still in his hand, as he rubbed at his eyes and the bridge of his nose, trying to soothe away the pressure he could feel building there. He couldn’t think like that. He and Justin had agreed to a truce. He had to trust that Justin would hold to that promise.

“You not get any sleep?” Justin called, still standing near the door to the hotel room.

Gabriel dropped his hand back to his side, glancing over at his companion briefly. He was leaning against the door, his muscular body appearing relaxed, but there were new lines of tension cutting through his face. He had to be in pain from the bullet wound. The painkiller would have worn off hours ago. But Justin’s eyes were unwaveringly locked on his face, reading…something. He wondered what Justin saw but shoved the thought aside and quickly pulled on his boxers.

“Some.”

“Well, I can’t exactly take you to the hospital in my holey, blood-soaked shirt. How about we meet up here around seven tonight? You can get some sleep. I can get some clean clothes. By then, the emergency room should be busy with weekend stupidity. It’ll be easier to get what we need in the chaos.”

Gabriel gave a quick, sharp nod. A few hours of sleep and maybe a little scouting of the city would put him on more even footing. A little space from Justin might also help to get his head on straight.