"Just got off the phone with the senator," Grizz said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

He'd called me in a couple minutes ago and--after fussing with the coffee maker for a good while before breaking down and asking Daya for help--he was finally getting down to business. I sat, restless energy making me curl my fingers over the metal arms of the chair, my foot tapping out a tuneless rhythm on the carpeted floor. Any second now, Grizz would shoot me a look for that. But for right now, I just let out all the energy that'd been building in me since I talked to Noah.

Since Noah had told me in no uncertain terms that he didn't need or want me protecting him, and he was going to do whatever the fuck he felt like no matter what I thought of him.

I was still trying to parse out what that meant, but right now I needed to focus on the case at hand.

"He give any more details about Liz?"

Grizz gave me the look I'd expected, his hard blue gaze cutting to my bouncing foot before it met my eyes. I settled down, feeling like a kid who'd been caught rocking his chair back too far.

"Told me everything I asked for," Grizz confirmed, holding up a legal pad with some notes scrawled on it. I didn't bother trying to read them. His handwriting was something I was pretty sure only scholars could decipher.

"What'd he say about the ads?" I asked, remembering just how casually Noah had said it, like it wasn't a tragedy that they'd both ended up there.

While Grizz wasn't one to beat around the bush, he stayed quiet just long enough to make me think that maybe I was the only one who felt that way. Crazy, since it wasn't like the guy could read my mind. But what he actually said was almost as bad.

"I didn't tell him. And you're not going to tell him, either." He said it so matter-of-factly, in the middle of rearranging the shit that was piled all over his cluttered desk.

"What do you mean you didn't tell him?" I leaned forward in my chair, studying the older man in front of me. "You can't just not tell a client critical information. Especially when it's something like this."

"I didn't tell him because I'm not sure he didn't have something to do with it," Grizz explained in that same even, not-all-that-patient tone he took with all of us.

His words hit me like the crash of a violent wave, and my gut lurched as I thought about the implications. Everything from a typical father-daughter argument to abuse swirled through my head, and I hated that I was enough of a cynic that the glass always ended up being half empty. I also hated that Grizz had been the one to notice this, not me.

And all of that was without hearing the evidence.

"Whole thing doesn't feel right," Grizz explained, “and I'm not sending a vulnerable kid back to a home that isn't safe. So until we find out exactly what happened, nobody breathes a word of Liz's whereabouts to the senator. Got it?"

"Not like I'm gonna argue with that," I muttered.

Grizz shot me a flat look. Just the corner of his mouth twitched as he said, "Why the hell not? You argue with me about everything else."

I snorted, but for once didn't take the bait. He was right. Most times when I sat in this chair I had my mouth open and my hands moving in crazy gestures. I talked to Grizz in ways that would have gotten my ass dismissed from service in the Army. It hadn't always been that way, but he'd made a big show out of me speaking my mind around him, so eventually I did it.

I'm pretty sure he got more than he ever bargained for. But I knew when to keep my mouth shut and just listen, and now was one of those times. Especially when there was a kid on the line.

"Anything specific that's bothering you?" I probed.

"You seen this guy's campaign ads?" Grizz reached underneath a stack of papers and withdrew a pamphlet that he handed to me.

I looked down at the glossy, full-color waste of paper, seeing the smiling senator, his gorgeous wife, and his daughter on the front. The headline read "Family Man. Family Values" which sounded great on the surface, but I already knew what I was going to get when I flipped through. One glance at the next page showed me he was big into legislature that limited the rights of LGBT communities, and I felt my composure slipping.

"Does he seriously think he's going to get anywhere with this platform? In Seattle?" I asked incredulously.

"You'd be surprised." I handed the pamphlet back to Grizz before I gave into the urge to tear the thing up. "But guys like this always have skeletons in their closet. If they have anything to do with Liz..."

I nodded in understanding, pushing myself up from my chair. "We can't afford to tip him off." Another thought occurred to me, and I voiced it seconds later. "Real convenient how this is all happening so close to elections."

"Isn't it?" Grizz said with the most fake smile I'd ever seen.

My hands went to the back of the chair, fingers straining against the cool metal. "So what's the next step?"

"Check in with Noah," he confirmed, "see if he’s got any more information."

My heart thumped so loudly in my chest I was sure Grizz could hear it all the way over there. Flustered, I looked toward the small window in his office, tousling a hand through my already messy hair. Noah and I weren't exactly on the best terms right now, but every part of my brain still lit up when I thought about him. It really wasn't fucking fair.

"I told the senator we'll take on his case. You've got a meeting with him at three," Grizz continued, opening up a deluge on my parade. "Wear a jacket and tie."

The idea of wearing yet another uniform didn't bother me as much as having to get dressed up just because that man thought he was something special. It wasn't like our other clients had ever needed us to wear a tie. Worse than that, I had no idea why I was meeting with that man in the first place.

"Why set up a meeting if you think he's got something to do with this?" I asked.

"Because it's easier for you to pump him for information if he thinks we're using it on his behalf."

Grizz had definitely used that technique before. Probably back when he was still on the force. The words were said in a way that left no doubt in my mind. "Fair enough," I said, impressed. "Anything else?"

"I need you to keep yourself in line, McCabe. No going off on this guy, no matter what he says." Grizz wasn't looking at me, but I could still feel the weight of his judgment. "Any information he's got is too valuable to throw away."

"Got it."

There was a time when I'd been the perfect Boy Scout of a soldier. I'd listened to everything my COs told me, went above and beyond the call of duty, and gave my all for my country. But then my best friend died right in front of me, and I'd gotten a firsthand look at how little the rules actually mattered. Men like the senator didn't play by them, after all. And if it meant getting Liz off of those classifieds, I'd do whatever needed to be done and deal with the consequences later.

But first, I had to handle the fallout from another decision I'd made. Making my way back to my desk, I pulled up Noah's contact info in my phone. He'd put the picture in there, and I couldn't help but smile when I looked at the damn thing. He'd swiped my phone, telling me it was an emergency. Then he'd fallen into my arms like some swooning southern belle, apparently confident enough that I'd catch him since he held my phone out with one hand and snapped a picture right as I did--while placing his other hand to his forehead as if he actually had swooned.

"You need visual evidence of the whole 'hero' thing," he'd said, flipping the phone around to show me the picture. "Girls go crazy for that stuff."

"I haven't tried to impress a girl since I was fourteen," I'd told him. One dark brow had risen in response. "Right around the time I found out they didn't do anything for me."

He'd given me a slow once-over that made my pulse race, pounding all the way down in my cock. I'd wanted him from the moment he'd sauntered into Grizz's office, but that day was the first time I'd strongly considered doing something about it.

"You're gay?" The man had no shame. His gaze stopped on my crotch, taking in the hard ridge of my dick as it strained against my pants. "Mm. Shame about the personality, though."

It'd been such a surprising put-down that I hadn't realized I'd been insulted at first. When I finally did, all I could do was laugh. To this day I could still remember the way his eyes damn near sparkled in the sunlight.

I shook my head, bringing up my latest text exchange with Noah. He'd only ever picked up the phone once in the years I'd known him, and that had been--by his own admission--an accident. I knew if I wanted to get any info, I needed to text him. With any luck he'd swing by the office like usual around my lunch break and pretend like he was here to see everybody but me.

It was a game we'd played for a long time.

A picture appeared below--a selfie of Noah eating an honest-to-god Italian sausage that was nestled in a bun with some peppers and onions. Ass. He did that shit just to get a rise out of me, and it worked every time. The idea of him choking on some entitled asshole's dick made me see red if I thought about it too much. The only dick his pretty lips should wrap around was mine.

Now who's the entitled asshole? It wasn't like I could do anything about it. Noah wasn't mine, and he was never going to be mine, no matter how much I wanted him. And that wasn't even counting the fact that his literal job involved servicing other men.

I rolled my eyes at myself and fired back a text, not rising to his bait.

His answer was almost automatic, and I could imagine his smirk as he said it to my face.

He knew the truth. That day he'd teased me he'd only seen the outline of my dick, but it'd been enough to spark lust in his eyes. And since I knew I didn't have a damn thing to be insecure about, I just moved on to the actual purpose of the text.

There was a long pause, but he eventually responded.

Fuck. I closed my eyes and let out a breath, my fingers closing around my phone. Noah and I argued all the time about the way he made his living, but at least he was a grown-ass man. Liz was technically an adult, but still a teenager; still figuring out her life and who she wanted to be. I couldn't imagine "sex worker" had ever made that list, but maybe I was just being a hypocritical piece of shit.

Noah had said as much to me before, though not in so many words.

I had no idea how it worked, but I couldn't imagine lesbian call girls were actually a thing. Not enough of one to make much money, at least. At most she might get invited to act as a lonely couple's third, but not where she was now. Noah had made sure to explain the difference between what he did now and what he'd done when he was in Liz's shoes.

I stared at the text for a long moment, not liking the thoughts that tumbled through my mind. Grizz already suspected the senator was a prick, and considering all his anti-gay legislation, it was obvious he would have taken issue with a gay daughter. As far as I knew, Noah didn't have any of the information we did. Just whatever he'd gotten from Liz, and his own instincts.

He'd always been an insanely good judge of character. One look at a person in our office and he'd been able to peg them. Hell, I was pretty sure he'd pegged me after just a few seconds of interaction. As much as I hated it, that kind of skill was useful. Noah could get a better read on the senator than I'd ever be able to get on my own.

And if it happened to coincide with spending a little time with him, that was just a bonus. Definitely not the reason my mind fixated on those near-violet eyes and that crooked, cheeky smile.

I glanced back toward Grizz's office. A responsible person would ask permission, but I'd always been the type to do what I thought was right and beg forgiveness later. Grizz had known that when he hired me. I was pretty sure it was one of the things Kacey led with when describing me.

Besides. What was the worst that could happen?