Are you fucking kidding me?

“One second,” I called to whoever was waiting outside my locked door. I set my phone down and propped it up on the base of a lamp. Enzo could still see my face; meanwhile, I had a full view of him still jerking himself off. I reached down and grabbed my pants, pulling them up as I stood.

“Nice view,” Enzo said from my phone.

“Just wanted to let you know the party’s started downstairs.” It was Andrew.

“Got it. Be there after this call.”

“Perfect,” Andrew said from the other side of the door. I let out a relieved exhale and sat back down in my chair, dropping the pants back to the ground.

“No, no,” Enzo said. “Stand up.”

I looked into the camera, chewing on my bottom lip as I stood up so that my cock was smack in the center of the shot. Enzo could see every vein, every pulse, every stroke. I’d never performed for someone like this, which may have been why I found it so fucking hot. I continued to jerk myself off, watching the screen on my propped phone so that I could watch Enzo. He still held the phone up high, and I could see his lower jaw, his lips, his hard dick. His dirty talk had really spun me up and left me on the brink.

“Oh, Zane, you’re so sexy, baby. I want to be kneeling between your legs, looking up at you as I take you in my mouth. I want to taste you on my tongue. I want you to blow your salty, sweet load down my throat.”

My balls were almost inside my body as I felt myself falling off the edge. “Fuck, Enzo, fuck.” My body tensed as my cock erupted with come, ropes of it splattering across the floor with audible thuds as they hit the floor. I was seeing stars. My fist opened and closed on my twitching cock as my knees threatened to buckle. I shook my shoulders and opened my eyes right in time to watch Enzo blow his load onto his chest. He had lifted his shirt, but the come shot up to his chin, making him wince back, and I laughed with blissed-out glee.

Every muscle in my body felt relaxed as I sat back down in my chair, my hands limp at my sides, a wide, toothy smile on my face as Enzo came back down to earth and aimed the camera back at his face. His eyes were so damn beautiful, even through a phone screen. I wished I could kiss him. Feel those lips on mine, let our sticky bodies dry up together before we hopped in the shower to do it all again.

“Wow,” Enzo said, wiping off his chin with a thumb. He put it to his lips and smiled as he sucked it. Fuck, how I wanted his thumb in my mouth. “That was a productive call.”

“Definitely was,” I said, giving Enzo eyes a look that told him exactly what I still wanted to do to him.

“Hope I helped that hard situation of yours,” he said, knowing damn well he gave me exactly what I needed.

“You helped.” I glanced at my wristwatch, the black-and-gold face telling me that it was pushing two in the afternoon.

“All right,” Enzo said. He was pulling up his underwear from the floor, lifting his ass off his seat and tugging them on. He was still bulging in those sexy red-and-white briefs. “Go to your party before they start the fun without you. Let me know if anything else comes up about Herberto.” He was looking straight down the barrel. “And Zane, please, stay safe.”

“Of course,” I said, trying to assure him. I could tell he was serious. I smiled and gave him a wink. “I might need help with another situation tonight if you’re available.”

Enzo smiled back at me. “I should have a hand free.”

“Perfect.”

“Bene,” Enzo said. We said our goodbyes again and hung up the call. I sat back in my chair for a moment, soft dick still in my hand, my breathing soft and slow. My entire world felt like there was a hazy, dreamlike quality to it. I hadn’t felt this good in so long, I let it wash over me. And not only did I feel good, but I was also excited. I couldn’t wait until later, when I could actually hold Enzo in my hands, touch him and kiss him and suck him. It was enough to start getting me hard again.

I shook it off and stood up, pulling up my pants and looking down at the sticky white mess on the dark hardwood. I grabbed some tissues and cleaned it up, throwing it away in the black wastebin sitting next to a tall and leafy pot of bamboo.

Typically I wasn’t a huge fan of big festivities, but I was feeling like I could take on the world right then, so I wasn’t bothered as I locked up my office and made my way downstairs toward the common area. Every step I took felt like a little cloud was underneath the soles of my feet, giving me a bounce that was probably obvious to anyone paying close attention.

The building was set up to have four offices on the first floor and mine on the top. We also owned the building next door, which made space for ten more detectives. Today we were celebrating two new detectives joining Stonewall Investigations. We were a close-knit bunch and often worked together on different cases, so the extra help was something we were all looking forward to. I made sure to choose the two candidates who not only were the most experienced, but also the two that I felt could gel with the rest of the team.

“There he is!” Andrew called from the far side of the room, drawing everyone’s attention to me as I walked in. The common room was packed with smiling faces. There were balloons of all different colors floating throughout the room, their white strings falling down like roots, giving the impression of a perpetual rainbow hanging above. “Zane, we’ve been holding off on the speeches. You’re up first.”

A speech? Shit, I wasn’t ready for all that.

Everyone’s eyes were on me as the crowd formed a semicircle around me. That was when Andrew waved a hand in the air. “I’m just teasing, there’s no speeches planned.”

My eyes narrowed at him before laughing. “Hi, everyone,” I said, giving a big general wave. “I won’t give a speech because I know half of you would probably fall asleep standing, but I do want to welcome the two newest additions to our Stonewall family. Where’s Leo and— Ah, there they are. Come up here. Everyone, give a round of applause for Leo and Wanda.”

The two of them came up to shake my hand, big smiles on both their faces. Leo was the younger of the pair, although Wanda didn’t appear a day over twenty-one. They both stood with proud shoulders and strong chests, both having military experience. Leo had come from another private investigators’ office, where he was the top-producing detective, but the company had gone under. Thankfully for me, because it freed up one of the best detectives in all of New York.

Wanda was just as good, but she was slightly more green. She’d worked as a police officer after coming back home from a yearlong tour in Iraq. She left the force when she realized she wanted to solve crimes before they happened instead of responding to them as they happened. She studied up mostly on her own before working for a well-known law firm. She was a “say it the way I see it” kind of woman, and I liked that about her. Both she and Leo had come dressed a little nicer than we all normally dressed for work, with Wanda wearing an expensive-looking dark blue dress cut just above her knees and Leo wearing a white button-up with khakis and a casual gray sports jacket.

“These two are sharp and determined. I’ve got confidence that our team just got much, much stronger.” Another round of applause and a few hoots. “All right, so let’s go around and say something about ourselves that makes us special. Andrew, you first.”

“Me, oh, um, well, let’s see.”

“Kidding, kidding.” The crowd laughed at that. Andrew’s cheeks turned pink after he got a dose of his own medicine. I laughed along, glad that we could all get along so well. “Leo, Wanda, you guys want to say anything?”

Wanda stepped forward, her heavy black heels sounding on the floor. “Hi, everyone! I’ve met all of you by now, and I just want to say I’m really excited to be working with you all. Our community needs people fighting for it, and I think we’re doing just that. I’m ready to help out and solve cases.” She clapped along with the rest before stepping to the side so Leo could step forward.

“Hey, everyone,” he said, a little more bashful than Wanda. He didn’t seem as comfortable with all the attention turned to him. “I think I’ve met pretty much all of you already, too, and like Wanda said, I’m excited to be part of the team. I see a lot of good things happening. For all of us.” He looked around, keeping his hands in his pockets as the rest of the gang clapped. He bowed his head and smiled, taking a step back and standing in line with Wanda and me.

“Perfect,” I said, gaining back the attention of the room. “So we’ve got subs, I hear, along with a cookie platter and some beer in the fridge. Everyone, take some time to relax and recharge. We all know that rested minds solve the cases. An hour or so away from your desk won’t be the end of the world.”

I could already tell Ryland and Cole were itching to get back to their offices. I didn’t blame them; they were working on important cases. I knew they would step out in five minutes or so, which was completely fine with me. Andrew was standing with Theresa, a hawk-eyed detective with a penchant for dating bad guys, and Alejandro, a detective who could solve a Rubik’s cube while working on a sudoku puzzle all while auditioning for American Idol. And he’d probably win, too. Seriously, that guy had a voice in him that blew off whatever roof he was standing under, and the roofs next door to that, too.

I walked over to them, bringing Wanda with me while Leo chatted with Mark and Owen, two detectives who worked best when they were together. We were all thinking the same thing about the two of them, but neither of the men ever confirmed any suspicions. For now, they were two detectives who had an excellent working relationship between them.

“Posted up next to the cookie tray, good strategy.” I put an arm around Andrew’s shoulders and gave him a little hello shake. He bit into a cookie and spoke, covering his mouth with his hand.

“I’ve learned from the best,” he said.

He was right. I would have done the exact same thing had I gotten here earlier. I reached for a white-chocolate-chip cookie and broke it in half, offering the rest to Wanda.

“Thank you, but I’m trying to watch my figure. I have a wedding coming up.”

“No kidding!” Andrew managed to swallow the rest of his cookie. “When?”

“Two months from now,” Wanda said, beaming from ear to ear. “We’re having a small ceremony back at her parents’ farm in Texas.”

“How exciting,” Andrew replied. He appeared to be genuinely excited, and so was I. It was hard not to be with how infectious Wanda’s joy about the wedding was. “Well, we’re going to have to meet the lucky lady soon. Is everything already set, or are you both still running around like chickens without their heads? Oh wait, is that insensitive? Since the wedding’s at the farm?”

The group laughed along at Andrew’s sudden fear of offending Wanda, a clearly badass woman who’d probably seen a headless chicken or two in her lifetime.

“Both of us have our heads attached, thankfully. We’re both just excited for the big day, now. It’s not traditional with an aisle or church or anything. She’ll be wearing a beautiful dress, but not a wedding dress. I’ll be wearing a suit. A kickass suit if I’m being honest. And we’ll walk out to our close family and friends with my sister playing the piano.”

“I love it,” Andrew said, lifting his hands to his chest. “If you need someone to release doves or set off fireworks, let me know. I’m your guy.”

“Got it,” Wanda said, laughing. I laughed along, although this talk of weddings was driving my thoughts back to my own wedding, a day that was straight out of one of my wildest, happiest dreams. A dream was all it felt like, now. It didn’t feel like it actually happened.

The welcome party continued on for a bit, with everyone mingling and chatting about cases, family life, or what was the newest hot-topic show on TV. At one point during the party, I looked around the room and felt really damn good about the team I had put together. And this was only at the New York office. I had many more talented detectives all around the United States, working to help the underserved when no one else would.

A chime rang through the room over the chatter. “Oh, that’s the doorbell. Let me go check who’s here.” Andrew set his red cup down on the table and walked out of the room and into the hallway. I was left standing with Alejandro, one of the first detectives I ever hired at Stonewall. We were discussing a case he was working on involving a hit-and-run where the driver fled the scene.

“I think you’re definitely on the right—” I was cut off by Andrew, who had run back into the room and straight for me.

“Zane,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath. His face was ghost pale. “You have to come.”

“What happened?” I asked, hurrying out of the room with Andrew leading the way down the hall. I could tell the party behind me was cut short as people followed along, no doubt picking up on the concern.

Andrew reached the open door and stepped aside. The cold New York air blew in from outside, the tree branches making a chorus of noise as they whipped together. I looked down and saw a black box, about the size of a shoebox, but it was square. The lid had already been removed, no doubt by Andrew.

Inside the box was a red velvet pillow, its luxe fabric shimmering in the sunlight. On top of the pillow, right on the center, was a black figurine. A horse… no, there was one long, menacing horn protruding from its forehead. And there was a note folded up and pierced right down the center.

“Fuck,” I said, while someone behind me gasped.