Greystone Place
11:50 p.m.
The doorbell chimed, the Westminster notes resonating through the cavernous entry hall.
Mark Hanover stalled in his retreat toward the stairs. A frown furrowed his brow. An unexpected guest at this hour could only mean misfortune. If there was an abrupt drop or gain in the Asian stock market he would have received notification. The European market was hardly worth worrying about these days and the US market grew more volatile every day.
Perhaps luck was with him tonight and his ex-wife had run off to Vegas to wed her latest lover. The sooner she was married again or dead—either would be quite acceptable to him—the sooner she would stop running through his money. He despised the contemptible bitch. The only thing he loathed more than her was the alimony he was forced to pay. He should have taken care of her already.
Then again, perhaps he had. He’d paid her latest boy toy a small fortune to keep her distracted. A wedding contract came with a sizable bonus.
Mark checked the small monitor next to the front door. Steven Devine. He smiled. He’d wondered when this moment would come. Frankly he was surprised Bobbie Gentry wasn’t with him. Steven stood on the other side of the door, the landscape lighting illuminating the anger and frustration radiating from every delicious inch of him.
Mark hesitated only a moment before disarming the security system and unlocking the door. Since he had nothing to hide from the handsome detective, the fact that he was ready for bed was of no significance. He drew the door open. “Well, well, what have we here?”
Devine took one look at him and turned his head.
Mark smiled. He always slept naked. After a rigorous workout each night he showered and didn’t bother with clothes until he readied to go into the office. Annoyed the hell out of his ex-wife. Apparently his unexpected visitor wasn’t pleased about it, either. “If you’re planning to come inside, I’ll find a robe if that makes you more comfortable.”
Devine still refused to meet his gaze. “I’ll wait here until you do.”
“Very well.” Mark turned his back and started for the staircase once more. He took his own good time. When he reached the landing his penis was fully erect. He wasn’t ashamed of his aging body. He went to great lengths to keep himself fit. Not one lover had ever complained about his physique. As for sexual prowess, Mark had never been better.
He walked across his bedroom and into the closet. He fingered through the choice of silk robes until he found the one he wanted. He donned the exquisite royal blue robe and made his way back downstairs, anticipation sizzling along his nerve endings. Steven Devine had grown into quite a handsome man. But then, Mark had known he would. His gaze rested on the other man’s as he descended the final step. His mouth was as perfectly shaped, his lips as lush as ever.
The detective, still dressed in his sharp suit, stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind him. His stare was menacing. The blue of his eyes burning through Mark like laser beams. He shivered with delight.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” Steven said, his voice a low growl, the sound making Mark even hornier, “but it won’t work.”
Mark laughed softly. “It appears it has already worked.” The French clock he’d found years ago in a little place in Avignon began its deep resounding count of the midnight hour. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
Steven sprang like a panther, shoving Mark into the nearest wall and moving in so close he could feel the anger humming through the younger man’s body. “I will not let you get away with this.”
Mark’s heart raced with the deep growl of his voice and the underlying threat of physical harm. “How could you possibly hope to stop me?”
The muzzle of his weapon was suddenly shoved against the soft underside of Mark’s chin. He shuddered with the excitement of it, his cock throbbed against the silk fabric of his robe, nudging the other man.
“You ruined my childhood,” Steven warned. “You will not ruin this.”
“I gave you what you wanted,” Mark whispered, his mouth yearning to taste the saltiness of his skin, the sweetness of his tongue. He was ready to explode with need.
Steven encircled his throat with the long fingers of one hand. “You raped a child, you son of a bitch.”
Mark closed his eyes, remembering how tight Steven had been. He drew in a deep breath, smelling the last traces of the cologne Steven had applied that morning. Dear God, he could eat him alive. “When did you ever complain?”
Steven’s handsome face was twisted with the fury coursing through his lean body. Mark had never wanted to fuck anyone as much as he wanted to fuck Steven right now.
“She sees what you’re doing,” Steven cautioned. “And we are going to get you.”
Mark laughed, loving this more than he ever imagined possible. “You don’t scare me. I will never be caught and you’re not going to be the knight in shining armor who charges in and changes that fact. I’m untouchable. I always have been.”
“You’re interfering with an official investigation,” he said through gritted teeth. “She’ll back me up. Wait and see.”
“She,” Mark said, “is as helpless as you are. I could destroy you with one simple phone call.”
Some of the anger drained from his face. Mark smiled. Oh, yes. This was worth whatever the cost...whatever the risk.
Steven drew back, lowered his weapon and visibly attempted to calm himself. “This is your final warning, back off.”
Mark laughed long and deep as Steven stormed out the door. He wasn’t concerned in the least about the spitfire who’d worked so hard all these years to turn himself into a well-respected detective who fought crime and sought justice for the innocent.
Mark knew his deepest, darkest secrets.