Page 42 of Endangered Species
“I am not okay with you living in a cage for the next year, with talking to you on the phone every night and stealing hours in this trailer. I love you. I want a life with you. You deserve better than this. You deserve all the things they denied you, and I’m going to get them for you.”
Cy’s face felt hot, and tears pricked the back of his eyes. Nobody had ever fought as hard for him as Nicky had. Not ever. Nobody had ever cared about Cy enough for him to be more than an afterthought. “You’re really the sweetest man…when you’re not craving my dick.”
Nicky smirked. “Aww, that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. But, for the record, I’m always craving your dick.”
“How was your dick appointment?”
Webster leveled a glare at Wyatt’s best friend, Charlie. She sat curled in one of Elite’s conference room chairs, her long chestnut hair caught in a high pony. Her leggings and crop top made it look like she should be on her way to the gym, but her snowy white sneakers told Webster it was more than likely just an aesthetic. Charlie wasn’t really known for her love of sweating, unless it was on a mattress or possibly a dance floor.
Webster rolled his eyes. “I didn’t have a dick appointment. It was a conjugal visit.”
“Isn’t that just a dick appointment with handcuffs?” she asked, spinning her chair.
“No, it’s a dick appointment with feelings,” he said before adding begrudgingly, “They wouldn’t let us keep the handcuffs.”
Charlie snorted. “I can’t believe you went to prison and fell in love with your cellmate. Your cellmate who’s also your brother. Ugh, it's so Lifetime Movie Network. I fucking love it.”
“I really wish people would stop calling him my brother now that we’re dating. It just leads to awkward questions.”
“Like, why are you dating your brother?” she asked, then cackled like the witch she was.
“Why are you even here?” Webster asked, his tone becoming churlish.
She shrugged. “Waiting for Wyatt. We’re taking Elijah, Robby, and Day to a drag brunch.”
Webster gave her an exasperated look. “It’s Monday morning. Who brunches on a Monday?”
Charlie flashed him a grin. “Well, today, an out of work actress, a cam boy, a movie star, and a former cult member, but we live in LA. The town’s full of out of work actors and rich people, neither of which have day jobs. We have a lot of free time to fill. Duh,” she said without even a hint of humility.
Before Webster could think of a good retort, there was a knock on the open conference room door, drawing both their attention.
Two men stood just outside, both the same height, dressed in dark suits. The one on the left was pale with red hair, green eyes, and freckles. The other was his antithesis, olive skin, thick black hair, and brown eyes. Webster clocked them as Feds right away. Unfortunately, Charlie did not. Or maybe she did. It was hard to say with her. She gave them her most dazzling smile. “Hey, boys. You’re new.”
The men both grinned at Charlie. “Hi,” the ginger said. “I’m Special Agent Fields. This is Special Agent Watts with the Department of Justice. We were told our meeting would take place in here.”
Charlie grinned. “Lucky me.”
“Charlie,” Webster warned.
Fields squinted at her. “You look so familiar. Have I seen you in something?”
Charlie slid her gaze to Webster before asking, “I don’t know. Do you watch a lot of porn?”
“Charlie!” Webster snapped, exasperated.
“What?” Charlie asked, her voice full of mock innocence. She picked up her expensive handbag and gave them both a hard once over. “Do you have a card? You know, just in case I ever need anything investigated?”
Watts eyed his partner with a smirk before asking Charlie, “Whose card do you want?”
She glanced pointedly at their left hands, raising a brow when she saw no rings. “Do I have to choose?”
Webster rolled his eyes as both agents dove their hands into their pockets, handing Charlie their cards like they were handing her a rose onThe Bachelor. She looked at both their cards, biting her lower lip and smiling, before wiggling between the two of them. “Thanks, boys.”
Linc stopped just outside the conference room door, giving a strange look to Charlie and the two agents. He held out his hand, shaking with each of them in turn. “I’m Lincoln Hudson, I manage Elite’s LA office. That’s Nicholas Webster, our IT guy who started this whole mess.” Webster gave a two-fingered salute. “We were hoping to show you the case we’ve built so far and see what more you need to start an official investigation.”
Before Linc could say anything more, Charlie passed with Wyatt in tow. He hooked an arm around Linc’s neck, standing on tiptoe to smack a loud kiss on his cheek. “We’re taking the Mercedes. See ya, Daddy. We’ll Uber if we get too drunk.”
The two agents gaped at Linc, who just sighed and shook his head, gesturing for them all to sit, probably so he could close the door to keep them from seeing any more of the Elite back office circus.
