Page 23 of Cash

“Hey, hey. Calm down.” Jules stood and reached for Brick, gently grabbing his arms. “It really ain’t that bad.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” Brick demanded.

“Eh…” Jules’s brow furrowed. “You really wanna know that?”

“Oh fuck.” Brick swayed forward, catching himself on Jules’s chest and doing his absolute best not to freak out. “That’s a yes. That’s totally a yes.”

“Allegedly.”

Brick laughed hysterically. “Allegedly, he says. Wow, I feel so much better.”

“Now you’re definitely bein’ sarcastic.”

“No fucking shit, Jules!”

Brick’s hot mysterious neighbor was actually a cold-blooded thug for the mob. And not just any mob, but the Gentlemen, an organization that had apparently been operating in Strassen Springs for decades and had remained completely untouchable.

He should be terrified. He should be running screaming to the door and calling the cops right now. But there was something in his brain that was yearning to stay and learn more. He reasoned he needed more information to be more in control of the situation, but it was clear he wasn’t the one calling the shots here.

Jules was in charge, without a doubt.

And Brick wasn’t sure how much he actually minded.

“Here. Sit down.” Jules guided Brick back to the sofa. When they sat down, their knees were touching, and Jules kept a hand on Brick’s leg. “Drink. Take a few deep breaths.”

“Shit.” Brick took a swig from his glass as soon as Jules topped him off. “So, you’re really part of the gay mafia?”

“Basically. I mean, that wasn't the plan when we started out. Just kinda happened that way.”

“Wow.” Brick laughed. “There really is a gay mafia. That’s hilarious.”

“In Strassen, anyway.”

Brick set his glass down so he could rub his face. His nose was still sore, and his head was fuzzy from the booze. The combination of alcohol and head trauma had to be why thinking of Jules as a gangster was making him even more sexy. It was certainly the reason Brick was getting hot remembering how easily Jules had messed up those guys at his house.

Crap.

“So.” Brick clicked his tongue. “You’re a member of the gay mafia, but you’ve never… you know?”

“Nope.” Jules smirked.

“Never ever not once been with a guy?”

“Not once.”

Wanna be with one right now? Brick fought not to say it out loud.

“Had some chances. I mean, you know.” Jules shrugged his big, deliciously broad shoulders. “My brother took a few years to figure his shit out. If I was gonna do it with a guy, it probably woulda been him. He’s a good lookin’ guy like you.”

Brick breezed right by the compliment. “So, uh, no? Nothing ever happened?”

“Nah. It ain’t like that. He’s family. Woulda been weird.”

“Right.” Brick shifted, immediately hating how loudly the leather squeaked. “So.”

“Just never met a guy that got me hard before.” Jules glanced over Brick appraisingly. “Well, except you.”

Brick couldn’t have heard that correctly. “Excuse me?”

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