Page 66 of Gentleman Sadist

He hopped on his bike after sending Manic a quick text to let Buck out and to feed the beast before starting for Tampa Bay. The information Duncan gave them turned over in his mind. Tristan stole identities, of that he was sure. Charles could be his real name, but Robert had a sneaky suspicion it wasn’t.TherealCharles was probably fighting the charges against him at the moment. About the only truth he'd given Will was Lou's name and the poor old man didn't even know what was going on around him because his attention had probably been on his wife.

Though, if he was being practical, he should consider Lou a suspect too, because the man was in debt over his head. The care for his wife had to be astronomical. Heisting paints and precious art would compensate him enough to pay for his wife’s care without even batting an eye at the expense. Robert hated the idea. It twisted his gut, but until everyone could be cleared, all of the drivers for Da Vinci were active suspects.

Since he’d left at the right time in the afternoon, the traffic had been light enough to make it to Tampa with minimal congestion. He glanced at his watch and decided to go to the store to buy stuff to make dinner for them. He noticed Will enjoyed the fact Robert cooked. He relished Robert’s food making tiny sounds at the back of his throat with each bite turning Robert on as he sat there watching his lover enjoy their breakfast.

Shit, I’m in deep with him.The thought had him smirking. He spent a good portion of his life prepping for the day he’d meet the man he’d claim. He worked hard building up his corner of the world and in a few years, if the club continued to grow like it was, he could retire from the Bureau and take over the club full time instead of making Manic do most of the work, since Ace was still flying missions for the Air Force and wasn’t available.

Robert made quick work of picking up food for dinner then headed to the house. When he pulled up to the curb, Will had pulled into the driveway with Dio beside him. The furball was an excellent protector, but also the goofiest German Shepard he’d ever seen. Robert waved and held up the bags in his hands in offering as Will got out of his SUV.

“A man after my heart,” Will said, joining Robert in the driveway then added in a whispered tone, “Good evening, Master.”

Robert captured Will’s mouth in a searing kiss. “Damn, I needed that. Let’s get inside before we give your neighbors a show.”

Will giggled then hurried for the door off of his garage, Dio on his heels. "I'm a little surprised to see you today. I figured you'd be super busy."

"I have been. However, I wanted to see you." Robert placed the groceries on the counter then pinned Will to the wall behind the man. Robert ran his hands up Will's sides then fisted his hands over his head. Robert groaned. “I think we should fuck the stress of the day out. What do you think, boy?”

Will stared at him and swallowed hard. “Yes, Master.”

“So agreeable,” Robert murmured. “But we have pressing matters first.” He let go of Will’s hands then turned away to adjust himself.

“What’s wrong?” He heard the hint of worry in Will’s voice and Robert hated it. Tristan and Mathias put that into him. They made him feel less than and if it took Robert the rest of his life to prove to Will not all masters or guys were douchey pricks, then he’d spend the rest of his life showing Will the truth.

“Would you believe we finally have a picture of our suspect, or in these cases, suspects?” Robert glanced over his shoulder as he placed items for their dinner on the counter.

“You do?” Will walked around the counter to face Robert.

“You should know, the Orlando Museum of Natural History was hit today,” he said.

“No. Not Amelia.” Will covered his mouth. “This is getting out of hand. You have to stop them, Robert!”

He understood Will’s anger, he felt the same way. “We’re close. Tell me, do you know Amelia Reynosa very well?”

Will nodded as he went to the cabinet next to the refrigerator and then to a small humidor next to the dishwasher. He pulled out a bottle of wine and placed it on the counter along with the two wine glasses. "She's young—younger than me. She was a docent for the TBMA for years. According to Ted, she started at sixteen, and only when she graduated college did she finally quit. She's knowledgeable in cultural history. Her specialties include the Chinese Dynasties, along with Aztec and Mayan history and art. She's proficient in seven languages including, German, Arabic, French, Mandarin, and Nahuatl. She's a genius and puts all of us to shame in our curator clique. She's been on several archeology digs, whereas I've only been on one—not that I'm jealous or anything and she's so adorably funny. You'd love her."

Robert winced. It appeared Will had a little hero worship where the girl was concerned. “I met her briefly today. She was quite inconsolable when we spoke.”

“I bet,” Will said. “Which painting was taken?”

“Yinhuì,” Robert said. “By?—”

"Jun Bao Ling," Will said with a gasp. "Oh no. She worked so hard to have the piece brought to the museum."

“You know the piece, I take it?” Robert pushed his sleeves up on the way to the sink.

“Yes,” Will said, pouring each of them a glass of wine. “She had to petition the Chinese government and everything to have the painting brought here. It’s fragile too.” He took a sip of the red wine. “If you think the Lowe Art Museum has precious pieces, you have no idea what Amelia has been bringing to the Orlando Museum of Natural History. She’s turning that place into theItspot in Florida. Trust me when I say, she’ll be the head curator for The Louvre before the age of thirty-five.”

Robert believed him and he heard the pride and reverence in Will's voice when he talked about the young girl he'd met earlier. "Well, then we should get to it. In my bag on the table is my phone. Bring it here and I'll unlock it then you can look at the picture and tell me if you recognize the man." Will cradled his glass of wine to him as he retrieved the device and brought it back to Robert. When he unlocked the phone, he handed it back to Will. "I have the picture cued up for you so it should be there when you hit enter."

Will did as Robert said then whimpered. “That’s...” He trembled as he wobbled over to the table to sit down. “That’s Tristan. The blond. Lou isn’t there. Those guys are Tristan’s co-workers. I’ve seen them several times, but I don’t know their names.” A single tear rolled down Will’s cheek and his bottom lip quivered. “How stupid am I?”

"Don't do it, boy," Robert snarled. "You didn't do anything wrong. Tristan did it all. But, since you've confirmed the identity of the man in this photo, we can proceed to drawing up the charges as soon as my other contacts finish their job."

“You found something else?” Will glanced up at Robert.

“Well, I remembered you said there was a master key, I thought perhaps if the courier used it, there might be a signature in the system to tell us who was in there and erased everything.” Robert began chopping up the vegetables to distract himself from the pain he saw in Will’s amber eyes. “Why don’t you go grab a bath and get comfortable, baby. You deserve it after everything.”

Will gave him a small smile. “I like it when you call me, baby. Boy is for when we play. But, baby makes me feel warm and secure.”

---