Gamble Read online

  I sighed because it didn’t matter. I still would have gone through with interrogating Richard the way we had. “Fuck it, just tell us what you found out about Richard.”

  He nodded. “He is planning on forcing you to kill Zia. He wants you to eliminate them all so he can live. He knows as long as members of the Killing Game knows he’s alive, he’ll be a liability to them. He knows that by going to Russia, he is going to his death, not for protection. One name that was mentioned was Philip Taylor Wright, in the sense that he was someone Richard wanted dead. From what Richard knew of him, he suspected he was a board member. You get to him, you get to the other board members of the Killing Game. Apparently, that was who Zia answered to.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned. That is definitely something to work with. Jordan—”

  “I’m already on it,” Jordan said, sitting down at his computer station, fingers on the keyboard.

  “Richard also has an FBI agent and cop in his pocket.”

  “Yeah, they go by Miss Swiss and Mr. Black,” I said. “We learned about them during my surveillance before I got caught,” I said.

  “That is their aliases, right? I managed to catch the name of the FBI agent. Emilio Ortiz. He’s hoping that he’ll help him fake his death if need be,” Bishop said.

  “The names just keep rolling in.” I looked at Alexi. “How did you know he’d let his guard down like that?”

  Alexi shrugged both shoulders. “Experience. Intuition. While thinking about other scenarios, it allowed him to think about his next move. If he was able to convince you to help break him out of this place, what would he do next?”

  “I can tell you,” Bishop said.

  “Oh, what was his plan?” I asked.

  “To kill you because you were a witness to him being kidnapped. According to him, you knew too much, the robber version of you. Then he was going to see if he could get anything off that computer. He was going to rummage through your shit to see what he could find on you. Then he was going to expose the vigilante you to his cop friends so they could arrest you and Jordan,” Bishop revealed.

  “That dirty bastard. No honor among thieves, I suppose. And to think… I was never going to set him free.” I shook my head as if I was disappointed in Richard.

  “I’ve got some information on our two new players,” Jordan said, and we all walked over to join him at his station. All of our eyes followed the screens that displayed the data he rattled off. “Philip has his hands involved in several business ventures including real estate, home development, and is the CEO of Wright Premium Insurance.”

  “Which means he could easily bury a body under the rubble of a new home his company built,” I commented.

  “He is worth millions,” Jordan said, and we all looked at the photo of a man in his mid-sixties with a head full of silver hair. His face was aged, but you could see that Father Time had been kind to him. Must come from living a life of very little stress. He also looked to be in shape from how well his tailored suit fitted him. Oh, how I wanted to bury him in that fucking suit that no doubt cost more than some people’s annual income.

  “Anything you can find on him that links him to the Killing Game?” Alexi asked.

  “So far, nothing. But I’m running all the programs I can to see if anything pops up. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though, if he is one of the board members, he would be smart enough to not leave a paper trail if Richard Tate didn’t,” Jordan said.

  Alexi sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “What about that FBI agent?”

  “Emilio is highly decorated. Even won an award for his valor. Only one complaint, but it was resolved,” Jordan said, reading off what he’d learned about the agent.

  “What about his bank accounts?” I asked.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary. Direct deposit of his paycheck. No huge lump sums of cash.”

  “The government’s eyes do catch transfers of ten grand or more,” Bishop stated.

  “Must be because he gets paid in cash, which he doesn’t all put in accounts. What about any luxury living?” Alexi asked.

  “Nothing crazy. No extravagant trips to Fiji, no expensive purchases, nothing that would make anyone curious as to how he’s living beyond his FBI means. To be honest, if he is on Richard’s payroll and is getting money under the table, I admire his restraint to not enjoy it. I guess they would have had my ass investigated if it were me. I have no restraint,” Jordan said. “I like nice things.”

  “Maybe it’s not money that Richard has over him that keeps Emilio working for him,” Bishop suggested.

  “In any case, what that FBI agent knows about Richard may be the only thing that links him to any crimes. We might be able to take them both down,” Alexi said.

  “But first, we need to establish that the two are even connected. We don’t have that yet,” I said.

  “Not yet, but we have a name and address,” Bishop said. “That’s a start.”

  “Are we going to pay him a visit tonight?” I asked.

  “Not if we want to get some sleep before our flight to Russia. He’ll just have to wait, bigger fish to catch. I’m hopeful that when we do drop what we know on Richard, he might reveal what we need to take him or at least Emilio down and we won’t need to pay the agent a visit until we’re ready,” Bishop said.

  I pursed my lips and nodded. Having a mind reader on the team was really paying the fuck off. “Fair enough. Let’s all try to get some sleep, we only have about four hours before we have to get to the airport.”

  “So, ummm, where do we sleep?” Bishop asked.

  “I see a sofa I could claim,” Alexi said, looking at the one sofa we owned. It was a comfy piece of furniture, so I was sure he’d enjoy it.

  Fact of the matter was, I was hoping Alexi could sleep with Jordan and me. And by the look on Jordan’s face as he eyed both Bishop and Alexi, he was hoping all four of us could squeeze into our king sized bed. Granted, it was a California king and could probably fit all of us comfortably. There was just the matter of if the other two would agree.

  “Well, umm, we could all sleep in our bed,” I said, making the bold suggestion.

  “A foursome?” Bishop cocked an eyebrow.

  “I’m not really in the mood to fuck any of you, to be honest,” Alexi said.

  “No, just to sleep,” I said.

  “Y’all work it out, I’m going to bed,” Jordan said, then made his way upstairs to our bedroom.

  I was left there staring at two men who I knew on two different levels. One, I knew very intimately, like what his asshole tasted like. The other… I wanted to know what his asshole tasted like. I scratched the back of my head. “Look, I get it. You’re still trying to figure us out, Alexi. That’s fine. I won’t try to make any moves on you.”

  “What about me?” Bishop asked. “I know what you want to do with me.”

  Mind reading son of a bitch, I guessed he did. “Yeah, I’m all for open relationships.”

  “I am too,” Alexi said.

  “I won’t object,” Bishop said.

  “But we really do just need to sleep. I’m too tired to try anything with any of you, anyway. You can sleep on the sofa, floor, that chair,” I said, pointing to the comfy recliner we had. “Or you can sleep in the bed with J and me. Up to you.” I didn’t waste anymore time with them, though it was good to know we were all on the same page in the fact that we all wanted to fuck one another. If only we didn’t have death and gloom looming over us, this night could have ended so much better. I walked away and headed upstairs to join Jordan.

  He was already snoring and snuggled in. I stripped to my underwear, then climbed in behind him, wrapping my arms around his narrow waist. About five minutes later, the door opened and I peeked to see which one was daring to enter the Thunderdome. Both of them walked to opposite sides of the bed. Bishop climbed in on the other side of Jordan after he undressed. Alexi climbed in and slid up to me, fully naked. The semi-hardness of his cock nearly had me swooning. But
when he put his arm around my waist, I wanted to cry because it gave me so much hope.

  I took one arm off of Jordan to place over Alexi’s. This was a life I could live every day. Well, Bishop would have to let me do me when I was out patrolling, but if he could make that compromise, I didn’t see why Jordan couldn’t have his fun while we all had fun together. Hopefully, that could be our future. For now, I’d take this. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off to blissful sleep. We had a big day ahead of us and I wanted to be ready for anything.

  CHAPTER THREE

  I woke up with Alexi kissing the back of my neck. It took me a minute to realize that it was him and not Jordan. I opened my eyes and saw that Jordan and Bishop weren’t in the bed, let alone the room. It was just Alexi and me. I turned my head, catching his lips with mine in a gentle kiss. He reached around in front of me, taking my cock into his hand, and began stroking my hardening flesh just the way he knew I liked it. I moaned and began to pull my underwear off with Alexi’s help.

  With my underwear out of the way, I slipped my hand between us, grabbing hold of his hard-as-stone erection. I guessed the gamble I took on telling him the truth about me was paying off. I slicked the head of his cock using his own precum and aimed it at my hole.

  “I need a condom,” Alexi said.

  “No, you don’t. I can’t catch anything or give you anything,” I said. “My healing factor.”

  “Well, aren’t you lucky,” he said, then slid his cock deep inside me.

  I gasped, because I still had to adjust to his size. My Silver Fox was well-endowed and my hole was damn near virgin-tight. I didn’t complain about the little pain I experienced, because this moment was well worth it. To have this again with Alexi… it was everything. He kissed my lips, cheek, and temple as he fucked me and stroked my cock. I loved submitting to him and I think he needed this just as much as I did. He needed to know and feel that I was the same man he’d fallen in love with. I could be vulnerable with him, gentle, loving.

  I grabbed the back of his head as we made love, pressing his lips closer to my flesh. My body was ignited with passion and pleasure as his cock rubbed me in all the wonderful ways a hard dick could. The bed rocked and creaked under our movements and weight, and I wondered how much it would be rocking if all four of us were in it getting busy?

  It didn’t take either of us long before that moment hit us. When I felt his cock swell inside my ass just as mine swelled inside his palm, I was so aroused and so was Alexi that we put each other to shame with how fast we came. Despite the timing, the intensity was out of this world. Sparks shot off behind my eyelids as cum squirted from my dick, soaking the sheets. My pants and growls were kind of loud as was Alexi’s as he flooded my asshole with his nut. We quaked hard against each other, trembling and panting as the pleasure took us to all the right places. Sadly, it was over no sooner than it began and we slumped back on the bed, Alexi rolling over onto his back, his cock sliding out of my hole in the process, leaving me feeling a little empty.

  Neither one of us said anything at first. I knew I didn’t want to ruin the moment by risking a stupid response to the magic that just happened.

  “This… whatever this was, doesn’t mean I forgive you for lying to me,” Alexi said.

  I licked my lips, then turned to look at him. Damn, he was so fucking handsome and he looked at me with beautiful green eyes, so sincere. It broke my heart that I had hurt him so. “I hope one day you can. I didn’t mean to betray you, Alexi. I only wanted to take out the real threat to so many innocent people. This,” I gestured between our bodies, “was never a part of my original plan. Falling in love with you sure wasn’t, but it happened.”

  He sighed and nodded. “We need to get ready,” he said.

  Well, that was one way to end this post-coital awkwardness.

  I nodded and climbed out of bed. “I might have something that fits you in the closet.”

  “Why would you… never mind,” he said, then climbed out of the bed.

  I guessed he’d figured I’d have clothes, at least an outfit or two, to accommodate whichever form I’d taken. I was glad that he accepted that part of me, the enhanced part, especially since I had to turn into the form Richard was used to seeing me in. It hurt like hell, but it was necessary. I never wanted Richard to see my real face or have my real fingerprints, et cetera.

  “That is some freaky shit, just so you know,” Alexi said after I’d finished my transformation.

  “I thought I was a marvel,” I commented.

  “You are, and that is still some freaky shit.”

  I laughed, because I totally got it. “Trust me, I know. Should have seen how weirded out I was to learn that I could do it.”

  “Oh, I can imagine. Maybe you’ll tell me that story one day.”

  “I will.” I smiled, then went into my closet to pull out some clothes for us.

  I gave Alexi a pair of black jeans and a pullover shirt just his size. I gave it to him, then hopped into the shower. He joined me to cut down on the time, because no hanky-panky went down. I climbed out and toweled off, then got dressed in a black turtle neck, pants, and blazer. I wanted to look every bit the part of a private security agent Richard would hire. Alexi put on the outfit I had given him. He wouldn’t be going with us, but at least he didn’t have to wear the same clothes twice. Before I left the room, I grabbed a pair of sunglasses. I couldn’t wear my mask, but this was the next best thing.

  “Let’s join the others,” he said.

  I followed him out of the bedroom and down the stairs to where Jordan had set out some breakfast burritos he’d made. They smelled great and my mouth watered to get one inside.

  “Where’s Bishop?” I asked as I reached for one of the burritos.

  “He had to grab some clothes, said he’d be back within an hour. I don’t know about you two, but I’m exhausted. Hopefully, you can get plenty of rest on the plane with your long flight,” Jordan said.

  Well, that was true. I thought it was best if Bishop and I took turns watching over Richard while one of us managed to catch some Zs. “Great idea.”

  “While you two are in Russia, I’ll do my best to dig up anything I can on Emilio and Philip,” Jordan said.

  “Perfect.” I grabbed another burrito and made short work of it.

  There was a knock at the door and J got up to answer it.

  “It’s Bishop,” he announced, then opened the door.

  Like me, Bishop was dressed in all black with a button-down shirt, blazer, and pants with patent-leather shoes that shined enough to see one’s reflection. Show off. “Oooh, are those breakfast burritos?” he asked as he made a beeline for the dining table and its goodies.

  “I’m glad I already ate two with you greedy bastards here,” Jordan said with a shake of his head.

  Alexi was also enjoying J’s culinary skills. “They’re delicious.”

  “Thanks. I just wanted to make sure you had something good to eat before your mission.” Jordan smiled.

  I took one more burrito, then rose to gather Richard. “We don’t have time for him to eat a bowl of cereal, so I’ll just give him this. Not that he deserves it, the motherfucker.”

  “Oh, I made him a sandwich—ham,” Jordan said.

  “Even better.” I decided to eat the burrito myself. J handed me the sandwich, plain, no cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, none of that. Good, the asshole didn’t deserve to eat well after what he’d done or was planning to do had he been freed.

  “I got an outfit for him, too,” Bishop said. “Can’t very well board a public plane with him looking and smelling like he is.”

  “True, he’ll need a shower.” I gathered the garments Bishop gave to me.

  I took notice of Bishop’s eyes roaming up and down my body. “What?” I asked.

  “Looking awfully dapper, I see. You clean up nicely,” he commented.

  I rolled my eyes. “I do have taste, ya know.”

  “I just thought your closet would be full of
leather and harnesses by the way your costume is.”

  I snorted. “Again, the asshole with the billowing cape doesn’t get to comment on my fashion sense.”

  “That cape serves a purpose.”

  “Oh yeah, what?”

  “Helps me keep to the shadows. Also, a great cover for when I have to go naked to get invisible. I’m practical like that,” Bishop said to his fashion defense.

  “Yeah, well, my costume serves a purpose too. The jacket is bulletproof and the slits in my shirt allow me ventilation.”

  He held his hands up. “Fair enough. You look good.”

  “Thanks. You too,” I said.

  “Hey, wait a minute, if your skin is bulletproof, why do you need your costume to be?”

  “Well, bullets still hurt like a motherfucker when they hit. I get bruised by them and the impact could slow me down. With the extra protection, I can take a hit and keep it moving,” I answered.

  He nodded “Ahhh, I see.” Then he gave me a slight frown.

  “What now?”

  “I just hate that I have to show him my face, but you don’t. I can’t turn into anyone else.”

  That was true. Didn’t quite think about that. “Well, try to keep sunglasses on at least. This is who he saw me as when I took him out. I can’t show him as anything else.”

  “Yeah, I know, I know. Luckily, I have a pair of those. Just had to gripe a little.”

  “Too bad you can’t be invisible,” I said.

  “Ain’t that the truth.”

  “If you two are done bonding, we need to get Richard ready to go,” Alexi said.

  “Sure, I’m on it,” I said, putting on my shades. I then made my way into the bathroom, which was lit up with stinky human scents. I removed the blindfold, headphones, and chains.

  He looked up at me as he rubbed his aching wrist, being mindful not to add more injury to his bruising flesh. Ask me if I gave a damn, though. “So, this is what you look like out of that stupid fucking costume.”

  “Get up, wash your stinking ass, and get dressed. We need to go,” I said, purposefully ignoring his comment about my badass costume.