Breaking Out Read online

  David wanted to fluster the hell out of this man.

  And then there was Mati. She was every fantasy he’d ever harbored. Tiny and curvy and those fucking glasses. He could jerk off just picturing her giving him a stern look over the tops of those funky little frames.

  Hell, his dick twitched just from the passing thought.

  He was startled by a noise and looked up to find Chance standing in his office door, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked deeply unimpressed.

  David didn’t flinch, but it was a near thing. He’d sort of forgotten where he was.

  “Why are you hanging out in the door?” Kieran asked from somewhere behind Chance.

  Chance shifted to the side and Kieran popped out into the waiting area. “Oh. Good morning.”

  A huge smile broke across Reese’s face the moment he saw Kieran. David’s fingers twitched with the desire to trace the lines radiating from the corner of his eyes.

  “Good morning,” Reese said. “It’s good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you, too,” Kieran said. His big smile faded. “Though, I’m sorry for the reason. Are you okay?”

  Reese sent David a furtive glance. “Yes, we’re okay. Just tired,” he said, indicating Mati.

  “I can see that.” Kieran sat on the coffee table in front of the couch. He touched Mati’s shoulder and she jerked awake. David held her legs to prevent himself from being maimed.

  Like Reese, Mati smiled when she saw Kieran. “Hello, you.”

  “Hello, beautiful,” Kieran said, opening his arms.

  Mati practically fell off the couch and into Kieran’s tight hug. “I’m so happy to see you,” she murmured into his shoulder.

  Kieran rubbed her back and then stood, pulling her up with him. “Come on, there’s fresh coffee in Chance’s office. We’ll get you propped up for a while until we can figure out what to do.”

  Reese stood. “Coffee sounds great.”

  Kieran beamed and took the opportunity to yank Reese into a ferocious hug.

  “Oof,” Reese huffed as the air was forced from his lungs, but he didn’t hesitate to hug Kieran back, his eyes fluttering closed at the very end.

  God, he is gorgeous, David thought again, even as he took in the dark bruises beneath Reese’s eyes, more noticeable when his bright irises were hidden.

  David wondered who, exactly, Reese and Mati were. He’d never met them, and he was close to Chance and Kieran.

  Then again, with Kieran, it took about five minutes before you felt like family. It was one of his many, many charms.

  “Come on, into the office,” Kieran said, nudging the pair along.

  They both hesitated at the door and looked back at David. Something warm and protective bloomed in David’s chest. His plans for the day changed in an instant.

  It was just a matter of getting Chance on board.

  David smiled. “Go on, let Kieran take care of you.”

  Reese and Mati nodded but still lingered. They both looked as though they had something they wanted to say. Reese glanced at Chance, who was still pretending to be imposing while eyeing David, and silently went into the office. Mati watched Reese go, sent a small farewell smile to David, and followed.

  Kieran bustled after them, and David heard him ask how they liked their coffee.

  Chance made an exasperated noise. “I leave you alone for five fucking minutes and you’re cuddled up with complete strangers on my fucking couch.”

  David grinned. “What can I say? I have many talents. And those aren’t strangers. Not to you.”

  Chance glanced through his door. “No, not strangers. And they shouldn’t be clients, but I’m not sure what’s going on there.”

  “Friends of yours and Kieran’s?”

  “More like family.”

  David stood. “What can I do?”

  Chance gave him a thorough once over, which David tolerated with minimal eye-rolling. “Are you asking because you don’t want me to force you to take a vacation?”

  “No, I’m asking because family isn’t a word you use lightly. And because they seem nice. And scared.” Though, the no vacation thing was a nice bonus.

  “So, it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that they, apparently, find you snuggle-worthy?”

  “Well, you can’t fault them for having good taste.”

  Chance’s eye twitched, but David could see a glimmer of laughter. “I should make you take that break,” Chance said in what was meant to be a stern voice.

  David heard the unspoken but and went in for the kill. “You’re not going to trust them to just anyone, are you?”

  Chance sighed. “No. I want family for family. And since I can’t do it myself, I guess that leaves you.”

  David grinned and went to Chance, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks. Also, I’m the best you’ve got, so…”

  “You’re an insufferable pain in the ass, you know that?”

  “I love you, too.”

  Chance sighed long-sufferingly.

  Reese had wanted to say goodbye to David. To thank him. But he couldn’t figure out for what, so he hadn’t said anything. He accepted his coffee from Kieran and gazed out the high-rise’s windows at the city below, trying to gather his thoughts for the task that lay ahead.

  He’d have to tell Chance everything.

  He refused to wish he was home. Five years ago, being this far from Nova Scotia would have been impossible. Two years ago, he would have been shaking, trying to manage the panic. Now he was just pissed off those assholes had violated his home and scared the shit out of Mati.

  Reese was going to do everything in his power to see they paid for both of those crimes, and that Mati was safe until then.

  She came to stand beside him, her coffee mug cupped in her palms, and leaned against his side. He curled his arm around her shoulders, taking comfort from her mere presence. It wasn’t until after he’d done it he realized maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do.

  “If you remove that arm, I’m going to cut it off and beat you over the head with it,” Mati said mildly before taking a sip of her coffee.

  Reese grinned and tightened his hold. They watched the morning traffic and Olympic-level jaywalking competition below until the door shut behind them.

  Reese’s heart skipped a beat when he saw David standing in front of the door with his hands on his hips, one arched eyebrow daring Reese to say a word about his presence.

  Mati drew in a sharp, quiet breath, and smiled. Reese’s heart skipped another beat.

  Mati’s obvious attraction toward David shouldn’t make Reese happy, should it?

  Transparently pleased his entrance had captured their attention, David winked, retrieved a half-full mug of coffee from Chance’s sideboard, and went to top it up.

  Chance gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk. “Let’s have a seat. You can tell us what’s going on, and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do about it.”

  Reese nodded, dread building in his gut. He knew Chance and Kieran. And they knew him, but David… Reese felt better having David here, though he couldn’t say why, but he wished it didn’t mean David would know about his past.

  And Mati. He’d avoided the subject on the long drive, worried she would be angry when she heard what he had kept from her. Now he’d know.

  Distracted, Reese let Mati nudge him into one of the two large, comfortable armchairs. He was just settled when he realized David had taken the other. Reese tried to stand to give Mati the chair, but she stilled him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

  His protest died on his lips, his breath locked in his throat, when she slid onto his lap and crossed her legs. Her attention never left Chance, appearing for all the world as if this were perfectly normal and the meeting should proceed. When she folded her hands in her lap, she looked almost prim.

  Sexy librarian, indeed.

  Reese was both alarmed and embarrassed when his dick twitched.

  For some damn reas
on, he looked at David—who was silently, but quite obviously, laughing at him.

  Reese had the sudden and totally insane urge to pull Mati closer, to feel her hip press along his cock and her weight against his chest, just so he could watch David’s reaction.

  When he didn’t move or say anything, Mati hooked a foot around his calves and put a hand on his shoulder, leaning in until her lips brushed his ear as she whispered, “If you don’t like it, I can sit on David’s lap instead.”

  David couldn’t possibly have heard her, but he slouched a little deeper into his chair and let his massive thighs fall open. His eyes never left Reese’s.

  Reese swallowed and looked up at Mati, captivated by the heat and challenge in her gaze. For the life of him, he didn’t understand why both options had equal appeal. He wanted her close, but the idea of Mati sitting on those huge thighs…

  Reese brushed their cheeks together and whispered into her ear, “Whatever you want.”

  Mati sat back, surprised, but also delighted, judging by her slow smile.

  Her eyes dropped to Reese’s lips as she licked her own.

  Chance cleared his throat. “If you’re comfortable?”

  Everyone was watching them with varying degrees of ill-disguised amusement.

  “Sorry,” Mati said, squeezing Reese’s shoulder and turning her attention to Chance. “We’re ready.”

  Chance appeared dubious but asked what had brought them to Boston.

  Mati glanced at Reese, and he nodded, agreeing she should be the one to tell them. She was clear and concise as she methodically detailed the break-in. Kieran watched his husband like he was certain Chance would have an answer, which was reassuring. David, on the other hand, only took his eyes off Mati in order to study Reese, always with a thoughtful frown on his face. This was considerably less reassuring, for several reasons.

  Not the least of which was the tug, low in Reese’s belly, every time David caught his eye. Reese understood what it meant, of course. How could he not when it was the same tug he felt each time Mati paused to smile at him or push her glasses up her nose.

  It wasn’t unfamiliar. And yet it was…well, unexpected seemed like too mild a word for whatever this was. It was like someone had thrown everything he’d ever known about his sexuality into a blender and hit puree. At the same time, he thought it should be freaking him out more than it was.

  When Mati got to the point when Reese and Hodges had arrived at the house, she slipped her hand over his on the arm of the chair. She didn’t mention the way they’d ended up wrapped around each other, nor the kisses, but David’s smile meant he’d guessed correctly that this had been the moment things changed.

  “It was Hodges’ idea for us to come to Boston,” Mati concluded. “Out of sight and away from the places we can usually be found, just in case.”

  “Does anyone else know you’re down here?” Chance asked.

  “We told Rupert and Callum, as you know. Oh, and my mom,” Mati added. “She thinks we’re on a business trip.”

  “How did you get here?” Chance asked while he took notes.

  “We drove straight through the night. We would have called, but Callum promised to tell you we were coming.”

  Reese ran his thumb over hers, and she flashed a smile.

  “Have you checked into a hotel?” Chance asked.

  “No,” Reese said. “Not yet.”

  “Good,” David said. “You shouldn’t use your credit cards.”

  Reese frowned. “I didn’t think to bring cash with us.”

  “I already booked us rooms using one of Reese’s cards,” Mati added apologetically. “But we can cancel and use mine instead.”

  “You shouldn’t use your cards either,” David said.

  Reese was trying not to be alarmed, but it wasn’t going well.

  “I agree,” said Chance, rising to his feet. “I’ll book something for you three, and we’ll go from there.”

  “Thank you,” Reese said, considering the logistics of how he and Mati would work while in Boston and—wait—

  You three?

  Mati’s breath caught when Chance called his admin and requested, “Lodging for three people, behind one door, ideally with three bedrooms, but less can work.”

  All she could think was, less could definitely work.

  Which was crazy. It was a huge leap to get from three almost-chaste kisses and sitting on Reese’s lap, to sharing a room, let alone a bed. But her sleep-deprived brain was imagining that and David in the bed with them, gleefully bounding from “things Mati had thought about idly and never thought she’d have” to “the stuff of masturbatory fantasies and therefore totally removed from reality.”

  Chance hung up the phone. “Okay, that’s being taken care of. Now, is there any reason you can think of that someone would want to break into your house?”

  Mati started to shake her head but stopped when Reese grimaced.

  “Maybe?” he said.

  What? Mati pivoted on Reese’s legs to see him properly.

  David sat forward and laced his fingers between his knees, his gaze unwavering.

  Reese stared out the window instead of looking at either of them. “It began with my father,” he said, letting out a deep breath. “He was very paranoid. Not his whole life, but increasingly so for the last decade, maybe fifteen years, of it. Since about the time my mother died. No one was allowed to enter the house unannounced. And the only person he would allow to come and go at will, other than me, was Hodges. He assigned Hodges an ever-growing list of unusual responsibilities, including staying with the landscapers and the housekeepers the entire time they were on the property.”

  Reese took a sip of his coffee, still focused on the winter sky out the window, an almost tangible sadness coming off him. She’d never once heard him speak of his father in any context other than work and the businesses and assets Reese had inherited from him.

  She squeezed his hand but he still wouldn’t look at her.

  Chance looked up from taking notes. “I think I met Hodges at the wedding, right?”

  Reese nodded.

  “He’s been in your employ for a long time?” Chance asked.

  Reese smiled. “He was hired when I was three years old. He was only eighteen himself at the time. His parents worked for one of my father’s bigger companies.”

  “Okay. What’s his full name?”

  Reese tore his eyes from the view to narrow them on Chance. “He’s not a threat.”

  “I’m not saying he is,” Chance returned mildly. “But I need to know all the people involved.”

  Reese studied Chance. “Macilvoy,” he said at last.

  “His name is Macilvoy Hodges?” Chance asked in an admirably neutral tone.

  Reese let out a huff of laughter. “No, his name is Michael Hodges Macilvoy.”

  “Thank you,” Chance said and noted it down.

  Reese nodded and looked away again. “My father was particularly careful with his personal safety and business dealings. He changed banks constantly, wouldn’t tell anyone, including me, what he was up to, and was persistently convinced someone was trying to pull one over on him. He also drank, a lot. More each year. Hodges and I eventually realized it was a form of self-medication and were trying to determine how to force the issue of getting him help. Sadly, we were too slow.

  “I saw him one day, and the next he was gone. Dead by his own hand.”

  Mati felt like she’d been punched in the chest, her eyes stinging with tears. Reese seemed unable to look at anyone while he spoke of this.

  She hadn’t known. How had she not known?

  “He poisoned himself,” Reese said, his voice quiet but steady. “Then walked out the back door and collapsed down by the coastline. Hodges had been away for the day. He came home and couldn’t find Dad for hours, and when he did…”

  Reese shrugged helplessly. Mati couldn’t imagine the horror Hodges must have felt, or the grief he and Reese had gone through.

>   She clutched his hand and waited for him to find the words. No one moved.

  “The police investigated,” Reese said with a quick glance at Chance, “and confirmed it was suicide. My father had left a note at the house, and a detailed will and packet of letters with his attorney, who was an old and trusted friend. I learned my father had quietly, over the previous months, made me owner, primary shareholder, or beneficiary of all his businesses and assets without telling me. The only thing left to inherit was the money to pay Hodges a good salary until the day he turns sixty-five. The letters, though, were more interesting. Hodges’ letter begged him to stay with me and granted him permission to remain in his apartments above the garage for the rest of his life, regardless of whether or not I wanted him there. My letter detailed all the ways someone had been trying to kill him over the course of a decade, supposedly, and an apology for not being a better father.”

  Reese’s voice wavered and he paused. “Hodges and I dismissed it as another symptom of his mental illness,” Reese admitted, a wealth of regret in his voice.

  “But?” Chance prompted.

  “But then someone tried to run me off the road. Twice.”

  Chapter Six

  David’s heart had ached as Reese recounted the end of his father’s life, but it stopped altogether when Reese calmly announced someone had tried to hurt him. Twice.

  Mati’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  Reese stared at their clasped hands, his thumb stroking over hers.

  “Did the police investigate?” Chance asked.

  Reese sighed. “Yes, the first time. They determined I’d drunk too much at my friend’s house that night and that I shouldn’t have been driving.”

  David frowned. He hardly knew Reese, but that didn’t feel right.

  “I hadn’t. Drunk too much, that is,” Reese said firmly. “But no one at the party had been paying close attention and when the police asked, my friends admitted I might have had quite a bit to drink, but they didn’t know. I was given a warning, and because of that, I didn’t bother to tell the police when, shortly after that, I was followed home from another night out by a car intent on ramming into me from behind. Had I not been able to drive the familiar roads at the speeds I had, they might have succeeded.”