“I’m going to come,” Fitz called out.

  Jack’s thrusts grew erratic, his curses filling the air as he rode Fitz quick and hard. His hoarse cry filled the air as the heat of Jack’s come filled the condom. Fitz shook from his release. He hadn’t even touched himself. Jack jerked his hips a few more times before collapsing onto Fitz’s back, his panting breath joining Fitz’s. They lay plastered to each other, the windows fogged up from the heat and sex. Their bodies dripped with sweat, and Fitz wished he’d remembered to ask Jack to turn on the AC.

  “You okay?” Jack asked quietly, his lips next to Fitz’s ear.

  Fitz hummed, eyes closed. “I don’t know about my hair, but I’m great.”

  “You’re beautiful, like always.” Jack nuzzled his temple, and Fitz sighed happily. He was blissed out. His entire body ached, his ass was sore, but he couldn’t remember feeling this good in a very long time.

  Carefully, Jack pulled out. Fitz heard him moving around behind him before something cool touched his ass and he jumped.

  “It’s okay. Just a wet wipe.”

  Fitz couldn’t remember any of his previous bedmates taking the time to clean him up. The gesture was so intimate, which was funny considering they’d just had sex. He was so relaxed under Jack’s care, he almost fell asleep.

  “Sleeping in the chair would be a lot more comfortable,” Jack said with a chuckle.

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry.” Fitz sat back on his heels and got up with Jack’s help.

  “Don’t be. I like that you feel so relaxed with me.” Jack handed Fitz his clothes, and they both got dressed. Jack cleaned up the cabin and the chair Fitz had come on.

  “Sorry,” Fitz said, cringing. “I bet that’s expensive.”

  Jack shrugged. “It’s a chair.” He sat and brought Fitz down onto his lap, kissing him. “You are far more important.”

  Fitz melted against Jack and laid his head on Jack’s shoulder. “You’re important to me too.” The AC kicked on and soft music filled the air. Fitz’s heart swelled.

  “Date’s not over yet,” Jack said.

  Fitz smiled against Jack’s lips. As far as he was concerned, their date never had to end.

  SEVEN

  Jack: Did I leave Ecto behind?

  Fitz: I’m not sure what that is, but should I be concerned? Do you have a condition? Should I get you some vitamins? Maybe some ginger tea will help?

  Jack: Jay seems to think ginger cures everything.

  Fitz: That’s why you should all listen to Jay.

  Jack: If we all listened to Jay, we’d spend our time obsessing over Outlander. Also, none of us can pull off a checked shirt with an elephant-and-avocado print.

  Fitz: There are far worse things to obsess over. I agree on the shirt. Sad, but true.

  Jack: I miss you, which is silly, right? It’s been four days. Also, Ecto is my iPad.

  Fitz: You miss me?? That’s outrageous! I won’t stand for it! I’m watching a very dramatic British show right now. I love that you’re missing me. I miss you too. And yes. You left Ecto behind. Poor Ecto. I’ll take care of him, and he’ll love me best.

  Jack: I wouldn’t blame him. You’re easy to love.

  Shit!

  The words were texted and sent before Jack realized it. Would Fitz think Jack loved him? Did Jack love him? This was too much for his brain to process right now without going into panic mode. The truth was he did miss Fitz, even if it had been only a few days. Not like they didn’t talk every night. This week had been crazy at work for Jack, with a new client who signed up for a complete overhaul of their security system, meaning onsite installations in all twenty-two of their high-end shoe stores.

  It was almost a month since their amazing date. In that time, they’d spent as much time as possible together, whether on their own—at Fitz’s house, out at the movies or a restaurant—or hanging out with the guys. Jack loved that Fitz never so much as blinked when Jack mentioned the guys and their boyfriends getting together, though Jack was certain it was down to Fitz knowing they all considered him part of their family.

  The dots on his phone had been fluctuating for some time, denoting Fitz was still typing, and Jack held his breath as he stepped into the elevator. What if Fitz thought Jack was confessing? Okay, no, he wasn’t going to go down that path right now.

  Fitz: You’re easy to love too, Jack.

  Jack sucked in a sharp breath. What did that mean? Had he meant it how Jack meant it? Which was how? Breathe. Okay, it was okay. Everything was okay. Before he could think of what to respond, another text came through.

  Fitz: I’ll take good care of Ecto for you. See you soon?

  Jack: How about dinner tonight?

  Fitz: I’ll dress to be undressed.

  The elevator door opened, and Jack tripped over his own feet on the way out, running headfirst into a brick wall. Oh no, wait. It was just Red. Jack glanced up at him, his face burning.

  “Sorry.”

  Red steadied Jack and dropped his gaze to Jack’s phone in his hand. He smiled knowingly. “Fitz?”

  “Um, yeah.” Jack chuckled. “We were making dinner plans.”

  Red hummed. “I bet.” He patted Jack’s shoulder and walked into the elevator, leaving Jack gaping after him, catching Red winking at him just before the doors slid closed. Shaking himself out of it, Jack headed for his office and typed a quick response to Fitz.

  Jack: Reading your texts at work is hazardous to my health. Tripped and fell into Red.

  Fitz: LOL. Aw, poor baby. Sorry not sorry. I’ll make it better tonight.

  Jack: Do we need the dinner part? We need dinner, right?

  Fitz: I’m not against starting with dessert.

  Jack: I like the way you think.

  Fitz: I like the way you make me scream.

  Jack: Jesus! I just ran into Mason’s desk. I got a “You sure are pretty today.”

  Fitz: LOL! Well, he’s not wrong. You are pretty. Though I’m sure that’s not the pretty he meant. I’ll leave you to it before you end up causing some real damage. I need you in one piece for tonight. Talk to you later. Kisses.

  Jack: Looking forward to it. Talk to you later, sweetheart.

  With a smile, Jack reached his office without further injuring himself. Today was looking to be a great day. He’d finally managed to have lunch with Sil and Emmett, and after a rocky start, Emmett decided to bury the hatchet and the two ended up working things out. The three of them had a great lunch, shooting the shit and laughing about nonsense from around the office. Jack had been relieved and grateful to Emmett for finally putting his rivalry with Sil to rest. In the end, the two seemed to get comfortable with each other, and Jack suspected a friendship was in the making.

  Jack reached for the door handle, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Someone was in his office. Silently, he opened his door, his heart in his throat when he spotted Sil behind Jack’s desk, typing away at his computer. What was he doing?

  Jack could play this two ways. Either barge in and demand to know what Sil was doing, possibly scaring him off, or pretend he didn’t see anything, let Sil go, and investigate what he’d just done.

  Jack slowly closed the door and cursed under his breath. Could Sil be the one behind drugging Fitz? The idea that someone so close to him, someone who he cared about and considered a friend could do something so vile as to drug someone… Jack closed his eyes and centered himself, forcing his anger back down. He had no evidence it was Sil. But then what was Sil doing at his computer? Only one way to find out.

  Opening the door, Jack plastered a smile on his face. “Hey.”

  Sil jumped up and thrust his hands behind his back. “Hey, Jack. I thought you were out working the Holland installation.”

  “I was. Holland decided they wanted an upgrade, so Maury and Meg are working on it. Everything okay?” Jack asked, nodding toward his computer.

  Sil smiled wide, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah. I was just checking, um…” Sil worried his bottom lip as he stepped away from Jack’s desk. “Shit, okay, look. I was in the middle of working on something, and this guy I’ve been seeing texted me, asking me to email him something, and I was so distracted that I emailed you instead.” Sil’s face looked like he’d sat out in the sun for hours without sunscreen. “Uh, both your emails start with Jack.”

  Jack hummed. “So… you decided to access my computer without authorization and delete it?”

  “I’m so sorry. It’s just really embarrassing, and I didn’t want you to see it.”

  “Sil, accessing my computer unauthorized is a dismissible offense, you know that.” Jack rounded his desk and took a seat at his computer. As expected, Sil hadn’t gotten far, not with the biometric security measures Jack had in place. He waited for Sil to step away before entering his password. The retina scanner on his monitor scanned his eye, then prompted him to press his thumb to the scan pad. Once he was logged in, he opened his email client and there it was. The system scanned the email for any potential threats and, having been cleared, Jack opened it.

  Oh. Um…

  Oh my.

  Jack didn’t read the whole thing, but he didn’t have to. This was one time where he wished he didn’t have years of experience in scanning communications. Enough words jumped out at him for him to know exactly what was going on between the two. It was like someone had transcribed a porn scene in excruciating detail, one involving Sil, intended for a Jackmeoff69. Clearing his throat, Jack deleted the email. He could see why Sil had been so desperate to get rid of it.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sil whispered, eyes closed and face still ready to spontaneously combust.

  “It’s none of my business what you do and with who, but from your personal email, Sil? You know better than anyone how easily someone can get ahold of that.” Had it been an internal email, Jack wouldn’t have worried. Their information was encrypted, and their servers monitored and protected by software Leo and Jack had designed themselves. The moment anyone not authorized came near their data, the walls would come down and the intruder would immediately regret their life choices.

  Sil crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, reminding Jack of how young he was. “Thanks. I didn’t realize you thought I was an idiot.”

  “Don’t put words in my mouth,” Jack said darkly, getting Sil’s attention. The younger man deflated and dropped his arms. He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. Sil might be young, but he wasn’t foolish. He was also a professional, and a key member of Jack’s team. Everyone had bad days and Jack was willing to overlook certain things, but if Sil had anything to do with what happened to Fitz, Jack would deal with it.

  “Sorry,” Sil murmured. “No one’s going to get ahold of it. It deletes itself.”

  Jack’s head shot up. “What?”

  “The email. I sent it with White Ouroboros.”

  “What is that?”

  “Um, it’s that app from the Dark Net for sending emails and posting content. It creates fake user information to send content that deletes itself within the time frame selected. It’s untraceable, like actually untraceable.”

  Jack slowly stood and narrowed his eyes at Sil. “Can you use this app to, let’s say, send photos that would delete themselves at a specific time?”

  Sil shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Why don’t I know about this?” Part of their department’s responsibility was to stay on top of anything and everything that posed as a threat to their business and clients. His team was constantly scanning the Dark Net for software and apps that could be used against them.

  “Um, I sent an internal email to everyone on the team more than a month ago.”

  “When?”

  Sil removed his company phone and tapped away at it. His deep frown didn’t bode well. “What the hell?”

  “What’s wrong?” The question was irrelevant. Jack knew exactly what was wrong.

  “It’s gone. I just used it, but now it’s gone.”

  Convenient.

  Picking up his office phone, Jack hit the speed-dial button for Emmett, who was downstairs working on a new client’s network upgrade.

  “Hi, boss.”

  “Hey, can you forward me the email on the White Ouroboros app? Sil sent it over a month ago.”

  “Sure. One sec.”

  A heartbeat later Emmett hummed.

  “What is it?” Jack asked, though he had a feeling he knew what Emmett was going to say.

  “That’s weird. It’s not there.”

  “Could you have deleted it by accident?”

  “No way. You know me. I keep all those emails and file them away for later reference. That’s just weird, Jack. Is something going on?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know. Thanks for checking.” He hung up and logged back into his system to check their internal database. Whenever something new popped up on the market, it would be entered into the system, where they’d provide as much detail as possible about the software, app, or system, from its various names to the type of program it was, where it was originally found, what it did, who created it, down to various screenshots. In Jack’s department, everything was recorded down to the last detail, all of it internal and only accessible from within the building with backups stored in a secure location, thanks to Leo’s connections.

  Checking the database turned up… “Nothing.”

  Sil ran around the desk to stand beside Jack, his wide eyes locked on the center screen. “That’s not possible! It took me hours to upload all that information.” Sil shook his head, as if doing so might bring all the data back.

  Jack was torn. The distress coming from Sil was genuine, or at least enough to make Jack doubt the guy was acting. Emmett remembered seeing the email, so there was that. He was certain the others would remember as well. The timing was suspect, however. Around the time Sil sent the email was when Jack received the disappearing photos and Fitz was drugged. What didn’t make sense, was why Sil would alert everyone to the same program he’d used to send Jack the photos? Sil was smarter than that.

  “I swear, it was there.”

  “Okay. Why don’t you get back to work and I’ll see what I can find?”

  Sil’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  “I didn’t say that. Until I know more about what’s going on, I’m not making any judgement calls. Innocent until proven otherwise, remember?”

  Sil nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  Jack waited until Sil left the room before calling Joker in. He relayed all the information and waited while Joker mulled it over.

  “Before I tell you what I think, can I ask you why you haven’t told King about this?”

  Jack frowned at him. “If someone in my department is messing with me, I want to be the one to deal with it. I can handle this.”

  Sacha glanced at him from where he sat on the couch.

  “You don’t think I can handle this?”

  “Did I say that?”

  Jack sighed. He’d just accused Sil of putting words in his mouth and now he was doing it to Sacha. “Sorry.”

  “Right. It’s not that I don’t think you can handle this; it’s that you don’t have to. You have all of us to back you up.”

  “I don’t see Ace calling King to help him out of whatever insane situation he gets himself into. Or Lucky, or you. Shit hits the fan, and you deal with it. If this is happening in my department, I’ll deal with it.”

  “Okay, you know what, I’m just going to say it. You need to stop with this less-than bullshit.”

  Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know if you’re having a midlife crisis or what, but you’ve been hung up on this whole action-hero bullshit for months now. This ‘we’re out there facing the physical stuff and you’re inside dealing with equipment’ thing that somehow means you’re less important or less capable than us. Fuck off, J.” Sacha jumped to his feet and thrust a finger at him. “You served like the rest of us, got blown up with the rest of us, so just fucking stick to your computers and enjoy it.”

  Jack stood and threw his arms up. “Who says I don’t enjoy what I do?”

  “Before Fitz, you’d been moping around the office.”

  “I wasn’t moping,” Jack muttered, once again crossing his arms over his chest. Had he been moping? Fuck, okay, so maybe he’d been moping.

  “You have a hot young boyfriend, money, buy yourself a fucking Ferrari or something.”

  Jack flipped him off, making Sacha laugh. Sacha dropped back down onto the couch, his words quiet when he next spoke. “Just be careful, okay? If you need, we’re here. Now, do you still want my opinion?”

  “You know I do. Asshole.” Jack sat in his chair and waited.

  “I agree it doesn’t make any sense for him to alert everyone about an app he was about to use for illegal reasons. Then on top of that, he tells you he not only found the app and let everyone know about it but used it to send a sexually explicit email that came to you, his boss, by mistake. Fuck, man. Either he’s banking on you ruling him out and playing a very dangerous game, or he’s not your guy, and if he’s not, which it still could be, then it could be anyone.”

  “Yep. Anyone can get ahold of this app and use it.” Jack sighed. “Fuck. We’re back to square one, unless…” He shot a text off. “Maybe there’s something Leo can do now that we know what was used to send the photos. In the meantime, I’m going to do a little investigating into this app.”

  Joker nodded and stood. “Lunch?”

  “Yep.”

  A few minutes later, Leo called. Jack filled him in on what was going on with the app without telling him about the photos or the connection to Fitz being drugged. Leo was a sweet guy, loyal to a fault, but he was King’s boyfriend after all, and Jack wouldn’t put him in a position where he had to keep secrets from King.