“Perfect.” Frank stood and buttoned his suit jacket, frowning when Seth stopped beside him, his lips twitching at the corners. “What?”

  “You, um, have a little something on your nose.”

  Frank ran a finger over his nose. “I fucking hate glitter.”

  With a chuckle, Seth left the office, and Frank followed, leaving Kit to his decorating. The club had just opened for the night, and although not packed yet, it was still busy, with plenty of clients enjoying after-dinner drinks, many still in their business suits. Frank greeted each one personally, shook their hands, told them to have a good night. The go-go boys would be out in the next hour to join guests and keep them company before they hit the plinths for their routines.

  By ten o’clock, the club was packed. Frank helped out behind the bar and delivered drinks to his clients. Thursday nights were the start of the weekend, so things would just get busier from here on out. He’d never been one of those absentee club owners who left everything to his manager or staff. Not because he didn’t trust Seth to run things for him, but because Frank had built this club from the ground up. His steady presence, imposing to some, also offered a sense of security.

  “Frank! Frank!”

  What the hell? Frank turned, his frown deepening at the panicked look on Seth’s face as he hurried through the crowd toward him. Seth didn’t panic. The man was a study in control. And why wasn’t he using the com? Frank calmly left the bar and stood to one side, away from anyone who might overhear. When Seth reached him, he said the two words no club owner ever wanted to hear.

  “Police raid!”

  Fuck! Frank rushed toward the front doors just as they slammed open and a small hoard of uniformed police officers flooded in. His stride didn’t falter as he growled at Seth. “Call Mason, and get Cory down here.”

  Seth ran off to call the former officer turned detective who now worked for Four Kings Security, and Cory, Frank’s lawyer. Frank did his best to reassure his clients as he headed for the detective in charge, one he didn’t recognize. Frank prided himself on maintaining good relationships, especially with local law enforcement. Many of them knew him from his days with the fire department. If they didn’t personally know him, they knew of him.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Frank Ramirez?” The sneer on the guy’s face told Frank all he needed to know. Whoever the hell this hotshot was, he’d already formed opinions of Frank and his business, not that Frank gave a shit. What he did give a shit about was the police raiding his club and upsetting his clients.

  “Yes. What’s this about?”

  “We’re shutting you down.”

  TWO

  Absolute perfection. It was a thing of beauty, really.

  “I’ve outdone myself,” Joshua said to no one in particular. Or at least he thought no one until someone loomed over him.

  “Wow. That’s… that’s impressive.”

  Joshua preened under his boss’s praise. “Thanks.” He took joy in knowing he did a good job, and no one appreciated his skills more than Colton Connolly, president and CEO of Connolly Maritime Enterprises and Worldwide Shipping Solutions. Joshua had been an executive assistant for Connolly Maritime for over two years, but it was only a little over four months ago that he’d been promoted to Colton’s executive assistant, right in time to help the man with his insane wedding schedule.

  There’d been a few close calls and several sleepless nights, many of which included coordinating events with Four Kings Security, where Colton’s husband, Ace, was part owner. But they’d made it through, and it had been everything the couple hoped it would be, sans complications.

  Being the right-hand man to a billionaire was challenge enough. Being the right-hand man to Colton and his makeshift family of former Green Berets and their boyfriends was a whole other level of challenge. At times Joshua wanted to strangle them, but he wouldn’t change a thing. Colton wasn’t just his boss, he was a friend, and because of that friendship, Joshua had been brought into the Four Kings family.

  “I didn’t think it was possible,” Colton said, sounding a little awed, “but it’s even bigger than mine.”

  “Words I never expected to hear come out of my husband’s mouth while bent over another guy.”

  Joshua lifted his gaze to Ace as he walked toward them. He snickered and shook his head. Never a dull moment when Anston Sharpe was around. Ace and Colton shouldn’t have worked. The two were as different as night and day, and yet somehow, they were perfect together. Not that Colton didn’t have days where he also wanted to strangle his husband, but Ace always found a way to soothe Colton.

  “Impeccable timing, as usual,” Colton teased. He straightened and waited for Ace to reach him.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” Ace brought Colton into his arms for a kiss, one that required him to stretch a bit since Colton had a few inches on him. Despite Colton being almost six and a half feet tall, Ace had a way of projecting a bigger presence. As a former Green Beret, he was big and muscular, but his personality made him seem that much bigger. Rarely was the guy without a smile or smart aleck remark.

  “So what’s got you two so excited?” Ace asked.

  “That.” Colton motioned to Joshua’s computer screen.

  Stepping behind Joshua’s desk, Ace peered over his shoulder. “Is that… a spreadsheet?” He threw Colton a questioning glance. “Are you two seriously drooling over a spreadsheet?”

  Colton rolled his eyes. “It’s not just a spreadsheet.”

  Joshua agreed. He thrust a hand toward the screen. “Look at all the color coding! There’s tabs, formulas, and hyperlinks. Hyperlinks, Ace. It’s a masterpiece.”

  “Not gonna lie, I’m a little concerned right now.” Ace studied the screen again. “Hold on.” He leaned in. “Is this what I think it is?”

  Joshua beamed brightly. “If I’ve learned anything in my time around the Kings, it’s to always have a strategic, military-grade plan in place. I did all my research, compiled the data, entered it into my spreadsheet, and boom! Joshua’s Guide to Getting His Man or Operation Cuban Missile Conquest. I’m still working on the title.”

  Ace stared at him for so long, Joshua worried he’d broken him. His lips twitched, and Joshua could tell he was trying hard not to lose it. “Did you just refer to his penis as a Cuban missile?”

  “I absolutely did. What? You don’t think my plan will work?”

  “Not that I don’t have faith in your man-obtaining mission, or your disturbingly detailed fact-gathering that I can safely assume Colton helped you with, it’s more about the man all this”—Ace made a circling motion at the screen—“is for.”

  “What about him?”

  “It’s Frank.”

  Joshua peered at him. “Well, yeah. I thought you knew that.” He moved his gaze to Colton, who looked amused for some reason. “I thought he knew that?”

  “Of course I know,” Ace said with a huff. “Everyone knows. My mother knows.”

  Wait, what? “How does your mother know?”

  “That’s not important. What I’m saying is that all your planning is great, and had it been any other guy, I dare say it might work, but we’re talking about a man who frowns at puppies.”

  “He does not frown at puppies,” Colton said with a laugh, playfully shoving Ace’s shoulder.

  “Fine. Maybe he doesn’t, but when he does smile, it’s very stern. I think I’ve seen him smile, like, a handful of times in the many years I’ve known him.”

  Colton shrugged. “He smiles at me all the time.”

  “And why is that?” Ace asked, eyes narrowed.

  “Because he’s my friend? Also, because I wanted to get into his pants when we first met.”

  Ace slapped a hand over his heart. “Ooh, ouch, right in the ventricle.”

  “You’re ridiculous and I love you.” Colton kissed Ace’s cheek.

  “I love you too. I can’t blame Frank for smiling at you. You’re gorgeous.”

  “Thank you, love. I’m not the only one Frank smiles at. He smiles at Joshua too.”

  “You’re right. He’s also forgotten how to people when he’s around dear Joshua, which brings up my next point.” Ace grinned knowingly at Joshua. “The two of you have a habit of short circuiting around each another. Your Cuban Missile Conquest calls for you to be able to form full sentences when speaking to him.”

  “True,” Joshua admitted, turning in his chair to face them. “But that was before I realized he felt the same way I do about whatever’s between us. For some reason, he keeps pulling away, and I want to know why.”

  Colton waved a hand in dismissal. “Oh, that part is easy.”

  Joshua’s jaw dropped. He jumped to his feet, forcing Colton and Ace to scramble back so he wouldn’t smack into them. “What? You’ve known this whole time and you didn’t tell me?”

  “I thought it was obvious.”

  “No, Colton. It was not obvious. At least not to me.”

  “Joshua, Frank is fourteen years older than you.” His expression softened. “He was out on the streets fending for himself before you were even born.”

  Joshua’s argument died on his lips at the reminder of the hard life Frank had lived. How he’d been tossed out onto the street by his asshole parents when he’d been just a teen after accidentally being outed by his sister. Frank had been homeless for years, learning to survive as best he could on his own. Everyone knew Frank’s story. It was the one piece of himself he’d shared with the world, because he needed everyone to know the importance of helping those who were in the same place he’d once been. Frank was a fighter and a protector.

  “Frank has spent the majority of his life taking care of others, but who’s taking care of him?”

  Colton opened his mouth, and Joshua put a hand up to stop him. “I know what you’re going to say. Frank doesn’t believe he needs anyone to take care of him, because he’s always taken care of himself. I want to show him that it’s okay for him to lean on someone else. That after all this time of having to bear the weight of the world on his broad, sexy shoulders, I’m here to help bear some of that weight for him.”

  “Are you sure?” Colton asked gently. “Frank comes with a lot of baggage. He’s not going to give up the fight that easy, especially when he thinks he’s doing what’s best for you.”

  “Then I’m simply going to have to show him that what he thinks is best for me isn’t what I think is best for me.” Joshua shook his head. “I can be just as stubborn.”

  Ace grinned wide and slapped his hands together to rub them gleefully. “This is going to be fun.”

  “You’re terrible.” Colton shook his head. “All right. Let us know how we can help.”

  “Thanks, Colton. Step one is infiltration. I need to find a way to spend more time with him. If I can figure out how—”

  Ace’s phone rang. “Hold that thought.” He answered, and the dark expression that came onto his face was not a good sign. “I’m on my way.” Hanging up, he kissed Colton. “I gotta go. The police just raided Sapphire Sands. Mason’s there.” Ace headed for the door, and Colton hurried after him.

  “We’re going with you.”

  Joshua darted over to Colton’s side.

  “Babe—” One arched eyebrow from Colton and Ace sighed. “Fine. But he’s gonna be pissed, so approach with caution.”

  Thankfully, they were still at the office, which meant they were a little closer to St. Augustine than Colton and Ace’s mansion in Ponte Vedra. Still, it took Joshua a little under forty minutes to get there. Patrol cars lined the street outside the sleek black building, the neon Sapphire Sands sign casting a glow in the club’s signature blue. Next to the club’s name was a martini glass tipping to one side filled with glittering blue sand and on the glass’s edge a blue hummingbird. One of these days, Joshua would have to remember to ask Frank about the significance of the hummingbird. No one seemed to know.

  They went in through the back, let in by two huge security guards, both provided by Four Kings Security. Joshua had never been inside the club while it was closed. Instead of atmospheric lighting and a crowded dance floor packed with sweaty men enjoying themselves and getting intimate to an energetic beat, the house lights were on, the dance floor was empty, and tension filled the air as the staff huddled by the bar and the club members crowded to one side of the floor, as far away from the police as possible.

  “Poor Frank,” Joshua murmured as Ace went off to join Mason, Frank, and a blond man in an expensive suit who was attempting to keep Frank calm. Joshua would hazard a guess that was Frank’s lawyer.

  Sapphire Sands had a reputation, one Frank had carefully constructed for his club over the years. He’d built his empire with hard work, integrity, and a certain amount of ruthlessness. Bars and clubs closed around him, but Sapphire Sands continued to thrive because it provided an unrivaled service.

  As a members-only nightclub and bar that catered to gay men of wealth and clout, Frank offered something in his establishment few could—safety, anonymity, and complete discretion. His client list was protected by the best security in the country, thanks to Four Kings Security’s cyber security department.

  Every client of Sapphire Sands was personally vetted by Frank himself and by Four Kings Security. All clients and staff members signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of their contract, one that came with a list of rules that were non-negotiable, and Joshua would know, seeing as how he signed one of those contracts when Frank offered him membership the first day they’d met.

  “This has to be a terrible misunderstanding,” Colton said quietly, shaking his head. “Everyone knows the rules, and nothing happens in this club without Frank knowing about it.”

  Anyone who broke one of Frank’s rules was out on their ass, membership revoked, no second chances. Joshua had personally seen Frank revoke more than one membership.

  Joshua’s former boss had brought him to Sapphire Sands under false pretenses. As a client, his boss had applied for a one-time guest pass for Joshua, who’d been dragged into one of the back rooms where his asshole boss had hoped to fuck him. Joshua managed to get away and ended up in the bathroom, where he’d first met Colton. He’d been a mess, his clothes in disarray, eyes red and stinging from tears after he’d been fired for not letting the boss screw him.

  Colton had walked in and been so kind, asking how he could help. They’d talked, and somehow Joshua ended up with a job offer to work at one of the most prestigious shipping companies in the country. He’d also met the man of his dreams, right before the man of his dreams kicked Joshua’s old boss to the curb and revoked his membership. In that moment, Frank Ramirez became Joshua’s knight in tarnished armor.

  Of course, said knight had been doing his damned best to keep his distance—despite the obvious heat between them—due to some misguided sense of duty.

  Catching Seth’s eye, Colton discreetly called him over. The three of them moved away from the staff to speak quietly.

  “What’s going on, Seth?” Colton asked.

  “They’re saying a club member came forward after witnessing the sale of drugs in the club.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Joshua hissed. Everyone knew the rules. Nothing happened in the club without consent. There was no illegal activity and no drugs of any kind. Club security was provided by the Kings, their surveillance top-of-the-line. Frank even had security officers in plain clothes to make sure no one broke the rules. “Who would be stupid enough to bring drugs into Frank’s club?”

  “There’s always stupid,” Seth muttered. “How many memberships has Frank revoked over the years because some rich asshole thinks the rules don’t apply to him?”

  “You think someone’s messing with Frank?” Colton asked, his concern evident.

  Seth let out a heavy sigh. “I wouldn’t be surprised. You don’t get to be in a position like Frank’s without making enemies. Just because he plays fair doesn’t mean everyone else does. Anyway, they have a warrant to search the club. Detective Asshole is demanding the client list, but that wasn’t included in the search warrant, so without a new warrant that specifically names the client list, no way in hell will Frank give that up. King is looking into who made the allegation and the judge who signed the warrant. None of them seemed familiar with this judge, not even Mason.”

  Considering Mason had been part of the St. Augustine police force before being hired by Four Kings Security, that didn’t bode well, but hearing that King was on the job offered some relief. Ward Kingston was a force to be reckoned with, and heaven help the poor bastard who hurt someone he cared about. The guy had flown to another country to hunt down a man who’d hurt one of his own. The asshole was serving life in a federal prison somewhere.

  Four hours later, the police finished their search and found nothing. No trace of drugs or drug use, and they’d been thorough. Detective Asshole was pissed, but not as pissed as Frank, who decided for the security of his clients to close the club until Monday in the hopes the Kings and Mason would get to the bottom of this.

  After talking to his clients and reassuring them, Frank sent them home, thanked Mason, sent his staff home—with the exception of Seth and Kit—then headed for his office. Joshua followed Ace and Colton as they trailed after Frank, the two of them quietly talking as they went.

  Inside Frank’s office, Frank whirled to face Ace and exploded. “I want to know who this son of a bitch is! Someone is fucking with me, with my reputation, my business. I want to know who I’m at war with.”

  “We’ll find out who did this, Frank, but you need to—”

  “Don’t you fucking say it, Sharpe. If one more person tells me to calm down—”

  “Frank?”

  Frank stilled. He turned, his thick dark brows drawn together as if he’d only just realized Joshua was there, which was likely the case.

  “Joshua?”

  Without a second thought, Joshua crossed the room and gently placed a hand on Frank’s arm. “It’s going to be okay. The guys will get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, how can I help?”