“Okay, erm….” Mason cleared his throat. “Está bien.”

  Lucky’s lip curled up in a smile on one side, but he didn’t respond.

  “Red?” Laz said quietly, drawing Red’s attention.

  “Yeah? You okay?”

  Laz nodded. “I need to call Fitz. He’s probably freaking out.”

  “Oh, eso ya pasó,” Lucky said, meeting Laz’s gaze through the rearview mirror. “Big-time. He freaked out big-time.”

  “What?” Laz sucked in a sharp breath.

  Unbelievable. “Jesus, Lucky. Come on. What the hell’s wrong with you?”

  “No, but it’s fine,” Lucky said quickly. “Fitz is okay.”

  “How can he be okay?” Laz asked worriedly. “You just said he freaked out big-time!”

  “Sí, pero now he is fine because Jack is with him.”

  Laz peered at him. “What does that mean?”

  “We needed help, so King called Jack and Joker. Your friend was freaking out very bad when they arrived. I was trying to calm him, but it was only when he saw Jack that he stopped freaking out. Jack saw this, and he came over to make sure Fitz was okay.” Lucky smiled knowingly. “The way your friend looked at Jack? I think maybe he was a little more than okay.”

  “Oh.” Laz’s lips spread in a tentative smile.

  “Don’t worry,” Mason assured Laz. “Jack is a standup guy, and he’s damn good at his job. Your friend is in good hands.”

  Lucky narrowed his eyes at Mason, who glanced over at Lucky, then cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

  “Anyway,” Lucky grumbled. “We told Fitz you were okay and that you would call him when you were able.”

  “Thank you, Lucky.”

  The car plunged back into awkward silence. Whatever the hell was going on between these two was bound to be explosive. Red just hoped the rest of them didn’t get caught up in the blast when it happened.

  Chapter 4

  “Here you go.”

  “Thank you.” Laz took the hot cup of coffee with creamer from Red with a small smile. He just couldn’t seem to get warm, which was crazy, considering it was ninety-something degrees outside. What the hell was going on? It was like he was in a strange dream, surrounded by a fog of colors, shapes, and sounds he couldn’t quite make sense of. He’d given his statement, but it was as if someone else was talking through him.

  This couldn’t possibly be happening to him. He was a nobody. A regular guy who geeked out over new Photoshop filters, binge-watched cheesy TV shows, and had an unhealthy obsession with Pinterest. Bugs grossed him out, he hated green peppers, and he owned a flamingo pool float he wasn’t afraid to use. Who the hell would want to kill him?

  “I don’t understand. Why is this happening?” Laz took a sip of coffee, his gaze focused on the milky liquid. He never liked creamer. It tasted weird to him. Right now, he couldn’t taste anything. God, he was so tired.

  “That’s what we’d like to know,” Ace said gently from where he sat beside King, arms folded over his chest.

  Thankfully, the Kings had been allowed to accompany him. Laz had no idea what he would have done if he’d had to do this alone. He’d never even been inside a police station before. When they’d reached the precinct, he’d expected it to be like the movies. A bustling bullpen of officers and detectives hauling in angry suspects, phones ringing off the hook, case files piled high on desks. In reality, the precinct was pretty quiet, with less than a handful of officers and other personnel around. The station was small and looked like it could have been someone’s home if that someone had a cell built into their living room. According to Mason, there were only about twenty or so officers, but when they needed help, officers from other precincts came in to assist.

  Like in the movies and TV shows Laz watched, he’d expected to be taken into an interrogation room for questioning. Mason had been kind and not looked at him like he was an idiot. He’d escorted Laz and the Kings into a medium-sized conference room. After they all filled out detailed reports of what they’d witnessed, Mason collected the reports, went over everything with them, asked them questions, then informed them he’d be right back before leaving the room. The Kings all talked among themselves, and Laz zoned out.

  The door opened, and Mason returned with a padfolio. He took a seat across from Laz. “Looks like your case will be my first investigation as part of major crimes.”

  Laz blinked at him. “You’ve been assigned to my case?” Oh God, he had a case. A case that would be handled by a unit dedicated to major crimes. Crimes like homicide. Attempted murder. His attempted murder. Breathe. It’s going to be okay. Just breathe.

  “It made sense to put me on this investigation since I have strong ties with the Kings, and through them, know you. Any avenue that can get this shooter off the streets as quickly as possible is worth pursuing. My official start date was scheduled for the end of the month, but the chief’s agreed to let me go early to work this.” His blue eyes were intense when he met Laz’s gaze. “I will do everything in my power to catch this son of a bitch. You have my word.”

  “Thank you.” This was all so surreal. Laz felt Red squeeze his hand, and it helped him breathe a little easier.

  “I know it’s frustrating, and you just wanna put all this behind you, but we still have a lot of work to do. I need you to recall any altercations you might have had with anyone recently. Is there anyone you believe might be out to harm you?”

  Harm him or kill him? Laz worked in a creative industry. He was surrounded by a vast spectrum of personalities and plenty of drama. Many were good people who had a passion for what they did and loved to help those around them. Others preferred to crush whoever was in their way, using lies and manipulative tactics to climb their way to the top, not caring who they hurt along the way. There was plenty of rivalry, and even some nastiness, but enough to send a killer after him?

  Laz shook his head. “There’s no one I can think of who would do something like this.”

  “What about Bryan?”

  “What?” Laz stared at Ace. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Who’s Bryan?” Mason asked, taking notes.

  “My ex-boyfriend.” The idea was ludicrous. “We’re talking about a man who throws a fit when his sparkling water doesn’t have enough bubbles. You really think he’s capable of hiring someone to kill me?”

  “He threatened you,” Ace reminded him.

  Mason lifted his gaze to Laz. “When was this?”

  “A few months ago. Colton threw a party for me to celebrate my getting invited to Fashion Week in Paris next year. We got into a big fight.”

  “Tell him what happened,” Red prodded gently. Laz worried his bottom lip, and Red nodded for him to continue. “It’s important, Laz.”

  “Okay.” Laz let out a sigh. “I know how this is going to sound, but I promise you, Bryan didn’t send a killer after me. We were at the party, and we had a fight. I needed some space away from him, so I stormed off. Bryan followed me. He hates being ignored, especially when he has an audience. When he pushed me, I slipped on some wet tiles around the pool and fell, hitting my head before falling in the water. Red jumped in after me and pulled me out.

  “The Kings took me inside, but Colton made sure Bryan didn’t follow us. They took care of me, and while I was upstairs in one of the rooms, Bryan started to throw a fit downstairs about seeing me, so I told Ace to let him up. I was exhausted. I was hoping I could get him to back off for a while, but then he accused me of cheating on him with Red, who I’d met just before the whole pool incident. It was ridiculous. He was the one who’d cheated on me. Repeatedly. Anyway, I was done with him. We argued, and I broke up with him.”

  Mason nodded. “And how did Bryan take that?”

  “As well as you can imagine. Not because he really loved me, but because I was daring to walk away from him. He threatened to ruin me, and I… I told him if he tried, I would take him down with me.”

  “Meaning?”

  Laz sighed. “Bryan’s ruined plenty of careers in his time, and I was afraid he might do the same to me one day, so I made sure I had insurance.”

  “What kind of insurance?”

  “Photographs of him having sex with Elena Vicente’s supposedly straight husband in an apartment he bought for Bryan with his wife’s money.”

  “Who’s Elena Vicente?”

  “A fashion designer, and a big deal in our industry. She has a lot of influence. If those photos were leaked to the press, Elena would never work with Bryan again, and the fashion line he was hoping to launch with her would never happen. No one would want to work with him again.”

  “I’m guessin’ that did not go down well with Bryan.”

  “No. Being the vindictive, spiteful human being that he is, he… revealed something very personal about me.”

  “Can you tell me what he said?”

  Laz shook his head, horrified that another person would know what he’d done. It was bad enough Ace and Red knew, that Colton knew, but to have Mason and the rest of the Kings know? To have it documented? The thought made him feel sick to his stomach.

  “Laz, if it’s pertinent to this case—”

  “It’s not,” Laz assured him, feeling his chest constricting. All he wanted was to forget it ever happened. Why couldn’t he forget?

  “Laz—”

  “Coop,” Ace said quietly. He shook his head, and Mason paused before nodding.

  “Okay. What happened after he revealed personal information about you?”

  “We got into it. It wasn’t pretty. I punched him in the face, and he hit me back. We were pulled apart, and Bryan was dragged from the room. He yelled something like ‘you’re going to regret this,’ or ‘you’re going to pay for this.’ I can’t remember exactly.”

  “Do you think Bryan told someone about the photos?”

  Laz shook his head. “If anyone found out about his affair with Elena’s husband, his career would be over. No way does he want those pictures leaked.”

  “Sounds like motive to me,” Mason said. “Maybe he figures if he can’t get rid of the photos, he’ll get rid of you.”

  “That’s just insane. Bryan may be a horrible human being, but he’s not a murderer.”

  “He’s a suspect. What about Elena Vicente and her husband? Do they know about the pictures?”

  “No way. If Elena knew, the scandal would have been all over the internet. She’d have kicked her husband to the curb, and Bryan would be all over social media garnering sympathy and making himself look like the innocent party in the hopes of holding on to what scraps remained of his career. If you want to know every detail of his life, how he’s feeling and what he’s up to, just visit his social media accounts. It’s all there.”

  “Okay. I’m gonna meet with my lieutenant and go over the details of the case with him, get this investigation moving. In the meantime, is there somewhere safe you can stay?”

  Laz sat up straight. “Wait. What? I was going to go home.”

  Mason’s expression turned sympathetic. “Laz, you can’t go home. If someone is intent on hurting you, that’s the first place they’ll look.”

  “You can stay at our house,” Ace said. “Colton’s flying out to New York tomorrow, and I’ve got a case that requires me to be onsite, but I can drop by to check on you, and the rest of the guys will be around. With the new security measures we put in place during Colton’s case, it’s the safest place for you to be right now. One of our guys can stay with you.”

  “I can stay with him,” Red volunteered, surprising Laz. It made the butterflies in his stomach go nuts. Him and Red under the same roof? Together? Alone? “I’m familiar with the house’s security,” Red added. “I know this is officially a police investigation, but I’m off duty for a few more weeks, so I can help out.”

  “Are you sure?” Laz asked. “You just finished a case where you were injured. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt because of me.”

  Red turned in his seat to face him and took Laz’s hands in his. “Until the police catch this person and I know you’re safe, I’m not going anywhere.”

  Why? Laz hated where his thoughts went, but he couldn’t help it. Why did Red care so much about what happened to him? Were they friends or something more? Did Red expect something in return? Bryan was always going on about how all relationships were based on give and take. Sometimes the balance was skewed, but no matter the intent, humans were hardwired with expectations. Did Red have expectations?

  “I can’t afford to pay you,” Laz told Red, searching his eyes. They were hazel green with amber around the pupils. The flinch was subtle, but Laz felt it as if someone had taken a knife to his heart. Red released Laz’s hands, his expression hurt.

  “I wasn’t expecting you to.”

  King cleared his throat, getting Laz’s attention. “You’re family, Laz. We take care of family.”

  Laz stared at King. “But… we barely know each other.”

  “You mean a lot to Colton, and he means a lot to me,” Ace pitched in, his voice full of sincerity. “That makes you family.” He motioned to Mason. “Brokeback over here, also family.”

  Mason flipped Ace off, the two of them ribbing each other and making everyone laugh.

  Red took Laz’s hand in his again and smiled softly, his voice quiet so only Laz could hear while the others teased Mason. “You mean something to me too.”

  Was this what it was like to have a loving family? To have people who cared about you, supported you, protected you? For a long time, it had just been him and his brother, Gio, but even before that, when their father had been alive, it had been the three of them. When Colton came into their lives, for a little while, it had been four. Then Laz’s father got sick and passed away, and they were back to three.

  Laz swallowed past the lump in his throat. He didn’t know what to say. When he was a kid, he envied his school friends. Envied their big families, the gatherings, barbecues, parties. The loving grandparents and mischievous cousins. Laz never had that. To this day, he had trouble understanding what the hell had happened with his parents’ families.

  How could they throw his family away? How could they disown his dad for loving and supporting his sons no matter who they loved? When Gio came out as bisexual in high school, their “family” had given their dad hell. His grandparents tried to take Laz away from his dad, from his brother. When Laz said he was like Gio—except for the part about liking girls—they blamed his father, said it was a good thing his wife wasn’t alive to see what had become of her sons. His grandmother had said it in front of Laz. He’d been eight years old. What kind of family did that? Then his father got sick, and those bastards just let him die, with only his sons at his funeral to bury him.

  “Laz?”

  Laz snapped out of it. He moved his eyes up to Red, who was watching him worriedly. “Sorry. I, um, got lost in my own thoughts there for a moment.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” He dropped his gaze to his hand still in Red’s. “I’m sorry if I offended you.” His heart pounded in his ears. Red did care about him. Whether it was as a friend or more didn’t matter right now. Laz was such an ass. He had to stop letting his horrible experiences with Bryan ruin whatever it was he had with Red.

  “I wasn’t offended,” Red promised. “Just caught off guard.”

  And hurt. Red might not have said the words, but Laz knew.

  “I’ll feel better if Red is with you,” King said before turning to Mason. “If there’s anything we can do to help, just let us know.”

  Laz’s head felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to his skull. He wanted to crawl into bed and sleep, except he couldn’t because his bed, and his apartment, were off-limits.

  Mason smiled sympathetically. “I think we’re done for now, but if you think of anything, please call me.” He handed Laz a business card, which Laz took and slipped into his jeans pocket, aware that his right hand was still in Red’s. Was Red aware? He had to be. “When you get to Colton’s, why don’t you make a list of what you need from your place, and if it’s okay with you, I’ll stop by, pick up your things, then drop them off.”

  “I can do that,” Lucky said. “You have enough to do at the moment.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. If Laz is okay with it, I can do that. No problem.”

  Laz nodded. He couldn’t go home. The severity of the situation was starting to sink in, which he found funny, considering a few hours ago he’d been running for his life. Either way, he was too exhausted to process it all.

  “Thanks, Mason,” Red said, releasing Laz’s hand, then standing. “You’ve got my number. Keep me updated.”

  “Will do.”

  Laz sat staring off at nothing while Mason took notes, and the Kings stood together, talking quietly. It wasn’t until Red put his hand on Laz’s shoulder that he realized he’d zoned out again.

  “Come on. Let’s get you to Colton’s.”

  Laz nodded. He thanked Mason again and followed the Kings out of the room and toward the front of the precinct. King and Lucky took position in front of Laz, with Red to his left, and Ace to his right. He thought it was weird, and it struck him then that they were shielding him, forming a tight circle around him.

  Laz was surrounded by a wall of muscle, each King towering over him at six feet or taller. At five feet, eight inches, Laz wasn’t that much shorter, but he felt eclipsed by these big men, not just by their size, but their confidence. They had no fear despite knowing the danger they were putting themselves in. This was what they did, what they’d been doing for years. It didn’t stop Laz from being scared, not from the possibility he could be killed—though that did scare the hell out of him—but that one of the Kings would be killed or hurt because of him.

  Red could have died. All because he’d been in the way when that madman had kidnapped Colton. Then on the beach when he’d put himself between Laz and the shooter.

  “Guys, this isn’t necessary,” Laz said in the hopes they’d listen, but as expected, King would have none of it.