“Leo.”

  The soft-spoken word had him looking up, and he lost himself in the deep blue pools of King’s eyes. King breathed in through his mouth and released the breath slowly through his lips, the movement drawing Leo’s gaze to his full mouth. Without thinking, Leo followed King’s lead, breathing in through his mouth, then releasing the breath. He lost track of how much time went by while they did nothing but breathe.

  “Come with me.”

  Leo didn’t question the gentle order. He simply did as King said, walking beside him, aware of King’s solid strength, and feeling the tension leaving his body. It was as if King was surrounded by an invisible shield, one that encompassed Leo if he was close enough, a protective bubble that kept the outside world away from Leo. He focused on nothing but King, barely aware of the bunker, the noise, the stares he was surely getting. Inside the concrete box doubling as his room, the desolation of it had the world crashing down on him again, and he gasped for breath.

  “What do you need?” King asked, coming to stand in front of Leo.

  He wouldn’t let anything happen to Leo, would he? That’s why his dad had sent King. He must have known. Who was Leo kidding? Of course his dad knew; he had been in the military for decades. He was a general. He’d known, and he’d sent someone he trusted, someone he could entrust Leo with. Safe. Leo would need to feel safe, so his father had sent him King. Safe. King. Safe. King. The words repeated in his head on a continuous loop.

  Leo was surrounded by strangers, dangerous people he didn’t trust, who didn’t care about him or his family, who wanted to use him and what he could do. “I’m sorry,” Leo murmured, tapping his fingers against his legs. “I’m so sorry. You’re probably regretting this already.”

  “Leo.”

  Leo slowly lifted his gaze, expecting to see frustration or annoyance on King’s handsome face, but instead he found a tenderness that warmed him from the inside out, making his heart stumble and fall over itself. How was King so calm? Leo supposed it was the soldier in him. The ability to summon calm amid the chaos. There was something else, though, something Leo couldn’t quite put his finger on, but it soothed him. He let out a shaky breath. Leo added calm to the loop. Calm. Safe. King. Calm. Safe. King…

  “You’re doing it again,” King said gently but firmly.

  “Doing what?” Being stupid? Weird? Obnoxious?

  “Making assumptions about what I’m thinking. I don’t regret being here, and believe me when I say, you would know if I did. I won’t mince words with you. If you’re worried about what I’m thinking, just ask.”

  Could it be that easy? Leo considered King’s words and searched his gaze. King’s eyes were filled with only sincerity. “Okay.”

  “Now tell me what’s wrong. Is it your blood sugar? Do you need something to eat?”

  What? The suggestion completely threw Leo. He shook his head, ready to tell King he was fine when King put a finger to his own lips. They were very nice lips, but then why wouldn’t they be? The man was easy to get lost in. King tapped his ear, and Leo figured he was trying to tell Leo not to say anything in case someone was listening. He held a hand out to Leo, and Leo stared at it, hesitating for a heartbeat before he placed his hand in King’s larger one. King’s fingers wrapped around Leo’s—they were long, calloused, rough, but his grip so amazingly tender.

  “Um, yeah. That’s probably what it is.” Heat from King’s touch flooded through Leo, and his face burned. He’d never had this kind of reaction to anyone before, but then he’d never been touched by a man like King. Jeez, he’s holding your hand, not inviting you for sex. Why was he even thinking about sex? That was so wrong. As if a guy like King would ever find him attractive anyway. The guy was gorgeous, like one of those handsome actors playing superheroes on the big screen. Leo wouldn’t even know what to do with the guy. The few sexual encounters he’d had were more often than not quick, awkward, disappointing, and ended with his sexual partner taking off faster than he’d come—pun totally intended. Some of them didn’t even bother asking his name. Which was fine. They were random hookups. Scratching an itch.

  King didn’t strike Leo as a random-hookup kind of guy. Then again, it wasn’t like they knew much at all about each other. Maybe the man was a player. Shit, he probably wasn’t even into guys. Leo thought he’d felt something spark between them, but now that he thought about it, King was most likely doing what he’d promised Leo’s dad he’d do. Man, he was such an idiot. King being a nice guy was an added bonus. It did not translate to King wanting anything from him other than to fulfill his promise. Whatever ridiculous thoughts were trying to worm their way into Leo’s head needed to go away. Love wasn’t meant for guys like him. After this, there was a good chance he’d always be on someone’s radar, always watching his back, and he had to face the fact he was pretty shit at taking care of himself. Who’d want that? Who’d want a guy that needed constant protection or looking after?

  King opened the door to Leo’s room and peeked out before pulling Leo with him into the room next door, then locking the door behind them. It was an exact copy of Leo’s room, with the exception of the large black duffel bag and black laptop bag on the bed. Leo stood mesmerized as King released his hand and went digging in his duffel bag, then pulled out what appeared to be a tablet in its case. To Leo’s bewilderment, King removed the case and started taking it apart. Leo’s eyes widened as he realized the case was hollow. King removed a black object resembling a business card. He pressed something and a tiny red light blinked before King began sweeping the room. Leo’s jaw dropped. He wasn’t sure what concerned him more, that King believed their rooms were bugged, or that he carried a sweeping device with him hidden in his tablet case. Then again, King had been Special Forces and now worked in private security.

  “I think I have a protein bar in my bag,” King said, mouthing the words “outside pocket” and pointing to the right side of the bag. Protein bars weren’t really on Leo’s list of enjoyable snacks, but he did as King suggested, unzipping the pocket and removing a large resealable bag with over a dozen protein bars wrapped in cellophane. Were these homemade? With King’s nod of approval, Leo removed one, unwrapped it, and took a bite while King continued to sweep the room, ducking his head inside the now open wardrobe.

  “Oh God, this is so good,” Leo said with a moan. Maybe it was his blood sugar. He let out another moan, but a loud thump and growled curse startled him. He leaned over to look at King, who was rubbing his head as he pulled back from the wardrobe.

  “You okay?” Leo asked through a mouthful of protein bar.

  “Yep. Room’s clear.”

  “Did you bump your head?”

  “I’m fine,” King grumbled.

  “Okay. Thanks for the protein bar. This is amazing. I’ve never tasted anything like it. I don’t normally eat protein bars. They usually taste like dirt or freeze-dried cardboard. Not that I know what freeze-dried cardboard tastes like, but I imagine it’s not all that different from protein bars.” Maybe he should shut up now. Leo took another bite and tasted chocolate, macadamia nuts, a hint of coconut, healthy oaty stuff, and a few other ingredients he couldn’t quite discern, but it was good.

  “My sister makes them. She and her husband own a café in St. Augustine Beach.”

  “Cool.” Leo sat on the bed, his brows furrowed. “Do you think they’ve bugged my room?”

  “It’s possible. I’ll give it a sweep later, but if it’s bugged, we can’t tamper with it in any way, or they’ll know we’re onto them.”

  Leo nodded. He guessed he couldn’t complain about having his privacy invaded when he was creating a program that would do just that on a much grander, scarier scale. King moved his bags to the floor and took a seat beside him.

  “Want some?” Not feeling very hungry, Leo held out the remaining piece of protein bar. He swallowed hard when King smiled warmly and took it from him before popping it into his mouth. Leo really needed to get ahold of himself. Developing a crush on the sexy soldier was a very bad idea. The guy could knock him out with one punch.

  “Do you have a girlfriend? Or, um, boyfriend?”

  Wow. And you wonder why you don’t have a boyfriend.

  King let out a choking sound before he started to cough violently into his hand, his face turning red.

  “Shit.” Leo looked around the room, grabbed the water bottle on the nightstand, twisted the cap off, and handed it to King, his eyes fixed on King’s throat as he gulped down the liquid. Wiping his mouth, King handed the bottle back to Leo, who capped it and returned it to the nightstand. “Sorry.” Because awkward questions weren’t enough, now he was trying to kill the guy.

  “No, it’s fine,” King wheezed. He blew out a breath. “There’s no one.”

  Well, that didn’t help.

  “But if I did have someone,” King said, picking up the pieces of his tablet’s case, a deep frown on his face, “it would be a man. Is that going to be a problem?”

  Leo blinked at him. “Why would that be a problem? I’m gay.”

  “What? Wait a second.” King turned to face him. “I remember talking to your dad and him saying you had a girlfriend.”

  Leo’s brows shot up near his hairline. Well, that was news to him. “When was this?”

  “Um, 2002, I think.”

  King remembered a conversation he had in 2002? Leo couldn’t remember what he had for breakfast. Oh, wait. Now he remembered.

  “Dude, I was nine. Sarah Lieberman invited me to her birthday party and declared I was her boyfriend. The first Spider-Man movie came out in theaters the same day of the party, so unless she was a dude dressed in blue-and-red spandex, I wasn’t interested. Pretty sure she figured as much when she asked me to kiss her and I presented her with my pet tarantula, Spidey. They did not hit it off.”

  King stared at him before letting out a bark of laughter that had Leo smiling like a dope. The guy had a great laugh, and an even better smile. Leo couldn’t help but be drawn in. Whatever ridiculous thoughts were trying to form in his annoying brain had to stop. God, King was so, so pretty. A sigh slipped out before he could stop it, and Leo froze as King’s laughter faded, those intense blue eyes focused on him. Thankfully, King didn’t address Leo behaving like a schoolboy with a first crush. King didn’t so much as hint at knowing what Leo was thinking. Instead, he busied himself putting his tablet case back together.

  “Do you want to talk to me about what happened out there?”

  Shit. For a moment, Leo had been so lost in King, he’d forgotten all about where he was and what he was here to do, which in turn made him think of what would happen if he didn’t get this project done and what would happen after. What would happen to him when this was all over and King went home? Were they really going to let Leo walk away? They promised they would, but that was like leaving a baby gazelle with a lion that had just eaten. Sure, the lion might ignore it while it had a full belly, but the second it got hungry again, chomp! No more baby gazelle. Okay, he needed to stop being so morbid.

  “Leo? What’s wrong?”

  Leo jumped to his feet and started pacing, his fingers tap, tap, tapping away at his leg. “Everything is wrong. This whole place is wrong. I can’t even hear myself think. The constant noise, the people, the talking, the yelling. I know you got me headphones, and I appreciate that, I do, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re there. I know they’re there, looking at me, talking about me, all of them so angry and frustrated.

  “It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. I want to work on it. It terrifies me, but I know I have to or—I don’t even want to think about what’ll happen if I don’t, but I can’t snap my fingers and make it happen. It doesn’t work that way. I told them that. I told them it would be hard for me if I wasn’t in my own environment. I know that sort of thing doesn’t matter to most people, but most people aren’t in the sludge like I am. They’re just circling it, observing it. I’m the one that has to be in there, in the dark, with the monsters.” He was rambling like a lunatic, but he couldn’t stop. “I never wanted this. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but now I have no choice, and if I don’t do this, who knows what they’re going to do to my dad. I mean they’re already forcing him to retire because of me.”

  King was on his feet, his hands on Leo’s shoulders, bringing his pacing to a stop. “Wait. They’re forcing your father to retire?”

  “Yes, his punishment for keeping me ‘hidden,’ like I belong to them or something. My dad was never going to tell them about me. He’d been preparing me for this since I was a kid, always telling me to be careful, not to leave any traces on the internet, and I was careful, but they laid a trap, and I fell right into it.”

  “How?”

  “I’m a freelance software engineer. It gives me the freedom to work from home and not have to… people. Whenever I got a job to design something for someone, I was very careful. I did only what they asked me to do, nothing over-the-top or crazy that would draw attention to myself. It was hard. So hard. Some of these programs needed so much improvement, I had to recreate the whole thing on my computer the right way just to get it out of my system. I hated that I couldn’t give them something way better than what they asked for, but I knew I couldn’t do anything outside some minor upgrades, nothing any other decent software engineer wouldn’t do.

  “Designing video games is a hobby of mine. It’s video games, right? I figured it was safe. I was part of a game design forum, where members helped each other out during the various design and programming stages. It wasn’t like anyone was going to ask how to get into the Pentagon or anything. I hid my identity. I was careful, or so I thought. There was a guy in the forum I chatted with all the time. I’d known him since the forum launched back when I was at MIT. One day he messaged me privately, begging me for help, panicking about his sister being in danger. I didn’t even know he had a sister. He never talked about her, but then no one talked about their real lives in the forum.

  “Anyway, he said some guy was harassing his sister, but that the police weren’t taking her claims seriously. She was starting to get scared, fearing for her life, but no one could do anything because this guy was some bigwig in her company and there was no evidence because someone kept deleting the messages he was sending her from the company’s servers. He asked me if I knew anyone who could get into the servers and find the messages this guy was sending. It sounded pretty straightforward. Get in, get out.” Leo started pacing again.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have, but he was so scared for his sister. I thought about my sister, and what if she were in the same position? I told him I’d have a go at it.” Leo rubbed his eyes. “I was so stupid. So careless. I should have known when I hit the first firewall. The company’s security wasn’t like your average company, and that should have been my first red flag, but I told myself it was probably a financial institution or something similar. I kept digging deeper and deeper. Something was seriously wrong, and then I found information that shouldn’t have been there. Advanced coding and intel referencing government operations. By the time I realized what I’d stumbled across, I knew it was too late.”

  “The guy you’d been talking to hadn’t been your friend.”

  Leo shook his head. “I shut my laptop and was about to leave the Starbucks I was in, when a bunch of suits walked in and asked me to come with them.” Leo blinked the wetness from his eyes. “I’d never been so scared in my entire life. I mean, I spend most of my days behind a computer screen, trying not to draw attention to myself. Blending in with a crowd has never been a problem for me. No one ever gives me a second glance, but online? I’ve been covering my tracks for years, knowing that if I wasn’t careful…. In that moment, I knew I’d messed up. They’d been throwing that net out for years, waiting to catch their white whale, and they finally did. They tried to make it sound like I should be proud. No one else had made it to the middle of their little maze except me. I’d be doing my father proud, protecting my country, using my gifts for the greater good, fighting terrorists, catching the bad guys before they hurt innocent people. One of them looked me in the eye and said I could be a real superhero. Patronizing asshole.”

  Cursing under his breath, King wrapped his arm around Leo’s shoulders, pulling him close. Leo shut his eyes when it struck him that he hadn’t recoiled from King’s touch, not once. There was something about King that made Leo feel comfortable in his own skin. He didn’t have to pretend to be something he wasn’t around King, didn’t have to put on a brave front. Leo wanted to turn and bury his face against the man’s chest, inhale more of his scent, the fabric softener and whatever woodsy shower gel King used. His body was warm, and Leo wanted more. As if sensing his thoughts, King pulled away. Leo couldn’t blame him. Who wanted to take on a wreck like him? High-maintenance didn’t begin to cover it. Weird eating habits, health oddities, general weirdness, neediness, social anxiety, and constant need for vigilance…. Yeah, he was a real catch.

  “I don’t want to end up like Codey Cat.”

  “Who?”

  “This coder I met on the dark web a few years ago. They were nicknamed Codey Cat because whoever they were always slipped in a little coded cat face. Anyway, they were good. Like me levels of good. We used to chat and try to out-code each other. Then one day, they disappeared. Rumor was they’d somehow been picked up by the spooks. It happened all the time. I don’t want to end up like Codey Cat.”

  “Leo—”

  Too afraid of what King was going to say—like maybe King was having second thoughts about being here, or that Leo needed to suck it up and get on with it—Leo pasted a smile on his face and quickly spoke up. “You know what? It’s okay. I’m okay. Early-morning nerves, you know? Thanks for hearing me out. I’m good to go.”

  “Leo, you don’t—”

  The genuine concern on King’s handsome face was too much, and Leo spun on his heels and left the room before King could stop him. “Really. I’m better now. Let’s get to work, huh?” He’d get this damn project done if it killed him. It wasn’t fair to King. He didn’t ask to be brought into the mess that was Leo’s life. Soon as he was done, he’d disappear for a while in case Bowers and his superiors got any ideas about keeping him on. King would go back to his life, and Leo would forget those kind blue eyes. Didn’t matter that King looked at him in a way no one in his life ever had. Getting attached wasn’t an option. Not unless he wanted to get his heart broken. Nope. From this moment forward, he’d focus on the job and nothing else.