Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“To the unconventional,” I said, raising my beer.
Lucian didn’t live far from the steakhouse, so we decided to walk.
He and Reese were immersed in a conversation some ten feet behind River and me; last time I’d overheard a portion of it, they’d been discussing punishments. Lucian appeared to have a creative knack for it, without calling himself a Sadist.
River and I were talking DC—and Winchester; I’d shown him the listing.
I wanted his “antisocial” take on my moving there. I was far from antisocial, but at the same time, I really didn’t want to live smack-dab in the middle of a larger city. I’d grown up that way. My whole life had come with a touch of shoebox. It’d actually been an upgrade to get to the barracks in the service. Not only was I used to sharing everything with others, but I’d been free of my brother’s terrorizing. Mainly, Cullen’s. He and I could go at each other like archenemies, even though we’d always have each other’s backs.
“Fellas, you can take the next left across the street,” Lucian called.
I looked back and acknowledged what he’d said. “Aye-aye.”
“…but it’s not like we wanna stay there forever,” River was saying. “It’s close to work. That’s the one perk. But in the future, we want a house with a bunch of hedges and trees to shut out the rest of the world. I don’t like the feelin’ of staying on top of each other.”
“Exactly how I feel,” I said. “I want a piece of land too, where I can grow food and keep chickens.”
“Sounds nice,” he commented. “In other words, you should definitely call the listing agent in Winchester.”
I should. I was going to.
Lucian’s place was hella nice. He lived in an older building, with high ceilings and wooden floors, and it was highly possible he’d hired a decorator when moving in. The living room looked like a page straight out of Upper-Class Bachelor Living. Everything was in dark blue, brown leather, and oak. Two big couches, big TV, big fireplace, bookcases filled with books on economy and…whatever. His liquor cabinet would impress any bartender, and he hadn’t been lying about the poker table. It stood in the corner, beckoning us.
We just had to wait a while. Lucas had texted to say he was done for the night, so he was on his way over.
“Make yourselves comfortable, gentlemen,” Lucian said. “There’re mixers and ice in the kitchen.” He opened the cabinet and grabbed a nice bottle of whiskey.
I had my eyes on a bottle of bourbon instead, the very kind I wanted mixed with Coke.
River and I collected our poisons and headed for the kitchen, where he stupidly convinced me to start with a shot of vodka.
Sadly, a Marine rarely said no.
I threw it back and made a face—and I looked forward to the reward. Being away from bars and clubs relaxed me, and I was hoping for a good buzz to enhance the happy.
“The vampire’s loaded,” River muttered. He was eyeing the black marble countertops and the appliances that looked brand-new.
I grinned lazily and leaned against the island.
Meanwhile, someone put on music in the living room, and classic rock flowed through the place.
I felt good. Relaxed and comfortable.
“One more for the road.” River poured two more shots. “Don’t make me drink alone.”
I chuckled. Fine. One more wasn’t going to hurt.
I downed it quickly, then put my shot glass in the sink.
While we prepared our next drinks, I asked if he and Reese had anything scheduled, kink-wise, in the near future. I’d be back in approximately nine weeks for a quick weekend, so if he knew of any events…
“Afraid not,” he said, adding ginger ale to his vodka. Lucian had lemon and lime on the counter too. “We’re headin’ out soon. We’ll be going back and forth between Bangladesh, Laos, and DC a lot over the next year, so if I find myself at home on a weekend, I won’t set foot in a club.” He threw me a quick glance. “But text us when you’re in town. If we’re home, we’ll meet up.”
I nodded once and topped off my drink with half a Coke. “I didn’t know there was such a high demand for American IT guys in Bangladesh and Laos.”
“True, they usually come to our universities instead to learn all our tech,” he said, not missing a beat. “But yeah. This is gonna be big. They don’t have the infrastructure to handle organized crime, especially now when everything’s getting more digital. Who needs a courier when you can send encrypted messages, you know? They have some ground forces, but their tech belongs in the eighties.”
I side-eyed him. What he said made sense—perfect sense, actually, and I wasn’t unfamiliar with joint operations to crack down on organized crime, which obviously included people who worked in IT and so on. There was just something about River and Reese that made me believe there was more to what they were divulging. Something other than an IT guy with a security escort for “just in case” scenarios since they often traveled to third-world countries.