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“It gives him something to do, which he’s been without since he woke up in a hospital months ago. It also gives us time to allow Philip to stop being so stubborn about having someone else in his office with him.”

Christian raised a brow, smirking. “Us, huh?”

David frowned. “What?”

“You said us, not you.”

David blinked. “Well, I suppose I did. You are apparently included because you casually brought yourself into this little mess.”

And unlike Reyes, who was an unknown, David trusted Christian.

Christian smiled. “I take it the keyboard is for Oscar.”

“Yes. I looked into it, and this one came highly recommended. I doubt you’ll need to learn much, as it’ll mostly be him who needs to use it. However, it wouldn’t hurt you to ensure it works and everything is ready for him. I’m having him come in at 0700 on Monday.”

“I really hope this isn’t your way of trying to drive the man crazy. If you had any idea what kind of shit comes through that elevator half the time, you might rethink putting someone else out there.”

David chuckled, opening his messages again. “I’m sure Reyes will be just fine. He’s dealt with his fair share, and you’ll be there to guide him. If anyone can make sure he finds his feet and can handle whatever madness this place can throw, it’ll be you.”

Christian hummed. “Not sure if that’s a compliment or a criticism.”

“It was meant to be a compliment, but the more I think about it, the more it begs the question as to whether you’re completely sane,” David said with a small smile.

“Right, so a compliment,” Christian said.

“Yes, I suppose it would have to be, wouldn’t it?”

“Keep complimenting me, general, and I might start to like it,” Christian said as he returned to the waiting room.

David looked up from his computer, blinking at the closed door. Had that been...no, it couldn’t have been. David would not entertain the idea that Christian had come even remotely close to flirting with him, no matter how tempting the idea was. Hell, the fact that itwastempting was a clear indicator that he needed to keep his attention on his work.

He turned back to the screen and stopped at the newest message. It simply said, ‘Read this.’ David could see an attachment, and he debated whether or not to open the message in the first place. After another moment of hesitation, he opened it and saw the attachment was a video.

Attached was a short message.

If you don’t want people seeing this, you should call me.

E

David could not think of a time when he’d felt confusion and foreboding as he read the cryptic message. What in all hell was happening? He was obviously being threatened, but by who? All he had was a letter, and as he stared at the attachment, he thought he might figure it out quickly.

Taking a deep breath, he clicked the link and opened it. The program popped up on the screen, showing it was a full two minutes. David didn’t take long to realize what he was seeing, and he felt his stomach plummet.

Now he knew who ‘E’ was. Jesus, it had been months since he’d last seen Ethan. The younger man had worked at a cocktail bar David had gone to for a meeting with another general. Glances had been exchanged, and then Ethan had slipped David his number. They enjoyed one another for a few weeks after that. Despite his stamina, David had more often than not found himself worn out by Ethan's exuberance and determination.

But it had been short-lived, something David had been honest about from the start. Ethan was cute and fun, but that was all it could ever be. Despite liking younger men, he rarely found himself emotionally attracted to them. Men in their early twenties were generally good-looking, rowdy, and fun to roll around in bed with. However, they still had years of life experience to attain before David found himself genuinely interested. Ethan still had a lot of growing up to do, and when the excitement had worn off, David had parted ways, just as he’d warned the man would inevitably happen.

And Ethan had promised he’d deleted the video.

“Apparently not,” David muttered as he watched himself on the screen.

His phone buzzed, pulling him out of his horrified stillness with a jerk. He stared at the device as if he’d never seen it before, stiffening when he saw an unknown number on the screen.

He answered it. “Hello?”

“Good, you answered.”

David tightened his jaw. “Ethan.”