Page 209

Story: Men of Fort Dale

Christian smiled, reaching into his pockets. “And I’m sure you’re wondering what I got up to over the weekend.”

David grimaced at the extremely bitter coffee. “You could say that, yes.”

“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t get a phone call,” Christian said.

“Why?”

Christian reached out, dropping something on the desk before pulling his hand back. David looked down, blinking at the small memory drive on the edge of his desk. Glancing up at Christian, David reached out to take the device.

“Is this…” David began.

Christian grinned. “The flash drive in question? That it is.”

David pulled it closer. “You’re sure?”

“If you’re asking if I watched it, then no. I opened the only file, and it was the same two minutes I saw, but there was a total of sixty minutes on the video I found. I stopped once I realized what it was, though I have to say, I’m impressed by your stamina.”

David chuckled as hope blossomed in his chest. “It was mostly foreplay.”

“Ah, a man of taste as well as passion, I approve.”

David grinned. “How did you manage this?”

“I told you I’d seen him on an app before. I messaged him when you and I were talking, and he responded quickly. He was also pretty quick to go on a date with me last night and took me back to his place.”

David raised a brow. “You?—”

“Did not sleep with him. A couple of laxatives in his drink was more than enough to end the night before we could get to the sexy parts he was hoping for. But since he was stuck in the bathroom, I might have entertained myself by digging around. And would you believe it? I found the thumb drive. I checkedhis computer for good measure, and he wasn’t telling the truth about not saving it to the cloud. He also left out that he had a file on his computer, along with quite the picture collection.”

David scowled. “Damn him.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I learned a few tricks from those friends of mine. Everything’s gone, and he’s not getting them back.”

David held the drive up. “I can’t believe you managed this.”

“Hey!”

David shook his head, looking at Christian. “No, I just mean...I had no idea what you were planning, but I never expected this. You really...went on a date with him just to drug him with laxatives and steal this from him?”

Christian laughed. “I mean, normally, I’m not big on theft, but I figured I could make an exception for a guy who was blackmailing you. Thought it might even things out a bit.”

“You won’t hear any argument from me,” David said.

Christian grinned. “Didn’t think I would.”

David closed his hand around the drive, making a tight fist. Maybe the entire thing would have been settled without Christian’s interference. Certainly, David would have been out a big chunk of his savings, which he’d been spared because of the man standing before him looking proud of himself.

And maybe a little smug.

“Someone looks full of themselves,” David noted.

“Maybe a little.”

“It’s well deserved, so perhaps you should be smug.”

David had to admit he found the entire thing more than a little...arousing. He’d always known Christian was capable and thought above and beyond the box. Yet, this had required an entirely different set of skills, and while subterfuge shouldn’t have been something David found admirable, it had been used for a good purpose. It had also required a great deal of thought,and Christian had been as thorough as he possibly could to make sure nothing was left.

David chuckled. “Well, I suppose that takes care of that, doesn’t it?”

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