Page 73 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

“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 it was tempting 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.”

“You read the message, right? You didn’t just watch us having a bit of fun.”

David glanced toward the office door. “How did you even know I saw the damn thing?”

“You know you can get a notification if someone reads your message, right?”

Right.

“Fine, you have my attention now what do you want?”

“Look, you’ve seen enough movies and shit, right? You know how this goes.”

David made an ugly face. “Money?”

It wasn’t like he was going to pretend to be surprised, but it just seemed so...predictable.

David pinched his brow. “How much?”

“You know what? I’ve been thinking about that for a while, and I’m having a hard time coming up with a good number. But you know, you’ve got to have some money. I mean, big-time general like you, you should have plenty of money.”

He didn’t make quite as much as Ethan apparently thought.

True, he probably made enough to be the envy of a cocktail server at an upscale bar, but it didn’t make him rich.

Considering he spent most of his time working, his budget was mostly spent on food and little else.

His savings were considerable, but he’d never thought they might have to be put to this use.

David gritted his teeth. “How the hell am I supposed to come up with the correct amount?”

“You’re a smart man, David. I’m sure you can figure out how much is enough to keep this video from getting to the wrong eyes.

I mean, hell, it’s the 2010s, right? Being with a guy isn’t that big a deal.

..maybe. But having a bit of fun with someone young enough to be your son?

Shit, I bet the internet would love that,” Ethan said with far more relish than David would have preferred.

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“Not really, no.”

“Fine, then just...why?”

“Why?”

“Yes. Why are you doing this?”

“You break my heart, I break your bank...or your reputation, that’s up to you.”

David jerked back from the phone in surprise. “What? I told you from the beginning there was an expiration date for whatever we had going on. I told you I was only in it to enjoy what we could enjoy, and then we’d move on. You had the choice to walk away, and you chose to keep going.”

“And I wanted more.”

The fact that he’d agreed to David’s terms obviously meant nothing.

David could only stare at the phone in utter disbelief as the reality of the situation settled into his gut.

Was he really being blackmailed by a man who should have been nothing more than a fond memory because he’d walked away after saying he would?

Hell, he’d stepped in it, hadn’t he?

David closed his eyes, knowing he had no choice but to ask, “How long do I have?”

“Tell you what, I’m feeling nice since you’re probably going to be so generous, ya know? So how about I give you the weekend. Monday at this time, and you tell me your offer.”

“And if you like it?”

“You give me the money, and I give you the USB stick it’s on.”

David blinked. “You...keep it on a memory drive?”

“I’m not giving you my computer. You’ll get the original copy on a drive when I get the money.”

“The money I have to figure out.”

“You figure out the price of your long-served career.”

David closed his eyes. “Fine.”

“I’ll call you on Monday.”

The line clicked off, leaving David to stare at his phone in helpless horror.