Page 75 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

“I…” Christian began, mouth working silently.

Christian recovered enough to begin speaking rapidly. “I was going through the emails and purging them. I did mine first, and when I started on yours, I saw a message in the trash. You don’t get rid of stuff, so I opened it to see what was going on.”

The entire blackmail attempt had thrown him off, and he hadn’t deleted the email.

Christian’s fingers danced nervously on his armrest. “Well, I read the message, saw the attachment, clicked it, and then just?—”

David waited before asking, “Just what?”

Christian’s face reddened. “Found myself staring. I couldn’t?—”

David narrowed his eyes, darting all over Christian’s flushed features. The other man had been staring?

“Enjoy the show?” David asked curtly.

“Uh—”

It had been meant as a smart-ass comment, but now it was David’s turn to find himself unsure what to say.

Christian winced. “Uh, you look good?”

David blinked. “You...were enjoying it?”

Christian’s eyes widened, waving his hands frantically. “I wasn’t watching it because I was trying to enjoy myself. I just...wasn’t expecting what I saw. Kind of just froze and couldn’t look away.”

“But…look good?” David asked in disbelief.

Christian sputtered, hands flopping uselessly. “I have no idea what to say right now, that isn’t going to make things worse.”

As if it wasn’t bad enough that some crazed former lover was blackmailing David, now Christian had seen the evidence. What the hell was David supposed to do now? And much to his confusion, some part of him thrilled knowing Christian had not only seen it but apparently enjoyed it.

Christian looked down at his hands, fidgeting with his fingers.

The pained expression on his face brought a stab of guilt to David’s angry thoughts, and he felt himself deflate.

Christian was given a great deal of latitude in his job, and it wasn’t the first time he’d accidentally stumbled across something he wasn’t supposed to see.

Of course, every instance before hadn’t been quite as mortifying for either of them.

David sighed. “Come into my office.”

Christian winced again but stood up with a nod. David turned and walked into his office, rubbing his forehead as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. He’d spent the better part of the last couple of days trying to figure it out. Now, there was one more wrinkle to smooth.

David motioned to one of the two comfortable chairs across from his desk. “Take a seat.”

Not bothering to see if Christian listened, David went to the cabinet at the back of the room.

It was filled with bottles of expensive alcohol meant for special guests.

David wasn’t one for drinking when he was working, or at all for the most part, but he thought he could make an exception this time.

“And to think, I never actually took that nap. I spent most of that hour by myself wondering what I was going to do,” David said as he opened the cabinet.

“I am sorry,” Christian said quietly.

“Yes, I know.”

And he did. Despite his frustration, David knew Christian would never mean any harm.

Despite the professional distance enforced on them by their jobs, David knew Christian well enough to count him among the few people he could trust. Christian had spent the past year doing his job with a passion and dedication David appreciated and respected.

Despite his curious and often intrusive nature, Christian had never done anything he knew would violate David’s trust.

Deciding on a smooth whiskey with a slight bite, David pulled out two glasses. He pulled out the tiny bucket of ice cubes from the small fridge and dropped a few into each glass.

David thought about it, added another measure to each glass, and held one out to Christian.

The blond looked at the glass as though he’d never seen one before, requiring David to give it a slight shake for emphasis.

Christian took it, looked at it again, and then drank.

David smiled when Christian’s eyes widened, staring at the glass with wonder.

“Good?” David asked.

“What the hell is it?”

“Whiskey?”

Christian looked up, wide-eyed still. “I hate whiskey.”

David snorted, setting the bottle down and taking up his glass. “No, you hate cheap whiskey. I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s disliked this. Which is good because it’s a few hundred dollars a bottle.”

Christian looked at his glass, blanching. “Jesus. You’re telling me I’m drinking more than my lunch cost?”

“Probably.”

“God, it’s good, though.”

David nodded, taking his seat. “Be careful. It can sneak up on you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

They settled into silence, staring at their glasses.

David evaluated his thoughts and found he wasn’t as angry as he might have been.

Christian had been ready to shrink into himself and disappear, and David didn’t think that was just because he’d been caught.

The last thing David wanted was to punish Christian over what amounted to an accident.

“You’re being threatened?” Christian finally asked.

David looked up, sighing. “Yes.”

“By who?”

Well, the cat was already halfway out of the bag.

There didn’t seem to be much harm in letting it out the rest of the way.

And perhaps Christian might be able to give him an idea of what David could do.

Another perspective might help, even if it was just to pick a dollar amount and hope it was enough.

“A former lover of mine.”

Christian winced. “I thought that was the case. The guy in the video?”

“Yes.”

“I take it things didn’t end well, huh?”

David shook his head. “That’s the problem. I thought it ended perfectly amicably. It was...never meant to be serious.”

Christian smiled softly. “So, a fuck buddy.”

David wrinkled his nose. “For lack of a better word, yes, I suppose.”

Christian covered his mouth, prompting David to ask what was wrong.

“It’s just you were willing to sleep with the guy, have a sexual relationship, and let him film it, but you’re being stuffy about calling him a fuck buddy.”

“I just don’t like the term.”

“I can see that.”

David frowned. “And in my defense, he assured me he’d deleted it well before we ended things.”

Christian shook his head. “Take it from me, most people are not going to delete something like that. They’ll keep it for their own use later. Though I don’t like the idea that some of them are keeping it for something like this.”

David cocked his head. “Have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Kept something like that?”

“A sex tape?”

David shrugged. “From one of your previous...uh, lovers.”

Christian grinned. “I’ve never made a sex tape with any of my boyfriends , if that’s what you’re asking.”

Well, it certainly covered everything David had been asking.

In truth, David had never been sure where Christian leaned.

He suspected he was into men, but there had been no obvious clues.

Christian always kept private information about his dating life utterly non-existent in the office, and David couldn’t recall a time he had ever seen the man looking at anyone with interest.

“Why not?” David asked.

Christian shrugged. “I’ve never trusted anyone enough to take that kind of film of me, and I’ve never wanted to do it with anyone before, either. Not that it couldn’t be fun because I’m sure it could be.”

“Right up until they come back around and blackmail you for money.”

“Oh, Jesus. Of course it’s money.”

David couldn’t help his laugh. “I had much the same thought when he told me.”

“So, who’s he? Like, his name.”

“His name is Ethan. I met him at a cocktail bar a handful of months back.”

Christian cocked his head, hand sliding to his pocket. “Which one?”

“Diamond Den.”

Christian nodded. “I know who you’re talking about.”

David straightened. “A friend of yours?”

Christian shook his head. “No, but he’s on one of those dating apps. Has his name up and lists himself as working there. I’ve seen him online quite a bit. Didn’t know you went for the younger ones, General.”

David wrinkled his nose again. “And you weren’t supposed to know. No one was supposed to know about that save for the few people I enjoyed private time with.”

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a little.”

“I know, but I’m having a hard time finding the lighter side of things at the moment.”

“Yeah, I can understand that.”

David watched Christian as he mulled over the information.

He couldn’t help but wonder, considering what he’d just confirmed about Christian’s tastes, if the younger man had got some enjoyment out of the video.

David wasn’t thrilled that someone else was in on the entire disaster, but he’d be lying if he said some part of him, a decidedly horny part, wanted to know what Christian thought of what he’d seen.

And what it would have looked like if Christian had been the one holding the camera that night.

Stirring, David shifted in his seat. “In any case. He contacted me the other day through that message and apparently had it set up to alert him when the email was opened. He then called me and let me know what he wanted.”

“How much?”

David shook his head. “Ethan has decided to play games. Rather than tell me what he wants, he’s making me decide how much my career is worth.”

“Wow, that’s...evil.”

“Yes, apparently, he likes to play with his food.”

“Have you considered going to the police? Blackmail is illegal.”

David sighed, draining the last of the whiskey before continuing. “I have, as I’m sure anyone being blackmailed would. The problem is it wouldn’t stop him from simply releasing the video onto the internet anyway. At that point, what would he have to lose?”

Christian fiddled with his glass. “I mean...would it be that bad? We’re well past the point of anyone caring about the whole being with other guys thing, right?”

David smiled ruefully. “If it were just a matter of being with another man, it wouldn’t be a problem. That it was with someone who was nineteen and allowed to be filmed…well.”