Page 79 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

“Good morning, General,” Christian called, his eyes settling on Reyes beside him.

Christian chuckled, patting Reyes’ side. “Don’t start doing that, or your arm is going to give out. He’s in and out of his office all day and gets grumpy if he gets saluted every time.”

Christian chuckled. “That I do. If you’d like to get started on your day, General, I’ll be in with your coffee in a few minutes. You’ve got about an hour before any appointments, so don’t feel rushed.”

Christian walked in with a huge, steaming mug. He closed the door, marched to the desk, and set it down with a heavy thud.

“Sorry about that. You looked like you hadn’t slept all weekend, so I had to make it extra strong. Careful, I think it’s more sludge than liquid,” Christian said.

David took the mug by the handle, sniffed, and took a sip. “Oh. Yes, you’re not kidding.”

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 checked his 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?”

“It does.”

David looked up. “Thank you.”

Christian shook his head. “Don’t. I’m just glad I was able to help.”

“And take a peek into my private life,” David added with a grin.

Christian ducked his head, laughing nervously. “I would like to stand here and say I didn’t get a thrill from what I saw, but I won’t start lying to you now. But I promise I didn’t look at anything I hadn’t already seen...even the pictures.”

David smirked. “And considering how curious you are, just how tempting was it to take a peek?”

“On the grounds of not wanting to self-incriminate, I’m going to plead the fifth and restate that I looked at nothing in detail and deleted everything thoroughly,” Christian said with pink cheeks.

It was, by far, the most flirtatious conversation David had ever had with Christian.

It went well beyond what he usually allowed, even if it was tempting with someone as good-looking as Christian around.

But considering his sudden good mood and the debt he now owed Christian, he found himself letting his strict standards slip a little.

Well, and he’d never seen Christian blush so much since the man had laid eyes on David’s naked body, and he found himself liking the attention.

“Well, I should probably...get back to my desk. Reyes is still looking at everything like he’s never seen a computer or keyboard before, so I should make sure he’s not having a stroke out there,” Christian said, stepping back toward the office door.

David nodded, still holding tight to the drive. “Okay, we’ll talk later.”

Christian hesitated, looking like he wanted to ask for specifics. “Uh, okay.”

David watched him go, his continuing lack of standards allowing him to stare at Christian’s retreating ass as he left. After a moment, he returned his attention to the device in his hand, chiding himself for being foolish.

“Behave, old man,” he reminded himself.

He was spared having to consider whether he was toeing a dangerous line by the sudden shrill ring of his phone.

David jumped, forgetting he’d turned the ringer on and left it that way while waiting to see if he’d hear from Christian.

Frowning, he pulled his phone out, smirking when he saw the unknown yet strangely familiar number.

David answered. “Ethan.”

The man’s voice came through in a high, angry shout. “How the fuck did you do it?”

David held the USB stick up again, eyeing it. “You’re going to have to be more specific, Ethan. I do a lot of things throughout the course of my day.”

“You know damn well what I mean! How did my stick disappear?”

David raised a brow, wondering how the solution hadn’t already risen in Ethan’s mind. Had David almost been done in by someone who did not top any intelligence charts?

David clicked his tongue. “You really should learn to keep a better watch over your things.”

“Fuck you! I had it safe. You don’t even know where I live! It’s not even in my name. How did you know?” Ethan demanded.

“If you haven’t managed to put the puzzle together by yourself, then why do you expect me to put it together for you?”

“David, you absolute asshole!”

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you what you gave me. When you figure it out, go ahead and call me and let me know. But until that time, stand around and think real hard about your life choices. You almost had me this time, you try it again, and I’ll bring you and anyone helping you down too.”

“Don’t threaten me, it would ruin you too!”

“Maybe. It depends on what you tried to throw at me. But the thing is, I would still have a career, even if it wasn’t the same.

But you? You’d end up in jail. And yeah, blackmail?

That’s a serious offense, especially when you’re coming after a general, so you can count on getting a felony on your record.

Keep that in mind the next time you decide you want to hold something over my head. ”

David ended the call before Ethan could think of anything else to add.

Then, before Ethan could dial him back, David blocked the number.

For good measure, he also went into his email and blocked the email address.

Sure, Ethan could generate unlimited email addresses and probably spoof a phone number, but what would that matter?

The man had nothing he could use to threaten David anymore; otherwise, he would have pulled it out on the phone call.

He was safe.

David set the flash drive on the desk, mentally tallying when he could leave the office to destroy the damned thing in peace. Once it was gone, everything would be perfectly safe again, and he could live peacefully. One day, he might even look back and laugh a little.

In the meantime, he had a new problem. The image of Christian rose in his mind, and David smiled. As much as their flirtation probably crossed a line or three, David was willing to push that aside for the moment. He owed Christian a great deal and needed to think of a perfect repayment.

An idea bubbled up in his mind, and his smile turned into a grin. And while it wouldn’t cover the whole debt he owed Christian, it was at least a good start. David glanced at the clock on the computer, calculating when the end of the workday would come.

David stepped out of his office, stopping as he watched Oscar Reyes limp toward the elevator. The man looked like he’d slept better since the last time David had seen him, but his mood had darkened since that morning.

David looked at Christian. “Something go wrong?”

Christian shrugged. “He was like that after I came back from lunch.”