Page 44 of Neon Flux

Tex’s lips pursed. “There has been another incident.”

Both Maddox and I perked up at that.

“I will let Mr. Ameré explain.”

Maddox and I exchanged a look. Something more important than the trillion-creds destruction of the Green data center? What the fuck could it be?

The door slid open, and I was greeted by the soft golden rays of the rising sun. The tower was the tallest building in Neo Stellaris, all sleek glass and pure power. The bossman himself sat at the top: Levi Ameré. Every day, he looked down on the city he owned, 360-degree views. The power in there was tangible, and it had my Flux and cock pulsing.

I looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows and imagined pressing a beautiful woman up against them, her warm thighs spread wide as I fucked into her. Her dark brown hair smelled like sex, and her violet eyes pleaded with me:Cy, don’t fucking stop.

Cut it the fuck out.

I shook my head so hard my implants rattled, the pain grounding. I needed to get her out of my head, and I didn’t need a boner while talking to my boss.

Levi’s office took up the whole top floor, his desk raised on a dais in the center of the space—a king on his throne. I was sure the awkwardly long walk from the elevator to the steps was all part of the power play. The room was filled with strange music: layers of men chanting religious mantras in what I assumed was Latin. It would’ve been more at home in one of the Divine Light churches than this monolith to technology.

When the three of us finally reached the small set of stairs, Levi stood up and walked around his onyx-black desk. He pulled the needle off the record that had been playing, the music cutting off. I wondered what a relic like that would’ve cost, but then remembered it was negligible to a man like Levi.

He wore an all-black ensemble, and you could practically smell the money in it. Real silk shirt—illegal in this day and age, but who fucking cared—and a tetracarbon jacket that couldtake a whole clip of explosive rounds without a single piece of lint visible. His dark hair was slicked back from an angular but handsome face, a sharp, well-trimmed beard accentuating his strong jaw.

“Gentlemen, thank you for coming up on such short notice.” He flashed perfectly straight teeth.

Every rich fucker in this city looked exactly the same—same plastic surgery, same generic face. Not him. He had genetics that money couldn’t buy—at least not yet.

“Never took you for a religious man,” I said, motioning to the record player.

Tex shot me a look that clearly said,Shut the fuck up. Not that Tex would ever say that, but message received.

A smile twitched at the corner of Levi’s mouth. “One does not have to be religious to appreciate the beauty of complete devotion.”

I didn’t have much to say to that, but luckily this wasn’t really a two-way conversation.

“To business. Texcucano has told me that you are his alpha-level assets, that you can work efficiently and discreetly. Is that correct?”

Maddox and I nodded.

“Indeed. Well, agents, our beloved CTO, Beaufort Renard, has been murdered in his own home. I need you to figure out who is behind it.”

Maddox grunted before speaking in a very soft voice. “Sir, isn’t that sort of work more in NSPD’s wheelhouse?”

“Not this time. I need this done, and I need it done as swiftly as possible. By whatever means necessary,” he replied.

So we weren’t even pretending to do this through legal channels. Bossman was really feeling his mortality, with someone at his right hand dead.

“We’ll make sure it gets done,” I said.

“Of course you will, but I need it done before POMCon.”

“Three weeks? I don’t know if that—”

“To incentivize you, a bonus. Should you come to me with compelling evidence of the perpetrator by then, five million creds will be wired to you each immediately.”

I let out a long whistle. Three years’ worth of salary for a three-week job. Sounded too good to be true.

“And should that perpetrator be…nullified, I’ll double it.”

“Damn, sounds like a sweet deal.”