Page 98 of Pure Silence

The door opened a little, and Day peeked through the crack. “Angel?”

“Hey!” Goldie sighed in relief. “Hey, it’s me.”

Day shut the door to undo the chain and then opened it again. He was wearing his pink sweater and gray slouchy socks. He welcomed Goldie in with a big hug, asking quickly, “What’s wrong, my angel?”

“These fuckin’ assholes.” Goldie kicked the door shut behind them, and he hugged Day tight. “Some guys at the gym. They followed me to the parking lot. I thought they were fans. Wanted my autograph and shit—”

“Slow down,” Day urged, worriedly petting Goldie’s hair.

“Sorry.” Goldie groaned. “They wanted my autograph, they asked if I was going to the Blitz, and I thought everything was fine, normal, whatever. But when I was getting ready to leave, one of these pricks told me to say hi to you.”

“What?” Day blinked.

“Yeah. I asked him what the fuck he said, and he said oh,have a nice day. But I know what I heard. He told me to say hi to Day.”

Day frowned. “So?”

“First of all, how the fuck did they know who you were? Our names were never reported by the news, but I bet we’re in the police reports, right?” Goldie took a deep breath. “I think it’s Michael. I think it’s the people he worked for or the ones who wanted that money.”

Day’s brow wrinkled, and he said carefully, “So, I need to kill them?”

“What? No! No killing people.”

“Why?” Day’s frown deepened. “You’re upset. They threatened us.”

“I’m going to call Alvarez and give him a description of them. Maybe he’ll know who they were.” Goldie broke away from Day to check that the door was properly secured.

Day crossed his arms as he watched, and Twinkle zoomed by his feet, followed by Purrcy.

Goldie barely noticed that the cats were actually playing together, so caught up in making sure that the dead bolt was actually locking. “I should have taken pictures of them or something. I don’t think there’s cameras in the parking lot, so I doubt anything got recorded or whatever.”

“My angel,” Day soothed. “Calm down.”

“They say there’s cameras there, but I don’t think so. And if there are, they don’t fuckin’ work—”

“Angel!” Day raised his voice to get Goldie’s attention.

“What?” Goldie turned to face him, and he was instantly struck by the dark glitter of lust in Day’s eyes. It made his heart pound, his tongue dry, and his loins clenched in anticipation of what was to come.

An order.

“Kneel,” Day commanded.

Goldie dropped to his knees without delay, and he inhaled shakily. “I’m sorry… I… I’m worried, baby.”

Day slid his fingers through Goldie’s hair. “You don’t need to worry, my angel. I told you that I will protect you, always. Don’t you believe that?”

“I do, but—”

“No buts.” Day shook his head. “Either you believe me or you don’t, sweet angel. You need to listen to me, trust in me, that I will always keep you safe.” He reached down to palm himself through his sweater.

Goldie followed his hand, watching his fingers work over the growing hard bulge beneath the soft fabric. “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t doubt you. It just scared me, okay?”

“Why?”

“I got scared that somebody got here before I did.”

“And what about that scared you?”