Page 24 of The Primary Pest (Iphicles Security #1)
“I got twelve million YouTube subscribers for being a privileged, entitled white dickwad, and someone wants to kill me because I lied. And maybe I suck, but what is the world coming to if people think they can weigh in with threats and violence if they don’t like how someone looks or what they have to say?
Get online and tell me your truth, assholes.
Give me what you’ve got.” He glanced at Dmytro, who nodded.
“I’m Ajax Freedom, and with great power comes endless opportunity to shit on the little guy.
So why not shit right back? But use your words , kiddies.
Leave your dumbassery in the comments. Tell me what you really think because I’ve got the best security in the world and the cash to fund it forever. Catch me if you can, motherfuckers.”
He pulled off his headset, turned off the cameras, and let Bartosz do the rest. When he allowed himself to look up, the first pair of eyes he saw was glacial.
He ached at the disappointment he saw there.
“Tell me you don’t believe that’s me, Dmytro.”
“It’s not entirely you,” Dmytro acknowledged. “But you can’t simply shed him like a skin.”
Ajax placed his headset on the desk. “It wasn’t hard to go back and find that voice, but he was never as angry before. Ajax Freedom fiddled while Rome burned. Now he makes me sick.”
“Because Ajax Freedom didn’t have to watch anyone get hurt.” Dmytro was far too observant for anyone’s good.
Ajax glanced at his feet. “Is there anything to drink on this boat? I’ve earned it.”
Dmytro gave a jerk of his head, and he followed, as he’d done for most of the day.
He blamed their behavior on shock. Everyone must have noticed, but no one commented, even when Dmytro led him to his cabin and closed the door behind them.
“I like that you use third person when you talk about him.” Dmytro dug a bottle of vodka out of his suitcase and unceremoniously handed it over.
“He’s not me.” After uncorking it, Ajax swallowed a mouthful and handed it back. “He’s never been me.”
“I know.” Dmytro took a swig before brushing a stray curl behind Ajax’s ear. Ajax leaned into the gentle touch. “I see you.”
“I don’t understand you,” Ajax finally admitted. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“I don’t know why you’re touching me. Is this how you intend to make me do what you want without arguing? Because I know all you want is to get home to Sasha and Pen. You don’t have to pretend—”
“Nothing is pretend here. Bartosz gave me a hard time about you from the beginning. He knew I wanted you. And before you ask, I’ve been with plenty of men. I haven’t done a good job hiding what I feel today because for a minute”—he winced—“in the restaurant, I thought I’d lose you.”
Ajax remembered that desperate, terror fueled kiss. “I thought you were hit. Oh my God, I thought you were hit, and my heart just stopped.” Ajax blinked away his shock. “So… you’re into me? You’ve been lying to me all along?”
“I’ve been lying to myself.” Dmytro didn’t look happy to reveal this. “I have always lied to myself.”
“I see.” Ajax swallowed hard. “What happens now?”
Dmytro picked up his hand. “Nothing can happen.”
“Why?” Because one kiss was not enough. Ajax wrapped both hands around Dmytro’s.
He should have been anxious, allowing someone to see that deeply inside him. He should have been uncomfortable in the long silence that followed. Yet he gave Dmytro access to his very essence, just as he’d given Dmytro the truth of his anxiety the night before.
“Malen?ke norka.” Dmytro cupped his jaw and rubbed a gentle thumb over his split lip. “ My little mink. I’m sorry you got hurt on my watch.”
Breathlessly, he whispered, “It’s nothing.”
Dmytro narrowed his eyes. “You know I can’t simply turn off my job, become the lover at a certain hour as if I’m punching a time clock. Whatever we have here cannot happen. Do you understand?”
“But we have something?” Ajax’s heart fluttered. “That kiss—"
“Aren’t we on the same page?” Dmytro suppressed a smile. “Even if you only want me because I look like Anton?”
“I never felt about Anton the way I feel about you.” His cheeks got hot just thinking about it. “He was a mirage shimmering in the distance. Something not quite real. I wanted him, but I knew he wasn’t for me. You’re solid. Flesh and blood. You steal my breath. And on top of that I like you.”
“Stop.” Dmytro shut him down. “You’re far too tempting.”
Ajax gave him a little shove. “Not so you’d know it.”
“Ajax,” Dmytro warned, “I can’t—”
“Until we find whoever is trying to hurt me. I understand. But we’re on pause. You need to give me a chance.”
Dmytro gave a nonanswer. “I’ll protect you. Trust me.”
“It’s boar .” Ajax hid a laugh. “A male mink is called a boar.”
“How very fitting, because from the moment we arrived, I said, ‘Bartosz, this job is going to be a wretched bore.’”
“It’s spelled b - o - a - r . Just so you know.” Ajax lifted a smug brow. “Boars are stubborn, sometimes vicious animals.”
“I am forewarned.” Dmytro pushed him down on the bed. “Be good. Get some rest now. I’ll go find out what’s happening from Bartosz.”
Ajax’s body trusted Dmytro. He listened when Dmytro gave an order. Dmytro had won over his heart, too. It seemed even his mind was ready to turn everything over to a man he barely knew, if that man was Dmytro, in whom all of Ajax’s fantasies had come to life.
Ajax’s rational mind said he shouldn’t trust anyone right now, but Dmytro had earned his trust with his gentle hands, his words, his actions.
This was no time to be an idiot, but he trusted Dmytro all the way. He wanted Dmytro with him, especially in this claustrophobic closet of a cabin where breathing required his full attention when he wasn’t distracted.
“I’ll be here if you want to hang out.” Heat crept from his neck to his cheeks. There were people working on the other side of the flimsy walls. Talk about dumbassery.
“We’ll talk more.” Dmytro’s lips quirked. “I’ll be back, but it won’t be until much later.”
“In that case, leave the vodka.”