Sullivan felt a slow, creeping dread inside him. “What did you do?”
“Nothing yet.” He picked up his wallet and slid it into his back pocket. “I just think the police would be interested in knowing that a local private detective is committing crimes while conducting investigations.”
Sullivan hesitated. “You won’t tell anyone about us being in Ghost’s condo. You’d be in more trouble than I would. You were the one with the rock.”
Tobias stared back at him evenly. “Why would I need a rock when I have a key?”
Sullivan’s gaze flew to the ring in Tobias’s hand. It was bullshit, wasn’t it? He cast his mind back. Had Tobias pocketed the key Ghost had left on the counter? Sullivan had seen Tobias pick up the phone, but the key...he couldn’t remember.
“You probably won’t get in any real trouble,” Tobias continued, sliding the keys into his jeans pocket. “I mean, the complex might not press charges, since it’ll be a lot of money and time to do so on behalf of a resident they can’t find. Still, imagine what your boss would say when you get arrested for breaking and entering. They’ll have a witness, after all.” He waved a couple fingers to indicate himself, then picked up his room keycard, sliding it into the opposite back pocket. “But I’m ready to go if that’s what you want to do.”
Sullivan looked Tobias over again, top to bottom, from his tousled curls to his forthright blue eyes, to the hard line of his jaw, to the strong shoulders and flawless posture. “Quite the transformation. From the concerned citizen afraid to break a pane of glass to cold-blooded blackmailer. I misread you. You’re a completely different person than I thought you were.”
For some reason, that made Tobias’s lips curl into a tiny smile. “Maybe I am.”
Sullivan tried to work through the angles, wondering how best to handle things so that Raina didn’t get wind of any of it, because she would break their deal in a finger snap. That urge to push Tobias back on the defensive, to push him until he broke or knelt, grew stronger.
“Well?” Tobias asked, watching him carefully.
Sullivan had no idea what was on his face, but whatever it was had Tobias circling back around the foot of the bed toward his original seat. “Good. Let’s move on to the part where we get some work done.”
It was Tobias’s bad luck that he was right next to Sullivan when that last little bit of bravado sank in, because Sullivan moved without thinking, his hands finding Tobias’s upper arms, his body turning until Tobias was stumbling over his feet, back fetching up against the wall with enough force to knock the wind from his lungs.
“You picked the wrong guy to fuck with,” Sullivan said quietly, leaning in until they were pressed close together, using his weight to help keep Tobias contained. Not that Tobias was fighting. He was slumped against the wall, his gaze startled and wide. Sullivan could feel Tobias’s heart knocking hard, and the speed of it pleased him.
“I’m not doing this to screw you over.” Tobias’s voice wavered. “I just need to find him. And I need to be the one to do it.”
“Stop trying to make it sound reasonable. If you’re going to pull shit like this, be man enough to admit what you’re fucking doing.”
Tobias’s expression hardened. “Fine. I’m screwing you over. Happy now?”
Sullivan leaned in closer still, letting his fingers dig into Tobias’s biceps. “Not even close.”
Tobias’s breath stuttered warm across Sullivan’s skin, eyebrows folding in confusion even as his gaze dropped to Sullivan’s mouth. His biceps flexed under Sullivan’s hands, but he didn’t try to free himself, apparently content with Sullivan trapping him against the wall, controlling him, probably hurting him.
Tobias’s next breath was more of a sigh, which was...not a normal reaction to this sort of thing, and for a second, Sullivan was tempted. To push. To see. To know what Tobias would do if Sullivan cupped the back of his neck and shoved him toward the floor. Would Tobias go down smooth or fight? Back when he’d thought Tobias was a demure college student, he’d have assumed the former, but now Sullivan wasn’t sure. He also wasn’t sure which he would prefer. He liked the idea of Tobias thrown open, all resistance gone, utterly submissive. He also liked the idea of breaking him open as he struggled to hold the shattered pieces of himself together.
Sullivan was half-hard in his jeans and getting harder fast. He tightened his grip for the span of two seconds, three, watching the way Tobias’s lips parted, the way he swallowed, and then Sullivan pulled back. Lowered his hands. Tobias’s skin had turned red with the pressure of his fingers, and that...fuck, that hit him good.
He sounded hoarse when he said, “I won’t forget this.”
Tobias didn’t sound much better when he replied, “I wouldn’t expect you to. And for what it’s worth, I know this is unfair. You might not believe me, but I am sorry.”
“Not sorry enough to take it back, I bet.”
“No.”
Sullivan stared at him for another second, taking in the flush on Tobias’s cheeks, the way his eyes clung to Sullivan, and Sullivan forced himself to step away. If he didn’t get some space to think, he would do something incredibly stupid. “I’m going for a walk. Twenty minutes. Be here when I get back.”
Tobias’s expression creased—disappointment first, relief following. Then that dissipated too, and he mostly looked exhausted again. “I will.”
Chapter Seven
When the door slammed behind Sullivan, Tobias fell into the nearest chair with rubbery legs. His heart thundered. He’d won, and the triumph at the knowledge wasn’t small. But what stole his knees from him was the way Sullivan had shoved him against the wall, his grip painful and mean. Tobias had silently debated the merits of struggling, but under his worry that
