Page 64

Bennett swallowed hard and struggled to wrestle this craving into a neat little box, back into something he could manage. “You know what you are doing. Go behind your desk.”

“I am standing. In my office. As is my right.”

“Nico.” The ragged word, soaked in misery, was barely above a whisper. Bennett shifted to stare at Nico helplessly, letting the other man see his battle. He needed for this to go away—he needed his life back. He couldn’t continue throwing himself at this man, begging for his mouth or dick. It was unhealthy and messing with Bennett’s head, making him want impossible things.

“You are sweating.” Nico’s finger gently swiped the hairline at Bennett’s temple. The strands were slightly damp. “Do I make you nervous?”

“You make me angry.”

“And horny.”

It wasn’t phrased as a question, so Bennett didn’t argue. They both knew it was true anyway. The moment stretched, both of them rooted to the floor. A standoff, each man waiting for the other to blink. Nico appeared calm, like he had all day, while Bennett could feel his own anxiety grow as the seconds ticked by. There was a flight to Dallas the next afternoon, the start of a three-game roadie, which was stressful enough without worrying about break-ins and murders.

So, why was he here? Was he this desperate to see Nico? Christ, he didn’t think he wanted to know the answer to that question. Mouth dry, Bennett dragged his tongue over his lips. It hadn’t been intentional, but Nico’s breath hitched all the same, his gaze now fixed on Bennett’s mouth. The small reaction felt like a hard-fought victory.

Confidence returning, Bennett retreated three steps and got back to the topic at hand. “What did you find in the two safes?”

“How do you know I only have two?”

“How many break-ins have you managed?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Bullshit,” Bennett snapped. “This is my business. These guys and this team are my responsibility. So fucking tell me how many houses you’ve broken into.”

Nico’s lip curled as if he found this answer distasteful. “All but one.”

“Who is left?”

“Brown.”

“I told you, it’s not him.”

“This is for me to decide after I search his house.”

Bennett’s hands shot up to tug through his hair angrily. “He has a wife and a kid on the way. He’s a homebody. And he’s my best friend. I’m telling you it’s not him, and you’re going to scare the shit out of them if you break in.”

After making a sound in the back of his throat, Nico turned and strode back to his desk. “Unless you are here to get on your knees, you are wasting my time.”

The idea of it—him on his knees, under Nico’s desk and in front of the windows—sent a bolt of lust through Bennett’s groin. But he knew Nico didn’t mean it. The comment was a thinly veiled attempt to get rid of him. “What happened to not doing any of that here?”

“Seems a shame to waste the opportunity. And a much better use of your mouth, no?”

“Fuck off. I want to know what you found in those safes before you do anything about it.”

“That isn’t how this works, Verreault. Now go, before I bend you over my desk and make the people in the surrounding buildings jealous at how well you take my dick.”

Bennett wasn’t fooled. Nico was deflecting again. Manipulating Bennett to get what he wanted—which was for Bennett to leave in a hurry.

But that wasn’t going to work. Bennett could manipulate, too.

Carefully, intentionally, he strolled closer to the desk, his limbs loose and relaxed. Nico watched warily, his hands gripping a stack of papers, unmoving as Bennett closed the distance between them. The city moved frantically down below, but here, forty-five floors up, it was quiet, a private oasis. Bennett’s feet whispered over the carpets as he kept going, stopping only when he stood directly at Nico’s side. Bennett moved close enough to torment, but not touch, turning the tables around on the other man. He put his mouth at the edge of Nico’s ear. “If you tell me what you found, I will bend over and let you fuck me here with the whole city watching.”

Nico froze, except for the harsh exhales coming out of his chest, and the air grew thick with want, like a string was winding them closer together. “I do not think you mean it.”

“Hmm. I guess we’ll never know, then.”

Bennett knew this had been his only card to play. Unfortunately, he had no other leverage except Nico’s attraction to him, and not even that had worked. So, fine. They were nothing. He was almost glad for the reminder. For a few days, he’d been romanticizing this man to a ridiculous degree. It was good to know where they stood.