by Nora Phoenix
Somehow, that pissed Indy off even more than Beaufort’s actions. He reined in his temper. “And you think that makes you innocent? Two United States soldiers raped a man while you watched and did nothing. He was your brother in arms, your fellow soldier—and you let it happen. I don’t care whether or not you touched him. You’re equally guilty.”
“I know. Believe me, I know. I’ve had nightmares about it. I deserved to be in jail, you know? But Beaufort managed to get us out, and he threatened to pin it all on me if I didn’t cooperate.”
Indy gently shook his head. What a pathetic excuse for a human being. “My advice to you: grow a pair. Men like you are what’s wrong with this country. Now get out of my sight and do not forget what I told you.”
“No, ma’am. I won’t. I’ll call the JAG corps right now. I’ll do the right thing.”
“The right thing would’ve been to prevent it from happening in the first place,” Indy muttered as he left, but there was no point arguing this with Winters.
Beaufort and Winters had lived about 100 miles apart, but Moloney was a little farther out. He had settled in Memphis and had found a temporary job as a dishwasher, apparently.
When he planned this, Indy had wondered if Beaufort would warn the other two. Winters probably wasn’t worth it to him, but Moloney might be. These two were clearly the brains of the operation. If Beaufort had warned his friend, Indy could walk straight into a trap.
That’s why he hadn’t been a redhead with Winters. He’d been a blond girl in a skanky skirt and a tight top where his boobs were all but spilling out. It was a fucking miracle what a good push up bra and some fake boobs could get you. Winters had been drooling and had invited him in right away. With Moloney, he’d have to be even more careful.
He’d been damn lucky he hadn’t paid for his stupidity with his life, Noah thought as he managed to get in the passenger seat of Connor’s car. Sweat pearled on his forehead from the exertion. Fuck, the surgery had taken a lot out of him.
What the hell had he been thinking, keeping his infection a secret? He’d known it was a biggie but still hadn’t said anything. If Indy hadn’t woken up from Noah’s feverish restlessness, if he hadn’t gotten help, if Josh hadn’t put his foot down and sent him to the hospital… Noah shuddered to think how close to death he’d been. Sepsis. He knew better. It shamed him, being this reckless with his health, his life.
“You comfortable?” Josh asked, buckling Noah’s seat belt.
He nodded. “Let’s go home.”
Connor slid in behind the wheel, and Josh folded his long legs in the back of the car.
“How’s Aaron doing?” Noah asked. He couldn’t believe Josh's asshole brother had shown up out of the blue. The kid had some nerve after the way he’d treated Josh. Noah wasn’t the forgiving type in general, but he held a deep grudge against the brother who’d gone out of his way to make Josh's life hell.
“He never came back, sent us a message he’d taken Kent up on his offer and was renting a room from him.”
Noah huffed. “Renting, with what money? Does Kent know he’s flat broke?”
Josh shrugged. “I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. Not my problem.”
“I can’t believe you let him even stay that long,” Noah said.
“Connor kicked him out or gave him an ultimatum, more correctly. I guess he got the message as he packed up and left that same day.”
“Good job, man,” Noah said to Connor.
The cop nodded. “He’s not a bad kid, but he needs a serious attitude adjustment.”
“He needs to be taken down a few pegs, is what he needs,” Noah muttered.
“The DA came through with the proof of Connor’s story,” Josh said. “We gave it all to Kent, so Indy should have it by now. I can’t wait for him to come home.”
Noah closed his eyes, drowsy from the painkillers he was still taking. Home. He’d missed it desperately. Indy first of all, but also Josh, their routines, the privacy. How would this work now that he was coming home? Would Josh move in with Connor? The cop had an apartment close to the hospital. The thought of losing Josh clenched his heart. They’d been together for so long, inseparable in many ways. Living without Josh was something he didn’t know how to do, didn’t want to, not even now that he had Indy. He’d have to, at some point, but God, it would be hard.
He cleared his throat, opened his eyes again. “Have you guys talked about what you want to do about living arrangements?”
“Living arrangements?” Josh said. “You sound like some commercial.”
“I have some ideas,” Connor said. “But we can talk about that later.”
Noah guessed that to be code for “not in front of Josh”, which was wise as Josh tended not to take change well. He shouldn’t have brought it up, probably. His head was still so fuzzy from the meds that it was hard to think straight.
“I don’t understand, what living arrangements?” Josh asked.
“We don’t need to do this now,” Noah said. Oh, crap. Fucking idiot with your big mouth.
“I’m asking what you’re talking about, not to give a three-hour discourse,” Josh said, clearly irritated.
“Baby, Noah will want to move back into the master bedroom. It’s his house, after all,” Connor said in a placating tone.
“Yeah, so? We can sleep in the guest bedroom. What’s the problem?”
Noah almost smiled. Josh could be so naive at times. “The problem is that Connor has a home, an apartment, with his own stuff. He may not like being relegated to a small guest bedroom.”
Noah looked over his shoulder, saw Josh freeze. Apparently, reality hadn’t hit until now.
“You want to move back into your apartment?” Josh whispered to Connor, his tone dripping with hurt.
The cop’s jaw set. “Technically, I never moved in. I brought some essentials, but most of my things are still at my place.”
Noah cringed. That might not be the smartest thing to say right now. Josh was silent as they pulled up into the driveway. Noah knew what was coming, hoped Connor could handle it.
“If that’s what you want, then you should go back to your apartment. I’m staying here with Noah and Indy,” Josh said, then calmly got out of the car and shut the door.
Connor threw his door open, all but jumped out, leaving the door wide open. “What do you mean, you’re staying here?”
Josh turned around in a second, his eyes blazing. “You thought you could order me to come with you and I would say ‘yes, Connor’?”
Josh probably didn’t mean it the way it came out, but Noah felt for the cop. That one had to hurt.
“No, you stubborn fool. I wasn’t planning on leaving in the first place. I know you need to stay with Noah and Indy for now, that you need that stability. I had an idea, but I wanted to discuss it with Noah first.”
“Behind my back,” Josh fired.
“Not behind your back, but considering the house is in Noah’s name I thought it the right order to talk to him first. Damn it, Josh, I’m trying to look out for you, for all of us.”
Stuck in the car since he couldn’t get out without help, Noah had no reservations about listening in on their fight. He wondered what the cop’s big plan was.
“I want to know,” Josh said. “The fact I let you boss me around when we’re having sex doesn’t mean you can walk all over me.”
Noah filed that one away as something he needed to grill Josh about later. Or Connor. Or both.
“For fuck’s sake, Josh, how can you trust me when it comes to sex and not trust me when it comes to this? If you want to know, I was gonna propose to Noah we sell this house and buy a ranch that’s for sale a couple of miles north of us. Noah will need something more easily accessible to him, and if we’re gonna stay in a house with four adults, we need two master bedrooms and bathrooms. We’re nut to butt in this house, and we need more room. This ranch is a completely renovated farm. It’s big, in solid shape, quiet, with a new kitchen for you and
a nice garden where you could plant a vegetable garden. The asking price is reasonable, and Noah and I should be able to afford it easily.”
Noah’s mouth went slack. That was a seriously big proposal Connor had blurted out to Josh. Holy crap, the man had clearly given this some thought. Noah hadn’t even thought about his limited mobility and what it would mean for his housing situation.
“You want to buy a house with Noah. For all of us to live in.” Josh's voice was soft, incredulous.
“Yes.”
“You’re okay with sharing a house with Noah and Indy.”
“I love you, Josh. I would do anything for you, but it’s not a sacrifice. I know you love them both and you’re not ready to leave them yet, if ever. You being looked after when I’m at work, that’s important to me.”
Josh stared at Connor as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, his mouth slightly open. Noah couldn’t blame him. He was flabbergasted himself by Connor’s proposal. The fact that the cop was willing to do this, to not only pay half a mortgage but allow Josh to stay with people he’d had sex with, wow. Noah could only hope Josh realized the depths of this man’s love for him because that was a big gesture.
“And it’s got room for a vegetable garden?” Josh's voice quivered.
Connor sent him a soft smile. “I thought you might like that. I saw you had some books from the library on growing veggies in raised beds, figured it would be important to you in a new house. And it’s got a huge kitchen, brand new, with all these shiny appliances you would love.”
Josh stepped in, hid his face against Connor’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Connor’s arms came around him. Noah smiled as he watched the obvious love between the two men. His belly went weak. God, he missed Indy. He honestly was damn happy for Josh he’d found Connor, but watching them made him painfully aware of Indy’s absence. It was as if life was darker without him. Heavier.
Connor held Josh tight, then let go and cupped Josh's cheek. “It wasn’t my intention to do anything behind your back. I wanted to talk to Noah first because I wasn’t sure he’d be on board with this.”
“He is!” Noah interjected from the car. If he waited any longer they were going to kiss and make up, and he’d be stuck there even longer.
Josh disentangled from Connor’s arms, shot Noah a guilty look while Connor merely laughed and pulled him right back to kiss him deeply. Laughing, they broke it off to help Noah get out.
Minutes later, they were seated in the living room. Noah had swallowed his pride and had let Connor carry him inside. He was still too weak to use his crutches, scared he would lose balance and hurt himself even worse.
Connor had grabbed his laptop. “I’ll show you some pictures.”
The dozens of photos depicted an old farming ranch, painted in the familiar dark red typical for the area, with white accents on doorposts and beams. It looked freshly painted, new and classic at the same time.
“The house is from the turn of the century originally, but it has been completely updated.” Connor clicked, showed them a picture of a huge kitchen with an island. “The kitchen was redone two years ago. Because they had their parents live in, they added a second master suite to the original structure. They also built a wrap-around porch and a sunroom.”
Noah hmm’d. “So, two bedrooms?” he asked.
“No, two master suites plus two extra bedrooms. There’s also a study, a formal dining room, a family room, a living room, a finished cellar, a garage with room for three cars and a barn-shed structure. Plus, the lot is so big you could easily add to the house if you wanted to. The whole house is level, with the exception of the cellar, obviously.”
Noah whistled. “Lots of room.”
Josh bit his lip, sending off waves of guilt toward Connor. “I’m so sorry I doubted you, baby. It’s beautiful.”
“You like it?” Connor sounded like a kid who had bought presents for someone and couldn’t wait to see if he got it right.
“Do you like it, Noah?” Josh asked, insecurity lacing his voice. It had to be hard for him, feeling like he had to please two men. Maybe even three if you counted Indy.
Noah said, “I love it. We should book an appointment to have a look.”
Connor nodded. “We’ll work out the financial part.”
“I can put up half of the down payment, assuming we sell this house fast.”
“No rush. I have enough to finance the down payment entirely. You can pay me back later. We’ll work out a contract.”
Noah’s eyebrows raised. “You live in some shitty apartment when you have enough money to buy that? Why?”
Connor’s eyes saddened. Josh seemed to know what was coming or suspect it at least because he took the laptop off Connor’s legs and set it on the table. He parked himself on Connor’s lap, and the cop’s face softened as Josh snuggled up close to him.
“My best friend died in combat, and he left me his life insurance since he didn’t have immediate family, except for a biological dad he hadn’t seen in years.”
About a dozen questions burned on Noah’s tongue, but he held back, sensing this was not something to push. “Your friend, what was his name?”
A look passed between Connor and Josh, with the latter gently nudging Connor to share. “Lucas, he was a fellow Marine. We were held hostage by the Taliban, and he didn’t survive.”
A shockwave went through Noah as he immediately put things together. “Operation Clear Blue Sky, that’s you.”
Connor’s face darkened, closed off. “What did dear old Dad tell you, the official story that my unit fucked up? He’s a fucking liar, and he should’ve been held accountable for this. It was his arrogance that cost Lucas his life.”
Waves of anger were rolling off the man, his body tense as if gearing up for a fight. Josh cringed on his lap, making himself as small as possible. Before Noah could say or do anything, Connor noticed, too. His face forcibly relaxed, and he kissed Josh softly on his head.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ll calm down, okay?”
Connor reined in his temper quickly, Noah noted. His hand made soothing circles on Josh's back. Thank fuck he was putting Josh's needs before his own. The man had every right to be livid, but he couldn’t show it in front of Josh. The fact that he got that scored him major points with Noah.
Noah waited until he saw Josh was relaxing again. “He didn’t tell me anything. I was in his office two years ago, waiting for him, spotted a copy of a report that had top secret stamped all over it. Naturally, I started reading. I never was able to resist a red button. It said that an operation to capture two top Taliban leaders had gone horribly wrong since it was based on faulty intel. My dad gave the okay even though unit commanders had advised against it, believing it to be a trap. They were right, because the Marines unit that went in was all but slaughtered. Fourteen were killed, countless were wounded. Two men who were taken prisoner, including the sergeant who had led the mission. When intelligence had finally figured out where they were being held, a SEAL team was sent in to rescue them, but one of them had passed away already.”
Connor held Noah’s gaze, his face tight even though he was still cuddling Josh, stroking his back. “They used our own enhanced interrogation techniques, thought we could appreciate the irony. Lucas died from waterboarding.” He swallowed visibly. “They threw his body back in with me until the smell of his decay got too bad for them to handle, even for a few minutes a day. Lucas was buried in a hole, somewhere. They’re still trying to recover his body to give him the proper burial at Arlington.”
“And the army buried the truth, denied responsibility.” At Connor’s surprised look, Noah said, “I read the report, remember? I know what happened. I also heard the official version, which couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“Your dad is a fucking asshole and a first class liar.”
“I know.”
“At least we agree on that.”
Noah’s face softened. “We agree on more, Conn
or. What you’re doing with the ranch, it’s a beautiful gesture, man. I deeply appreciate it, both for myself and Indy, as well as for Josh.”
“I meant what I said. I would do anything for Josh. So you’re on board?”
“Hell, yeah. Let’s have a look at that ranch asap to see if it fits our needs, but it looks great. I like that the two masters are somewhat separate so we still have some privacy.” He grinned, knowing it wouldn’t be him and Indy needing privacy. Josh met his eyes and shot him a saucy smile that affirmed he knew exactly what Noah was referring to. Noah wasn’t sure what those two were doing together, but it wasn’t plain vanilla sex, that much was clear.
Connor ignored Noah’s remark, apparently feeling the sudden urge to study his hands. It was amazing how uncomfortable the cop was with talking about sex. Well, being around the three of them would cure him of that, for certain.
Josh was squirming a bit on Connor’s lap. “You okay, baby?” Connor asked him.
Josh bent over to whisper something in Connor’s ear. The sad look the cop had been sporting transformed into a look Noah recognized instantly. Pure lust. Whatever it was Josh had whispered, Noah would bet all his money it had been about sex.
“Excuse us,” Connor said with an admirable attempt to keep his voice level. He got up from the couch, yanking Josh up as well. “Josh and I have something to do upstairs.”
Noah grinned, couldn’t resist teasing Connor a bit. “Is that what you guys call it: ‘something to do’? Admit it, O’Connor, you want to fuck your boyfriend. We’re all adults. There’s no need to be secretive.”
For a few seconds, nobody said anything, and then Connor smiled a big, fat smile. “Oh, I’m gonna do more than fuck him. First, I’m gonna make him suck me off. Maybe twice. Then, I’ll find some excuse to punish him and spank him until his ass is all red and hot. After that, maybe I’ll let him rim me or fuck me with this vibrator he’s got. Next, I will fuck him so hard and deep he will moan himself hoarse. And then, only then, I will take off his cock cage and let him come. That enough details for you, Flint?”