The Escort Read online

  * * *

  Joe blinked groggily.

  Soft light bathed his bedroom, the curtains at the windows muting the sun’s rays to an orange glow. He rubbed a hand across his face where he lay on his back and glanced at his watch.

  It was eight in the morning.

  Joe became aware of a weight pressing down on him and looked south. His breath caught in his throat.

  Ethan was sleeping with his head tucked against Joe’s chest, his right arm flung carelessly across Joe’s body while his right leg rode high across Joe’s thighs. Joe’s pulse picked up as he stared at the bartender’s gorgeous face. Ethan’s long eyelashes rested against his creamy skin, the cocky mouth that usually challenged Joe relaxed in sleep and parted on soft, slow breaths.

  Shit, he’s even sexy when he’s out cold.

  Joe carefully folded his arms behind his head and settled down to watch Ethan sleep, a warm feeling slowly filling his chest as he gazed at the blond head moving gently with each rise and fall of his rib cage. He refused to analyze the emotion yet again, unwilling to give it a name, knowing that doing so would jeopardize the walls he’d built around his heart.

  * * *

  Ethan stirred, his mind fuzzy with sleep. He buried his face in the pillow and was snuggling into it when he realized it was hard, warm, and very much alive. He stiffened, his eyes slamming open. Ethan looked up and locked gaze with Joe where the latter lay watching him with an amused expression.

  Ethan opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, mortification rendering him speechless when he registered the wanton way he was sprawled across Joe’s body.

  “Sleep well?” Joe drawled.

  Ethan cleared his throat and nodded before carefully rolling off him.

  Joe’s arms snaked around Ethan’s waist.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  He tugged. Ethan gasped when he suddenly found himself completely on top of Joe.

  Oh God.

  Heat shot through Ethan at the feel of all the lines and angles of Joe’s hard body pressed against him.

  Joe grinned and brought his head up. Air locked in Ethan’s throat when Joe stopped an inch from his mouth, his breaths sending tingles through Ethan as they washed across his lips, the expression in his hazel eyes taunting Ethan. Daring him. Ethan moaned and leaned down to press his mouth against Joe’s.

  A loud rumble erupted from somewhere between them.

  Joe blinked before bursting out laughing.

  “Shit.” Ethan closed his eyes briefly and groaned, embarrassed at his stomach’s untimely interruption. Joe’s body shook beneath him as he chortled. “It’s not funny,” Ethan muttered. He pushed up to straddle Joe.

  The new position stopped Joe short. His eyes darkened as he watched Ethan above him. He sat up, one hand rising to Ethan’s back to pull him in, need flashing across his face as he brought his mouth up to kiss Ethan.

  Another rumble boomed from the pit of Ethan’s stomach.

  He covered his face with his hands. “For fuck’s sake.”

  Joe collapsed against him, his head dropping against Ethan’s chest, his laughter echoing around the bedroom.

  Chapter 10

  Ethan whistled a tune under his breath as he stirred the cocktail, the sound drowned by the music coming from the band playing on the stage at the far end of the club.

  “Something good happen?” Akihito said, cocking an eyebrow.

  Ethan smiled faintly. “You could say that.”

  Ethan’s gaze flicked to where Joe sat talking with Cam and Gabe at a table some twenty feet away. Warmth filled him when he thought of the day they’d just shared.

  After mercilessly teasing him that morning, Joe had made breakfast and served it on the tiny balcony overlooking the side alley next to Saron. They’d sat and eaten leisurely for the next few hours, their conversation so easy and flowing that Ethan’s heart ached.

  He would happily spend every morning like that with Joe for the rest of his life.

  They’d moved to the club in the afternoon, Joe working away at his laptop and making phone calls while Ethan prepped things for that evening. He’d almost not wanted Saron’s doors to open, wishing he could prolong these precious moments with the man he loved.

  The phone behind the bar rang, bringing Ethan back to the present. Akihito took the call while Ethan and the third bartender continued serving the club’s patrons.

  “Hey, you mind taking the delivery that just turned up?” Akihito called out to Ethan as he placed the phone back in its cradle. “The company’s usual driver called in sick today. They just sent another guy with our stock. He’s out back.”

  “Sure.” Ethan finished an order, walked out from behind the counter, and headed to the rear of the club.

  His cell vibrated as he crossed the kitchen and reached the door opening onto the rear alley. Ethan smiled when he saw the caller ID, turned the key in the lock, and grabbed the handle while he took the call.

  “Hi, Sadie.”

  “Hey, Ethan,” his aunt greeted him brightly. “Just calling to see how you’re doing, hon.”

  “I’m great, thanks,” Ethan said warmly as the night air washed over him. “What are you and Bob up to?”

  He stepped out into the alley, saw the taillights of a truck parked to the left, and turned to look for the driver.

  Fire exploded through Ethan’s entire body from a spot on his chest, every single one of his muscles locking into painful spasm. Ethan’s mouth opened on a silent cry of agony while his widening eyes took in the figure who’d tasered him. Something hard struck the side of his head in the next instant.

  Consciousness fled as darkness claimed him.

  * * *

  An uneasy feeling suddenly stirred inside Joe. He looked toward the bar.

  “Hey, everything okay?” Cam said across from him. His best friend frowned faintly. “You’ve been kinda distracted all evening.”

  “Yeah, I’m just—” Joe started to say.

  The rest of the words died on his lips. He stiffened when he registered the figures behind the counter.

  Ethan wasn’t there.

  Joe rose and strode across the club, alarm rushing through him.

  “Joe?” Cam called out behind him.

  Joe ignored him, closing the distance to the bar in rapid, long steps.

  He’s probably in the restroom.

  Joe’s pulse thrummed wildly while he leaned across the mahogany counter, hoping with all his heart that was where Ethan had gone.

  “Hey, Aki! Where’s Ethan?” he called out to Akihito.

  The bartender blinked at Joe’s tense tone. “He went out back to get a delivery.”

  Joe’s stomach twisted. “At this time of the night?”

  Akihito grimaced. “Yeah, I thought it was strange too but—”

  Joe whirled around and headed briskly toward the back of the club, the rest of Akihito’s words swallowed by the noise of the crowd.

  Please, God, let him be okay!

  He couldn’t explain the suffocating feeling filling his chest. The only thing he was sure of was what his instincts were telling him; something was wrong and whatever it was had everything to do with the man he very much feared he was already half in love with.

  Joe’s worst fears were confirmed when he found the back door ajar and the alley vacant except for a parked truck. He dashed around the vehicle, yanked the driver’s door open, and climbed up to peer into the cabin and the cargo bay at the rear.

  They were empty bar some crates.

  Acid churned Joe’s stomach as he jumped back down and ran into the middle of the passage. He raised white-knuckled hands to the sides of his head, his frantic gaze searching the shadows in both directions and finding nothing, terror nearly driving him to his knees.

  Joe cursed as he suddenly recalled something. He took out his cell with trembling fingers and was bringing up the security feeds from the club’s cameras when a faint sound reached his ears. He looked around an
d spotted Ethan’s cell on the ground some fifteen feet to the east.

  Joe stumbled toward the phone and picked it up. A woman’s panicked shouts reached him as he brought it to his ear.

  “Who is this?” he barked, finger swiping across the screen of his own cell as he searched for the feed from the camera above the back door.

  “I’m Sadie! Sadie Skye, Ethan’s aunt!” the woman cried. “Who are you? Where’s Ethan?! I was talking to him just now and—”

  Joe froze when the feed finally came up on his cell, the woman’s frightened words fading to a distant, dull roar. He bolted in the direction where he’d seen a man carry an unmoving Ethan.

  “Sadie, my name is Joe Cavendish! I’m Ethan’s boss! I’ll call you back!”

  Joe dropped the cell phones in his pockets and put his head down, his heart slamming erratically against his ribs. There was no time to call the cops.

  He reached the crossroad at the end of the alley and slid to a stop, his gaze swinging north and south. A metallic noise came from somewhere to his left.

  Joe turned and sprinted toward the sound. Voices called out to him from the direction of the club. He ignored them and accelerated.

  A cat darted out of a side passage forty feet ahead and to the left. It hissed and arched its back as it stared at something in the darkness from where it’d come from before slinking away into the night.

  Joe skidded around the corner seconds later.

  He froze to a standstill, his feet rooted to the ground for a timeless moment. His heart stuttered in his chest as his entire world tilted to a stop.

  A man straddled Ethan’s body in the middle of the filthy passage, one hand locked around the bartender’s throat, choking him while the latter struggled weakly beneath him. The man briskly worked his own erection with his other hand, his hips grinding against Ethan’s clothed groin.

  Redness filled Joe’s vision. He snarled and bolted up the alley.

  Ethan’s attacker started to turn at the sound of Joe’s footsteps. A grunt of surprise left him when Joe tackled him violently to the ground. They landed in a mess of tangled limbs, their breaths loud and harsh.

  The man recovered faster than Joe had expected.

  Joe blocked the knee swinging up toward his head and saw a taser coming at him from the corner of his eyes. He knocked it out of his assailant’s hand with a growl and wrestled the man onto his back while the weapon skittered under a dumpster.

  Joe’s vision blurred as he yanked Ethan’s stalker by the front of his shirt and repeatedly drove his fist into the man’s face, grunts of rage leaving his lips. He didn’t stop when he heard voices shouting out behind him. Didn’t stop when they called out his name in alarm. Didn’t stop until someone grabbed his wrist in an iron grip.

  “Joe, you’re gonna kill him!” Cam barked.

  Joe blinked. Shudders racked his body as he stared down at Ethan’s attacker, his arm straining rigidly in Cam’s hold, dying to strike the man beneath him again.

  The stranger’s face was a bloodied pulp, his features unrecognizable, his eyes swollen to glazed slits that looked at him unseeingly.

  Joe moved off the stunned figure and sat down hard on the ground, his chest heaving with his ragged breathing while his hands dropped limply against his thighs. Blood pounded in his ears as he looked over his shoulder to where Gabe cradled Ethan’s head in his lap. A visibly shaken Akihito was on his cell behind them, his face pale as he gave the cops directions to the alley.

  Ethan started to come around. Air wheezed in and out of his lips as he coughed and tried to breathe through his swollen windpipe, the fingermarks around his neck livid in the pale light washing across the passage. His eyes widened when he registered his unconscious attacker and Joe’s bleeding knuckles. A choked noise escaped him. His face crumpled.

  Joe moved. He rose, stumbled unsteadily across the alley, and dropped by Ethan’s side. He took Ethan from Gabe’s arms and cradled his face to his body, rocking him gently while the latter shivered and shook against him. Wetness soaked Joe’s chest. His heart shattered in a million pieces as Ethan’s tears slowly stained his shirt.

  Chapter 11

  Ethan sighed and stared at the expensive bottle of champagne in his hand.

  I should pop the cork and drink the whole damn thing.

  A wry grin tugged at Ethan’s lips at that thought. The smile faded almost immediately.

  Two weeks had passed since that awful night when he was attacked by his stalker at the back of Saron. Two weeks during which he and Joe had had to give depositions at the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Two weeks during which the cops had uncovered disturbing evidence in the stalker’s apartment, evidence that suggested he’d stalked and possibly attacked—or even worse, killed—other men in the past.

  The guy had turned out to be a deliveryman for one of the beverage companies that supplied Saron and other clubs and bars across Tokyo. The detectives in charge of Ethan’s case told him they’d started looking into unexplained disappearances of staff and patrons at all the places the company had delivered to since his stalker joined their payroll eight years ago.

  As to the night Ethan had gotten attacked, it was sheer luck the stalker had been counting on when he faked the call from the company. Had Akihito or the third bartender come to the back door, the man would have abandoned his plans and returned another day.

  Ethan had finally had to admit to his aunt what had been going on, although he’d brushed over the worst details. She’d wanted to get a flight to Tokyo straightaway to come see him. The only way he’d managed to dissuade her from doing so was to tell her that Joe was looking after him.

  Which he was. Kind of.

  Ethan stifled another sigh, placed the bottle of champagne back on the shelf, and poured himself a Scotch instead. He stared in the mirror behind the bar and touched his neck gingerly.

  The bruises had nearly faded, as had the hoarseness of his voice following his near strangulation.

  “I’ve sacked staff for less,” someone said tartly.

  Ethan spun around and stared at the stunning blonde eyeing him coolly from above the top of her sunglasses at the entrance to the club. She tucked the frames on her head and headed down the steps toward him, her red Manolo Blahnik heels striking the wooden floor leisurely while her white Chanel dress hugged her slender curves, a Prada purse tucked elegantly under one arm.

  Recognition flashed through Ethan. He narrowed his eyes.

  “We’re not open yet,” he said, his tone harsher than he’d intended.

  The blonde ignored him and pulled herself smoothly onto a barstool.

  “Pour me one, will you?” she drawled, indicating his glass of Scotch with a head tilt.

  Ethan hesitated before making the drink, ever the seasoned bartender. He slammed it on the counter and pushed it toward her before taking a sip from his own glass, tension humming through him.

  The woman picked up the tumbler and watched him with a carefully calculated expression as she slowly swirled the amber liquid, sending ice clinking against the glass.

  “From the boorish way you just served me, I take it you know who I am?”

  “Yes,” Ethan said between gritted teeth. “You’re Eveline Claude, the owner of Le Secret.”

  Eveline narrowed her blue eyes.

  “I don’t know which pisses me off more—the fact that you just made my name sound like a pit of snakes, or that you made Le Secret out to be a brothel in the worst slum in the world.”

  Ethan tilted his glass at her in a mocking toast. “I aim to please.” He swallowed another mouthful of the fiery liquid and glared at Eveline. “Joe’s not here, so whatever business you’ve got with him will have to wait.”

  “I’m not here for Joe.”

  Ethan’s pulse jumped.

  Eveline propped an elbow on the counter, lowered her chin into the palm of her hand, and studied him curiously.

  “I’m here to take a look at the man Joe risked his life to save.”


  Ethan inhaled sharply at her words, a fresh wave of agony washing over him. He would never forget the sight that had met his eyes when he’d come to in that alleyway and seen Joe.

  The rage and remorse on Joe’s face, as if he’d somehow failed Ethan. Joe’s hand all swollen and bloodied where the skin had broken across his knuckles. The way Joe held Ethan against his broad chest while Ethan cried quietly, his body shaking in shock in the aftermath of the attack, his racing heart matching the wild beat he could hear under his cheek.

  Joe hadn’t touched him since that day. Not even once.

  Eveline’s eyes softened for the briefest moment before she narrowed them once more.

  “You don’t deserve him.”

  Her words were like a bucket of ice hitting Ethan head-on. He gasped, shock rendering him speechless. Anger surged through him in the next instant.

  “Oh, yeah?” Ethan growled. “And what makes you think you’re any better, bitch?”

  Eveline blinked.

  “Are you fucking kidding me, kid?” she said with a scowl.

  Ethan crossed the gap to the counter and brought his face inches from Eveline’s.

  “So what?” he hissed. “You think just because Joe seems to be under the mistaken impression that he still owes you for the past, you can dictate who is and isn’t allowed in his life? That because you’re a former escort with millions to your name, you can twist him around your little finger and make him do your bidding whenever you feel like it?”

  Eveline’s eyes flared, genuine surprise flashing across her face.

  “He said that?” She glared at Ethan a second later. “And, hey, the rest of that was uncalled for! True, but uncalled for.”

  They glowered at each other for several seconds.

  “I’m running dry,” Eveline snapped, indicating her empty glass. “Pour me another one.”

  “Do it yourself,” Ethan snarled.

  Eveline grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tugged him toward her.

  “Don’t make me come over there and spank you, you shitty kid!” she spat.