Devil (The Marchesi Family 3)

He was on the take. I had fucking evidence against him, but I’d been warned by several people I trusted to back off unless I wanted to end up dead.

I’d kept what I knew to myself, but I couldn’t let this case go. A young woman had been brutally murdered, and she deserved justice. Sean Murphy didn’t give a fuck about justice. He either wanted to close this case as quickly as possible and get the credit, or whoever he was working for wanted Lucien Marchesi out of their way.

I’d been looking into the case whenever I wasn’t working the garbage cases assigned to me, cases that were never going to get me the recognition I needed for a promotion.

People I trusted told me to back off on that too, but I’d never been very good at listening. Murphy had threatened me, but I was still alive for now, and I was going to solve his case and prove I was a good cop, despite being dumb enough to let a crazy-ass suspect jerk me off in an alley while he held a gun to my head.

Devil seemed to see right through me, and he’d called it. That had been the best fucking sex I’d had in… ever? It was sure as hell the best sex I’d had in months. The only way I’d come recently was with my own hand.

Being a cop was hard enough, but being an openly gay cop was worse, and flaunting my sexuality by having an actual relationship might fucking kill my career. Luckily, I’d never wanted more than sex from a man. I was a hookup-only kind of guy, and lately, by the time I finished work for the night, I couldn’t be bothered. But I’d never met anyone who understood my need for sex and danger the way Devil had.

Even if I could find someone else who got me like he had, I worked every moment I wasn’t sleeping, and I didn’t sleep much. For months, I’d spent my evenings getting the proof I needed to bust Murphy, and now this fucking murder case was consuming all my free time.

My partner, Lindsay, had been trying to get me to slow down. She said I was going to kill myself if I kept up my current pace. I’d finally given into her nagging and started the evening at a bar with her and a few friends. Then Murphy had come in with his brother and a few of his minions. I knew if I stayed and kept drinking, I would say something that would start a fight and maybe get me killed—not tonight, but sometime when I was alone and unsuspecting.

I was fucking sick of playing games. I was tired of knowing what he’d done and not doing fuck all about it. I said goodnight to Lindsay and got the fuck out of there. That’s when I’d gone to The Sentry and found Devil.

I’d learned a hell of a lot about the Marchesis since I’d started my own investigation. They were a close-knit family. The crime scene investigators had found Lucien’s prints at Lily Milano’s apartment, but Devil’s had been there too. In my mind, it was more likely he’d been the one to commit the murder. Murphy had some theory that Lucien was the young woman’s pimp, but there were more holes in that theory than a piece of swiss cheese, and it was obvious to me half his evidence was manufactured.

Watching Devil was hardly a chore. He was hot as fuck, several inches over six feet with broad shoulders, muscular arms, and gorgeous tattoos visible above the neckline of his tight t-shirt and trailing down his left arm. When I’d been bold enough to get close to him, the mischief in his dark eyes had made my cock stir.

I watched him flirt with both men and women, and when he’d headed out back with a woman, I’d been unable to resist following them. I’d stood there, frozen, watching the powerful flex of his ass and listening to his grunts and groans as he fucked the woman against the wall. I’d almost come in my pants. After that, I told myself I should go home. I was going to get in trouble if I kept pursuing him. Unfortunately, I don’t listen to myself any better than I listen to others.

When I followed him to a party near the docks, he noticed me watching him. As he held my gaze, I grew as hard as I’d been while watching him behind The Sentry. If he’d been anyone else, I’d have propositioned him. Instead, I forced myself to turn away and pretend to ignore him. I’d walked out of the building, but then I’d heard him on the roof. The stunt he’d pulled shouldn’t have surprised me. I’d seen some of his history—a drug overdose, a serious motorcycle accident, charges for public indecency—but my heart had stuttered as he’d flown through the air. I’d wanted to shake him for being such an idiot. I still did.