Their eyes moved to the bleeding man on the bed. Half of his scalp had been ripped open. They shuddered to think what not being lenient meant.
“We weren’t at the club tonight,” the blonde woman whimpered. “I’m sorry but he offered us a lot of money.”
“What did you give him?” Danton snapped as he checked Zeke’s eyes. He was completely out of it, aware of his surroundings but comatose otherwise.
“C-cocaine mixed with the roofie, Rohypnol,” she whispered, fearing his reaction. “B-but it was a small dose of coke,” she added quickly at his furious growl.
Danton cursed and without another glance at them, picked Zeke up over his shoulders and carried him down the hallway to the back entrance. For a novice to any kind of drug and with his body filled with alcohol, the combination could be lethal.
By the time Danton got Zeke to the hospital, he had slipped into a coma.
Five days later …
Zeke awoke as if an emergency siren had gone off in his head, as if sleeping had become a dangerous thing. His heart beat fast and he experienced the same buzzing in his brain as he had at the nightclub. Together, they were panic with jump-leads. Except his brain reacted like a flat battery,
From the merry-go-round of haphazard theories came some direction—a subtle recognition of who he was amid the clutter of thoughts zipping through his mind. His eyelids fluttered open and he blinked as the rays of sunlight penetrating the window blinded him. He looked around, completely discombobulated at the foreignness of his surroundings.
“W-where the fuck am I?” he croaked.
“In the hospital.”
He turned his head to meet the dove gray eyes of his brother’s best friend.
“D-Danton? What the hell am I doing here?”
“In short, little pup—you fucked up.”
Shattered flashes of what had happened at the club bombarded his mind. He struggled to sit up but Danton’s hard hand kept him in place.
“No, you need to rest.”
“What happened to me?”
“You got drunk, Zeke, that’s what happened and because of that you made yourself vulnerable to the sick games grown-ups play.”
“I still don’t understand.” He raised a trembling hand to his head, willing the grogginess to disappear.
“They drugged you and intended to video an orgy of you fucking and being fucked by a man and two women. Then sell it and make money off it.”
“Jesus!” He closed his eyes at the horror of what Danton was describing. Suddenly his defiance at going to the club without telling Shane lambasted him with guilt. He forced himself upright against the headboard. “Shane must be livid … and disappointed in me.”
“He doesn’t know.”
Zeke blinked at him in confusion. “How could he not know?”
“I told him I’m taking you out on my yacht for a week for your birthday.”
Zeke felt tears form in his eyes as he stared at the formidable man. “Why would you do that for me?”
“Because Shane doesn’t deserve to have his goodness and faith in you thrown back in his face. He’ll never hear about this from me, little pup,” he straightened in the chair as he pinned Zeke with a piercing look, “on one condition.”
“I’ll never get drunk again, I promise.”
“That’s not the condition but to be expected since you’re a clever boy.”
“Then what?”
“You need to learn how to control your urges. You’ve gotten a big head because you’re a big shot celebrity.”
“That’s not—”
“Shut up and listen. You think you’re invincible and in control of yourself and your life. What happened is proof that you’re not. I’m going to train you how to draw your strength from deep within you. How to control every aspect of your mind and body.”
“H-how?”
“I’m going to teach you to be a Dominant, Zeke, and when I’m done, you’ll come out of it a better man.”
Zeke stared at him. He was aware that most of his grownup cousins were in the BDSM lifestyle but it hadn’t been something he had any interest in—mainly because he didn’t really understand what it was all about and Shane would’ve said he was too young. He trusted Danton’s judgment though and would be forever thankful that he had looked out for him that night.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good. I need to get home and take a shower. The nurses are walking circles around me from sitting here for five days.”
Zeke watched him go, flabbergasted that he’d been out of it for so long. The knowledge that Danton had refused to leave his side filled him with such warmth, the tears started to flow. His raw voice echoed in the silent room.
“I won’t disappoint you again, Danton. I swear I’ll make you proud.”
Chapter One
Current day …
Shane Sinclair stopped in his tracks as he detected Zeke standing at the edge of the Anacostia River on the marina of the Navy yard. His shoulders were slumped as he stared at the debris still floating on the surface of the boat that had exploded two weeks ago. It had been a devastating blow to the country since the President of the United States, numerous congress members, the Prime Minister of the UK, and his officials were on board. To the Sinclairs personally, the loss was felt in their own security crew that had been the special protection detail along with the Secret Service to the President, led by their best friend, Danton Hill.
His eyes drifted to the other man pacing back and forth, the despair evident in every taut movement of his limbs. Danton had been the father Ace had never known. They had stood witness when the boat went up in a ball of orange flames and to him, it must have felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest.
Ace and Zeke had refused to leave the scene and it had been the hardest task to keep them from donning scuba gear to search the Anacostia River for the body of their beloved Danton. Due to the high level of pollution in the river, the search was focused using DIDSON and Blueview sector scans with very high frequencies. To date, they had only recovered mutilated body parts, which wasn’t surprising, since the entire boat had shattered apart with the force of the explosion.
Shane sighed heavily. No one wanted to believe Danton was dead but from personal experience, he knew there was no way anyone on that boat could’ve survived the blast.
His footsteps were heavy as he walked on, listening to their hollow echo as he approached Zeke. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and stood beside him, staring out over the river.
The turbid brown water was turning dark green in patches where the sediment that had been disturbed by the blast was settling on the riverbed. Scattered debris from the boat were still being cleared away and spotted the surface with white flurries. The water edged around them; not that relaxed way water usually does, but harshly, more like mini vortexes, almost like it was angry at the disturbance.
“It should’ve been me on that boat, Shane.” Zeke’s gruff voice yanked his attention back to him.
“Why do you say that?”
“I’m the one who came up with the suggestion to shadow President Grayson. I’m the one who—”