“True,” Joshua admitted, turning in his chair to face them. “But that was before I realized he felt the same way I do about whatever’s between us. For some reason, he keeps pulling away, and I want to know why.”
Colton waved a hand in dismissal. “Oh, that part is easy.”
Joshua’s jaw dropped. He jumped to his feet, forcing Colton and Ace to scramble back so he wouldn’t smack into them. “What? You’ve known this whole time and you didn’t tell me?”
“I thought it was obvious.”
“No, Colton. It was not obvious. At least not to me.”
“Joshua, Frank is fourteen years older than you.” His expression softened. “He was out on the streets fending for himself before you were even born.”
Joshua’s argument died on his lips at the reminder of the hard life Frank had lived. How he’d been tossed out onto the street by his asshole parents when he’d been just a teen after accidentally being outed by his sister. Frank had been homeless for years, learning to survive as best he could on his own. Everyone knew Frank’s story. It was the one piece of himself he’d shared with the world, because he needed everyone to know the importance of helping those who were in the same place he’d once been. Frank was a fighter and a protector.
“Frank has spent the majority of his life taking care of others, but who’s taking care of him?”
Colton opened his mouth, and Joshua put a hand up to stop him. “I know what you’re going to say. Frank doesn’t believe he needs anyone to take care of him, because he’s always taken care of himself. I want to show him that it’s okay for him to lean on someone else. That after all this time of having to bear the weight of the world on his broad, sexy shoulders, I’m here to help bear some of that weight for him.”
“Are you sure?” Colton asked gently. “Frank comes with a lot of baggage. He’s not going to give up the fight that easy, especially when he thinks he’s doing what’s best for you.”
“Then I’m simply going to have to show him that what he thinks is best for me isn’t what I think is best for me.” Joshua shook his head. “I can be just as stubborn.”
Ace grinned wide and slapped his hands together to rub them gleefully. “This is going to be fun.”
“You’re terrible.” Colton shook his head. “All right. Let us know how we can help.”
“Thanks, Colton. Step one is infiltration. I need to find a way to spend more time with him. If I can figure out how—”
Ace’s phone rang. “Hold that thought.” He answered, and the dark expression that came onto his face was not a good sign. “I’m on my way.” Hanging up, he kissed Colton. “I gotta go. The police just raided Sapphire Sands. Mason’s there.” Ace headed for the door, and Colton hurried after him.
“We’re going with you.”
Joshua darted over to Colton’s side.
“Babe—” One arched eyebrow from Colton and Ace sighed. “Fine. But he’s gonna be pissed, so approach with caution.”
Thankfully, they were still at the office, which meant they were a little closer to St. Augustine than Colton and Ace’s mansion in Ponte Vedra. Still, it took Joshua a little under forty minutes to get there. Patrol cars lined the street outside the sleek black building, the neon Sapphire Sands sign casting a glow in the club’s signature blue. Next to the club’s name was a martini glass tipping to one side filled with glittering blue sand and on the glass’s edge a blue hummingbird. One of these days, Joshua would have to remember to ask Frank about the significance of the hummingbird. No one seemed to know.
They went in through the back, let in by two huge security guards, both provided by Four Kings Security. Joshua had never been inside the club while it was closed. Instead of atmospheric lighting and a crowded dance floor packed with sweaty men enjoying themselves and getting intimate to an energetic beat, the house lights were on, the dance floor was empty, and tension filled the air as the staff huddled by the bar and the club members crowded to one side of the floor, as far away from the police as possible.
“Poor Frank,” Joshua murmured as Ace went off to join Mason, Frank, and a blond man in an expensive suit who was attempting to keep Frank calm. Joshua would hazard a guess that was Frank’s lawyer.
Sapphire Sands had a reputation, one Frank had carefully constructed for his club over the years. He’d built his empire with hard work, integrity, and a certain amount of ruthlessness. Bars and clubs closed around him, but Sapphire Sands continued to thrive because it provided an unrivaled service.
As a members-only nightclub and bar that catered to gay men of wealth and clout, Frank offered something in his establishment few could—safety, anonymity, and complete discretion. His client list was protected by the best security in the country, thanks to Four Kings Security’s cyber security department.
Every client of Sapphire Sands was personally vetted by Frank himself and by Four Kings Security. All clients and staff members signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of their contract, one that came with a list of rules that were non-negotiable, and Joshua would know, seeing as how he signed one of those contracts when Frank offered him membership the first day they’d met.
“This has to be a terrible misunderstanding,” Colton said quietly, shaking his head. “Everyone knows the rules, and nothing happens in this club without Frank knowing about it.”
Anyone who broke one of Frank’s rules was out on their ass, membership revoked, no second chances. Joshua had personally seen Frank revoke more than one membership.
Joshua’s former boss had brought him to Sapphire Sands under false pretenses. As a client, his boss had applied for a one-time guest pass for Joshua, who’d been dragged into one of the back rooms where his asshole boss had hoped to fuck him. Joshua managed to get away and ended up in the bathroom, where he’d first met Colton. He’d been a mess, his clothes in disarray, eyes red and stinging from tears after he’d been fired for not letting the boss screw him.
Colton had walked in and been so kind, asking how he could help. They’d talked, and somehow Joshua ended up with a job offer to work at one of the most prestigious shipping companies in the country. He’d also met the man of his dreams, right before the man of his dreams kicked Joshua’s old boss to the curb and revoked his membership. In that moment, Frank Ramirez became Joshua’s knight in tarnished armor.
Of course, said knight had been doing his damned best to keep his distance—despite the obvious heat between them—due to some misguided sense of duty.
Catching Seth’s eye, Colton discreetly called him over. The three of them moved away from the staff to speak quietly.
“What’s going on, Seth?” Colton asked.
“They’re saying a club member came forward after witnessing the sale of drugs in the club.”
“That’s bullshit,” Joshua hissed. Everyone knew the rules. Nothing happened in the club without consent. There was no illegal activity and no drugs of any kind. Club security was provided by the Kings, their surveillance top-of-the-line. Frank even had security officers in plain clothes to make sure no one broke the rules. “Who would be stupid enough to bring drugs into Frank’s club?”