Cloister scrubbed his hands over his face and chafed away the last sleepiness. “I’m fine,” he said. “What happened to keeping me out of the way?”
For a second, as he studied Cloister’s face, it didn’t look like Javi was going to buy the assurance. Then he grabbed the towel from the hook and shoved it against Cloister’s chest.
“He’s not cooperating,” he said as he leaned back against the door. He dipped his eyes for an efficient once-over of Cloister’s wet body and then fastened them back to his face. “Even if you do antagonize him, at least we might getsomethingother than smart remarks out of him.”
Cloister dragged the towel over his arms. It had been bleached to the point that it wasn’t really absorbing water, just scraping it off his skin.
“I don’t get it,” he admitted. “If I’m right, what’s he got to hide?”
The corner of Javi’s mouth tilted up, and he shrugged. “Sometimes it’s easier to be an asshole than admit you’ve screwed up.”
Cloister wiped his face and then between his legs. “Is that an apology?”
Javi raised his eyebrows. “For what?”
“Dick.”
He looked down Cloister’s torso to the heavy dangle of flesh between his thighs. Javi tilted his head to the side. “That it is.”
Cloister balled up the towel and tossed it at Javi’s starched white cotton shirt, and Javi caught it just before the wet fabric hit his tie. The urge to turn it into an argument scratched at the inside of his chest, but… he knew what Javi was like. It worked for him for now. Hell, when it went down in flames, maybe it wouldn’t even be Cloister’s fault for once.
“Have you talked to his housekeeper?” he asked as he stepped around Javi. Despite his irritation and the lingering chill from the shower, being naked around Javi was giving his cock ideas.
“Housekeeper?”
“His parents think—thought—he pissed champagne,” Cloister said. He tugged his locker open and scuffled around inside for something clean. Mostly clean had to do as he pulled on black cargo pants and a T-shirt. “When she was interviewed, the housekeeper thought he was a little brat, but she was worried about him anyhow. So he probably spent more time with her.”
Javi shrugged. “Worth a try if you can’t help us get him to talk,” he said. “Shoes would complete that look, by the way.”
He hadn’t forgotten. Cloister stepped into his boots. The leather scraped his damp feet, and he crouched down to straighten the tongue and dry the laces.
“Like I said, I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
The smart remark he was expecting didn’t come. Cloister glanced up from his laces and caught a distracted expression on Javi’s face. Thewhatalmost made its way past his lips. Then he glanced down slightly and realized he was eye level with Javi’s belt. On his knees. Well, it was good to know he wasn’t the only one whose cock kept trying to distract him. He looked back up and didn’t try to hide his smirk.
“Shut up, Witte,” Javi growled and licked his lips. He absently folded the towel that Cloister had tossed him, squared it neatly, and dropped it onto a chair. “Now come on, before his lawyer marches him out of here.”
Chapter Twenty-One
BEING Afuckup from a good family had its advantages. Leo Szerdo had an addict’s acne, but his teeth were still good, and his skin wasn’t covered in sores. Not yet. Unfortunately he also had a good lawyer, if not quite as prestigious as J.J. The difference between good family and Hartley money, Javi supposed.
Javi sat back down and hit Record on the machine again.
“Special Agent Merlo, resuming the interview at—” He glanced up as Cloister pulled out the spare chair and folded his lean form down into it. “Deputy Witte has joined me.”
Leo crossed his arms and pursed his lips. “The other one was prettier,” he said. Snottily.
“Most people are,” Cloister said mildly.
At the same time, the lawyer put a manicured hand on Leo’s arm. “Let me do the talking, Mr. Szerdo.”
Leo hitched his bony shoulders and slouched back. He picked absently at his nails while he waited and peeled away threads of picked-off cuticle. His lawyer watched him for a moment, and then—once he was sure Leo was going to obey the order to stay quiet—switched his attention back to Javi.
“My client was arrested for possession of a controlled substance,” he said. “I’d prefer to keep this interview relevant to that arrest, not a few days of missing time six years ago.”
“A week of missing time,” Cloister said.
The lawyer made a dismissive gesture with his hands and flicked away the correction as irrelevant. It made Leo pick harder at his nails.
