“It’s probably the most serious commitment I’ve ever made,” Cash replied with a laugh.
Lawrence turned back to the papers in an attempt to hide his growing grin. When he was pining after Raiden and Cash, he’d only thought about sex with them. It made sense, considering sex was one of his primary obsessions, the way he distracted himself from everything else in that screwed-up world.
But after just one hookup, he felt a totally unfamiliar type of yearning. The night before, Raiden had insisted he take the bed, and Lawrence had stayed up half the night, thinking about the men in the other room and inhaling Raiden’s lingering scent on the pillowcases. He didn’t just want to get laid and run away like usual. He wanted to help take care of Raiden and Cash both. Like he could find a way to reach deep inside each of them and pull out something that they’d hidden away, something the three of them had briefly touched together.
“Anyway,” Lawrence said, his cheeks still warm, “I did see in the emails that they mentioned this resort on an island off of Panama quite a few times. My dad goes there twice a year to meet with some investment group.” He slid the paper to Cash. “I noticed you put some question marks by that.”
“The Copper Retreat,” Cash said with a nod. “I couldn’t find any mention of it online, but that’s not surprising. Men like your father like their privacy, after all, and those resorts are happy to provide it. It’s in Panama, you said?”
“That’s right. I don’t know much about it. I’ve just heard him mention it to his colleagues at dinner. It sounds like they just go there to meet up with some of their colleagues from the EU and China.”
Cash squinted at the paper. “Panama. I noticed a lot of chatter between your father and the senator about Colombia and Mozambique, but not much about Panama.”
“Colombia and Mozambique?” Lawrence shrugged. “I don’t remember my father going to either of those places.”
“A resort in Panama,” Cash mumbled to himself. “Lawrence, my dear, I do believe that counts as a lead.” He popped up from his seat, then gestured to the wall. “Want to put a sticky note on the master map? I always feel like I’ve accomplished something when I put a new sticky on the map.”
Lawrence laughed. “Sure, thanks!”
A minute later, the buzzer went off, and Raiden returned to the apartment. Lawrence sat back on the edge of the table as he watched the two men banter over the medical supplies, until finally Cash relented and accepted the brace Raiden had picked up. Lawrence watched as Cash removed his shirt, and Raiden insisted on inspecting the injury one time, holding Cash’s bicep in his big hands and rotating his shoulder with a ginger, careful touch. When Cash sucked in a sudden breath, Raiden nodded.
“Yup, you’ll need the brace,” he said, then grabbed it from the counter and went to slide it over Cash’s arm. Lawrence laughed to himself as he watched Cash frown, ready to object to Raiden dressing him, then quickly relent and accept the help.
A moment later, they turned their attention to some of the floor plans posted on the wall and launched into a debate about the best way to bypass different security systems. Most of the details were lost on Lawrence, but he didn’t mind. Watching them figure out how to work together was surprisingly sexy, and he realized how strong of a team they would probably make, if they could actually stop competing for five minutes.
Dusk arrived, graying the light that came through the old windows. When Raiden glanced at the door, Lawrence’s chest tightened, and he got worried that they were about to call it a day. Luckily, Cash jumped in first, offering to whip up some veggie pasta for dinner if they both wanted to stick around, an offer Lawrence and Raiden both happily accepted. And even though they said they were supposed to be working through the files, for the next few hours, they spent a lot more time flirting and teasing each other than reading old emails. Cash pushed an occasional curl away from Lawrence’s eyes, and Raiden adjusted Cash’s brace for him, and when they were all done with dinner, Lawrence did the dishes, wiggling his butt the whole time he leaned over the sink in a teasing attempt to seduce the guys into bed one more night, even though it didn’t quite work.
It was almost normal. Or at least as normal as a thing like that could be, with three men plotting against a major corporation, trying to fight something so big they could barely see it.
But Lawrence’s life had never really been normal, not really. And by the time the evening was over and they headed to their separate homes, he realized with an excited startle what had changed.
Finally, Lawrence had something to fight for.
