“It’s the Valless mansion.”
The weird and bizarre had a way of affecting artists, typically because they were more sympathetic to the rippling changes of psychic disturbances. And, as artists, they made depictions of their nightmares. Renee Valless collected such pieces, even gave tours of the art filling her ancestral home. If something was missing from her house, then it was likely connected to a larger problem.
Bryce rubbed his forehead. A little cleanup and he’d be fine, since Jesse did him the favor of getting him naked before—better not to think about what they’d done. He couldn’t afford to get riled up.
“I’ll contact my team and head over.”
“Be careful with this one. Valless has suspicions that the DWO exists.”
“Understood.” Bryce hung up. So much for having sex with Jesse all night. He hunted for a washcloth, found one, and cleaned up quickly.
Thinking about everything he had to do, Bryce opened the door.
There was a gun on Jesse’s bed. Bryce froze, before realizing Jesse was sitting next to said gun and pulling on his shoes. He was dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt already, and he was moving quickly. He picked up a wet dishcloth and hung it in the bathroom.
“Sorry, I’ve got to head in. You’re welcome to sleep here, if you want.” Jesse kissed Bryce’s cheek as he moved past him. He threaded a hip holster onto his belt and double-checked the handgun before putting it into its holster.
“I need to go, too.” Bryce started putting on his clothes. He had his underwear halfway up when he realized Jesse’s shirt saidFBI.
Jesse went over to the closet, and pulled something out of a safe. It looked like a thin wallet, and when he caught Bryce looking, he smirked and flashed the badge at him. The gold badge glinted in the light, and the letters FBI on the identification card were easy to read.
Bryce went cold. The DWO was a secret to other investigative branches of the federal government. If he had stopped and done a background check, like he usually did before a date, then he would have known who Jesse was and found some excuse to cancel the date.
Only, fucking hell, the last hour of his life had been one of the top five in recent years. Missing out on more because Jesse was a federal agent wasn’t fair.
Jesse closed his badge up and put it in his back pocket. “You okay?”
“I… fuck.”
“I can’t tonight after all.” Jesse chuckled at the joke, but when Bryce didn’t laugh, he frowned in concern. He came closer, and brushed his hand over Bryce’s forehead and cupped his cheek. “Seriously, are you okay?”
“I should get out of your way.” Bryce reached for his pants. “Someone might be kidnapped.”
“Mm, as amazing as you are, if it were a kidnapping, I’d be gone already,” Jesse replied.
Of course he’d be a man of duty and honor, because the universe obviously wanted to make him irresistible. Bryce slipped into his slacks and grabbed his dress shirt.
“Think you can handle dating an agent?” Jesse asked.
Bryce almost laughed, and only managed to stifle it in time through sheer force of will. He focused on buttoning his shirt. Instinct said he needed to stay as far away from Jesse as possible. It would only be a matter of time before their paths crossed professionally and Jesse would distrust Bryce for keeping so much from him. But there was a chance, until then, that maybe things could work out. Jesse might even be the guy who didn’t mind the secrets since he’d reasonably need to keep some of his own.
“I think we should try.” Bryce fastened his pants. “Tonight was good.”
Jesse grinned, his cockiness going straight to Bryce’s groin. “Oh, baby, tonight was a hell of a lot more thangood.”
