Chapter 8

At eleven o'clock,Dix peeked around his bedroom door to check on Doc. He was out like a light, which wasn't surprising. He'd blustered and growled at the idea of meds to help him sleep, but in the end, he'd caved. Anyone could see he was running on fumes, what with the mall bomb, the deaths he feared he was responsible for, the revelation that someone might be after him, and then his car being destroyed—again.

Dix crept into the room, moving closer to the bed. Even in sleep, Doc seemed troubled, his brow creased. Dix resisted the urge to stroke Doc's red hair, to trace the lines on his forehead with a fingertip to smooth them away.

I like having you in my bed.

If Dix had his way, Doc would stay there. Dix liked taking care of him, making sure he ate, watching him sleep, even watching him each morning while Doc's pad reminded him of everything he needed to do that day.

There was so much to learn about Doc, and Dix was pretty sure he could never get tired of it.

His phone buzzed, and Dix slipped it out of the holder on his belt. He frowned to see Grayson's name. At this hour? He swiped his finger over the screen and brought it to his ear.

"Grayson? Where are you?"

"In the lobby."

He scowled. "Your shift finished at five. What are you doing here at this hour?"

Grayson sighed. "The second shift guy called out. We didn't have anyone who could cover, so I said I'd work the double. I need money for school anyway. Mr. Kennedy didn't like that, but there was no other option, so he said fine."

"I don't like it either, but needs must, I guess. So what's up?"

"I have a man down here who wants to speak to Dr. Malone. He says he's a friend."

Dix stilled. Who the hell would show up at CrossBow and say they were friends with Doc? At this hour of the night?

"How do they know he's here?"

"Oh, he doesn't. He's asking for us to get in touch with him."

Dix's senses went on alert. "Tell me about this guy."

There was a pause. "To be honest? I'm getting weird vibes."

"Can you be more specific?"

Another pause. "He's a little too… forceful, if that makes sense. It's almost as though he's not asking—he's expecting us to jump when he speaks. Like an entitled Karen, if you know what I mean."

Dix had heard enough.

"Okay. Send two guys down to escort him to a meeting room where he can talk to me. He's not getting anywhere near Josh until I know who he is and what he's after."

"I demand to know where Joshy is!" The voice in the background was loud and strident, and Grayson went quiet for a moment. Dix waited.

Then Grayson was back. "Sorry about that. The guy was making a fuss, saying that Dr. Malone's parents had sent him, and that we had no business keeping him waiting like this."

Doc's parents? Why would they?—

Dix was sure they wouldn't, not after the way Doc's mom had spoken on the phone. But that one word, Joshy, gave him an idea as to the identity of the person in the lobby.

"Make sure the guys are armed. Have them take him to meeting room five and stay there with him until I arrive. Does he seem violent?"

Grayson chuckled. "Nope. He's just a loudmouthed ass in my opinion. He'll be fine until the guys get here."

"And Grayson? Thanks for calling and also for covering the shift. If you want off tomorrow, we'll?—"

"Oh. No, sir. I really do need the hours. Tuition payment is coming due, and I can't be short this time. Don't want my parents to bail me out again."

"All right, that's fine. But tomorrow, we're going to sit down and talk about this. I don't recall seeing your name on the list for tuition assistance. You know Mr. Cross takes education very seriously, and he's got a fund to help out."

"Yes, sir. I know. But…. Well, you see, I've been taking care of myself for years. My parents don't have two nickels to rub together, but they said if I needed to go to school, then they'd find a way. They were each working two jobs to afford tuition, and I could see the toll it was taking on them, so I… um… I kind of lied and told them I'd gotten a scholarship and I wouldn't need their money anymore. They were relieved, I could tell. So I got me a job here. It pays really well, and I don't have to worry about food, since they let me eat in the cafeteria whenever I want."

Dix rubbed his jaw. "You know, what you're doing is commendable, but you need to take advantage of a helping hand when it's offered. Tomorrow. You, me, and HR. We'll help you get some breathing room, okay?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Meeks."

"Call me Dixon. And you don't need to thank me—it's what I'm here for. Now let me get this guy out of your hair. I think we've made him wait long enough."

Dix pressed End, then placed a quick call to get two men up to his suite to guard the door while he went and dealt with whatever was coming their way. Then he slipped his phone back into its holster, drew in a deep breath, and steadied himself.

Now to deal with Doc's ex—Christopher? Was that his name? Dix was burning with curiosity to see this guy.

The nasal whining hit Dix as soon as he stepped off the elevator, a sound not unlike nails on a chalkboard. This guy was Doc's ex? He shuddered at the thought. As soon as he entered the meeting room, the guards met his gaze. Dix knew that look from experience. It was the expression they wore when they badly wanted to throttle the life out of some asshole.

Dix hadn't even been introduced, and he was already firmly in their camp.

"Thanks, guys. I'll take it from here. Wait outside, please."

They left, both whispering their thanks as they passed him and exited the room.

"Who are you?" the man demanded.

Dix took a moment to study him. He was average height, with sharp features and small eyes. His clothes spoke of money, probably more than Dix earned in a year.

Yeah, he didn't like the guy on sight.

"Where's Joshy?"

Joshy? So Doc hadn't been joking. Fuck, what the hell did he see in this walking bag of dicks?

"Can I help you?" Dix forced himself to speak in an even voice.

"I need to see Joshy. He's here, isn't he? That's why that moron called you." He squared his narrow shoulders. "His parents told me he'd been hurt, and I've come to take him home."

"Take him—" Dix stared at him. "Sorry, but that's not about to happen."

He arched one of the most perfectly manicured eyebrows Dix had ever seen. "Excuse me? Who the fuck are you?"

Dix calmly walked over and glared down at him, making sure he noticed the difference in their height. This fucker thinks he can intimidate people?

Let him see what it feels like.

"My name is Dixon Meeks. I'm the Operations Manager at CrossBow. You're in our building, on my time, and if you can't be respectful to the people here, I will have your bony ass thrown out of here so hard, you'll bounce back home. Is that understood?"

That earned him a slow blink.

"Now, let me reiterate. Josh isn't about to leave this building with you or anyone else. I am currently in the employ of CrossBow as Dr. Malone's bodyguard, so if you want to speak to him, you'll do it through me." He folded his arms. "So let's start with your name."

"My name is Christopher Alfonse Mackenzie the Fifth." He paused, as if waiting for a reaction.

Dix shrugged. "Yeah? And?"

Christopher widened his eyes. "My father is a very important man. He could buy and sell this place if he wanted."

Dix raised his eyebrows. "Really? CrossBow is currently listed as having nearly a billion dollars in assets. Does your daddy have enough money to buy us out, Chris?"

He paled. "It's Christopher." He tried to inject some authority in his voice, but Dix knew bluster when he saw it.

He grinned. "You know what? I think I'll call you Chrissy. I mean, you seem to like doing that to others."

This time Christopher scowled. "Joshy likes the name," he insisted.

Dix pushed the palm of his hand into his eye, trying to quell the niggle of a headache forming there. "Yeah, I sincerely doubt that. Anyway, Dr. Malone isn't leaving the building, so you can take yourself back to wherever you came from."

Christopher set his jaw. "I'm not leaving without talking to him."

Dix closed his hands into fists. "I can make your life very difficult if you don't leave on your own. But you know what? I'm inclined to be generous, for Dr. Malone's sake. Now, before I regret this outburst of generosity, why don't you go on and?—"

"I already said no. And I'm intrigued. Do you have a hearing disability or is it just learning in general you have a problem with?"

This guy was really pissing him off.

Dix took a deep breath. "You have a choice to make, then. You can leave and never come back here, or?—"

"Or what? You'll make me disappear, never to be seen again?" Christopher sneered. "I know your type. You're all talk."

Dix smiled. And you just pushed me too far, asshole.

"You've got it all wrong, Chrissy. Although, I promise you that if I wanted to, I could make you disappear." He smirked. "But you won't be dead—not at the start, anyway." He circled Christopher, taking measured steps. "They're going to be finding parts of your body in the strangest of places. And the best thing—well, for me at least—is that you'll be alive the entire time." He leaned in close. "I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you. Because you're a bug beneath my heel, and only I get to choose when to squash you. Every time I slice something off, I'll remind you that you had an option to walk away, and you chose not to." Dix straightened. "Now, I'll give you one last chance to leave. If you choose not to, then may God have mercy on your soul, because I will surely have none." He folded his arms once more. "Your call, Chrissy."

Christopher's complexion was like milk. "I—I'll have your job!" he snarled, but his voice was shrill, broken even, and Dix knew it. The guy was nothing but bluster. He would leave, and Doc would never hear from him again.

Dix called the two men back into the room. He gestured to Christopher. "Escort this guy from the building." Without a second glance, Dixon left the interview room and headed back to his quarters.

He stopped at the bedroom to check on Doc, and found him sitting up, leaning against a mound of pillows.

Dix perched on the edge of the mattress. "Hey, why aren't you sleeping?"

Doc shrugged. "Bad dream." A slight shudder rippled through him. "I did call out to you, but you weren't here."

Dix was cursing Christopher Alfonse Mackenzie the Fifth right then. It was a damn good thing he'd left.

"I had to deal with a visitor. Apparently your parents sent him to bring you home."

Doc groaned. "Tell me they didn't send Christopher."

"Well, I could tell you that, but it would be a lie."

He rolled his eyes. "Man, they don't listen. They never do." He peered at Dix. "Christopher is my ex."

"Yeah, I know." When Doc frowned, Dix managed a smile. "You mentioned his name once." He was still confused as fuck. "What the hell did you ever see in someone like him?"

Doc's eyes were huge. "Me? Nothing."

"Then how did you end?—"

He held up a hand. "It's a long story."

Dix stood, grabbed the armchair, and dragged it closer to the bed. "I've got time. If I'm needed, someone will call." He settled against the cushions. "This I've gotta hear."

Doc sagged even further into the pillows.

"My parents believed I'd meet Christopher, fall in love, and we'd live happily ever after." He snorted. "That wasn't ever going to happen."

"But why him?"

"That's the long story part. See, my folks are… well, not broke, exactly, but they don't have a lot of money. My grandma was the one who was loaded. But then something caused a rift between her and my parents—well, my dad, really. He had definite opinions on a lot of minorities—not complimentary opinions—and when Grandma chastised him, he defended those opinions. He thought he was better than those people. And the rift never healed."

Dix gazed at him. "Wow. You are nothing like your dad, are you?"

Doc's face lit up. "That's possibly the nicest thing you've ever said to me." He snuggled back under the covers, pulling them up to his chin like a shield. "Grandma knew what I was doing with the hacking." He smiled. "She said it made her feel like a spy to hear about the places I'd busted into." Doc let out a sigh. "Grandma got me." He chuckled. "She knew where I was sending the money—to animal shelters across the country—and she approved. I guess that's why I always felt so close to her. She made me show her how hacking worked by going into her bank and withdrawing money from her account. When I showed her how easy it was, she insisted I send that money to a shelter." His shoulders slumped, and he seemed to shrink in on himself. "Her death ripped out a big chunk of my life." His eyes glistened in the dimness. Then Doc cleared his throat. "I'm not sure how my parents first met Christopher, and I'm only guessing at why they wanted us to get together. Maybe they figured that way I'd have money, and that they might even get some of it." Another shrug. "I just don't know. Suddenly they were pushing him at me. They pleaded with me to go out on a date with him, and finally I said I would. I drove, because I didn't want to be stuck anywhere with him."

Dix was starting to get a really bad feeling about this.

"Doc, you don't have to tell me about it if you'd rather not." Or maybe Dix wasn't ready to hear it.

Doc's smile seemed dimmer somehow. "It's fine. We went out to dinner, and he took me to this overpriced seafood restaurant. This was back before I stopped eating meat."

"Was it a good date?"

He huffed. "The food was okay. What sticks in my mind is the server. She was a really nice young woman, and Christopher was a dick to her. He made her run for the stupidest of things. Like he said he wanted soy sauce. She went and got it, brought it back to the table, and that jerk never touched the bottle." His face tightened. "To say I was pissed was an understatement. So mad, in fact, that I.... Well, I might have found out her name. And then I might have done a little digging." Doc's eyes twinkled. "She was the recipient of five thousand dollars from Christopher's bank in recompense for his attitude."

Pride swelled in Dix's chest. Doc was one of the best people he'd ever met. "You're a good guy, Doc."

Doc flushed. "Anyway, after we'd finished dinner, I was more than ready to go home, but Christopher told me there was something I had to see. He gave me all these convoluted directions and by the time he said to stop the car, I was pretty lost." Doc swallowed. "Then he pounced. He had his hands all over me. He grabbed at my crotch, and all the while he was trying to stuff his tongue down my throat."

Yeah, it was a real good thing Chrissy had left, because the way Dix was feeling right then? He would have killed him.

"I punched him in the windpipe, and he started retching. I was so angry and flustered, I got out of the car and started walking. I had no idea where the hell we were, but I kept right on going. It took me most of the night to figure out where I was. I wanted to call home, but I was angry with my parents because they'd practically forced me to go out with him."

"What did you do?"

Doc sighed. "I found myself in a park not far from home. I sat on a bench, going over that whole sorry episode in my head. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. By the time dawn arrived, I knew what I was going to do. I went home and told my parents in no uncertain terms that I would never see him again."

Dix froze. "Now wait just one minute. You went on one date with this bozo?"

Doc nodded.

"So you and Christopher never…." Dixon waggled his hands. "You know." It was overstepping the line to ask such a personal question, but he couldn't help himself.

Doc's eyes widened. "What? No! I was disgusted by his mouth on mine. No way would I let him put anything else in me." His cheeks flushed. Then Doc sighed once more. "Okay. I'm going to come right out and admit something embarrassing to you. I… I've never done any of…." He waggled his hands the same way Dix had done a moment ago. "That."

Dix stared at him for a moment. "With anyone?" He was having a hard time coming to terms with the idea of his crush being a virgin.

Doc shook his head. "Never had the interest."

And that right there was a fucking crime.

Doc tilted his head. "Can we change the subject?"

"Sure, but there's something I have to say here. One date does not make this guy an ex. What it does make him, however, is a piece of shit who tried to molest you, and if I'd known this before I met him, I guarantee he would have ended up regretting what he did to you."

Doc gave an amused smile. "You'd have done something to him?"

"Happily."

Doc widened his eyes. "Now that's what my parents should have said, but no. I told them several times about what he'd done, and do you know what they did? They made excuses for him. ‘Are you sure you didn't misunderstand? Maybe he just likes you that much.' I tell you, it made me look at them differently." He grunted. "I swear, they had my life all mapped out for me. Never mind my degree, or the fact I had a job. They thought we should get married, and I'd be the stay-at-home parent for our kids."

"After one lousy date?" Dix gaped. "Sorry, but your folks sound kinda delusional. And why should you give up everything?"

"They said it would be easier for me to quit than it would be for Christopher, because his daddy owned a company and he was grooming Christopher to take over." Doc's face grew mottled. "I can't tell you how angry that made me. Almost as angry as I am right now to learn they're still in touch with him. Anyway, when I turned twenty-one, I was called into a lawyer's office. I figured it was going to be something to do with my hacking, since I'd gotten the government off my back, but no. Turned out Grandma had left me a bequest that kicked in on my birthday, and I'd inherited the bulk of her estate." He paused. "One point one billion dollars."

Dix nearly choked on air. "What?"

Doc nodded. "I know, right? I mean, we all knew she was loaded, but no onehad any idea it was that much. The letter she left for me said she'd wanted to wait until I was an adult so that my parents couldn't take anything from me."

Dix frowned. "Seriously?"

"I thought that was weird—until I learned the truth. They were sponging off her. It was always with the excuse that I needed something, and she was more than happy to provide it. The thing was? I rarely got anything new or different, so that was a bunch of crap. They were spending it as fast as they got it. Grandma wrote in her will that if by the time I turned twenty-one, the lawyer thought my parents had learned their lesson, then they could have a bequest. He said that after what happened with them trying to marry me off, the money went to the animal shelters instead."

"So that's why you don't give them any money?"

He nodded. "It hurts, you know? But it was Grandma's wishes, and I won't go against her on that." Then he smiled. "She went on to say that since I was a genius, I had to have ideas for things to help make the world a better place, and that I ought to use the money for that." He met Dix's gaze. "All the things I give to most places? I give them away for free because someone already bought and paid for them."

Dix stood. "I'll say it again, Doc. You're a good man. There's no one better." He gave Doc a warm smile. "Now, get some sleep. I'll be in the other room if you need me, and if I do need to leave, I'll be sure to tell you."

He turned to go when Doc called out, "Hey, Dixon?"

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

Doc's smile was almost serene. "Thanks for not killing Christopher. It would really suck if you ended up in prison."

Dix snickered. "Good night, Doc. Sleep well." And with that, he flicked off the light and left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft snick.

Yeah, there's a good man in my bed.

Not for the first time, Dix yearned to be in it with him.