Chapter 84

84

Zeus eyed the male nurse with thick, curly hair and enough muscles in his arms to suggest a fine body lay under his scrubs. He had to applaud his concierge medical care service—they’d hired a young man who was exactly his type. Watching the curly-headed lad move around the room, he contemplated pushing away the portable desk that was hiding his erection so that the nurse—Paul was his name—wouldn’t be able to miss it. With these young bucks, that was sometimes all it took.

“Sir, it’s almost midnight. You need to rest.” The nurse bent to pick up some clothes that had fallen to the floor and Zeus got a glimpse of his bright red thong peeking out from his turquoise scrubs. Bingo.

“I’ve been resting all day,” Zeus said, and it was true. The doctors had released him from the ICU and he’d done a photo shoot meant to assure the public their mayor was on the road to health, but that was about it for the day. He’d insisted on coming home to sleep in his own bed, under the care of his private doctor. “I have so much to do…it’s hard for me to relax.”

The nurse—Paul—straightened slowly and grinned at him.

Voices outside the room interrupted.

Zeus frowned and jerked his head. “Go find out what that’s all about.”

The nurse only had time to open the door before an aide popped in. “Sir, Hermes Merche is here to see you.”

Zeus lifted an eyebrow. What was the young Merche doing here? “Send him in. And, take the night off, Jones. I’m in good hands here.”

“Yessir.” The aide disappeared and Hermes popped into his place, his thick hair wild over his more staid suit.

“Am I interrupting something?” Hermes wore his usual mischievous grin.

Zeus sighed. “No, no, come on in.” He watched the young nurse leave along with his aide and didn’t bother to hide his disappointment.

As usual, Hermes picked up on it. “Glad to see you’re feeling better. Any luck on nailing the bastard who did this to you?”

“We have a warrant out for Poseidon. We traced things back enough to charge him, but for the life of me I can’t think why he’d want me dead.”

“I can.” Hermes sashayed up to the bed, drawing off his suit jacket and tossing it on a chair. Underneath he wore a lavender shirt, its slim cut outlining his lean, attractive torso. He held up a bag of white pills and Zeus immediately snapped to attention.

“Are those what I think they are?” Zeus held out his hand and Hermes dutifully gave him the bag.

“Ambrosia. Brew, or Bro, they call it on the streets now.”

“Have you tried them?”

“I have actually. I thought they were sleeping pills. Took one and…” Hermes smiled coyly. “Well, it turned into a pretty good night actually, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“I see.” Zeus wasn’t in the mood. The fact that Hermes had this contraband was a problem. “And how did you come by these?”

Eschewing the chair, Hermes seated himself right on Zeus’s bed, facing him. “Your own police office. You have a breach.”

Dammit. Zeus frowned. “Who?”

“Your charming ex-wife.”

“Olympia?” Zeus tried to lift off his bed, but then groaned and laid back. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She used to treat the evidence room as her own personal locker.”

He tossed the pills down the bed and Hermes picked them up again. “Why’d she risk it?” Zeus asked. “Stealing evidence isn’t a great career move for a former D.A., especially if she has designs on running for my office.”

Hermes shrugged, fingering the bag longingly. “I guess she still cares about you. She knew they were Poseidon’s and returned them to him.”

“Poseidon has the pills back? Is he distributing?” The news just got worse and worse.

“Last I heard he’s in talks with the Titans to distribute.”

Zeus closed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. Most of the effects of the poison had worn off, but he felt as exhausted as if he’d run a marathon or two. And now all of this was coming to a head while he was waylaid. “Bypassing Ubeli will mean war.”

Zeus stared off for a second, thinking about the Titans moving in on New Olympus again. What would that mean for him and his office?

Hermes’s face was carefully blank. “You know my personal stake in the dark lord’s success. Speaking of which, how’d the meeting with the Ubelis go?”

“Oh, fine.” Zeus pushed his desk back a little. “He sent his pretty little wife alone. I couldn’t produce the drugs, and she got me to agree to do some stupid fundraiser that was the pretext for the meeting. Which reminds me, I have to wriggle out of that.” He leaned forward to make a note.

“Don’t even think about it.” Hermes leaned forward and caught Zeus’s hand with the pen. “You’re putting in an appearance at the fashion show. I’m also helping with it.”

“She’s got you wrapped around her little finger, too?” Zeus might be tired but it didn’t mean he was off his game. He arched an eyebrow at Hermes. “Too bad Ubeli’s got his claws into her. Of course,” he mused, “she said they were separated, and I’m sure, in light of the recent death threat, Ubeli’s gone ‘to the mattresses.’ We should invite her up here so she’s not lonely. Put her on all fours, our own private dog show. Remember how we used to?—”

“I remember,” Hermes cut him off, looking cross, and Zeus grinned to himself. So Hermes had a soft spot for Mrs. Ubeli. Zeus filed this information away for later.

“What are you going to do about Poseidon?”

Zeus went along with the subject change without comment. “Ball’s in his court. He has his shipment back. When did you say Olympia returned it?”

“Thursday morning, I believe.”

“But—” Zeus thought rapidly. “Who ordered the hit on me and Ubeli’s look alike Thursday night? If Poseidon already had his product back by then?”

Hermes shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“What do you know?” Zeus narrowed his eyes.

Hermes laughed. “Only what Olympia tells me. She wanted me to give these pills to you, and let you know Poseidon has the rest back. Minus a few she took as her cut.”

Zeus studied Hermes, but found no clues on the winsome face. Coming here hadn’t been a social call, or even to check on his health. Hermes wanted him to know that it wasn’t Poseidon who’d ordered the hit. Interesting. What exactly was his stake in all this? “Be sure to thank Olympia. How is she, by the way?”

“She misses you, but most days she won’t admit it. Just like you.”

Zeus harrumphed and Hermes chuckled. “So cranky. There’s still one part of you that’s honest, though, isn’t there?”

Hermes lifted the portable desk away, taking care not to let any of the papers spill. Zeus’s erection was clearly outlined under the thin sheet and he didn’t try to hide it.

“Ah, there it is. Although it looks cranky, too.”

“It misses you.” Zeus stared Hermes directly in the eye. Hermes hadn’t come here for this, or at least not only for this, but with their history, things usually always ended up here. Hermes was a beautiful boy who’d grown into a beautiful man.

A smile played around Hermes’s mouth and his nostrils flared. “I missed him too, which is why I thought I’d pay a little visit. Of course, it’s more fun when there’s a third, so I invited a friend to play. Paul?” Hermes raised his voice to call the nurse’s name.

The curly-headed nurse came back in, this time wearing nothing but his red thong. As Zeus stared, Paul shut the door and Hermes stood back, looking mischievous.

“Mr. Mayor,” Paul posed for a moment before crawling up from the bottom of the bed. “Let’s see if we can get you started on tonight’s physical therapy.”