“I’ll be there in ten,” he grunted.

Someone was not happy.

I wasn’t happy either.

Because not only had alone time vanished, so much for going to the studio.

“Okay, honey,” I murmured.

He disconnected without saying good-bye.

I watched until it was over, which was only maybe another minute.

But during that minute, there was a further splice, a jump in the action, so I was clear on the outcome.

Well, one thing could be said about this dickhead, he intended things to come to fruition.

I was about to close it when something struck me.

Instead, I started it again and watched the whole thing.

Then I opened the other one and I didn’t sit through the whole thing, I skipped to the end.

She climaxed too (or faked it).

I went back to the first, watched very closely, specifically the man at work, not the one being worked.

Then I went to my porn site.

It took a lot of scrolling through their library, but I found it.

I clicked on it.

And the movie started.

I hit mute and fast-forwarded to where the worker was bare-chested (the workee had long since lost his clothes).

And yes.

There it was.

I’d never seen this one, but I’d gone through the short highlight reel they offered so you could make your selections. None of the action my stalker picked was on the highlight reel, but I remember the guy on the table (before he was tied to the table). I thought he was good-looking, had a great body, but another film had caught my eye, so I’d passed it up.

But I remembered the tattoo that slithered up his hip from his leather pants.

I was watching it when Axl walked in.

As he strode purposefully my way, his eyes did a quick scan of me before they dropped to the laptop.

“Is that it?”

His voice was abrasive with anger.

“No, it’s from my subscription site. But it’s the movie he used.”

Axl stopped beside where I sat on one of my kitchen stools. “You’ve seen it before?”

I shook my head. “Just scanned the highlights.”

“So, what are you—?”

“I’m going to tell you something and you have to promise and swear that you won’t say anything. To anybody.”

I could make a case that the steel-blue of his eyes was actual steel with the way he was looking at me.

“Promise?” I pushed.

“Promise,” he grunted.

“Ryn told me about this site because—”

“Boone and Ryn are Dom and sub, which means BDSM is their thing, and she likes watching man-on-man too.”

Whoa.

That was even more than I knew.

I blinked up at him.

“He doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty, but we share,” he said like he was forcing it out. “Though I’m just guessing about Ryn digging watching man-on-man.”

He guessed correctly.

I didn’t get into that.

“Okay,” I replied quickly, wishing to move us along not only for me, but also for him, Boone and Ryn. “So, you took my laptop to see if it was hacked, I wonder—”

I didn’t finish that.

Axl had his phone out so fast, I didn’t think he moved to get it. It was just that one second, he was standing there, scowling down at me, the next it was at his ear.

“Yeah, Boone, can you bring Ryn’s laptop in? We need to check if it’s hacked,” he said into the phone. “This asshole who’s fuckin’ with Hattie sent her an email. And there might be more. I’ll explain when I get to the office.” Pause then, “I don’t know. But Ryn recommended a website this guy is using and obviously she has Hattie’s email.” Another pause, then, “Yeah, thanks, brother.”

He disconnected and I said, “Maybe it’s more than just how he got my email.”

“Did she send you a link to that site, or did she tell you about it?”

“At first we talked about it. But she sent the link with her subscription info so I could give it a go before I committed to subscribe.”

He nodded. “When was this?”

I shook my head. “I … really don’t remember. But it’s at least a year.”

He nodded again. “Cisco says Sly’s busy. He’ll be free in a couple of hours and he doesn’t have anyone else available. Neither do we. Though I suspect Boone just freed himself up. But that means, in the meantime, honey, get dressed. You’re goin’ to the office with me.”

Oh boy.

I was curious about where he worked.

But this wasn’t how I wanted to get my first tour.

“Axl—”

“Babe, I know you’re probably freaked. But I need you to get a move on. If he’s in Ryn’s laptop, I’m thinking less good thoughts than I was before. But a hack can be traced. If he left that trace, we can find him. I want on that right away.”

“Okay, I’ll be fast but, he finished.”

“What?”

“They both did.”

He took a quick breath, but it was big, expanding his chest, all this in an effort at patience, before he demanded, “Explain fully.”

“I know you told me not to, but I watched the end of the one for me. And I finished the one for you. And they both climax.”

“I see you think this is important, so I need you to explain that.”

“I think, I don’t know …but if he wanted to hurt me, or you, or freak us out, would he show them finishing?”

Axl didn’t reply.

“It’s like, again, I don’t know, but it feels like … flirting. Or a come-on. Or an invitation or something.”

“You think this whackjob genuinely has a thing for you outside being a whackjob who clearly has a thing for you?”

“For us.”

“Hattie, I can see wanting to think that in order to make it less disturbing, but I’m not sure it says that.”

“Okay,” I muttered, starting to get off the stool so I could go and get dressed.

“Babe,” he called, wrapping a hand around the side of my neck, so I stopped moving and looked up at him again. “You want someone, you approach them at a bar and hand them a line. You do not send them pictures and movies without even introducing yourself. Again, Boone doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty, but they find partners in the normal way. A lot of the time, they can just sense who is who and who likes what. They also have signals, like shit people wear, bracelets and necklaces and stuff. And they got their own thing going on where they can be around like-minded people and meet potential partners at bars, clubs, parties. They don’t find someone they like who they have no idea if they’re in the life or not, follow them, leave unsettling presents on their doorstep, and invade their lives.”