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later.
    “All right. See you on the floor at nine,” he said. Rachel was halfway toward the door. No one else moved a muscle until Zed turned around.
    They were dismissed.
    Zed, with Damian, left in a flurry of murmurs, no doubt Damian giving a rundown of how much money they were expecting to take in over the next three days. Long weekends were good for business, and the advertising cycles were pushing the glamor and glitz of the upcoming Anniversary Weekend like crazy.
    The staff filed out, headed for the coiffing that would fill the time before they were due upstairs. On-site they enjoyed a salon and specialists catering to them looking their best. Half a floor was just wardrobe.
    But Cade didn’t move, and neither did Alec.
    “Don’t you get tired of repeating yourself?” Cade asked, tangling his fingers over his stomach. He didn’t bother to turn around.
    “Don’t you get tired of being the shiniest whore in Whoreville?”
    “You need new insults.” He sat up and turned around to see Alec grinning delightedly.
    “You love them.” Alec elongated the l sound and batted his long eyelashes. He made most of his money off their female clients—wives and girlfriends who kept busy while their men were otherwise occupied. Female executives and politicians who wanted all the trappings of their stature, including paying for sex. The occasional threesome for their more bicurious guests. He and Cade performed together now and again, but Cade—well, he was primarily a solo act, and his prices reflected that.
    The mixing of a Costa Rican mother and a French father produced Alec’s exotic look, which initially turned heads—and the constant work he did on his body caught their second glances and their money.
    The competition between them had started in their first days together—both young and beautiful, both anxious to find job security in a world that chewed up and spit out models on a daily basis. And oh, the pretty boys and girls who couldn’t cut it in the first year, who didn’t earn enough to cover the four grand for their plane tickets home—money wasn’t easy to come up with when you were out on the street, and beggars got jail quicker than they got spare change.
    “Come on, Farm Boy—I’ll buy you some coffee before we get rouged up.” Alec winked, tucking a line of black hair behind his ear. “You need a little extra help today. What the hell did you do to your face?”
    “Sweet-talker.” Cade stretched out, hearing his spine crackle and pop as he ignored Alec’s comment. “I need a nap.”
    “Mmmm… is that an offer?”
    He shook his head, standing up quickly. “Get your juices running with someone else. I’m saving my dick for someone who pays me.”
    Alec followed, crowding their bodies close together, Cade’s back against his front. “You’re no fun.”
    Cade allowed a moment—just a single second of an embrace. Alec was big and warm, breathing against the back of his neck in a gentle way. Wouldn’t it be nice to do this with someone where money wasn’t exchanged? Wouldn’t it be lovely to be with someone just for the experience?
    He’d never had that.
    But that wasn’t his life. He had a job to do.

Chapter Four
     
    N OX FINISHED off the last of his coffee and a plate of toast and sausage. When he got home from his little confrontation with the pretty boy, Sam was holed up in his room, and all the knocking and requests for him to come out went ignored. His temper rose, and once again he remembered how out of his league he still was, still winging this parenting thing after all these years.
    With a sigh, he cleaned the dishes, leaving a covered plate for Sam at the table.
    Outside, night had fallen. The warning sirens sounded on the hour until eight, and then this part of town fell under a tense hush. No one went outside; no cars or people could be found. Once upon a time, people had walked on the street—taking their dogs to Riverside Park or going to dinner, coming home from