STORY EXCERPT

Balthazar took a moment before he spoke. “Rules among Nobles are strict. Tell Thatcher to prepare his sob story, because this might not end well for him. If he were the leader, he could have some leeway, but that’s not his role. I’ll see what I can do.” 

They ended the call, and Sophia took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s hope they understand and—” She froze in place. “What are they doing here?” 

Chester looked over and clenched his jaw. “I can guess what brings you two here.” 

Sophia’s heart pounded as Ferret and Eric approached them from across the street. “Everything is going to be fine,” she said, mostly to herself. She didn’t know Ferret and Eric well, and neither did Chester. This situation could take a turn in any direction. 

“Sophia, your mates were with us. We heard everything,” Eric said and regarded Chester. “You’re in the middle of work, but you’re coming with us to talk.” 

Chester patted Sophia’s shoulder. “Take over until I return. Don’t worry.” 

“Okay,” she uttered. That was all she could say. While they left, Troy walked up to her, taking off his medical gloves. He wore the hazmat suit as usual. “Did you hear everything?” 

“I did. Can’t tell what’s going to happen,” Troy mumbled as he watched them leave. He glanced at her knee. “If he ends up leaving the KSPD, Captain Williams will most likely assign someone else to work with you. Or she might add you to a new team. You know me, Eve, Duke, and Victor. Who knows? Maybe you’ll join our team.” 

She frowned and adjusted her knee pad. “I understand that, but Thatcher is my partner. We only began working together recently.” 

Troy took his facemask off. “We’ll solve this somehow. You’re in charge now, and it’s best if we don’t attract any more attention,” he said, and Sophia nodded. “The victim is Cameron Sousa. Twenty-nine years old. He’s a PE teacher at the same high school Christina and Samuel Nolte used to work at. I’m yet to be called by the hospital, so he’s still alive.” 

“Can you show me the crime scene?” Sophia asked, and Troy led the way under the bridge, down the incline covered in grass. She held Troy’s hand when he offered to help, and they went at a slow pace. “Did Samuel use the same knife on the other victims? We have the metal contraption with all those blades in evidence right now.” 

“Samuel Nolte only used the knife here, and it has old, dried blood residue in the crevices of the plastic handle. We’re done taking pictures and we have most of the evidence,” he answered. “The pool of blood on the grass here isn’t that big because Nolte didn’t take the knife out of the victim. The paramedics called and told me the knife barely missed the heart.” 

Sophia took in her surroundings. The stomped-on grass showed signs of struggle all over. Sousa and Samuel had fought each other. “Then it punctured a lung,” she said, and he nodded. “Good thing the knife stayed in. But where was the clover leaf?” 

Troy showed her the small evidence bag. “One of the paramedics left it with Officer Miller. Cameron Sousa had it on his cheek. He spat it out. Nolte didn’t see that or finish the job, which means Sousa got the leaf out after Nolte left.” 

“Do you know how deep the knife got?” she asked, and Troy shook his head. “What about fingerprints?” 

“The apparatus didn’t have any, but the knife does. I’ll run them at the lab to find any possible matches.” Troy glanced over at where the cars were. “Not sure when Thatcher will return. If he doesn’t, we’ll have to ask someone to take his car back to the precinct.” 

Hopefully, they would let Chester off with a warning. “We’ll see,” Sophia mumbled. The blood spatter on the wall of the bridge made it all the more evident that Cameron and Samuel had gotten into a fight. Samuel hadn’t seemed like the fighting type, yet he’d been deceiving them since the beginning. There were still loose ends they needed to look into on this case. 

“One thing I can tell is that the two murders don’t match what Samuel Nolte did,” Troy said, drawing her attention. “The performance factor didn’t happen here. Stone and Solace were killed in a different manner.” 

“Because Samuel didn’t murder them, someone else did,” Sophia said. “But he had access to the murder weapon and a clover leaf. His connection with Sigmund Roth is more solid now. Roth accused Samuel and Natalie of being the ones who murdered the two victims, and I wouldn’t be surprised. Sigmund is too smart to get his own hands dirty. His arrogance is what makes me think he did it.” 

Troy hummed. “Perhaps. For now, I have to analyze the evidence. The victim is still alive, but it’s the same Clover case. Captain Williams asked us to come here since we have to save time.” 

She nodded and checked her cell phone. “I’m going to ask Cameron Sousa’s wife for an interview. She must know about Roth. If I knew more people would get involved, I would’ve waited to contact Lock On for their alibis.” 

“As long as we have the main culprits, it’s a matter of time until this case is over,” Troy said. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to contact us.” 

“Thank you, Doctor Carmine,” Sophia said and made her way back to her car with his help. She put her seatbelt on and sent a text message to Madison to set an interview for tomorrow so Sousa’s spouse could focus on him for the day. Since it was lunchtime, she called Dominic. 

“Hey,” he said, his deep voice filling the car. 

ADULT EXCERPT

“I’m done for today, but I have to spend about half an hour finishing things up. I’d like to know if you have time for a date. Are you…at home?” she asked quietly, her heart thumping. 

“I will be now. I’ll chase En and Dom out. See you there,” Balthazar said, and they ended the call. 

Sophia drove home, eager to see him. She stopped by the supermarket to get some salty snacks and continued on her way home. 

As soon as she arrived and pressed on the key button to close the gate, she parked near the house and grabbed the bag with the snacks she’d bought. 

Balthazar opened the front door and paced toward her. “Come here. Don’t exert your knee,” he said and picked her up. 

“Thanks,” she uttered as he closed the car door for her and took her inside. Dominic had done the same for her during their date, so she had a feeling of déjà vu. Balthazar carried her upstairs without a word. “Do you have a plan for our date?” 

“For the beginning, yes,” Balthazar said with a grin. He switched the lights on and sat her on the bed. “Wait here.” 

Sophia watched as he walked out of the room. She took the chance and went to her dresser. After taking out a card from inside the box, she closed the drawer and limped across the room to sit back on the bed. Balthazar returned with a large pillow. Sophia looked at it with confusion. “Where did you get that?” 

He placed it on the bed and sat next to her. “Got it for when it was time for our date. Now we can use it for your knee.” 

“That’s nice of you. Well, I want to redeem one of these,” Sophia said and showed him one of the ten Balt wish coupons he’d gotten her for her birthday. Her cheeks flushed and her heart thumped as he looked at it intently. “What I’d like you to do is…” 

Balthazar gazed into her eyes. “You can ask for anything.” 

Sophia cleared her throat. “I have a feeling it would be a bit too much if Dominic and Ensoro were involved, so I’d like to try this with you first,” she said, her voice getting quieter. He only nodded slowly. “Can you close my eyes or something?” 

“Oh, I get it,” Balthazar said and slid his hand over his long silky hair, becoming all the more seductive. He unfastened his tie and wrapped it around Sophia’s head, covering her eyes. “I’ll interpret your request on my own, all right?” 

“Okay,” she uttered and allowed him to undress her. Now that she couldn’t see anything, her heart pounded. This made her trust him fully. 

Balthazar took the card from Sophia’s hand and took her jacket and shirt off before doing the same for the rest of her clothes. He was extra careful when it came to her knee. “How much can you move your leg without feeling pain?” 

Bending her leg a tad, Sophia turned her head to where his voice had sounded from. “More or less like this.” She tensed at the feeling of his warm hands on her sides, touching her bare skin. He moved her farther onto the bed and slid the pillow under her knee. “It’s comforta—” 

Balthazar opened her mouth with his thumb on her chin and put something in it. “Don’t worry. I cleaned it.” 

From the feeling of it, Sophia knew it was the small tube of lube. It had a cylinder shape, and the round bottom end was in her mouth. It was still big enough to keep her from talking. She let out a muffled moan when Balthazar slid two slicked fingers over her slit. Her moans continued as he rubbed her clit. A kiss on the side of her neck made her jerk underneath him. 

“You can’t tell what I’m doing until I do it to you. I love your reactions,” he said close to her ear and nibbled her neck. 

Sophia swallowed hard. The way Balthazar touched her and spoke to her got her soaked and ready for him. She melted underneath him once he pushed one of his fingers into her pussy. Even if she wanted to tell him to fuck her already, she couldn’t. 

Balthazar thrust his finger for a few seconds, and added a second one. “You’re sucking them well,” he said to her ear, and she shivered. “I can already tell this will be fun.” 

Panting, Sophia held on to him. He hadn’t taken his clothes off, only unzipped his fly. She pulled him onto her, and what pressed against her pussy wasn’t only his pants, but also his hard prick. Sophia arched her back at the pleasant feeling of him thrusting his cock into her throbbing pussy. His strained breathing put her in a lustful daze. Her senses only heightened from her being unable to see and speak. 

“Tap me if your knee hurts,” Balthazar said, and Sophia nodded. He lifted her other bent leg to the side and picked up the pace, thrusting deeper and faster. 

Sophia drowned in pleasure at how Balthazar’s cock rubbed her inside until he pounded into her pussy. She gripped the sides of his dress shirt and pulled at it. He thrust in deeper and kissed her cheek several times. The bed creaked under them a tad. As much as she desired to kiss Balthazar, she also wanted to keep her mouth full and unable to say a single word. 

Holding the back of Sophia’s thighs, Balthazar rammed into her pussy with his hard prick. Muffled cries of pleasure escaped her. His hips bumped against hers each time.