Play Dirty (Wages of Sin #2) - Neve Wilder Page 0,24
From outside came the occasional splash as Azrael kicked off the edge of the pool while swimming laps. Madigan adjusted the screen, trying to concentrate as he stared at the shipping logs Red had sent him. Next to him was an untouched glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed. Madigan considered it as he rubbed the back of his neck.
The sunlight had woken him at the asscrack of dawn. That and the twinge in his neck from sleeping on the couch. He’d refused to sleep in the bed with Azrael because he didn’t trust Az not to mess with him and he didn’t want to deal with the temptation. He’d slept like shit, though, and had pulled a pillow over his head when Az came down the stairs into the kitchen and started rattling around. Az was surprisingly domestic for such a vicious man, but Madigan supposed that, given his love for chemicals, concocting shit in the kitchen was kind of a distant cousin to mixing poisons. Madi had finally given up trying to sleep and had walked into the kitchen once he heard Az leave, only to find the fresh juice, cut up fruit, and some sort of bread set out.
Madigan scrolled down the shipping log, then picked up the juice and sniffed it as Az wandered in from the pool, dark hair gleaming and slicked back, a towel cinched around his waist. Madigan’s mouth fucking watered at the sight. What would it be like to wake up to that every day? He grimaced at the strange thought as Az swiped the juice from his hand and took a sip, cocking an amused brow at him.
“It’s fine, see. Not poisoned. Drink it.”
Madigan rolled his eyes. “That wasn’t what I was thinking.” It was, despite the fact that it made not a damn bit of sense for Az to poison him now. He snatched the juice from Az, took a few swallows and angled the screen as Az dropped on the couch beside him. Too close, too wet, too early in the morning. Madigan scooted an inch over and flicked a finger toward the screen. “DiMarco’s shipping logs. Tell me what you see.”
Annoyingly, Az closed the distance between them as he leaned forward, brows furrowing as he scrolled slowly through the logs. The wet ends of his hair dripped steadily on the top of Madigan’s thigh. “I see…what looks like an uptick in shipments beginning a year ago. Most from the US.”
“Right.” The furrow in Azrael’s brow became a trench as Madigan continued. “He’s never been known for trafficking. Beneficiary of it, sure, according to Red. But, also according to Red, Pritka and Diamantis were both the supplier and handled shipping through several networks—none of which were any of DiMarco’s outfits.”
“Are you thinking DiMarco was going behind Pritka’s back somehow?”
Madigan shrugged. “Not sure. All I have right now is an uptick in shipments and a few warehouse purchases in”—he took control of the mouse, clicking over to another screen—“Rio, Naples, Prague, and Cape Town.”
“That could be for anything. Someone expanding their arms business, certainly.”
“Could be.” Madi shrugged. “But maybe not, considering what we saw yesterday. We could check out that warehouse here, see what’s in there. If it’s just product, we proceed as planned and take DiMarco and Bennington out at the meeting location, which…we still need to figure out.”
“I’ve got someone working on that.” Az stretched out on the couch, lacing his fingers behind his head. He plunked his feet onto Madigan’s lap, and Madi shrugged them off immediately. A small smile hooked the corner of Az’s mouth but faded quickly. “If the ‘product’ in the warehouse is of the human variety, what then, hmm? That’s above the paygrade and well beyond the call of duty. We’d be potentially interfering with a global network.” Madigan sucked his teeth, considering, as Az nudged him with the side of his foot. “I think, Madigan, that you’ve got a little shred of humanity left in you and you don’t enjoy it one bit.” Rolling upright, Az pressed in close, dancing his fingers up the back of Madigan’s spine and sparking every nerve ending to life as his lips hovered near Madi’s ear. “I enjoy discovering these small, soft parts of you almost as much as I’ve enjoyed the hard parts.”
Warmth pooled in Madigan’s gut even as he stood, shaking free of Az’s touch. “We’ll check out the warehouse first, and then we can talk about interfering with global networks. And, for fuck’s sake,