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Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature

Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.

CHAPTER NINE

 Being in a relationship was actually quite a bit of work, something he hadn’t really expected. It had always seemed to him, as an outsider looking in, that relationships were something that just happened, easy as breathing. The truth was a bit harder to face.

He had to ask Sophia to make room in his schedule and basically had to rearrange his whole life to be able to fit Marshal into it. It was not something he had ever expected to have to do, and he had to see his ability to adapt and change as a sign of progress. He’d even brought it up in his last few sessions with Dr. Landry and she had told him she was very proud of him.

There were still many things that he simply could not force himself to do, but he thought that he had made great strides. He couldn’t eat in restaurants or allow himself to be trapped in the confines of a public cinema or theater, but Marshal didn’t seem to care. He just seemed happy to spend time with Danny, and that was enough.

Danny whistled soundlessly as he finished up a report on his ideas about the Kerr-Bosnan prospectus. He’d decided that most of the ideas were pretty stupid, but he still had to waste some of his precious time pointing out what exactly he had a problem with. Destroying someone’s dreams should have been a little harder.

Finally finished, he saved his work then shut down his laptop.

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned hugely. It was such a relief to finally be done. Some part of him had been sure he would be wading through hundreds of pages of mostly worthless data for the entire day and night. So to be finished so much earlier than he had expected was an alien kind of pleasure.

Before, he had never felt happiness over finishing work early because he hadn’t had anything to do with the time freed up. It was just something that happened and he would then spend the rest of his day finding more work to fill in the time before he could go home and play with his Legos.

He couldn’t help smiling as he packed away his laptop and the rest of the things he would be taking home with him for the night. Then he started pulling on his coat as he left his office.

“Can you call Arthur and tell him I’m done here?” he said.

Sophia looked surprised, but hurriedly lifted her phone to make the phone call. He never went home early. It was probably something she was going to mark down in her diary as an oddity.

Danny listened while she told Arthur to bring the car around and that he was going home early. Even from across the room, he caught the note of incredulity in Arthur’s voice when she confirmed that yes, he really was going home early.

He sighed and shifted his bag from hand to hand, waiting. “Is he going to be too long?” he asked after she’d hung up.

Sophia smiled at him. “He says he’ll be here in roughly five minutes. Traffic isn’t too bad this time of day and he’s only a few streets over. He was running some quick errands for Olivia and filing some paperwork at the County Clerk’s office.”

Danny felt a momentary flush of curiosity, but Sophia probably didn’t know what Arthur had been filing. Not that it really mattered. Arthur was the one person in his life that he trusted without question. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll start heading down there.”

“Certainly,” she said. “He’ll call your cell when he’s out front.” So don’t worry, went unsaid.

He nodded and left, walking toward the elevator.

There was something almost naughty about leaving early. He felt as though he was doing something illicit, but instead of feeling guilty, he felt a cool thrill. It was exciting to do something he didn’t usually do.

His life had been ruled by clocks and schedules for so long that he couldn’t even imagine any other way. Except now he was breaking with his regimented routine and instead of being frightened… he was excited.

Somehow, letting Marshal into his life had freed him from some of the bonds of his neuroses. It was a kind of freedom he hadn’t even realized he was missing.

Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature

Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.

 CHAPTER EIGHT

 When Marshal got the call from Danny and was asked to meet him that night, he felt as though he’d been struck hard in the chest. He just had this incredible sense of impending doom, as though a thousand pound weight had been dropped on him from some impossible height.

“What’s wrong with you?” Joanna asked. It had become her question for him of late. It seemed like she asked it every time he saw her.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, avoiding her eyes.

She made a harsh sound in her throat. “Seriously, you look like your cat just died. Or maybe like your dog ate your cat then choked and died too. What is going on with you now?”

He sighed, giving in. “Danny called to say he wants to talk to me tonight. I’m going over there after work.”

“So?” she asked. “You can talk to him about what happened last night, rehash your feelings, all that jazz. It’ll be like a girls night in.”

“Except neither one of us is a girl and I’m pretty sure he’s going to tell me that he never wants to see me again.”

Joanna raised her eyebrows at him speakingly. “Really. I don’t know when it happened, but I’m very pleased for you that your psychic powers have finally kicked in.”

“What else could he want to talk about?” Marshal rubbed his forehead, feeling the start of a tension headache. “Last night was the kind of awkward that no one wants to experience twice and he’s probably already realized that I’m not worth the trouble. He’s going to dump me.”

“Wow, why don’t you get that sand out of your vagina?” Joanna said crassly.

He gave her a disbelieving look. “You did not just say that.”

“Oh, I totally did.” She leaned forward intently. “Look, I’m no Dr. Drew or anything, but I have eyes and a brain, so I know you’ve totally got a thing for this guy. If you didn’t, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have to listen to all your wangst every single day and we could actually get some work done with like half the drama. So when you start acting like a chick…” she shrugged, “I start treating you like one. You know, one of the ones on their period.”