Sylvester quirked an eyebrow at her word usage. He knew someday that photo would come back and bite him in the butt, but how did she find it? She didn't seem the type to go scouring through old magazines or men's underwear online.

The picture was taken back in the day when a girlfriend begged him to model for her new clothing line, and he'd done it with great reluctance, much to his mother's displeasure. His mom was a great one for vocalizing her disappointments. And being the oldest child, he was her focal point. She wanted him to have a normal life with a wife and kids, and not the scandalous life he chose for himself. She wanted him to be a good example.

It's not like he went around blabbing about it to everyone he knew. She was the only one in his close inner circle who knew of his extracurricular activities. When his picture came out, she'd immediately called him up to rant, despite it being his life and his choice.

He did regret it though. Karen hadn't been interested in being a wife or a mother. She just wanted him for his body and how much money he could make her. He learned as much when she aborted his baby. Sylvester pressed the heel of his hand against his chest, trying to stifle the ache that arose from just thinking about what happened.

A car honked outside and Oscar wandered over to the window. "Sy, your cab's here."

"One more beer for the road, Oscar?"

"I think you've had enough, dear friend," the bartender said, helping him out of his seat and out the door to the cab.

He'd love another beer. Beer and sex were the only things that he could count on to give him pleasure. They were only things he could trust not to disappoint him. His family, women, everyone pushed him away, turned on him, like he was the black sheep or something.

"Where to, bud?" the cab driver asked, as Sylvester lay sprawled out in the backseat.

"Sylvester's Sex Emporium."

And just as Sylvester quirked an eyebrow at Maria's message, the driver did the same to him upon hearing the name.

"I know. I know. Just drive please." Sylvester slung a hand over his eyes as the bumpy cab pulled away from the curb.

He hadn't responded to her message yet because he didn't trust his fingers to work on the small keypad on his phone, especially while he was seeing double of everything. Sending a message full of gibberish wouldn't go over well. Initially he tried, but he couldn't even remember how to spell his name. Sylvester just felt foreign to him, like it didn't belong to him.

The cab pulled up to his place and Sylvester stepped out of the car, stumbling over the curb. The driver rolled down the window. "Did you need any help getting inside," he asked.

Sylvester waved him off. "I'll be fine."

Passing by the flashing three red X's in the front bay window, he entered the alley way, where the stairs to his apartment were located. They looked like an insurmountable obstacle course, as they swayed to the left and to the right, making him nauseous.

Screw it. He stumbled back to the front of the red brick building, passing the triple X display and walked to the front door. Pulling the keys out of his pocket, he tried to remember which key fit the lock.

The world around him was strangely silent. No cars or people were on the road this time of night, and the street light on the corner was acting like a strobe light, getting ready to flash for the last time. Hopefully it didn't take much longer because it was giving him a bloody migraine.

Finally, he jammed the right key in the lock and pushed the door open. Suddenly, a sharp searing pain burst through his skull as something solid slammed into the back of his head. He fell to the ground hard, smacking his head on the linoleum floor.

***

Maria hid out in her room while Nathan and her roommate had their dinner date in the apartment. She'd been waiting for Sylvester's response, but her inbox continued to come up empty, except for her usual spam.

She thought about calling him, but it was late and he might be asleep, or he could be wrapped up with one of his subs at the moment. Would he continue to have other subs once she said yes or would she be it? She couldn't say she liked the idea of being one of many, too many chances of getting sick. If she did this, he'd have to get tested, and she'd have to be the only one.

Lying back against the headboard, she cuddled a round white fluffy pillow against her chest as she glanced down at the laptop on the bed beside her. A movie called "The Best of Me" was currently on pause.

So many people were getting back together with their first loves, but all she had was Derek, and she knew for a fact it wasn't love with him. He couldn't even wake her body up like Sylvester did. She wasn't interested in having sex with him in the slightest.

When the doorbell buzzed in the hallway, Maria looked down at the time. Who'd be showing up at their house at 1 am, or for that matter, what the heck was she still doing awake? It must be the adrenaline from the elevator.

Soon there was a knock on her bedroom door. "Maria, it's for you."
Surely, he didn't come to the house all because of her email? Pushing herself off the bed, she wandered out of her room, padding down the hallway in her bare feet and her old care bear nightie. She wasn't one to waste money on frivolous things. If it still fit, she wore it.

"Who's here," Maria asked Becky as they walked towards the door.

"The police."

Her mouth dropped open. Why did they want her? She rounded the corner and there stood two officers in uniform, one male and one female. The man was at least three inches taller than the woman, but somehow looked far less menacing than she did. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, and a stern, angry look played on her face; eyes dark as a midnight storm.

"Maria Delsante?" the female officer asked, her unfriendly voice almost felt threatening.

What was her problem?

"We were told that you were with Caleb earlier today." When Maria went to shake her head at the unfamiliar name, the female officer quickly continued, "You may know him as Sylvester. Do you have a moment to talk?"

It had to be about the elevator incident. "Sure, come on in. Can I get you a tea or coffee?" Maria asked, stepping aside to let them in.

"No, thank you. I'm Constable Victor and this is my partner Constable Jackson. When was the last time you spoke with Caleb?" the male constable said.

"It was after the elevator incident at the hotel. I haven't seen him since. Did you guys discover something?"

"He is currently at Peterson Memorial being treated for a head wound," Constable Jackson said, glaring at her.

"And you think I did it?"

"You two were seen fighting just after the incident," Jackson said, her tone low and meaningful.

"Back off, Jackie," Becky said, coming and standing by Maria. "She was with us all night, so she couldn't have done it."

Maria studied the woman officer, her eyes looked slightly familiar. If anything, she'd say that she was staring into his all over again. "Your eyes. Are you a relative of his?"

That would explain the woman's animosity towards her, along with not knowing for sure whether Maria was involved somehow.

Instead of answering, the cop came right up to her, entering her personal space. "First you show up at the hotel where he's hosting a meeting, and the elevator crashes. Then you guys are seen fighting outside the hotel, and now he's in the hospital with a head injury,"

Constable Victor walked up to his partner and pulled her back, whispering something into her ear. The woman took a deep breath, turned and left the room, leaving the three of them with the male officer.

"I'm sorry for my partner. She's not doing very well right now. Caleb is her brother." The cop gave her a tight-lipped smile, appearing to want to ease the tension in the room.

Maria folded her arms, grabbing her elbows. "Is he okay?"

"He took a nasty bang to the back of the head, but he should make a full recovery. The doctors are stitching him up now."

"Why isn't she with him?"

"She wants to find who tried to kill him."

A shiver curled down her spine and she tightened the grip she had on her elbow. "Kill him?"

"What do you know of what happened at the hotel?"

"Nothing, except for nearly dying in the elevator." She didn't stick around to find out. She just wanted to get as far away from there as possible and forget all about it.

"Did you have any contact with Caleb after you left?"

"I sent him an email, but he hasn't responded back yet. Why? What's going on?"

"The elevator was definitely sabotaged."

Her eyes widened and her throat constricted. Someone tried to kill them. Backing up, she plopped her butt on the couch, her body shaking. It wasn't just a random power failure. She knew it. Just knew it! But that didn't explain how he got injured. He was fine before she left.

She looked up at the cop. "What else happened tonight?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. We're going over his camera footage now."

"How bad is it?"

The cop took off his hat and ran his hand over his shaved head, sighing. "A slight skull fracture and 20 stitches. Any harder and it would have killed him."

Maria gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in horror. "Oh gosh. Oh god. Oh gosh."

"He's expected to recover, but he'll likely be in the hospital for a few days while they monitor his brain for any bleeding."

Unable to sit any longer, she got up and paced the room. If she wouldn't have showed up, he wouldn't have been in the elevator and if he wasn't in the elevator wasting time with her, he would have been home earlier and this might never have happened. Tears filled her eyes. It was all her fault.

No.

She wasn't going to get upset. She told him not to go with her. He didn't even give her his real name, so that shows how much he really cared about getting to know her. She told him hers. Okay, she didn't tell him her last name, but still. At least she made an effort to be open.

"Just so you know, he probably won't be out in time for your dinner on Friday."

Her jaw dropped. How did they know about that? Right! They probably went through his phone. Didn't that man have a passcode on it? Geez. She was happy that she didn't write anything about being his sub, or anything about his life.

"That's how you guys knew where to find me. You saw my email."

The cop nodded his head, his face flushing a little, which told her that he probably saw some other stuff on Sylvester's phone, too. "You probably shouldn't give out your address so readily to strangers, especially over the internet."

"It was just for him to pick me up for dinner."

"I know, but still you should be more careful," he warned." And I don't mean to alarm you, but keep watch for any strange activity, or strange people hanging around. Whoever attacked him could have your address now."

Maria chuckled nervously, not wanting to believe what the cop was hinting at. "I'm not of interest to anyone, unless they like books."

"Look, I'm almost certain the two incidents are connected and given that you were at one of them, I'm not taking chances that both of you are a target for some reason."

"I just met Sylvester tonight."

"Far stranger things have happened. I'm going to have a patrol come by every now and then to keep an eye on things, until this is figured out."

"I'll stay, too, protect the girls," Nathan suggested.

The cop left 10 minutes later, and Becky, who never let guys stay over, reluctantly agreed to let her boyfriend stay on the couch; her excuse, more ways to prove that she was marriage material. Her friend didn't seem to realize that she'd make the perfect wife someday, even if she couldn't cook perfectly. Somehow she had a feeling that the guy would wind up in her friend's bed instead of watching the door.

Shaking off the image of a naked guy in Becky's bed, she trudged off to her bedroom and climbed into bed; her mind still reeling over the events of the evening. First, the two of them nearly died, and then he nearly died a second time.

With a pang of regret, she climbed into bed. She had really hoped to get an inside look into his world. But he probably wouldn't be up for any physical activities for a while, let alone dinner with her. And given how much of a good luck charm she seemed to be, she should probably leave him alone.

But she owed it to him to go see him first. She had a few hours after work before her writer's group, so it would be the perfect time to go to the hospital and see how he was doing. Falling back on her pillow, she took a deep breath and wished for sleep...not that sleep ever came easy for her.

When she wanted to sleep, her mind wanted to play. She considered it one of the curses of being a writer, but tonight, it wasn't her stories that wanted to play, it was an image of Sylvester's cock in his hand.

Maria pulled the pillow over her face and held it down. "I'm doomed."