The Trouble With Tony by Eli Easton Read Free Book Online

this?”
    Ricardo shrugged. “Maybe… two months ago? Give or take a few weeks?”
    That would have been around the time of Marilyn’s death. “Okay. And you said…?” Tony prompted.
    Ricardo rubbed with his thumb at a spot on the bar. “I said I’d figure she was maybe getting lessons someplace else.”
    “And he said….”
    “He said yeah, that’s what he thought too.” Ricardo licked his lips and looked up at Tony. “She okay? His wife? Is this like a divorce thing?”
    Tony wished it was. “She’s dead,” he said flatly.
    Ricardo looked shocked. “Fuck, man. Fuck!” He turned a little green.
    “If we get enough on this guy to do something, would you be willing to tell a court what you just told me?”
    Ricardo didn’t hesitate. “It’s the truth, isn’t it? I don’t lie for nobody. Particularly not for that guy.”
    “Good.” Tony stood up to go.
    “Wait, take the money.” Ricardo took it out of his wallet and pushed it across the bar. “I don’t want it. Not for that.”
    Tony understood what he saw in the kid’s eyes. He nodded. “Thanks.” He took the money. “You know, even if this guy did it, it had nothing to do with what you said.”
    Ricardo gave a sharp nod, but he didn’t look like he believed it.
    As Tony left the bar, there was only one thing on his mind: If Marilyn’s “lessons” had not come from Halloran, then who? Who had turned Marilyn White into a lion in bed?

~8~
    T ONY had another session with Jack Halloran on Tuesday morning. He was a bit nervous about it, hoping he could avoid giving away the new, ever-ready fire hydrant that was masquerading as his genitalia. His heart skipped a beat when he walked into Halloran’s office.
    “Good morning, Tony,” Halloran said, acknowledging him with a polite smile. “Just let me finish up some notes.” He went back to writing in a folder on his desk.
    “No problem.” Tony was just as happy to have a moment to hang out by the door and get his bearings. After Tony’s dick had struck a pose last time he’d been here, he hadn’t hung around long enough to re-evaluate the man who was responsible. Now he had the chance.
    Halloran had on tortoise-shell glasses. He didn’t look like he needed them; it looked one of those “I’m a doctor and this will make me look more intelligent and truth-worthy” sorts of deals, but really, they just made him look like a librarian who needed badly to get laid. He was compact and solid with an air of confidence and strength. In the light coming in from the window, his clean-shaven face was just a little rough with what might have been a mild case of childhood acne or chicken pox. The firm set of his mouth as he wrote and a general air of stern tightness to the man, contrasted with his almost sweet blond-haired, blue-eyed looks. Something about that dichotomy made Tony want to rip his clothes off and find the chewy sweetness beneath the hard shell.
    Standing there near the door, Tony almost came in his pants—just from looking at the guy. Shit. Yeah. If he needed any further confirmation, beyond the fantasies that had been in his head all week, he’d just gotten it. Halloran was favored by his balls, all right.
    Why? Why did his dick like this and not that? He didn’t even know Halloran, not really. Yet his name alone could get Tony hard, while some other perfectly hot guy could suck on his dick and inspire nothing but the desire to wipe off the saliva. Tony sure wished he had a freaking clue what was wrong with him. Then again, that was rather the point.
    Tony had worn loose pants and a long leather jacket to the session, just in case. Still, he didn’t need to be drooling when he talked to the man. He turned away from Halloran and looked around the office, trying to ramp his libido down from DEFCON 3. There was a group of framed certificates on the wall. Tony wandered over there. The group included Halloran’s medical degree from the University of Washington, a Washington state