Page 18 of Villain

West chuckled and Yejun winked down at him.

Lake started around the couch, catching Nix’s attention, and he froze all over again.

“What are you doing?” Nix demanded the second Lake disappeared from view, only for Yejun to shush him.

“We ask the questions here…” He paused and turned to Lake. “What did you say his name was again?”

“Phoenix Monroe,” West answered for him, reading off his ID on his device as he broke into it.

“What?” Yejun snorted. “What a stupid name.”

“It’s Nix,” he corrected, only for the man to dig his knee in harder.

“Yeah, that’s not much better. That why you did it? Mommy and daddy gave you this stupid name and you foolishly thought it meant you had more than one life?”

Nix frowned. Was he mocking him because of his name, really? Phoenixes died and were reborn, sure, but no one would actually believe being named after one would pass on that trait. It seemed like an unnecessary and almost childish jab until it hit him what was really going on here.

He gasped when strong hands pushed against his inner thighs, spreading his legs wide so that they hung off the sides of the table. Nix bucked, but Yejun let out a hoot as though it were a fun game they were playing, and Lake, who was now leaning over Nix’s private parts, merely hummed.

“It’s him,” he told his friends.

“Of course you’d recognize him by asshole,” West stated.

“Or is it his cock and balls?” Yejun shifted, planting a palm down on Nix to keep him in place even when he climbed off and turned to take a look himself.

“Please.” Nix buried his head in his arms. “Please stop.”

“He doesn’t like an audience,” Lake said.

“Where’s the audience?” Yejun asked, only to make a sound of understanding a second later. “Oh. You mean us. This is nothing. Wait until the Order gets their hands on you. That’ll be something.”

“If he’s the one we’re looking for,” Lake corrected.

“What do you mean?” Yejun frowned. “You said—”

West swore, interrupting. “It’s not him.”

There was a moment of silence and then Yejun asked, “What do you mean? How could it not be him?”

“He skipped over all of the tiers.” Lake moved from between Nix’s thighs and over to where West was sitting, dropping an arm over the back so he could stare down at the screen. He frowned at whatever he saw there.

“He did,” West agreed. “But he’s not our guy.”

“Bullshit.” Yejun sprung up, forgetting all about containing Nix in his burst of annoyance.

Nix took the opportunity, scrambling up and stumbling back off the table. He didn’t make it far, however, only a few retreating steps before Lake lifted his head and caught him with a warning gaze that instantly had him stilling like a deer in headlights.

“Stay right there, Songbird,” Lake commanded in that same low, silky tone he’d always used as Maestro.

It licked over Nix’s skin in the way it was no doubt meant to, and he found himself paralyzed and enthralled all at the same time.

“Wow, got him trained already?” Yejun asked, snapping Nix out of it enough to send him a glare. “Or not.”

“He is a hacker,” West told them, clicking away at his keyboard as he did, “but not the one we’re looking for.”

“How do you know?” Yejun insisted.

“His signature is different.”