Cage Match (20 page)

rocks, velvet moss, and hidden flowers.

He‟d seen more nature over the past weeks of living with Andreas than he‟d

experienced in his entire lifetime. But the suburban countryside near Andreas‟s home

was nothing compared to the beauty of this natural wilderness. It was the world Jabez

had always dreamed of seeing—fresh, earthy, a world away from the stench of B-town

or the slick elegance of New Englandia.

After walking in silence for several minutes, Andreas glanced over his shoulder.

“You like it?”

Jabez could only nod. “Like” was a weak word, but he couldn‟t express the almost

painful joy this place roused in him.

The path veered upward, an easy incline at first, then a steeper cut. The wide trail

became narrower and rougher. They clambered over fallen logs and detoured around

boulders as they continued to go upward. Jabez found himself breathing hard and his

calves burning from the climb.

“Whew, I‟m out of breath,” Andreas echoed his thought. “It‟s the altitude. We‟re

not up too high yet, but it‟s a steep ascent. Worth the view, though. You‟ll see.”

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Jabez hefted the hamper into his other hand and wished they‟d thought to put the

lunch in a backpack as he continued to plod along the track. It seemed fainter and less

traveled now, as if many had given up and gone back when the climb grew too difficult.

“You come here with your friends?” Jabez couldn‟t picture stylish Timon,

overweight Rabi, or listless Simeon making this climb.

“No. I‟ve always hiked alone. It‟s kind of a spiritual walk for me, a chance to get

away from my life and gain some perspective. I haven‟t come up here in a long time. I

guess I lost myself for a while, got caught up in diversions and stopped thinking too

deeply.” He glanced back at Jabez again. “Until you. You made me take a hard look at

my life.”

Jabez didn‟t know what to say. He‟d never had such a compliment. Sure, people

had told him he was a good fighter or his body was sexy, but no one had ever said he

challenged them to think about life.

He stared at the path and trudged on. The forest around them was incredible with

its shades of green and different-shaped leaves. Jabez caught movement in the corner of

his eye and froze, flicking his gaze toward it. He saw something big, a flash of brown,

and then the animal was gone.

“Did you see…?” he asked Andreas, but the other man was too far ahead, pushing

branches out of his way and pulling his leg from a snag of brambles.

“Almost there,” he called back.

Jabez trotted to catch up, his gaze riveted on Andreas‟s butt as he climbed a series

of makeshift steps hewn into the hillside.

“Here we are.” Andreas stopped abruptly.

Stepping around to stand beside him, Jabez inhaled sharply at the view spread out

before him. They were on a little plateau that overlooked a deep valley sheltered

between the mountains. Treetops fell away in soft green folds below, and the wide sky

arched overhead. They might not be at the very top of the mountain, but they were

close to it.

Jabez felt powerful, as if he could leap off the edge and fly away, and at the same

time very small, but not in the helpless way he‟d felt while alone on the streets. He

could see himself as a tiny part of a great whole and just as important as a leaf or a river

or the entire planet.

“Amazing, isn‟t it?” Andreas was grinning widely, and suddenly Jabez had to kiss

him. He set the hamper down, grabbed his waist, and pulled him close, covering that

smiling mouth. His lips pressed against soft warmth, and he slipped his tongue out to

stroke lightly over Andreas‟s tongue.

After a long kiss, he pulled away. “Thank you. For everything.” He swallowed the

sudden lump in his throat and blinked away the prickling behind his eyes.

Andreas cupped his jaw, stroking a thumb lightly over his cheek. “Shh, you don‟t

need to thank me for anything. I‟m glad to have you in my life.”

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Bonnie Dee

Jabez nodded curtly and turned away. He stooped to rummage through the

hamper before he lost control of himself and wept like a child for no good reason at all.

Mrs. Gamble‟s lunch tasted even better than usual after the long climb and the

fresh air. They sat side by side, gazing at the view as they ate, and even Andreas was

quiet. The silence was comfortable, companionable, restful, and after a while it

prompted Jabez to speak.

“You should paint again. Your paintings are good.”

Andreas paused with his sandwich halfway to his mouth and looked over at him

with wide eyes. “Where did that come from?”

“Something I‟ve been thinking about. I think you liked it but thought you weren‟t

good enough, so you quit.” Jabez paused. He wasn‟t used to offering opinions. “But if

you like it, you should do it, even if it‟s only for yourself. And you should frame some

of those paintings in the attic and hang them in your house.”

“You think so?” A smile lurked on his lips, and Jabez wasn‟t sure if Andreas was

pleased by his compliment or amused that he couldn‟t tell good art from bad.

“Yes, I do,” he said firmly.

Andreas put his sandwich down and leaned back on his elbows, legs stretched in

front of him. “What about you? What do you like doing? You should feel free to pursue

anything you‟re interested in. I‟d be happy to buy you books about any subject or

supplies for hobbies or sports.”

“I don‟t know,” he answered honestly. “I‟m used to just making it from one day to

the next. I don‟t know what I want to learn about. Everything, I guess.”

“I can hire you tutors then. Seriously, anything you want is yours.”

Uncomfortable with his big promises, Jabez looked away across the valley.

“Have I offended you?”

“I feel like a stray dog you‟ve decided to spoil. You can groom me all you want,

but I‟ll never belong in a dog show. And what happens when you get bored and decide

to get a dog with a pedigree?”

“You think I‟m just dabbling?” Andreas leaned forward, frowning. “I swear this

isn‟t a game to me. I really feel something for you, and I want you to stay with me

always. You could just as easily get tired of me and leave. I have as much reason to fear

being abandoned as you do.”

Jabez snorted, the idea was so ridiculous.

Andreas reached out and took hold of his arm. “Do you think because I‟m rich I

have everything I need? What good is it all without someone to lo—without someone

special to share it with? I need you as much as you need me. We have a bond.”

One look into those earnest eyes and Jabez was lost in their shimmering silver

depths, hooked like a fish, caught like an animal in a trap or a man in a fight cage. He

didn‟t have the strength to resist the pull of Andreas‟s gaze or the soft stroking of his

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hand on his bare forearm. Jabez
wanted
to believe the other man‟s promise of affection,

and he could no longer deny the connection between them.

He turned his arm over and slid his hand into Andreas‟s. “Then I promise to stay

with you and you promise to keep me around.”

Andreas smiled. “Didn‟t we just do something like this yesterday?”

“Yeah, but I didn‟t really believe it then,” Jabez replied. “Now I do.” He tugged

the other man toward him and leaned to kiss him.

They finished eating, drowsed in the sun, and climbed the rest of the way to the

peak before gathering their picnic supplies and starting down the mountain.

Jabez felt as if they were inside a warm, glowing bubble of light, a perfect sphere

that nothing could puncture. Even flying couldn‟t cause him anxiety. Not until they

touched down on Andreas‟s driveway to find a strange vehicle parked there did the

bubble burst.

“My father.” Andreas scowled. “He read my message to the board. This isn‟t

going to be pleasant.”

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Chapter Eleven

He parked the jet, and as they walked into the house, Andreas held tight to Jabez‟s

hand. He should ask him to go to his room and spare him the fireworks, but the truth

was he wanted him by his side. They‟d made a commitment to each other today, and he

wanted to introduce him as his boyfriend to his father. To send Jabez away would only

make him feel Andreas wasn‟t proud to be with him.

“Don‟t be nervous,” he said after they passed Mrs. Gamble in the hallway and she

told them his father was waiting in the study.

“I‟m not,” Jabez replied calmly. “I‟ve faced men who could kill me. All your

father‟s going to do is yell some.”

“Yeah, but sometimes I think I‟d rather face him in a cage match than listen to his

tongue-lashing.”

He pushed open the door, and they entered the room where the old man sat

behind Andreas‟s desk, working on his terminal, making himself at home.

“Hello, Father. What brings you out to the country?”

The man ignored him for a moment as he read something on the screen and

tapped a response. At last, he deigned to look up, elbows on the desk, hands folded

beneath his chin. He studied both of them intently before he finally spoke.

“This is your new bodyguard?”

“This is my friend, Jabez.” Despite his resolve, Andreas let Jabez‟s hand slip from

his. He wiped his damp palm on his pants.

His father didn‟t reply, but the slight roll of his eyes dismissed the relationship.

“As long as you keep it private, I don‟t care. You know why I‟m here.”

“Yes.” Andreas pulled up a chair and indicated to Jabez to take the other seat. He

hated that he was facing his father across his own desktop. “I didn‟t think you were

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going to support my plan, so I decided to go forward with it on my own. When I meet

with the board, each member can give an unbiased opinion of my ideas.”

The older man snorted. “Unbiased? You can‟t be that naive. Their minds were

made up before they even read the first page. The title alone,
Brick Town Renovation
, is

enough to shut down this foolishness.”

“I‟m sorry you feel that way, but that‟s only your opinion. I‟ll wait to see what the

other board members have to say.” Andreas‟s cool tone belied his boiling blood.

“The fact that you sent this without consulting with me first only proves to me

how irresponsible you are.” His father sat up straighter and brought his hands down to

the top of the desk. “You‟re my heir. If I died tomorrow, you‟d acquire enough shares of

Fortias to make you a formidable threat to the rest of the board. But currently, all you

are is an embarrassment to me, a boy rather than the man you‟d need to be in order to

lead this corporation.”

Andreas had no reply. Another “I‟m sorry you feel that way” would be

redundant, but how else could he respond to such a caustic statement?

“It‟s partly my fault. I haven‟t taken the time to teach you what you need to know

about business. You have no idea where all the money you waste comes from, and until

you understand how the world works, you‟ll be an idealistic idiot who doesn‟t deserve

to bear the Fortias name.”

Andreas waited for his father to catch his breath and resume the tirade. When he

added nothing more, he asked, “Is that all?”

The permanent lines etched into the old man‟s brow furrowed deeper. “Isn‟t that

enough?”

“Yeah. That‟s plenty.” Jabez‟s unexpected voice from his left made Andreas jump.

The big man rose from his seat. The expression on his face was frightening, and

for a second Andreas feared he‟d launch himself across the desk and tear his father

apart. Instead, he stood, feet planted, fists clenching and unclenching loosely by his

sides.

“Your son isn‟t stupid. Doesn‟t matter if his plan works, at least he‟s trying to help

people. You should be proud. So if you got nothing useful to say, you can go now. He

don‟t need to hear your negative shit.”

His father‟s gaze swept from Jabez to Andreas, waiting for him to silence the

nonentity who dared speak to him as an equal.

“Before you go,” Andreas said smoothly, “there‟s one more thing you should

know. I‟ve learned that one of our R and D companies, Asclepius Enterprises, has been

using people from B-town as test subjects for years. Isn‟t this the kind of „bad press‟

stuff you were talking about the other day? If so, I think it might be wise for Fortias to

get to the bottom of the matter before the media finds out. They‟d seize hold of a juicy

story like this and squeeze it dry.”

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Bonnie Dee

Andreas‟s father surged from his chair, hands planted on the desk as he leaned

across it. “Is that a threat? You moron, don‟t you understand that all of this”—he

indicated the room around them—“is possible because of the corporation? You damage

Fortias, and you ruin your own livelihood.”

“Maybe I don‟t need to live like this. Maybe there are other, better ways to live

than building your life on the backs of others.”