Close the Distance (8 page)

Ion studied him for a moment. “We’re going to talk about all of this later. Right now, I’m going to enjoy the fact that I’m on a date with one of the most eligible men in New York. Everyone’s going to be so jealous of me.”

“I think they’re going to be too busy lusting after you, they won’t even notice me.” Adrien winked before he stepped from the car.

“You’re full of shit, but flattery will get you laid, love,” Ion murmured as he joined him on the kerb.

He strolled into Gramercy Tavern arm in arm with Ion and smiled at the maître d’ as the man greeted them. They were shown to a private table closer to the back of the restaurant, which was fine with Adrien. He wasn’t there to be seen by all the important people. He was there to enjoy a nice dinner with the man he loved.

After holding out Ion’s chair for him, Adrien pushed it in when Ion sat then went to take his own seat next to him. He didn’t want to sit across from him. This way he could touch Ion as much as he wished. The waitress came over and Adrien ordered a bottle of their best red and an appetiser.

“What’s good here?” Ion started to open the menu, but Adrien stopped him.

“I think we’ll get the seasonal tasting. It gives us a little taste of a lot of different things. I always enjoy that instead of getting the same old thing every time.”

Ion grinned at him. “I’ll let you take charge tonight, but one night you and I are going out and I’ll treat you to one of my favourite places to eat.”

“Sounds good to me.” He took Ion’s hand in his again. “Have you heard from your mother again?”

“No, and I don’t think I will. She doesn’t apologise to us. We’re the ones who are supposed to grovel and say we’re sorry to her. Even when we aren’t the ones who are wrong.”

Adrien sniffed. “My mother is much like that, though I think it’s only with Amelia and I that she acts that way. She’s very forgiving with Alain. Yet I think she’s finally coming to the end of her rope with him.”

“Missing her birthday party when he knows how big a deal it is to her probably rubs her the wrong way,” Ion commented. “I wouldn’t be surprise if she makes him grovel quite a bit because of that.”

Adrien wasn’t convinced of that, but he wasn’t interested in discussing his brother any more. He looked at Ion. “Where did your parents emigrate from?”

Ion gave him a narrow-eyed look, but went with the conversation. “They came from a small town in Romania. It was difficult for them to get here because of the communists being in charge when they thought about coming, but they did it. Pops says he came because he wanted to give his children a better life than he had.”

“And it worked.” He stopped to give their entrée order to the waitress along with what they wanted to drink. Once she left, he went back to what they’d been talking about. “Was it difficult for them to adjust?”

“Mama said learning English was the hardest for her and she doesn’t always get the words right. Or she’ll just speak in Romanian. We spoke a lot of it in our house.” Ion’s fond expression told Adrien he liked those memories.

“That’s marvellous,” Adrien said. “I can speak Chinese and Japanese fluently, and make myself understood in a couple other languages, but it’s not something that was easy for me to learn. I kind of wish I’d learned it at a much younger age than I did.”

“But being fluent in some foreign languages is always good for the CEO of an international company.”

The waitress returned to decant the wine and while she did so, Adrien placed his hand on Ion’s thigh then slid it up to brush his pinkie against the zipper of Ion’s pants. Ion jerked, but didn’t look at him. Adrien tasted the wine before nodding and she poured out some for each of them. He turned his hand to press his palm to the growing bulge while taking another sip.

Once she left, Ion turned to glare at him. “What are you doing?”

“Just having a little fun,” he murmured as he leaned closer to place his lips a few inches from Ion’s ear. “I thought I’d keep the lust simmering, so we have something to look forward to when we get home.”

“Just remember that simmering can turn to boiling. I might embarrass you by dropping to my knees and giving you a blow job under the table.”

Just the thought of Ion on his knees in front of him made Adrien harder than he’d ever been. He inhaled sharply as he shifted in his chair. Ion’s grin held a bit of evil in it.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Adrien pouted for a second, then he matched Ion’s grin with one of his own. “Maybe I’ll be the one to do it. I think I can fit under here.”

Flexing his fingers, he felt Ion’s erection twitch slightly in his hand. Before Ion could say anything to that comment, a throat being cleared got them both to look up. Adrien stood, offering his hand to the older man standing next to the table.

“Bill, nice to see you.”

“And you as well, Adrien. How are your parents doing?” Bill shook Adrien’s hand then tilted his head to Ion.

“They’re doing well. Father has been caught up in his racing team and Mother still enjoys her charities.” Adrien gestured towards Ion. “This is my boyfriend, Ion Vasile. Ion, this is Bill Pater, a dear friend of my parents.”

Ion stood and Bill shook his hand as well. Adrien had never known Bill to care about Adrien’s sexual preference. He’d always treated him the same.

“Wonderful to meet you, Ion. I’ll let you two get back to your meal. I just wanted to say hello, and please let your parents know I asked after them.”

“I will.” He waited until Bill had walked away before he sat. Ion slowly sat and Adrien glanced at him and saw the rather stunned expression on Ion’s face. “What?”

“He didn’t even blink when you introduced us,” Ion pointed out.

“Yes. So?” He acknowledged the waitress as she set their appetiser in front of them.

Ion took a bite of the Beef Tartare then chewed and swallowed before he replied. “I guess I never thought people in your circle of society would be as open minded as they seem.”

“The thing is, I don’t think Bill would be nearly as open minded if it was his son or daughter who was gay. He can be accepting because I’m not related to him. For some people, it’s perfectly fine if someone else’s child is different, but they don’t want their own to be.” Adrien shrugged. “I don’t do business with Bill, so I don’t have to give a fuck what he thinks about me.”

“He isn’t a friend of yours?”

“No. He and his wife play tennis with my parents from time to time, and since they’ve already met you and love you, we don’t have to worry about what he says to them.” Adrien hummed in appreciation at the taste of the tartare. “I do love this place.”

Ion didn’t say anything else and they finished the appetiser in silence. Then as the rest of their food slowly appeared over the course of two hours, Adrien got to know Ion better. They chatted about favourite movies and books. He drew his lover out, and the more he found out, the deeper in love he fell.

After dessert, he paid the bill and they went outside where Daniel had the car waiting for them. Adrien pulled Ion into his arms as soon as Daniel shut the door behind them. Taking Ion’s lips, he tasted the bite of the wine and the hint of sweetness from sugar. He stroked his tongue along Ion’s, encouraging his lover to play with him.

He made out with Ion the entire way back to Ion’s apartment, and he ran his hands over Ion’s hard body, touching the spots that he knew would turn Ion on. He wanted him so excited that he wouldn’t wait to reach the bedroom before he begged Adrien to fuck him.

Adrien grinned as Ion dragged him from the car then into the building. He was a little disappointed that there was another couple in the elevator with them because he would’ve enjoyed continuing to stoke the flames of desire burning in Ion.

Once they were inside the apartment, Adrien grunted when Ion shoved him back against the door before dropping to his knees in front of him. He tensed in anticipation as Ion got his belt undone then his pants open.

Just at the moment Ion put his mouth around the head of Adrien’s cock, a phone rang. Adrien groaned, knowing it wasn’t his, but the way Ion jerked told him that his lover was going to answer it.

“I’m sorry,” Ion said from where he crouched. “It’s Olive’s ring tone. She wouldn’t be calling me unless it was something truly important.”

“Go ahead.” Adrien let his head drop back and thump against the wood of the door. He listened as Ion dug through his pockets to find his phone.

“Hello, Olive. What’s wrong?”

Adrien opened his eyes then looked at Ion. The surprise and concern that crossed his face had Adrien tucking his dick back into his pants before refastening them. Reaching down, he grabbed Ion’s arm to lift him to his feet.

“Are you sure? Which hospital? All right. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

He hung up and Adrien asked, “Where are we going?”

“Mount Sinai Queens,” Ion muttered.

“Let’s go.” Adrien wasn’t about send Ion off to the hospital on his own, not that Ion had suggested it or anything. “Who’s sick?”

“My brother.”

Chapter Seven

Ion was numb as Adrien bundled him into a cab. He heard him tell the cabbie where they needed to go, but he couldn’t get his mind to move past the fact that his brother was in critical condition after a car accident.

“Ion, what happened to Bogdan?” Adrien held his hand. His grip kept Ion in the present and stopped him from going into hysterics.

“Olive didn’t say much, just that he was in ICU after an accident when he was driving home from work.” Ion looked at Adrien. “He usually comes home around six. Why didn’t anyone call me before this?”

Adrien shrugged. “They might have been crazy with having to get someone to take care of the kids and find out all the information they could before calling you.”

Even in shock, Ion knew that was a weak excuse. “I wonder if maybe my parents just didn’t consider calling me. Obviously Olive called as soon as she could, but you’d think Mama would’ve let me know as soon as she heard.”

“Honey, don’t borrow trouble. Wait until we get there and find out what’s going on. If you worry about it now, you’re just going to get more worked up than you need to be.” Adrien encircled Ion’s shoulders then pulled him close.

Closing his eyes, Ion breathed deeply and Adrien’s familiar, expensive cologne filled his nostrils. Knowing Adrien was there to lean on helped take some of Ion’s tension away. He entwined their fingers, gripping him tightly.

He might not have been happy with his family and had hoped his brother would’ve supported him more. None of that mattered right at the moment. All that he cared about was finding out how badly his brother was injured and what was being done to save him.

His phone rang again, but he couldn’t answer it. Adrien took it from him and answered.

“Hello?” He paused. “This is Adrien, Ion’s boyfriend. We’re on our way. We were at Ion’s apartment, so depending on how heavy traffic is, we should be there in thirty minutes.”

Another pause. Ion felt Adrien’s gaze on him, but he didn’t look up.

“Yes, ma’am. I understand, but you do realise that Bogdan is his brother and he has the right to go see him.”

Stiffening, Ion pulled away from Adrien to stare at him.

“Olive called him, Mrs Vasile, and it seems to me if she didn’t want him there, she would’ve told him not to come.”

His mother had called to tell him not to come to the hospital.
What a load of bullshit.
He didn’t care what his parents wanted. He was going to see his brother and if Olive said she didn’t want him there, then he’d leave.

“I’m sorry to hear that, ma’am. But we’re still coming and if you chose not to talk to us, that is your problem. I would hope you could put your concerns aside and allow Ion to be at his brother’s side during all of this.”

Adrien met Ion’s eyes and he could see the anger building in them as Adrien listened to whatever Ion’s mother was telling him.

“Again, I’m sorry, ma’am. We’ll be there in a little while then you and your husband can discuss your issues with Ion if you choose. It’s not my place to tell him anything.”

Ion watched Adrien hang up then hand the phone back to him.

“That was your mother. She’s very unhappy that you’re coming to push your presence and unnatural relationship on them during this trying time.”

“Is that what she said?” It sounded rather too well-spoken to be what his mama had actually said.

“I might be paraphrasing slightly.”

Ion dived back into Adrien’s embrace. “If I wasn’t so freaked out right now, I would say to hell with it and go back to home. But it’s not like Bogdan got into a fender bender or anything. Olive sounded really worried and he’s in ICU.”

“Like I told your mother, we’ll go to the hospital and talk to Olive. If your sister-in-law doesn’t want us there, we’ll leave. But if she does, we’ll stay no matter what your parents have to say about it.” Adrien tightened his hold on Ion. “Do you think she’ll send you away?”

Lifting one shoulder in a half shrug, Ion said, “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to her since this whole thing started and she’s never commented one way or the other when I came out.”

“She lets you see the kids, doesn’t she?” Adrien slipped his hand under Ion’s jacket to stroke his hand up and down his back.

“She did. I’ve been so busy with you that I haven’t thought about going to see them. Now with this whole thing blowing up, she might not let me. It would depend on what Bogdan says.”

“Is he the ruler in that family?”

Ion snorted. “He likes to think so, but I’ve seen Olive tell him off. Their marriage certainly isn’t like our parents. Mama would never dream of disagreeing with Pops. She’s a dutiful wife.”

Adrien nuzzled Ion’s temple. “They’re from a different generation, love. You have to keep that in mind.”

He wasn’t in the mood to make allowances for his parents, not caring about where they came from or what people their age thought.
Why should I let their actions go just because they’re from a different generation? Being from a different time doesn’t mean they can’t change.

The taxi slowed in front of the hospital and Ion barely waited for the vehicle to stop before he jumped out. He rushed in while Adrien paid the driver, then found himself standing in the lobby, trying to figure out where he needed to go.