Guys on Top 02 - Guys on the Side (4 page)

Shaking his head slowly, Tommy said, “Oh no, no, no. That’s not all there is to it. According to what my dad told my sister, this Corey guy’s dishing out life lessons. My father’s convinced the guy’s some kind of guru healer, and he’s been seeing him every two weeks, and look at the prices, this fucker don’t come cheap. Worst part is? He’s been brainwashing my dad. Telling him it’s okay to be
gay
, and that he has to just accept it, no matter what his family thinks.”

Angelo scratched his chin. “Well, I’d prefer it if Uncle Len would see a professional counselor for his emotional baggage, but is this guy really doing any harm? Your dad seems okay.”

“Okay? He thinks he’s
gay
, Angelo! My father! Who raised us. Who married my mother, had kids with her, and stayed with her for thirty-five fuckin years!”

“Well...” Angelo shrugged. “You might want to consider that maybe your father knows his own mind.”

“Look.” Tommy raised his hands. “If that’s what my father’s into now, if that’s really who he is, I’ll accept it. I’m not okay with it, but I’ll accept it. My concern is that this guy’s a quack who’s stealing my father’s money and filling his head with bullshit. Oh, and did I mention? My father’s
masseur
just happens to be a flamer himself. So it’s not like the guy’s objective.”

Angelo studied the website, frowning. “Is this one of those gay man massage exchanges or something?”

Jerking his head back, Tommy grimaced. “What the fuck is that? And how do you know about shit like that?”

“I don’t know, Tommy, I see it advertised sometimes in those little local papers they have at the coffee shop.”

“I don’t know anything about that shit,” Tommy said. “But this Corey guy is posing as a professional. Professional
what
is my concern.”

“I get that you’re concerned, I do. But we can’t really tell your dad what to do with his money.”

“Angelo! This guy’s convinced my father that he’s got some woo-woo dark energy
inside his body
that’s causing his anxiety problems. And that if my dad gives him a couple hundred bucks every two weeks, he’ll pull it out for him.”

“Whoa.” Angelo frowned. “That certainly sounds shady. Are you sure?”

Tommy nodded adamantly. “Dad told Fiona this, hand to the Lord.” Tommy raised one hand, looking like a choir boy for a moment until he dropped it and the rage returned to his expression. “This guy’s a conman, preying on my dad because he’s old and fucked up in the head right now. My father had some sort of breakdown, I’m sure of it. He’s impressionable right now, not in his right mind. But Dad refuses to stop going to see this guy.”

“Okay. So what do you want to do?”

“I want to drive over there and have a talk with this douchebag.”

Angelo’s eyes widened. “Okay, hang on. What are you talkin’ about, Tommy? You can’t do that.”

Tommy leaned closer, placing a hand on Angelo’s wrist. “This is my father, Angelo. My
father
. Remember after your dad died, and your mom started online dating, and you were so worried some psycho was gonna worm his way into her life, or some young conman would try to steal from her and shit?”

“Yeah,” Angelo said. “None of that ever happened, thankfully.”

“But it could have. And if it did, what would you have done?”

“I would have killed the son of a bitch,” Angelo said.

Tommy jabbed a finger into Angelo’s chest. “Exactly.”

Angelo pushed back in the chair. “Tommy, you need to think about this. You can’t go over to some massage therapist’s house and rough him up, you’re not a gangster. Let me look into this guy for you, see what I can find out.”

“You’re not listening to me! I have looked into it, and from what Dad told Fiona, I’m convinced this guy is conning my sixty-one-year-old father out of his money. God knows what else he’s doing. I mean this guy’s a queer, and my dad’s letting him...
touch
him.”

“So why did you call
me
here, exactly? I haven’t heard from you in ages.”

“I want you to come with me. You’re a big guy, Angelo. Intimidating. If it’s the two of us, we’re more likely to get the message across. Plus...you’re family. I can’t trust any of my friends with this. It’s too...delicate.”

Angelo shook his head. “Come on, man, you wanna use me as muscle? I like to work out, yeah, but I’m not a fighter. I have a job, I help people for a living, and those people put their trust in me. I can’t risk getting in a fist fight with some...holistic hippie for Christ sakes.”

“You don’t have to. Nothing physical, I promise. We’re just gonna scare the guy. Dad refuses to stop seeing him. So we have to convince this Corey to start refusing my father as a client. You get me?”

“This is insane,” Angelo said, rubbing the bridge of his nose as a headache started.

“Hey. What if it was your mother?”

Angelo raised his head and met Tommy’s gaze.

“Reverse the situation. If your mother was emotionally broken, and you found out these same things, that she was giving her money to this kook, how would
you
feel?”

Angelo sighed. “Okay. Point taken.”

“So you in? You’ll back me up?”

“Fine. I’ll back you up. On the condition that we
only
talk to the guy. Ask him some questions. No tough guy stuff. Deal?”

Tommy stood, clapping his hands once. “Great. But first, you need to change out of those fancy clothes and into something that makes you look more like a badass.”

“Gimme a break. We know nothing about this guy, I don’t wanna go over there all puffed up and threatening. What if he gets pissed off and starts something? Or calls the cops? I can’t be involved with something like that, Tommy, I’m a psychiatrist for God sake.”

“He won’t dare start anything with us, he’s a fairy! Trust me, we give him a warning, he’ll listen. Now come on, put on a pair of my jeans.” Tommy moved to a backpack in the corner and unzipped it.

“You planned for all this? Even brought me clothes?”

Tommy handed him a pair of jeans, shrugging. “I knew you were coming from work, so yeah.”

Taking the jeans, Angelo shook his head, then began to change out of his dress pants. “You’re scaring me, Tommy. I never knew you were so diabolical.”

“This is my father we’re talking about. I’m not gonna let anyone fuck with him.”

Yeah
,
right
, Angelo thought. Tough talk, if he wasn’t forcing Angelo to accompany him as a bodyguard. “We’re just gonna talk to the guy, ask him a few questions,” Angelo reiterated as he pulled on the jeans, then set his slacks aside on the chair. “Promise me.”

“I promise.” Tommy frowned at him. “You can’t wear that shirt, you look like an insurance salesman.”

“Well did you bring me another one, there, Black Ops?”

“Shit,” Tommy said. “I didn’t. You got a tee shirt on under there?”

“Just a white one.”

“That’ll work. Take that shirt off.”

Sighing, Angelo removed his button down and set it aside, leaving him only in his white undershirt. “I’ve got my jacket in the car,” he said. “You want to do this now? I can’t miss any more work, so I’d rather get it over with.”

“What kind of jacket is it?”

“It’s a tan canvas thing, why?”

Tommy shook his head. “No dice. Here, you wear mine.” He tossed him a black leather jacket.

Angelo held it up, sneering. “You’re kidding. Right?”

“Come on, it’ll fit you fine. Here.” He took the jacked from Angelo and held it out. “Go on, try it on.”

Angelo worked his arms into the sleeves. It was a thick black leather, stopping at the waist, and definitely not his style. It looked ridiculous with the white tee shirt. “Come on, Tommy. I can’t wear this. I look like something from
West Side Story
.”

Tommy took a step back, grinning as he assessed his cousin. “You look fucking badass. It’s perfect.”

“I look like a tool.”

“A
badass
tool. Come on, with your muscles you can pull it off. It’ll send the right message. You ready?”

Angelo groaned. “Okay. Let’s do this. But this is the last favor you can ask of me for a long, long fucking time, Tommy.”

“I owe you one, cousin. Now come on. We gotta bail out of here before Dad gets suspicious.”

Uncle Len barely acknowledged them when they left, offering a wave to Angelo and ignoring his son. When they got outside, Angelo was pleased to see his black Corvette was untouched, still had all its tires and such. He unlocked it and opened the door, grabbing his glasses off the console and putting them on.

“You can’t wear those,” Tommy said as he opened the passenger door.

“I need these to see when I drive, Tommy. It’s non-negotiable.”

“Then let me drive.”

Angelo shook his head. “Nice try. This is my baby, and you drive like a lunatic.”

“I’ll be careful, I swear. We cannot pull up to this guy’s house with you looking like a professor.”

“I’m pretty sure the Fonzi jacket will counteract the professor look.”

“Come on, just gimme the keys.”

Lips tight, Angelo eyed his beloved car, then his cousin, who wore a smarmy grin. He growled, then tossed him the keys. “Okay, but you better drive slow or I’ll kill you.”

“I’ll be as gentle as a kitten.”

****

Inside the house, Leonard Nardovino looked up from his recliner when he heard his nephew’s car pull away.
Thank God
. He’d enjoyed seeing Angelo, but being ambushed by Tommy had ruined his day. He was feeling tense, and had been looking forward to his session with Corey. But that wasn’t happening now. Tommy had come in, throwing an absolute fit, and forbidding him from going to his appointment.

Leonard knew he shouldn’t let his kids push him around. But it was a delicate balance right now. He wanted them to accept him, but he didn’t want to lose them, and he knew he’d dropped a bombshell on their heads. It was going to take some time for them to adjust.

A few minutes later his stomach grumbled, and he padded toward the kitchen, stopping at the bottom of the stairs and looking up. A light shone in the hallway. “Goddamn it,” he muttered, climbing the stairs. Of course Tommy left a light on up there. It wasn’t Tommy who had to pay the electric bill, and though his son was a grown man now, he was still irresponsible as hell.

Wandering down the hall, Leonard spotted the light on in the office, and went in there to shut it off. That’s when he saw the glow of the computer screen.

Slowly he walked to the desk and bent over, looking at the screen—open to Corey Stengel’s website. His mind slammed the pieces together. He knew where his son was off to.

A hard breath left Leonard and he slammed a fist down on the desk. “Shit.”

Chapter Three

Doug continued to give Corey a befuddled stare, raising one eyebrow as he barely tolerated the finger poking into his chest.

“Look at me. Look at me. Are you looking at me?”

“Yes, Corey. You’re sitting right in front of me.”

The two of them sat in lawn chairs set up on Doug’s front porch, beers in hand as the sun hung low in the sky, casting an orange glow. Corey continued to poke Doug in the chest, leaning forward and giving him crazy-eyes. “Are you focused on me? Focus on me. Are you thinking about me? Think about me. No one but me. Me, me, me!”

“What is the point of this exercise, Corey? And please stop poking me or I’ll break your finger.”

“Do you want to have sex with me right now?” Corey asked.

“Even less than I usually do,” Doug said. “Which is never.”

Corey leaned back in his chair. “Exactly.” He took a long sip of his beer. “This is what Zach does to me. ‘Look at me, need me, validate me, love me!’ This is what he does, all the fucking time. I can barely stand to be in the same room with him when he’s like that. And then he wonders why I don’t want his dick in my mouth.”

“Yes, I can see how that would be a bit of a turn off,” Doug said.

He watched Corey drag a hand over his ash blond hair, his brow furrowed in irritation. Corey looked more disheveled than usual, more casual, but still managed to be stupidly handsome in a pair of faded jeans and a baby blue tee shirt that hugged his physique. Corey wasn’t typically the tight tee shirt type. That’s when it hit Doug that his neighbor was looking a bit buffer than usual, his broad shoulders more rounded, biceps popping with more definition than usual. “Have you been working out more?”

Corey looked at him. “Are you coming on to me?”

“Not even a little. But you look bigger or something.”

Sighing, Corey set his beer down. “I have been working out a lot, actually. Trying to keep my endorphins up to deal with the stress of being in a relationship with Zach. I’ve been meditating more, too.”

“Is it helping?”

“Look at me, Doug. Does it look like it’s helping? I’m a stress bag!”

“I don’t get it,” Doug said. “You’re all his now. Isn’t that what he wanted? I thought you told me he had a
soothing energy
.”

“Oh he did, for a little while, when we first got together. I mean when Stewart moved out and...you know. When I first committed to Zach. But now? Holy shit, Doug. This kid was less insecure when I had a boyfriend and was still doing other guys. Committing to him should have made him more secure, not less. But all he can think about is ‘what if Corey goes back to his old ways and wants to be with other guys’. It’s making me nuts.”

Doug tilted his head. “You’re
not
seeing other guys behind his back. Are you?”

Corey snorted. “Are you crazy? Who has the energy? This kid keeps me tapped out all the time, mentally and physically. Besides. I’m faithful now. No screwing around. If I wanted to be with other people, I’d be honest with Zach, and end things.”

“So you still love him.”

“Well sure I love him, but he’s making me crazy! Am I getting old, Doug? Is that what it is? I mean, shouldn’t I
want
a hot young guy who’s sexually insatiable and thinks the sun rises and sets in my pants?”

“Not if he’s as insecure as you say he is. I mean, how bad is it, really?”