His Just Desserts (10 page)

Lounging back against the door, Sean smirked. “Obviously. Let me see your hand.” He grabbed his wrist to examine the latex-covered fingers. The actual cuts were covered with bandages under the glove, but he didn’t see any fresh blood, so Isaiah must be okay. But if it happened on Saturday, it meant Isaiah hadn’t thought it was important to let him know. A fresh spurt of pain in the region of his heart pissed him off. “So what did you have to have done? How many stitches did it take to patch you back together this time?”

Isaiah looked away. “I…sixteen in three fingers.”

Sean wanted to kiss each and every one of them. “And how many shots of sedative did they have to give you before you’d let the doctors touch them?”

His baby shifted in his seat. “They knocked me out. Berta warned them.”

He sighed. “That’s what I thought. Thank God you had someone with you.” He gazed out the car window for a few seconds then turned back to face him. “You need a keeper.”

The muscles in Isaiah’s jaw clenched. “Let me guess, you think you’re going to be the one to do it?”

He shrugged his shoulders. He had every intention of being the one to take care of him. This was the opening he’d been waiting for. Him, Isaiah, and the relative privacy of his
locked
car. There would be no interruptions this time. “Can you think of a better person?” He kept his tone soft, non-threatening. “I’ve known you since you were six years old. We rode bikes together. We scraped up our knees and caught crap from Mrs. G. that time we rode through her rose bushes. Hell, I was at your side after you had your appendix removed during your sophomore year.” His eyes grew moist as he remembered the agonizing fear he’d felt when Isaiah was carted out of the school cafeteria in pain. If it hadn’t been for the tenth grade counselor, he would’ve been left in the dark. Instead the woman had packed him up in her car and taken him to meet Mrs. G. and Isaiah at the hospital. “It was the first time I realized I was in love with you.”

“And you abandoned me,” Isaiah retorted. “You walked away without a backward glance.”

Sean flinched. He had the harsh words coming, but it took two to tango. Isaiah was far from blameless. “I’ve already acknowledged that I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. But you can’t pin the whole damned situation on my shoulders. You were no more willing to give in. We were both stubborn fools.”

Isaiah snorted. “Hell, no. Why should I have given up my dream to be a Cordon Bleu trained chef just to be your lover? You knew I was saving up to go to school in Chicago. I couldn’t go with you then.”

“You shouldn’t have.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Did you know I called Mrs. G a few years back? I’d just won my first trial and couldn’t stop thinking about how proud you’d have been of me. And just like that, I had to know what had happened to you. If you had escaped Carlisle to follow your dream. I was prouder than a peacock when she told me about attending your graduation in Chicago the previous spring. She said you had already found a job on Lake Shore Drive. I was happy for you.”

Isaiah started at him, disbelief etched on his face.

“What? I may have wanted to take you away, but never doubt that I’ve always wanted the best for you. At the time I was like any other teenager: young, dumb, and full of cum. I didn’t have the slightest clue how to compromise.”

A low laugh, bordering on a groan, escaped Isaiah. “Neither of us did.”

He lifted his hand, but dropped it when Isaiah shifted away from him. “I’m not the same man anymore. I’ve been alone a long time, because of you.”

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not blaming your abysmal love life on me.” Isaiah reached for the lock on the door. “If you were lacking lovers, it wasn’t because of anything I did.”

He couldn’t argue with that. “No, my ‘abysmal love life’ is because I’ve compared every man to you and found them lacking. My fault, not theirs.” He rolled his shoulders and tried for a lightheartedness he didn’t feel. “I still have feelings for you, so what do you say? Why don’t you take me back and see where this leads? You’d be putting me out of my misery.”

Isaiah unfastened his seat belt. “I can’t. I may have chalked your leaving up to youth, even stupidity, but I can’t forget what you did.” He unlocked the door, then looked over at him. The fear in his baby’s dark eyes froze Sean on the spot. Had he hurt him that badly by leaving? He opened his mouth to assure Isaiah that it wouldn’t happen this time. He wasn’t going anywhere, even if the partnership was contingent on him relocating. His place was with him. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

“I may want you,” Isaiah continued, “but I sure the hell don’t trust you not to walk out on me again, when what I want interferes with your goals. Which is why I left a week ago. We had our weekend. It’s over now. It’s time for both of us to go on with our lives. I hope you get the partnership. Donnie doesn’t deserve it. Tell the board how the cheating asshole bought soup from us to pass off as homemade. They can contact me if they want.” Popping the door open, Isaiah slid out of the car then leaned back in. “But if you care for me as you say you do, don’t come here again, Sean. Don’t force my hand. I don’t want to hurt you.” He shut the car door behind him with a soft snick.

“Too late, baby.” He swallowed hard, his eyes stinging as Isaiah disappeared back inside the building, the pain overwhelming. Isaiah was his, had always been his. But now the man wanted to throw away what they could have together, all because the fool was scared.
And it pisses me off that he won’t take a chance on us
. Tears stung the back of his eyes. He wanted to lose it, to curse, to rant, to cry; basically everything a man shouldn’t do. Pressure built inside him until he let the cleansing anger push aside the hurt. Bringing his fist down on the steering wheel, he fought the desire to chase after his stubborn man, to shake some damned sense into him, but instead decided he’d been kicked in the teeth enough for one day. Not only had he killed his chances at the point position by running off during the meeting, Donnie’s duplicity would probably get him the promotion. He should go to the board like Isaiah suggested but a better plan formed in his head. He twisted the keys in the ignition then shoved the car into reverse. Donnie would never know what hit him.

***

“Enough, enough!” Donnie panted, bending over and bracing his arms on his legs. Dressed like Sean in white shorts and polo shirt, his racket dangled from his fingers.

Slowing to a halt, Sean was barely breathing hard. Unlike his opponent, he had a standing racquetball game every Thursday with Archer. It kept them both in shape and was a great stress reliever. “What’s wrong…out of shape, Zylka?” he taunted. “I thought you said you were going to wipe the court with me?” Knowing Donnie’s lack of athletic prowess, he’d been surprised when the other man agreed to the game.
Of course he agreed. He just wanted to rub in my face that he got the point position on the new account
.

“I didn’t know that you were a cutthroat player.” Still wheezing, Donnie moved toward the glass wall.

“Did you expect less? I’m a lawyer. We play to win at every opportunity.” He grabbed his towel and bottle of water from the bench next to the door. Taking a swig, he followed Donnie into the changing room and locked the door behind them. The fucking little weasel wasn’t going to slip away from him this time. Fingering the small voice recorder in his pocket, he clicked it on; it would begin recording the moment either of them spoke. He would have proof this time. “But then I expect you know all about not playing fair.”

Donnie opened his locker. “What lawyer does? It’s all about winning. The board doesn’t care about justice. Nope they want to see Ws in the win column. The more we succeed, the more money we bring in. It’s simple matter of supply and demand.”

He leaned against the locker next to Donnie’s. “True. Kind of like, going into a restaurant and ordering a meal?”

Donnie stiffened. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

Sean lifted a brow. “Really? Then you want to tell me why my boyfriend knows you?”

Tossing his headband onto the shelf, Donnie laughed. “I knew you were a queer fucker, just like that fag, Nico. It was bound to happen considering all the time you hang out at his place. Do you have kinky threesomes with him and his hunky partner?” His voice grew raspy. “Do they make you bend over for them? Do they make you lick their asses then take turns shoving their big cocks up your ass?”

He refused to rise to the bait. Instead he merely watched as the other man’s breathing increased. A niggle of suspicion had Sean’s eyes drop to the surprising bulge in Donnie’s shorts. Like most gym shorts, Donnie’s hid little. The little shit was actually getting worked up at the thought off Sean being at the mercy of his boss and his boss’s husband. The little fucker was either bisexual or in denial of his true nature. Perhaps it was time to find out. He let his voice drop low and husky. “So what if I did?”

Donnie’s nostrils flared. “You’re such a fucking man-whore. Just like a slut, you bed hop. Nico and Kell weren’t enough; you had to fuck that chef as well. I bet he sneaked out in the middle of the night after realizing how used your ass was.”

He needed to lead the man on, to catch every damning word on tape. He could kick the fool’s ass later. Shifting closer, he ran a fingertip over Donnie’s chest. “Sounds like someone is jealous.” He flicked his fingernail over a tightly peaked nipple. “Is that because I might be getting some dick and you’re not, or is it because you want to be the man giving it to me?”

Donnie’s head tipped back with a groan. He ran his hand down the taut plane of his stomach, pausing at the edge off his shorts. “Fuck.”

“Hmmm, I bet you would love that. The feel of another male’s body against yours? Is that the reason you followed me?”

Donnie nodded and his hips canted forward. “Touch me!”

“Patience, we’ll get there.” He rubbed his thumb in small circles over the skin just above Donnie’s waistband. “So you saw me with—” He couldn’t bring himself to say Isaiah’s name. What they had was beautiful and he wasn’t going to dirty it, even for a confession from Donnie. “The chef. Ever think he might’ve been cooking for me to pay off a favor?”

“Oh, no. I saw you with him just before I went in to get the replacement for the soup my stupid bitch of a wife burned. After he groped you in front of the restaurant, there’s no way you were paying. He was taking his fee out in trade.” Donnie jerked when Sean pinched him. “You were letting him fuck you so he’d cook your meal for the board.”

He chuckled, nipping Donnie’s ear, smirking. Donnie shivered in reaction. “Hmmm, and that’s why you had to have some of his cooking? Because you were afraid I’d end up with the better meal?”

“Of course, he’s a fucking three-star chef. My wife is a good cook, but she’s no match for him. I couldn’t chance it.”

“So did you get your replacement soup?” He edged his fingers under the waistband of Donnie’s shorts.

“Yeah. Dhanajit said it was the best soup he’d tasted in ages. For fuck’s sake, touch me!”

Sean drew his hands back, stepping away. “I don’t fuck liars, Donnie.” Pulling the small recorder from his pocket, he waved it under the other man’s nose. “Gotcha.”

Donnie paused for a second then flushed deep red. “Gimme that!” He lunged at him as Nico walked out of the sauna with Tlotzin and Dhanajit. All three had towels wrapped around their waists. The thin set of Nico’s lips made pretty clear just how unhappy he was. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize he and the two other partners had overheard their conversation.

The partners closed in. Donnie’s voice rose. “He made me say those things. He touched me, tempted me with his wicked ways—”

“Shut the hell up! You’re already in enough trouble!” Tlotzin glared at his nephew.

Sean stopped them as they escorted Donnie toward the private dressing room. “Just to set the record straight.” His eyes met Donnie’s. “The only reason I let Isaiah fuck me is because I happen to be in love with him. Not to win some partnership. I’d rather start my own firm than use him that way.”

“Just to set the record straight…the only reason I let Isaiah fuck me is because I happen to be in love with him. Not to win some partnership. I’d rather start my own firm than use him that way.”

Sean’s voice faded away when Nico shut off the small recorder on his desk. Isaiah shifted in the leather chair in front of sleek modern monstrosity the other man sat behind, uncomfortable with the rising emotions in the room. He was too close to where he might run into a certain lawyer. He glanced at the door nervously. It’d only been a couple days since he’d told Sean to stay away from him, and now he was in Sean’s territory.
It’s been two shitty ones, but at least he’s doing what I asked. I shouldn’t bitch. But that’s not why I’m here
.

He drummed his fingers on the padded arm of the chair.

“Look, I still don’t see what this has to do with me, or why Sean would let you record him saying something which isn’t even close to the truth. But that’s between you and him. I came because your husband ordered
kolaches
and asked for them to be delivered here. It was a mere stroke of luck that I was catering a luncheon two blocks over.” He stood. “Which I have done. Now I have a kitchen to run, so if you’ll excuse me….”

Nico steepled his fingers, his gaze sharp. It was enough to make Isaiah feel like he’d been called into the principal’s office. Rather nerve-wracking in fact. He didn’t know how he let himself be talked into delivering the requested delivery.
Oh that’s right. Our normal delivery guy was out sick and Kaeli batted her pretty blue eyes at me and begged me to deliver them since I was going to be in the area
. He would have to thank her for the trouble when he got back to work.

“I didn’t record this. Sean did, but, he’d sue me if he found out I played it for you. He’s unaware I have the recording. He thinks that Dhanajit has it.”

“So what’s the point in having me listen to it? If he didn’t ask you, then why the hell are you butting your nose into what is none of your business?”