Ricochet (33 page)

"It's just what he does," Rick said evasively.

"I really think you need to explain this to me,"

Matt told him firmly, "Because right now it all

sounds kind of insane to be honest."

Rick ran a hand through his wet hair, making

it look even wilder than when he'd first arrived.

"Okay, look, he homes in on subs, Matt. He's very

good at figuring out the best way to charm a

prospective mark. He reads up on them, follows

them, and gets to know what they're into and what

they like. Then he smarms his way into their life,

gloms onto them, and takes them for all they've

got."

Matt stared at him. "Are you saying that your

father is some kind of con artist?"

"Yes," Rick said bluntly. "That's exactly what

he is. He's a grifter who targets subs. He doesn't

just take their money - he talks his way into their

beds and leaves them broke and broken hearted

when he moves on."

"Your father is a con artist," Matt repeated,

still shocked by this unexpected news.

Rick sighed. "I don't know what you must be

thinking of me right now, Matt - first I tell you I've

got a prison record, and then I tell you my father is

a conman. I'm sorry. I wish none of it was true, but

it is. Look, I've been ashamed of my father since I

was old enough to know what he did for a living -

but that doesn't change the fact that he is what he is,

and he might decide to glom onto you. I just felt I

had to warn you."

"But how will I even know him if he does

approach me?" Matt asked. "I mean, I've never

even met the guy, so I won't recognize him."

"Oh, you'll recognize him, trust me," Rick

said with a bitter little smile.

"How?"

"Because he looks just like me, or I look like

him. Whatever. You'll know the minute you meet

him. Now please, promise me you won't let him in.

I mean it. Don't let him talk to you, or buy you a

drink, or wheedle his way into your life."

"Okay, but I really don't think he'd get

anywhere with me," Matt said, a little annoyed that

Rick seemed to think he was such an easy mark. "I

mean, I'm not an idiot - I'm not likely to get taken in

by some sweet-talking dom conman!"

"You might think that, but you have no idea

how good he is at this," Rick said wearily. "Trust

me - I've seen it, time and time again. Please Matt:

Just promise me."

He seemed to really mean it, so Matt decided

to humor him. "Okay - I promise," he said. "Now

will you stop gripping my shoulders like that?"

"Sorry." Rick released him with an

apologetic smile. "And thank you."

"Why did your father visit you?" Matt asked.

"I got the impression you weren't still in touch."

"We weren't. I haven't laid eyes on the

bastard in years."

"So why…?"

"He wanted money. He'd heard about my

success, and he wanted to screw some money out

of me."

Matt felt a pang of pity. No matter how trying

his mother could be, she would never abandon him

for years on end and then turn up asking for a

handout. "I hope you told him where to damn well

go!"

"Oh yeah, I did."

"Good! If I'd been there I'd have…"

"I gave him the money," Rick interjected.

"$250,000 - that put a damn big dent in my bank

balance."

"You gave him how much? Why?" Matt

asked, outraged.

"Because some grubby little journalist is

doing a hatchet piece on me, and that's how much I

had to pay for my father's silence about my

criminal record."

"Why does it matter? Let it come out! It was a

long time ago, and you did your time in prison!"

"Petra told me if I did one more thing to bring

bad publicity down on the show then she'd fire

me," Rick said wearily. "I can't lose this job, Matt;

I've worked too hard to get here. Alex Tanner is a

part of me - I love the guy, idiot though he is. I

love playing him, and I love all the people I work

with. If I couldn't see you guys again… Daniel,

Estelle, the twins… you." There was a desperate

expression in his eyes that Matt had never seen

before; Rick was usually so upbeat and relaxed.

"Well, it'd break me, Matt."

Matt's rush of anger subsided. "I'm sorry,

Rick. I understand. Your father sounds like a real

piece of work."

"Oh, he is, trust me. That's why I barged in on

you like this tonight. Sorry for making a big

dramatic scene; I didn't mean to alarm you." He

winced.

"I did wonder… when you first arrived,

doing the whole Hurricane Rick routine. I

wondered what you'd found… I mean, what was

going on."

Matt glanced into the living room to see that

he'd left the laptop open on the Fantasia homepage.

He didn't want to invite Rick in and run the risk of

him seeing it and asking some awkward questions.

"You didn't need to come over here to tell me

though; you could have called."

"I tried. Your cell phone went straight to

voicemail."

"Oh." Matt remembered turning it off when

he'd gone into Fantasia. "Yes. I… uh, turned it off

so I wouldn't be disturbed. I must have forgotten to

turn it back on again."

"So you wouldn't be disturbed?" Rick

grinned. "Have you got a hot dom in here?" He

took a step towards the living room.

"No!" Matt moved to block Rick's view of the

incriminating laptop. "I just wanted some alone

time to… uh, think about the script."

Rick's eyes flashed, and Matt felt guilty for

lying to him, especially as he was fairly sure that

Rick knew he was lying.

"Right." Rick studied him. "Are you okay,

Matty? I was worried when you freaked out in the

rehearsal earlier."

"I'm fine. I was being an idiot. No need to

worry." Matt edged him none-too-subtly towards

the front door. "Look, I promise I'll just ignore

your dad if ever tries to contact me, although I

really think that's unlikely."

"You don't know my father," Rick muttered

darkly. "Okay, Matt, you take care now. I'll see

you at work tomorrow."

"See you." Matt shut the door firmly and then

leaned back against it, his heart thudding. He really

didn't want Rick to find out about Fantasia. Hell,

he didn't want anyone to find out about Fantasia,

but especially not Rick. He wasn't sure what Rick

would say if he knew - probably he'd just laugh

and tease Matt to death about it, but Fantasia was

Matt's own personal secret, and it wasn't

something he wanted to share.

He walked back into the living room, mulling

over what Rick had told him about his father. He

couldn't understand why the man would pursue him

- it wasn't as if it was a good way to get to Rick,

and it sounded like he'd already fleeced Rick for

all he was worth in any case.

He felt a pang of sadness for Rick. His own

mom might have her issues, but she'd always

provided a loving home for him. It was clear that

the same most definitely had not been the case for

Rick. Matt wondered where Rick's other parent

had been during his childhood or if, like Matt, he'd

never had one. Rick never talked about another

dad or a mom. Then again, Rick had never talked

about his father until recently. Maybe his birth

mom was yet another skeleton in Rick's closet - a

closet that was starting to seem decidedly

crowded.

Rick left Matt's place with a different feeling

of uneasiness to when he'd arrived. He was no

longer so concerned that his father might sweet-

talk his way into Matt's life, but Matt had lied to

him back there, and Rick had no idea why.

Something was wrong - Rick could feel it -

but he wasn't sure what. It wasn't as if Matt owed

him any explanations or details about his life;

they'd both been very clear that their spank buddy

deal was just that, to avoid it getting messy, but

Rick counted Matt as a good friend, and he didn't

understand why he'd lie to him.

He didn't get a chance to find out in the new

few days, either, as they were on completely

different filming schedules, so there was hardly

any opportunity to speak to him. Even their daily

spanking ritual was disrupted, and it wasn't until

Friday morning that they were back on the studio

set again.

Rick was almost surprised when Matt

showed up for their morning spanking session

because he was so sure Matt had been avoiding

him.

"You up for this?" he asked, as Matt followed

him into his trailer.

"Why not? I've really missed it to be honest -

although my butt is probably grateful for the rest."

Matt grinned at him.

"Just… you've been kinda distant lately. I

wondered if you were okay."

"Me?" Matt sounded surprised. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You've been on edge. Is

something going on?"

"Nah. Just, you know, nervous about the big

sex scene next week."

"Right." Rick gazed at Matt thoughtfully,

feeling sure he was being lied to again. If Matt was

his sub for real, he'd be hurt and angry about that,

but he wasn't, and Rick was helpless to do

anything about it.

He took hold of Matt's wrist and pulled him

down over his knees… and it felt as if everything

in the world slotted back into place again.

"I've missed this too," Rick said with a sigh,

running his hand gently over Matt's ass. He pulled

Matt's pants and boxers down, and then

contemplated his smooth, pale ass for a moment.

"You know, this ass really is very white. Perhaps

it needs some handprints on it again."

"No!" Matt said vehemently, half sitting up.

"I'm… uh… filming the big sex scene on Monday

remember, and Chang is sure to want plenty of arty

ass shots, knowing him."

"The prints will be gone by then. They were

gone in a couple of days last time, weren't they?"

Matt gave an evasive shrug. "Yes, but I don't

want to take the risk."

"Okay. No handprints." Rick tucked him back

into position and delivered a short, gentle spanking

but his heart wasn't in it. He didn't like the vibe he

was getting off Matt. Something wasn't right - he

just didn't know what.

Matt had never known a day to drag so much.

Every time he thought about going to Fantasia in

the evening, his stomach flipped wildly, and he

was so tense and irritable that people started

giving him a wide berth.

The entire
Collar Crime
team gathered on set

for the final scenes of the day, all of them short,

and Matt became aware of Rick watching him. He

tried to calm down and act normally, but it wasn't

easy as the minutes slowly ticked by towards

evening.

He could still duck out of this. He could pay

the cancellation fee and forget he'd ever started

this whole thing… but he didn't want to. He

needed to explore who he was, to take a risk and

go on a journey, the way Ben was doing on the

show. He knew he couldn't come into work on

Monday morning and film that sex scene if he

hadn't first tried to get into Ben's head and do

something just as wild and sexually adventurous.

It wasn't as if he was going to some sleazy

kink shop and paying someone to cater to his

specific

kinks.

Grable

ran

an

exclusive,

anonymous establishment and was going to match

him to a dom whose desires complemented his

own. How was that any different to Rick going to a

club and picking up a sub?

The sweet sting of Rick's morning spanking

had long since faded; Matt wished it was still

there, grounding him, but Rick had kept it light, as

if he was holding back.

During a break in filming, Matt took out his

cell phone and glanced at the message from

Fantasia for the hundredth time that day.

Congratulations, Mr. Stevens! Fantasia is

delighted to advise you that we have found the

perfect dom for your play session tonight. Please