The older man, Ty’s first relationship with a man, had fucked Tyler, literally and mentally, and then walked off without a glance back.
Tom burst through the lobby door and scanned the area, looking for Ty. Ignoring the irritated looks of others, he raced across the space to the restaurant and pushed his way past the host and two cops standing there talking.
His heart pounded so fast he couldn’t tell one beat from another. Then he spotted Tyler, a sick look on his face, taking a seat on the far side of the restaurant.
He’d never thought he’d have a chance to make good on his old promise to Ty, the one he’d made that night while holding him.
Now, it looked like he might.
Chapter Sixteen
Tyler’s gut clenched as Marcus’ eyes lingered on him. The man looked good, well-preserved for the twenty years that had passed. His hair held more gray, a few more lines around his eyes, but he was still handsome.
Damn him.
“Sit down, Tyler,” Marcus purred. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”
“What the bloody hell do you want?”
Marcus feigned innocence. “I lent my support to a good cause. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend an evening with an old friend in the process. What could be better?” His eyes hardened as his voice dropped. “You never forget your first, do you? I know I’ve never forgotten you, boy. Please, sit.”
His hand trembling, Tyler pulled out the chair and took a seat.
“There, now we’ll have a nice friendly chat, won’t we?”
It struck Tyler that this man had met Nevvie, and his father. Perhaps had shaken hands with both. The possibility that Marcus had touched his angel, much less spoken to her, even innocently, sickened him. “I doubt that very much.”
“I’ve missed you. I wish things could have been different between us.”
Tyler caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Tom race up.
Tom took a look at Marcus. “Is this him? Is this that Marcus? The asshole you told me about?”
Tyler didn’t understand the anger in Tom’s face at first. He’d never before seen that level of rage in his lover.
Marcus arched an eyebrow at Tom, his glance falling on the silver chain around Tom’s neck. “And you are?”
Tom’s voice dropped to a low growl. “I’m his husband, that’s who, asshole. And I’ve got a twenty-fucking-year-old bone to pick with you.”
The night in his condo when he confessed to Tom came back to Tyler with crystal clear clarity. As Tyler stood, so did Marcus, who took a step toward Tom. He was only an inch taller than Tom. He also dropped his voice. “I don’t take kindly to slaves copping an attitude with me, boy.”
Tyler’s control snapped. He started for Marcus, but Tom beat him to it, nailing Marcus in the jaw and putting him on his ass. Tyler tried to hold him back. As other diners shouted in alarm, the two cops raced over and grabbed Tom, pushing him to the floor and cuffing him.
The restaurant manager and one of the cops helped Marcus stand. The older man rubbed his jaw and grinned at Tyler. “So the boy has a boy, hmm? I never would have thought it of you.”
“Shut your bloody gob!”
“What the hell is going on!” Nevvie’s voice broke through Tyler’s mental paralysis. She’d finally made it downstairs. “I stop to pee and the world goes crazy!” Then she spotted Tom’s hands cuffed behind him. “Tommy? Oh my God, what’s going on?”
The cop restraining Tom yanked him to his feet. “Come on. You get a trip to the station. We saw the whole thing.”
Nevvie’s eyes widened. “What? What the hell?”
The second cop put a hand out to stop her from stepping forward. “Ma’am, you need to stay back—”
“That’s my husband!”
Tyler spoke up. “Surely you’re not arresting him?”
The cop started forcing Tom toward the front of the restaurant. “Assault. We’ll need you all to come down to file a report.”
Marcus smiled at Tyler, chilling him. “Officers, I’m not injured. There’s no harm done. I’m afraid there’s been a bit of a mix-up. Could we talk in the lobby, please?”
“You don’t want to press charges?” the second cop asked.
“Let’s go talk out in the lobby, shall we?” Marcus suggested.
Tyler shushed Nevvie, took her hand, and led her out of the restaurant. One of the cops parked Tom on a bench in the atrium outside the restaurant, his hands still cuffed behind him.
Marcus smiled at the other officer. “I’m afraid there was a bit of a misunderstanding. All I’d like to do is continue my evening, as planned, with Mr. Paulson.” He focused a pointed look on Tyler. “I’m sure Mr. Paulson doesn’t want to spend all night at a police station, and neither do I.”
Tom tried to stand, but the cop put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do it, Ty! I’d rather go to jail than have him anywhere near you. Just take Nevvie and go back upstairs and call Bob for me. He’ll know what to do.”
Marcus crooked his finger at Tyler and motioned him away from the others. He dropped his voice. “Your choice, boy. Just to talk, and nothing more. I want my two promised hours, that’s all. We can go up to my room.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Because I want to talk to you.” He glanced at Nevvie, who was in tears. “She’s beautiful. So you’re poly, hmm? Interesting. Wish I’d known that before. I would have gladly taken you back to Brussels with me.”
Tyler’s face burned as the thought flashed through his brain that, at the time, he would have willingly gone, too. “Don’t you talk about them! Don’t you even fucking look at them!”
Marcus focused his steely gray eyes on Tyler. “Then give me a reason to assure the cops I’m not pressing charges.” A smile curved his lips. Tyler wondered how the hell he’d ever mistaken that predatory gleam for anything even remotely sexy. “It’s your choice, boy.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“What would you have me call you, then? That’s what you are.” His gaze hardened. “Do you share her? Or do they share you?”
“Stop it!”
“Then come with me upstairs to talk in private. It’s as simple as that, and we can let the police get on with their evening as well.”
Tom tried to stand again. “Ty, don’t,” he called out to him. “I can handle this. I can deal with this. Bob’ll get me a lawyer out here and I’ll fight it. Don’t let the fucker mess with your head! I don’t want you alone with him!”
Marcus stepped closer and murmured in Tyler’s ear. “He obviously loves you very much. Imagine taking those two beautiful children to visit their daddy in jail. Make no mistake, I will press charges if you don’t come upstairs with me.”
Swallowing a wave of nausea, Tyler forced a smile he knew wasn’t fooling Tom. “It’s all right, loves. I’ll just go talk with him for a little while, right?”
Tom shook his head. “Ty, please, don’t—”
“It’s all right, Thomas.”
Marcus smiled at the cops. “Please, it’s okay. Just let him go. There’s no trouble here.”
“Are you sure, sir? We saw him hit you.”
“Yes, I’m quite sure. I’m not pressing any charges. I’m afraid it was just a misunderstanding. It’s quite all right.”
Tyler walked over to Tom while the cop uncuffed him. Tom rubbed his wrists while Nevvie leaned over and hugged him. “What the hell happened?” she asked.
Tyler wrapped his arms around both of them. “It’s all right. I shall return to our room in a couple of hours.”
Tom’s arms encircled Tyler’s waist. “Please, Ty, don’t let him fuck with your mind like this!”
He pressed his lips to Tom’s forehead. “It’s all right, love,” he whispered. “I’m not the man I was. I can handle this. I’m all yours, never fear.”
Nevvie wanted answers. “Tyler, please tell me what’s going on!”
He kissed her. “A
ngel,” he whispered in her ear, “I shall tell you later. Let me handle this first, then we shall talk. Take Thomas upstairs and don’t let him leave our room until I return.” He kissed her before stepping back.
Tom stood and slipped his arm around Nevvie’s waist, his gaze hard as he looked at Marcus. “He’s our husband, asshole. Don’t you dare fuck with him.”
Marcus smiled. “I’m not sure what you mean, boy, but never fear. You shall get him back in one piece.”
* * * *
Marcus led the way up to his room, not speaking the entire way. Tyler tried not to think, tried not to anticipate.
Tried not to remember.
He firmly fixed in his mind the picture he carried in his wallet, the family photo of all of them with Andrew. They were his family. They were his life. No old demon returned from a metaphorical grave would ever be able to take that away from him no matter how painful his torment.
At the door, Marcus unlocked it and pushed it open. “After you.”
Tyler’s jaw clenched as he walked into the room. Marcus tossed his room key onto the dresser and rubbed his jaw. “Well, that was interesting, to say the least. Certainly not the way I envisioned our reunion after all these years.”
Tyler walked over to the windows and stared out at the skyline. “How did you envision it?”
“Frankly? I had hoped for some quiet conversation and possibly even the most remote of chances to reconcile.”
Tyler’s jaw dropped in shock as he turned. “Surely you’re not serious? What was there to reconcile? You seduced me, fucked me, and then literally got up and walked out the door after failing to tell me up front that was our last time together! You took advantage of me!”
“I do regret that. I realize that could have hurt you.”
Tyler stared, dumbfounded.
Marcus looked at the floor. “I’ve followed your career with great—”
“No. You bloody well do not get to say something as stupid and asinine as that to me and then skip along to the next topic of conversation! I am also most certainly not your boy. I am not who I was. Literally, an entire life has happened since I last saw you. Frankly, while in the beginning I hate to admit I wished you hadn’t left, I haven’t given thought to you in years.”
Tyler barely heard Marcus’ next comment. “I’ve never stopped thinking about you.”
“Bollocks!”
“It’s true.” Marcus heavily sat on the bed and looked at him. “I did reconcile with Jean-Claude when I returned to Brussels. We had many good years together. But I always regretted walking out your door that night. Not grasping the chance to stay and be with you. I was scared to take the risk when I had familiar comfort waiting for me at home. It seemed like all the signs were calling me back. A chance to work for the semester and receive in essence double pay, a chance to return to Jean-Claude, all of it pulling against what I felt for you after having just met you. Although I realize, in retrospect, you had no way of knowing how I felt. My actions certainly didn’t reflect my feelings.”
Stunned, Tyler couldn’t respond.
Marcus smiled, but gone was the predatory charm. It looked like the sad smile of a regretful old man who’d finally realized the past had not only caught up with him, but passed him by. “He died last year. Cancer. He was only a year older than you. He died way too young.” He looked down at his hands.
“I’m sorry,” Tyler whispered. He was too shocked to manage any other volume.
“I spent our life together making it up to him, for leaving the way I did. I admit it.” He heavily sighed. “I was still a young, stupid man, even in my middle age. I hurt not only the man who loved me, but I hurt a man I quickly came to love. Caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea, I chose the Devil over seeing if I could swim or not. It was a safe choice, although I’m not sure it was the best one for all involved.”
Tyler knew he had to breathe, but it felt damn near impossible with that emotional sucker punch.
Marcus turned the full force of his steely gaze on him again. “Yes, I admit it. Part of me hoped beyond hope before meeting your wife at the auction today that I would meet with you tonight, take the tongue-lashing I well deserved, then be able to pick up and possibly move forward from there. With you.”
“You’re mad!”
“No, I’m lonely. Don’t think I don’t know what the rest of my life looks like.” He kicked off his shoes. “I spent the past five years taking care of him, through surgeries and radiation and chemo. We had a running joke about him having a doctor’s note to top from the bottom without repercussion.” He studied his hands. “He never threw it in my face, what I did with you. I was honest. I told him about you when I returned to Brussels. He forgave me and I didn’t deserve him. He was as devoted to me as your bo—” He caught himself and took a breath. “As devoted as your husband seems to be to you.”
“I spent a lot of years hating you.”
“Apparently, so has your husband.” He rubbed his jaw again. “Tell him I’m sorry, by the way, for that. And I’m sorry for forcing you up here to talk. I would not have had him arrested, even if you’d refused to talk with me.”
Tyler’s heart hardened even further. “Then why couldn’t you have been honest down there?”
“I was too startled. You wouldn’t have talked to me any other way. Your husband wouldn’t have let you talk to me. Admit it.” He stood and walked over to the minibar. “You don’t have to stay the entire time. I just wanted a few minutes of your time.”
“If you met Nevvie this morning at the auction, then you knew bloody well I was married. Why still go through with this charade? Or bloody hell, if you followed my career, didn’t you see I was married and poly?”
He shrugged as he took a pull from a beer he’d removed from the minibar fridge. “I’m a foolish man. What can I say? I had no idea if that was real or fiction on the website. Until I met your wife this morning. I’m also desperate not to die alone. I’d always thought it would be the other way around, Jean-Claude taking care of me.” He sadly smiled. “You’re a damned lucky man. Not one, but two people who love you. And children. You’ve come a long way from the man I knew.”
“I haven’t been that man in decades, thanks in no small part to what you put me through.”
“When did you reconcile with your father? I met him earlier, too, with your wife.”
Tyler reddened. Why was he even having this conversation? He could walk out the door. “Nevvie tracked him down and engineered a surprise meeting after I recovered from my heart attack. It turns out my mother lied about why he left.”
“When I knew you, you were a desperately unhappy man. Have you finally found happiness?”
“It took a while and another failed marriage after you left, but yes, I did. I met Thomas. Then Nevvie came into our lives.”
“She would kill for you, too, I have no doubt.” That sly smile again. “Obviously Thomas knows who I am. I wondered if when I met her if she knew who I was, but you haven’t told her anything about me, have you?”
“No. I never had a reason to tell her. She knows nothing about that period of my life.” He turned to the windows again as the silence lay between them. “You could have contacted me, apologized to me for leaving. You had my number. You could have gotten in touch with me at any time through Terry and Bob.”
Marcus laughed without humor. “No, I couldn’t. I know you didn’t tell them exactly what happened, because they said you didn’t. The way you acted, however, apparently spoke volumes. Terry told me how disappointed he was in me to have obviously hurt you. From that point on, he had no contact with me and suggested I not contact you, either.”
That was news to Tyler. The fact that his friends chose him over Marcus warmed his heart in a vengeful sort of way. “You could have contacted me through the university. They would have passed me a message at my office.”
“Why? I knew you hated me. Or, I suspected you did. I was too busy feeling guilty over that and over what
I did to Jean-Claude. I decided it was best to leave it alone rather than compound everyone’s misery.” He took another pull on his beer. “As I said, I’m sorry. That is less than inadequate, but it’s all I have to offer. You deserved better than the treatment I gave you.”
Tyler nodded. “Thank you.” To leave, he had to turn and face Marcus one more time, to pass by where he stood, to try to ignore the damned cologne he still wore, the cologne that had haunted him for years, the one he couldn’t buy for Tom because it was too painful a reminder and dredged up memories of a deep bass beat and the noise of the other club goers at the Blue Coconuts. He finally steeled himself to do it.
“I wish you the best, Tyler. You’re a damned lucky man.”
When Tyler turned, he saw not the nightmare from his past, but a man without hope. An old man sagging under the realization of his truths as they tumbled on top of him. “Thank you. I hope you find happiness.” He hesitated as he passed Marcus, paused, and stuck out his hand. If he couldn’t be this magnanimous, then he was spitting in the face of good karma and the life he enjoyed. “Be well.”
Marcus looked at his hand for a moment before he finally shook with him. “Thank you.”
Tyler started to go, then reached into his pocket and found a business card. He grabbed a pen off the dresser and scribbled his private e-mail address and phone number on it. “We won’t be home for several weeks, but send me your information and I’ll pass it on to Terry and Bob.” He took a deep breath. “Or if you ever want to just say hi. As a friend.”
The other man nodded as he took the card. Did Marcus’ eyes look red? “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
Tyler left without further comment. As he heard the door close behind him, his soul felt lighter. Generosity, the last thing he ever thought he’d feel toward Marcus.
It felt good because he knew it meant the demon had finally been exorcised for good.
Love Slave for Two: Reunions [Love Slave for Two 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 15
