by JJ Giles
She reared back further against Jerry. “There’s still hell to look forward to.”
Sadly, Brian peered at his father a moment. Even Abernathys were powerless to prevent that. Rather, he whispered, “Honey, please take it easy on yourself.”
Simply exhausted, Jerry peered through the meager light at Alex. Alex had escaped to the threshold of the bathroom, heaving silently in his own kind of hell. That Alex had had to helplessly witness as much violence as Morgan saddened Jerry terribly. But Alex never committed murder over it, much as he had wanted to. The victim in that case survived.
But Jerry was so weary and not only emotionally rent but mentally exhausted now. “Can you think of one more reason why you won’t marry my son?” The tone of his voice told her he was incensed.
“And I suppose you want a prostitute for a daughter-in-law?”
“Honey, I was ready to make yet another prostitute my wife until I found out it was you Brian was talking about, and Brian you were talking about.”
“You wanted to marry me?”
“That was the plan until yesterday morning at approximately 8:45 when Brian handed me a wedding invitation. And you weren’t gonna say no to me.”
“So...whatever you felt for me is just...over?”
“No. Not even close, Baby. You belong to me, Brian belongs to me and I’m not taking any shit from either one of you anymore. I’ve eaten enough shit in my life and I’m done with it. If I tell Brian to bend over he’d better fucking bend over or he knows that brain damage is imminent. If I tell you to spend the night with me, and by the way, you’re spending the night with me tonight, you’ll spend the night with me. In exactly three weeks and three days I’m walking you down the aisle, woman, but I’m not giving you away. You better be ready or I’m leaving and I’m taking my son with me. Wanting to be married to you, to have the security of it, to know he’s just a little more special than everyone else you lay down with is not expecting too much. I expect an affirmative answer by sundown. Do you understand?”
Haughtily, she sniffed. “Yes.”
“Get her out of my sight.”
Quickly, Brian bent to help her up and out. Jerry wasn’t in the mood for argument that was evident. Yet he was giving Morgan a good six hours to come to terms with it. Brian’s hand wrapped around hers was urgent, yet she lingered.
“Can I speak to you privately?” she asked.
“Tonight,” he said. He was finished with this part of the day now. Whatever was left was up to Morgan and Brian to work out.
Dismissed again. Twice in the same day. Quietly, she turned and allowed herself to be led away. Just as quietly, Alex slipped into the bathroom out of their sight until the door was closed.
Alex lingered in the dark to gather his wits. That was one of the saddest stories he’d ever heard. That Jerry had thought so much about it and could fill in the gaps where the report had left off was even more heart-rending.
He stepped out of the shadows and stood in the small dismal light peering at his twin brother still lying in bed. “You’ve completely redeemed yourself to me,” he said solemnly.
Jerry slid further down and began to weep. “This has been another shitty day and you promised me a better one.”
Quickly, Alex ran to him and slid into the bed. His arms wrapped around his brother’s head and pulled it to his chest. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. Jerry had just relived the worst day of his life to get the truth out between Brian and Morgan. “Dear God, I’m sorry.”
“I love her, Alex.”
“She reawakened you.”
“But to what? It’s one thing to be dead inside, quite another to know it.”
“Just rest now.” Alex kissed Jerry’s head. “I’ll stay with you and you can just rest.” The pads of his fingers gently stroked Jerry’s cheek.
“I don’t deserve you, either.” He knew exactly how Morgan felt about herself. How unworthy of Brian she felt.
“I’ll stay with you. Just go to sleep, Love.” He nestled back into the pillows and held his brother’s head against the soft swell of flesh on his chest due to estrogen injections.
The years seemed to fall away as Jerry snuggled in and slid his arm under Alex. He closed his eyes feeling only the measured rise of the chest, the steadiness of the heart. Heavily, he sighed and relaxed into it comfortably.
And still, Alex’s tears fell silently on the pillow beneath him. For the first time in thirty-seven years, everything that went wrong could be put right. At that very moment, Alex was certain of it.
Chapter Forty-Six
In a horrible confusing fog, Morgan followed listlessly. When she awoke from her stupor she was in the whirlpool, the water buoying her breasts on the surface as the scent of lavender bubbles rose around her. The thin line of silver smoke rose from the ashtray in a single seductive trail, but it was the sound of his voice ordering breakfast--at one o’clock in the afternoon--that woke her fully.
Poor baby. He slipped into the tub opposite her and gathered her feet into his lap. She seemed to be in a state of shock, but he couldn’t know if it was the horror of reliving the worst day of her life, that Jerry rejected her as a wife, or that he had come home.
“Baby?” he whispered as his hands slid up her legs.
Her eyes blinked a moment as her head rolled toward the sound of his voice. “I’m not keeping up very well here, am I?”
Gently, he raised her foot out of the water and held it to his mouth. “Just go slow, Honey.”
Without will, she reached for the cigarette and hit it hard. “Nobody’s coming for me?”
“Nope. If it’s not over yet today, by tomorrow the record will be expunged.”
“I didn’t even know things like that were possible.”
He only nodded as he held the instep of her foot to his mouth and gently sucked on it. “Happens all the time.”
“It’s legal?”
“Yes. If they have to bribe the judge, it’s only to make it go down today rather than next month. That might not be necessary at all, anyway.”
“And this is something I could have done on my own without the name Abernathy behind it?”
He paused. That she didn’t like big names and fast money pushing people around he knew too well. “Yes, Morgan, except your lawyer is an idiot, so I don’t know if he could have helped you. And your stock broker is a fucking thief and I might have to work him over.”
Curiously, she smiled a little. “Why didn’t you say something about it?”
“You never asked what I thought of them.”
“What kind of thief?”
“He’s been skimming you for a lot of years, Honey.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask. You just assumed I don’t know anything about it. Grossly overcharging you for his services, trading you down when he should be trading you up. The guy’s a fucking jerk. A monkey with a pin stabbing aimlessly at the list could do better than he does.”
For a long moment she stared into his naturally wide, dark eyes that made him look perpetually turned on. “Brian Abernathy, the world’s most eligible bachelor...securities license?”
Sheepishly, he shrugged. “It’s not my fault. But if you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”
Easily, she smiled. He could diffuse any situation with a joke. But then she darkened again. “Brian, I have committed murder. It scares me to death to think I could do it again.”
“I finally understand now, Morgan. Because you’re the progeny of a wife-beater, you’re statistically likely to become the same thing. It scares you to think you might kill me and that you wouldn’t be able to live with. You would commit suicide over that. Or you might summon so much control that you would allow yourself to be killed like your mother was. I understand now, honey.”
That was it exactly. She was never able to reduce it to something so simple for herself. “And you think this could work out between you and I?”
“It’s been worki
ng for ten beautiful years, Morgan. I meant it sincerely when I said I don’t care for the life I lived until the day I met you. But the truth is if we want to spend a week in St. Maarten with Cherry, go skiing in Italy, buy a little cabin, say...five thousand feet in Telluride, we can do that. I’d be proud and pleased to show you off at some of the clubs I used to hang out at, take you to the Cannes Film Festival. If it’s something you wanna do, it would be wonderful to do it together as long as we could always come home. It’s a distraction, not a life the way so many people want to make it.”
It sounded absolutely wonderful, alluring, exotic and yes, frightening. “But if those kind of people found out I’m a prostitute...?”
“Honey, you’re not a hooker. My mother is a hooker and nobody’s bothered her through the years. You’re a sex therapist, Morgan and yes, there is a qualitative difference. I know you started out as a hooker, but what the hell else were you gonna do? And if someone should be so rude and inconsiderate to say anything about it, I’ll look ‘em dead in the face and tell ‘em they can’t afford you.”
“I used to work for JD Rockingham.”
“I know. He mentioned it to me. Tried to warn me about who you are. I left his name on the guest list anyway. I used to think of him as a grandfather and now he’s just someone we don’t want to piss off. It scares me what kind of experiences you’ve had with him. Lives across the street from the Mansion. But Honey, you’re not a prostitute anymore. You’ve been a sex therapist for years. There really is a difference.”
She thought so but she was never sure what anyone else thought about it. “What about you? You were so defensive of your family that day.”
“Things are never what they seem, are they?”
“Rarely.”
“I had this image of my mother as this poor pathetic victim, someone who was half-tetched to stay with him for all those years. She was supposed to be so broken up that Dad moved out but she was out partying that night. I talked to my nanny about it and hell, Mom goes out every Saturday night, I realize now, to turn tricks. But just what I’ve watched go down this last five months, I can see plainly it was my father who was the victim in the entire mess. I don’t know all the details, I probably don’t want to know. The good news is I have enough experience to not need to know now. Whatever was between them is hopefully over. She’s trotted off to France, he’s here with us where we can take care of him...and hopefully he’ll recover. I don’t think he was too shocked about what she did. That he had to quit his job is going to be a huge hurdle to get over for him. Abernathy was his life.”
“I feel so awful about that. If I hadn’t have been involved with them it wouldn’t have been nearly so devastating. I gave her all the instruction she needed to describe the dungeon and the things that go on there.”
Brian shrugged. “I’m sure she’s seen it all before. It was just a little more fuel for the fire, Honey. She meant to bring the world crashing down and she did.”
“Are you okay?”
He blinked a few tears away. “Like Dad said, we can’t make her love us. Like Cherry said, anyone who can get pregnant can give birth. It doesn’t make a mother.”
“I’m sorry.”
“But I think Dad has forgiven me for every stupid, selfish, impulsive thing I’ve ever done. And Alex’s love has always been unconditional.”
She drew in a deep breath and heard the footfall of their new butler behind her. Rick placed the tray on the edge of the tub and glanced at Brian.
“How you doing, buddy?” Brian asked.
“Pretty damned good, Mouse. Damned happy to be working here at this lovely estate with this fabulous family. But if you can get your old lady to get with it soon, I’ll take it.” Coyly, he winked at Morgan.
“Well, uhhh...if my precious Baby is indisposed, I’ll take care of it for you soon,” he said reassuringly.
“You?” Rick queried.
“I know my way around the dungeon,” Brian said. He reached out and grabbed an utterly stiff organ. “Your Master may want to watch.”
“Of course,” Rick replied excitedly. “When should I be prepared?”
“I’ll let you know,” Brian said with a little flick to the glans. “Thank you.”
Her smile broad now, she studied him. “You’re a switch?”
He held a plate of French toast and scrambled eggs to his chest and began to shovel. “Just like you, Honey. I don’t get down on the floor for just anyone, you know. Gotta be good. Gotta be real good.” He grinned impishly. “And you, Baby, are the best.”
“I think you’re father is the best.”
“He’s in a class by himself.”
“And you’re his submissive?”
Easily, Brian nodded because he was curing his starvation at the moment. “I was playing in the Lair with my girlfriend one afternoon and he came in and the rest was fait accompli. He’s always been my Master.”
“He’s your father,” she protested.
Brian shrugged. “He’s really my uncle, and yes, he’s my father. He loves me very, very much. Takes care of me more than I deserve.”
“You have sex with your father?”
“I didn’t say that. It doesn’t necessarily involve sex, you know that. How many people have you disciplined without using them, too?”
“So you don’t have sex with him?”
He paused while he chewed. This was something that could keep her interested for years, especially knowing how much it turned her on to see men together. “I didn’t say that, either.”
She jerked a little. “I want you to tell me.”
“You better ask him about it.”
She hesitated and began to eat a little. To think that Jerry had been using Brian all through his youth caused a swell of protectiveness in her. To think that Brian had been raped as she had. Suddenly, she realized his lack of emotional control at times was caused by that rape, that sense of deprecation, the idea that he had no control of anything. “So what am I supposed to understand from all of this?”
But the issue of sexual abuse was beyond Brian’s thoughts now. “Well...if I understand correctly, he wants you to be my wife. But he’s going to maintain us both as submissives. You have until sundown to give him your answer and then you’re going to spend the night with him.”
“That’s incredible.”
“He fell in love with you, honey. I certainly can’t hold that against him. I think you grew pretty fond of him. I knew the way he felt when I handed him a wedding invitation yesterday. Really fucked him up. I knew what you felt when you no sooner heard the news of his humiliation than you ran to him. So the question is do you have enough love in your heart for us both?”
The air in her lungs escaped. “And you two can live with this together? It won’t come between you?”
“No, love. The point is he’s willing to share you when he could marry you and make me his pet. Considering all the people I share you with now, sharing you with him is a small thing. Is it something you could live with?”
Dumbfounded, she stared blankly at him. The idea of having to choose between them had been impossible. The thought that she could have them both was astounding. “You wouldn’t be jealous?”
“Not if I know you love me, Honey,” he whispered.
“God, I do love you,” she gasped. She slid through the water to lay against his body. “I love you more than anything this world has ever offered. You really had me fucked up.”
His huge arms crushed her to his body and kissed her profusely. “I’m so sorry I made this entire mess.”
She shook violently remembering what they had all gone through. But it seemed it was over now, that everything had been arranged. That she could live peacefully without the crushing weight of her past able to end her life or their lives together as they knew it. And their life together as they knew it was over and something better had presented itself.
“Will you ask him to move in here with us?” she asked.
He slid
down in the tub a little. “I’d love to, but it’s your house. That’s up to you.”
“I want you to do that,” she said. “He’s not in a place where he should be alone now. And now that I’ve seen the kind of relationship you have with him, I don’t think you want him that far away.”
“I really don’t. But I guess this means you want me to stay, too?”
A little giddy, she wrapped around him and shook him. Quickly, she jerked away, her smile broad. “You really have a wedding planned?”
“A fabulous wedding,” he said happily. “Right out there on the lawn. A fifty-piece orchestra for the ceremony and dinner, a band to get drunk to for the reception. Rather small though with only three hundred guests in attendance. The rings, matching of course, a sprawling cake, flowers and let’s not forget the focal point of the evening. The gown for my bride.”
“I can’t even pick out my own dress?”
“Nope. It’s an Abernathy Original. No one else in the world even has such a thing. But for my bride, her exquisite breasts all the way to her delicious toes, she will be draped in kid leather.”
“Leather?”
“Uh huh. I’ve never seen anything like it and Alex claims it’s the crowning glory of his entire opus.”
“A leather wedding gown?”
“It was my idea, pervert that I am. But all these beautiful curves, baby...” His hands slid over her body. “They can look but if they touch, I’ll break their arms.”
Her expression broke into a beaming smile. “But it’s a dress?”
He nodded. “With a beautiful full flowing skirt and fan tail and of course the obligatory fifteen foot train for the ceremony.”
“In leather?” Still she was unable to envision it.
“No lace, Baby, just leather. And bronze-plated chains.”
