“Your lover?”
“No!” Sebastian’s cheeks flamed. He and Ben had never directly discussed what had happened at school with Peter. They’d sidestepped around it agilely. “I don’t even know him!”
“Yet you let him into Father’s private rooms.”
“I…” Sebastian searched for a response that would not incriminate him further.
“How did you know the code?”
“I guessed.”
“You guessed?” Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “How on earth did you guess?”
“You know I always have a good memory for these things. It was just a sequence of numbers and dates that are important to Father. Your birth date and the founding date of his company.”
“The founding date of his company?” Ben shook his head, amazed.
“But, Ben, I was going to go in with him! I wouldn’t have let him steal anything! He thought he heard someone calling for me, and I closed the door. It was locked.”
“Clearly he watched you put in the code.”
“Yes, he must have.” Lying bastard. “Do you think he was after Mother’s jewels?”
Ben shook his head. “Basi, how can you still be so naive? Jewels are the least of Father’s concerns.”
“Then what was stolen?” The acid in Sebastian’s stomach churned.
“Apparently the thief didn’t get what he was looking for. I don’t know what it was. I do my job, and I don’t ask questions. I know Father’s business is about much more than energy, but he hasn’t trusted me with details yet.” He took Sebastian by the shoulders. “Basi, you must plead for mercy. Promise that you’ll never look at another man again. Date Valentina’s sister. Marry her, for fuck’s sake. Whatever it takes.”
“But…”
Ben’s fingers dug into Sebastian’s flesh. “Do you want to end up like Mama?”
“Mama? That was an accident. The road was slick, and—”
With a groan, Ben stepped back and ran his hands through his hair. “You really are that naive. Basi, she found out about Father’s new business dealings. How do you think we went from living in a four-bedroom house in Milano to this?” He waved his hands around. “This palace?”
Sebastian realized he’d never considered it. “But…Father loved her.” Sebastian had been twelve when she died. He still remembered every moment of the day when he woke to find seventeen-year-old Ben at his bedside, his brave brother’s face terrifyingly tearstained.
“Yes. He did. But she was going to leave him. He couldn’t allow it.” Ben’s throat seemed suddenly thick with emotion, his voice gruff. “She shouldn’t have been so foolish.”
Sebastian’s head spun, his legs like jelly as he leaned against the bed. “He…he killed her?” He found himself on his knees, stomach roiling as memories of his sweet, wonderful mother raced through his mind. “You knew?”
Ben swallowed thickly. “Not at the time. There are a lot of things about Father—about the things he does—that I wish I didn’t know. Believe me, Basi, I wish I didn’t have to tell you.” He crouched down and brushed back Sebastian’s hair. “I wanted to keep you out of all of this, but I thought you’d figure it out by now.”
“He killed her.” Sebastian said the words again, still unable to believe them. Is this a nightmare? “How? She was…she was so good.”
“She was,” Ben agreed. His voice cracked. “Too good.”
“Didn’t you love her?”
“Of course I did, Basi! And I love you too. That’s why you’ve got to—”
“I don’t understand—how can you work with him?” Anger flashed through his veins, and he shoved at his brother. “How can you even look at him? How?”
Without a knock, the door flew open. A man Sebastian recognized as one of his father’s security guards towered in the doorway. “Come with me.”
Rage gave way to terror. “Ben?” Sebastian’s voice trembled. He wanted to hide behind his brother as he had so often as a child.
Ben pulled Sebastian to his feet. “Remember what I said, Basi. Please, do whatever it takes.” Ben pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Go on. Don’t make him wait.”
“What’s he going to do?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. Just promise anything he asks. Please.”
The hallways of his own home seemed foreign as Sebastian followed the guard. Instead of going to his father’s office, he was led to the basement. He’d never been below before, and his pulse raced as he followed the guard. In contrast to the opulence of the main floors, the windowless lower level was utilitarian and drab. He couldn’t help but feel he was being led to the gallows, and he glanced behind him, gauging the distance to the stairs.
The urge to run overwhelmed him, but as he turned, the guard yanked his arm and propelled him farther down the concrete hall. Maybe Ben’s wrong. Maybe it really was an accident. His father loved his mother. He loved his children. Didn’t he?
Inside a small, airless room, Arrigo waited. A television hung on one barren wall with a single chair placed before it. At Arrigo’s nod, Sebastian sat, his heart hammering in his chest. He pressed his sweating palms against his trousers as the guard stepped in and shut the door behind him.
“Father, I—”
“Silence.” Arrigo’s tone was quiet and controlled. Calm.
Sebastian clasped his hands together to keep from shaking. A moment later the TV flickered to life. Frozen on-screen was an image—recorded from a ceiling-level video camera—of Sebastian and the man he’d known as Steven. They were in the hallway outside Arrigo’s suite.
They were kissing.
The image was unfrozen, and Sebastian tingled with shame as he watched himself rubbing against Steven desperately, kissing him with loud noises recorded on the surveillance. Surveillance Sebastian had never known was there. He knew there were cameras on the grounds, of course, but had never spotted any inside. Were there cameras everywhere? In his own room?
He dropped his head. “I’m sorry, Father.”
Hard fingers gripped the back of his neck as Arrigo forced his head up. “Look at yourself. Disgusting. A dog in heat.”
“Please forgive me.” The image froze on-screen once again, with Steven’s hand down Sebastian’s trousers. Sebastian felt red to the tips of his ears. “I’d had too much to drink.”
Arrigo’s grip moved to Sebastian’s hair, his fingers tightening. “I gave you another chance after you humiliated me with your roommate. After you let yourself be photographed.”
“Peter was my friend. It was a party, and we were just…joking around. I know what the pictures looked like, but there was no need to have him sent away.”
Arrigo let go of Sebastian’s hair and stepped in front of him. “Do you know how many people saw those photographs? How you shamed me?”
“I didn’t know they’d end up on Facebook! Father, please.” In the back of his mind, Sebastian knew it was pointless to argue that he and Peter had only been friends after Arrigo had seen him with Steven, but in his desperation he could think of no other defense. “It was all a prank!”
“Your friend was only too happy to tell the truth. And to take the money I offered him to leave and never see you again.”
Actual pain clenched Sebastian’s chest. “No. He would never do that! You forced him!” He thought of all the phone calls, texts, and emails for months that had gone unanswered after Peter suddenly left campus. “He wouldn’t do that to me!”
“Ah, Sebastiano. So like your mother you are. A dreamer.”
He wanted to protest, to scream that it wasn’t true, but in his heart he knew it was. As he’d gone to class the day Peter disappeared, Peter had given him a long kiss. “I’m only human, Sebastian.”
“And now you let yourself be so easily seduced by this man.” Arrigo jabbed his finger at the TV. “A spy. Fortunately he did not acquire what he came for.”
A sliver of hope flared. “Then perhaps you can forgive me.”
With a flick of a remote, the
video on the TV continued. Listening to his own moans, Sebastian wished the ground would open and swallow him whole. Then he was punching in the code, opening the door. After he left to go back to the party, Steven quickly appeared again, punching in the code and slipping inside.
Then the video changed to a new camera angle, this one atop the wall safe in his father’s room. Gone was the easy smile and rakish charm of the man Sebastian had met at the party. This Steven was all steely concentration as he fiddled with the safe just beyond range of the camera, seemingly able to crack it remarkably fast. He pulled out a small vial and then disappeared from frame as alarms sounded.
Arrigo turned off the TV. “The guard monitoring the cameras was apparently too busy watching football to do his job. He has been terminated.”
Sebastian had a feeling the guard’s status was permanent. “Father, please. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll do anything. Papa.”
Arrigo sighed, a flicker of sadness crossing his hard features. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to Sebastian’s head before taking his face in his hands. “You have humiliated me for the last time. I have only one son now.”
Panic flapped against Sebastian’s rib cage. “Wait! No!” He stood but was shoved down by the guard. Arrigo left the room, and another man, one Sebastian didn’t recognize, entered. This man was around forty, with salt-and-pepper hair and a calm, almost frighteningly serene expression.
They couldn’t actually kill him. Could they?
Dazed, Sebastian walked, one foot in front of the other, as the guard and the new man—an assassin?—took him into the garage through a staircase from the basement. As he saw the car they were leading him to, a sedan with darkened windows, the daze shattered.
The trunk stood open and waiting.
“Ben! Ben!” he screamed as he tried to break free from the powerful hands now gripping him. “Ben!”
Kicking wildly, he struck one of the men and broke free for a moment. As he raced toward the opening garage door, his body slammed into the concrete. The air whooshed from his lungs, and he felt knees digging into his back. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” a smooth voice uttered.
The hit man hauled Sebastian up and shoved him face-first into the large trunk. God, no. No, no! Sebastian scrambled, knowing if the trunk closed over him, it was all over. He aimed his elbow backward and was rewarded with a grunt of pain as he hit solid flesh. On his knees, he fought with every ounce of energy he had, ramming his head back into the man’s face.
But before he could get out of the trunk, pain exploded in the back of his skull, and his vision went double. The hit man shoved him down mercilessly. Sebastian fought to hold on to consciousness, pain and dizziness running riot through him.
He became aware of the sounds of a scuffle and popping noises followed by silence. With what felt like Herculean effort, he rolled onto his back. The lid of the trunk was still open. Ben. His brother had saved him. As Sebastian struggled to push himself up to sitting, a face appeared over him.
“You.” Sebastian wanted to break the bastard’s nose, but his arms refused to cooperate.
With a firm hand, Steven pushed him back down. “Lie still and shut up.”
Then the lid slammed down, and there was only darkness as the car roared to life and sped away.
Chapter Three
As Como disappeared from the rearview mirror and the road became steeper, the thumping from the trunk started up again. After an initial burst of kicking and yelling as the sedan raced away from the Brambani estate, all had been quiet. He’d wondered if Sebastian had lost consciousness, but he was definitely awake now.
Although ominous clouds were rolling in, the lookout points on the road were clogged with tourists, and Kyle needed somewhere secluded to talk to Sebastian. He couldn’t afford garnering any attention from local authorities, and judging by the muffled curses from the trunk, Sebastian was not in a pliable mood.
After another ten minutes, he spotted a private lane. Half a mile down, Kyle stopped the sedan, keeping the car running. He stepped out and peered through the trees with high-powered binoculars. The chalet nestled around the corner showed no signs of life. He scanned the area and saw only a small, furry marmot scampering through the brush.
It would do. He leaned back into the sedan and killed the engine. Immediately the thumping began anew. Kyle walked behind the car and contemplated the trunk for a moment before banging on the metal once. “Listen to me, Sebastian. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to let you out, and we’re going to talk. Okay? So when I open the trunk, don’t try anything. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
His only response was silence, which Kyle hoped was acquiescence. With a press of the button on the key chain and a dull thunk, the trunk opened a few inches. Kyle waited a moment and then lifted the lid.
The blow staggered him, the tire iron striking the arm he threw up to protect his head. Sebastian fairly flew out of the trunk, dodging Kyle’s grasp and taking off into the forest. With a frustrated sigh, Kyle pursued.
The kid was impressively quick, but Kyle was quicker. He tackled him to the ground, Sebastian crying out as he slammed into the dirt. With efficient movements, Kyle flipped him over and straddled him, Sebastian’s wrists pinned over his head in one of Kyle’s hands.
As Sebastian opened his mouth, Kyle slapped his other palm over it. “Shut up and listen. I said I’m not going to hurt you. But if you make me, there’s no one around to save you. So don’t waste your energy and my time with yelling.” He squeezed his thighs around Sebastian’s hips and tightened his grip on Sebastian’s wrists to emphasize his point.
Breathing heavily through his nose, Sebastian’s face flushed as he squirmed and bucked. After a few moments, he stilled and finally nodded. Kyle lifted his hand. Sebastian’s voice cracked slightly. “What are you going to do with me?”
“Nothing. Provided you cooperate.”
“What do you want with me? You already destroyed what was left of my life.”
Kyle snorted. “In case you didn’t notice, I just saved your life.”
“Well if it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t have needed saving!”
Kyle couldn’t stop a smirk from lifting one corner of his mouth. Most people would be crying for God or anyone who would listen right about now, but the kid wasn’t going to just fold. That fortitude would undoubtedly serve Sebastian well in the long run, but it wouldn’t do him any good now. Kyle intended to get what he needed. “It was only a matter of time. You were never going to be able to live up to that man’s expectations. Not being who you are.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. You could have tried to hide it, tried to be the son he wanted. But you’d never be good enough.”
“How the hell do you know anything about who I am?” He struggled in Kyle’s grip.
“Feisty. I like that. In bed, that is.” Sebastian’s cheeks reddened even more, and Kyle continued, “In a hostage, not so much.” He squeezed Sebastian’s wrists hard. “Listen to me. I need to find something your father has. A lot of lives could depend on it.”
Sebastian didn’t give in, continuing to fight. “What? I don’t know anything about what my father does.” He swallowed hard. “Apparently I didn’t know him at all.” Wriggling, he tried to dislodge Kyle. “Let me go. I can’t help you.”
“Probably not, but you’re all I’ve got right now. We worked for months to get the little information we had.” Sebastian bucked, and Kyle held him harder, pressing his free hand down on Sebastian’s chest as he leaned over him, their breath mingling. “Enough.”
Sebastian exhaled raggedly as he turned his head and stopped moving. Utterly still, he seemed to be concentrating on deep breaths, and Kyle could feel Sebastian’s arousal against his ass. Kyle nearly pushed back against the hardness, a surge of lust arching through him. He swallowed, eyes locked on Sebastian’s full mouth, lips parted. Just one more taste…
Kyle shot to his feet, releasing Se
bastian. He took a deep breath and ensured his voice was flat. “Now that we’ve calmed down, you’re going to answer some questions.”
Sitting up, Sebastian swiped his hand across his sweaty brow and wrapped his arms around his knees. He kept his gaze on his feet. “What did you try to steal?”
“I said answer questions, not ask them.” Kyle leaned against a nearby tree, watching Sebastian’s pulse flutter in his neck. He ran his gaze over Sebastian’s dirt-smeared, tailored shirt hugging the curves of his shoulders, and cleared his throat. “But I’ll tell you. A biological weapon called Chimera.”
“K…what?”
“The name comes from Greek mythology. C-h-i-m-e-r-a, but pronounced with a hard k. A three-headed creature who breathed fire.”
“Sounds…ominous.”
“Indeed. It’s a powder. When mixed with water, it creates a gas that makes napalm seem like Chanel No. 5. As the name suggests, it would be just like breathing fire, with comparably fatal results.”
Sebastian took this in. “And you think my father has it?”
“We know he has it. He’s planning on selling it to a South American terrorist group on Friday.”
“What?” Sebastian sputtered. “But…why? My father wouldn’t do that,” he finished weakly.
“Wouldn’t he? Look at what he was about to do to you. Look at what he did to your mother.”
Suddenly Sebastian was on his feet, fists clenched. “What do you know about my mother?”
“Not much. That she grew up in Finale Liguria. Modeled in Milan, where she met your father. Spent much of her time fund-raising for the San Paolo Hospital in Milan before he had her killed. The same way he was going to have you killed.”
Sebastian turned away, shoulders slumping. He murmured something Kyle couldn’t make out, but it sounded like a string of numbers. Kyle recalled a blog entry in which Sebastian had confessed to reciting pi to the twenty-sixth decimal when nervous or upset, joking that a lot of people had a favorite number but his just happened to be endlessly long.
Kyle couldn’t imagine why on Earth anyone would have a favorite number. Even as a child he’d had more important things to worry about. Just like he did right now—so why did he find himself distracted by this spoiled rich kid with his messy emotions and charming idiosyncrasies? He’s only a tool. Use him. “Listen, I know this can’t be easy. But you need to help me. Or do I need to remind you that you’re still in danger? There will be plenty more where those men in the garage came from.”
The Chimera Affair: Gay Romance Page 3
