by Tyler May
“Just shut up you idiot. You’re right though. It was a show and I put on a hell of a performance.”
“All to get to Grey?” Levi asks not shying down.
“All to get to Grey!” Milo looks at me. “And how easy it was. The four of you are quite predictable. You see, I studied psychology, not drama. Hell, I even dabble in computer technology. That’s why the emails and security cameras were so easy to hack. You might want to check the firewalls.”
“What the fuck? Why? You ruined my life, you fucking asshole,” Jeff exclaims and stands. Milos pulls me in his arms and presses the gun to my temple. I grunt. Jeff puts up his hands and sits. “Ok, don’t hurt him.” Milo shoves me toward the couch and tells me to sit back down.
“You want to know why?” A unanimous ‘yes’ echoes as we all answer. The door opens, and Marcus walks in.
“What the fuck is going on?” he says.
“Maybe he doesn’t have anything to do with it?” Jeff states. Marcus grins at Milo and then struts over to him and kisses him.
“Again, I didn’t see this coming,” Levi nervously jokes.
“You’re telling me,” Jeff agrees.
“You’re both in on this?” I ask. “Why?”
“Because of me,” Silver says, staring at Marcus and Milo.
“Did you bring the money?” Marcus asks Silver.
“Yes.”
“I tell you what, Greyson; you must be something in bed if this man is willing to pay a large amount of money to keep you safe.”
“Let them go. They have nothing to do with this. You agreed to handle this with me,” Silver tries.
“But now they’ve seen too much,” Milo points out.
“I didn’t see anything,” Levi pretends. “How about you, Jeff?”
“Me either.”
“See. We’re not going to tell anyone,” Levi tries to convince Milo.
“This isn’t the movies, you fool.”
“You’re telling me. This isn’t how the movie is supposed to end at all.” Levi cowers.
“Enough of this bullshit! The money, Brian,” Marcus demands. “Hand it over.”
Silver stands. Looking down at me, he reaches in his pocket and pulls out a rolled wad of cash. He hands it to Marcus. “It’s all there.”
“Excellent.” Marcus takes it from Silver then turns to Milo. “It’s all here.”
Milo walks slowly to the couch and stands tall in front of me. He snickers with a disgusted look on his face. “I made a promise to myself that I would seek justice for the pain you caused.”
I shake my head slowly. “I… I.”
“You never think about anyone, but yourself. You use men and then throw them into the cold when they’re no good to you anymore.”
“That’s not true. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“He’s talking about Derrick,” Silver answers for him. I glare at Silver. How did he know that? “Milo was Derrick’s boyfriend.”
“How is that possible? He’s so young,” I question.
“Love doesn’t have an age. And you fucking killed him.” Milo’s hand shakes as holds up the gun. “You played him until everyone thought he was crazy. They poisoned him. The medicine poisoned him.”
“No. He was sick. He needed help.”
“He needed help, not to be locked up for screwing with you.”
“He did some awful things, Milo.”
“I begged him to stop seeing you, to stop obsessing over you, but you do this to men. You drive them to the brink and they snap. Look at Jeff. My theory was right with him.” Jeff is in disbelief. “I was there first, but Derrick said he loved you. I was nothing to him when compared to you. That is until your hero over here put him in prison.” Silver? “And then who was there for Derrick? Me. I loved that man more than life itself, and you took him from me. You took everything from me. You took his attention and ultimately his life. He was in pain. You broke him.”
“He broke me,” I shoot back. “He fucking raped me and―” I breathe. “He deserved everything he got.”
“Greyson, stop,” Silver pleads. “He’s unstable.”
“Everyone that doesn’t agree with Prince Black is unstable,” Milo sarcastically states. “Are you going to have me locked up too, Brian?”
“Damn right.” Silver doesn’t even back down. He’s fearless. Milo cocks the gun’s hammer and points it at Silver.
“Please no,” I beg. I slowly stand with my hands up. “You said you made a promise, what was the promise?”
“To validate his death. To torture your mind the way you did his. I’m doing this for him.” Marcus presses his chest to Milo’s back. “Marcus, you promised me when we took our vows.”
“Vows? You two are married?” Levi gasps. Milo hushes him. “Well, that’s one husband that cheated a whole lot.” Levi snaps with attitude.
“Same here,” Jeff adds.
“I promised you love, and I’ve kept that promise. Let’s go. We can have everything we ever wanted because of your brilliant plan.”
“I thought it would make me feel good to see him pay for Derrick, but I only feel pain. He feels no remorse.” Milo’s eyes change. The hate, the pain drives him. He is out for one thing: revenge. His breathing picks up and he mumbles something then he asks, “You don’t feel sorry at all, do you?”
“No.” I didn’t even have to think. “I’m sorry for you, but I don’t feel bad for him.”
“Fuck you!” He clicks the gun and with one shot everyone in the place scatters. Silver barrels me over, knocking me to the floor. Jeff topples Levi and Marcus tries to stop Milo, but it is too late. The blood seeped onto the floor in a puddle around his head. Milo had shot himself.
“No!” Marcus falls to the ground and cradles Milo in his arms. He checks his pulse. “He’s alive.”
All of a sudden, the door crashes open and Cynthia and several police officers come running in with their guns drawn. “Is everyone ok?” Silver nods and holds me tight. I’m in complete shock. I can’t move. I can’t talk. I can’t…. What just happened?
“Help him. He’s sick. I was going to help,” Marcus cries. “Please help him.”
Cynthia bends and checks his pulse for herself. “An ambulance is on its way.” No sooner did she get the words out, and then paramedics rush into the room. “Marcus Mullins, you are under arrest.” She pulls him up. He still has blood on his hands. She handcuffs him and begins reading him his rights. He’s crying hysterically.
“Is he still alive?” He ignores the detective and watches the paramedics work on Milo.
“We’ll keep you updated,” she says and then orders another officer to take him out. He screams because he wants to stay. I almost feel bad. The paramedics put Milo on the stretcher and wheel him out. “Greyson, are you ok?” I still haven’t moved from the floor. “Greyson, do you need a doctor?” I glance around the room, completely bewildered by what just occurred. Jeff is hugging Levi who is crying. I want to ask if he’s ok, but no words come out. Silver is talking to a detective, and I want to ask him so many things. But again, I have no words.
~Chapter Thirty-Six~
I go over the scene in my head repeatedly, completely ignoring Cynthia’s questions. Silver kneels down beside me. He lifts my chin. As our eyes meet, I feel a sense of comfort, tranquility. “It’s over,” he says. But it isn’t. A man is shot, another off to jail because of me, and I still have no idea really why. He helps me stand on my shaking legs. “I think he’s in shock,” Silver says to Levi.
“Maybe we should take him to the hospital.” Jeff examines me.
“Is Milo going to be ok?” I mutter.
“Why are you worried about a man that just tried to hurt you?” Jeff asks.
“Cynthia?” I turn to her. She shrugs. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”
“You didn’t.” Silver embraces me. My arms are limp next to me. I’m completely numb. “They wanted to hurt you.”
“You’re lucky
Brian called us.” Cynthia smiles.
“When… When did you have time…? When did you,” I stutter.
“I’ll explain everything. Let’s get you some water.” He sits me down at the table and grabs a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Cynthia is taking Levi and Jeff’s statements. “You knew?”
“Yes. I found out after we went to see Cynthia that day. When she told me that Derrick had killed himself, and you made a comment about him having family. I did some digging and traced it back to Milo.”
“But you didn’t say anything and he was sleeping with my best friend.”
“I didn’t find out until last night for sure. I knew Marcus had something to do with it. He was setting me up to look like the guilty one. I knew he had to have some connection. Connor helped me, and we saw Milo and Marcus together one night. That’s how I knew to investigate Milo. I didn’t know they were married. That came as a shock to me, as well.”
“Marcus did it all for him?”
“Marcus did it because he lost everything in a bad deal. He blackmailed me for the money. It wasn’t until he started emailing about revenge that I knew Milo had other things in mind. I arranged this meeting, but then you showed up.” He rocks back. “God, if anything would have happened to you because of me.” He cups my face. “You should have told me you saw the text. We could have worked together.”
“You should have told me a lot of things, Silver. My mother?”
He nods. “I should have been honest with you from the beginning. I had every intention to tell you the truth, but then all this happened and I was afraid that I would look guilty. Ironic isn’t it? That’s exactly what happened. I did pay for your tuition, but it’s not for the reason you think. I did it because I owed her. I owed her everything.”
“I don’t understand. Did you know her?”
“No, I wish I did. I feel like I do because of you.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“She’s the reason I can see,” he says, and my breathing hitches. “I received your mother’s corneas. She saved my sight.”
My eyes tear. “You have my mother’s eyes?”
“No, that’s always a misconception. I only received her corneas not her eyes. But the gift gave me back my sight. I was almost completely blind. She gave me sight and my life back.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I wanted to help the donor’s family. I wanted to thank them for her gift. I went to your house.”
“What?”
“You were young, barely seventeen. Your dad answered the door and he was drunk or high, maybe both. He said ‘are you here for my queer son? Take him. He’s fucking useless.’ I guess he thought that I was there to take you out. I didn’t say anything and walked away. I knew then that helping him wasn’t an option, and that maybe I could help you. Coincidentally, you ended up going to the university Marcus worked at. Marcus helped me track you. And I did pay for your tuition. Marcus just let me know how much I owed. That way you could move and not live with that man. That’s what he meant when he said I started it. I guess I did. He would have never gotten involved if I didn’t ask him to.”
Another idea pops in my head. “You paid for my mother’s headstone?”
“I was distraught when I found out she didn’t have a proper one. She deserved that. You deserved that. I arranged to do it anonymously through the cemetery.”
“Why? Did you think I would be upset?”
“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about you as Greyson. I was thinking of you as Rita’s son. When all this happened it was purely innocent; a gesture of gratitude to a woman that gave chances to others. It’s true. I hid things from you. You have to believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you.”
“You were willing to pay money so I wouldn’t hear this from Marcus or Milo?”
“I was willing to pay to keep you safe, just like I did with Derrick.”
“You had him arrested? I always wondered. I never had the courage.”
“I paid someone to find him and the police took care of the arrest.”
“You knew everything about me and yet I’m finding out all this stuff about you.”
“I’m sorry. I did it for you, for her. I knew she would want you protected. When I found out who Milo was… I would have paid any amount to stop him. But I’m not dumb; I knew to not try it on my own. I called Cynthia.”
“You watched me for years, Silver.”
“No. I paid and helped from afar. I honestly didn’t carry any feelings for you besides as Rita’s son. That is, until I saw you again at Jeff’s coffeehouse. I never even realized you worked at one of my coffee chains. I admit, I did start watching you, but not in a stalking kind of way. I knew I wanted to get to know you. I knew I had to get know you. I saw you at The Silver Lining that night and I knew my feelings for you were more than innocent. The way you were dancing. Your smile. I couldn’t take my off you, Greyson. That night changed everything for me. And the rest you know.”
“The watch?” My voice cracks. I’m so overwhelmed.
He smiles. “I seriously don’t know who got Brady his. I can only assume it was Marcus setting me up. He knew you would see it and question it. I bought that because it reminded me of you and me. The colors a mix of our names.”
“What’s the eight mean?” I look him in the eyes.
“It’s how many drinks I had to buy you before you came over to see me that night,” he says and I laugh. “Told you it was corny. And no, there are no other numbered watches out there.”
“You were there? I thought you had left.”
“It was all part of my plan. I wanted to see your face when I showed up the next morning at the coffeehouse. A man has to play hard to get.”
He laughs and lets out an exasperated sigh. He presses his forehead against mine. Cynthia, Levi, and Jeff walk back in the apartment. Honestly, I never even noticed they had left. I was so interested in what Silver was talking about. “Milo will live,” she says. “And we’ll make sure after he recovers, that he goes to jail.”
“He needs help. Promise to get him some help.”
“I promise. I’m going to go back to the station. I’ll be in contact with both of you later.” She leaves.
“You don’t have any more secrets, do you?”
“I have lots of secrets, Mr. Black. But I promise none that will put you in danger anymore. I understand that it might take you some time to trust me and I don’t blame you. I don’t want to lose you, Greyson. What can I do to get you to forgive me?”
“Nothing,” I whisper, and he hangs his head. “I want you too.” He looks at me. His eyes, with a story all to themselves, start to tear. “I just want you to be open with me, always.”
“Always, baby.” He leans in and kisses me hard. “From this point on, I promise to not hide anything like this from you. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry for not talking to you. I still have a lot of growing up to do.”
“So do I, and we still have stuff to learn about one another. I just want you to trust me. Knowing I hurt you is torture.”
“You have to understand, I’ve lived with people lying to me my entire life. The men in my life, including my father, all let me down. When I saw the texts it about killed me. I never thought you would let me down, and I trusted you.”
“I hope you still can.” He frowns as his eyes fill with sadness.
“Trust is more important to me than love. You can’t have love without trust. And I had just told you that I thought I was falling in love with you. My world crashed.”
“I’m so sorry.” He takes my hands, holding them in his and kisses my knuckles. “I’m so sorry.”
“The thing is, Silver. I wasn’t really mad at you. I was mad at myself. I was pissed that I let someone do this to me again. I really felt different with you.”
“It is different.”
I gaze deep into his blue eyes. “It is different. I said some pretty crazy things.”
�
�All justified.”
“Maybe. I said them because I was trying to convince myself. I thought if I said them out loud it would make sense. I want you, Silver.”
“I want you, too.” He grins. “Why do I think there’s a but?”
“But… I need to know that I can trust you.”
“Can you?” he asks hopeful.
“Yeah. Yes. Don’t make me regret this second chance.” I smile and pull him into a hug.
“Oh God, Greyson.” He kisses the side of my head. “I’ll never let you go.”
“Speak now, Silver. Is there anything else you’re keeping from me?”
“Yes.” My heart feels like it stops as I brace for his answer. “I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”
“Oh―” I stand and wrap my arms around him. His lips move slowly, sensually over mine. We kiss long and hard.
“See, this is how the story is supposed to end. The hooker gets the rich billionaire,” Levi jokes and claps. Silver stops and looks at me. I shake my head and smirk.
“Should I ask?” Silver asks.
“No. I promise I’m not a hooker.” We laugh.
“Whatever you say, ‘pretty woman’. Own it!” Levi winks and snaps his fingers. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.” He grabs Jeff’s hands and pretends to dance and sing the theme song to the movie.
~Epilogue~
After Graduation
I stand and look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Five years it took me to get here and it was over with one swipe of my tassel. I’m officially a college graduate. Man, that’s weird to say. The commencement speaker spoke about second chances and it really made me ponder what that meant. Do we all deserve second chances? I know I have been blessed with some, and I certainly have given them.
Staring at the black cap and gown, I stand proud. My life is mine. Everything that has happened was just pieces of the puzzle to help build the man that I’ve become.
“Are you just going to stand there and admire yourself in the mirror? If you didn’t notice, there’s a party going on in your honor out there,” Levi says walking into the bathroom of The Silver Lining. He stands behind me and looks around my shoulder to our reflections. “You do look great in this little cap and gown, honey. I’m so proud of you.”
