by Brina Brady
“I’m sorry.”
“Can I get you something to eat or anything?”
“I want you to read to me so I can fall asleep without thinking about what happened.”
“I can do that for you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Emilio
Kaden woke Emilio by kissing him. “Wake up, my love. I ran a bubble bath for you.”
Emilio sat up and followed Kaden to the bathroom. Sure enough, there was a bubble bath waiting for him.
“This is just what I need,” Emilio said.
Emilio sat in the soothing, warm water, relaxing. Kaden had placed cinnamons-scented candles all around the bathtub. The bubbles glistened in the candlelight, and the scent of lavender from the bath bombs filled the room. He rested his head back, a sense of peace coming over him. All his problems from last night had been lifted with Kaden’s presence. He hadn’t told Kaden the entire story, too frightened to tell the truth. He must have been out of his mind when he’d approached those men. He’d thought they were selling pot, but that was not what he had walked into. They’d been in the middle of a deal, but not for pot. That’s why they’d thrown him down. They’d thought he’d heard or seen their transaction. He hadn’t heard what they’d been talking about, but they’d acted like drug dealers. That was what he’d gotten for trying to score some pot from strangers in the middle of the night. He hadn’t told Officer Martinez either.
Emilio could have stayed in the bathtub forever. Kaden enhanced his experience by playing some music from his phone in the background. Emilio closed his eyes, listening to the music and breathing in all the delicious aromas Kaden carefully washed Emilio with a cloth.
“You look beautiful.” Kaden smiled at Emilio’s erection standing above the bubbles.
“I feel like a prince in here.” “You’re my little prince. I’m happy you’re home with me. I was so upset.”
“Hey, happy birthday, Kaden.” Emilio leaned up to kiss Kaden.
“You better be nice to me today.” Kaden wrapped his arms around Emilio as if he would never let him go.
“You can ask me to do anything for your birthday.” Emilio licked his bottom lip. He imagined Kaden demanding sex on the hour in various positions and locations.
“I’ll think of a few things for tonight,” Kaden said. “You need to rest today.”
After his bath, Kaden wrapped a towel around him and helped him dress. They sat on the couch in the living room.
“I’m not tired anymore. I’m just depressed over guys trying to hurt me for no damn reason.”
“Remember what I told you about what happened to me?”
“Yes, but no one tries any shit with you anymore. You’re big and buff.”
“Mr. Brooks hit me with a gun. I never saw it coming. I guess he didn’t like us breaking into his house,” Kaden said.
“I hate him. He was the only client who was a mean bastard. Other men paid me because I made them feel good, and they really liked me.”
“You can’t please everyone, but all I care about is you pleasing only me.”
“That’s what I want too. And Marco is out of business?” Emilio asked.
“Yes. Arrested with some of his thugs. The only one left is Rafe’s father, your grandfather. I’d like to take him out. Rafe and I could do it, but Rafe doesn’t want to upset his mother. We’ve talked about it a lot, but we both agreed we didn’t want the drug cartel after us.”
“I love Rafe’s mother. She was always nice to me, but Uncle Sal was always mean. Really mean.” Thoughts of his so-called grandfather made him anxious.
“Did he ever do anything to you other than verbal threats?”
Emilio didn’t know if he should tell Kaden since he’d never told anyone for so many reasons. Uncle Sal had done humiliating things to him that had frightened him. Every once in a while, he would have nightmares about it. He always needed to take a walk when he felt cornered or threatened. That was what had happened to him last night. Probably the handcuffs had triggered it. He hadn’t realized it then. He had to work through it.
“He did, didn’t he?” Kaden asked again.
Emilio trembled, lowering his eyes.
“Tell me. I need to know.” Kaden wrapped him into his loving arms.
“It’s humiliating. Too horrible.”
“Did you tell Rafe about it?”
“No. He told me he’d kill me if I told anyone.”
“You can tell me.” Kaden stroked his hair.
“It’s too embarrassing.”
“I won’t look at you. I’ll keep you in my arms while you tell me, okay?”
“It happened when I was twelve. My mother drove me to Rafe’s house without any notice. I had thought she was taking me to buy new boots. She told me Uncle Sal wanted to talk to me, and she’d pick me up later. I was scared because he was a mean bastard, and he never liked me. Never.”
“Did you ask her why he wanted to talk to you?”
“She told me that when Rafe’s father requested something, you just did it. I didn’t want to go, but she gave me no choice.”
“And then what happened?” Kaden rubbed Emilio’s back.
“As soon as my mother left me there, he told me he knew my secret and that he was going to make me into a real man. He forced me downstairs to the basement. He had dog cages down there. The same ones he’d used to lock Rafe and Mateo in when he punished them. I was so scared because Rafe had told me so many horrible basement stories. He made me take off my clothes. I was so humiliated. Then he tied me to a pole and beat me with his belt.”
“That fucking bastard. I want to fuck him up,” Kaden said.
Emilio relived the beating, blow after blow. He remembered being so exhausted that if he weren’t tied to the pole, he’d have fallen to the floor. He couldn’t stop the belt from hitting his skin.
“He shouted every single homophobic name at me while he whipped me. When I begged him to stop, he taped my mouth shut. I don’t remember when he stopped because I woke up in a cage.”
“That must have been a nightmare. I’m so sorry, Emilio.”
“I feared he’d keep me locked up for days the same way he had done to Rafe and Mateo.”
“I wish I knew this before. I never want to trigger anything from your past.”
Emilio came to with a thudding headache, eyes closed against the dull pain. The back of his head throbbed like someone had taken a hammer to it; he bit out a curse and moved his hand to inspect the damage –except he couldn’t move. Something restrained his arms. When he tried to sit up, he couldn’t move his legs either. He realized his uncle had tied his limbs behind his back with itchy rope. The loud male voice reading Bible verses assaulted his sensitive ears, calling forth a grimace of agony and fear. Steady screaming echoed all around him, but it seemed to come from a single source. The homophobic verses were repeated. He was sure it was a tape recording set on loop. He didn’t want to listen to the preaching words about men lying with men who were sinners that landed you in the bed of hellfire, but he couldn’t cover his ears. The tape around his mouth had disappeared. His uncle must have removed it when he blacked out.
He had no idea how long he had been in the cage. His lips were parched, and his stomach growled. He cracked open his eyes to look for his uncle. Blackness engulfed him. A tremor of panic rocked in his core. He was sightless and restrained. He was as good as dead. That slight shiver increased in intensity, and he silently begged to be free.
He tried to wrench his arms free and felt the rough rope dig into his flesh. He cried out in pain and kept rubbing the bottom of the cage with his wrists. The rubbing chafed his skin, but he was unable to see how much blood there was.
He turned his aching head, which brought on dizziness. He yelled out, a shout mingled with fury and panic. Piss-filled air invaded his nose, causing him to gag. How hadn’t he noticed he was lying in his own piss?
His strength was returning. He drew in one ragged breath after another, inviting t
he foul stench into his nose again. A door opening above him squeaked. Heavy footsteps made their way down the stairs to the basement. The room filled with bright lights. His uncle stood there. He turned off the recording of Bible verses. Was he going to beat him again? Emilio was scared out of his mind.
“Emilio, let this be your final lesson. Men don’t lie with men. If I hear about you fucking around with a man, I’ll take my machete and slice your balls off. Do you understand?” He picked up the shiny machete.
“Yes, Sir,” Emilio said through tears.
His uncle unlocked the cage and cut the rope, freeing him. He pulled him to standing and dragged him to the bathroom, where he ran cold water and threw him into the shower.
“Clean that filth.”
When Emilio was done, his uncle held his machete to his balls.
“One slash and they’re gone. Got it?”
“Don’t. Please.” Emilio couldn’t stop crying.
His uncle forced him to dress and told him not to tell anyone what had happened, or he’d kill him.
Luckily for Emilio, his mother picked him up later that evening. He wanted to tell his father, but he feared his parents had planned his visit to scare the fuck out of him. He’d never told anyone.
Kaden still had him in his arms. “Fuck, Emilio. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Rafe’s father should be tortured and shot.” He held Emilio for a long time until he stopped crying.
Emilio loved everything about Kaden, but what he admired the best about him was his compassion for others, including Emilio. Kaden made everything better, and he knew whenever Emilio was upset and knew how to turn his frown into a smile. Before they had gotten together, Emilio had been very depressed and had no self-confidence. He’d used sex to deal with his problems, or rather to escape them. He had basically hit rock bottom and had been scared to talk about it. Kaden had seen how he was, and he’d changed Emilio’s opinion of himself. Kaden had boosted his confidence, and whenever he was around him, he felt great, especially within the group.
Kaden had taught him never to allow anybody to put him down. He’d pushed Emilio to pursue his dreams of finishing school and not to give up. He’d also showed Emilio how whatever had happened in his past had made him the man he was today. He was stronger and had made friends with the protectees. For the first time, he had good friends who filled his life with happiness and security. He only wished Kaden and Rafe would make up so they could return to the group again.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Kaden
When the doorbell rang, they looked at each other in confusion.
“Who can that be?” Emilio asked as he zipped up his jeans.
“I don’t know,” Kaden said.
Kaden checked the peephole, then opened the door. Of all the people, Rafe was the last person he’d expected to see, but there was something comforting seeing him that made him wish things weren’t as they were. It wasn’t good for Emilio that Rafe and he weren’t talking, and leaving the group just about killed him. Kaden loved being alone with Emilio, but the group was his new family. He knew Emilio had missed living with the other guys as well.
Behind Rafe, stood Alek and the rest of the guys. When they’d spoken last night, Kaden hadn’t told James where they were staying. He side-eyed Emilio as if he wanted to know if he was responsible for their visit. After all, Emilio had been on the phone with Dante, and he might have mentioned it. Emilio simply shrugged.
“Well, are you going to let us in?” Rafe asked.
“What are you all doing here?” Kaden stepped out of the way.
The rest of the group filed into the apartment. Dante, Liam, Anouska, and Alek surrounded Emilio and took turns hugging him.
“Miss you guys,” James said.
“Thanks,” Kaden said.
“You guys need to come back. It’s not the same without you two,” Valerik said.
“I missed you guys too,” Kaden said.
Mateo spoke up, “Emilio belongs with us Escobars.”
“He’s mine now,” Kaden replied. Mateo had always gotten under his skin. He and James often had conversations about him because they didn’t trust him, or Anouska. Those two didn’t belong with the group. It wasn’t because they were a straight couple, but they didn’t care about the rest of the society members. Rafe had wanted to keep an eye on his younger brother, so the rest of them had had no say when they joined. None of them had spoken up to Rafe since he wouldn’t turn his brother away.
Rafe inched closer to Emilio and hugged him. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Some guys jumped me last night. And don’t you blame Kaden! I took a walk around the block while he was sleeping, and these guys threw me down and kicked the fuck out of me.”
Rafe turned to Kaden. “Didn’t you give Emilio any rules?”
“He has rules, but he chose to take a walk when he couldn’t sleep.”
“And you didn’t even hear him leave the bed?” Rafe interrogated Kaden.
“Hey, Rafe. Did you forget when Alek and Dante disappeared on us?” James asked.
“I guess they don’t always listen to us. I told you he needs a close eye. He can’t step out anywhere alone without landing into trouble.”
“That’s not true, Rafe,” Emilio said, extracting himself from Rafe’s arms and moving closer to Kaden.
“I take issue with your analysis of Emilio. He just ran into a bunch of assholes. He had to go to the hospital to be checked out, but the doctor said he was okay,” Kaden said. He was angry about Rafe’s typically accusatory tone in his voice. Of course, he’d blame him for not protecting Emilio. Kaden wanted to tell him off for not raising Emilio and waiting so long to tell him the truth. Rafe certainly wasn’t the right person to tell Kaden how to protect Emilio.
“I trusted you,” Rafe shouted.
“And now you don’t?” Kaden inched closer to Rafe.
“Rafe! Kaden’s the best protector. Stop finding fault with him,” Emilio defended Kaden.
Kaden held Emilio’s hand, almost squeezing too tightly as if he feared they would take Emilio from him. But he wouldn’t let him go. He’d fight them all if he had to. Emilio was staying with him.
“How did you guys know we were here?” Kaden asked.
“Your dad told me,” Rafe said.
“My dad did?” Betrayal by his father stung like a knockout punch to his balls. Why would he have told Rafe?
“I want to talk to you alone,” Rafe said.
“Here or somewhere else?” Kaden asked.
“Somewhere else. I saw a bar nearby.”
“What about Emilio?” Kaden stood beside him.
“Emilio can stay with the group. James can be in charge of him.”
Kaden turned to James and said, “If anything happens to Emilio, I’ll come after you.”
“Kaden! I’m not going to allow anything to happen to him. I know he belongs to you,” James said.
“Are you okay with that?” Kaden asked Emilio.
Emilio nodded and whispered into Kaden’s ear, “Please make up.”
Kaden kissed Emilio on top of his head. He didn’t feel comfortable with everyone staring at them. He had overreacted with his threat to James. He didn’t deserve that shit, and Kaden planned to apologize when they were alone. Of course, James would make sure Emilio would be okay. But he was scared after what had happened last night. He didn’t want to lose Emilio again. He couldn’t take it.
Kaden and Rafe didn’t speak while they walked to the bar down the street. They went inside and sat down in a booth.
“We need to work out our issues,” Rafe said.
The server asked them what they wanted. They both ordered beer on tap. Once the server left, Rafe tilted his head toward Kaden as if he had been waiting for his response. The server returned with their beers before Kaden could answer.
“Things are different now because I’m a full partner. That means we share in the decision-making. Your totalitarian rule ends. I’m no lon
ger a silent partner.” Kaden downed all his beer with three large gulps.
“Totalitarian rule? Come on, Kaden. You never told me you didn’t want to be a silent partner anymore. How the fuck was I supposed to know if you never said shit to me?”
“Oh. Maybe I didn’t tell you. Well, I’m telling you now, especially after my father gave me the cabins in Big Bear. I want to be part of everything.”
“I figured you were okay with that since your father gave them to you. I didn’t think you wouldn’t want to share them with our group.” Rafe waved over the server for refills.
“I don’t mind using the Big Bear cabins for the group. I just wanted to be part of the decision. He signed them over to me for my birthday.”
“That’s right. It’s your birthday today, old man.” Rafe smiled.
The server dropped off their beers and left.
“Thirty-five,” Kaden said.
“Happy birthday, Kaden,” Rafe lifted his drink, and they clinked their beer mugs.
“Thanks.”
“Talk to me about San Diego,” Rafe said. “I want to understand why you had to do that.”
“We were in California, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity.”
“And everything we had agreed on before we opened the Gay Protection Society meant nothing to you?”
“I had to erase all threats for Emilio. I already told you I knew you wouldn’t approve.”
“Maybe if you’d presented solid reasons to me, but you and Valerik went behind my back. I don’t give a fuck if you thought you were a full partner or a silent one. We don’t do shit like that. Unless someone is an immediate threat, there is no reason to take any action. That’s not what we stand for. We aren’t the gay vigilante society. Look at all the shit that happened with the shootout with the gang members. You guys could have gotten life sentences. I just don’t get how you could do that right after jail and court. Your father can get you out of a lot of shit, but one day he might not be here.”
“I agree with our original rules, but this was personal for me. I probably shouldn’t have taken Valerik. It was something I wanted to do for Emilio.”
