by A J Sherwood
The lawyer was visibly pissed. “Actually, Harris, that fits the definition of physical abuse. At the very least it’s false imprisonment. Thanks to the contract, I now have proof of financial abuse as well, since he clearly wasn’t paying you for the work. I think we can also make a sound case for mental abuse. If we provide evidence of all of this, and tack it onto the motion against the contract, I think we’ll have a very strong case.” John paused and looked them over carefully. “That said, this won’t be cheap. Or quick. Even if you win, you might not get much of a settlement, although I’ll ask for damages. Do you want to try mediating this first and see if you can get him to accept a partial penalty fee?”
Harris shook his head and finally looked back up. “He won’t accept it. It’s not money he wants.”
“I had a feeling you would say that. On the off chance you’re wrong, would you be willing to pay the penalty fee?”
“Yes,” Aleks agreed immediately.
Harris made an undignified sound, like a stepped-on mouse. “Aleks! I don’t have that kind of money!”
“It’s fine, I do.” Aleks waved the concern away. “I’ll pay it, if it means the bastard will leave you alone.”
Harris spluttered, his eyes wide as saucers. “I don’t expect you to—”
Impatient with the argument already, Aleks twisted in his chair and caught Harris by the nape of the neck, locking their eyes together. He emphasized every word as it came out of his mouth. “I. Do. Not. Care. About. The. Fucking. Money. You are worth a hundred times that. Am I clear on this, bem?”
Harris’s mouth opened and closed several times, but words were apparently a lost cause just then. He looked as if Aleks had just said something remarkable, like he’d just granted some wish, and Aleks felt his own heartstrings pull painfully in response. God, no one should look like that when being told he was worth the trouble. There was no belief in his eyes, just doubt, as if he couldn’t comprehend what Aleks had said. Didn’t Harris understand just how much Aleks adored him? That there was very little he wouldn’t do in order to see him happy?
If he didn’t, then shame on Aleks. He’d not done enough to show it, not said enough to erase any doubts from Harris’s mind. That was on him. After this, he’d do everything in his power to correct it. Without looking away from Harris, Aleks repeated, “John, if he demands the penalty fee to break the contract, I’ll pay it. But we don’t think he’ll actually go for it.”
“If you’re up for the battle, I certainly am,” John returned. The attorney had a smile in his voice that brought the image of sharks and blood in the water to mind.
Dropping his hand, Aleks turned back, although he kept one of Harris’s hands in his. “What do we need to do to start with?”
They signed an agreement with the lawyer, put down the deposit, and Harris gave him all the necessary contact info to reach his parents. He still acted jittery, words struggling to burst free to the surface. Harris held them in check until they were in the elevator, the doors barely sliding shut, and then they tumbled free all at once.
“If he does take it, I’ll pay you back. I’ll pay you back for the attorney’s fees too—”
Aleks put a staying hand over his mouth, the fingers light but enough to stop Harris mid-sentence. “Don’t worry about it. I mean that, Harris. If you really want to pay me back, fine, but don’t stress about it. To me, you are worth the trouble.” Since that didn’t seem to sink in, Aleks repeated it, gently this time. “You’re worth it.”
Harris stared back at him, once again speechless, his eyes a touch too bright.
The elevator doors chimed as they opened. “Come on, bem. We’ve had a very long day. Let’s go home.”
Harris
Harris wasn’t entirely sure, but he was fairly certain he was in a coma. Or maybe he’d eaten the wrong mushroom and was hallucinating. Yeah, that was possible; he ate stuffed mushrooms sometimes. Either of those possibilities seemed more realistic than what he was living through right now.
Logically, he was aware the whole reason for the marriage to begin with was to give Aleks the legal right to speak on his behalf. To protect and help him. But emotionally, Harris didn’t know how to accept anything that had happened today. The family get-together, and the hand holding, and the hugs, and unconditional support. That intense, heartfelt declaration: You’re worth it. Just remembering gave him shivers. The good kind.
Seriously, if someone didn’t know better, they’d think he and Aleks were legitimately married. That this whole thing wasn’t fake.
The man really had to ease up. Harris was already on the verge of becoming a gooey mess because of Aleks as it was. Any more, and he’d become a puddle of sap.
So, naturally, Aleks insisted they share the bed.
Harris had never, in his entire life, shared a bed with anyone else. To say it was a new experience was a gross understatement. He really wanted to protest, maybe sleep on the couch, but Aleks was right—his couch was not the sort to sleep on. And unless Harris was willing to sleep on the floor—which Aleks wouldn’t stand for—he was stuck.
Unlike in a romance novel, Aleks stayed properly on his side of the bed. He laid curled on his side, facing Harris, his breathing slow and deep. He looked utterly peaceful, warm and touchable. The allure of touching him, even casually, took hold of Harris’s mind. Nothing major, just brush strands of soft black hair from his forehead. That’s all he wanted to do. Maybe catch his hand and let his own fingers rest against his palm.
Could anyone stand lying chastely next to their crush without trying to touch them? Harris certainly couldn’t. He gravitated towards the other man, inching across the sheets by degrees. He wouldn’t do anything. Harris just wanted to be a little closer. This foot gap between them was unacceptable. Twelve inches was a lot of space, okay? Too much to be borne.
Their hands brushed, the most gentle caress of skin, and he settled with a sigh. They lay close enough to touch now, although they didn’t. The proximity sent Harris’s blood racing for a moment, his heartbeat spiking. He might be simple, but just this made him happy. He wasn’t too selfish to want this, right? Having Aleks warm and close.
Harris deliberately closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, trying to sleep. It was a little hard. As much as he liked having Aleks nearby, the other man’s breathing and the shift of the mattress under him was distracting. Harris couldn’t get his mind to shut off.
A strong arm wrapped around his waist and hauled him in the remaining distance. Harris let out an undignified meep as he found himself abruptly half-on Aleks’s broad chest.
"Be good," Aleks muttered, voice thick with sleep. "Sleep soon."
Was he properly awake or not? Harris thought about trying to pull free but really, this was so much better, having permission to cuddle. He bit his bottom lip but slowly relaxed, trusting his body weight into the cradle of Aleks’s arms. The other man sighed, sounding content, and then his breathing became borderline snores. Definitely asleep now, if he wasn’t before.
For some reason, that made Harris smile. He shifted his head to a more comfortable angle on Aleks’s shoulder, eyes sliding shut of their own accord.
A ring of a phone woke him. Strangely enough, it was the Men in Black song mixed in with an actual ringtone, but why…oh wait. He knew that ringtone. He’d heard it before. Harris gradually opened his eyes and took in the dim interior of an unfamiliar room. Where…? Oh, right. Aleks. Something warm was under and around him. He lifted his head a few inches and then startled.
Aleks?!
Uh…. The memories of yesterday came flooding back in a quick flash. Right, it was perfectly normal to—no, the word normal might be pushing it. But he was now awake enough to realize it was Aleks’s phone ringing. Reaching across his sleeping husband, he picked up the phone, pulling it free of the charging cable even as he tried to roust Aleks. “Aleks? Aleks, wake up, your phone’s ringing.”
Aleks flopped and groaned, much like a beached seal, and fumbled with one ha
nd that didn’t come anywhere near the phone. Trying to speed the process along, Harris thumbed ‘accept’ and then put the phone next to Aleks’s ear.
“Wha,” Aleks grunted.
Connie’s voice came through clearly. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. I want you at work early, we’ve got things to tackle today.”
Aleks growled and inflected upward at the end, the noise transformed into a caveman’s approximation of a question.
“The PI wants to talk to Harris. Meeting’s at noon, okay? Why do I have the feeling you’re not listening to me.”
“Sleepy,” Aleks murmured. “Let me sleep a little longer, okay?”
In a spurt of coordination, he pulled Harris back into him, then rolled so he could pillow his head against Harris’s chest. It reversed their earlier position completely. Harris gasped and wriggled as he was abruptly hauled into position, finding himself flat on his back with no clear memory of how exactly it had happened.
“Bastard just went back to sleep, didn’t he. Harris?”
Harris still had a grip on the phone and he lifted it to his own ear. “Uh, hi. Yeah, he’s back asleep. Help? I’m totally pinned.”
Connie cackled like some drunken gnome. “Oh are you now. Share a bed, did we?”
Even though she couldn’t see him, Harris turned brilliantly red. He couldn’t see it himself, but his face felt scorching hot.
She didn’t need an answer. Silence was enough to confirm it. She cackled again, more wicked witch this time. “Alright, I’ll be there shortly. Maybe you’ll get lucky and wake him up before I get there.”
The words were clear, if unsaid: I’m not holding my breath, though.
Harris let the phone hang up, setting it beside him on the mattress. He regarded the man dead asleep on top of him with something like bemusement, maybe a touch of panic, a sprinkle of consternation on top. Harris had absolutely no faith he could shift dead weight. Did that mean he’d be stuck here until the man woke up?
Harris
Because Connie was mean, clever, and ruthless, she got Aleks awake on the first try. Harris escaped into the en-suite bathroom for a shower, taking clothes with him, leaving Aleks alone to talk with his business partner. She knew better than to start any sort of conversation with him and just patted him on the head before skipping back out of the room. “I’ll get the coffee started~”
Aleks grunted, eyes still mostly closed. Coffee. He heard a shower running and some part of his hind brain suggested a shower would also be a good idea. Grumbling, he stripped off his shirt, staggering like a drunk for the door. He hit it square on, then flinched back, surprised it was closed. That door was never closed. No need, he lived alone. No wait. He had a husband now. Right, no longer living alone. That thought brought a smile on his face.
Turning the knob, he stifled a yawn with the other hand, continuing his staggered pace inside. Shower, then coffee—
A yelp from the shower brought his head up and he blearily stared through the clear glass door. His brain, which had only been at a ten percent boot, suddenly came completely online. Harris was clearly framed in the glass, semi in profile, looking back at him with an expression reminiscent of a deer in headlights.
On instinct, Aleks shot back through the door and slammed it shut. “Sorry!”
Harris laughed, fortunately, sounding genuinely amused. “It’s okay. You awake now?”
“Mostly, yeah. I’m—coffee. Yeah. Coffee.” God yes, coffee. Aleks’s mind, being an unhelpful punk, replayed that five second perusal in intricate detail. The steam and water had not disguised anything, not any part of lovely skin, so pale from being indoors all the time. For all that he was skinny, Harris had a nice ass, too. Aleks firmly yanked his mind off the image.
What would it be like to have his hands on all that warm skin? To be able to just walk in and join Harris in the shower? Would Harris turn to him, smile in greeting, gesture him in?
Aleks took hold of this mental train of thought and derailed it sharply. No. Stop fantasizing. It likely wasn’t even feasible, anyway; Harris was shy. They’d have to be very comfortable to reach that stage. No, more likely he’d give him a shy smile and blush while stepping back, giving Aleks the room to come in—
Aleks very firmly stopped imagining the shower scenario with the knowledge if he didn’t, he’d get himself all worked up, and he had no way of taking care of the consequences right now with a full apartment. Worse, he had Connie as a witness. Just the idea of Connie was more effective than a cold shower.
Coffee.
He went from bedroom to his galley kitchen, discovering Connie had not only started the coffee maker, but put two bagels into the toaster. Some days, he really did love this woman. She handed him a full mug with an arched eyebrow, eyes laughing. Of course she’d heard enough to figure out he’d blundered into the bathroom. Dammit, the woman had bat ears.
Mercifully, she decided to spare him. Connie leaned up against the counter, sipping at her own mug. “So? How are things?”
“Lawyer says we have a very strong case and he’s already putting a lawsuit into motion. We will try to offer the penalty fee as a first attempt, as he said it might very well be cheaper and easier, if Vanlandingham will take it.”
“You don’t think he will.”
“Harris is one hundred percent certain he won’t. I agree with that assessment. The man’s greedy and controlling. He wants his son back, nothing else. Still, the lawyer advised to try. It’ll look good in the eyes of a judge that we at least tried to mediate this first.”
“Got it. And the reason why you sent out that email last night, asking for a volunteer to guard our boy? Is that a general precaution, or is there something you haven’t read me in on?”
“General precaution. Some of what Harris told me…” Aleks trailed off, not wanting to repeat it. The words tasted vile in the back of his throat. “The man’s abusive and controlling. I don’t think he’d hesitate to send someone to hurt Harris. Or kidnap him.”
“Hmm. I see. I’ll have everyone on high alert, then.” Connie took another sip of her coffee and Aleks knew that look. His partner was thinking at the speed of light, and it involved mayhem. Connie was one scary woman when she set her mind to it. Aleks, in this case, was all for whatever she was planning.
Harris came into the kitchen, hair still damp, in work clothes of slacks and a nice sweater. He looked perfectly edible, in fact. Aleks had to clamp down on the instinct to go over and kiss him good morning.
“What are we talking about?” Harris inquired, heading for the coffee pot.
“Security for you,” Connie informed him. “Gary volunteered to guard you. Well, everyone in the company did, but Gary won the draw to do it first. The guys will take it in shifts.”
Harris paused and looked at them both. He appeared touched by the offer, torn between being pleased and afraid of imposing. “But that means they’re off the clock, right?”
“It won’t be loss of income for anyone,” Connie assured him patiently. “We’ll put it down as training in the books, it’ll be fine.”
“Oh. That’s good. Um, I’ll thank everyone.”
“Do that,” Connie approved. “Now, I have another thought I want to run by you. Harris. Long-term, do you think your father will ever give up?”
“He’s had a full year to find another main coder, or form a team of coders, but hasn’t. Didn’t even try. His company is slowly sliding downhill and yet his sole focus has been finding me.” Harris shook his head, fists curling into themselves against the counter. “No. I don’t think he’ll ever fully give up. He’s too controlling for that.”
“I ran a report and did a little digging about VanTech and your family. I can’t say you’re wrong. Which is why I thought of a way to undermine his power base.” Connie’s mayhem-is-imminent expression came fully to the surface. “That security program you wrote for our company. How viable is that for commercial sale?”
Harris’s head came up sharply. He was slow to respond,
thinking more aloud. “In its present form, not really. There’s a few things I did too custom for us to make it easily applicable to other companies.”
“How easy would it be for you to tweak it to make it commercially viable?”
“Wouldn’t actually be difficult. Three, maybe four days of consistent work? It’s more I have to trim a few protocols than anything. And of course I’d have to beta test it for a good three weeks afterwards. Connie, you’re not suggesting—”
“Declawing the lion? That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Connie smiled, and it was a smile reminiscent of torturers and Inquisitions. “It’s a very easy, three step plan. First, create an ‘update’ for the VanTech software so a message shows on the screen that the software is no longer being supported. Two, make your version commercially available and reveal yourself as the former coder for VanTech Security. Three, offer a fifty percent discount to anyone who had VanTech software and wishes to switch to yours.”
Aleks could only stare at her. That was evil. Ingenious, of course, and perfectly wicked. “My god. You’d destroy his company in a matter of months. People aren’t pleased with him as it is, as there’s been no updates or improvements on the software in over a year. Once they hear the full story of why, they’ll jump ship without a second thought.”
A brilliant, breath-taking smile lit up Harris’s face. It was inspiration and hope all mixed into one, lighting him up brighter than a noon sun. “Connie, I could kiss you.”
“Don’t, you’ll make your husband jealous,” she teased. “I take it you two like my plan?”
“I’m tempted to kiss you too,” Aleks informed her. “It’s brilliant. I didn’t think of using Harris’s software. I really should have.”
“You’ve had too much on your plate,” she responded. “It would have come to you two eventually, I’m sure. Well, maybe not you, Harris. You’re not a devious thinker.”
