Between the Covers

by Louisa Masters

  Worst of all had been that everyone in the household noticed. The tension between the adult male and his by then six-year-old son had been palpable, and his mother had begged her sister for help finding a solution. So Malik had moved to France to be raised with his cousin and receive a European education—which would ostensibly assist when he took his place in his father’s business.

  But for all his father’s hardheadedness, he loved his family and firmly believed in the concept of it. That was what hurt so much right now. Not just that he was willing to essentially uninvite his nephew from a family event, but that he was putting Malik in such a difficult position. The world knew that Léo was not just his cousin, but his best friend—like a brother to him, in many ways more than his actual brothers. How could his father expect him to be the tool of such a blow?

  “If he had any respect for family, for the fact that this should be a joyous day for Houria, he would never have even dreamed of asking this of me,” Malik insisted. “He would welcome you and Ben. Houria and Ben have connected on social media—how will she feel if you and he don’t come to her wedding? Father hasn’t stopped to consider anyone’s feelings but his own, and his own are petty, homophobic, and a disgrace to our family.” He stopped and took a deep breath. He’d known how angry he was about the situation, of course, but the habit he’d formed of dodging his father’s calls had morphed into dodging all thoughts and conversations about the wedding. Ranting about it felt… good. He was still angry, still felt frustrated and impotent over the whole issue, but putting his feelings into words had eased some of the pressure on his chest.

  “Yes,” Léo said quietly. “It pains me to say it, but Uncle’s actions disappoint us all. He and I have never been close, you know, but it… it still hurts, what he’s doing. Part of me wants to bring Ben to the wedding and every party and gathering before and after, to hold his hand and kiss him in public and flaunt our relationship as loudly and crassly as possible. It would serve him right, yes?”

  Yes! But even as part of him surged triumphantly at the idea of rubbing his father’s face in his own prejudice, he knew that could never happen. It wasn’t fair to his sister, who was so excited about her wedding. It wasn’t fair to Ben, to drag him into a hostile family situation. And it wasn’t fair to Léo, who had never been publicly demonstrative. It wouldn’t change anything, either, and after the initial satisfaction, there would probably be a series of confrontations, awkwardness, and all manner of other problems to deal with.

  In the end, nobody would win, and everybody would be miserable.

  “It’s not right,” he said, a last-ditch protest, but they both knew he’d conceded the point.

  “I know.”

  They sat in silence for long moments. Malik struggled with his decision—he wanted to see Houria married, but going without Léo didn’t just feel like conceding a victory to his father, it would also leave him without a buffer. His father would be busy playing host for most of the week, but he would find time to tell Malik—in detail—what a disappointment he was. And his brothers…. One was a decent man, although they had little in common, but the other was a shadow of their father and could only be tolerated in short stints within groups.

  “I’ll be thirty-one soon,” he said finally. “I suppose I should learn to deal with my family without needing a bodyguard.”

  Léo snorted. “You’ve never needed a bodyguard,” he corrected. “The problem has never been that you’re afraid to deal with them, it’s that you don’t want to offend them. You’re so worried about damaging the already tenuous relationship you already have that you avoid speaking to them about anything important—and the best way to do that is to always have someone with you.”

  Malik felt like he’d been punched. He’d never thought of it that way, but Léo was right. It was so much easier to keep contact between him and his family light—to avoid anything important for fear it might lead to questions like how could you just let me go and why don’t you love me like you do the others. He loved his life, and he’d loved growing up in France with Léo as his constant companion. If given the chance to go back and change things, he wouldn’t. But that didn’t mean part of him didn’t still wonder how his parents had so easily parted with him. After he’d moved to France, he’d seen his family on average perhaps twice a year. Given their wealth, that was an astoundingly low incidence. As an adult, he much preferred to maintain an easygoing and irregular contact with his sisters and tolerable brother, with a regular duty call to his mother, than to institute a closer relationship with any of them and discover that the reason for such distance during his childhood had been down to him.

  Or worse—if he built closer ties with his siblings now, he may be subjected to reminiscences of the family time he hadn’t been a part of. Uncle Charles and Aunt Miryam had treated him as their own, and he had his own trove of “family” memories… but it wasn’t really the same.

  He sucked in a deep breath. Léo was right, but he was also wrong. It wasn’t fear of damaging existing relationships that compelled Malik to bring a buffer along when he went back to Saudi Arabia—or at least, not just that. He feared any change to those relationships, anything that might drag up his emotional insecurities.

  But he’d never say so out loud. It was bad enough he’d just admitted it to himself.

  “I suppose I’ll just have to practice my diplomacy, then,” he replied to Léo. “I won’t let Houria down by not attending her wedding.” The moment he said the words, a weight lifted from his chest. It was immediately replaced by the weight of dread, but at least he knew he’d made the right decision. “And you and Ben can have a barrel of scotch waiting for me when I get back.” Because it would be wrong for him to insist that Léo and Ben be subjected to his father’s hate.

  “We will,” Léo said gravely, then, “Thank you.”

  Malik huffed a sigh, then snorted a laugh. “Okay, I think I’m done with the melodrama for now.” He heaved himself up from the Chesterfield and strolled over to the cabinet where Léo kept the alcohol. “Too early for a drink?” he asked by rote, selecting a bottle of Lillet.

  “It’s afternoon,” Léo said, “and we’ve just waded through heavy personal issues. I think a drink is appropriate.”

  Malik glanced back over his shoulder. “And if we hadn’t?”

  His cousin grinned at him. “It’s afternoon, isn’t it?” A moment later, he accepted the glass Malik handed him. “You know, you won’t be completely without a shield at the wedding,” he commented. “My parents are attending—and Gabriel and Celine.”

  “True,” Malik conceded, and took a sip from his glass. “And as I recall, Celine was quite offended when she heard you and Ben weren’t going to be welcome.”

  “She was,” Léo agreed. “She would never dream of causing a scene, but she’s exquisitely gifted at impeccably polite snubs.”

  Sinking back onto the couch, Malik smiled. His father would never disgrace himself by insulting a female relative, especially if her behavior was within the boundaries of socially acceptable. Perhaps this wedding wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

  Dani flopped down on her bed in Léo and Ben’s Monaco apartment, thinking that it was good to be home—and wasn’t that a trip, that she was thinking of Monaco as home? Still, it was her base of operations for her European travels, so it made sense.

  The last few weeks had been frantically busy, but amazing. She got it now, why so many young Aussies spent time working in Europe. It was a completely different life experience to Australia. She was rather tempted to look into getting a job here herself and sticking around, but….

  But what? Again she reminded herself that there was no pressing reason for her to go back to Australia anytime soon. Sure, she’d miss her family, but it wasn’t like she’d never see them again—they could Skype or FaceTime regularly. She’d probably end up talking to them more than usual. Her little house wouldn’t really be an issue either—her cousin had been talking about how great it was t
o be out of home and could probably be talked into renting the place from her.

  Ben knocked once on the doorframe and then came in and dropped onto the bed beside her. “Happy to be back?”

  She rolled her head to the side and grinned at him. “Yep. It’s been amazing, but I’m ready for some lazy days.”

  “Lazy days are the best,” he mumbled, eyes closed, and Dani chuckled. He could say whatever he wanted, but give him more than a few days of inactivity and he would be climbing the walls. They were the same in that respect.

  “I’m surprised you’re not still cuddling with Léo,” she said idly, and he waved a hand.

  “He had to take a call.” Léo had returned to Monaco the day before, which Dani thought was suspiciously convenient timing—he was back in good time to see Ben but didn’t have to join them on their tourist explorations. When she’d said as much to Ben, he’d given her a bland look and asked if she was surprised.

  “How’d it go at the estate?” She hadn’t bothered to ask when she’d greeted Léo upon arrival, choosing instead to go to her room as soon as possible to give him and Ben time together.

  Ben sighed and rolled to his side, opening his eyes. “Fine, I guess. If there was a real problem, he’d still be there.” He propped himself up on an elbow and narrowed his gaze. “You’re plotting something.”

  Damn that best friend intuition. “Not really,” Dani hedged, but his disbelieving glare was immediate. “Well, not plotting, exactly. I was just considering getting a job and living in Europe for a year or two.”

  Ben sat up so fast he nearly fell off the bed. “Yes! Definitely, you should do that. I’ll help you look!” He was on his feet and halfway to the door before she could blink.

  “Benji, wait! I’m only thinking about it right now.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she realized how ridiculous they were.

  He paused. “Why? What’s holding you back?” The challenge in his tone was highlighted by an annoyingly raised eyebrow. She wanted to yank it off his face. Were all best friends so irritating?

  Defensive, much? The only time she really, truly found Ben annoying was when he was right about something.

  She sighed. “Nothing, I guess,” she admitted, and his face lit up.

  “Yesssssss! Come on, let’s go call an employment agency,” he urged. “The one that finds me nursing work has other departments.”

  Dani bit her lip. “Actually, I was thinking I’d probably settle in Paris or London,” she ventured.

  And the battle began.

  Malik rang the doorbell perfunctorily and then let himself into Léo and Ben’s apartment. He’d been assured many times that he was welcome to use his key whenever and come and go as he pleased, but he always rang the bell to give warning. Several times he’d been greeted by Léo’s shout to wait in the living room—once, to wait at the café down the street. He still teased them both about that one.

  This time, he was met with shouting—but it wasn’t Léo and wasn’t aimed at him. In fact, his cousin stood in the entrance hall, clearly listening to the, er, enthusiastic conversation in the living room but making no move to join it. Malik closed the door and went to join him.

  “What is it?” He kept his voice low, but Léo still raised a finger to his lips.

  “They’ve been arguing for an hour, at least,” he murmured, and Malik felt a stab of admiration. It took real dedication and stubbornness to maintain a shouting fight for that long. He nearly asked Léo what they were arguing about but decided to listen instead.

  “—so stupid you make my teeth ache! This has nothing to do with you—I’m trying to be practical. How many times do I need to tell you? Should I use small words or speak slowly so you’ll understand?” That was Dani, screeching.

  “Hah! Don’t bother—I don’t need to hear you make crap up. All you need to say is that you don’t want to be here, Dani—treat me with at least that much respect!” Ben, injecting every ounce of melodrama he could harness into his words. Malik nearly burst into tears from his tragic tone alone.

  “This. Is. Not. About. YOU!”

  “EVERYTHING is about me!”

  Silence.

  Then they both burst into hysterical laughter. Malik shot Léo a glance and found his confusion mirrored on his cousin’s face.

  “Everything is about you?” Dani sounded like she might be crying from laughter. Ben was gasping for breath, not even bothering to answer.

  Léo raised a brow at Malik and tipped his head toward the door, and Malik nodded. He was willing to take the risk to find out what was going on.

  In the living room, Ben and Dani were sprawled haphazardly on the couch, tears streaming down their faces as they slowly brought their laughter under control. Léo took a seat in one of the armchairs and leveled a steady gaze at them, while Malik chose to stand on the other side of the coffee table, arms crossed, waiting to find out what the hell was going on.

  Eventually the pair of them settled enough to actually notice that Malik and Léo were there.

  “Oh, hey.” Ben sat up and beamed at his lover. “Finished your call?”

  Léo pointedly glanced at his watch. “About an hour ago.”

  “Why didn’t you come find me? Hey, Malik, when did you get here?”

  Léo sighed and shook his head, but Malik laughed and went to sit in one of the other chairs.

  “What were you two talking about?” he asked with open, bald-faced curiosity.

  Dani groaned.

  “Dani’s going to get a job and stay here in Europe for a while,” Ben explained. “But she doesn’t love me enough to stay in Monaco.”

  “Ben.” Dani sighed. “Be reasonable. Monaco isn’t that big. Even if there’s a job going that fits my skill set, and I manage to get it, it won’t pay enough for me to live here. I’d still have to live in France.”

  “You are always welcome to stay with us, Dani,” Léo said politely, and she smiled at him.

  “That’s sweet, Léo, but not fair to any of us long-term. The truth that Ben just doesn’t want to accept is that it’s far more practical for me to look for a job and an apartment in Paris or London—or even Nice. I’d still be so much closer than if I was in Australia, and I wouldn’t have to be a leech or deal with the sky-high prices here.”

  Ben pouted. “But you still wouldn’t be here,” he protested. “Sure, we’d be able to catch up more often, but it wouldn’t be every day, and realistically, it wouldn’t even be every week. It’s more likely to end up being once a monthish.”

  “Which is still a lot more than if I went home,” Dani pointed out in a tone that made Malik think it wasn’t the first time—or the fifth. “Plus we’ll be in the same time zone, or so close that it won’t matter. We’ll be able to call or text all the time without having to calculate the time difference.”

  She was being logical and rational, Malik recognized, but he could tell by the look on Ben’s face that it didn’t matter—and he understood. A tiny part of him, the part he’d pushed deep down and ignored for the past month, the part that still thought maybe he and Dani could have something, was urging him to support Ben’s arguments and find a way to keep Dani close at hand.

  “You don’t know anyone in England,” Ben insisted stubbornly, “and you only really know Si and Lucien in Paris.”

  “So I’ll make new friends.” This time, Dani sounded less certain.

  “And we know people in London and Paris,” Léo interjected, the voice of reason. “There’s time to introduce her to people. She still needs to arrange for a work visa before any of this can be put into place.”

  Ben and Dani simultaneously shook their heads.

  “I’m an EU citizen,” she said. “Well, technically a Croatian citizen, but that means EU now. Oh—I guess London’s not really an easy option anymore. I forgot about Brexit.”

  Malik blinked. “What?” Léo looked just as surprised—it was clearly news to him also.

  She looked at him and shrugged. “My dad
was born in Croatia and migrated to Australia when he was a child. When my sibs and I were teenagers and Croatia applied to enter the EU, he decided it would be smart to get us citizenship. Since he’s a Croatian citizen by birth, we were entitled to apply. So we did.”

  “Okay,” Léo said. “So there’s nothing stopping you from getting a job this afternoon and living in Europe for the rest of your life.”

  “You can work for me,” Malik blurted.

  Three pairs of eyes turned to him.

  “What?” Dani and Ben asked in unison. Léo stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had.

  Oh hell. What did I just do?

  “Work for you doing what?” Ben demanded, sounding bewildered. “What…. Do you work?”

  Malik looked to Léo for help but got only a rueful shake of the head. Now that Ben knew Malik worked, he wouldn’t rest until he knew details.

  “An assistant,” he admitted. He’d let the cat out of the bag, and now there was no help for it but to share his biggest secret.

  Oh my God.

  He leaned back in the chair, suddenly unable to sit up straight.

  “Are you all right?” Dani asked in concern. “You’ve gone dead pale.”