Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Beautiful.”
David inclined his head. “He’s also loyal and hardworking, a good cook—”
“Who wouldn’t want him?”
David cracked a smile. “Exactly.”
I had a nasty feeling I knew where this was going.
“He wanted someone convenient, someone who would be there at night, who could be counted on to be by his side when he attended a firm function, but securing Jeremy’s loyalty didn’t stop him from—”
“Sleeping around.” I wanted to find this guy and make him pay.
“Not just sleeping around. That would be bad enough. I knew something was going on, and I told Jeremy to confront the bastard, but he was comfortable and determined to actually hold on to a relationship when he’d never been good at dating.”
I was growing impatient. “What happened?”
“Silas wanted a promotion. He applied for a position at another firm, but the senior attorneys there are very conservative. When he found a woman willing to be his new prize, he declared he wasn’t really gay. He said being with Jeremy helped him see that it was a depraved lifestyle. He walked out on Jeremy and got engaged.”
“Fucking bastard.” I was going to take Silas apart. Piece by piece.
“That we agree on,” David said.
“Where is he?”
David smiled. “I sympathize with your desire to rip his head off, but Jeremy would kill both of us if I sent you after him.”
My rage had blinded me to everything else, but suddenly, David’s motive for telling me about Silas clicked. He was comparing me to that bastard Silas. “Do you really think I would fuck Jeremy over like that? Because if you do—”
David held up a hand. “I didn’t say that.”
“You wanted to.”
He shook his head. “No.”
The word was emphatic, and it made me want to listen. If David used that tone in court, no wonder he was so successful.
“You’re right that I don’t really know you, but everything I do know, and the things Jeremy has told me say you’re nothing like Silas. What you are is scared.”
I bristled. “Be careful.” Don’t start a fight. Jeremy might not forgive me for knocking David out.
“You’re scared to be who you really are.”
How could I argue with that? Even if the words did make me want to hit something, preferably David. “I’m gay. I’m not going to decide I’m straight and leave him.”
David raised a brow. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been with a woman, and I never plan to be. I just…” Can’t disappoint the man who found me in that stinking, dark cave. The one who stopped the torture.
Don’t go there. Please don’t go there.
“I don’t have to justify myself to you.”
“True, but if you force Jeremy to keep up the secret-lovers routine you’re going to hurt him. Not in the same way Silas did—I don’t think you’d be deliberately cruel—but the result would still involve me picking up the pieces.”
I wasn’t sure what I would have said, but Sabrina called out to us, interrupting me. It was a relief not to have to find an answer.
“There you are,” she said when she saw us on the porch. “David, you’re not harassing Connor, are you? I told you I’d trust him with my life.”
"Yes, I know,” David said.
Sabrina glanced at me. I gave her a half smile, trying to tell her I was okay. She returned the nod and focused back on David. “You still want a ride home?”
“Sure. You ready?”
A ride home. Was that all it would be, or was Sabrina going to sleep with him?
“Sabrina.” I wanted to talk to her alone, but I’d likely set off more criticism from David.
“I should go help Jeremy in the kitchen,” David said, more perceptive than I thought he’d be.
“What are you doing?” I asked after David had gone back inside.
Sabrina frowned. “Taking David home. Why?”
I shook my head. “That’s a terrible idea.”
“Look, if my brother had his way, I wouldn’t even speak to men. I don’t listen to him, and I’m not going to listen to you. I like David.”
I sighed. “I don’t.”
“He’s protecting Jeremy like you’re trying to protect me.”
I hated that she was right, so I ignored it. “I promised your brother I’d look after you.”
“There’s a lot my brother doesn’t know, and that’s for the best in my case. For you two, the time has come for a serious conversation.”
I shook my head. “I can’t disappoint him.”
“You’re not a disappointment to anyone. If that asshole can’t see how lucky he is to have you for a friend, it’s his loss. For God’s sake, you saved his life. That should give you some leeway.”
Her words confused me. “You mean he saved me.”
Surprise showed in her eyes. “That’s not how he tells it.”
What had Mario been telling her? Mario wouldn’t have talked to her about the mission that had gone straight to hell, would he? “I was captured, and he rescued me.”