Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Maybe because he understood. Gael lived and breathed history almost as much as I did—and I looked like a fool every time I thought back on the day I’d told him we’d probably never be on the same page in life.
I closed my own book and took a sip of my coffee. No use in pretending to read. I just wanted to sit here and revel until we had to go. I checked my watch—roughly an hour. Then we had dinner at KC and Lucian’s house.
I combed my fingers through Gael’s hair, and he kissed my knee and grinned to himself as he turned another page.
Surely it was too soon to believe I was in love, but…fifty-four years on this planet, and I was utterly clueless on the matter. I could only claim that everything just felt so fucking right that I was torn between wanting to freeze time and push forward to experience more of Gael and Joshua. They had my chest in a vise.
Almost as if he knew I was thinking about him, Gael rested his chin on my kneecap and peered up at me.
I smiled and confirmed it to myself—yes, it was too soon to speak those three words out loud, but I felt them. I felt them within, and I felt them from him. We were on the same page after all.
“My beautiful boy.” I stroked his cheek.
He beamed. “I could say the same about you! Only, Daddy instead of boy. And Owner and Master and Professor.”
I chuckled.
There was that feeling again. As we walked up to Lucian’s house, part of me wanted to head back to Joshua’s place, while the other part was very much looking forward to the evening with our friends. Cam and Gael had plans to bake pies after dinner. Noa was off rehearsing with his band—I’d learned he was a drummer—so he’d join us later. Joshua and KC were going to pick each other’s brains about a future interrogation scene, and I had more catching up to do with Lucian.
It was a very nice house. One part old, one part modern. They’d remodeled last year, and now the indoor pool area was encased in glass instead of brick so that they could open up in the summer. It was the perfect place for KC’s rehab training. He had to work out every day in order the keep the strength he had left in his legs.
Gael scurried up toward the main entrance along the short end of the house, and he rang the doorbell. “Hurry, Daddies!”
“Are we in a rush, little one?” Joshua chuckled and slipped his hand into mine.
I gave it a squeeze.
Cam opened the door as we reached Gael, and KC and Lucian weren’t far behind. The boys were excited to see each other, though Cam’s focus remained on being Lucian’s slave. The boy offered to take our coats and told us there were welcome drinks in the den.
Gael observed every move Cam made, and it was a wonderful part of my boy’s journey to follow. He was finding his way, turning it into his own path, with a unique twist that was all him, and it just made me love—yes, love. Goddammit, I loved him.
After a terrific dinner, the “grown-ups” got some privacy once Cam and Gael had cleared the table and served coffee and treats. We stayed in the dining room, and they retreated to the kitchen for their next activity.
I’d offered to drive so Joshua could share a bottle of wine with KC and Lucian, and now they moved on to cognac and whiskey.
I was more interested in the chocolate-covered Madeleines that Cam had prepared.
I dipped one in my coffee as KC and Joshua chatted about work. More importantly, cutting down on work. Another development that filled me with more pleasure than I could describe. Joshua wanted to work less, possibly go down to half time, and he was speaking in terms of “a few months.”
“That’s what Lucian’s been trying to do for a year now,” KC said. Not without a wry little look for his partner. “But it seems there’s always one more client, one more case—”
“You’re the lawyer—not me, darling,” Lucian pointed out. “I don’t have cases.”
“Oh, fucking semantics.” KC rolled his eyes. “You do have clients, though. Too many of them.”
Joshua had cases. I gave his leg a squeeze, definitely happy to hear more about his plans for cutting back. But I was also hoping to hear about Lucian doing the same because he looked very tired these days.
“I’m not in a position to just walk away,” Lucian replied. “I have long-term clients whose portfolios I’ve managed for years. It takes time.”
Understandable, but he was wrong about one thing. We could, in fact, walk away. Lucian worked in finance, and his field wasn’t all that different from what my brother did. He was a problem-solver for a large hotel chain, and I’d watched him over the years. Same kind of speeches—just this project, just one more work trip. Slowing down was always postponed.