Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Because you love him, asshole.
Will clenched his jaw, the feeling of unease growing. He couldn’t love Gadiel. Gadiel was... a very bad choice for love, for multiple reasons.
“Oh,” Gadiel suddenly whispered.
Frowning, Will looked at the screen too and read the message Gadiel was staring at.
Have you fucked it out of his system yet? When are you quitting?
His stomach clenching, Will looked back at Gadiel. The bright light in his eyes was gone, his body stiff against Will. Then he was pulling away.
Will grabbed his arm. “Ignore that. Scott is an idiot.”
Gadiel chuckled, without meeting his eyes, and sat up, his back to Will. “Right. Of course he is. Did you two have fun laughing at me? I bet it was hilarious—”
“Listen to me—” But before Will could say anything else, his phone went off. He considered ignoring it, but when he saw Zain’s name, he had to answer it. This could be important.
“Yes?” he said tersely, his gaze fixed on the hickeys all over Gadiel’s bare shoulders. He couldn’t even remember leaving them.
“My private jet is waiting for Gadiel at the Teterboro Airport. Get him there within the next two hours.”
Will froze.
“What?” he croaked out.
Zain made an impatient sound. “Tell him to pack. Our father wants him to come home. The wedding preparations are underway. His presence is needed.”
Wedding preparations.
Will heard himself say, “We’re returning to Dubai today?”
Gadiel’s back went rigid.
“Gadiel is returning today,” Zain said. “There’s no point in you coming to Dubai only to fly back immediately. Your job is done. His new bodyguard will be waiting for him on my jet.”
“I didn’t say that I wanted to quit,” Will said carefully, gripping the sheets in his fist. Gadiel’s back was still unnaturally stiff and straight.
“You didn’t need to,” Zain said. “I’m firing you.”
“Can I know why I’m being fired?” Will said evenly.
Gadiel whipped around, his eyes wide.
Zain’s voice was cold as ice when he replied, “In your job interview, I asked you whether you were straight for a reason.”
Will closed his eyes. So Zain knew. He must have had people watching them. He knew Will had been less than professional.
The thought made him feel nothing. No guilt, no shame, no concern for his professional reputation. Nothing seemed to penetrate the numbness that had settled inside him, the sense of surreality. Gadiel was leaving. This was it.
This was it.
“Understood,” Will said tonelessly and hung up.
Letting the phone fall onto the bed, he lifted his gaze and met Gadiel’s.
They just looked at each other for a moment.
“Your brother has his jet ready. It’s leaving in two hours.”
Gadiel nodded, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. His eyes were wide, unsure, lost. He looked at Will as though...
“He fired me,” Will said, his voice rough like sandpaper. “I’m not coming with you.”
Gadiel’s expression went absolutely blank, the vulnerability that had been in them a moment ago wiped clean.
“All right,” he said at last. “I guess... I guess it makes things easier for you.”
His jaw working, Will pursed his lips. Gadiel’s lack of reaction bothered him. More than it should have. Fuck, what was wrong with him? Had he actually wanted Gadiel to be clingy? To ask Will to come with him?
“Right,” Will said stiffly. “It does make things simpler.”
Gadiel glared at him with such force it seemed he was trying to burn him with his eyes. “Fine, then,” he said, his face pale and his gaze dark. He lifted his chin and sneered. “Thanks for being a serviceable bodyguard—and a serviceable fuck. But I’ve had better.”
Will knew he was just goading him. He knew Gadiel was just lashing out. He always did that when he felt unsure or vulnerable.
But it worked all the same.
Will didn’t even realize that he was moving before he toppled Gadiel back onto the bed. “Have you?” he said, his heart pounding and his vision red as he glowered at the younger man under him.
Gadiel’s lip wobbled. “Yes,” he said viciously, and then they were kissing, kissing as though trying to swallow each other’s air, all teeth and raw need. It was the worst kiss of Will’s life, his pounding heart trying to claw its way out of his throat, his body grinding mindlessly against the smaller body under him. There were no thoughts in his brain besides take, claim, mine, take.
“I wish I never met you,” Gadiel said against his lips, hands gripping Will’s face hard.
“The sentiment is returned,” he ground out, meaning every damn word. He wished he’d never met this infuriating, prickly, vulnerable mess of a boy. He wished he had never come to know him. He wished he would have gone on with his life, blissfully unaware of Gadiel’s existence and the way he could make him feel—the way he could make his control burn to ashes.
“I hate you,” Gadiel said against his mouth, yanking at Will’s hair. “Fuck me. One last time. Make me feel it.”