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"He called Marcie," Thomas supplied.
"Oh." Julie beamed and explained to Des. "Marcie is a friend of Marcus and Thomas's. Well, let me step back. Initially the common friend was Lucas Adler. He's a big CFO for this major company out in New Orleans. Marcie is his sister-in-law. When she was working in New York on an internship, she, Marcus and Thomas hung out together so...they could show her the ropes in the area."
From the flicker in Des's eyes, she knew he understood. Marcie was a submissive, and Marcus and Thomas had been her introduction into the New York BDSM scene. "Anyhow, she's now married to Ben. Does that make her a sister-in-law squared?" she asked Thomas.
Thomas laughed. "While the Kensington guys are a lot like brothers, they're not actually blood-related, so no. Lucas and Ben both work for Kensington & Associates, run by Matt Kensington."
He directed his further explanation to Des. "Five of them run the executive management team: Lucas, Peter, Jon, Matt and Ben, and they're thick as a pack of wolves. Anyhow, Jon is their Leonardo da Vinci when it comes to mechanical stuff and cutting edge research. He has contacts with all sorts of other geniuses, people involved in everything from the next shuttle launch to cancer research. Marcus asked him to dig around and see if there were any reputable studies that might fit your situation."
"Studies like that are tough to get into," Des said.
"Yeah, they can be, but like anything else in this world, it's who you know," Thomas pointed out. "The study is being conducted by a Tampa research center. One of the top researchers involved founded a juvenile diabetes camp and foundation. Tyler Winterman is a big donor and honorary board member."
"The light dawns." Julie chuckled. "I bet that hurt."
"Yeah. I merely gave up a kidney. Marcus having to call Tyler and ask a favor, that was the real sacrifice," Thomas said.
Julie beamed at Marcus. "You do love me."
Marcus sniffed. "Piss off, both of you." At Elaine's sharp look, he lifted both hands. "I could have used a much worse expletive. They're picking on me."
Elaine bit back a smile, and Julie exchanged an amused look with Thomas. She could tell it was a quiet pleasure to Thomas, the rapport that had grown between his husband and mother. Especially since at one time they'd been as close to sworn enemies as two people could be.
"Mom." After Marcus's news had been revealed, Celeste had left the table to retrieve homemade ice cream for the pie. Now she poked her head back into the kitchen from the cellar door. "I can't find the vanilla. Where'd you put it?"
"Daralyn might have moved it to the smaller freezer when we were reorganizing down there. Let me come look." Elaine rose and joined her daughter. Des's hand slid higher up Julie's leg, his thumb putting pressure on the juncture between hip and labia. Covering his hand with hers, she dug her nails into his flesh and gave him a look.
"Asshole," she mouthed. He winked, but he shifted his hand back down and spoke aloud.
"Marcus and Tyler aren't friends?" he ventured.
"It's complicated," Thomas responded.
"For those of us who like to fantasize about guy-on-guy, there's a whole homoerotic Julius Caesar versus Alexander the Great thing going on there. Total fantasy on my part"--she raised her voice over Rory's mock gag and dramatic stuffing of his fingers in his ears--"since Tyler is as straight as a pencil. Their relationship is basically built on power tripping, art bidding wars and one-upmanship."
She glanced at Thomas, whose set expression suggested he wasn't thrilled with her musings. She put a hand on his arm. "I don't want Marcus to be with anyone but you. It's just a fantasy I think about. Can't help my thoughts."
"That's fine," Thomas said evenly. "You can have the fantasy. Just as long as he isn't having it."
"Not likely," Marcus said. "Tyler's ass is so tight you couldn't get a pencil dick up it anyhow."
"Sounds like you'd have no trouble then," Rory observed. Thomas smacked the back of his head.
"Hey! Mom's not here," Rory protested.
"That's why I did it. So she was represented."
"You couldn't get either to admit it under torture," Julie told Des, "but Marcus and Tyler actually like each another."
"No we don't," Marcus said automatically. In Elaine's absence, he was doing a quick check of the messages on his phone, something she didn't care for them doing while a meal was in process. He pocketed it as her feet heralded her return and smoothly resumed the discussion in progress.
"I gave Tyler some of the basics of your condition and he passed it on to the study director. They're interested in bringing you into the program, to see the impact their work has on a more challenging case. And the great thing is this research center has connections to a lot of other studies happening in the field of diabetes research, so if you get your foot in here, it might lead to other things."
Marcus met Des's gaze. "I didn't investigate all this to make you feel pressured to do it, but if you'd be interested, there's a window of opportunity."
Julie held her breath, waiting for Des's response, but she needn't have worried. While Des still wrestled with being handled versus cared about, he was getting better about understanding the difference between the two. Proving it, he extended his hand across the table.
"Thanks, man," he said quietly. "I appreciate it a lot."
