“Don’t be mean to him,” Connor warned him immediately. He didn’t want Adonis to see Laurence as a nuisance or a threat in any way. Laurence could be very soft, and Connor didn’t want his feelings to get hurt.
Adonis glanced at Connor’s face and stopped sneering. He grumbled unhappily and replaced his head on Connor’s shoulder, clinging to him with both arms now. Connor readjusted his grip on his surfing board and pet Adonis’s drying hair. Unlike Connor, whose hair dried into thick, salty clumps after swimming, Adonis’s hair dried into fluffy, silky strands as if he’d just conditioned it. It was enjoyable to run his fingers through, and Adonis also seemed to preen under the attention.
They floated lazily in the water as the beach filled with a scattering of people. Two girls with surfboards came onto the beach and stopped next to Laurence to chat. Connor watched them idly as he floated with Adonis.
“I can’t believe I almost didn’t come back here,” Connor said. If he hadn’t been charged and shipped back home with no choice, he would never have met Adonis. And if everything hadn’t exploded the way it had and Connor had still been with Austin, none of this would have happened.
Connor smiled to himself. It seemed like a fair deal all of a sudden. The life he’d planned for all up in smoke, and the universe offered him Adonis in exchange. If he was faced with the choice of his world going to hell in exchange for meeting Adonis, he’d do it again.
The girls beside Laurence waved at Connor and headed toward him. Laurence hopped up in alarm, signalling to Connor.
“Adonis.” Connor got his attention. Adonis opened his eyes, blinking at the girls heading their way. He tensed and made a noise of unhappy distress that cut right through Connor.
“I’ll see you later, I promise,” Connor said. He felt like a monster pushing Adonis away from him. Especially when Adonis clung to him, making unhappy noises the entire time. “Later, I promise.”
Adonis reluctantly drifted away from him, his gaze mournful.
Connor considered abandoning dry land right then and there. He bit the inside of his cheek hard. “Later, okay?”
Adonis dipped under the waterline. Connor saw his dark shape lingering before eventually disappearing out to sea.
Connor was in a bad mood when he finally left the water. He wanted more time with Adonis. He didn’t want them to have to pull apart after being intimate like that. Especially since Adonis was clearly upset by it.
Laurence helped him carry everything back to the car. “I read something,” Laurence said as they were tying the boards to the roof.
“Let me guess,” Connor said, noticing the not-so-subtle way Laurence watched him. “Something from that conspiracy website of yours?”
“It’s a legit site, I’ve told you. And there’s another big breakthrough—about the police officers that arrested you.” Laurence abandoned his rope to hover at Connor’s shoulder, his body buzzing with excitement. “They were bribed, Connor. Just like the judge was.”
Austin’s flaky behaviour swarmed Connor’s mind. There was something there. Something more that Connor didn’t know, but he hated even thinking that. He’d been betrayed and left to rot, and now he had to actively think about it more? Figure out who thought he was a gay basher and still went to so much effort to support him?
“Leave off, Laurence.” Connor’s bad humour came through in his voice, but Laurence must not have noticed.
“Both of them have left the force and, most likely, the country. But there was evidence of large amounts of money being moved into their accounts first.”
“The police will figure it out.” Connor tied the final knot, securing the boards to the roof. He sat in the driver’s seat, forcing Laurence to follow him into the car.
“Listen to this. Cessair even admitted that he’s bribed people in the past.”
“Of course, of course,” Cessair’s energetic voice came through the speaker on Laurence’s phone. “An old flame wanted to get an abortion, so I paid her to have the baby—a lot of money, too, mind you. Had to pull quite a few strings to get everything sorted. Her family was a bit of a nuisance.” He laughed. “I didn’t handle it with the most grace, I’ll admit. It’s why my friends always called me Orotund Bastard growing up. I prefer to brute force things rather than finesse my way out of situations.”
Connor went still.
The voices droned on, but nothing else about the interview registered.
My friends always called me Orotund Bastard.
Orotund Bastard.
Connor roughly turned the key in the ignition. It was an incredibly specific nickname. Way, way too specific for it to be a coincidence. Or was it a coincidence? This time, the rational part of his mind rebelled against the dismissal.
Austin never referred to his stepdad by name, and the only time he used anything but “him” was when he got harsh, spitting outOrotund Bastard. All Connor knew about Austin’s dad was that he was a rich American and that Austin hated his guts. But ifCessairwas Austin’s dad, what did that mean?
That it was Austin that asked Cessair to step in with bribes to get Connor off scot-free? But that didn’t make any sense. A simple testimony would have made the hate-crime aspect of what happened that night go away. Why go to this much trouble? And wouldn’t that mean his dad worked for Austin’s?
Laurence practically vibrated in the seat next to him.
Connor gripped the steering wheel hard. “Holland Corp funded judge Renald’s run for office. And Holland Corp is owned—”
