“It’s not a request.”
“Fine, you’re going to need it anyway because I want you to take care of some stuff for me.” I tipped my chin up, refusing to be intimidated by him. I handed over Sean’s details. “I’d like you to set up an account for him. One million to start, with investment opportunities.”
He stopped what he was writing down and frowned. “This must be a close, yet undisclosed friend to give that kind of money away.”
Blowing out a breath, I glanced at the panoramic window behind him, wanting to float away on a silver cloud. I’d been living in bliss with Sean the past few months. I wanted to express just how important he was to me to anyone who might listen. “I was too sick to do anything but lay in an alley, struggling to breathe with the snow burying me. That was my lowest point, believing I was going to die without having shared my gift with the world. He picked me off the cold ground, took care of me, fed, and clothed me all without asking for anything in return. He deserves the world, Mr. Salvatore.”
“Fine,” he said simply and jotted some stuff down. “Any other demands?”
“I was wondering if you might check on someone for me. Jeffrey Majors. He’d attended St. Joseph’s preparatory and would be my age. He is the boy my father caught me kissing in my room. A week after that he transferred schools. I just want to make sure he is okay.”
He massaged the bridge of his nose for a moment. “That was a rhetorical question.”
“If I have to set aside some of the money to retain you I’ll do it since you won’t disclose how much Nana left you.”
He chuckled darkly. “You speak as if you have any money to retain me with.”
I gaped, not sure how to respond.
“There is a reason I was so worried when you’d gone missing.”
“You, worried?”
“Don’t mouth off to me right now, Mr. Fernandez.” He let his pen fall on the pad of paper with a thump and sighed. “Your parents made their move.”
I zoned out on the skyline looming behind him, wanting to be anywhere but here. Preferably wherever Sean was. I said carefully, “What’s their plan?”
“Exactly what we thought it would be. They’re challenging your mental state.”
I blew out a breath and nodded, tears pricking my eyes. Why was it so hard for my parents to love me? Instead, I was a creature they needed to destroy.
He leaned forward, his eyes blazing with dark excitement as if he were looking forward to the fight. “I’m not particularly worried. Let me tell you why. For one, it’s a flimsy tactic to challenge someone's mental state because they ran away to a friend's house for a few hours. That’s what teenagers do. More importantly, we lucked out. I’m familiar with the judge assigned to your case. A friend that is close with them informed me they are not happy. He mentioned the pressure came down from the top for them to mediate. There is also the question of legality. Your parents influenced someone to bend the rules. If I took an in depth look at the details, I’m betting they bought someone off to get your case in front of a mediator.”
“Of course they did. My father is in a lot of people's pockets. That’s why he wanted me to go to law school because lawyers make excellent politicians.”
“It’s the skill in twisting the truth,” he said, a rare grin twitching on his lips.
“He had so many grand plans for me,” I said absently, trying to imagine what my life would be like if I was straight.
“I don’t want you stressing about this. The hearing isn’t until the end of March. What I want you to do is stay glued to your phone. And get a job. Do that for me and I’ll fulfill your requests. Can you do that, Mr. Fernandez?”
“Yes.” I zoned out as he said some more things about the upcoming hearing. I was going to see my parents for the first time in three years and I didn’t know how to handle it.
“Alright, that’s it for now. We will get together before the hearing and go over a few things.”
I got up and dragged my feet toward the door. “Mr. Salvatore? Is it possible to have someone sit in with me? Like, for support?”
“This friend you mentioned, I’m assuming? I’ll talk to the judge and put in the request, but I don’t see it being an issue.”
I gulped in much needed oxygen. “I want to say thank you for all that you’ve done. You’ve always gone farther than you had to so thank you.”
“I wish you would have thought of that when you found yourself homeless,” he said coldly. For an instant, I thought I might have hurt his feelings, but it was gone as he pegged me with hard eyes. “If you want to thank me, be available when I need you to be.”
Figuring that was the best I was going to get, I left his office and headed home. I needed to have a serious talk with Sean, and I had no idea how to approach the issue.
I walked into Sean's apartment. He was sitting on the couch, nursing his clay mug of tea. He passed me a smile that let me know he was happy to see me. It was the same look that crossed my Nana's face when I came over to visit. I realized the feeling was being welcomed home and it made me all warm and fuzzy inside.
I took a long look at him, desperate to sink my cock deep into his ass, and lose myself except I needed to focus on more important things right now. “Can we have a serious talk?”
