Page 21 of Blue Gold

Enraged, I stayed where I was and watched how those two flirted with one another for a long minute before they snuck back inside the apartment. This unfortunate encounter confirmed to me what I’d already suspected, and that was that Elliot, the same as me, was interested in men. Except for the past few months since I’d known him, he was the only man I was interested in. Ignoring my blunt admission that I wanted him, I focused on the bigger issue, which was Elliot, currently sharing his bed with a man who wasn’t me.

Ha… So what I was feeling wasn’t anger but jealousy. The pitiful jealousy of a man with a wounded ego. To think I got so excited over Elliot’s confession of missing me that I literally ran to see him. I couldn’t have reached any lower, even if I tried. Heat flared in my chest with the mere thought of my patheticness. I was a grown man, for Christ’s sake.

A married man.

Clenching the damn baguette tighter in my fist, I tossed it and those ridiculous muffins into a nearby trash can, not caring that it startled a poor stray cat, which ran away with its tail between its legs. The same way I ran back home—to the wife I nearly forgot I had and to the daughter who deserved a lot more.

7

DANIEL

Linking her elbow with mine, Claudia leaned closer to me, her chest pressing against my arm.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

I sipped from my champagne glass as we walked back from the bar.

“Yes. Why?”

“You’ve been in a foul mood for a few days now, and I was wondering if it has anything to do with your father?”

I stopped walking, only to frown at her. “Why would you think that?”

Claudia let go of my arm and moved to stand before me, her hands already working to fix my tie. “As I said, something has been annoying you since you returned from your business trip with him. And now that we’re here—” She tilted her head to the side, indicating my father’s party, where we were currently stuck. “—I assumed he said something to you.”

She was right. I had been in a foul mood for the past week, but for a change, it had nothing to do with Father.

Holding her concerned gaze, I sighed. “I apologize for being cold⁠—”

“Hey.” She nudged my head to look back at her. “I didn’t ask for an apology. I’m just worried about you, Daniel.” Her palm moved to cup my jaw, and I forced a smile before wrapping one hand around her wrist.

I wish I were brave enough to be honest with her.

“It’s just that work is a little bit stressful at the moment.” I lied to her and myself, as the reason for my anger was solely caused by my own pitifulness. What this last week had taught me was that my attachment to Elliot went far beyond mere curiosity and into the dangerous zones of desire. An unhealthy desire that was the root of this jealousy that weighed on my chest like a disease. Whenever I thought back on Saturday morning and on that stranger kissing Elliot’s neck, my muscles tensed, and my stomach coiled.

“There’s my favorite couple,” my father’s strong voice cut through the noise of the party, causing Claudia and me to turn in time to face him.

He slammed his hand on my shoulder. “So, enjoying yourself?” he asked, a smile stretched on his slightly drunk face.

“Of course we are, Teddy,” Claudia said with a flirtatious smile.

My wife sure knew how to work her magic around Father, and it was one of the things I appreciated most about her. She saw right through him and realized what an asshole he truly was.

“Has this one ever told you how I saved his ass from signing a deal with a con artist?”

“No, you most definitely have not,” Claudia chuckled, her eyes locked with mine, before she moved closer to Father. “Please tell me everything, and don’t miss a detail.”

One would think she was on his side, only that knowing my wife, I knew it was all an act so he’d get off my back quickly enough. After all, it wouldn’t be a Theodore Williams party if he didn’t humiliate at least one of his three children. Considering Catherine was busy impressing Mother’s friends, and Andrew couldn’t make it today due to school, I was his target. And so, Father started telling a pointless story from almost five years ago that I couldn’t give a damn about. And as he went on and on about how I was too easy to trust, I realized he had a point.

With little effort, Elliot managed to make me fall for his trap. With his struggling language and sweet smile, he allowed me to believe I was someone precious to him—a man he missed after only a few days apart. In reality, I was nothing but a tool to pass his time.

Sounds of laughter pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked around to see we were circled by a group of ass-kissers who pretended to find my father amusing only for the sake of getting something out of him.

Was Elliot the same? Had he led me along to get money out of me?

My body froze at the horrible thought, and anxious, I excused myself and hurried to the bar, where I got myself a scotch on the rocks. The liquor went down my throat smoothly, and I wiped my lips before ordering another.

“Hey.” Claudia came to my side. “He was just joking out there, Daniel. Nothing to be offended by.”