Page 132 of All Tied Up

Jamie squared his shoulders and nodded. Sebastian nodded too. Was he ready? Who knew?

“Any last questions for me?”

Sebastian and Jamie shook their heads together.

“Good. Then just sit down here.” Neil transitioned back into professional mode. “We’ll be using the camera on the table over there, and if the translation program is working right you’ll be able to read most of what they say in French. I’d say it catches maybe eighty percent of it accurately. And remember, you don’t have to say anything. In fact, you probably shouldn’t say anything. I’m going to read over the key aspects of the contract, and you just need to agree and sign. We’ll keep this simple.”

“Got it,” Jamie agreed as Sebastian nodded.

They settled into the luxurious office chairs and Neil set up a few things on his laptop.

A few minutes later, Henri’s face filled the screen on the wall. Henri was perfectly polished as always, hair perfectly cut and combed in an effortless style that Sebastian knew had taken him an hour.

His shirt was open indecently low. To do what? Tempt Sebastian and Jamie again? Make them jealous of what they couldn’t have? He kept looking to the man on his right who Sebastian imagined was his Daddy.

Sebastian had prepared himself for all sorts of emotions when he saw his ex. Anger, maybe. Heartache. Jealousy. Or even concern.

Instead he felt sort of… nothing.

Sebastian had woken up so many mornings to those piercing brown eyes. He’d had that lithe body spread out on his cross or kneeling at his feet. He knew Henri’s favorite foods, the way he slept on his side with his hand under one cheek, the way his face looked when he laughed or cried.

And seeing him now, he just felt nothing. It was strange to even imagine that they’d been intimate together, looking at this familiar stranger on the screen.

Everyone said a brief hello, but the lawyer to Henri’s left did most of the talking. They were conducting the meeting in English, but the translation text seemed to be working well for the scattered French words like yes and no.

Since Sebastian had already been over the contract, there wasn’t much for him to do now, so he looked at Henri. The boy didn’t seem to be listening too much either. Maybe posing for the camera. Had Henri always been that shallow?

Neil started going over the terms of the agreement, and Sebastian turned to watch him instead. He brought a smile to Sebastian’s lips every time.

Neil was confident and focused, running nimbly through dozens of points of ownership from the name of the lodge through future building rights. It was sexy watching him in his profession.

Sebastian and Jamie gave their agreement when prompted, and Henri mostly did the same, his lawyer interjecting with a few more questions. Sebastian almost couldn’t believe it when they reached the end and Neil was handing them a pen to sign on the lines.

On the screen, Henri turned to his Daddy. “Are you sure I shouldn’t ask for more?” he whined in rapid French, every word appearing in translation below.

“I would advise against it,” the lawyer answered. “We would have to open the negotiation process again.”

“Don’t you know I’ll take good care of you?” his boyfriend assured him.

Henri pouted. “Of course, Daddy.” Sebastian didn’t need the translator for that one. The word was the same in French.

Watching Henri, all Sebastian could wonder was what he’d seen in him. He seemed sulky and greedy, compliant in a way that meant manipulation instead of love. It was everything that he and Jamie had been talking about in quiet conversations over the past month. But it was finally starting to take root that maybe the problems in their relationship weren’t Sebastian’s fault.

It had been the same thing Jamie had tried to tell him, and that Neil had suggested in his own way. But now it was like his eyes had been opened.

Sebastian glanced toward Jamie, suddenly worried about how he was taking all of this. His jaw was tight, a polite mask for the anger Sebastian knew him well enough to see beneath the surface.

He hoped Jamie wouldn’t say anything now, though of course he had every right to. It was more that Sebastian had been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t been looking out for his boy. He’d sworn when Henri broke up with them that he wouldn’t ever put anyone before Jamie, and yet just being in the room with Henri again had thrown him back into that place.

Sebastian thought about walking around to be next to him, but he could already see Neil’s hand on Jamie’s thigh. Jamie dropped his hand beneath the table and Sebastian could see their fingers tangle together. Jamie slouched back in his chair, clearly done with the whole debacle.

Good. His boys were taking care of each other.

“No further questions,” the other lawyer said in English.

“Hang on,” Henri interjected, eyes narrowed. “Who’s the new investor? Do you have a new boy?”

Jamie opened his mouth, no doubt ready to announce their nascent relationship to the world. They’d already decided that Neil’s involvement wasn’t any of Henri’s business, and bringing it up now could throw everything off.