Chapter 43

Diesel

One month later

"Soon, we'll no longer need supervision when we meet," Iván said, winking in the direction of the warden, who stood with his back against the door while watching the visiting room.

I smiled. "I still can't believe you're getting out next month."

Iván nudged my hands, which were right next to his. "Missing your big brother, are you, Principito?"

"Of course I am, stupid."

Iván had been locked up for my entire adult life. Picturing us, now, acting the same way we used to? Fucking wild. And while I couldn't wait for him to get out, there were still things I wasn't sure about. The first on the list was telling him that his little brother, who had been with girls his whole life, was now very much involved with a guy.

Iván wasn't homophobic. At least, not too much. As long as it didn't involve him, he didn't care. Sure, he sometimes spat out homophobic shit, but so did I. We grew up in a toxic environment that included my dad and my uncle, who, more than once, told us that there was nothing worse than a homo. I didn't give a shit about what either of those pricks said or thought, but it wasn't the same with Iván. I wanted him to approve of me and, mostly, to approve of Shay-Lee. No one in my life approved of Shay-Lee so far. At first, I didn't think it would matter, but it did.

We'd been living together for the past few weeks after things blew up with Andrei. Since the little brat couldn't get used to how small the motel room was, I rented us a small apartment. It wasn't fancy, but decent enough to make him stop complaining.

And while things weren't ideal, living together was. Other than the fact he was a walking mess who couldn't keep his clothes in order even if his life depended on it, we got along great. More than great, actually. Sticking to our word, we tried our best to live as normally as possible. It wasn't easy with us still going to school and pretending not to know each other. The fact that Andrei and the guys knew about us didn't matter. The main reason we kept our relationship a secret was to protect Shay-Lee. He couldn't come out as gay, not now when his dad was already doing everything in his power to make his life hell. Therefore, coming out would draw unwanted attention to our current living situation.

One good thing we'd learned in the past few weeks was that the contract Shay-Lee signed, forbidding him from making any profits out of his social platforms without his dad's consent, would need to be renewed once Shay-Lee graduated. Obviously, Shay-Lee wasn't about to renew it, meaning that in two weeks, he'd be able to start to make money for himself. He needed something to prove to himself that he could survive without his prick of a dad.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Iván asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Shifting in my chair, I leaned my elbows on the metal table that separated us and cleared my throat. "There's something I need to tell you." Somehow, words felt heavy. When I had this conversation with Kai, I had no problem admitting I liked Shay-Lee's dick, but now, not as much. Looking at Iván, he stared back at me with the same eyes as Carmen and Mom. What if he never looked at me the same? Andrei definitely wouldn't. I'd already lost one brother. Could I lose another? The fear was visceral, but then I thought of Shay-Lee and how much I wanted him to feel accepted. Iván would be out in less than a month, meaning they'd meet and hang out. I wasn't about to hide Shay-Lee as if he was some dirty little secret when he was the greatest thing to ever happen to me.

"Camilo?" Iván said, a nervous smile on his face.

"Yeah, well, shit." I rubbed my jaw. "I'm seeing someone."

Iván pressed his palms together, his smile growing. "Well, that's great." He smacked my arm. "Please tell me she's a good cook. I can't wait to eat normal food once I'm out of here."

I sighed. "He can't cook for shit."

Watching the expression change on his face, going from excited to shocked, was like watching a car crash in slow motion.

It was an utter disaster.

"He?" Iván frowned, obviously hoping he heard wrong.

"Yeah, he."

Once realization sunk, he leaned closer, his eyes narrowed. "You a homo?"

That hurt.

Clenching my jaw, I looked aside, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Yeah. Got a problem with that?" I asked after returning my unapologetic stare to meet his.

"Fuck no," he said, then pushed back against his chair. Moving his hand over his face, he let out a loud breath. "I just didn't see it coming."

I kept quiet until Iván spoke again. "Didn't you like girls? You used to watch porno with chicks and use my magazines and shit."

This was really fucking awkward.

"I did, okay? It's the first time I've been with a man and the first time I've ever loved someone. If you can't accept that, then I don't give a fuck."

"Whoa, whoa." He paused, putting his hands before him. "Love? You say my little brother's in love?"

The smile spreading on his lips lifted the weight off my chest, making me feel better. This was the first time I'd admitted to loving Shay-Lee out loud, and it felt nice.

"Yeah, I am."

Pulling out a photo strip from my pocket, I handed it to Iván. Last weekend, Shay-Lee and I went to the movies when he spotted one of those old photo booths. He insisted we take some photos, and despite arguing about it, I was the one who ended up saving the images. Already knowing I'd tell Iván about Shay-Lee today, I kept the photos on me when the guards took away my things before entering the visitors' room.

"Well, ain't he pretty." Iván whistled, checking out the images.

The photos showed the escalation of Shay-Lee laughing while I kissed his neck and tickled his side. He was so happy in that moment that his beauty shone, even through the black-and-white grain of the image.

"He is, isn't he?" I said proudly, my mind going back to those long minutes he had rolled in laughter and then later into the night, where he lay beneath me with the most divine expression a man can dream of.

"Yeah. I'd fuck him."

"What did you say?" My eyes shot to him immediately.

"Relax, Principito. I'm just messing around. As pretty as he is, I don't swing that way." He winked, and I cursed the idiot. "I can't wait to meet him," he added.

"Yeah. Shay-Lee would like that, too."

"Hold the fuck on, Shay-Lee?" His brows reached his hairline. "Wasn't that the guy you hated? The one you kept fighting with and telling me about?"

Rolling my eyes, I grunted, then put the images back safely in my pocket. "Yeah, that's the one." During my visits, Shay-Lee's name may have popped up in the conversation a few times. Or a lot of times.

Iván laughed so hard it was enough to get the guard's attention, who warned him to stay calm.

"Asshole," my brother muttered once the guard left our table, then returned his full attention back to me. "By the way, what made you come here today? You never come on Fridays."

"Couldn't come earlier because of finals." The last test was behind me, which meant I never again needed to study math. "Surprisingly, I didn't fail any test, meaning I'll graduate in two weeks." Noticing the odd glint in Iván's eyes, I frowned. "The hell is that look?"

"I'm proud of you, Principito. So fucking proud."

I faked a cough, pretending his words didn't move me, and got up. "Anyway, I better get going. I have an early shift in the club and then some stupid party."

"A party?" Iván asked as he remained seated.

"Yeah, a party. Something about the end of the year? Who cares. Shay-Lee wants to go, and arguing with him is a pain."

Iván chuckled, then stood. "Listen to you, sounding like a married man." He rounded the table and stepped closer. "Any chance there's a wedding coming soon?"

"Fuck off," I grunted, and he only laughed more.

"Just make sure not to get married before I'm out, yeah? Ain't no way I'm not there as your best man." As he spoke, the golden necklace he had around his neck caught my eye. It belonged to our mom, and after her death, he had kept it. Unlike me, Iván had never been angry with our mom and didn't blame her for leaving us behind. It bothered me that while I couldn't seem to let go of my anger, he never had it in the first place.

Not wanting to sour my mood, I looked away from the necklace and back at him.

"You bet," I said, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him into the tightest hug I could. Kissing my cheek, he then hugged me back, squeezing me with the strength only he had.

"Te quiero, Principito,"he said quietly, then pulled back and put his hand on my jaw. "Tell Shay-Lee I can't wait to meet him."

"Will do."

With Shay-Lee being broke, he could no longer book all my appointments at the club. It sucked balls, but we had no other choice. I made Dion enough money for him to give me a pass over sleeping with clients in exchange for extra shifts. With sex out of the way, all I had to do was act like I enjoyed my patron's company, and that was it. Pretending with my clients came naturally to me, even more so now, when I imagined Shay-Lee instead of them, and my clients would think they meant the world to me.

Almost done with today's shift, I had one last meeting. I was told it was a new client, very high-profile, who asked to meet privately for obvious reasons.

Reaching the private room, I secured the mask to my face before knocking on the door and walking in. The door hadn't even closed behind me before the back of my head was smacked with some object, hard enough to send me to my knees.

I was pounded again as soon as I touched the floor, this time to the side of my face, and the hit was enough to make my mask fall.

"What the fuck—" My words were cut short when someone fisted my hair and pulled my head back, forcing me to look up. A choked laugh escaped me when I saw Christian sitting on the edge of the bed while his muppet, Orson, restrained me.

"Aren't you an ugly sight," I hissed, and Orson punched my face as a reward. I spat blood and tried to stand, only for Orson to kick me to the floor, keeping me there by stepping on my back, making it hard to breathe.

"Easy there, Orson. We don't want him dead."

"Sure about that, sir?"

He applied more force, and my lungs burned with the need for air before he removed the pressure but kept his shoes on the middle of my back.

Fucker.

"I assume greetings are pointless at this stage," Christian said, voice cold. I said nothing as he went on, looking at me dismissively. "For the past month, I've been wondering what my son saw in you, but now, it's crystal clear. He always tended to stick to bad apples, and you take the cake."

"Fuck off."

His lips pulled into a wicked smile, and he looked down at the floor while shaking his head. "How rude." Getting up, he straightened his suit and crossed the room, stopping right above me. "Let me make it clear. My son, as disappointing as he may be, is still my son, and over my dead body will I allow him to bathe with the lepers."

He crouched before me, and Orson yanked my head so I'd meet Christian's deadly stare.

"I could kill you, but what's the point in that? A stray dog like yourself isn't worth the bullet."

"So why are you here?" I hissed, and in return, Orson gripped my hair harder. Son of a bitch.

"Why am I here?" Christian repeated my question with a bored expression. "I wanted to see you in person. To see how low my son has fallen. I must admit I'm surprised." He rose back to his feet and walked farther into the room. With his back to us, he raised his hand, and a moment later, Orson stepped back, and I was finally free to stand.

I was ready to charge at them, but before I could rise up from my knees, the cold muzzle of a gun was pressed to the back of my head.

"As I said, I don't plan to kill you, but after our last meeting, I'd rather take precautions," Christian said while Orson clicked his tongue from behind me.

Walking toward the bar cart by the wall, he picked up the scotch. "Tell me something, Camilo." Looking up from the bottle, he met my eyes. "It is Camilo, isn't it?"

I kept quiet, and he snorted to himself.

"I know you must think I'm cruel, but I can't blame you. After all, you grew up with a drunk of a father who spent more time in jail than he ever did at home."

Of course he looked me up.

"Naturally, you'd believe he and I are the same. Well, you couldn't be more wrong, considering that there's nothing in this world that matters to me more than Shay-Lee."

That made me snort.

"You think I'm joking?" he asked after pouring himself a glass and going back to sit on the bed.

"I think you're a pile of shit."

He shook his head. "I'm very disappointed with you. A part of me hoped we'd be able to have a rational conversation, but you keep proving me wrong, so how about we cut to the chase?" Locking eyes with me, he once again gave me that sickening smile. "You think you know my son, but you don't." He crossed his legs. "It's only a matter of time until he'll get tired of you and come back to me. You can say that I'm here out of courtesy. Imagine how devastating it will be once he leaves you." He took a sip from his drink and then spat it back into the glass, his lips twisting with revulsion. "If you ask me, it won't be much longer before he gets bored with whatever you think is going on between you. It happened with Miles and Jordan. To think you're different is simply delusional." He held the crystal glass in front of the light, examining its reflection. "You're just one out of many toys he owns."

My stomach turned with his words, and I clenched my jaw in anger. What he was saying was fucking bullshit, and I knew it. Shay-Lee cared about me. Fuck that. He loved me. He might have never said it, but I knew it. I felt it in my bones every time he looked at me with his majestic eyes. No matter what crap Christian was spitting, Shay-Lee belonged to me and me alone.

"You're probably thinking I'm speaking nonsense, but deep down, you know I'm right. After all, in what world would my son choose to be with trash like you?" He shook his head. "I'm not trying to insult you, Camilo. Quite the opposite. I'm putting reality in your face. Think about your sister. How things worked out for her when she tried to merge where she didn't belong?"

The mention of Carmen set my body on fire, and without thinking twice, I jumped to my feet, ready to hit the scum, when Orson used the handle of the gun to smash my head. The blow shook me off my feet, and I slumped back to my knees.

Christian got up from the bed and came to stand above me. "Only fools bark when they cannot bite," he hissed through gritted teeth, his low tone dismissing. "Tell my son I'm waiting for him to return home." He kicked me in the stomach and hopped over my aching body on his way out, with Orson following close behind.

It took me a while before I managed to stand. I cleaned the blood from my mouth by spitting, then pulled up my shirt to check the damage. I'd have some nasty bruises, but I'd be fine. Moving my hand over the back of my head, it returned with no blood, which was a good sign. I'd been beaten up enough times to know I didn't need to go to the hospital, but it still wasn't a pleasant feeling to have your ass kicked. I was much more disturbed by where they managed to beat me up.

Nothing ever happened in the Venetian without Dion's knowledge, meaning the son of a bitch had a hand in this. Gritting my teeth, I stormed out of the room and made my way to the asshole's office. The two armed guards shielding his doors were about to stop me, but before they could, Dion's voice echoed through the hall, telling them to let me pass. I knew the bastard had the whole building wired up with cameras.

"You look like shit," Dion said as soon as I stepped in, an amused look on his smug face.

"You knew about this," I hissed, stepping closer.

"About what?"

"Don't play coy." My jaw tensed.

Leaning his hips against his table, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Bullshit."

He grinned. What a snake.

"Didn't I tell you to make sure I don't stop liking you?" he suddenly asked, joy still glistening in those cruel eyes of his.

"You did," I said reluctantly.

"And what did you do right after that?"

Biting the inside of my cheek, I kept my mouth shut because I knew the answer to his question wasn't in my favor.

"I guess they hit your head hard enough to fog your memory, so allow me to refresh it. You fucked him right in front of me, in the middle of my club, while having the audacity to wear my mask."

I knew what a vengeful piece of shit Dion was, so it was a miracle that he hadn't reacted to that little taunt Shay-Lee and I did to him back then. Apparently, he'd just waited for the right time.

"Don't tell me you actually care, or I'll start thinking you have a heart," I hissed, aware that I was playing with fire.

He frowned. "It's not my feelings that are hurt but my pride." He wasn't smiling now. "If there's one thing I care about, it's respect, and I know you do, too. That's why I allowed them into my club tonight so you'll remember that respect goes both ways." The smile returned to his face quickly as he pushed back from the desk and stepped closer, until we stood face-to-face.

"I'll say it again. I see so much potential in you, Diesel, so don't waste it. In fact, I think you have a bright future by my side."

"Too bad because I'm done once Iván's out."

"We'll see about that." He patted my cheek, and I clenched my jaw so hard only so I wouldn't break his face. Noticing my anger, Dion grinned. It was what he wanted, to put me back in my place.

Now pleased, he walked to the bar and began pouring us drinks. "Although, I do understand. If I were you, I'd probably act the same way. Shay-Lee sure knows how to use that pretty little mouth of his. Just thinking about him moaning around my dick gets me hard, and I often find myself reliving those wonderful moments late at night."

My eyes locked on him immediately as my anger picked up.

"What did you say?" I hissed. The idea that Dion once had his hands on Shay-Lee messed with my head even before Shay-Lee and I were together. Now, it stirred the beast within me back to life.

Turning to look at me with two glasses in his hands, Dion smirked. "Come on, don't be like that." He handed me one glass. "In fact, why don't you invite him? I miss seeing his beautiful face around. I bet that little slut would have no problem taking the two of us together."

I knew it was a bad idea the moment I clenched my hands into tight fists, especially after what we had just talked about, but I couldn't help it, and the next thing I knew, I had right hooked Dion hard enough that his body dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. It didn't take more than five seconds for his guards to burst into his office and for guns to be aimed at me. For the second time this day.

"Put the guns down," Dion barked, making it the first time I heard him raise his voice. "And get the fuck out of my office."

Rubbing his jaw, he slowly got up, eyes pinned on me with pure wrath while he wiped his hands on his pants from the spilled drink. "You'll regret this."

"You don't scare me," I hissed, then walked toward him. "Not in the slightest."

"That's your mistake."

"Are you going to fire me?" I tilted my head, challenging him, and watched as he did the same.

We said nothing as the tension in the room rose and became so thick I could smell it. But then, in the blink of an eye, his mask returned.

"Wouldn't you want that?" He grinned. "I'll see you here tomorrow evening in time for your shift. Now, get the fuck out of my office before I do change my mind and put a bullet through that thick skull of yours."

Deciding not to play the hero, I listened to him and got out. Punching the son of a bitch was risky, but I'd do it again if the asshole ever spit such crap about Shay-Lee. In no way would I allow him, or anyone else for that matter, to talk shit about what was mine.