28. SAMUEL

For the last week, Leo hadn't wanted to remove the giant teddy from our bed. He'd named him Growly, and he cuddled him more than he cuddled me. Which I was thankful for since it allowed me to leave the bed in the middle of the night when I woke up in a fit of sweat over how I was going to prepare for my father's eulogy.

Tonight was different. Leo wouldn't let go of me. He knew what tomorrow was, and I wasn't allowed to leave him alone. We'd shared a bath in the dark where he fell asleep against my chest as I ran my fingers through his wet hair. We ate food he'd made in the oven, although after three chicken nuggets, one of which was still cold inside, I skipped to dessert.

"Are you ok?" he whispered, looking up at me from my chest.

"I'm fine," I said. "Really. I'm fine. Do you want to go sleep?"

He tightened his grasp around my waist. "I can't sleep." He turned away.

"Why not?"

"Well, because your dick is right there. And you haven't asked me once if I wanted to spend time with him."

I hadn't thought he wanted to play tonight. "I'm not good enough then?" I chuckled. "You can always spend time with him. Wake him up."

Leo wriggled around with excitement. He placed a hand over my cock in the boxers. It was already a chubbed just from being near him.

He wasted no time, switching it up from being a sweet little who wanted things done to him, to being a demanding little who wanted to do the things to me.

I placed my hands behind my head as Leo gave me head, getting me harder in his mouth. He moved between my legs to get a better view of my entire body from my cock, almost like he was trying to see how I looked when I saw my cock.

"Can I—" he paused, tilting his head from side to side. "Can I sit on it now?"

He was so horny, all the time. I loved that about him, he had energy for sex all the time, it didn't matter what time of day. And he was still at that age where he could cum, and then ten minutes later, he'd be horny enough to cum again.

"It's yours," I told him, reaching out to the bedside drawer. "You want to put this on him?" I asked.

"Ok, and maybe—like next week, or whenever, we can do something where we don't have to use that and you can put there," he said, taking the condom. "Not that I don't value safety, but if we're just us together, I want to feel it without this too."

I leaned on my elbows to get a better look at his face. "We can do whatever you want," I said. "I like the sound of it. It's a next step, are you sure you're ready for that?" I asked, double checking it's what he wanted. I wanted it more than anything, to be skin on skin, skin in skin, to be inside him completely without a layer between us.

Leo chewed on his bottom lip, nodding with excitement. "But—" he giggled. "Butt."

As he placed the condom over my cock, going hard with his hand down the shaft. I pushed myself up to kiss him on the forehead. "I want to be inside it now. So, take your onesie off."

He listened and obeyed, stripping from his clothes and throwing them across the room.

We wasted no time. He climbed on top and rode my cock as I laid back with my hands behind my head, experiencing the pleasures as they trickled through me. I didn't want the feeling to go, it was like holding an orange and being tempted to squeeze it, and once you squeezed all the juice out, you couldn't put it back in. It was like that, I knew once I came, there was no putting that orgasm back in me to hold.

He masturbated himself as bounced up and down on me cock.

"Cum for me, Daddy," he said as his free hand stroked through my body hair. He squeezed at a nipple, pinching the end gently. "I want all your cum. Please. Cum—c—c—cum." He leaned back and came all over himself. He knew I didn't like to get it in my body hair.

Under the throb of his hole against my cock, I bust my nut inside him, wishing it was inside him instead of the condom. I pulled his hand back to my nipple for him to play with while his hole milked every drop of cum from me.

It was just what I needed. The warmth of being inside him, mixed with the pleasure of knowing I had someone to spend the night with. He didn't want to get off me, but eventually he did so he could clean himself off. He also took my condom off as well and wiped away the lube from my cock. I fell to sleep while he took care of me, it was nice to swap caretaker roles like this.

My alarm woke me in a panic.

Today was going to be hell.

Leo had turned over in the middle of the night and clung to the enormous teddy bear we shared the bed with now. I never had night terrors or sweat in my sleep.

There was a real fear I could lose everything today. I'd be resigned to oversee a shop like Elias or Preston had been. It would've made my life much easier, but Leo wanted me to stay in charge, he told me I was a good boss. He believed in me, even if I didn't want to put him in anymore danger.

I showered, careful not to wake Leo up yet. I still had to go over my eulogy in my head. They were burying my aunt as well. They ruled her death an accident, a slip and fall, with a knife to the head.

Wayne and Layla were both offered jobs, but I knew that wasn't what they really wanted. The two of them hadn't worked a day in their lives. It was clear when the options were presented to them. I hated what I did to Adeline, only because she was family. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have even hesitated to kill them at the first chance. They understood that, but I wrote them both a cheque each, and called them consulting fees.

I was already getting dressed in my suit when Leo woke up.

"You want to eat some breakfast before you take a shower and get dressed?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed to stroke his sleepy face.

Leo wanted to come with me. He wanted to be there for me, to hold my hand. I wanted him there too, mostly to keep an eye on him. I didn't want to lose sight of him again. But the last time that happened, was because of family.

The service was planned, and it was going to be attended by over a hundred people. My father worked with so many to build the empire his father had laid the groundwork for.

Leo was fed and cleaned. He stood in front of me, waiting to be dressed. He had a tailored black suit, matching mine as they were both from the same fabric. We wore the same suit, trousers, shirt, and tie. Our only difference was that he wore a pair of briefs with cartoon rocket ships on them.

"Today might look like it's tough on me," I said as straightened his tie before leaving. "But it's not. I'll have you with me. You've helped. You've been a good boy at making me feel everything I've felt since I met you."

"I love you," he said.

Frozen on the spot, in front of him. "I love you too." I kissed him. "I do, you know, a lot."

Leo giggled, wrapping his arms around me as he kissed all over my face.

"We won't stay long today," I told him. "Funeral service. The wake. Then the vote." I counted out on a hand. "And after that, train ride straight to Edinburgh. Well, we'll come back, pack a bag, then to the straight station."

He asked me again about needing a passport. He was a worrier. And I reminded him it was within the UK. He didn't need a passport yet.

As often as I killed people, I rarely went to funerals. The last funeral was probably my grandmother's funeral. She was eighty-something. I didn't like funerals, although I wasn't sure if anyone did. Perhaps the people who made money off them did. Being surrounded by crying people was annoying, and for the first time as I went over my eulogy, I wasn't the least bit sad.

Held in a large church, the two caskets, one at either side of the podium where the priest talked over hymns and making sure everyone had a copy of the two individual procession books.

Leo sat beside me; he squeezed my hand tight. He'd already told me he'd been to a funeral once when he was little, but he didn't remember much about it.

Wayne and Layla were on the other side of the church pews. Almost like it was a marriage. The entire thing was almost poetic, if I knew any poetry at all. She'd killed him, I killed her, they were twins, and now they were about to be buried side by side at the family plot.

It wasn't until I was called up, that I realised I was still smiling as I mused about the entire thing. My mother had already been up, and she left the stand bawling in tears.

I knew what my father would say. ‘Don't fucking cry about it. What's done is done. Make it short and sweet. I'm not going to help you with your homework.'

People stood at the back of the church, unable to sit. It showed how many people had been in my father's life, or perhaps my aunt's life. I zoned all those other faces out and stared at Leo. My comfort.

"Hello," I said into the small microphone. "As most of you know, my father was incredible, sometimes to a fault. He was so incredible that people forget things about him. But he was amazing, and he put family first. He instilled that in me. I remember him saying, ‘we're family, we're not going anywhere', right before he forced him to leave the house and try accomplishing something alone." I paused as people chuckled. "No, he helped, a lot, with everyone in the family. In fact, the family is what it is today because of him, and because of those tough lessons he taught me. We lost an amazing man, who always told me he was living on borrowed time. We also lost his twin sister." I paused, I hadn't planned on saying anything about her, but she was right beside me, and I'd done it. "She wasn't involved much in the family. She left, but I'd like to think she got to see my dad one last time before he passed." And I knew she did; the entire family knew now.

I finished as my father would've wanted me to and spoke directly to the family in telling them I was ready to step up completely.

There should've been peace and ease after that, but there wasn't. I still had to face the family and get them to vote me in charge. Leo continued to hold my hand as we sat through the rest of the people as they talked about my father.

The wake for my father was set to take place at a pub. It was owned by the family firm, and we had a back room with a table and chairs for meetings like this.

Leo waited outside until it was over with. I told him not to eat anything or touch anything until I was out. I'd also asked him not to speak with anyone, but my mother's voice penetrated through the door. I knew she was asking him a hundred and one questions.

"Make it quick," Louie said, straightening his back out on the chair. "So, are we just voting?" Louie lived outside London but was still part of the family. He extended our reach, but he wasn't usually vocal.

I stood at the head of the table, making eye contact with everyone; all six people. "In the last two years, we've been making more and more money," I said. "I've done a good job. I will continue to do a good job. I know my way around it, and I'm not scared to make difficult decisions. You all know what I did. And I understand if you don't want me to head the firm anymore."

"Well," Rebekah said. Preston's younger sister, and the only woman in the room. "I think it's time for our corner of the family to take charge. There's more of us. My dad knows the business, Preston knows the business, and—well, Louie is married with a kid, so he's out of the equation, but he has a vote. Unlike, if I got married, I wouldn't have a vote."

"Do you want to take charge, Rebekah?"

She stood and took her black chiffon funeral hat off her head. "Actually," she said. "I would like to. My businesses have washed a lot of money. I think it's about time you consider putting a woman in charge."

All day I'd had this swelling notion in my throat about fucking this meeting up, and then the solution to everything appeared. "You have my vote, as long as I can take control of investment properties—around Europe."

"Wait," Rebekah chuckled. "Are you—are you being serious?"

I unbuttoned my suit and sat. "Absolutely." I raised my hand. "All those who vote to put Rebekah in charge, raise your hand."

Everyone, except for Preston raised their hands.

"What?" he grumbled. "I could do it."

"Bad luck, brother," she said. "Looks like I'm going to be your new boss." She smiled at me. "And I agree, you can oversee that. So, do I get the fancy office and stuff now, or—"

"Whenever you want, I'll call Kelly, she's your assistant now," I told her, standing again. "I'm gonna leave now, and I'm going to be enjoying my free time. Also, there's probably a couple of things in the desk drawer, I'll just have someone come and pick that up, and the rest of things." I snapped my fingers at her. "Best of luck, and don't—don't fuck it up."

It was a relief. I left the pub with Leo on my arm. I didn't even tell him what had happened until we were already on the train with our bags packed to start my tour of never letting a happy moment pass me by.