Chapter 8

~Justin

Since that party, I"ve been keeping my head down, just doing stuff to keep busy. Gabe has been working too much, as usual. It"s like he never stops.

It"s like that today. I only have to think about lunch, then Martin walks in and ruins the calm. He pesters Gabe, tries to take him to lunch. In the end, Martin settles for me.

I"m not eager to go, but Martin basically kidnaps me. And he can"t skip shopping, of course so I get dragged through some stores. At least this time he"s shopping for himself, not me.

But he does find this shirt that he holds up in front of me. As he frowns and stares at me too long, I move away.

"Sorry," Martin says. "But it"s funny how much you look like Derrick in a certain light. If your hair was longer and you bulked up. He was more physical, athletic, completely straight." He sighs.

I almost want to say that I"m straight too, but I"d have a hard time proving it. I also come close to asking if he has any pics of Derrick so I can see this resemblance for myself, but then decide he"s probably wrong. I don"t think Gabe would want me around if I actually looked like his dead brother. He doesn"t even have one photo of him anywhere in his place.

Martin eventually remembers that we"re supposed to be having lunch. Once we"re sitting down to eat, he spends most of it texting instead of eating. That also means he"s ignoring me, which is fine by me. I just look out the restaurant window at cars and people passing by.

Then Martin suddenly says, "You know it"s funny how you started working for Gabriel."

I wonder what he means and try not to react. I make sure not to ask, just make a random noise and keep staring out the window. I really don"t need to be reminded of that or to have Martin prying into it.

He doesn"t say anything more about it, but it leaves me on edge.

When I get back to Gabe"s, I get another reminder of how I started working for him. I walk in and see Royce standing in the middle of Gabe"s living room.

Gabe is there too and his eyes are narrowed as he looks at me. It must be because I"m reacting to Royce like I"ve seen a ghost.

"Royce wants to borrow you," Gabe says, speaking very evenly, but there"s something behind his eyes. He is not happy about this.

"You don"t mind, do you?" Royce asks me, but he knows I"m not about to object.

"I guess not," I say and look at Gabe to see if he agrees.

"He"s fine with it," Royce says offhandedly and takes me by the arm to walk me out the door.

In the elevator, I ask him, "What do I have to do?" Even as I say that, I"m having a little trouble breathing. I should have known I couldn"t repay Royce doing an easy job for Gabe. That was stupid.

"You don"t look so good. You gonna pass out on me?" Royce asks sounding amused.

I realize I"m leaning into the corner and Royce is looming over me. He"s big, muscular and he has that scary vibe. "I just need to know so I can... so I can be ready."

"Ready? I was going to take you to lunch. See how you"re getting on. But it looks like Gabe"s friend beat me to it, so I"ll take you for drinks. You think you can handle that?" he asks sarcastically.

"OK," I say and try to get myself under control.

Royce shakes his head as I try to calm down. But now I"m wondering why he needs to talk to me. Did he send me to Gabe for a reason, maybe as a spy? It has to be more than what I"ve been doing. If he did, he picked the wrong guy. It won"t do him any good. I don"t have one thing to tell him.

Royce takes me to a bar that looks insanely expensive and orders us scotch that gets poured over fancy ice. We"re sitting in a booth with seats covered in soft leather. At first he doesn"t say anything, but after he"s halfway through his drink, he says, "Gabe doesn"t look as rough as he did the last time I saw him. You"re doing him some good, I guess."

"I don"t see how. Maybe he"s eating a little better," I say with a shrug.

Royce scoffs. "I think it"s a little more that that," he says.

Maybe it"s the way he"s looking at me, but what Martin said about me looking like Derrick comes back to me, and I ask, "Did you ever meet Gabe"s brother?"

"Nah, I didn"t get into business with Gabe until after he died," Royce says.

"Do you know what he looked like?" I wonder.

"If you"re curious, you can look him up online," Royce says. "Go ahead."

He wants me to do it now. I think about it and decide I don"t want to do it at all. "I don"t need to. It"s just that someone said I looked like him."

Royce looks at me hard, which makes me think there might not be a resemblance, just like I thought. "Maybe, but from what I know, your personality is completely different," he says. "Derrick was outgoing, the life of the party."

"Nothing like me," I say and feel relieved.

"What were you thinking?" Royce asks. "Did you think I sent you in to be a substitute brother?"

"No. I just didn"t know," I say though I did wonder.

Royce shakes his head. "Nah. That"s not what Gabe needs. Honestly, I wasn"t sure what he"d need you for. I just thought it would be good to throw you guys together. See what shakes out."

"That"s... a reason, I guess," I say. It"s better than what I was thinking anyway.

"I know Gabe isn"t easy to deal with. Try not to mind him," Royce tells me, but that"s not really true. It"s weird that he"s my stepbrother. That"s the hardest part.

Actually Gabe has been pretty nice to me, taking me out to lunch and paying for my new clothes. I wonder if I should be suspicious of that. He doesn"t seem like he"s always nice, so maybe he wants something from me.

I guess I"m back to thinking Royce sent me over there for sex. I just need to stop thinking, do what I"m told.

"You"re having a hard time over at Gabe"s, huh," Royce says since I went all gloomy.

"No. Not even close. It"s an easy job, and Gabe hasn"t been hard on me," I tell him honestly.

"That"s good. Just what I want to hear," Royce says though he sounds surprised, almost like he wanted me to have it rough.

I can"t make sense of anything that has to do with either Royce or Gabe, or myself. I have no idea what I"ve gotten myself into.