6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Dante looked over all the men gathered around what was his yard for the time being, noticing some could use a long nap, so he decided to keep it short. "I've proposed to Nathan, Mark, and Binx the positions I'd like you to have here at the resort. As you can see," he said, nodding to the house he'd share with Blaine and the dogs. "We're not up and running yet. Roland Brady is the architect, and he's drawn up all the plans except for a few. I've given him a heads up that there will be a few more full houses to be built for special sub-contractors here."

Nathan held up a hand, like Dante expected. "Hang on, sub-contractors? Is that what we'd be?"

"I've run the numbers past all my accountants. You'd make more, and I'd save more doing it that way. For example, the restaurant would be Binx's to run. He can lease the building, hire the staff, make the menu. The only addendum to the lease is that it looks like an old west dining establishment."

Binx's eyes were round as saucers, but he was smiling. "All mine? Like…all mine?"

"Binx, don't get ahead of yourself," Mark suggested.

"No, I get it. I'd have more control," Binx said. "Of course, we'll talk about it, the three of us, but I'm not getting ahead of anything."

Mark nodded with a smile that showed he was surprised at Binx's reasoning.

"The church would be the same?"

Dante nodded to Mark. "It would, except, as a part of the town, you would get a cut of more than what you'd collect in your plates. I really can't say how many will attend, Mark. We have yet to figure out how that would work, but you won't be working for nothing."

"No, it's fine. I'm not in this for the money. I'm here more in support for Binx and Nathan, frankly. A new church, well, that is wonderful, and I'll make the best of it, three parishioners or ten."

"Very nice of you, Mark, but none of us are going to bed hungry, if I can help it. I want this place to be profitable, as well as comfortable. We're building a town for us, gay men. The world is once again trying to squeeze us back into the closet, and I, for one, won't allow it."

Nathan started his inquiry with a hearty thanks. "We worry about it all the time, Dante. To know we're safe here, that would be wonderful. Safety, jobs we love, it all sounds wonderful." Then he got down to business. "The leases…how much are we paying for them? I could have two splinters a month to pull, or I could have more. I'd like to pay the lease on a sliding scale. That way neither of us is out anything."

Dante was shocked. "Meaning, if you are needed for something more than…a splinter, your lease is free that month?"

The sly smile he wore showed that he knew exactly what he was getting into. He would patch up gunshot wounds and he'd forget about calling the cops.

"Exactly."

Dante nodded even as he laughed, but he saw Lonnie eyeing him sternly. The cop, always the cop. "Lonnie Walton, is this going to bump your conscience?"

"I'm here to support my friends and watch out for their safety. That's all. As far as my job at home? I'm currently off the clock."

Dante laughed but said, "Well, Sheriff, I'd like your input on the problem we've had here, if you could give enough time to check it out. I haven't forgotten all you did for Brett. You have a good head for investigating."

It didn't take a second for Travis to add a caveat to that. "Without throwing him in danger, that is, Dante."

"Of course not, Travis. I don't want anyone in danger. I simply want him to look over the facts we have and give us a threat assessment."

"I'd be happy to do that, Dante," Lonnie agreed. "But the moment I see danger for my friends, whether from this murderer or from…anyone here, I'm pulling them home."

"That's a deal, Lonnie. I will do the same for my people. This entire thing is contingent on everyone being safe. My nephew and husband are here. I'd sooner pluck out my own eyes than to have either in danger."

Binx bounced in his seat. "When do I get to see the plans for the restaurant?"

"I'll set up a meeting with Roland tomorrow, if that's soon enough. He's drawn up the outside, but the inside is up to you, Binx."

Mark chuckled and said, "Well, danger or not, you aren't getting rid of Binx anytime soon, now."

In the trailer, when the others were gone, heading to the workers' cabins that were still free, Dante sat Sel down. "You can crash here on the couch if you want, or you can crash in a cabin with some bikers."

The bikers and bodyguards were not invited inside the trailer while he was speaking to Sel. He was family, but he was also trying to learn the business. Blaine brought them both a beer, winking at Sel, "One, and no one knows."

"I was drinking wine in Italy when I was thirteen, Uncle Blaine."

"I didn't give you the wine," he whispered, then kissed Sel's cheek. "We sure missed you."

"I miss you guys, too. Like, a lot. Mom and Dad are great, but you are my uncles. Uncle Dante gave me my first pair of Prada loafers when I was ten."

Blaine laughed as he remembered. "You grew out of them in a month."

"I still have them."

Dante was never so proud of anyone as he was of Selestino. The kid, well, now a man, was older than his years, smart, accomplished, and driven. And what he wanted more than anything was to be in the family business.

For most, that would be a dream come true, but Antonio and Selena had hoped he'd become a doctor, an artist. Anything but join the family business. They knew that was a useless wish once Selestino got to be a teenager. From then on, he wanted to be in on meetings, to know what businesses they ran, what was involved in running them.

Blaine went back outside to run the dogs while Dante stared at his beloved nephew. "You…really want to be in this mess?"

"Dante, I know my dad doesn't want me involved in the bad stuff yet. This is the outermost spectrum of the family, right? You're supposedly not in the family any longer, so wouldn't this be a good place for me to be?"

"I never claimed I wasn't in the family, Sel, and you know that. Your dad was still in the know of almost everything that happened while he was finishing the job of raising you and his other children. We have stakes in everything, so of course, we're never truly out. But both of us have years and years to go before we are ready to hand over the reins."

"I'm not pushing to have you both retire right now, Uncle Dante. I just want to learn, to try some of my own deals a few times before I even consider making this my entire life. Sheltered as I've been from it, I don't know a lot yet, but I know you'll teach me right. Dad, he'll…you know, he'll still try to keep me from most things."

That hit him hard. "I want to protect you too, Sel!"

"You let me come here. Don't tell me it was Dad's idea."

Again, that hit him right in the chest. "Damn it. Sel, I can teach you, sure. It doesn't mean I don't wish you'd choose another career path."

Sel's smile had always been wide and brilliant. "Uncle…"

"Yeah, I know. You've wanted this forever. You used to sit on your dad's lap in meetings when you were six months old. Instead of being like a normal baby, you'd turn and listen to everything that was said. We probably should have kept you with the fucking nanny."

"Could be, yeah. So, the two of you have no one else to blame?"

"Fuck, why do you have to be so damn smart?"

As he cracked his knuckles like some mouth-breather, he said, "All this fine Carrillo blood, running through these veins."

"Dear God, you're just like us. Well, let's get to work, then. We're meeting with some very interesting people. You'll be there with me. This has to do with the resort, yes, but it's also us moving into a state we had no hold on before. The rest of the week, we've got meetings about stepping on territories not yet friendly to us."

He watched Sel closely for the reaction to that, and while Sel's body stiffened ever so slightly, that few would notice, he did. Dante also saw the tiny spark of fear in his pretty, dark eyes.

"Okay, Uncle. I'm ready."

"Ready? Selestino, you don't even know who the meeting is with. Until you do, you're not ready."

"I meant I was ready to learn."

Laughing, he said, "Good save! But not good enough. Now, we will not talk about it here. Blaine needs to come out and take care of the dogs, and I refuse to lock him in that little bedroom for hours while I get you up to speed."

Sel stood, running a hand over his casual sweater. The boy knew how to dress. Even in the cashmere and jeans, he looked ready to take on a boardroom. "Well, let's go. Let me tell Uncle Blaine goodbye first."

After knocking, Blaine came out of the bedroom and hugged Sel tightly. "I love you, Sel. Be careful, please."

"You're gonna make a wonderful dad, Uncle Blaine. You've already got enough worry for ten kids."

Bruno was waiting by the SUV with Bennie when they left the trailer. Selestino stopped Dante on the top of the metal stairs. "Uncle, if I am to have any power at all, I'd like to choose my bodyguard."

"Bennie's not good?"

"It's not that. I just don't like him, and that isn't just petulance. If I don't like him, I don't trust him. I remember your old bodyguards, Nick especially. You had a friendly relationship, if not friendship, with all of them. You trusted each other."

Dante loved that Sel was becoming comfortable in his own skin. "Okay. Well, you don't know everyone yet, so wait a day or two and take your pick of our guys."

"Thanks, Uncle Dante."

"Right now, in meetings and around others, call me Dante. It's no disrespect, and you won't be seen so quickly as my relative, and therefore only shown respect for that reason."

"That won't be easy, but I will. Dante."

"Sel. Let's go start your education."

They drove to the farmhouse where Marius Monarco lived with his two partners, Dallas and Ruben. They'd gotten together after Dante and The Kings arrived on the property. Dante knew from the minute they all saw each other, it had begun.

When Dante first saw the original Cowpokes in Colorado and the group of men that helped bring it to fruition, he saw more. The love each couple and throuple had, like they'd finally found their forevers, like he had with Blaine.

Maybe it was his romantic side. Maybe he knew hard times were on the horizon and only that kind of love would get the men through it. Whatever it was, he wanted to help to make another place that gave that same vibe, and maybe bigger.

That was how it was born, and watching it grow, like he'd watched his brother's children grow, he wondered how many loving, committed families would bloom from it, like his own would soon.

Bruno and Bennie in the front of the SUV left him in the back with Sel, who was staring out of the window at the scenery. Dante could relate. He did it each time they drove anywhere on the land.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

"That's not big enough a word, Unc–I mean Dante."

Around the mountains that dipped down into the land from the northern border, the stream trickled from the still-melting snow runoff. "That water there. Blaine wanted to stop one day and dip his toes in it. He nearly got frostbite from how cold it was."

"I bet, but it's so beautiful. I don't blame him."

"I did the same thing, but he outlasted me. He didn't care about the cold, just the smell of it, he said. It smelled fresh."

"Like the air after a big snow, I bet," Sel whispered.

"Exactly."

"When we go to Sweden, it always snows. Every time, and when it does, I'll go out on the balcony of our flat there. There's this scent in the air that cleans everything. Every thought, every fear, all of it. They'll never make air freshener that comes close. Nothing can."

Dante reached for Sel's hand and squeezed it. "No matter your business acumen, Sel, you have a poet's heart."

"That's in my blood too, Dante. It's the romantic in us."

The farmhouse was a beautiful place. They'd done a great job restoring it and it currently housed more than the three men who made the triad. A few of The Kings stayed there and a few of the bikers in town. It was all of them Dante was there to meet with.

Marius let them inside the house, shook hands with each, then waved to the couch that was vacant. The other chairs were filled with bikers and Kings, and Dante went to each, shaking their hands, introducing Selestino without disclosing their relationship.

"Brutus, hello," he said to the Azteca that had come the previous week. He was an older man, hair completely white that clashed with his still black beard. "How are you? How is your president?"

"Eight is busy. Three kids and the club. The poor guy never has time to breathe."

"I'm sure. Send my love to him and his Kale."

"I will."

Dex was there, sans Prince, and after he'd shaken every hand, Dante took a seat and Sel sat next to him. "Well, gentlemen, I wanted to thank you not only for coming today, but for coming here at all. I know this is an immense shock for some of you, who've never been out of the city except for vacations."

Marius nodded and followed that. "This isn't the city, but it will be. Nothing like we're used to, but the potential for growth, for money, is bigger than any of us will find in our separate cities."

Dex cleared his throat as his lips twitched into a small smile. "Uh, no disrespect, Dante, but how is that?"

"They asked the same thing of Walt Disney when he first approached with the idea of his dreamworld in California. Now look at it."

"You're comparing this place to Disneyland?"

Dante loved the skepticism. In fact, he lived for it. What was better, Sel looked terribly uncomfortable, as his skepticism was equal to the others.

Dante got up, pacing in front of the couch. "Well, gentlemen, we not only have a full ranch at our disposal, with organic meat that we can charge three times what ranches charge for non-organic, but we also will have men paying thousands of dollars for a very few days simply for staying here.

"Then, there are the pieces of the restaurant, the clothing stores. The kink clothing? We're not only getting a piece of the store, but for the advertising of the Slutae line, being we're using them exclusively in the club, where we will sell even more."

The men mumbled amongst one another for a moment until Dante heard the crescendo of their voices, the excitement.

"The saloon, the top shelf liquor, cigars, entertainment, including…" He waited until he was sure they were ready for him. "The hookers."

He saw them smiling, including the two newest additions from the Denver Aztecas, Rico Padrone and Indio Baca. Marius asked, "Hookers? Dante, come on, I thought we were trying to, at least on the surface, be legit on this deal."

"We will, Marius. The hookers will work for tips only. And we, of course, get paid as well. For men to take one, they pay a fee to us, strictly for the meeting."

"Like the escort service game," Indio said.

"Exactly. We're putting people together, which is, after all, the whole point of the place. To bring men together."

Marius asked, "The citizens here, Dante, like my guys, Jace, Tango, what are they gonna say about all this?"

"I've spoken to Jace. He's aware. We're not doing anything illegal, Marius. Not to mention, we have a big meeting with certain factions in this state. I am being introduced to the senators and congresspeople, both state and federal, that will…play ball with us. Like anywhere we do business, we'll grease enough palms to make any trouble that might come our way disappear."

For the first time, Sel spoke up, and what he asked was what most were thinking. "Dante, what about that? A resort for gay men in a very conservative state. How will that go over?"

The others moved their eyes right to him as he sat back on the couch, casually setting one leg over the other. In the anticipation, their interest was given a chance to pique.

"Why do you think most of this is happening in this country? The rich want a bigger piece of the pie. As always, greed drives those in leadership roles, gentlemen. That's all this is. Greed. Morals are simply for those without money. If you don't have money, all you have are morals and beliefs. To be poor is virtuous. We'll kick money upstairs, which is what we've all done our entire lives, right? In bike clubs, street gangs, and family organizations, we kick up enough to make our lives easier."

Sel was staring at him, but he asked, "We aren't taking advantage of…of that moral code, are we?"

"Of course not. We will make enough that the poor will no longer have to worry about morals, because they will share in the wealth. Everyone here will make money, Selestino." To everyone, he said, "The biggest lobbying group in this area are libertarians. They're all about freedom. They get to be free, so do we. We don't cross paths more than needed, and everyone wins."

Sel smiled, nodding along with the others. "Yeah, Dante. We'll all win."