Chapter Twenty-One

Life went back to normal, if that word could be used to refer to my wonderful existence. I still felt daily wonder at what it had become.

I divided my time between their place and mine, with weekly visits to see my mother—who always asked about them—and occasional get-togethers with Jacob and Sebastian. My life was full and I'd never felt so grounded.

The guest room had become my home-away-from home at Gideon and Vihaal's, where I kept a few things and which I used as an office if there was too much going on downstairs. But I slept in the main bed.

We'd spoken about the possibility of making it a more permanent arrangement, but my cats had to be taken into account. Gideon didn't seem to think that would be a problem, and I got the impression he was excited at the thought of it. But I wasn't sure about Vihaal, who enjoyed his meticulously clean and tidy home.

And, to be honest, it was nice to have my own place, where I could walk around and do nothing, stare out of the window, or sit in a favorite corner and read a book, without the distraction of the two men with whom I'd fallen head-over-heels. I had my little corner of the world that was mine and mine alone, and it was a conscious decision to share our time together. It worked well for us and I couldn't see it changing anytime soon. Although I did feel guilty about being away from the cats so much.

My blue Sonata was a joy to drive, and I was more motivated to gain new clients. With the versatility of online work, I could get stuff done no matter where I was sleeping.

Vihaal didn't have a day job—an advantage of being independently wealthy. He was on some oversight boards at a couple of places, and he did do some volunteer work for an LGBTQ+ charity—mostly online.

And although Gideon worked part-time, his job was physical and demanding, so he was often tired when he got home.

"Hey, how was your shift?" I asked one afternoon when he came home and found me sitting in the living room, working on my laptop.

He sighed and kicked off his shoes.

"Busy. Tiring."

He padded over to me.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh, you know. Charts, numbers, financials."

"Blech."

I laughed. "You want a massage, baby?"

"Oh my God. Yes!" He gave me a look. "Like, a real massage. No funny business."

I laughed. "I promise. Where do you want to do it?"

"Your room? That way we don't have to disturb the main bed." He rolled his eyes. "You know how Vihaal is."

Vihaal made the bed every morning, and didn't appreciate it being disturbed until we went to bed in the evening. It was one of his little quirks, and it didn't bother me. But this was one situation where the guest bed came in handy.

We headed up there, and Gideon stripped off his scrubs.

"Oh shit. When did that happen?" I asked, gesturing to his caged cock.

He looked a bit guilty. "Well, I asked for it."

"You…you asked Vihaal to lock you up?"

"Yes."

"You like to be…in that thing?"

"Angel. You can call it what it is. It's a cock cage."

"Yeah, I know. Remember the first scene I watched in the Bordello?"

"Oh yeah." He sighed and looked down at himself. "How do I explain it to someone who's never tried it?"

"Oh fuck no. No way. That does not look fun to me."

"Oh, Angel. Just wait. I bet one day you'll give it a go."

"No more fucking bets, Deo. Come on."

He giggled and cupped his junk, admiring how it looked. He shrugged. "I like it when V has complete control of…all of me."

"I didn't realize you had to wear it to work."

"It's really not a big deal. You get used to it." He shrugged again. "It's only for a week this time."

My mouth opened. "A week!"

"Psht. Sometimes he has me in it for months. You know what a control freak he is," Gideon said, a dreamy look in his eyes.

I held up my hand. "Okay, I don't want to know. That's something you and he can play without me."

"Fine."

"Okay."

"Whatever."

"Good."

"Anyway, someone mentioned a massage?" He tugged a pillow to put under his hips and splayed himself out on the bed, propped on his elbows. He regarded me with curiosity. "Seriously, can you handle it?"

"Can I handle what?"

He wiggled his ass. "You know. Seeing all of this alluring flesh on display. Without going into a horny trance."

I grinned. He did look good, but I wasn't an animal. Not all the time, anyway.

"I'll do my best."

He snorted a laugh, then folded his arms and rested his head on its side, gazing at me lovingly. "Thank you for this. It was a shit day."

"No worries. What was shit about it?" I asked, pouring oil into my palms and rubbing my hands together. The scent of orange blossom and camphor filled my nostrils.

"Well, there was actual shit involved, but I won't go into that. I'm a professional. It was a lot of physical stuff and I'm fucking tired. You know?"

"Sure." I didn't half know how Gideon did that job, but I knew I wouldn't have been able to.

I rubbed the sweet-smelling oil into Gideon's shoulders and his upper back. The sounds he made reminded me of other times he'd made those noises, and I did get a bit hard. It was difficult not to, but I savored the arousal without looking for a solution to it.

The sound of the front door slamming startled me. I heard Vihaal muttering curses, then his hurried steps on the stairs.

"That fucking asshole. That fucking, duplicitous, asshole."

"Oh God," Gideon moaned, and I wasn't sure if it was a good ‘Oh God' or a bad one. He hid his face in his arms.

I turned to see Vihaal stride past the open door then backtrack.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Massage," I said. "Gideon had a rough morning."

"A regular massage? Or a sexy one?"

"Does it matter?" Gideon asked.

"Not really. I'm just curious," Vihaal muttered.

He sighed, as if seeing us having a relaxing time was the last thing he needed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I think my father sabotaged my antique store."

"Huh. Told you," Gideon said, his voice muffled.

"Yes, that makes me feel so much better," Vihaal said sardonically. "I'm going to call and fire that skank manager."

"Vihaal. You can't fire him over the phone," Gideon mumbled, then groaned as I dug my fingers into his calf. "Fuck, you're good at this."

"It's all the typing. Strong fingers," I said.

"You've been asking me to fire the bastard for years. Now you don't want me to?"

"Yes, fire him for God's sake. But do it in person. And preferably, with me there," Gideon said, then moaned again. "Oh, fuck me. This is better than sex."

"I think Alice would make a good replacement," I said, throwing it out there.

"Yes. I'm going to promote her. But we need to find someone to fill Alice's job," Vihaal said.

"Would you like me to draft a job posting?" I asked. "I'd be happy to."

"Yes, Angel, that would be wonderful. I'll email you the qualifications and requirements. Thank you."

"Oh my God, Angel. I'm in Heaven," Gideon moaned, lifting his head.

"Keep it down or I'm coming in there with a paddle," Vihaal said, but it didn't sound like a threat.

* * * *

The following evening, Vihaal drove us to Tarnish. He wanted an audience in case Dominic gave him any trouble.

"What do you think he's going to do, V? Hit you?"

"He'd better not go anywhere near this nose or I'll fucking flatten him."

"You would, too. Okay, Angel, we need to protect V's nose. I am not going through another out-of-control nosebleed."

"I didn't particularly enjoy it either," Vihaal muttered icily.

"Well, it was seriously gross. You're lucky we love you."

"Certainly."

Gideon glanced at me and rolled his eyes.

When we went inside the store, a young man with nerdy glasses and a nose piercing, in jeans and a white button down, welcomed us.

"Hello, Soresh. Is Alice here today?"

"Hey, Vihaal! Great to see you. Yes, she's in the back, talking to—" He adjusted his glasses and looked in the direction of the back office. "Well, arguing , with Dominic." He shrugged. "About something ."

"Hmm," Vihaal said. "I'm here to speak to Dominic as it turns out. And afterwards, to Alice," Vihaal said. He cocked his head at Soresh. "How long have you been working here? I'm afraid time passes so strangely these days…"

"Oh, I've been here for about six months now. But I only work three days a week."

"Hmm. Are you interested in more hours?"

Soresh blinked. "Absolutely. Yeah."

Vihaal smiled. "I'd love you to work for me full-time. We can draw up the paperwork next week. Alice will let you know your exact schedule."

"Thank you. That's fantastic. Oh, wait…not Dominic?"

Vihaal only smiled. "Are there any customers in here?"

We couldn't see any but there were a couple of other rooms to the space.

"Not at the moment," Soresh replied.

"Excellent. Can I please get you to put a sign on the door that we are closed, and will reopen at the usual time tomorrow?"

"Yes. Of course," Soresh said, gazing back and forth between the three of us.

"Once I leave, please take the rest of the day off. You'll get paid for your entire shift, of course."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Soresh gazed at me and Gideon, so many questions in his eyes.

"Come on, gentlemen," Vihaal said to us.

I thought about the conversation Vihaal had had with his father, and the things the man had said to him. It had taken three tumblers of good bourbon for V to open up. It seemed that his father was jealous of Vihaal's success and also angry that he hadn't married and provided grandchildren. The homophobic slurs that had wounded Vihaal over the phone had been vicious and Vihaal had ended up cutting off the call and severing all remaining ties. He was obviously deeply hurt, although he tried to shrug it off. I figured it would take a while for him to come to terms with the betrayal.

We followed him through the store to the back room, where we could hear Dominic and Alice arguing with rising irritation on both sides. The door was ajar. Alice could be seen standing with her hands on her hips and a fed-up expression on her face.

"The store has to be kept at that temperature and humidity for valid reasons, Dominic. You can't turn the furnace down because you're too hot. Roll up your sleeves or something."

"Do you have to be so fucking controlling? The furniture isn't that sensitive," Dominic muttered.

Alice saw us out of the corner of her vision. She turned and blinked in surprise.

"Vihaal. Dominic and I were just discussing temperature and humidity," she said. "Which is very important when it comes to antique furniture, wouldn't you say?"

"Hello, Alice. Yes, vitally important, in fact. Why?"

"Well, you see, Dominic keeps turning the temperature down because he's too hot. And I'm trying to convince him that that isn't a good idea," Alice said.

"As a matter of fact, I need to speak to Dominic."

Alice smiled. "Of course." She moved to leave, but Vihaal shook his head.

"Please stay."

She nodded and moved further into the room to give us space. Dominic gave a muttered curse and Vihaal went in, beckoning to us to follow. Dominic was sprawled behind the desk, his golf shirt stained and wrinkled. He was holding an antique coin of some kind and rolling it between his fingers.

"Vihaal," Dominic said, an undercurrent of irritation to his tone and hatred in his eyes as he stared at my lover. "Your father called me."

"Oh yes? And what did he tell you?"

"He said you'd probably be coming to fire me."

"How perceptive he can be when he tries," Vihaal said in a deceptively calm tone.

"He doesn't think you should, of course. Just that you probably would."

"Well, for once, my father is right. I'm here to tell you that I no longer need you as the manager of this store. You're fired as of this moment. You'll receive a settlement package that is very, very generous, considering my suspicions that you've been siphoning funds over the past several years."

"That's ridiculous," Dominic asserted. "You can't prove anything."

Vihaal's voice, when he spoke, was calm.

"I'm not trying to prove anything , Dominic. I don't have time to fuck around with lawyers and legal procedures. Even though a part of me does want to see you end up in jail, or forced to pay all the money back, I don't want to go through the hassle. You're not fucking worth my time."

Dominic looked at me. Then he looked at Gideon. Then he shook his head.

"This isn't fair. Your father wanted me in charge of Tarnish. I've taken good care of this store for so many years!" Dominic sputtered.

The sound of Alice's muffled laughter came from the hall.

"That's debatable," Vihaal stated. "But I don't have the time or the will to argue." Vihaal stepped back and motioned to the door. Gideon and I got out of the way.

"Get out. Now," Vihaal said. "I'll email you the settlement papers and a transfer of your final earnings."

Dominic stared at Vihaal, not moving. He looked at Gideon. He looked at me.

"Your father's right about you, you know."

"Dominic. If you don't get the fuck out of my store, I'm going to call the police." The tone of Vihaal's voice sent chills up and down my spine. He was magnificent. I was in awe of his command and presence, and the way his anger made him seem ten times as big as he was.

Dominic stood. "I need to get my things."

Vihaal only nodded. "You have five minutes."

"Are you going to stand there and watch me?"

"Yes."

I'd never seen Vihaal seethe with controlled rage before. As a Dom he was stern and strict, but never angry.

"Them too?" Dominic asked, gesturing to Gideon and me.

"Yes."

"For fuck's sake. You've got them well-trained."

"You have no fucking idea."

"Jesus Christ. No wonder your own father wanted you to fail."

Vihaal's expression didn't waver, but I saw the hurt in his eyes as Dominic kept talking.

"I don't even want to think about what the three of you do in private. I'm sure it's disgusting and perverted."

Vihaal gave a small nod. "So disgusting. And very perverted."

Dominic threw me a look and I glared back. Gideon snorted with derision. Vihaal was a thousand times the man Dominic was, and so was Gideon.

And, maybe I was, too.

"You're a fucking head case, Vihaal. I hope your father disowns you and stops giving you money."

"My father hasn't given me anything except a headache for the past ten years. And the headache's name is Dominic."

"Nice," Dominic commented, grabbing his briefcase.

"I need your laptop and all your passwords, Dominic."

"Oh, for fuck's sake." He opened the briefcase and handed his work laptop to Alice. We waited while he wrote down the passwords with an angry scrawl, then grabbed an umbrella, a pair of gloves and his jacket.

"Am I okay to take this stuff, or are you going to confiscate them, too?"

"We'll escort you out," Vihaal stated.

"Fucking fine. Whatever," Dominic spat.

Alice looked shocked but not overly upset as Dominic strode past her.

"Alice, when we come back, we need to have a chat in the office. You might as well take a seat."

"Okay," she said, looking alarmed, but Gideon smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up.

We followed Vihaal and Dominic through the main part of the store. Soresh watched with curiosity as Dominic carried his things out of the door, and Vihaal closed it behind him.

"We'll need to change the locks," Vihaal muttered.

"Good idea," Gideon agreed.

"And cancel his security code."

"Alice will know what to do and who to contact," Gideon said.

"Yes. I'm going to ask if she wants to be Manager. I'm certainly hoping she does."

"We'll just hang here," Gideon said. "You did amazing. It was so satisfying to watch. I almost came in my pants."

A laugh burst out of me at Gideon's comment and Vihaal smiled.

"It was satisfying to do it. You have good instincts, Gideon."

"Yes. You need to remember that," Gideon said with an arched eyebrow.

Vihaal's smile broadened into a relieved, triumphant one.

"I'll do my best, from now on."

He tugged Gideon close and kissed him hard on the mouth, then pulled back.

"Do you know how much I owe you, my love, for…everything that you give to me, that you do for me? And you," he said, grabbing me into the hug. "Where on Earth did you come from and how did you end up with us?"

"Um, that was me," Gideon said, smugly. "Again. See?"

I held on to them both, not worried about Soresh seeing us, because it was who we were, and what we wanted. And this was Vihaal's store, and he was everything.

I saw him glance at the young employee before he leaned in and kissed me, then whispered in my ear. "You are the best thing to happen to us in ages, Angel. I hope you realize that."

"V," I muttered, choked up. "Really?" I looked at Gideon. "But…"

"But what? Don't argue with me."

I didn't.

Vihaal let us go. He stepped back, and it looked like he wanted to say something else. Then he sighed and grinned.

While Vihaal was speaking to Alice and offering her a promotion and a raise, Gideon and Soresh showed me around the store. I'd never been in the place long enough to have a good look at all the incredibly valuable furniture and sundry other items, so it was a thrill to be able to walk around for a bit. There were lamps and bed frames and textiles and fine wooden escritoires, wardrobes and dining hutches. There was even a section with antique bicycles and clothing.

"That's how we got to know Sebastian and Jacob," Gideon explained. "We helped them gather what they needed for the club. And we recommended a seamstress, who we hire to repair things before we put them up for sale, to make the bloomers and chemises. The corsets and leather shoes are actual antiques, though. We generally have enough of them in stock in to find the perfect fit."

He gestured to a rack that held a selection of shoes just like the ones the molly boys at Maverick Molly's wore. Some were brown and some were black, some had buttons and others laces. But they were all authentic.

"Oh, wow," I said, moving closer to a piece of furniture that had caught my attention. It was an antique wooden armoire—mahogany, most likely—with scrollwork details and etched vines all over the front. "That's gorgeous."

"You like that?" Soresh said. "It only came in last week. But, yes, it's so lovely."

I stepped forward and turned over the tag that was hanging on the tiny black knob. And almost passed out.

"Jesus. That's…expensive."

Gideon smiled. "Well, you won't find anything like it anywhere else. And it'll last another lifetime, I wager."

I laughed. "It's too rich for me."

There was no way I was spending upwards of five thousand dollars on a piece of furniture I didn't actually need. Even if the stunning piece made my heart ache when I imagined how lovely it would look in my living room.

Soresh didn't seem perturbed to have seen Vihaal, Gideon and I kissing earlier, and pointed out quite a few interesting objects. He seemed to know what he was doing, and had an expressive way of speaking about the things he showed us. I was glad that he would be working here full time, now that Dominic was out. Assuming, of course, that Alice would want to take over as manager.

We needn't have worried. Alice was thrilled to be offered the position, and relieved to be rid of Dominic, even though she'd had no clue he'd been trifling with the accounts.

"That little shit!" she said, whenever his name was brought up. "I knew he was an ass, but I had no idea he was doing anything so brazen!"

"Well, my father, who is the one who basically appointed Dominic to the position, back when I actually cared what my father thought, admitted that he'd tried to sabotage me."

"Vihaal! My God!" Alice said, putting a hand to her chest. "That's terrible."

"My father is terrible. Seems I keep forgetting, and giving him the benefit of the doubt. Never again."

I remembered what I'd learned about Vihaal's stint at boarding school and his mother's attitude toward him when she'd learned of his lifestyle.

"Will he keep trying to ruin your life, do you think?" Gideon asked, running his fingers along the edge of an upholstered settee.

"He can try as much as he likes. I won't let him." Vihaal shrugged. "After the things he said to me, he's lucky I don't try to get revenge. But I'm not that kind of a person."

"Vihaal, can I talk to you for a second?" Gideon asked, beckoning Vihaal over and proceeding to walk with him to the armoire I had so vocally admired.

"Oh fuck," I said, glancing at Soresh, who looked excited.

When Vihaal and Gideon looked in my direction, I held up my hand.

"I only thought it was pretty. I'm sure someone will buy it for the price on the tag."

Gideon said something to Vihaal, and Vihaal smiled then nodded. He gazed at me.

"You want it, Angel?"

"I— What?" I said, my voice quiet. Was he suggesting what I thought he was suggesting?

He pointed to the mahogany armoire that was currently priced at exactly five thousand, four-hundred and thirty-nine dollars .

"Do you want it? It's yours, if you'll promise to look after it."

"Vihaal. No. I couldn't!"

He raised his eyebrows and turned to Gideon. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Gideon walked up to me. He took my elbow and led me to the armoire.

"Touch it. Go on."

I looked at Gideon. I looked at Vihaal. I looked at Soresh then at Alice.

I turned back to the armoire and reached out, sliding my fingers along the varnished wood.

"Fuck," I said, very quietly. "V, you can't. It's too much."

"Nonsense. It's yours. Now come along, it's been a trying afternoon. I'll arrange for the service to have it delivered to your house next week."

"I—I—" I choked on my words.

"You're welcome. Now come on, I'm taking you both to supper." He gathered us with his outstretched arm as he looked over his shoulder at Alice.

"Make up a full-time schedule for Soresh, will you? And I'll have someone hired to be your assistant within a week."

"Thank you, Vihaal," Alice said.