Chapter Twelve

~ Zaq ~

"You own a security company?" Patrick asked as he looked at Alejandro.

"I do," the man admitted with a wry grin. "Why? Do you need security?"

"We might."

Alejandro frowned and sat forward. "What's going on?"

"We might have a little trouble with Zaq's ex-fiancé, who just happens to be my brother."

Alejandro glanced from Patrick to me. "You were engaged to Patty's brother?"

I winced. "We all make mistakes."

"That's a pretty big one," Alejandro replied. "That guy is a complete ass."

"Well, he's an ass that found out where we live," Patrick stated. "He was waiting for us in the lobby when we came down to come here."

"You mean he was yelling at the security guards trying to get in," I corrected. "We told them to call the police if he continued to make a fuss, but I don't know if they will."

"They will," Jake assured me. "Security at our building is unfortunately very experienced with assholes."

I snickered at Jake's words.

"I don't know if Peter is going to continuing to make a fuss or not," Patrick stated, "but I can't shake the feeling that he is. I just don't understand why. Peter clearly didn't want to marry Zaq. He ran away from the wedding ceremony. Why show up now?"

Jake snorted. "You know why."

I sort of did.

"So, he comes all the way to New York because he feels as if he lost one of his possessions? That seems like overkill to me."

"Peter doesn't like to lose," Jake insisted. "If Zaq was at home pining for him, that was fine, but Zaq out there making a happy life for himself with you?" Jake shook his head. "Peter wouldn't be able to stand it."

I squinted at the two men as they went back and forth. "I'm a little lost here. What are you talking about?"

Patrick sighed heavily. "Peter has always felt that he was better than me except that I always did better than him. Even in high school I got better grades than he did and it drove him crazy. I think that is part of the reason my parents spoil him so much, to make up for his shortcomings."

"This all seems a little extreme," I pointed out, "even for Peter."

I was surprised when Patrick turned toward me, grabbing both of my hands. There was an earnestness in his eyes, but it was tinged with sadness, and that made me very nervous.

"What?" I asked.

"Baby, I know you don't want to hear this, and I certainly don't want to tell you, but you need to know the truth."

"What truth?"

"In Peter's mind, once you two got engaged you became his. His possession, his toy, his whatever, but you were his."

"But we broke off the engagement when he ran away from the wedding." I certainly wasn't going to stay with a guy that left me at the altar to run off with his mistress.

"For you and just about every other person on the planet, that makes sense," Alejandro said. "To Peter, you belong to him and he doesn't give up his toys for anything."

I rankled at being called a toy. "He left me at the altar to run off with his mistress."

"And I am sure he fully expected you to be waiting there for him when he came back. What he does is his business. What you do is his business. Get where I am going with this?"

I just stared at Alejandro in absolute shock. He couldn't be serious. The world didn't work that way.

"Have you ever heard the child's saying "what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine"?

I frowned, still feeling a bit confused. "Yes, but—"

"That's Peter in a nutshell."

When I turned to look at Patrick, he nodded to me. "Alejandro is right, Zaq. Peter doesn't like giving up his possessions even if he no longer wants them. You were supposed to be at home crying your eyes out because the love of your life left you at the altar. You weren't supposed to marry me and live a happy life."

My brow wrinkled as I frowned. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Honestly, I didn't think of it. I don't give Peter a lot of space in my mind and haven't for years. He just doesn't matter to me anymore."

Yeah, I could understand that.

"I also didn't think he would find us, at least not this quickly."

My frown deepened, my eyebrows almost touching as they drew together. "How did he find us? Could your parents have told him where we were?"

"I never told my parents," Patrick replied. "As far as they are concerned, I am still in Texas. I didn't even change my phone number."

"Give me your brother's full name," Delancy said as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Name, birth date, all of it."

"Peter Scotton, born December second, nineteen-eighty-five in Los Angeles, California. Parents are Alan and Charlotte Scotton."

"Osaka, I need a deep dive on one Peter Scotton," Delancy stated before giving him the rest of the information. "I need to know everything about him as soon as possible, especially why he is in New York. Call in Jazz if you have to."

Delancy nodded a couple of times and then hung up before looking at me and Patrick. "I should have something by tomorrow morning."

My eyebrows lifted. "Really?"

Delancy grinned. "I know people."

Oh, I bet he did.

"Do you want me to assign you a couple of bodyguards until this blows over?" Alejandro asked. "It wouldn't be a problem."

"I was kind of hoping to get someone for Zaq," Patrick said. "I'm more worried about him than I am about me. Peter sees me as insignificant. He won't bother with me. It's Zaq that he is after."

Alejandro nodded before standing. He pulled out his cell phone as he walked to the far side of the room and began speaking. He was only on the phone for a couple of minutes before he hung up and came back.

"Do you have a spare bedroom?" he asked.

"We do," Patrick replied, "but it's not furnished at the moment. Why?"

"One of my employees will be here before you leave the building. He'll need a place to sleep during his off hours."

"We can pick up some bedroom furniture on the way home," I stated. I'd hate to make the guy protecting me sleep on the floor. Seemed kind of rude.

"His name is Jackson. He's very well trained. Until further notice, he will follow Zaq everywhere, keep him safe, and report anything out of the ordinary to you and to me. If he needs backup, it's only a phone call away."

"He doesn't follow me into the bathroom, does he?" The mere thought made me shudder.

"At home, no," Alejandro stated. "In a public place, he'll check the bathroom first before you go in. Jackson is not there to stop you from doing things. He's just there to make sure you are safe while doing them."

I suppose that was a compromise of sorts. As long as no one was watching me on the toilet I could deal with anything.

It was going to weird having someone follow me around.

"Do you really think Peter is crazy enough to do something to me?" I couldn't help asking.

"Yes," came the reply from several people in the room.

"Peter doesn't like being told no, Zaq," Patrick said. "He loathes not being in control of everyone and everything. Not only have you told him no, but you're not being obedient to him. That's going to piss him off."

I groaned as I sat back in my seat, rubbing my hands over my face. "How did I not know this about him?"

I felt as if I had been blind or stupid the entire time I'd known Peter. How could I not see that he was a complete loon?

"Peter is very good at hiding that side of himself," Patrick explained. "He's been doing it his entire life. No matter what he does, no matter how bad his actions are, he's able to spin a tale for our parents that they buy hook, line, and sinker."

I grimaced as I glanced at my husband. "That had to suck for you."

Patrick shrugged. "It's one of the reasons I went to the university that I did. Peter couldn't get accepted which meant he wasn't there to fuck with me."

"Yeah, but that's still a lot of years at home having to deal with him."

"I'm not sure you remember, but I was involved in a lot of after school activities. Not only did it keep me from having to be home to deal with him, but it looked great on my university application."

I did remember. I had joined one or two of the clubs Patrick had belonged to. I wasn't ready to admit I had joined them because of Patrick, but maybe someday I'd tell him.

"I feel like an idiot," I admitted instead.

"Hey, look at it this way," Patrick said. "At least you didn't marry him."

There was that.

We all went silent when Delancy's cell phone rang. He quickly answered it, but then looked at me.

"What?"

"Give me your cell phone," Delancy demanded as he held out his hand.

I frowned, but did as the man said. I thought he was going to look through it or something, but instead he held it out to Jake and said, "Midnight protocol."

Jake immediately got up and walked over to his desk. He opened one off the drawers and pulled a black metal box out. When he brought it over, Delancy placed my cell phone inside and Jake closed the lid.

"Fred," Jake ordered, "take this to Norris and have him look it over."

"Yes, sir."

I waited until Fred left the room before looking back at Delancy. "Is there a reason my cell phone has been taken away from me?"

"That's how Peter knows where you are," Delancy explained. "There's a tracking app on it. He can track you anywhere in the world."

I shivered at the cold chill that ran down my spine. "Peter is tracking me on my own phone?"

"My guys hacked Peter's phone and found the application for it. It looks like it's been installed for about a year."

"That's exactly the amount of time Peter and I have been dating." Well, sort of dating. Peter always complained whenever I wanted to go out in public. He always wanted to stay home.

Now, I knew why.

I turned narrowed eyes on Patrick. "You'd take me out in public on a date, right?"

Patrick's eyebrows snapped together. "Why wouldn't I?"

I shook my head. "Another Peter thing."

Patrick snorted. "Let me guess. He didn't want to be seen with you in public?"

"No, going out in public was fine, but not on a date. If we did go out in public, I wasn't allowed to touch him or be overly familiar with him. Peter always said he was worried about someone hassling us because we were two men. He preferred to date at my place."

Patrick growled as he grabbed me and yanked me close. "I don't care about other people hassling us. You're my husband and I am damn proud of that fact. If they don't like it, fuck them. I never asked them to look anyway."

Oh, good answer.

"Did you ever go to Peter's house for one of your little dates?" Delancy asked.

"No." I shook my head. "Peter had a really small apartment. He said he liked spending time at my place."

"Peter is a lying sack of shit." Delancy snorted as he turned his cell phone toward me. "This is where Peter currently lives."

I was shocked to see a picture of a fairly nice condo.

Delancy swiped his finger across the screen and a picture of Peter walking with a blonde haired woman appeared. "And this is his current roommate. She's been living with him for the past three years."

"Roommate, my ass. I've got pictures of the two of them in bed together." I pointed to the picture. "That's Peter's mistress."

And I was an idiot.