Chapter Eighteen

~ Zaq ~

"Sir." Jackson appeared in the entryway standing straight and tall, his hands clasped together in front of him. "Mr. D'Amato and Mr. Cranston are here."

"Let them in," I directed the man.

Jackson gave a curt nod. "Very good, sir."

If he wasn't a bodyguard, he'd make an excellent butler.

I wasn't stupid enough to mention that.

When the two men walked in, they were both dressed in very slick business suits. Armani if I wasn't mistaken. Jake's suit was black. Miles's was dark gray and he was carrying a black briefcase. They looked very impressive.

They must have gone home to change.

"Jake, Miles." Patrick got up to shake their hands.

"Sorry for barging in like this," Jake said. "I didn't realize you had company."

"These are mine and Zaq's parents," Patrick replied.

Jake smiled as if he was happy to meet them.

I wasn't sure what game he was playing, but it was fun to watch.

"Mom, Dad, Mr. Dinh, Mrs., Dinh," Patrick began. "This is Jake D'Amato and Miles Cranston. We attended the university together. Jake now runs his own company here in New York and Miles is a lawyer."

"Lucas said he would stop by later after Kyue gets done with his race." Jake smiled almost sickeningly sweet as he glanced at our parents. "You might have heard of him. Lucas Kincaid."

I swear, my father and Patrick's started salivating.

"You know Lucas Kincaid, son?" Patrick's father asked.

"Yeah," Patrick replied casually, "he's another one of our frat brothers."

"Why did you never tell me you knew these men?" my father asked.

"Why would I?" I replied. "You'd only tell Peter."

My mother frowned. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"I don't know why you can't see it, but Peter is bad news. He's manipulative and he bullies people, and when that doesn't work, he attacks them. I would never want my friends to be subjected to him. I've already seen what he can do to someone he says he loves."

Patrick waved his hand toward me. "This isn't the first time he's done something like this, but you always believe whatever sob story he tells you. You always say he was just confused or misunderstood. He's not. He's just crazy."

"Your brother is not crazy!"

"I'm sorry to interject here," Miles said as he opened his briefcase and pulled out a file. "I just received this report from the district attorney prosecuting Peter's case and he is, in fact, crazy."

My mother paled.

"That's a lie!" my father shouted. "My son is not crazy."

"Peter was given a physiological evaluation after he was arrested for trying to kill Zaq. The psychologist who saw him determined that Peter has schizophrenia with strong paranoid delusions. At the moment, he's not even deemed fit to stand trial. Until he is, he will be sent to a mental institution for the criminally insane."

I gaped at Miles. "Seriously?"

Miles grimaced as he nodded. "I called and talked to the district attorney before coming here. I wanted to make sure I had the most up to date information on your case. I don't want you to worry. Peter can't get to you anymore."

My relief was so great, tears flooded my eyes. I reached out and grabbed Patrick's hand, tugging on it. Patrick immediately turned to me and then went down to his knees in front of me.

He gave me a little smile as he reached over to brush the tears from the corners of my eyes. "See? I told you it was going to be okay. You're safe now. Peter can no longer hurt you."

I was more worried about the sadness I could see in Patrick's eyes. I knew deep down inside he truly loved his brother and wanted a normal sibling relationship with Peter. It just wasn't going to happen and Patrick knew it. We both did.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Nothing for you to be sorry about," Patrick replied. "Peter was like this a long time before you came into the picture. I just wished you hadn't been hurt along the way."

I glanced over at his parents. Patrick's mother was crying softly, a handkerchief held to her mouth. His father just sat there with a stunned expression on his face as if someone had hit him with a truck.

"You should probably go talk to your parents."

Patrick grimaced as he turned his head to look at them. "I'm not sure there's anything more to say. I've been telling them for years that there was something wrong with Peter. Now maybe they will believe me."

"You should still go comfort them."

Patrick dropped his head against my shoulder and whispered, "Do I have to?"

I chuckled at his whiney voice. "Yes, you have to. Besides, I need to figure out why my parents are here."

Patrick snorted as he lifted his head. "Good luck with that."

I waited until Patrick got up and walked over to his parents before looking at mine. "So, how come you flew all the way here to visit me? Was it to see all of this or for some other reason?"

My father stood, straightened his tie and then smoothed down the lapels of his blazer before looking at me. "It's time to come home, son. I've already arranged for my lawyer to process the divorce papers. All you have to do is sign them. I've found you someone else to marry." He shot Patrick's parents a scathing look. "Someone of better social standing."

Laughter burst out of my mouth. "Go fuck yourself."

I knew my father had some other motive for coming here.

"Son, it's for the best," my father tried to reason. "This family is tainted."

"And yours isn't?"

"Of course not," my father swiftly retorted. "We don't have crazy people in our family."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Remember Auntie Mina?"

God, I had loved that woman, but she'd been as crazy as a loon.

She wasn't violent, though.

"She doesn't count," my father countered. "She married into the family."

Yeah, whatever.

"I'm not going back with you, I'm not divorcing Patrick, and I am not marrying anyone except him." I didn't think I could make it any clearer than that. "I am happy with Patrick. I love Patrick. I am staying with Patrick."

End of story.

"Son—"

I stood up and gestured toward the front door. "Thanks for coming. Call next time and save yourself the airfare. Jackson, my parents are leaving. Can you escort them out?"

Jackson appeared out of nowhere as if he'd been waiting for me to call him. "Of course, sir." He gave me a not before looking at my parents. "If you'll follow me?"

"Zaq!"

I waved. "Bye bye."

I didn't need a long drawn out conversation here where my father tried to coax me and then threaten me to get me to do what he wanted. For once in my life, I was going to do what I wanted.

I could hear my father shouting and arguing with Jackson all the way to the door. I simply sat back down in my chair and grabbed my cup, slowly sipping my coffee.

I don't know what exactly was said between Patrick and his parents since they were talking in low tones, but they left about five minutes after my parents did. Patrick was nice enough to escort them to the door himself so maybe there was hope for them.

My parents were pretty much a right-off as far as I was concerned. Until they learned to accept Patrick and me being together, they could stay on their side of the country.

When Patrick came back, instead of sitting down next to me, he went to his knees in front of me. This time, he leaned down and buried his face against me.

I carefully set my coffee cup down and then threaded my fingers through his hair. "Did you work things out with your parents?"

"Yes and no," Patrick mumbled. "Yes, we'll probably see them again, but no, they don't fully believe me about Peter. I was able to convince them to go talk to the district attorney though. Maybe if he shows them all the evidence they have against Peter, my parents might start to believe it."

Doubtful, but I wanted to leave Patrick with some hope, so I didn't say anything.

"So, you guys want to move that lunch to a dinner?" Jake asked. "Lucas said him and Kyue would meet us there."

"Yeah, that would be fine." Patrick lifted his head and then leaned up and gave me a quick kiss before getting to his feet. "When we get home, we can start negotiations again."

I lifted an eyebrow as I accepted the hand he held out to me. "I thought we had already negotiated a five year plan?"

"We did." Patrick winked at me. "I want to start negotiations for the next week's plan."

I got the feeling there would be a lot of negotiations in my future.

I wasn't complaining.

* * * *

I groaned as I flopped down on the mattress, barely able to move a muscle. I'd worked the emergency room at a Los Angeles hospital during a twenty-four car pile-up. It hadn't been nearly as exhausting as the last two days. Half our client list was down with the winter flu and they were all calling us. I was almost ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat.

"Hey." Patrick stretched out on the mattress beside me. "You alive?"

"No." I chuckled. "I died ten patients ago."

"Well, look at it this way, once winter is over we'll probably not get a single call until people start sun bathing."

I didn't even want to think about it.

"I do have a bit of good news for you."

I lifted one eyebrow, but not my head. "Oh?"

"Miles called. He said he spoke with the district attorney and after several more evaluations the courts have decided that Peter is too much of a danger to himself and others. He's going to be committed to that mental hospital for the rest of his life."

Damn, that was good news.

"Do you parents know?"

Patrick nodded. "I called them and told them. They took it surprisingly well. Better than I expected anyway."

"How do you feel about it?"

"Honestly, I feel relieved. I know this is going to be hard on my parents, but knowing he's not out there creating chaos for you or other people makes it easier for me to breathe."

"My parents are still refusing to speak to me, so I know how you feel. It's a relief not to have my father constantly belittling me or trying to force me to do what he wants."

Patrick smiled at me after rolling onto his side. "I know you're exhausted right now, but are you happy?"

I frowned for a moment as I thought about it. "Yeah," I finally answered. "I guess I am."

"Good."

"This is the part where you usually try to start negotiations," I said regretfully, "but honestly, I just want to cuddle and sleep."

Patrick chuckled. "I already had Jackson lock up."

Man, I was really glad we'd decided to keep Jackson.

"I swear you'll never hear this sentence come out of my mouth again, but let's get naked and sleep."

"I'm game if you are, but it might cost you in the morning."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Is this a negotiation?"

Patrick just wagged his eyebrows at me.

~ The End ~