International Guy: Volume 4

by Carlan, Audrey

  At the mention of Dennis, Paul scowls.

  “Bro, I want to say I’m sorry for last night,” I say. “It really wasn’t my place to go off like that. Even though I could make a hundred excuses why I feel I was right, it really comes down to the fact that none of us, our family included, has any say in what you and Dennis do. I should have been more supportive. Sky really helped me see that Dennis didn’t mean you any ill will; he just wants his family to get to know you and, by extension, us. See that we’re all accepting and maybe they’d be accepting too.”

  “Parker—” He attempts to cut me off, but I don’t allow it.

  “Naw, man, it wasn’t cool of me to state my opinions, though they are one hundred percent right; it still wasn’t my house or my place. Sky made me realize that I was doing the same thing they were doing to you and Dennis. Judging you. I don’t agree with anything they said, and it feels ugly in my soul, man, that they’re unaccepting of Dennis’s choice, you being the biggest part of that choice, but in the future, I’ll stand down or talk to you first.”

  “Park . . . if you’d shut up . . .”

  I close my mouth and zip it tight. Skyler cinches my waist, and I can tell she’s holding her breath again. Always worried for me but still standing by my side, being my anchor.

  “What I wanted to say to you is thank you. You stuck up for me, put me and Dennis first, and not one person in that house besides Raissa had thought of either of us last night. That’s the fourth time I’ve been there and been given the cold shoulder and ignored. Dennis keeps trying to get them to like me, but it’s never going to happen. Until they change their way of thinking, I’m always going to be a sore spot, a stain on their family.”

  A stain.

  “You are a fucking hero. A man who fights for people’s freedom. Everything you stand for is good, honest, and caring. If they don’t want to have a person like that with their son, they can fuck off!”

  Paul chuckles and grins. “Glad you think so, bro. I’m pretty proud of my little bro too. Still, this whole thing is hurting Denny, and that’s something I can’t sit by and let happen. We’re working through it, but so far, I think the only thing to do is for Denny to move to the States. First, though, we’ve got to figure out what’s going on at his company and get your little problem solved, yeah?”

  “Yeah. Fine. I’ll leave it be. For now.”

  “Appreciate it.” He grins and glides to the door.

  Skyler grabs her purse and hands me my sport coat. She goes to the bar area and pours two bottles of water into the bowls and refills the dog feeder with kibble we brought for the pups. They dash from their spot on the couch to their bowls.

  Paul waits at the door as Skyler pets our dogs. “Bye, babies. Mommy and Daddy will only be gone for a few hours. Try not to destroy everything,” she says.

  That is one thing we’ve gotten very lucky on. The dogs really haven’t chewed up too many things. They mostly play with each other and sleep when we’re gone. Then they’re balls of energy when we come back.

  “Can we take them for a walk along the beach tonight?” Sky asks as we get to the door.

  “Yeah, baby. We can take them out.”

  “Yay!” She claps just her fingertips together.

  I loop an arm around her waist and lead her to the elevators, Paul at our back. “My silly girl.”

  “Bia Acosta. I don’t know that name. I’ve never heard it before.” Dennis pushes up the black rims of his glasses as he scans the account name and the pages Wendy sent over to us via email.

  Wendy is on speaker as Royce, Dennis, Paul, Skyler, and I hover around the conference room phone. “Looked her up, and she has two small children. Clarissa, a two-year-old girl, and Fabian, a five-year-old boy. Guys, I hate to say it, but it gets worse.” Wendy’s voice sounds strained, maybe even pained.

  “Ms. Wendy, please continue. I am fine. Confused, but fine.” Dennis swears under his breath and continues looking at the black box on the table and no one else.

  Paul places a hand on his man’s shoulder. His body is a veritable pillar of strength while Dennis braces himself against the top of the table.

  “Uh, well, it seems that the two children were born to a Bia Acosta. The other name on the birth certificate is . . . Jeez, I’m sorry, Dennis. The other name is Fabian Romoaldo.”

  “What!” Dennis screeches, his voice so loud I’m taken aback, as is Skyler, who reaches for my hand instantly.

  “Fabian has three children, Andreia, Brigada, and Able from his wife, Izabel. They’ve been married for over ten happy years. You must be mistaken.”

  I close my eyes, knowing that Wendy wouldn’t have dropped this bomb if she hadn’t checked and triple checked the information before bringing it to our attention.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispers into the phone. “The three dummy accounts feed into several other accounts and then route fully into one account. The sole name on the account is Bia Acosta. I have her address, image, and phone numbers. I’ve sent those in a separate email. Her home and expenses are all paid out of those accounts. I’m sorry, Dennis. I’m so sorry.”

  “Baby girl, we’ll handle the rest. Thank you,” Royce says, and hits the button to end the call.

  “I don’t understand. My brother, Fabian, is married to his high school girlfriend. They have three children. He can’t have a mistress. And two more children. Meu Deus. Isso é loucura. This is crazy,” he repeats in English. “No, no, it is not possible.”

  “Call him in,” I state flatly. “Let’s get this out in the open.”

  “My father and mother are here, walking the floors! Greeting the workers like they do every month!” Dennis responds, his tone filled with misery.

  “Bring them all in. Let’s get this settled. Royce, can you bring up the images that Wendy also pulled off social media?”

  “There are p-pic-tures?” Dennis swallows slowly and reaches for his chest; his hand covers his heart.

  Royce hits a button on the phone, dialing the receptionist. “Yes, thank you. This is Mr. Sterling in the conference room. I’m with Dennis, and he’d like to see his brother, Fabian, and his parents. Last we heard they were on the warehouse floor. Can you page them and have them meet us in the conference room?” He smiles. “Excellent. Obrigado.”

  Paul leads Dennis into an empty leather chair. The conference room can seat a good twelve people at the large table. Once he gets him settled, we all take seats and wait the ten minutes it takes until Dennis’s brother and his parents enter.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Cadu says with a hint of anger in his tone.

  “Have you finally come to your senses, meu filho?” Lucia says to Dennis, but her eyes are invisible daggers directed at Paul.

  I want to rip her a new asshole but know how hard the next few minutes will be on the family as it is. They don’t need strangers getting more involved in their business than we already are.

  “Mom, Dad, Fabian, have a seat,” Dennis says with more confidence than I would have anticipated. It seems he’s found his strength.

  When the three sit down, Dennis stands up. He walks over to Royce, who hands him the extra sets of documentation we put together.

  “I called you in to show you some unsettling things that I’ve uncovered about our business and family.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with our business,” Fabian blurts. “You’re looking for errors when there aren’t any. Mom, Dad, you know I run this business as well as you. I was taught and trained by the best.”

  Lucia pats Fabian’s hand. “Nós sabemos, meu bom menino.”

  “English, please.” Dennis frowns.

  “Son, we are here to help you deal with the demons inside of you. The ones that are telling you to do wrong.” Cadu’s expression is one of fatherly concern as he focuses his gaze on Dennis.

  Dennis’s lips flatten into a thin white line. “This is not about me. I know you think I’m the black sheep of the family. That my body is filled with demons an
d the devil because I’m attracted to men. I’m in love with a man! I know the God I worship loves all his children, gay or not! This is about the fact that your other son has been stealing money from this company for the past two years!”

  Fabian smacks the table. “You’re insane! He’s crazy, Mamãe e Papai. You’re just trying to make me look bad because you’re letting down your family by being with”—he gestures to Paul—“that man! It’s against your parents and against God! You’re in the wrong, Dennis!” He blathers on and Dennis loses steam, the blow of Fabian’s words hitting him dead in the chest. He winces, and his shoulders sag.

  When I see he’s struggling, I stand up. “Actually Mr. and Mrs. Romoaldo, Dennis is not lying. Royce, give them the data.” Royce does as I ask, taking the three stacks of paper back from Dennis that prove what Dennis is saying is fact, not fiction, and handing them to his parents.

  “Follow the money. Note the three accounts we have highlighted . . .”

  Lucia looks down at the paperwork. “What is a product reserve?”

  “Or a disability reserve?” Dennis’s father adds.

  “Um, Mamãe e Papai . . . uh, those are just for extra savings,” Fabian attempts.

  His father and mother both stare hard and flip pages, obviously familiar with how the accounting works since they ran the company from its inception until their retirement.

  “Actually, there are three accounts, the two you mentioned and the last one I’ve highlighted. Money is deposited into each of those accounts and transferred out every two weeks. The monies are moved into a series of other random accounts, which are again drained and the funds deposited into the personal checking account of a woman named Bia Acosta,” Roy confirms while I focus my gaze on Fabian.

  His mouth drops open, and his face turns a ghostly white. He shakes his head and looks at Dennis. “No. Don’t do this,” he pleads with his brother.

  “You already did. When you decided to steal from me and this family.” Dennis’s voice is hoarse and filled with unchecked emotion.

  “Dennis, meu irmão, I beg of you—” Fabian tries again.

  “Who is Bia Acosta?” Cadu demands angrily. “And why is she getting close to a hundred and fifty thousand reais a month?”

  Apparently Cadu is a financial guru in his own right since he was able to pull up the exact amount so quickly.

  Dennis closes his eyes. “Royce, please put the images on the screen.”

  Royce pulls up the first picture, which is an image that Wendy must have taken off Bia’s social media feeds. The translated caption below reads Our happy family. Me, Fabian, Fabian Jr. , and Clarissa.

  Lucia’s eyes go so wide they look like an archery target, the dark of her pupils a perfect circle surrounded by a large white one. She raises her hand and covers her mouth.

  “Fabian has two families. The money is going into his mistress’s account to take care of her, their home, and his two other children.”

  “Fabian!” Cadu stares at his son.

  “Papai . . . I’m . . . I don’t know what to say other than I know I messed up . . . ,” Fabian whispers, his face filled with fear and what I hope is self-loathing.

  Lucia looks at Fabian and then at Dennis, her eyes filling with tears. “Both of my children have shamed this family. Não vou permitir! I will not have it!” She smacks the table as if her physical action can somehow change all that’s come before.

  Dennis shakes his head and laughs dryly, but I know by the look in his eyes that it cost him. “After what happened last night and what I have found today, I want to dissolve this partnership and sell off my half of the import business. I’m going to start up my own, in the United States, Boston to be specific, where I’m moving to be with my boyfriend and his family.”

  “Son . . . ,” Cadu starts.

  “Brother . . . ,” Fabian croaks.

  “Dennis . . .” Paul puts a beefy hand on his man’s neck.

  “This is it. I will no longer be a part of this family. You are a cheat, Fabian, and deserve whatever hell you’re going to go through with Izabel and Mom and Dad. And the two of you: I’ll always love you, but until you can love me unconditionally, even though I’m gay, even though I’m going to move away and live with my boyfriend, then you can carry on with having just one son in your life.”

  “How dare you . . .” Lucia growls, stands up, and places her hand in a fist at her heart. “You’d sacrifice this family—for him!” She points at Paul. “We are your family!” She hits her own chest several times.

  “I don’t need a family that doesn’t love me for who I am and won’t open their hearts to the most amazing person I’ve ever known.” Dennis wraps his arm around Paul’s waist in a possessive move. “I’ll be here while I pack and sell off my half of the company. If you open your minds and find you can let go of the hate in your hearts, call me. For now, my sister, Paul, and his family are the family I choose.”

  With those words ringing in everyone’s ears, I grab Skyler’s hand and follow Paul and Dennis out of the conference room, Royce bringing up the rear.

  “Are you okay?” Paul asks Dennis as we make our way through the company and out into the open air.

  Dennis smiles wide, loops his arms around Paul’s neck, and lifts his face to the sky. “For the first time in what feels like forever, I’m finally happy. I know I made the right decision.”

  “Yeah?” Paul asks with a small smirk.

  Dennis looks at my brother deeply, their noses almost touching. “I choose you. I choose to live free. There’s nothing more important in life than to live free.”

  Skyler hugs me around the waist as we watch my brother wrap his big paws around Dennis’s neck and seal their love and his profound statement with a long, deep kiss.

  9

  SKYLER

  The bus ride up Mount Corcovado is bumpy, humid, and scary as hell. Buses coming down the mountain and the one we’re on going up pass one another with an inch of distance to spare between them.

  Fear ripples up my spine, and I close my eyes as another bus passes us. I can imagine the screech of metal on metal in horrible clarity as one driver or the other makes a fatal mistake. It doesn’t happen. I’m greeted by only the sound of people inside the bus talking, my own breath coming in and out of my body, and the soothing beat of Parker’s pulse where my thumb is resting on his wrist in a death grip.

  Feeling ridiculous but still needing him to know, I lick my dry lips and nudge his shoulder until he looks at me. “Honey, if we die in a bus wreck on the mountain the Christ sits on top of, I think we’ll definitely get into heaven. Regardless, I just want you to know that I love you, and so far, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I wouldn’t take back a day we’ve had together.”

  Parker chuckles jovially and tucks me closer to his side, making the already steamy ride sweltering hot and not in a good way. “Peaches, we are not going to die. The drivers do this trek up and down all day long. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Just tell me you love me . . . just in case.”

  He shakes his head, smiling. “No, because that’s bad juju. How’s about I tell you that we’re going to see one of the seven new wonders of the world together. Now that’s beautiful, baby.”

  My smile is wide when I look up at him and take in all that is Parker Ellis, the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving. His hair is combed back, but his curls on top are making an appearance in the humid weather. He’s wearing his black aviators that shade the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. None of that is what steals my breath, however. It’s his lips. When he smiles. When he looks at me with curious interest. When he’s about to kiss me. The little dip at the top fits perfectly against mine. No man has ever had a better set of lips in my opinion.

  He runs a finger along the ball of my shoulder. “Oh fine . . . I love you, baby,” he acquiesces, then nuzzles my nose and kisses the tip.

  When he pulls back, the van comes to a stop in front of w
hat looks like a normal building set on top of a giant mountain.

  “All right, all right, let’s go see big Jesus!” Royce licks his full lips, then claps his hands and rubs them together before standing.

  Our squad leaves the vehicle, my knees squishy sponges barely able to hold me up since I’ve spent the last thirty minutes clinging to the hope that we’d make it to the top alive. I’m getting my land legs back while being guided through an air-conditioned restaurant/souvenir shop.

  “Now why would I want to buy something before I’ve seen the Christ?” I ponder out loud.

  Parker shrugs, leads me out to where people are congregating, and flips his specs on top of his head, looking utterly edible. Damn, my man is fine. If he hadn’t given me the business this morning, I’d be tackling him where he stands. For now, I can just simply appreciate his good looks and preplan my evening’s activities.

  He must sense my admiration because his chin dips down, and his gaze rests on mine. A well-shaped eyebrow rises as he purses his lips. “Peaches, if you keep looking at me like you want to take a bite out of me, you’re going to be screaming Jesus’s name instead of visiting a statue in his likeness.”

  I move to chastise him, but he takes my mouth in a blistering, wet kiss, cutting off any retort or argument. His tongue tangles with mine, one of his hands moving against my ass, the other cupping the back of my head while he deepens his taste.

  “Would you two give it a freakin’ rest. Shee-it. We haven’t even seen the big guy, and you look like you’re planning to sin right here on the good Lord’s mountain!” Royce huffs but does so while smiling good-naturedly. “Come on, I’ve got a date with a deity.”

  He moves ahead of us, his long legs eating up the concrete as we follow the crowds of people moving in one direction. Paul and Dennis follow us from behind, and even though there’s a heaviness about them, they seem even more connected after yesterday’s horrible meeting with Dennis’s family. The two are clinging to one another, hands never leaving the other’s. It’s sweet and a good sign.