Lost (The Everett Gaming Series Book 5)

by Drew Sera

  I sent him a text and by the time I stood up he had responded and confirmed that he was home.

  CE: I’m coming over.

  MR: Thank you.

  I gave Sydney a kiss and let them know I’d be back in a little bit. Sydney gave me a panicked look. She didn’t want me to go see Matt.

  “Sunshine, Matt won’t lay a finger on Colin. Matt won’t hurt him. It was me he was angry with.”

  “But, Sir...I never thought Matt would hurt you either,” Sydney said quietly. Anthony took a deep breath and looked around. I don’t think he knew what to do with himself right then.

  “I’ll text you on my way home. Baby, I want you to have the tub ready. I’ll let you know when to start filling it.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Little fragile kitten. I smiled as I headed out to see Matt. I decided to walk because I thought it would help me prepare what I wanted to say. I took my time walking over there and as I made my way up his driveway, he opened the door. He looked like hell.

  “Hi,” he said. I could tell this has been eating away at him and I was kind of glad.

  “Is Gina home?”

  He nodded and said she was upstairs but promised we’d have some privacy. We went to sit down in his great room. I sat and looked at him for a moment.

  “I’m glad you came over.”

  “Matt, I can’t begin to tell you how much your actions hurt Anthony and Sydney. And me. Sydney got upset before I came over here when I told her I was coming to see you. You shouldn’t have gotten into a physical altercation with Anthony. She saw it and she doesn’t have a favorable view of you right now. She was very used to seeing feelings played out in violence before Anthony and I. She trusted you, Matt. You worked hard to earn her trust.”

  He nodded and leaned forward over his knees, clearly upset.

  “I don’t forgive you, Matt. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Over the past twenty-four hours, I’ve been trying to figure out what the hell you were thinking. You knew something bad happened that night with Victor. Fine if you wanted to get the specifics yourself from Victor, but why did you have to bring him to the house to get confrontational with Anthony? Anthony knew what happened, Matt. I feared what had happened after talking with you and Blake and then seeing how he was acting. He was ashamed, embarrassed and probably scared. What you did pretty much told him you didn’t care how he felt and you were going to push this in his face if he liked it or not. And you did it in front of Sydney and Blake in our home. I have a problem with that. Not just because of Anthony, but Sydney. Sydney is barely back to feeling safe in our home. I can’t leave her in a room without seeing the panic in her eyes. Every noise she hears requires investigation. You brought a stranger into our home that clearly upset Anthony, then you had to rough him up, in front of her.”

  “Col, I can only apologize for my actions. I didn’t want him wondering what happened. I felt like he needed closure, but it wasn’t a call for me to make. I’m sorry for the mess I’ve caused.”

  “You have no fucking idea, Matt. I cleaned up your mess after you left.” I let that sink in for a few minutes. He’s constantly reminding Anthony about that night he left, which ended up being the night he saw the Pro Dom. “Sound familiar? I tried to help them both last night. You don’t have any idea how hard it was to watch Sydney move around the house worried, confused and afraid that she had done something to cause Anthony to be so distant. And Anthony is terrified that he’s going to lose Sydney and I.”

  Matt held his hands together in front of his mouth. His eyes were watery and it surprised me to the point where my eyes started to water. I looked away.

  “Colin, I am sorry. I was so worried about him. Everything pointed to sexual assault and I was afraid he didn’t know. You saw his body in the hospital and how fucked up he was. And he needed to be looked over thoroughly by a doctor. There could have been internal damage, Colin.” He paused when he realized he had gone off ranting. “He needed to face it, Col.”

  “Fine, he needed to face it, but he didn’t need it thrown in his face in his own home while the asshole who did it sat next to him. You and I knew what happened. We should have sat him down and talked to him. I’m equally to blame for not biting that bullet and talking to him. Or you should have sat us down after your investigation lunch and said what you needed to say. We could have dealt with it. You’re his family and you treated him and a very sensitive situation like he meant nothing to you.”

  “Colin, I was so angry with Victor that I could have hit him.”

  “But you took it out on Anthony instead.”

  “It took him until he was forty years old to breathe a word about his childhood to you and I. He’s carried that his whole life alone on his shoulders and I didn’t want him to do that again with this. I lost control as he sat there so nonchalant, like it wasn’t a big deal.”

  It was lost on Matt, but very obvious to me with regards to why Anthony reacted as if it didn’t matter. I understood why Anthony just shrugged it off. Fucked up shit like this happened all of the time to him when he was younger, and he dealt with it now the same as he did when he was little; push it away and move on.

  “Matt, you have to remember that this kind of shit was a common occurrence for him up until his biological father found out. His reaction was probably the only way he knew how to act. Plus, Blake was there and Sydney was inside. You totally blindsided him.”

  “Blake is pissed at me. He called me last night, angry. I’m sorry, Colin. I don’t know what to do.” Matt was upset and I could tell that he was genuinely sorry.

  “Matt, you’re an awesome doctor and you’re very used to fixing things. But this just needs time to heal up, you can’t force it.” He nodded. “We’re going away for a while.”

  His head jerked up and he stared at me with nervous eyes. I told him we were leaving tomorrow and going to my place in Newport. I explained that Chris knew and thought some time away without any outside influences would be good for the three of us and that we were still going to talk with Chris every other day.

  “Don’t forget to take their medication. And bandages and stuff to clean their wounds.”

  “I won’t. Despite what may be going through your head right now, this will be good for us. I will take care of them. They’re my responsibility and I won’t let us fail.”

  “I failed you. I tried so hard while Sydney was gone to help you and take care of whatever the fuck had gone on with Anthony, and I failed to push him and get to the bottom of it.” Matt took a deep breath before looking back up at me. “Is there any chance that I could talk to Anthony before you go?”

  I shook my head and stood. I told him Anthony was very close to the edge and I didn’t want him upset anymore. Matt and Anthony both need to calm down before either of them faced each other. I didn’t want another pool incident. I was hyper protective of Anthony right now. Maybe more than I needed to be, but I was going to be the final word on Matt speaking to Anthony.

  “What were you thinking roughing him up? You do recall his lung collapsed, right?”

  “I don’t know, Col. It was stupid of me. You know, he never even hit me. He mostly kept his hands up so I wouldn’t hit his face, but he just took it and that pissed me off. He’s our little brother and I wanted to protect him from everything. I was so pissed when he consented to ‘anything’ with Victor. It was so stupid of him.”

  “I agree. But Matt, you can say that until you’re blue in the face, but it won’t change what happened. We just need to be here for him.”

  I’m glad that I did reach out and talk to Matt before our trip. Chris was right though. I did get a glimpse of why Matt did it. He genuinely was concerned and didn’t want Anthony to go on wondering if something bad had happened. And he didn’t want Anthony to deal with it on his own. I didn’t either, of course, but I would have gone about this another way. I stood and asked him if I could talk to Gina. He called her downstairs and she stuck by his side. I could see the worry on her face though. She,
like Sydney, was caught in the middle. I held my arms out for her and she walked into my hug.

  “It’ll be okay, Gina. I’m going to go away with Sydney and Anthony for a while, but you can call or text Sydney whenever you want. She’s not angry with you.”

  “But, what about you and Matt and Anthony? I don’t want you guys to fight.”

  I glanced at Matt and told Gina we just needed some time. I released her and sent her back to Matt. Matt walked me to the door and before I left I slapped him hard on his upper back. He knew that he and I would be okay but that it would take time. I needed him to know that tonight before we left. When I slapped him hard on the back, I teased and told him that was from Anthony.

  I walked home feeling better for having stood up to Matt and expressed my feelings about the situation. I sent Sydney a text and told her to start the tub water. When I got home, I found the two of them sitting on the floor in the bathroom, with Sydney cuddled up on his lap.

  We took a bath and didn’t talk at all about Matt. I did tell Sydney that she could text Gina while we were gone. Sydney and Gina were good friends and they both have been good for one another. I didn’t want this rift between Matt and Anthony and I to get in the way of their friendship. She needs her female friend to heal.

  Sydney leaned against Anthony in the tub and he ate it up like he was starved. Maybe he and I both were starved for some physical contact with our kitten. We were still playing catch up. The two of them sat in our sitting area together while I quickly packed.

  Chapter 39

  Thursday, February 13th

  Colin

  On our drive, Sydney was chatty asking me about the place I had. I was more than happy to answer all of her questions. She was talking, and Chris couldn’t emphasize enough how crucial it was for Sydney to talk and hear familiar voices. I was sitting in the passenger seat and let Anthony drive. He would have gone out of his mind if I just made him sit here for the entire drive. I think he welcomed the distraction of concentrating on the road.

  “So, it’s actually on the sand?”

  “Yes, baby. It’s a private beach and there are just a handful of houses spread out over a few miles. It’s very quiet and relaxing.”

  My beach house was by no means as exciting as Anthony’s mega tech cabin in the middle in the woods, but it was still nice. It wasn’t huge like his cabin, but it wasn’t a cracker jack box either. It sat by itself on a beautiful beach and was about 2,500 square feet. It was gray with white trim and had a balcony and patio in the back that faced the ocean. The back of the house was nearly all glass so even if you were inside, the ocean was still right there. It was a two-story loft with a great room, kitchen and two full bathrooms. The bedroom was the entire upper loft level and it had a nice sized bathroom just off the stairs.

  The association that oversees the few homes in the area had a housekeeping service that I can utilize whenever needed. I phoned them last night letting them know I’d be there today and that I needed fresh linens in the bathrooms and on the beds. I also gave them a full list of groceries that needed to be stocked. And I didn’t forget the M&M’s.

  We pulled up to the house and all got out stretching, breathing in the fresh air. Sydney hadn’t even looked in the direction of the house but was fixated on the ocean. Anthony and I were fixated on her and her reaction. The fresh sea breeze blew her hair back off her shoulders and neck, exposing some of her burn marks. I stood next to her and took hold of her hand. She stood still with a smile on her face and her eyes concentrating on the crashing waves.

  “You’ve never seen the ocean, have you, baby?”

  “No, Colin…Sir.”

  I smiled and looked over my shoulder at Anthony. He stood with his hands jammed in his pockets watching Sydney. I knew right then that this was going to be good for us.

  “Come on, baby. I’ll show you around.”

  I led her up to the door and let her walk in first. The first thing I showed Sydney was the alarm keypad. I showed her how to arm and disarm it. It was an open floor plan, so she could see everything from the great room. Just off the front door was the great room and then the kitchen was toward the back, facing the ocean. The kitchen had a square table, small breakfast bar area, and glass doors that led out to the patio deck that was slightly elevated off the sand. The ocean was about thirty yards from the patio deck. Between the great room and kitchen were the stairs that led to the loft. I took her up there and let her look around. There were glass doors upstairs that led to the balcony which also overlooked the ocean and the king-sized bed sat in the center of the room with space to walk around it. The roof in the bathroom had a huge skylight and the loft was nearly all skylights.

  “It’s beautiful. So peaceful.” She breathed in the air as we stood on the balcony upstairs.

  I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead. Anthony was standing next to the bed and was pulling his clothes off. I started to get excited, thinking he wanted to play with Sydney. Since Sydney’s been back, he’s helped me play with her and has always been in the room while I’ve played with her but he hasn’t actively participated. I am wondering if it’s because of Victor. Maybe something is messing with his head or maybe he’s just feeling uncomfortable with what he thinks Sydney can handle. Or maybe his body is just under too much stress right now. I hadn’t given that much thought until now. He stood naked in front of his bag and pulled out his swim trunks, his bruised body on display for Sydney and I. He didn’t try to cover up or hide any wounds. His swim trunks barely fit him anymore. I frowned when I realized just how much weight he’d lost. He cinched the trunks as much as he could and then looked over at us.

  “I’m going to catch some waves before the sun goes down.” He turned to head down the stairs but stopped and turned back around to face us. “You guys want to come?”

  He was trying to not shut us out. I knew he was trying to continue on as if those two weeks without Sydney never occurred. I told him Sydney and I would be right behind him.

  Sydney and I stood on the balcony and watched him trot down to the water and then dive in. He emerged from the water a short distance away. Sydney watched him with sad, uncertain eyes. I tilted her chin so she’d look at me.

  “Baby, he’ll be okay. It’s just going to take some time.”

  She nodded and looked down. I took her by her hand and we took some towels from the linen closet and slowly made our way down the sand to be closer to Anthony. I set the towels down and pulled her to sit down between my legs and I wrapped my arms around her.

  “At night, it gets cool out. Even in the summer it gets cool in the evening. Don’t worry though, Anthony and I will keep you warm.” I kissed her cheek. “And safe.”

  “I know you guys will. You’re both always good to me. Maybe even more than I deserve.”

  “No. There’s no talking like that. You deserve to be treated well. Like a princess. You deserve nothing but goodness. Anthony and I are going to give that to you, little Miss Submissive.”

  She tilted her head so she could look up at me. Her pupils were dilated and she was wearing that playful smile. I began to get hard again and she smiled bashfully when she started to feel my erection. We both began to laugh and cuddle closer until our noses brushed. I was lost in her at that point. I held the side of her face inside the palm of my hand and braced my thumb under her chin while lowering my face to kiss her. She was just as needy as I was and our kiss was full of emotion and passion. I pulled us apart when I felt like I might push things too fast and hard. I could have taken her jeans down just far enough to push my cock in her right there, but it wouldn’t have been wise.

  I settled her on my lap and wrapped my arms around her again while we watched Anthony swim around and tread water here and there.

  “Did you grow up around the ocean?” Sydney asked me.

  “We weren’t far from the bay. My family lived next door to Matt's family in San Francisco. We didn’t spend a lot of time down at the beach, but my parents mad
e sure I learned how to swim very early on.”

  “Can I ask you something personal, Colin?”

  “Sydney, nothing is too personal for us. Ask away, baby.”

  I kissed her ear and waited for her to proceed.

  “How did you end up with everything? Your house, the beach house, your company. I’m just curious how someone ends up where you are?”

  She made me smile because I knew material things weren’t important to her, but I also knew that she’s had so little for so long that she was naturally curious. I quickly thought about how Anthony, Matt and I have all been well off financially for so long that until Sydney, I hadn’t given much thought to how I ended up where I did.

  “Is it all from hard work and education?” She asked when I hadn’t immediately answered. I pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. I’m sure somewhere in her life she’s been trying to figure out where she could have made a different choice that might have bettered things for her. She was dealt a shitty hand from the beginning and unfortunately, she never was able to climb out of it until recently.

  “Some of it is from that, yes. My parents left me money. I took a year off school after I graduated high school and traveled. I thought a lot about what I wanted in life. Matt and I got into the BDSM scene in college and he and I would make frequent trips to Vegas. I loved the casinos and wanted to be a part of it, but from a distance, if that makes sense. I used a lot of what my parents left me to start the gaming company. It took a number of years, but it finally took off and is doing well. But it took a lot of hard work and dedication to get it where it’s at. And the help of Anthony and Mitch.”

  “Is it the same for Anthony?”

  I exhaled loudly as I watched him swimming around. How to explain to Sydney how Anthony got his expensive high-rise condo and cabin. I tossed some explanations around in my head and then decided to be honest.

  “Anthony’s story is a little different, baby. He was awarded a large settlement and with that money he built the cabin and bought his high-rise condo.”