Hidden Gem

by Lissa Kasey

  “I can take anything you throw at me.”

  “I’m sure you can. But why would you need to? Do you think that Misaki will let you do whatever you want to him? Will go into your relationship without respecting his safewords? That’s unacceptable, Detective.”

  “I would never hurt him.”

  “But does your idea of hurt mesh with his?”

  Shane thought about that. He really didn’t know. Aki had experienced a lot of physical pain in the past, but what about the mental stuff? He’d been having nightmares and panic attacks before ending up in the hospital. Maybe Shane really needed to learn more than just the physical stuff.

  “I don’t want him to be afraid of me.”

  “If you master him, he will trust you beyond anyone else. Only your failure to protect him would make him afraid. It’s why he doesn’t trust you yet. He fears he is alone against the world. Believes the South will appear any moment to drag him back to Camp. You have to become his barrier. And to do that you must become his master. Misaki uses red and yellow only because I make him. So for now those can be yours as well. Perhaps you’ll choose more personal ones in time.” He paused and smiled a bit evilly. Shane’s stomach clenched. “Let’s start with you stripping.”

  “What?”

  “Your clothes. Take them off. Fold them nicely, no thrown-together balls of mess. We will go over positions today. If you recall, I did say to learn to dominate, you must first learn to submit. Of course this all hinges on whether or not you still want Misaki.”

  “I don’t see how this is necessary—”

  “Which is why we must do it. I assure you that there is nothing about you that I haven’t seen before. Even if you shifted right here and now. Subs often find it easier to enter their subspace in these positions. It’s a familiar structure to them. Something they do to please you, which in turn makes them happy. So do you want him or not?”

  “Yes,” Shane ground out.

  “Strip. If I have to say it again, I’ll end the lesson as a fail.”

  And to see Misaki, he had to complete the fucking lessons. Shane sighed and began to take off his clothes. He folded them neatly and put them on the floor. He’d never felt so exposed before, looking out over the bright lights of the City M skyline. He could see his reflection in the windows, the hard lines of his body, the many scars, and the irritation on his face.

  “Wonderful. We’ll start with the display standing position and move from there. I trust you cleared your schedule? This will take several hours. Many subs find it exhausting in the beginning, but I’m sure a man as strong as yourself can handle it easily.”

  “Just tell me what to do already.”

  “Don’t speak unless I ask you a question. If you must ask a question, it should be for clarification only and begin by saying: Question, Sir. And you will always refer to me as Sir. Understood?” Paris walked around him. Shane could feel the man’s eyes on him, searching out every flaw. This was going to be brutal.

  “Yes, Sir.” His tone wasn’t exactly friendly.

  “Digging in your heels will only get you punishment. I wonder, do you like pain? Will you learn from pain or humiliation? I’m sure there is little you fear. And I have a feeling you trust no one.” Paris turned to stare out the window himself. “Eyes down unless I tell you otherwise.” He sighed. “You’re not going to be easy to train, are you? Never let it be said that I won’t do unpleasant things for the sake of my companions.”

  EIGHTEEN

  WHEN AKI was finally released from the hospital, he felt like running around in circles and jumping up and down for joy, only no one would let him. He rode in a wheelchair to the car, and then Manny insisted on carrying him up to the Gem and all the way to his room. Everyone kept popping in to see how he was, and Bart finally had to put a guard on the door so Aki could get rest. But he felt like he’d been resting for days after two whole weeks in the hospital. And he had to go back for regular brain scans. Bart had only given him some vague details about a severe migraine. Aki didn’t care as long as he was home where he belonged.

  Candy spent the first day home in bed with him. They had a brand-new queen-sized bed. The two smaller ones had been replaced and the furniture moved around. Aki thought he’d like the space, but he still found himself virtually stuck to Candy’s side like a magnet.

  “Jade is making tomato soup from scratch for you,” Candy told him as they watched a foreign drama on his com tablet.

  “Can I have grilled cheese too? Oh, with gouda in the middle. That would be so good.”

  Candy smiled. “I’m pretty sure we can handle that. How are you feeling? Head hurt at all?”

  Aki was a little light-headed, but he assumed it was the meds they’d sent home with him. “No pain.” He wondered how long it would be before he was cleared to work. Bart had put his contract on hold for medical reasons. He was grateful that the balance wouldn’t grow while he recovered, but he worried for everyone else who seemed to be doting on him. Especially Candy. “Don’t you have to work? I don’t want to keep you.”

  “It’s okay. I cleared it with Bart. I have a lot saved up. Been thinking about going to school even. Taking a night off work every week to maybe take some business management stuff. Bart has been making noises about retiring. Maybe in a few years, I can take over for him.”

  Wow. That was a surprise to Aki. “It’s a lot of responsibility.” The contract owners were a bit like the mob, and though Bart rarely showed his dark side, they’d all seen a client or a companion cross the line at least once before. The results were never pretty.

  Candy shrugged. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of bossy.”

  Aki laughed. “I like that about you.”

  “That’s ’cause you’re special.” He wrapped his arm around Aki, pulling him closer. “Maybe you should call DM.”

  “I don’t know.” He’d vanished from the hospital, not showing when Aki was released like everyone else had. Aki knew the man sat with him at night because he’d wake up in the morning with a new gift beside him. But he slept so soundly he rarely saw the man. Had what Shane said been real? Were they going to try to be something more than just companion and client? Would Bart or Paris even let them? “Bart’s probably right anyway.”

  “About him not being good for you? Blah. Who’s good for anyone, really? He likes you, you like him. What’s the problem?”

  “I’m a whore. And if that’s not bad enough, I’m a psi.”

  “Sweetie, you are what you’re supposed to be. And that man obviously likes you just the way you are.”

  Aki sighed. Maybe. But McNaughton had pretty much taken himself off the radar. In fact, there was some new detective in charge of the case he’d been working on, but no mention of DM.

  “What if he doesn’t want to see me anymore?”

  “After sniffing around for two years? No one comes back for that many blow jobs, no matter how good the companion. Not in a town with more than twenty brothels. I want to know how he does that on a cop’s salary. You’re not cheap.” Candy turned the com tablet off. He pushed some of the stuffed animals aside. “Left you a horde of critters too. I think the man is definitely hot for you.”

  Maybe. Aki smiled. He liked the blue bear the best.

  “Let’s do something fun.”

  “Like?”

  “Let me dye your hair.”

  “Um….”

  “Just streaks again. And nothing permanent, I promise. I’ve got to do mine anyway. Something somber and dark for me. Bright and cheery for you.”

  Somber and dark?

  “I’m going to a funeral tomorrow. Have to play it on the down-low. Wanna be my date?”

  Did someone they know die? How had he missed that? “Funeral?”

  Candy smiled. “Yeah, there are a few things I need to tell you.”

  Aki was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open by the time Candy finished his story. He set his head down on the pillow and just let all the ideas drift through
him for a minute.

  Finally he said, “You have a clone?”

  “Had.”

  “And he’s dead now, killed by this serial killer.”

  “Which is okay, ’cause the clone killed my sister.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m working through it. Still doesn’t feel real. Didn’t get to go to her funeral or say good-bye or anything. She knew I was gay, and it never bothered her, but I never told her where I was so she could write or anything.” He sighed and glared at the wall. “I feel like I abandoned her. Like it’s my fault.”

  “It’s not.” Aki hugged his friend tight. “But you want to go to the funeral of your clone? They are playing this off as though it’s you. So technically you’re going to your own funeral.” And Aki thought he’d been light-headed before. Wow.

  “I’m going all pro-like. Taking a page from Paris’s book. I’d like you to be my pretty little trophy girl. We’ll make you up so nice that no one will glance at me since they’ll be too busy looking at you.”

  “But is it safe? What if your dad is there? Won’t he want to take you back to the South?”

  “Won’t matter if he is or isn’t. Doubt he’ll recognize me. Been gone almost a year and a half. Clones don’t change. So he wouldn’t have looked much like me anymore anyway.”

  Aki couldn’t begin to understand why Candy felt he needed to go. It seemed very macabre to think about attending his own funeral, even though he’d thought a million times about what it would be like to die. He figured he’d get thrown in one of those pits to be incinerated like they had in the South. Probably didn’t have that sort of thing here in the North.

  “I’ll go with you as long as Bart lets me out. We’ll probably have security with us too. You want me to be dressed up as a companion?”

  “No. I want you to look like the sweetest, most innocent little schoolgirl these political ants have ever seen. The North is not even letting them export my remains, so they have to bury my clone here. I bet that is just killing them. I want to show up with all the airs and pomp, like Paris.”

  “Okay.” Was there anything innocent looking in his closet? Most of his heels were out due to height alone. “How is dyeing my hair going to make me look innocent?”

  “I’m thinking some lowlights and some pink.”

  “Do you want me to wear a bra? Pretend I have boobs? How much like a girl do you want me to look? I don’t know if I have anything sweet and innocent.” Being a whore meant clothes were either super-short and revealing or the clothes Aki used to hide when he wasn’t at the Gem—long sleeves, long skirts or pants, and oversized sweaters. He had a handful of things that Paris bought for events out, but most of them were more sophisticated than sweet.

  Candy pushed himself up off the bed. “I think we can figure something out. Bart said he’d pay for a spa day for us. It’s late but they’re still open.”

  “I could use some pampering,” Aki said. Hopefully he could get one of those heated salt scrub massages he loved so much. The aroma from the scrub always smelled like citrus. Maybe he’d finally get the smell of burned flesh out of his nose. And his nails were a mess. He needed a manicure like a starving man needed food.

  “Perfect.”

  SHANE SPENT every second when not training with Paris working on his new building. Everything externally had been finished: new roof, some side supports, a layer of paint. Internally there was a skeleton of walls, and plumbing and electrical were being routed. Grey had come through fast for him using a 3-D computer program to make a model of what Shane wanted in the space before setting his crew on it. There were specifications about fire resistance from the office level to the living one, sprinkler systems, computer programming, and safety features to add that would make the building damn near impenetrable. All the power was generated from solar energy and water recycled from rain barrels and rooftop gardens. Shane wondered if Aki would like spending time up there. Maybe he would put in a gazebo or something.

  Paris had sent over his top security guy to look over the security system and layout, even footed the cost of some pretty major changes to the programming. He’d been hell on Shane in training, but Shane had never worked so hard for anything before in his life. He even watched Paris interact with the handful of subs that the senator had in the house. He knew more about body language, tone, and the silent speech of a certain companion than he thought he could have ever learned on his own.

  He was working on dragging in mold-and fire-resistant drywall from the truck when a car parked in the lot and a couple got out. They didn’t seem the troublemaking type, being older and looking somewhat weary, but Shane watched them with a wary eye anyway.

  “Detective McNaughton,” the man called.

  Shane turned their way. The woman clutched a com tablet in her grasp. She held it out to him.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “We heard you were opening up your own agency. Please help us find Daniel.”

  Shane flipped on the tablet. It opened to a picture and a slew of articles, all on the last boy to be taken by the serial. “This is still an active case for the police. I can’t interfere.”

  “We’re not asking you to interfere. Let them do what they will, as little as that might be. We’re just asking you to find our boy. Alive or dead. Anything is better than not knowing. And he’s not like the others. He had the surgery, but he’s not a psi. He never did show any powers. He got so much trouble in school because of his eyes that we saved for ages, borrowed from the family for the surgery. Just wanted him to have a chance to not be judged by his appearance.” The man gripped the woman’s hand.

  “I don’t know if I can help,” Shane said honestly. He’d left everything he had with the police. It’d been almost three weeks since the kid was taken, and no others had been taken since. That left the trail pretty cold.

  “But you’ll look, right? Anything, please. You’ve solved cases that were decades old….”

  Shane nodded and glared at the picture in his hand. The kid looked a lot like Aki superficially—small, blond, pretty, blue-eyed. This one was really going to tear him up when he found this kid dead.

  “You know Senator Biniski’s kid was dead within six hours….”

  “We know. We just want to bring our boy home. Please.”

  NINETEEN

  THEIR ESCORT to the funeral consisted of Jerry and Claudius. Neither man was as recognizable as Manny would have been, but both were just as good at their jobs. They carried firearms and stood like bodyguards, intimidating but professional. No one would mistake them for anything other than what they were, hired muscle. The companions had been treated to a thorough safety lecture from Bart before leaving the Gem. And the guards were to bring them home at any sign of trouble.

  Aki marveled at Candy, who looked like a completely different person. He wore a black suit that had been custom tailored. His hair was brushed back to a sophisticated style and dyed a shade of dark brown that made him look really tan. He’d put in contacts that changed his eyes to a bright vibrant green. Without makeup and all the couture he usually wore at the Gem, he looked really respectable, like the senator’s son that he truly was.

  Candy had found Aki a pleated pink-and-gray plaid skirt that rested just above the knee, knee-high black socks, and a thick black cashmere sweater. With subtle pink highlights in his hair and a soft black and pink scarf wrapped artfully around his neck, he really looked like a girl. He’d been greeted by a half dozen people already with a “Miss” and a nod of their head.

  Aki feared any moment someone would look at Candy and point to him, saying, “Hey, it’s him. It’s Cameron Jr!” But no one did. In fact, when they finally walked into the reception hall, the huge picture that greeted them looked so little like the Candy he knew, Aki had to glance at his friend again to try to find the resemblance. Had the geeky kid in the picture really become the man beside him?

  Aki couldn’t help but smile at his friend. “You’re so hot.”<
br />
  Candy gave him a small smile. “Have a thing for suits, eh? Maybe we could put on a show at the Gem. See how many of the richies would flip their lid? You’re such a sweet little princess. Every straight man in the room has his eyes on you.”

  “I have no interest in straight men,” Aki whispered back.

  “Yet they still flock to you. Let’s go find seats.”

  “In the back,” Aki said.

  Candy chuckled and led them to the last row. Claudius and Jerry took up seats on either side of them. And they all watched as people filed in. Aki wondered how many of them Candy recognized. Would his mother be there? Did they all still hate him? What if they wanted him back? What if they convinced him he could go back home, start over, truly become the handsome young man who sat beside him?

  “Relax,” Candy commanded. “I’m not going anywhere. They have nothing to offer me anymore.”

  “But they’re your family.”

  “No. You are my family. Jade and Scarlet, even Preston and Royce are my family. These people are maggots eating away at the fabric of the world, waiting to be squashed under my boot.”

  “Ouch.” Aki couldn’t help but smile. He gripped Candy’s hand tightly and stared at the many flower arrangements. The remains had been cremated, the urn something designed out of precious metals and swirling designs. Over the top really, even for Candy. And didn’t they know that Candy hated flowers? “When I die, I want lots of white flowers. And no one should wear black. They should all be dressed in bright colors. And everyone has to wear heels. The more sparkly the better,” Aki told his friend.

  “You’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” Candy said.