by Viva Gold
“Fuck that, shit head. Get inside.” Remi was really pissed off. Luckily Adam Cohen-Woolf emerged from the house, with Angel in his arms. He immediately plonked him on Remi who had no choice but to gather him up, or drop him.
“Remi, je t’aime,” Angel whispered before peppering his face with cute little kisses.
“Don’t try and distract me, Angel. Jason did exactly what I begged him not to. He knew I’d lose my temper, yet he did it anyway.”
Angel placed a hand either side of Remi’s head forcing him to look at him. “Don’t you know by now, that Jason loves it when you get angry at him? When you lose it, it turns him on…” Remi harrumphed loudly, staring daggers at Jason who was biting his lower lip anxiously.
“Sorry, Jase, didn’t mean to get so angry. I know you mean nothing by it.” Remi’s expression was full of remorse.
“For fuck’s sake,” Jason cursed. “Fine.” He actually stomped his feet and threw his hands in the air. The Twins laughed and greeted a placated Remi. They all disappeared into the house, bar Jason. He walked over to me. “You might want to close that.” He tapped me on the chin. I snapped my jaw shut. “It’s the norm for this family; perhaps you’ll find that out for yourself before too long.”
“No shit.”
Jason cocked his head at me. “You fucked them.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Yup. You’ve been G & T’d. Welcome to the club.” Jason took my elbow and steered me towards the house, as if he hadn’t just blown my mind with his eerie powers of deduction. I’m not sure if I was more shocked that he could tell I’d been G & T’d, as he put it, or that he’d dipped his dick there too. “Don’t worry sweetheart, your secret is safe with me. We wouldn’t want to send Isadore into a shit fit.” I threw my head back and laughed. Jason was hilarious, made all the more so by his plummy upper-class accent. He reached up and smoothed my forehead with his long, delicate fingers. “Welcome to my home. My parents are out for the day, but hopefully you’ll meet them later.”
“Thank you for having me. I hope my being here doesn’t have any negative impact on you.”
Jason frowned. “I can’t imagine anyone would be foolish enough to fuck with our little gang, for want of a better description. We are gaining quite the reputation for fighting crime in our own unique way. Attack one of us and suffer the consequences.”
“Umm, I’m not sure how that applies to me?”
“Tal, dear boy. Any friend of Izzy’s…” Jason giggled. “Come on, let’s go and meet the others and have a drink.”
We entered the Manor House amid barking dogs, and Angel’s boisterous friends on their way to the gym and pool. I spotted Bastien, who blushed profusely when he noticed me watching him. The boy was wearing speedos and a crop t-shirt displaying his gorgeous body. My stomach flipped with excitement.
A familiar figure holding a tray crossed our path. “Sanjay, what are you doing?” Jason addressing the cops’ boyfriend jolted me out of my Bastien induced daydream.
“Helping Cook with lunch.”
“You don’t work here anymore, love.” Jason tutted and took the tray of food from the stunning Indian man. I was mesmerised by his elegant attire topped off by another richly coloured turban. Dark teal this time. “Please join the others in the conservatory, and take Tal with you.”
“Indeed. Mr Roth, please come with me.” Sanjay placed a hand in the small of my back and directed me down the hallway to the back of the house. I could hear chatter coming from that direction and was relieved to hear Izzy’s dulcet tones above all the others.
“Tally!”
I groaned. Naturally, he’d call me that in front of the others.
“Izzy,” I growled back. He slapped me on the back and laughed before pulling me in for a hug. He pulled back gripping my biceps. “What?” I asked him, feeling a little uncomfortable under the glare of his scrutiny.
“Good night, was it?” Izzy winked at me. So much for the Twins wanting to keep our three-way a secret. This lot all had some kind of G & T sex radar. I blew out a breath. “Details later,” Izzy whispered in my ear. I snorted.
Jason appeared. “Let’s go to the dining room. I’ve laid out some lunch and we can talk in peace. The boys are having fun in the pool, so we won’t be disturbed.”
The dining room table was enormous and easily able to seat us all with space to spare. Izzy sat at the head with Adam to one side. Jason sat at the other end flanked by Angel and Remi. Sanjay, Liam and Rob sat opposite me, G, & T. The eleven of us helped ourselves to the deli lunch provided by our host, and once our plates were full, Izzy hushed us so we could discuss the real reason for meeting. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, my mobile phone rang. Izzy raised an eyebrow. I mouthed ‘mother’ at him and his face softened in understanding.
“Mum,” I spoke into the phone. “Now’s not a good time.”
The shrill response from the matriarch of the Roth family threatened to shatter the crystal ware on the table. “Don’t you dare try to palm me off with your busy excuses. I’m your mother, not one of your boy toys.” I cringed, but she had a point. Sniggers around the table caused me to wander off out of the room.
“Sorry, Mum. I just have a lot going on.”
“Well, don’t forget we have the wedding coming up. I wanted to make sure you got your dinner suit dry cleaned.” I groaned. She was like a dog with a fucking bone.
“Not sure I’m going to make it.”
“Don’t give me that, Tally. You’re coming. It’s important to your father.” She sighed. “We don’t see you anymore, chuchela. I replied you were bringing a plus one. I promise not to try and set you up with anyone, ok? Please come.”
There was nothing like a Jewish mother’s tug on the heart strings to make one capitulate despite all the stoic promises you made to yourself. The guilt was already settling uneasily in my stomach. “Of course, I’ll come. I miss you and Dad. And I don’t need to bring a date.”
“Well, you have to now. I don’t want anyone to think you can’t get yourself a boyfriend.”
Oh my God, now I wanted to kill her.
“Ok, mother. I’m sure I can rustle up someone to come with me.” I rolled my eyes feeling about twelve years old.
“Make sure he’s handsome. And Jewish.” I growled down the phone. “Don’t growl at your mother. Is that too much to ask?”
“Jewish, or growling?”
“Don’t be smart.”
“Mum, I’ll bring someone, ok. Please don’t start with the conditions.” I was met with a stony silence, and then I got the voice.
“Your sister broke our hearts, Tally. George…”
“It’s Gordon, Mum.” I wasn’t sure if she genuinely got his name confused, or if she did it for effect. With her, you could never be sure.
“Yes, yes, Gordon. Well, he’s a lovely man, but you know…Catholic.” The last part was whispered.
“And?” I couldn’t help myself.
“Is it too much to ask that you find yourself a nice Jewish boy? I don’t understand.”
I sighed. Again with the ‘nice’ and again with the ‘Jewish’. I knew it was important to them, but neither were a priority with me. It was a generational thing. I loved my parents, but I just couldn’t be manipulated to conform to their ideals of happiness. However, to stop the nagging I said all the right things.
“I’ll try Mum, that’s all I can do.” It was a little white lie that I knew would make her happy.
“Thanks, Bubs. I’ll use the whassapp thingy to send you the details.”
We exchanged a few more pleasantries before I cut her off to return to the meeting. If I didn’t get my real-life problems sorted, not meeting a boy my mother approved of would be the last of my worries.
Izzy stood up when I re-entered the room. “And how is the lovely Gayle Roth?”
I grunted and rolled my eyes in response. “You and Adam have made everything a hundred times worse for me, just to let you know.”
Ada
m laughed. “Well, sorry not sorry, Tal.” He was too cute. My heart melted when faced with his big cheesy, love struck smile. His man bun was particularly wobbly today and it caught my attention, along with the rest of his gorgeous self. No one should be that sexy.
“Hey!” Izzy barked. “Eyes over here, Roth.”
I smirked at Izzy momentarily enjoying the banter and wishing nothing more pressing needed to be discussed. But alas…
Izzy addressed the room. “We need to find a way to trap Sagall into confessing he used Tal as a scapegoat. If the press is to be believed, the authorities will be looking to question Tal in connection with the trial Doron just walked free from. I guess they need to find someone accountable for the enormous amount of dirty money they think has passed through legitimate sources.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to investigate whether the funds were all legit to begin with?” Jason offered.
I shook my head. “Once funds have entered the UK monetary system, the government aren’t strictly concerned where it originated from, they just want it out again.”
Izzy spoke up. “I’ll have my financial team work on a plan.”
I shook my head vociferously. “I don’t want any blame to come down on you. This is all my fault for being dazzled by riches. I’m better than this.”
Izzy came over to my chair and stood behind me. My friend placed his hands on my shoulders. I tilted my head and looked up at him. He leaned down and brushed my lips with his. “You are better than this and don’t you ever forget it. But you have us on board now and I think you’ll find we’re hard to shake.” I leaned back into his solid body. He made me feel safe. “G & T will protect you through all of this. They’ll smuggle you into my office tomorrow for a meeting with my team.”
There was no need to ask Izzy if his people could be trusted; they wouldn’t be working for him otherwise.
6
Business aside, Jason excused himself to go check on all of his other guests, and we finished our lunch. Doron Sagall weighed heavily on my mind, but everyone did their best to keep the mood light. G & T behaved impeccably, displaying nothing that gave away our shared intimacy of the night before. It was as they said, just a bit of playtime. They knew I was interested in Bastien and ultimately, they only had love for one another. I was relieved. They were great guys, but a three-way was not what I was looking for.
I poured myself a tumbler of whiskey and sauntered out into the garden. There were several pieces of furniture on the patio and I chose a loveseat to plonk my arse in. I was feeling melancholy with so many emotions whirling around my head. I took a long gulp of my drink, closed my eyes and leaned my head back, basking in the sun. I was half dozing when I became vaguely aware of someone removing the glass from my fingers.
“Hmm.” I was enjoying the feeling of someone playing with my hair. It was relaxing. I was reluctant to open my eyes, but I was curious to see who it was. I squinted in the sunlight until my vision cleared to reveal Bastien curled up on the sofa next to me.
“You have lovely hair,” he told me in a soft, heavily accented voice. It bathed me in a sensual glow. He was wearing his speedos and a silk kimono wrap. His black hair was being held back by an Alice band exposing his unusual amber eyes, in all their fascinating glory. He continued to run his nimble fingers over my scalp. The connection made my body hum pleasantly.
“Thank you.” My voice was raspy from napping. I looked around for my drink.
“Ici.” Bastien held it to my lips and tipped the whiskey into my mouth. The alcohol had turned warm in the sun, but it wet my parched throat. I swallowed and watched as Bastien took a turn and finished the drink. He licked his lips enticingly and I found myself tracking his wet, pink tongue with hungry eyes. He blushed under my gaze but didn’t fidget. “Do you want go for a walk, Tal?” I found that I did, so I nodded. The boy was enchanting and I was fast falling under his spell. He stood up gracefully and I mourned the loss of his hands in my hair. The kimono fell away to reveal an expanse of creamy skin covering a lithe but well-defined torso. His nipples were dusky pink and he had the faintest trail of hair leading into his speedos, otherwise his skin was smooth. My cock twitched with interest, but I knew I had to tread carefully. G & T had warned me that Bastien was damaged by his horrible experience and the last thing I wanted was for him to have another panic attack because of me. It intrigued me, though, because he was naturally sensual and quite clearly sexually aware. I wondered about his boundaries and hoped to find out more.
“You have many questions, I think?” Bastien read my mind. “I am happy to explore them with you, but may not provide answers to them all. Yet.”
“I have no desire to upset you.” I softened my tone.
“Ah oui, mais…I am broken so…” Bastien batted his eyelids and shrugged. At that moment, I swear my heart broke a little. I was never one to waste my time on lost causes. I wasn’t a compassionate man by nature, usually choosing a quick faceless, nameless fuck, rather than delve beneath the surface. Yet Bastien was challenging those old desires. He was vulnerable, deeply affected by his experiences, and needy. Instead of repelling me, I found myself wanting to keep him safe and make him whole again.
“Broken can be fixed,” I told him. I took his hand and led him down a garden path. We walked for a while, the only sound that of Bastien’s flip flops slapping against his soles. We stumbled across a secret walled garden entering through an iron gate. There was a big square pond in the middle surrounded by an eclectic mix of colourful flowers and cultured grassy areas. We kicked off our footwear and sat on the edge of the water dangling our feet into the pond. We watched the koi under the surface. One brushed our toes making Bastien laugh. It was a gorgeous, rich sound that made me smile.
“You’re beautiful, you know.” I shoulder bumped him. His pale skin reddened right to the tips of his ears. “Why do you blush at my compliments?”
“Parce que…because…” Bastien waved his hand in my direction. I cocked my head at him and frowned. “You. Look at you,” he huffed and blushed again. He let his chin drop to his chest. I popped a finger under it and lifted his face.
“Don’t hide from me, Bastien. Don’t deprive me of those eyes; that face.”
“It’s too much, Tal,” he whispered. “Please stop.”
“Then answer my question.” I removed my hand from his chin. He remained looking at me, a slight flash of defiance in his eyes. I was thrilled to see he had spirit underneath all that angst.
“I am not beautiful. What you see is superficial.” Despite his heavy accent, his command of English was very good.
“Where did you learn to speak English?” I was intrigued.
“In school.”
“Wow. It’s very good. You must have been a great student.” I was impressed, but something dark crossed Bastien’s face.
“I did not take any exams. I was removed from school before I graduated.” He swished his feet in the water. I placed my hand over his and although he flinched, he did not remove it. I wanted to tell him I knew about his past, but I didn’t want to betray G & T’s trust, or scare Bastien away.
“Izzy told me a little bit of what happened to you and the other boys. Is that ok?” I was heading into unknown territory and vitally aware of my lack of experience. I tried to be as sensitive as I could, but it wasn’t one of my overly used skills.
“Nothing about it is ok!” Bastien snapped back. He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth. “Pardon, pardon, pardon.”
“No need to apologise. I just wanted to be up front with you.”
Bastien cocked his head in confusion. “Up front? Is that like being on top?”
I burst out laughing. “No boy, it means being honest.” Bastien’s eyes grew wide and he also began to laugh. It nicely dispelled the tension between us. I slung my arm around his shoulders and side hugged him. “You’re cute.” When he leaned into me instead of pulling away, it made me incredibly happy. We sat in comfortable silence for a while. Bastien rested
his head on my shoulder and held my hand.
“I like you, Tal.”
“I like you, Bastien.”
“Do you want to have sex with me?”
I jolted at the question. Bastien sat up and looked me in the eye.
“Is this some kind of test?” I asked him. He shook his head and chewed on his lower lip. “Of course, I want to have sex with you, but only when we’re both ready.”
“I like sex.” He said it like he was confessing a sin.
“I love sex!” I replied enthusiastically, making him giggle.
“I miss it, actually.” Bastien inched closer. “I haven’t had sex for a long time. You know, because of Henri.”
“I was made to understand he was grooming young men and that you were one of them. That’s the extent of what I know. I’m happy to be guided by you.” I jumped to my feet. “Come, let’s walk some more.” I held out my hand and Bastien slipped his smaller one into it. He rose gracefully and we left the secret garden to wind our way around the Greenall Estate. There were many spectacular views and we walked long into the afternoon. Eventually, we found a bench to rest on where Bastien studied his flip-flops for a period of time.
“He made us have sex so he could watch.” I guessed Bastien was speaking of Henri De La Roche. “He liked to watch us fuck each other. Sometimes it was only two boys; at other times, we all got involved.” Bastien stole a quick glance at me. “I, I didn’t hate that.”
“You don’t have to tell me.” I rested my hand on his thigh. I could feel him trembling.
“I want to.” Bastien wrapped his kimono around him. “Being intimate with the other boys made me feel less lonely. I craved their touch. It brought me comfort.” Bastien shuddered. “I know that’s wrong.”
I was out of my depth. I couldn’t find the right words, but I knew I needed to say something to alleviate his embarrassment. “Bastien.” He side-eyed me. “Whatever made you feel better, or safe, is nothing to be ashamed of. If you enjoyed the sex for whatever reason, then don’t feel guilty.”