Page 16 of Sex, Blood, and Real Estate

“No, I should go alone. I was abrupt with him this morning and I’d really like to make things better between us. I want him to understand and accept my decisions and for the two of us to be able to move on.” That looked to be a tall order from where Sam was standing but he would not deny his beloved’s need to set things straight with his father.

“Where are you meeting him?”

“He’s next door with the team reassessing the building.”

“I’d like to accompany you.” Sam was getting a tense feeling but could not overstep between father and son.

“I’ll be fine let me speak with him and I’ll be right back probably no more than an hour. I’ll text you when I’m on my way back.” Wyatt seemed eager to meet with his father, so Sam backed off.

He walked him downstairs and saw him off, but the tension he was feeling did not lessen. He watched him until he was out of sight. Then, he took a seat in the lobby off to the side and waited. Something was off, but he didn't know if it was real or a reaction to being away from his beloved so soon after bonding.

Wyatt walked over to the empty building, crossed the lawn, and went for the side door that Griffen said would be open. He wished it hadn't been Griffen who set up the meeting between him and his father. The guy was forever pushing himself into places where he did not belong. Griffen would be one of the subjects he discussed with his father.

He opened the door and stepped in, following the main hallway to the interior ballroom or conference center space. Griffen said his father would be waiting for him there. The room looked empty and eerily quiet. "Hello." He yelled out, but nothing. "Hello." He repeated, and he heard footsteps clicking on the tile floor. He turned around.

“Griffen.” He snapped. “Where’s my father?” Griffen kept his head down and walked silently toward him. “Where’s my father?” He repeated angerly.

"Don't know, and I don't care." Griffen snarled and came at Wyatt, punching him in the face and knocking him backward onto the floor. Wyatt did not see it coming but managed to deflect most of the strike off his shoulder although it still had him reeling from the impact.

Griffen grabbed a plastic bottle from a shelf to his right and began spraying the contents over Wyatt and the floor and the nearby furniture. He couldn’t make out what it was, but it smelled like lighter fluid. The minute that realization hit him Wyatt was on his feet backing away and looking for an exit.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Humbolt?" He shouted.

“He fired me, Wyatt." He screamed. "He fired me because I hurt your stupid fucking feelings. So now I'm going to hurt more than your feelings, you worthless piece of shit." He started squirting the liquid again, but Wyatt dodged and kept backing up, hoping to make it to a door before Griffen finished whatever he was planning.

“You took everything from me, Wyatt, and now I'm going to make you pay." He pulled out his lighter and held it menacingly in his hand. "Holden threw me away like a used tissue without a thought or a care. Well, he will remember me now, won't he? Every time he thinks about his dead son, he will think of me and what he did to me."

"You're completely insane, Griffen," Wyatt said as calmly as he could muster under the circumstances. He knew he had to stay calm, or Griffen would lose it before he had a chance to find an escape.

“Be careful Griffen you got some of that lighter fluid on you shirt sleeve and on your shoes. That stuff is volatile you might go up too if you’re not careful.” Griffen started frantically wiping his hands and shoes, getting the liquid off.

“This is going to be so gratifying seeing you scream for your life begging me to save you.” Griffen taunted him while Wyatt kept his eyes on the door.

"He doesn't need you to save him, Griffen; he's got me." Came the voice Wyatt longed to hear.

Sam sat in the lobby impatiently waiting for his beloved's text. After about fifteen minutes, he decided to go check on him. His worry had not lessened, and he needed to check on Wyatt. As he approached the doors, Holden Grey came walking in. He looked around, locked eyes with Sam, and came toward him.

"Is Wyatt with you?" He asked, looking contrite and not at all like the man Sam was used to dealing with.

"I thought he was with you," Sam responded. "He went to the building next door to meet you. Didn't you text him and ask to meet there." Holden looked all kinds of confused.

"I never contacted my son. I came here to see you and see if we could work out our differences, and I was hoping to speak with Wyatt." He paused and then, with panic in his eyes, added. "Humbolt might mean Wyatt harm; he made some odd comments." His words were ringing in Sam's ears, and he didn't give him time to finish before he ran from the building toward the empty building next door. Holden was following, but Sam was not wasting time. He used full vampire speed, and to hell with whoever might be watching. He would deal with them later. If Humbolt so much as laid a finger on Wyatt, he would kill him; he would gleefully kill him.

He felt his beloveds panic the second he entered the building. The front doors were locked so he simply went through them taking them off their hinges in the process. He followed Wyatt’s scent and his upset to the interior room the large space he’d planned to use as conference space.

Upon getting closer, he was hit with the scent of Griffen Humbolt, along with the acrid scent of lighter fluid. The scene and Humbolt’s intent was clear. Sam’s breath caught in his throat as he saw his sweet beloved covered in the flammable liquid.

His response to Humbolt’s statement had him turning toward him but he was too slow. Sam charged him grabbing the hand holding the lighter and crushing it in his grip and taking Humbolt to his knees. "No, no, let me finish. Let me show them who I am. Let me punish them. I'm the one, he chose me not you Wyatt your dad chose me." He droned on until Sam backhanded him, knocking him out cold.

He then rushed to Wyatt and pulled him into his arms, comforting and assuring himself that he was safe and well. He pulled off Wyatt’s shirt that was covered in lighter fluid and tossed it to the floor and gave him his suit jacket to wear. “He’s nuts, Sam. The man is completely bonkers." Wyatt rattled on while keeping a firm grip on Sam. "I'm so glad you came." He said how did you know?

"Your father showed up at the office, and I discovered he had not made an arrangement to meet with you. He also told me that Griffen had made some threats." Sam looked over at Griffen and then put in a call for a cleanup crew.

"Griffen texted me saying that my father wanted to meet and talk. What's going to happen to him, Sam?" Sam held Wyatt's hand but walked over to where Griffen lay and crouched down. He then put his right hand along the left side of his face with his fingers at Griffen's temples. After a few seconds, he stood up as Holden Grey came through the doors and rushed toward them.

"I cleared his memory, and he will remember nothing from the past few months," Sam stated.

“He needs help psychological help.” Wyatt offered.

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