Page 59 of Prodigal

“As they should.”

“I forced myself to tolerate so much, to put my values aside for him. And then he decided, nah, I’m good over here.” André sat up, shaking his head. “Not gonna lie, I was a mess. Especially when I would see them, since, like I said, Ty lived nearby. So there they would be, the perfect family, him looking at me with shame and regret while she would smirk, all self-righteous and smug. She’d taken him from me and there was nothing I could do about it, you know?” He rubbed the middle of his chest. “Then one day I heard she’d died. And suddenly Ty is back knocking at my door.”

“He wants back into your life.”

“Yep.” But that was never gonna happen, even if he didn’t have Gideon. “There’s no space for him though, not now and not ever. I’m never spinning that block again.” He and Ty had run their course. There would be no more return trips. “Now, it’s your turn to tell me why you were holding secret meetings with him.”

Gideon’s eyes widened comically. “It wasn’t a secret meeting?—”

“Secret from me,” André pointed out. As if he didn’t know.

“Okay, maybe. I knew you wouldn’t want me to speak to him, but I needed to. I’ve been getting multiple reports a day of him going to the precinct about your disappearance, demanding they investigate. We can’t have him out there drawing attention to you and Jules.” Gideon paused, then continued grudgingly. “Or to his dumb ass, because if your sister even remotely thinks hecould be someone important, she wouldn’t hesitate to take him out. I know I wouldn’t.”

André stared at him.

“What? I’m just saying.”

“Uh-huh. And this has nothing to do with him being my ex, someone I cared for at one time?”

“I mean… No?”

“Right.” André couldn’t maintain a straight face at that, and he chuckled as Gideon’s phone vibrated. He checked it, then laughed softly. “What is it?”

“Jules just sent me our itinerary for the day.”

“Oh God.” André slumped back against the couch, pressing a palm to his forehead. “I don’t even want to know.”

“A helicopter ride is the very first thing on there. Plus a spa session, a picnic outside on the terrace, and we end with dinner and a movie.”

“That’s not so bad.”

“It’s not.” Gideon leaned over, kissing him loudly. “I told you I trusted Jules.” He stood and held out a hand. “We need to shower, somebody got us all sweaty.”

André took his hand, allowing himself to be hauled to his feet. “And by somebody you mean you, correct?”

Gideon tugged him into his chest, wrapping him up in his arms, lips landing on his again. “Sure. Sure.”

19

“Well,we know someone who enjoyed their day.” Gideon nodded over to where Jules was snoring on the other end of the couch.

André snorted.

They were in the movie room, halfway through watching the second of three movies that Jules had picked out. Maybe it’d been a tad bit of a mistake to allow her to make all the decisions for their day, but she’d been so happy, filled with such exuberance that Gideon couldn’t find it in him to temper her joy. She deserved it. Before their activities started, he and André had sat Jules down and explained—as best they could—what was happening. They didn’t go into details; all they’d told her was that someone was trying to hurt Gideon and André, and that Gideon would find them and make them pay. They’d also secured a promise from her to not share what was happening with any of the friends she remained in phone contact with.

She’d looked at Gideon as if he could do no wrong, and he didn’t want to ever let her down.

So that’s how he’d ended up getting a massage, a facial, and his toes painted. André got the same, except his fingernails werealso polished a sparkly blue to match Jules’s. It was something else being with the two of them, witnessing how much they loved each other. How much André adored his sister. And after everything Jules had been through recently, she deserved all of it. And more. Her excited screams while they were taking that ride in the chopper still rang in Gideon’s head.

It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, but Jules was already out like a light, leaving Gideon to feel up André the way he’d wanted to all day. They hadn’t told Jules about them being together, but she had eyes and she was smart. Besides, Gideon and André curled up together on the couch, sharing the same bowl of popcorn as they watched the movie, might have been a bit of a giveaway.

He felt…light. Happy, but so much more than that. It was difficult to explain. His entire life had been about one thing and one thing only, and then André came and turned it on its ear. He didn’t have one complaint, not one. He’d never allowed himself to be off, to step back from all the responsibilities that were on his shoulders. Responsibilities he’d been more than happy to take on, but there were times when it got to be too much, and until André, he hadn’t had a safe enough outlet to let his guard down and just breathe.

Samir and the others were his friends, for sure. He loved them and they loved him, but it was different, having a partner, a lover. Someone he could decompress with. Someone who didn’t look at him asThe Winters, but as just Gideon. André didn’t know the magnitude of what he gave to Gideon, and one day Gideon would find the words that were big enough, adequate enough, to tell him.

They both ignored the movie playing as they faced each other, André pushing his face into Gideon’s neck and inhaling him. Just the sound of his sniff had Gideon’s cock, half hard allday, jerking in the loose confines of his sweats. He stroked a hand over André’s hip, dropping a kiss on the top of his head.

The day had been for Jules, to distract her, get her mind off everything. But it was also for André because he also needed those things. And spending time with him made Gideon happy. Seeing André laughing, his eyes bright and sparkling with amusement, watching the tension leave his body, watching him just…relax. Gideon wanted to give him that. He wanted to reciprocate what André gave to him.

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