Page 48 of Something Unforgettable

Finn was glad his back was to Xavier, so he didn’t have to meet his eyes. “That you’ll take care of me? Make sure I’m safe and stuff?”

“Not exactly,” Xavier corrected.

Finn’s stomach clenched. “Oh.”

Xavier pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “It means Iwantto take care of my boy. Iwantto protect him. And it means I need a partner that will let me do that for them. Sweet boy, you don’t need to apologize for needing me. I need you just as much.”

Finn’s breath caught. Was that true? Xavier really wanted this as much as Finn did? He gripped the arm Xavier had wrapped around him, holding it in place. “It isn’t too much?” he asked, needing to be sure.

Xavier’s arms were like steel bands around him. “You aren’t too much, little one. I promise.”

Finn released a shuddery sigh. “Thank you, Daddy.”

He woke the next morning to Xavier still in bed with him, but propped up on one elbow, tracing Finn’s features with his free hand.

“Hi,” Finn said.

“Hi,” Xavier said back, leaning in to kiss him. “I’ve been lying here thinking about how incredible you were yesterday.”

Finn frowned. Incredible? What, when he lost it because Xavier was leaving and Finn didn’t want him to go? Or when he broke down because he felt abandoned anyway? Well—maybe those were the same thing, but still…

“You’ve had a difficult week, but you were still wonderful with Remy. Not only did you say all the right things, but you treated him like a person instead of a celebrity. I don’t think you know how rare that is.”

Finn ducked his head and tried to shrug off the praise. It wasn’t the kind of thing he needed to be thanked for. It was nothing.

“He just…seemed like he needed a friend more than a fan.”

Xavier tilted his chin back up and kissed him. “And he’s lucky to have found such an amazing one.”

When he broke the kiss, Finn turned and hid his face in the space between Xavier’s neck and shoulder, willing the fluttering in his belly to subside. Why were Xavi’s words affecting him so strongly? It wasn’t normal to be so flustered over a little bit of praise. Finn needed to get a grip.

Focusingonworkwasnext to impossible. Jackson’s interview had done a number on Remy’s reputation. It was hard to say if that part was intentional or not, but with Remy’s history there was already speculation brewing. The gossip sites wanted to know if it was Remy’s sexuality that caused his career to implode ten years ago or if it was something more sinister. Readers loved a redemption arc almost as much as they loved seeing the rich and famous eaten alive. It remained to be seen which way this particular spectacle would go. Xavier’s job was to spin things in the right direction.

There were dozens of phone calls still to be made, and people to alternately ask favors from or offer them to. If he was being honest, this was the part of his job that he loved. The high-stakes calls, the bargaining, and the thrill when he swayed one more journalist to their side. And yet, he kept looking at his watch.

Finn had been shifty when he mentioned that he was going shopping with Remy today. Xavier hadn’t bought the explanation that Remy had an appointment and he wanted company, but he couldn’t say no to Finn. Not after yesterday.

Xavier didn’t know what he had been thinking. And after the week his poor boy had had, too. Ev had fuckingwarnedhim, but Xavier had been too caught up in getting the job done to listen. Walking into the dark, quiet living room to see Finn hunched over on the sofa, breath hitching on soft sobs, had been a stab to the chest. It was going to take a while to forgive himself for hurting his boy like that, unintentional as it was.

It was possible he was being overprotective today to compensate. He hadn’t wanted Finn out of his sight, but he’d been so hopeful that Xavier had caved immediately. At least he’d insisted they take his car, along with a professional driver. It was a decent compromise that would mean they were dropped off at the entrance of their destination and picked up as soon as they were done. He didn’t want Remy wandering through West Hollywood with all of this going on, and he didn’t want Finn with him if he did.

Even with all that, it didn’t make him feel better about the fact that his boy was out of his sight and with a man who had a reputation for being a little reckless.

He sighed and checked the time again. They’d been gone five hours. He should have asked how long this errand was going to take. He could call Finn now and find out, but he didn’t want to smother him. Finn needed a chance to spread his wings, and despite Xavier’s misgivings, Remy was an excellent person to help him do that. He’d also been around long enough to get them both out of Dodge if things went south with the paparazzi, or Xavier’s boy got overwhelmed.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. This was ridiculous. Finn was fine. Remy was fine. And Xavier needed to pack away the possessive voice in his head telling him he should never have let Finn anywhere near someone as fun-loving and charismatic as Remy Dalton. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but that didn’t help. As soon as Finn got home, Xavier was going to take him somewhere private and remind him just who his Daddy was.

“For fuck’s sake, Xavier,” Gabe said through the laptop speakers. “Checking your watch every two minutes isn’t going to speed up time. I don’t know why you let them go if it was going to bother you this much.”

Xavier never should have opened his mouth to Gabe about Finn. He was paying for it now.

“I let him go because he asked,” Xavier replied. “Tell me you could say no to those eyes.”

“You realize I haven’t met the boy and I have no idea what his eyes look like, right?”

Xavier decided to ignore that jab. “Anyway, I’m fine. They’ll be back soon, and then tonight I’m going to have Remy put in an appearance at Isabella’s party. It will be safe enough to be seen there.”

“Agreed. But it should be a brief appearance, and he shouldn’t go alone.”

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