Page 44 of My Dear Mr. Corporate

“I know you’ve known him for a long time, but would he hide things from you? Is he an extremist?”

He released his hold on me to look up at me with a frown. “I’m not sure I follow. What are you saying?”

“I’m saying he conveniently disappeared tonight,” I said suggestively.

The minute he grasped what I was saying, his eyes registered disbelief. “Jesus, Bryan. Gio’s not a killer. Why would you even think that?”

“It came to me when the police officer asked me who I’ve had altercations with lately,” I explained. “At first, I thought no one, but then I remembered Gio. He doesn’t like me, Tate.”

“Not liking you is a far cry from hating you enough to shoot at you!” He rose to his feet and paced the length of the room. “This is a crazy thought, Bryan. I know you don’t like him either, but he’s my best friend.”

“One who just confessed he loves you,” I reminded him. “I’ve had a confrontation with him about you twice before tonight. I cannot just let this slide like it’s the norm.”

“Twice?” He spun around to stare at me. “You spoke to him after meeting here?”

“The day I was supposed to meet you at the cemetery,” I explained to him. I had refrained from talking about our run-in at the gravesite but now he needed to know. “I ran into him there. We exchanged words. There might have been some shoving on his part. All I’m saying, Tate is that I don’t trust him, and I don’t know him enough to say what he’s capable of.”

“Why the hell didn’t you let me know about this confrontation before?” he demanded. “Had I known I would have confronted him about it especially tonight. I warned him to stay away from you.”

“Judging by his attitude tonight, so much for your warning,” I responded drily. “All I’m saying is that the guy doesn’t like that I’m in your life. People have killed for a far lesser reason than that.”

He shook his head. “No, I can’t believe that. Not Gio. Fuck, Bry, do you even know what you’re accusing him of? He would not do something like that. Not after I already lost Kathleen and Rachel.”

“Then who the fuck wants to kill me and for what reason?” I blew up at him, hating that he wouldn’t even consider the possibility. Was Gio so important to him that he would trust the man with no inhibitions whatsoever?

He pointed a finger at me. “Maybe it’s your crazy fucked-up ex. He seems more of a psychopath than Gio.”

“I already thought of that!” I snapped at him. “You see, that’s the difference between us. I already thought that maybe, just maybe Keith had found himself onto your mother’s guestlist and tried to pop me off. But I dismissed that idea because as you could see for yourself, he was not on the guest list. Now why can’t you do the same and think that this might be Gio’s doing? He has the motive. At least consider the idea before you cast it aside.”

Tate gripped me by the shoulders and shook me a little. “Gio did not try to kill you. He’s not perfect but he wouldn’t do something like that. Not when he knows how important you are to me.”

I pulled myself away from him and stared at him in disbelief. “He wants you for himself! What does he care how you feel about me? Good God, Tate! Why are you trying to defend him?”

“I’ve known him for ten years, Bryan! You’re accusing him of a heinous crime, and I cannot accept that.”

“I’m not accusing him! All I’m saying is that he may be a prime suspect! Why won’t you even consider that?”

“I-I can’t.”

I stared at him in disbelief and wondered if he had ever loved Gio more than a friend. I didn’t believe in love being perfect and although he loved me, what was to stop him from loving Gio romantically as well? People had polyamorous relationships all the time. There was no way I could sleep in his bed tonight when he refused to even consider the logic of what I had to say. He had dismissed everything simply because Gio was a friend. But I was his boyfriend and I had almost lost my life tonight. Why couldn’t he listen to me?

I backed away from him and the bed, swiping my phone from the dresser.

“Where are you going?” he asked me, his face so sad I almost felt bad for him.

“I can’t be here with you right now,” I told him. “I’ll go sleep in the guest room across the hall. I need some time to think.”

“For God’s sake Bryan, don’t walk out on me.”

I stopped at the door and glanced back at him. “I’m not walking out on you. I don’t even know if I would have the strength to do that anyway. I have a habit of staying with men who fuck me over.”

“That’s not fair to me, Bry.”

I closed the door on him and jumped when I heard something hit into the door and shattered. The glass. My first instinct was to return to him and work this out, but I did need some time to think. Was he right and I wrong for thinking Gio was capable of trying to kill me?

The guest room felt strange. I hadn’t slept anywhere but in Tate’s bed since the first day I came here. It was so hard to believe so much time had lapsed since my arrival. Maybe I had outstayed my welcome, I thought as I slipped beneath the cold sheets. My initial plan had been to find a job and then an apartment. I had a job, and if I found a place that was cheap along with a roommate I could afford it. The restaurants always wanted their waiters to work extra shifts too so I could capitalize on that.

My heart ached at the thought of leaving here and being away from Tate. As much as I tried to convince myself that we could still have a relationship if I moved out, it wouldn’t be the same. Not after all we had shared beneath this roof.

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