Page 41 of Corporate Bondage

“Let him up, and I’ll explain,” Gio stated.

I pointed a finger at him. “I’ll stay put right where I am, and you explain yourself.”

While it wouldn’t be an easy feat, I was certain I could get Tate off me but I waited, wanting to hear what Gio had to say. In the end, would his favor lean more toward Tate or me?

“It’s true that our meeting wasn’t coincidental,” he replied, talking fast. “You told me about Bryan’s ex and how he wanted him back. I thought we could scratch each other’s backs. If I helped him to get back Bryan then you would be free for the taking. But then we ended up in bed once while coming up with a plan. We haven’t thought of you or Bryan since.”

“Now will you get off my lungs,” I gasped, pushing at Tate’s thighs. “You’re cutting off my fucking air supply.”

“Why should I believe you two?” He rose to his feet and Gio came over to my side to help me up, but I brushed him off. I hadn’t decided yet how I liked the way he handled this situation with Tate.

“Look, man, I admit to playing mind games with Bryan at first,” I confessed, spilling it all because I wanted him to get the fuck out. “He never changed his email password, and I saw all the places his job letters went to. It was easy for me to pass on the news to these companies that he was a bad employee.”

Tate stared at me like I was demented. He turned to Gio. “Can’t you see he’s a twisted fuck? Is that what you really want?”

“If I can’t have you, then why not?” Gio’s words cut me to the core, confirming my suspicions that he still had feelings for Tate. “For the last time, we have no idea where Bryan is or who snatched him but…” He trailed off.

I leveled my eyes on him, figuring from their conversation that Bryan was missing and Tate thought we were responsible. Bryan had probably told him about seeing us at the restaurant together, and he had surmised we were behind my ex’s disappearance. At the hesitancy in Gio’s speech, I eyed him suspiciously. He wouldn’t lie to me, would he? We had decided not to pursue the matter anymore, and I had released the PI from the case. Had he taken things into his own hands while misleading me?

“But what?” An agitated Tate cried. “If you know something, say it.”

“At your mother’s party, there’s only one person I stumbled upon with a gun,” he answered, his face turning crimson, and I tried desperately to catch up. “I had followed you two up the stairs when you left the ballroom. I could hear you guys getting off on each other. I was angry and left. I bumped into your uncle on the stairs. Something fell from him, and it was a gun. He laughed it off and said he had left it there on one of his visits and was taking it home. An old man can’t be too careful these days were his exact words.”

Anger burned in my gut. Gio hadn’t been totally honest with me. He hadn’t even mentioned this to me. Why hadn’t he?

“You never told me that,” I said incredulously, staring at him. “I thought you told me everything.”

“I didn’t know how significant it was,” Gio lied. He fucking lied to me, and I saw right through him. The pleading look in his eyes to believe him smacked with dishonesty. He was hiding something from me.

“You knew.” I scowled at him. I knew him too well. “You knew someone shot at him because you told me the police questioned you about it. You just hoped the old man would get rid of him so you could get a chance with Rosenbaum. How sick are you?”

After we had decided to leave Tate and Bryan alone he had lied to me.

“On a scale from one to ten, I’d say you two were perfect for each other,” Tate threw at us and stalked out of the house. I didn’t even look after him. I couldn’t take my eyes off Gio.

“You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie to you.”

“You did when you omitted to tell me everything!” I snapped, stepping away from him when he tried to touch me. “You knew what the fuck you were doing, Gio. And here I foolishly thought you were over Tate. But you’re not over him, are you?”

“Yes, I am!” He followed me as I stalked to his bedroom, picking up my clothes from the floor to get dressed. “I promise you, Keith, I’m not in love with Tate. In fact, I doubt I ever was. I just didn’t want to lose him because he was the closest person to me, and I saw Bryan as a threat. I had no idea he was missing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about the gun?” I jerked one foot into my jeans.

“Because I never thought his uncle was responsible. Why the hell would he want to kill Bryan?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You want to know why I didn’t say anything about it? I thought you had somehow got someone to do it!”

I paused and stared at him. “You thought I had tried to kill him?”

“I never thought anyone really wanted to kill him, just scare him a little.”

“Killing someone is not a fucking game!” I bellowed at him. “I already have one person’s blood on my hands. I’d never take a life unless provoked.”

“I know that now, but I didn’t know it then. For fuck's sake, Keith, you can get pretty intense.”

I pulled on my shirt and shook my head at him, depleted. I couldn’t even muster the energy to be mad anymore. I was hollow. I had dared to trust him, and within minutes he had let me down.

“Don’t try to twist this into something it’s not,” I sneered at him. “The bottom line is that you still want to be with Tate! Just admit it! Everything we just talked about, everything was a goddamn lie!”

---