Page 55 of Corporate Bondage

“Tough luck, Keith. There’s a lot that I have to say to you.”

I groaned and watched him plop his ass in Gio’s chair. I should get rid of the chair, but I kept it there as a reminder of our first moments. It hadn’t been a perfect moment, but we had joked about it afterward, even as he had punched me in the arm and called me a dickwad for making him strip for me.

“I’m sorry, can you sit somewhere else?” I requested.

“Oh.” He frowned but chose a different chair. “You look miserable.”

I glared at him. “Thanks. It takes practice to achieve this look.”

“I guess it had nothing to do with you breaking up with Gio?”

My head snapped up at him. “How did you…” I trailed off, knowing the answer.

“Tate.”

He nodded. “Yes, Tate.”

“So, Gio’s back to talking to Tate.”

Bryan shrugged. “They’ve been friends for a long time. I don’t think that’s going to change. They may not be as close as they used to be, but they’ll get there. Anyway, Tate’s concerned about Gio and, because he’s concerned, I’m involved. That’s why I’m here.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him. “So go ahead. Take your best shot. Tell me how much of an asshole I am. In fact, I’ll even wait for you to get the firing squad. I deserve it.”

“You are an asshole,” Bryan agreed. “You’re a sadist. You are a fucking beast to people.” His tone softened. “But somehow that man’s in love with you, like seriously in love with you.”

I shrugged. “So what? Wouldn’t be the first time someone fell for me then got the boot.”

“Does it mean nothing to you that he loves you? Are you that cold and unfeeling?”

“Get out!” I snarled at him, rising to my feet and leaning forward, my hands planted on the desk. “Don’t come into my office and talk shit about me.”

He stood as well, his jaw jutted in determination. “You don’t scare me anymore, Keith.”

I chuckled and walked around the desk to prove him wrong. “What? Have you finally grown a pair? Tate must be soft on you.” The old Keith reared his head, and I gripped him by the jaw. “Maybe you need to remember what a real man is like.” The minute the words were out, I felt disgusted. I was desperately trying to fling up the old walls before he saw just how devastated I was about Gio but this, this only made me feel worse. I released his chin and turned my back to him. “Please, just go. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for all the times I hit you. It was wrong of me, and nobody deserves to be treated that way. You deserve Tate and I-I just wished I could have been half the man to Gio what Tate is to you.”

I walked back to my desk, sat and reached for the file on my desk I had been going through. Bryan snatched the file away.

“You’re in love with him!” he crowed in delight. “You fell in love with him too, didn’t you?”

I opened my mouth to deny it but couldn’t. “Does it fucking matter? Give it a rest already.”

He shook his head. “I don’t get it. Gio’s right. There’s something that you’re not telling him. If you love him this much, and he loves you just as much, what’s stopping you from a relationship with him?”

“Nothing. We are just not a good match. Because you’re in love with someone doesn’t mean that you belong together.”

“Are you afraid?”

I scowled at him. “Afraid of what? Do you really think I am afraid?”

“Then what is it?” he pressed. “I’m not going to lie, Keith. I’m impressed as hell that you fell in love with someone, but I don’t get why you would end your relationship. Even if you don’t want to tell me, Gio deserves to know the truth. He’s hurting because of it and quite frankly, you don’t look too hot yourself.”

“Leave it alone, Bryan. Now run on along to your fancy house made of glass.”

“I’m not leaving until you decide to speak to Gio and explain to him. You never know, Keith. Love will make us forgive many things.”

I snapped then. “Do you want to be the one to tell him his father once bought me for a night?” Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. “Do you want to tell him that twenty years ago I was on my knees in a dingy motel room swallowing his father’s cum? How about telling him while you’re at it that his father tried to strangle me that night? And let’s not forget that the reason his father looks like fucking Freddy Kreuger is because I stabbed him to death. At least I thought he was dead until I met him last week.”

Bryan gasped in shock. He reached behind him for the nearest chair and sat. “Oh my God. Oh God, Keith, why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were too fucking busy trying to prove you didn’t just land the job because I wanted a piece of your ass,” I answered. “You were never really interested and frankly neither was I. Gio’s the only person I ever told what happened, and he doesn’t know it was his father.”

“Don’t you hear yourself, Keith? Gio is the only person you felt you could tell. That’s how important he is to you. Tell him the rest. I think you need him as much as he needs you. Separated you are both train wrecks waiting to happen, but together you connect. Tell him.”

“Please, go,” I requested feeling drained. “I’ve already done what needs to be done and that’s the way it is. I hurt you once. I am not going to hurt Gio too. I would rather lose him."

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