Page 57 of Corporate Bondage

“Nah, it’s not like that. This guy of yours, how well do you know him?”

“We’re not together anymore.”

He blinked at me confused. “You’re not?” He jumped to his feet. “Well fuck, I don’t think this matters anymore then. And here I almost betrayed Pa for a man you’re not even involved with.”

“No, hold on.” I grabbed his arm before he could move. “You’re confusing me. What does Pa have to do with Keith?”

He frowned at me. “Make up your mind. Are you with this guy or not because shit’s about to go down and depending on the answer I can’t say.”

My nostrils flared, and I jerked him by the collar. “I may not be with him, but I fucking care about him. What’s Pa trying to do?”

He groaned and pulled my hands away from him. “Look, don’t be mad at me. It’s not my fault your boy didn’t tell you the truth about him and Pa.”

My heart sped up in my chest. “You’re not making sense. What truth about Keith and Pa? They don’t know each other. I introduced them.”

“Just calm the fuck down. I’m going to explain to you. You’ll have to decide what to do with the information afterward.”

“Just tell me!”

“Remember I told you not to think much about what Pa said when you told him you were gay?” I nodded. “That’s because Pa ain’t too far behind in that department either.”

My jaw slackened. “Pa’s gay?”

“Or bi, like me. That’s what you called it, right?”

I nodded again, unable to speak. Poor Ma, did she know? There was no way she could know and still stay with him.

“Pa hid it well.” He swallowed hard. “I found out because we worked closely together. He likes to get the best of people. Man, woman, boy or girl, he didn’t care who he fucked as long as they feared him.”

"As much as this is enlightening about Pa, Nic, I’m not understanding what this has to do with Keith.”

“I’m getting there.” He crushed his beret in his hands. “Twenty years ago your boy met Pa.”

I froze, now figuring out what he was saying. It all made sense. Everything fit together so perfectly. Keith had insisted when we were in the bar that we needed to go. He must have spotted Pa! Later when I introduced them, he didn’t say a thing the entire time. During the same night, he had that nightmare. Oh God, Pa was one of the guys Keith had talked about when he had mentioned being a cum dump and the reason he no longer bottomed. That was the reason he had broken up with me. He must have thought I’d never want to be with him if I found out. The fool, didn’t he know I cared little what he did years ago? It was unnerving, but if anything, I would be mad at Pa for taking advantage of him, not Keith for doing what he had to in order to survive.

“Wow, I never expected that,” I groaned and sat back onto the couch. “Who would have thought Pa once fucked my boyfriend?”

“It gets worse, fratellino.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “How can it get any worse than that?”

“Very few people know what I’m about to tell you.” The look in his eyes scared the shit out of me. I almost didn’t want him to tell me. “Remember the night we got called that Pa was in the hospital because he had been stabbed? He wasn’t attacked by a business deal which turned sour as he told us to save face. I knew the truth because he confessed to me when he thought he was going to die. He begged me not to tell Ma. The truth is that he was stabbed by a trick he picked up for the night.”

My mouth went dry, and I shook my head. “No, no, no. You’re lying.”

“I swear I’m telling you the truth, Gio. Your boy almost killed our Pa, and now Pa wants revenge.”

I sprang to my feet. “What do you mean he wants revenge? He’s going after Keith? Not over my dead body.”

He gripped me by the upper arm and jerked me to a stop before I could get by him. “Slow your roll, Gio. Where do you think you’re going? You can’t expect that Pa won’t want revenge. Your boy turned on him and almost killed him. He's only getting what he deserved. We could have lost Pa.”

I ripped my arm out of his grasp. “Pa lied to you!” I’d never forget Keith telling me what happened. I just wished once he found out it was my father he had come clean to me. “Keith didn’t just attack him. Pa was trying to fucking strangle him. All he did was defend himself.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“For God’s sake, Nic, use the goddamn senses you were born with. Pa will cheat and manipulate to get things his own way. He sure as hell was not being honest with you even on his deathbed. Also, think about every other fucking time he might have lied to you.”

I rushed past him to the kitchen to get the car keys I remembered placing on the countertop. I swiped them up and headed for the front door.

“Where are you going?” Nic bellowed, following me.

“I’m going to find Keith!”

“I’m coming with you.”

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