Page 71 of Just a Bit Captivated

She shook her head with a sigh.“I’m not sure what to think anymore. All I know is that my son is unhappy. It’s been ten months since we got him back and seven months since he last saw that man, but Aiden is still deeply unhappy, no matter how brightly he smiles.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

“I don’t know, Jordan.” She met his eyes again, her expression grim.“Talk to him? Maybe he’ll open up to you. He’s always looked up to you.”

“Okay.” Kissing his mother on the cheek, Jordan went looking for his brother.

He found him outside the house, sitting on the garden swing.

Jordan sat down beside him, shivering a little and crossing his arms.“Damn, I think I got too used to the Italian climate.”

A faint smile touched Aiden’s lips.“Yeah,” he said, looking at the brightly illuminated house with a distant, unseeing gaze.

A shiver ran up Jordan’s spine that had nothing to do with the chill. There was somethingoffabout Aiden. Physically, he looked great, but now Jordan understood what his mother meant: he could sense Aiden’s unhappiness like a physical thing. Aiden wasn’t outright moping—he was even smiling—but that unhappiness seemed to cling to him like a second skin, his eyes dull and lacking their normal liveliness.

“I imagine it was an even bigger shock to you after the Arabian heat.”

Aiden smiled crookedly, withoutlooking at Jordan.“What do you want, Jord? Did Mom send you to talk to the crazy guy?”

“No one thinks you’re crazy.”

Aiden laughed, the sound a little sharp.“No one? I sure do.”

Frowning, Jordan laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder.“What? What do you mean?”

Aiden stared at the house for a long time without saying anything.

When he spoke, his voice was very quiet. “Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas, you know. Shopping malls and streets are decorated festively in Dubai, but it’s more for the tourists. New Year’s is a much bigger deal for them.”

Jordan nodded, unsure where this was going.

“Last December I was moping a bit, missing you guys. I knew you were likely all here, at Mom and Dad’s house, celebrating Christmas without me.” Aiden’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.“Zain didn’t ask why I was moping, but when I woke up on Christmas Eve, the entire house was decked out in Christmas lights. Zain even got a huge Christmas tree, and there was a mountain of presents under it…” His smile became softer,fonder, his gaze faraway.“He’s over-the-top like that. And he wouldn’t even admit that he did it to cheer me up. He claimed that he always has the house decorated, and never mind that I could see how confused the staff was by all the fuss.”

Christ, Jordan thought, his stomach sinking. This was bad.

But Aiden didn’t stop talking.

“Zain’s house is huge, much bigger than this one, and it looked like something from a fairytale, all illuminated at night. So beautiful.” Aiden’s gaze was distant, as if he were seeing it instead of their parents’ house.“On Christmas evening, we dined on the patio. We could even watch the fireworks in Dubai, and I talked Zain into spending the night in the hammock there. It’s actually pretty chilly at night in December, but we had a blanket, and he held me—” His voice cracked, andAiden stopped talking, staring blankly at the house.

Jordan didn’t know what to say.

“It’s so stupid…” Aiden whispered.“I know that life—that existence in a golden cage, with him being my whole world—I know it wasn’t healthy, but…” Aiden blinked rapidly, his eyes glistening.“I’d trade my very healthy life here for that life in a heartbeat.That makes me crazy, doesn’t it?”

Jordan looked away, his heart heavy.

He still felt like shit when he returned to his bedroom.

“Caro?” Damiano said, his voice hoarse from sleep, reaching for him as Jordan climbed into the bed.

Jordan looked into his beautiful gray eyes and suddenly felt so damn grateful for everything he had. He kissed Damiano hard, unable to get enough.

Damiano chuckled, pulling back a little.“Not that I mind your enthusiasm, but what brought this on?”

Laying his head on his lover’s shoulder, Jordan wrapped his arm around his middle.“I just… I feel lucky to be with the person I love,” he said, kissing Damiano’s shoulder.“It just hit me suddenly.”

Damiano knew him too well to let go of the issue that easily. His intelligent eyes studied him for a long moment before Damiano laid his hand on Jordan’s and said,“Tell me what you need me to do,caro.”

Jordan thought for a moment and then told him.

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