Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
T orres froze. This had to be a mistake. Leo must have made a mistake, or this was some kind of cruel joke. Gabe wasn’t his, he couldn’t be, he would never touch that bitch. He looked down at the paper and blinked, his heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his ears. “I don’t understand.” He said roughly as he read the results and, there it was clear as day. He was the father. “How could he be mine? I never slept with her.” His voice cracked.
“I know.” Kade assured him. “But DNA doesn’t lie, Vince. I would bet my life that she is the only one that knows the truth and that she just played Gabe off as your nephew.” He gripped Torres’ shoulder hard, hoping to help ground his friend as his world crashed around him.
Torres swallowed hard against the tears that threatened. Holy shit, what had that bitch done to him? Gabe couldn’t be his, could he? That couldn’t be possible. He would have never slept with Catherine no matter how drunk he was. He hated the bitch more than he could describe. The way she treated his brother, not that he had a good relationship with said brother himself, but that wasn’t the point. The way she treated his family and even Gabe when she got mad at his brother and would take it out on her son, made him hate her, but he hadn’t brought it up in fear they wouldn’t allow him to see Gabe anymore, but he always stepped in if he saw Catherine take out her anger on him. He’d never been with a woman before, even when he had the chance when he was younger. He had never wanted to before but he wanted to throw up now as the images of what probably happened flashed through his mind.
“I’m sorry.” Leo mumbled softly. “I shouldn’t have…” His words were cut off as Torres’ strong arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him into his chest. Leo held on tight, afraid he would never feel as safe as he felt in Vince’s arms again. He could only hope the man would understand that he’d only done it for him, to find out the truth that so many had wondered.
“I’m not mad at you. Thank you for finding out the truth. I never suspected anything.” Torres shook his head. He really should have considered Gabe looked just like him, but he’s just assumed his brother’s genes were strong. He’d been an idiot, and now he’d lost so much time with his son.
“I’ll support you in whatever you want to do, buddy.” Kade said as he clasped Torres’ shoulder. Only he knew the turmoil his friend was going through. He’d been there through everything Torres had gone through with his family.
“Thanks.” Torres rasped, then looked at Saint. “I need to go talk to my parents, tell your mom and dad I hate that I have to miss dinner, but that I had an emergency.”
Saint touched his arm. “It’s alright brother, do what you need to do.” He pulled Kade after him to head back into the living room to give Leo and Torres a moment.
“I’m so sorry Vince.” Leo mumbled into his neck.
“No baby, thank you so much for finding out the truth.” He chuckled. “It was a mystery your big author’s brain couldn’t help but solve, wasn’t it?”
Leo huffed. “I never wanted to hurt you, but yes, the way Gabe’s mother acted just rubbed me the wrong way. But Gabe is you reincarnated Vince, the same laugh, smile, fuck, his eyes are the same and the hair he’s so gorgeous Vince.”
Torres lost his battle against the tears. “Yeah he is, he’s such a good kid, Leo, you have no idea I’m so proud of him.”
Leo wrapped his arms tightly around Torres and squeezed. “I know. I saw it for myself at dinner. Are you sure you want to go over there now? Do you not want to take the night to process?”
Torres shook his head. “No, if I don’t do it now, it’ll just fester and make it harder for me to be civil.” He held Leo tight. He didn’t want to do this, but he needed to know the truth and why and how it had happened. While he didn’t regret Gabe’s existence, he had no idea how to process being the kid’s father. He had never wanted kids himself, but if Gabe was his, he wanted to know the truth.
“What are you going to do?” Leo asked as he pulled back to look into Torres’ eyes, wiping away a few of the tears with his thumb.
Torres shrugged. “I don’t know. I never really wanted kids of my own, but I also want him to know how much I love him. I also want to know the truth about how I am his father because I swear to you, Leo, I have never slept with her.”
Leo nodded. “I know, I believe you.” He rubbed Torres’ arm. “Do you want me to go with you?”
Torres blinked, shocked for a moment by the question. “Don’t you want to stay for dinner?”
Leo grinned and winked at him. “Always, but if you need me, I’m there.”
Torres swallowed against the emotions. “Yes, if you wouldn’t mind, I would want you to come with me.” Leo may be the only person that could keep him from doing something stupid. Kade and Saint would just cheer him on if he wanted to hit someone.
Leo nodded. “Just don’t stop me from slapping that bitch if she deserves it. Equal rights and all that shit. She hurt you. I hurt her.” He muttered as he moved away.
Torres laughed. “Give me some warning and I’ll record it.”
Leo snickered. He moved towards his mom and dad as Torres headed towards the door. “Hey, Momma I have to go.” He leaned down to hug her tight as he slapped his dad on the shoulder.
She studied him for a moment. “Why?”
“Vince found out some shocking news and needs to go talk to his family. I want to be there to support him.” Leo told her.
“Is he ok?” she asked worriedly.
“He will be.” He told her honestly.
She hugged him tight. “Ok, call me later and be careful.”
Leo grinned. “Will do.” He called out his goodbyes as he followed Torres outside. He slid into the passenger seat of Torres’ car. “Are you ready? Do we need to do anything before we head to your parents?”
“No, I just want to get this over with. Plus Gabe should still be awake at this time and I want to see him.” Torres grumbled as he pulled out onto the highway.
Leo just nodded and gave Torres time to process. He placed his hand on Torres’ thigh and just kept it there so the man would know he was there. He smiled when Torres covered his hand with his own and squeezed gently.
Torres pulled up next to the mailbox next to his parent’s house making sure he couldn’t be blocked in and turned to Leo. “I want to make it clear to you before we go in that I really appreciate what you’ve done and you finding out the truth.”
Leo gave him a halfhearted grin. “I sense a but coming?”
Torres smiled. “But I may lose my temper in there and I don’t want that to affect you in any way. I would never take my anger out on you, but my family is another story. They have done nothing but make my life a living hell and the only reason I stayed around was for Gabe, ya know? He’s my little man and I adore the kid. I don’t want him to think this is the only way to live his life.”
Leo nodded. “I completely understand and I promise I won’t hold anything you say or do in there against you.” He held out a pinky to Torres.
He grinned at Leo and wrapped his pinky around his. “Thank you, Leo.”
Leo shrugged. “I already feel pretty deeply for you Vince and that means it’s my lot in life to deal with your baggage as you deal with mine.” He said as he got out of the car, leaving a stunned Torres behind.
Torres cleared his throat as he moved to Leo’s side at the front door. “I feel pretty deeply for you too Leo.” The blinding smile he got in return made his heart warm.
“Good to know.” Leo winked. “Now let’s get this over with and then we can head back to your house and you can fuck me to take your mind off it.” Leo laughed at Torres when he made a strangled choking noise and knocked on the door like he was the police.
“Judas, what are you doing here?” His oldest brother, Paul, asked as he answered the door.
“I need to talk to you, your wife, and our parents.” Torres said flatly.
“Can this not wait? It’s Rebecca’s birthday.” Paul asked, glaring.
“Paul, if you don’t want me to fuck up your entire world, you will let me in. I don’t give a shit whose birthday it is, but I have a bone to pick with your wife. If you would prefer I get the cops involved, we can do that too.” Torres fired back, crossing his arms over his chest.
Paul huffed and stepped aside.
Torres grabbed Leo’s hand as they walked into the dining room.
“I’m sorry mom, he said he has something to say.” Paul said hastily as he went to sit by his mother.
“Tió Vince!” Gabe shouted as he launched himself into Torres’ arms.
“Hey, buddy,” Torres said roughly as he hugged his son tightly. His son! His fucking son! Holy shit.
Leo could see Torres was becoming overwhelmed. “Why don’t we take this into the other room,” He prodded softly.
Torres nodded. “Gabe, why don’t you go into the living room with Leo? I have something I need to talk to your mother about.”
“Sure, you know how to play video games?” Gabe asked Leo as they walked away.
“Nope, you wanna show me?” Leo asked, grinning at the excitement all over the kid’s face.
“Heck yeah!” Gabe said excitedly, grabbing Leo’s hand and pulling him as he rushed away.
“Judas, what is the meaning of this?” His father demanded.
Torres cleared his throat. “Rebecca, I apologize for crashing your party.” He winced. He hated he was having to do this now, but if he didn’t, it would only get worse for everyone involved and he didn’t want Gabe to suffer any more than he already was going to because of what his mother did.
Rebecca shook her head, her dark eyes gleaming with relief. “It’s ok Vince.”
Rebecca was the only one of his siblings that cared about him and it made his throat close with emotion. “I want to know how Gabe is, my son.”
“Excuse me!” Paul screeched, standing so fast his chair screeched and crashed to the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Judas? How dare you accuse my wife, and assume Gabriel is yours?”
Torres slapped the paper down in front of Catherine, the mother of his son. “DNA does not lie.” He snarled at her.
She met his eyes without flinching. “Your brother could not give me a child.” She said flatly, with no emotion whatsoever.
“So what, you just assumed I would give you one? How the fuck did that even happen?” Torres demanded. “I’m gay. Never in a hundred years would I touch you, not only because I’m gay, but because you are my brother’s wife. What the fuck did you do, Catherine?”
She shrugged. “You were drunk, you didn’t really put up a fight.”
Torres froze. Bile curled in his throat as his stomach twisted.