20. Luka
The three of us went back to work for the remaining two days of the week; both B and I worked with our lawyer to cancel the contracts we had with Hale Aalto while Sunshine dealt with the rush of anti-Valentine’s day themed pastries and cookies, and muffins and cakes on Thursday and Friday to celebrate those who were single. It became the talk of the town, and the rush was busier than the romantic day itself.
To relax after a hectic week, I made reservations at a famous Boston steakhouse and we indulged in delicious steak dinners and then a decadent coconut cake.
The executive pastry chef even spared a few moments of her time to speak with Phoenix after he made the offer for her to drop by the bakery anytime, and it would be on him.
The night was exquisite where my two men relaxed, ate their fill, and we left our worries behind.
But my plan for the rest of the night spent naked, in bed, making love to my two men, flew out the window the moment we pulled into the driveway and I spotted a black sports car in the rearview mirror, parking on the street. I’d wondered how Hale would go about forcing his way into a conversation, and it was now apparent a sneak attack would be it.
My first instinct was to get out of the truck before beating Hale until he would need a hospital.
Then I viewed the situation from Phoenix’s perspective.
If I showed anger, then he would win. The entire reason for Hale Aalto’s existence was to get his way, at the very least, to get under people’s skin for his benefit alone, and in the end, make a ton of money from exploiting any weakness he could find. Or what the rest of us call preying on normal human empathy.
I glanced over at both my men and Phoenix gave me the softest smile, melting my heart into a puddle of goo when he realized I wouldn’t lose my temper.
“Don’t get me wrong. I still believe the guy deserves a fist in his face, several times in a row, and then maybe once in the throat for good measure. But showing him any emotion at all is like giving a junkie his next fix. So, like the mature thirty-something I pretend I am on days ending in y, I will get out of the truck, refrain from following through with my knee-jerk reactions, and ignore the man. Are we all in agreement?”
“Yep. Well, until he says something out of this world stupid and then it’s a free for all, and I reserve the right to… well, I’ll think of something horrible to inflict on the man. He’s invading our space after all, without an invitation and express orders from Petal here never to step foot on our property again,” B growled.
Phoenix shrugged, and he said, “Sounds good. But for the record, if anything happens to Hale because you two defended yourselves, I won’t be mad.”
“And you, Sunshine. If he gets close to you, he’s going down.”
“Fuck yeah, he will,” B added.
We piled out of the truck, only to have a seething Hale surge closer with his fists clenched at his sides, chest heaving.
“You fucking left me there?”
I glanced at Phoenix. His posture was relaxed, and there was a tiny smile curving up the side of his mouth. It seemed to me he’d let go of all the abusive shit his father pulled in the past and refused to take anymore.
He scoffed and said, “Yes, it was such a hardship for you to be laid out in a hospital room for VIP’s with all the care on hand to figure out what was wrong with you, only to understand that you faked your symptoms for attention. Munchausen’s much, father?”
“What are you talking about? I had a fucking heart attack?”
“Yeah, if you did, you wouldn’t be standing here yelling at me. According to Dr. Bradeem, the attending doctor on your case, nothing showed up on the tests, and your blood work came back normal, and there was no stress on your heart whatsoever. I mean, it’s pretty fucking cold, but it’s still pumping.”
Hale huffed and said, “I’m going to sue him for everything he has!”
All of us laughed, and it stopped the furious man dead in his tracks.
“What?”
From one second to the next, Phoenix stood straighter. His expression scared me, even though he directed it at the one man who deserved his ire.
“You can’t sue the doctor who treated you because, after all these years, you have me listed as your emergency contact, which makes me the next of kin. Because of your oversight, he’s allowed to give me your medical status. Isn’t that weird, Suzy?”
He turned to face his stepmother, who looked unsure of being addressed.
“You’ve been married to this man for almost two decades and he still doesn’t have you on any of his paperwork, other than covering you on his health insurance. And I know for a fact that he plans on spending all of his money before he dies, but not on you. He even has a life insurance policy out on you in case you die before he does.”
“What?” Suzy spluttered. “Why would you do that to me, Hale? Do you think it’s a picnic being married to you, you fucking misogynistic dickhead? You spend all your time thinking about revenge against your own son, who wants nothing to do with you, even hiring men to destroy the bakery because you think it’s too, oh, what were the specific words, ‘fucking fruity,’ to be a sound investment.”
“Shut the fuck up, Suzy!” Hale shouted.
“Hey!” All three of us shouted our ire at Hale as Suzy looked as though she would burst into tears at any second.
“Have some respect for the woman you married, you fucking asshat!” Burton growled.
Then Phoenix laughed. “Ignore him, handsome. The gods know the world would be better if everyone did.”
He turned toward Suzy. “Yeah, my bakery is rather gay and fabulous. Thank you for pointing that out. You know what, for confirming what I’ve known all along, which is doing me quite the favor, by the way, I’ll return one of my own.”
The conversation stalled as Phoenix patted his jeans before he pulled out a scrap of envelope and a pen from his back pocket. After he wrote out quite a few details, filling the entire envelope with his tiny handwriting, he put the pen back in his pocket and stepped forward.
Leaning close, he whispered into Suzy’s ear before, with a smile, he handed her the same piece of envelope. She glanced down, and I saw her eyes widen before she blinked up at Phoenix, gave him a genuine smile, kissed him on the cheek, and walked off, calling for a taxi.
“Where are you going?” Hale called after her.
She turned, gave the man a confident smile, before she flipped him off and walked away.
Phoenix chuckled, and the sound relaxed the tension in my chest since our man was smiling.
But I kept my eyes on Hale, waiting for him to do something stupid. I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point.
“What did you tell her?” Hale demanded.
“Oh, are you talking to me? The one man who you consider a waste of space, who you believe couldn’t do anything right since I was in diapers, and who sent goons after me and my business to destroy, one of whom wanted to rape me if he found me anywhere in the bakery. Me?”
Phoenix let the last part sit as both B and I growled out our disgust for the man.
I somehow understood right at that moment, the only person Hale Aalto cared about was himself. There was no reaction in his expression, other than a shimmer in his eyes as he garnered plans to continue his war against his son. Suzy helped his image, but Phoenix wouldn’t fall into line with him, so he made his own son his enemy. The one conflict in his life he couldn’t move past.
“I’ll—” Hale shouted.
“Get you for this, my pretty,” Phoenix cackled the famous line from The Wizard of Oz before he shook his head and glared at the pathetic waste of space.
“Let me get this out before the stupidity of always having the last word gets to you and you interrupt me again. I… don’t… give… a… fuck about you!”
The shout lingered in the air for a long moment. Phoenix continued.
“You’ve killed any affection I might once have had for you long ago through sheer judgmental ignorance and smug disinterest. Oh, and hatred. I didn’t ask to be born, father , and I sure as shit wasn’t supposed to be your punching bag as a child ! What I did for Suzy was to get her out of your toxic world and despite you dying to know what I wrote, I won’t give you the satisfaction. But it was a doozy, and I’d say within a year, your loss will be excruciating.”
He whistled for emphasis, a gigantic smile on his face.
In the next second, I acted because Hale gave me the opening I’d been waiting for. The older man swung for Phoenix, who stood there like he might take the hit. There was no fucking way I’d ever let him lay another finger on Sunshine.
With a darting step forward, I grabbed a hold of Hale’s wrist with my left hand, squeezing the bone and yanking his arm down as my right came up in an uppercut and nailed the older man right square in the jaw, lifting him on his toes before he crumpled in on himself. The snap of bone wasn’t a surprise, but I wasn’t sure whether I snapped his wrist or broke his jaw. I found myself not caring much either way.
“Yes, I need an ambulance and someone to contact Detective Mateo Sandoval to come out to 27 Richfield Street. He’s assigned as lead detective. Hale Aalto was trespassing on our property, tried to assault me, and my partner landed a blow which knocked him unconscious. Yes, we’ll be waiting in the front yard. I can stay on the line until the police arrive.”
Sunshine covered the receiver with his hand and asked, “Are you injured, lover?”
“No, Sunshine. But why did you stand there?”
He shrugged, as unbothered by the entire situation as a bystander who had no stakes in the game.
“Because I know for certain that both of you would never let him near me, much less allow him to hurt me.”
I glanced over to see B with a smug expression on his face and when he noticed the ire still sparking from my entire form, he reached over and squeezed my shoulder.
“You worry too much, love. I was prepared to sweep his legs out from under him if you hadn’t grabbed him when you did. And Petal is right, we will always have his back.”
Sunshine’s attention snapped back to the phone. “Yes, ma’am. The man is my father, and he was upset when I didn’t fall for his lies about having a heart attack and rush to the hospital to take care of him,” there was a pause before he said, “I called his doctor on the day he checked himself into the emergency room and he confirmed Hale’s tests all came back negative. I’m listed as his next of kin and emergency contact, and it’s why I could speak to the hospital staff about his condition.”
The next few minutes were a whirlwind of activity. Detective Sandoval beat the ambulance to the scene. He screeched up and threw the car in park before he was trudging up the driveway and glaring at Hale, passed out with his dark mustard cashmere coat spread out around him.
“What the actual fuck?”
Phoenix hung up with the dispatcher after thanking them and hugged the detective hello. I caught B’s gaze, and he laughed, shaking his head, which gained him a smile from me. The detective laughed and leaned back after returning the hug for a moment.
For the next fifteen minutes, Sunshine explained everything that had happened from the time he received the call from Suzy Aalto up to Hale Aalto being knocked out in our front yard. He gave him all the pertinent information and then Sandoval glanced my way before raising his eyes to search for something around the perimeter.
“Yes, I also installed security cameras and will provide the footage, along with clear audio, for your investigation. His wife confirmed Hale sent the thugs to Phoenix’s bakery to destroy it. You can see Hale swing at his own son before I intervened,” I said.
B sidled up to the detective and asked, “Charlotte, huh?” B continued to tease by wriggling his eyebrows at the blushing detective.
“Why, Detective Sandoval, do I detect a slight blush on your cheeks?” I asked.
Before he could answer the question, Hale groaned and caught our attention. He worked his jaw, and I heard it pop. So the hit I landed wasn’t as hard as I wanted. He confirmed it a moment later when he screeched and held his wrist against his chest.
“You assaulted me, you asshole. Officer, I want him arrested!”
Hale gulped as Detective Sandoval leaned toward him, waiting for recognition.
The detective interviewed him several times over the past two months, and I hoped the loudmouth would incriminate himself. Rather than stop, he continued on with his belligerent outrage.
“Stop standing around and do something! He broke my fucking wrist without provocation.”
Sunshine laughed and shook his head. “You wouldn’t know this because you’ve only loved yourself your entire life, but Luka and Burton are protective of me. They care that I’m fed, make sure I’m happy with our relationship and my career, and keep me away from the abusive shit I dealt with my entire life from you. So when you moved to punch me in the face, Luka took exception to the fact and defended me. Besides, I told you, with witnesses present who will testify in a court of law, you are no longer allowed on this property.”
I flinched as Hale’s voice rose. “Well, you can’t order me off the property. You don’t have your name on the title!”
We all froze and stared down at the man, who didn’t seem to realize how life worked.
“He’s… dumb. Cheese and fucking crackers, the man who runs a multimillion dollar real estate empire is a fucking idiot,” B mumbled, shaking his head as he stared at a still protesting Hale.
Phoenix’s bark of laughter made all of us jump. But as he steadied his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath as his laughter grew out of control, Hale once again lunged for the younger man. With a speed I didn’t know he possessed, Sunshine grabbed the wrist I broke and squeezed, leaving Hale to flail and scream with the pressure.
Disgusted, Sunshine threw his arm down and glared at the man.
“Despite whatever bigoted mindset you have, I’m free to live my life with the two men I love. For instance, we all have matching surnames. An actual judge granted our request. I’m part owner of their business and they are co-owners of our successful bakery. And the claim that I don’t have legal footing since my name isn’t on the title? Well, sorry to say it pops, but you’re wrong again.
“How does that feel? To fail at gentrifying a neighborhood you never wanted, and running like a weasel when you threatened Luka and Burton at their place of business? Oh, you didn’t think I knew that? Drew, my friend, sent me the footage of you running like a scared rabbit. I didn’t think you could run that fast, but what do I know?”
Phoenix shrugged.
As Hale opened his mouth, our younger lover cut him off with quite an impressive growl.
“All of this hatred and anger. For what? Your associates have left in droves and people treat you like a pariah. Based on Detective Sandoval’s expression, he will arrest you as soon as I’m done lecturing you. Your wife left you and trust me, with the information I passed along, she’s not coming back, not even to bail you out of jail. You’ve done nothing but burn bridges, and at fifty-five, you no longer have a single friendship or relationship you can rely on. And because you paid three thugs over ten thousand dollars and wired the money from your own bank account, there’s no escape for you.”
I watched in amazement as Hale understood how desperate his life just became. The scowl faded from his face and he looked up with pleading eyes at his only family.
Sunshine shook his head and stepped back, looking at the Detective and said, “He’s all yours.”
“What? I’m your father. You can tell him to drop the charges, no hard feelings.”
B danced around, laughing as though he were insane. I narrowed my eyes at the man who caused our Phoenix more pain and doubt than any human should ever have to deal with, much less aim that hatred toward a defenseless child. The one man who traumatized Sunshine for no other reason than his own misplaced hatred.
“Fuck off,” I growled.
Sunshine laughed and said, “Enjoy your stint in prison, old man. And when you get out, needing a leg up, don’t call me. You are nothing to me.”
Detective Sandoval nodded over two uniformed officers and they lifted Hale off the ground and marched him off, kicking and screaming, into the back of a police car.
“Well, that was…”
A happy trill came from Sunshine as he bumped shoulders with the Detective, giving him a warm smile.
“How about dinner here on Friday? I’ll invite Arthur and Jude, and I’m sure Gio and Fergus will be available. Maybe you can ask Charlotte to accompany you when you drop in tomorrow?”
The hardened cop blushed to the tips of his ears, yet he nodded. “Yeah, let’s see how it goes.”
B draped his arms around Sunshine’s waist and blew out a relieved breath. “Thank fuck, because I was a little worried Charlotte was going to give up on you, Detective.”
“Mateo, please, since you’re encouraging me to ask out Charlotte. I need all the courage I can get.” But when B’s words sunk in, he blushed harder and asked, “She knows I’m interested?”
I grunted. “More like she finds you attractive, but believes you’re out of her league.”
“No fucking way!” He shook his head, amazed. And with that, Mateo retreated with a groan, lost in thought as he got into his car, waved at us, and drove away. After several minutes, and reassuring neighbors there will no longer be any commotion, we made it inside to privacy and quiet.