Chapter 31
Talon
I’m pretty sure telling my parents and brother that I’m bisexual and dating a man should be a lot more terrifying than it feels so far.
Granted, I’m still in the car making my way toward the office and not actually face-to-face with them, but nothing could ever be as scary as Zeke, so pale, lying in that hospital bed as they wheeled him out of the room, unsure if he was going to survive.
I take the familiar ride up to the fourteenth floor, which houses my parents’ office. They’ve shared an office my entire life, and it’s as familiar to me as my mother’s arms.
I’m greeted by a few familiar faces as I make my way toward the corner suite.
Eloise came by and grabbed Zeke half an hour before I left to come over here, and I’d had to beg him to buy things today.
I told him I was really hoping for a fashion show later, so he’d better not come back empty-handed.
Anything that calls to him, I want him to buy because I’m dying to know what style he’d choose if he wasn’t forced to pick his wardrobe based on a price tag.
I fight the urge to pull out my phone and send him a text now just to check in.
Geez, we haven’t even been apart for an hour.
Finally arriving at the large oak double doors of my parents’ office, I raise my hand to knock, but the left door flies open, and my mom tumbles into my arms.
“Talon! Welcome home, honey!” There’s nothing quite like a mother’s embrace. Immediately, I think of my boyfriend and the fact that he’s never felt one.
“Hi, Mom.” I don’t fight my smile as I squeeze her tightly.
She ruffles my hair, teasing me.
“You really went full-on ski bum for that assignment, didn’t you? How’s it going? I mean outside of the numbers, which look great by the way.” She grabs my hand and leads me toward the couch in the office. “Tell us everything. Can I get you some coffee?”
“Christ, Lorraine, take a breath.” My dad laughs as he walks around the edge of his desk, holding out his arms. “Tal, good to see you, son,” he says, much calmer than my mother.
“You too, Dad,” I reply, clapping him on the back.
“Saved the best for last, didn’t you?” a voice says from the corner.
Because of my mom’s excitement, I hadn’t noticed Lukas was already in here.
He stands, and we embrace like we’ve been apart for years, not a few months. Nonetheless, when you’re used to seeing someone every day, time can feel longer than it actually is.
“Luke! Man, have I missed you!” I say, grabbing his head and smacking an obnoxious kiss on his cheek, making him laugh.
“With that kind of welcome, is now a good time to tell you I borrowed that decanter in your office and accidentally broke it?” he asks sheepishly.
I shove his shoulder playfully.
“I just hope you emptied the decanter first. That was a nineteen-hundred-dollar Scotch.”
Before we can carry on any further, our dad calls our attention.
“I love the reunion, gentlemen, but our quarterly review starts in twenty minutes, so whatever this meeting is about, Talon, perhaps we should get on with it?”
“Why does Eloise get to miss the quarterly meeting?” Luke asks. “And where is she, anyway? It’s not like you to leave her out of the loop, Tal.”
My cheeks redden, and my skin heats slightly.
The time has arrived.
“She already knows my news. And she assured me she was allowed to miss the meeting.” I quickly look at my parents, hoping I’m not keeping Eloise from something she’s supposed to be doing.
My mom answers, immediately making me feel better.
“She’s exempt this morning. Her properties have consistently performed at the highest level for the last six months.
She just rolled out a new marketing campaign for her smallest property after completing a multi-million-dollar remodel, and it’s doing well.
She’s put in long hours and deserves a bit of playtime. ”
We all have our niches. No one in this room would deny that Eloise is the most business-minded of all of us.
Lukas is interested in the less glamorous side of corporate law and taxes.
I think he missed a major opportunity by not going to law school.
And of course, my favorite aspect is the people.
How do we get our employees into the positions best suited for them, and how do we run a company they’re proud to work for?
“Okay,” Lukas says, calling me back to the moment. “What’s such big news that you couldn’t text it to us in the group chat?”
“I’m dating someone,” I blurt.
I’d hoped that maybe it would have come out a little more nuanced than that, but alas, it did not.
“Oh, really?” My mother says, sitting up with interest.
Whenever Eloise or I date someone new, it’s a big deal.
We aren’t celebrities per se, but we’re wealthy enough that our clients, employees, and social circles deem us interesting enough to end up in the media from time to time…
like when we acquire a new property…or when one of us has a new love interest.
“Do we know her?” my father asks.
“Is it someone you met out west?” Luke chimes in, his arched brow telling me he’s catching on quicker than our parents.
“Actually—” I clear my throat to buy a second of time. Here goes nothing. “—it’s a him. No, you don’t know him. Yes, I did meet him out west.”
The room falls silent.
It’s hard not to fill it with explanations and declarations, or simply start from the beginning, but I manage to keep quiet. They need to be able to process this without me running my mouth.
Lukas is the first to speak.
“The guy from the hospital.” It’s not a question.
“What hospital?” my mom asks frantically.
“What guy?” my dad asks.
Maybe I should start at the beginning after all.
I spend the next ten minutes quickly telling them my and Zeke’s story.
I even show them the picture we took at the Christmas party.
I don’t know why I chose that one. We’ve taken several others since, ones where his smile is brighter and our happiness is evident, but that picture is still so striking to me.
A stolen moment bathed in darkness, it just feels representative of where we were at that time and how far we’ve come.
“Well, I can’t say this was on the list of possible outcomes for this meeting, but it’s good to see you happy, Tal,” my dad says. “Is it serious?”
“Serious enough that he came home with me. El took him shopping.” I flash a smile at Luke. “That’s why she’s not here.”
“Oh, good! We get to meet him then?” my mom says excitedly. “Can you bring him to dinner tonight?”
“We have tickets for a show on Broadway, but how about tomorrow?” I ask.
“Perfect,” she gushes.
And just like that, I’m out to my family. My worlds have become one, and I couldn’t be happier.
Until Lukas opens his mouth again.
“Our employee, Talon? Really?” Looking at our parents, he holds his hands up. “As much as you guys preach about hard boundaries and not blurring the lines, you’re just going to let this slide?”
“Yes, I can’t say I’m very pleased about that,” my dad says, giving me a stern look.
“We’ll have to speak to the attorney. If you end up breaking things off, it could get ugly, which is why we have a policy against this, son.
” Just as I’m feeling appropriately chastised, he adds, “But it is nice to hear someone’s caught your attention. ”
I cut my eyes to my brother as I answer our father.
“I know, Dad. I swear if it wasn’t real and important, I never would have pursued him.”
“And you don’t think that maybe this guy, who has nothing, is trying to get close to one of the richest men in the country for something other than love?” Lukas continues from the corner.
“Wow,” I huff. “I never thought my own brother would say I’m not worthy of being loved beyond my money.”
“That’s not what I said,” Luke argues, standing up.
“It’s what you implied,” I fire back.
“Talon, think about this,” Luke says, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I’ve never been repulsed by my brother’s touch until this moment.
“You go out to Montana, straight, single, and the new owner of a ski resort. You come home, suddenly dating a guy who would be homeless again if you hadn’t let him move in with you, and who just so happens to want to move to New York to chase some acting dream. How can you not see what’s going on?”
“Lukas, maybe we should all—” my mom starts, but Luke cuts her off.
“No, Mom. I know Talon wants to find his person. Hell, I was the one who told him not to tell people who he really was so he could find someone without his money coming into play, but this?”
For the first time in my life, my parents look at me with pity in their eyes, and I hate it. They’re buying Lukas’s bullshit.
I understand now why Zeke refuses everyone’s help the way he does. Having their pity makes me feel fucking helpless.
My phone buzzes with a text message. Thankful for the distraction, I open it to find a picture message from Eloise. It’s a shot of her and Zeke in the center of a giant fitting room, standing on the small platform in the center with mirrors behind them.
Eloise is radiant, as always. Zeke is in a cream cable-knit sweater with brown, wide-leg tweed trousers and a belted mahogany leather trench coat. With his wire-rimmed glasses and stoic expression, he looks like a fucking model.
Zeke is effortlessly New York in a way I’ve never been.
“Is that him?” my mom asks, drawing my eyes away from my screen.
“Oh, uh, it’s Eloise actually, but she sent a picture with him in it,” I say, rambling unnecessarily.
“Can I see it?” my mom asks.
Part of me doesn’t want to share Zeke with them if their initial reaction is to accept Lukas’s words over knowing Zeke for themselves. But the bigger part of me is so damn proud of him that I hand the phone over anyway.
I hear it buzz in her hands, and I watch her expression soften as she scans the message.
“He’s a beautiful boy. Bring him to dinner tomorrow,” she says, handing my phone back to me. “We’ll get to know him and…go from there.”
The message on my phone says:
Eloise
How hot is this?
Once the phone is back in my hands, it’s followed by more messages.
Eloise
All I could get him to buy so far were socks.
SOCKS, TAL.
I told him this outfit was perfect for Broadway, and that’s the ONLY reason he would let me swipe your card.
(Well, that and I told him either you were buying it for him or I was, and if he let ME buy him clothes and not you, you’d be sad)
I want to shove my phone in everyone’s faces and yell ‘I told you so!’ like a child, but I keep the texts to myself. Although when the next one comes in, a snort of laughter escapes, and I’m glad I’m the one holding the phone.
Eloise
And I MIGHT have told him that you owe him this outfit anyway, since you used to spend at LEAST this much on porn, but now that you have him, you’re saving oodles. LOVE YOU!
Me
Gee, thanks, El.
I hastily exit our conversation and open my texts to Zeke. I know my family is watching me, and our meeting has probably started down the hall already, but they can spare thirty more seconds.
Me
You look incredible. I can’t wait to take you out in that outfit and then take you out of it when we get home.
Zeke
Thank you.
Me
Are you having fun?
Zeke
Eloise is a blast. I might be tipsy. Did you know they give you champagne when you try on clothes here?
Me
They’re hoping it makes you want to buy more. I hope so too.
Zeke
Spending your money makes me wildly uncomfortable.
Me
I’ve been waiting my whole life to be able to spoil you.
Zeke
You DO spoil me. Remember yesterday’s shower?
Me
Baby, not even drowning me could purge that memory from my brain.
“Talon?” my dad says, causing my eyes to snap to his. “We need to go.”
“Right.”
I fire off one last message to Zeke as I walk to the boardroom, missing him terribly.
Lukas walks behind me, and I can feel the tension radiating off him.
Lukas and I are close, and I know he means well, but if I’m forced to choose, he won’t like the outcome.
I’d take a bullet for my brother, but I’d pull the trigger for Zeke.