Chapter 4 #2
He cupped Cosimo’s cheek, then ran his thumb over his bottom lip. “A ring, if you need help not coming.”
Cosimo had perfected being able to hold off until he was given permission to come, and tonight wouldn’t be difficult. He was barely hard. The need in him wasn’t as sexual as it normally was. Too much was going on.
“I think I can hold it.”
“We’ll see. You’re always such a filthy slut the moment you get my clothes off,” Emmett said.
“I have a feeling I’ll be watching you beg in a minute.
” The words were strong, powerful. Humiliating the way he liked.
The way he needed. “Get those pants down or I’m going to jerk myself off while you watch. ”
Cosimo swallowed back his groan and nodded frantically as his fingers fumbled to do what he asked. It took him several tries.
Emmett scoffed. “Fucking pathetic.”
Cosimo’s entire body went white hot. He was pathetic. He was a goddamn pathetic useless waste of space. A terrible husband and a terrible father and…
“Yellow,” he gasped. “Yellow. Red!”
He hadn’t realized how far down the wrong rabbit hole he’d gone until his knees hit the ground and a sob escaped his chest. He hadn’t safeworded in years. And never because of his own fucked up thoughts.
Emmett had him in seconds, arms wrapped tightly around him, pulling him up off the ground and getting his pants back around his waist. Between one heaving breath and the next, Cosimo was on Emmett’s lap, in a loose grip just the way he liked.
The way he needed.
He hadn’t felt like this in years. Not since their daughter was small and she was screaming and there had been no way to soothe her through the pain of her surgery he was starting to regret. He felt like a scum of the earth dad then—and a terrible husband to Emmett who was barely hanging on.
And he felt like that now.
“Would you like to talk to me?” Emmett asked, his voice not a whisper, but not much louder than one either.
Swallowing thickly, Cosimo took a few breaths, then said, “I fucked up.”
“How? And when?” There was an edge of tension in Emmett’s voice, like he was preparing for the worst.
“As a dad. As a partner to you, as—as a person who could have prevented what that man has gone through because of our daughter.”
“Ah.” That single sound of understanding allowed the tension Cosimo was holding to release. Not entirely, but enough to breathe. “Yeah. I’ve been feeling the same way tonight.”
“I don’t think I’m ready for this. Um. Not until we know what’s going on with her and Miles.
” For whatever reason, Cosimo found it hard to say his daughter’s name.
“I just…fuck, I don’t know how it went this wrong.
If she was a spoiled shit who threw tantrums about money, that’s something she could unlearn.
But Em…” His voice felt like it was going to crack so he paused a beat. “She’s abusing him.”
Emmett went tense all over, then bowed his head and rested his forehead against the back of Cosimo’s shoulder. “I know,” he whispered.
“Did we…do you think she saw what we do somehow? Do you think she picked up on it and?—”
“This is not abuse,” Emmett said fiercely.
He eased back turned Cosimo’s face by the chin.
“This is not abuse. And we kept it far away from her. We never, ever let her see it because that is between us. And I don’t—fuck, I hope I don’t treat you like that.
Even when you need to prostrate completely, please tell me I haven’t—” Emmett’s voice broke, and Cosimo realized what he was implying.
“Amore. No. Shit, that’s not at all what I was trying to say, I…
” He growled in frustration as he twisted his body as best he could on Emmett’s lap and met his gaze firmly.
“I have never in my life felt unloved or small. You make me feel whole. You’ve given me everything I have ever needed.
” And I haven’t done the same for you , he added to himself, which is why I feel like this .
“I know that sometimes kids just…go wrong. I don’t know how to get her to see that all of this is not okay.”
“We cut her off,” Cosimo said. They’d floated the idea before, but neither of them had felt brave enough to mean it. “We stop enabling her. It’s not too late.”
They’d spoiled her to the point of absolute dependence on their cashflow, and he always felt responsible…and also a little terrified of how she’d survive if he stopped.
But after seeing what she did to Miles, he couldn’t let it keep going on.
“Call her,” he finally said. “See what happened after they got home.”
Emmett nodded and picked up his phone, pulling up FaceTime since he wasn’t sure if she was wearing her processors or not. It rang so long he thought she was going to ignore them, and then her face appeared on the screen.
“If you’re calling to bitch at me more,” she started, “don’t fucking bother. I have a headache.”
“Where is he?”
Rolling her eyes, Selene snorted and shrugged. “Fuck knows. We had a big fight thanks to you blowing my goddamn cover and took all his shit and left. Not that he has anywhere to go— he’s an orphan and his one rich friend barely has anything to do with him. He’s probably at a shelter or some shit.”
Cosimo felt his heart hit his feet. “Why? Why did you do this to him?”
“Why not? He’s fucking useless. I mean, obviously not,” she added with a laugh.
“He’s good for some things. But seriously, why does he have the nerve to care what I do in my free time?
He should be grateful I’ve given him all this.
You should have seen the place he was living. It was fucking disgusting.”
Cosimo looked at Emmett who was seething. He’d never seen his husband look so angry before. He was usually the one with the temper, but for whatever reason, he knew he was the most even one in that moment.
He had to speak before Emmett did.
“You’re abusing him.”
“Oh my god, you’re so dramatic?—”
“Until you get help, Selene,” he said slowly, signing along so she couldn’t use any excuse to claim she didn’t understand what he was saying, “we’re done.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means we’re done,” Cosimo said. He looked to Emmett who just nodded. “No more credit cards. No more rent. No more car payment.”
Her eyes widened, then she rolled them again. “Yeah, right.”
“You’re welcome to not believe us, but this is your one warning that you’d better figure out your payments because whatever’s in your account now, that’s it.” He knew it was a lot. He always made sure she had at least six months’ worth of bills in case anything ever went wrong.
He just hadn’t expected that emergency to be this.
“You’re not funny,” Selene told him. Ah, there it was. The realization in her voice that he was not kidding. “Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean?—”
“That you get to abuse him. And the fact that you don’t see what you did to him as anything other than that is a problem,” Emmett finally said. His voice was very, very controlled. He took another deep breath. “I don’t think we want to see you for a while.”
“You’re joking,” she said, eyes wide.
“We’re not. We spoiled you, yes, but we taught you better than this.
I don’t know what kind of therapy you need or what kind of introspection you need to do, but you should take some time to figure it out.
And when you’re ready to apologize and take accountability for it all, you can call us. If not…” Emmett trailed off.
“What?” she said, her voice dripping with hatred. “You’ll abandon your daughter.”
“You’re a grown woman. You have a college degree and plenty of friends,” Cosimo said, letting all the emotion leave his voice. “I have faith you can figure it out.”
“Hold the fuck up?—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Emmett ended the call.
The pain was overwhelming, but what else were they supposed to do?
She needed to hit a wall of silence, otherwise nothing would ever happen.
They’d keep enabling her, and she’d keep doing what she did until she had a trail of shattered lives and broken hearts behind her.
If they loved their daughter at all, this was what had to happen.
“What now?” Cosimo asked.
Emmett bit his lip, then said, “We should go look for him.”
“Just you,” Cosimo said. Emmett opened his mouth to argue, but Cosimo shook his head.
“Just you. I think I scare him. And besides, I…” I think he’s for you , he wanted to say.
But he couldn’t bring himself to. Not yet.
Because he didn’t want it to be that way.
He wanted whoever they found to fit with them both.
That was his insecurity talking. “I think he needs your ability to be soft,” he finished instead.
Emmett closed his eyes, took a breath, then nodded. “Yeah. Okay. You think he’s still around her place?”
“I think it’s a good start,” Cosimo said. “And if not…” He was interrupted by Emmett’s phone going off again. For a beat, he figured it was Selene calling back until he glanced at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number. They exchanged started glances, then Cosimo nodded. “Answer it.”
Emmett did, and he put it on speaker. “Hello?”
“Um.Hi.Sorry…hello.” It was him .
Emmett’s voice was a little hoarse and very startled when he said, “Miles? Where are you? Please tell me you’re safe.”