Chapter 12
12
TATUM
“ O h, your parents are coming to visit?” Angel asks, glancing down at his phone, his cheeks flushed.
“Yes, unfortunately. Your dad wants to meet them.” I take a step closer to my friend, and he hides his phone behind his back.
“Who are you talking to?” I ask, and he shakes his head, his cheeks darkening.
“No one.”
“Angel, seriously. You’re blushing big time. It’s not no one.”
“I am not. I just got some sun.” Even as he says it, his cheeks turn an even darker shade and it bleeds down his neck.
“Sure,” I drawl and then whisper, “I wanna know what you’re hiding.”
“I can’t,” he replies, his eyes pleading. “I can’t. It’s a secret.” He glances around and lowers his voice even more. “I don’t want my dad to know. I promised not to tell…”
“Oh my god. Is this dangerous? Does it have anything to do with Bane?”
His head reels back, and he lets out a startled laugh. “No! It’s not that. I promise. It’s perfectly safe.”
I arch an eyebrow and he shakes his head, biting down on his bottom lip.
“I really can’t say. I promised.”
I sigh and then pull him into my arms. “Just be safe. And I’m here to keep your secrets.”
“I know, and I’d tell you, but I have a feeling my dad could pry it from you with just a well-placed look.”
“He could not.”
He grins at me and presses a sweet kiss to my cheek. “I know you think you’re strong, but he holds power over you. As you do him.”
I scoff at that. There is no way that I hold anything over Anthony. Nothing at all.
“You’re delusional.”
He grins at me sweetly. “I know I’m not. Anyways, I’ve been wanting to show you something. Want to see?”
He loops his arm through mine and leads me toward the conservatory, and I follow along, my excitement getting the better of me as Angel pulls me behind a dwarf palm tree and pushes a latch on the wall.
“I’m serious. Why didn’t you tell me about these secret doors before? They’re amazing.”
It’s Angel’s turn to arch an eyebrow at me this time. “Because I knew you’d be insufferable. If it wasn’t for Bane, you’d still not know about them. But since the cat is out of the bag…”
He pulls me inside and then the door closes behind us. “These don’t just go into the catacombs, but they also go to different places in the house. So we can sneak around.”
His phone light turns on, and I see the eerie pathway ahead of us.
“It’s over here.”
He pulls me forward and then grins back at me.
“My dad would kill me for showing you this, but I think you need some leverage and I don’t know if he’ll ever show you.”
My eyes widen as he pulls me further along.
Finally we come to a stop in front of a door and he pulls a key card from his pocket and unlocks it.
I hold my breath, unsure what I’ll find here, but then the lights flicker on and I take it all in.
Oh my god.
“What is this?” I breathe, and Angel sighs as he spins in a slow circle.
“It’s my dad’s secret hobby.”
I glance at the black and white pictures hanging on strings and lining the walls. The pictures are old, I can tell—they’re curling at the edges, the equipment coated with dust. Leaning forward, I make out the image of a beautiful woman in each one.
“Is this your mom?”
Angel nods and points to a picture of his mom, heavily pregnant.
“He hasn’t been down here for ages, but I found it when Luca told me about it. They shared her, did you know?”
My eyebrows rise at that. “What?”
“Yeah, Luca was in love with her as well.” He sighs and then flops down on a dusty chair, a puff of particles floating in the air around us.
“I had no idea.”
“Yeah, I guess that it was special between them. I’m not supposed to know, but look.”
He points to a picture right above his head, and I take a step closer, peering at a young Luca holding Anthony’s wife in his arms, looking at her adoringly.
“That must have been a shock when you found out.”
“Yeah, it was. I freaked out at first but then I got a paternity test, just to make sure, and I know Anthony’s my dad. Luca was just the third, I guess, and Dad must not have minded.”
His eyes meet mine, and he cocks his head. “I don’t know if he’ll let Luca join with you though.”
I feel my cheeks start to burn. “I don’t think so either.”
“Would you want that? A third?”
“No, I don’t think so. I just want…Anthony.”
Angel nods and leans his head back. “Yeah, I think when you find your person or people, you just know.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“My dad looks at you like he does my mom in her pictures, maybe even more so.”
I shake my head and then bite my bottom lip, fighting back hope.
“He’s not gay.”
“I know, but he’s obsessed with you. What does preference matter in that case?”
It’s true , I think as I wander around the space, taking in all the photos, and then I sigh.
“Why did he stop? Photography, I mean.”
“Heartbreak, I think. Maybe he’ll take it up again soon.”
His eyes twinkle, and I tamp down the hope building inside of me. No, no fucking way. But then again…
I shake my head and fall down next to Angel, resting my head against his shoulder.
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Oh, Tatum, all I have is hope.”
“Where were you?” Anthony grumbles at me as I stand in his office.
“Oh, just here and there.”
Angel made me promise not to tell anyone where I was or what I saw. Apparently, no one really knows about this little secret hobby of Anthony’s. Although, I would like him to take an interest in photographing me.
But then again, why would he? He barely knows me. He does seem to care about me though. He did rescue me from the bad men and has begun some kind of turf war over it.
I don’t know. I try not to ask too many questions.
“Were you with Bane?” His jaw tightens.
I snort and then murmur, “I wish.”
His fists tighten on his desk and he leans back, the leather creaking under his weight.
“Is that so?”
I peer at him from behind my lashes and grin slightly. “Maybe.”
His eyes narrow, and he lets out a breath. “Tatum.”
“Anthony,” I tease and then lower myself onto the couch. “What did you call me in here for anyways? Aren’t you a busy man?”
“I am, and yet still, I find time for you.”
I turn my head and meet his gaze. “What’s on your agenda for this evening?”
He rubs his lips together and then his hands fall to the arms of his chair.
“I’m sure you’d like to know.”
“I mean, I would. I do love to be nosy.”
“Yes, you do.”
I feel my body heat as he watches me, and then he leans back in his seat a little more.
“I have a meeting with some of my capos. It’s going to be…quite trying. I’d like you to be waiting for me in my room when I’m done.”
My entire body is lit on fire. “That is quite an ask. I may have plans.”
“Be there or else.”
I blink up at him and his breathing grows slightly labored.
“We’ll see,” I say, pushing myself to my feet, my dick hard and straining from my pants. I adjust it just as men start to make their way into the room, Luca being one of them. He greets me with a saucy grin, pulling my hand up to his mouth for a kiss. His warm lips touch the back of my hand and my breath stutters out of me.
“You can go, Tatum,” Anthony says curtly, suddenly beside me.
Luca grins at me and winks, making me blush as Anthony escorts me to the door.
“Do not even think about it,” he murmurs. “And if there are any doubts about what I want, I’ll make sure they’re alleviated tonight.”
I swallow roughly and nod. “We’ll see.”
His hand cups my chin roughly and his dark eyes sparkle.
“Don’t make me hunt you down.”
“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
His thumb brushes against my bottom lip before it falls from me and he walks away, the door shutting on me.
I turn to Teddy and shake out my arms.
“Good god. Your boss is hot and sexy.”
Teddy doesn’t move, and I thread my arm through his. “If you had to hide somewhere, where would it be? Just out of curiosity.”
His sunglasses hide his gaze, but I know he’s looking at me.
“Just lead the way, big man. I won’t blame you for anything that happens after that.”
He huffs and then turns his big body, pulling me outside.
Fuck yes.
Come and get me, Anthony.