Chapter 24
Nolan stared down at the number on the file he held, feeling sick and enraged.
That was the estimated value of Kai’s grandmother’s estate at the time of her passing.
No wonder that piece of shit, Leonardo Lussano, hadn’t wanted Kai to have it.
The house itself, a modest four-bedroom bungalow, was situated in a quiet North York neighbourhood with a long backyard separated from the neighbours with a chain-link fence.
It was older and dated, but you could be on the Allen in five minutes and downtown in twenty.
That in itself made it valuable, but it had also been built during an era where your next-door neighbours were more than arms’ length away.
It was nice, and Nolan could perfectly imagine a younger version of Kai running around, dropping his shit everywhere and his grandma following behind, cleaning it all up.
Though, he’d gotten a lot better at that lately.
Two weeks had passed since their meeting with Landon, and the file he’d received had a copy of her obituary with a short history of her life.
Edith Lussano, beloved mother of Alyssia and Leonardo Lussano, mother-in-law to Venetia Lussano, grandmother to Kai Da Silva.
She’d been a pretty lady. High cheekbones and a smile just like Kai’s, but her Japanese heritage had been a lot more prominent.
She wore her silver-streaked hair chopped in a straight bob to her shoulders, and she looked petite.
Nolan scrolled to the search results from the land registry office where it showed the property transferring from Aimi Mori and Giovanni Longo, Edith’s parents, to herself, Edith Lussano, and then from her to Leonardo and Venetia for zero dollars. Nolan fumed.
He’d spoken with Landon briefly. Edith’s will had never been probated. Leonardo had claimed that Edith had died intestate, and, as he’d been her next of kin, the estate had fallen to him.
He wasn’t going to tell Kai yet, because he hadn’t been able to discuss next steps with Landon. Landon had a priority case that needed his focus, but they both knew, without that will, they had no leg to stand on.
He pulled up Myles on his phone and put him on video.
“Hey,” he said, eyes flicking toward the phone screen but his face remained forward, while he took the call from his car.
“Hey. Noah still work with that P.I.?”
“Yeah, I think so. Is this about the file Landon sent over? I saw it come through.”
“How’d you guess?”
“Who the fuck does that to a sixteen-year-old kid?” Myles asked bitterly, Nolan’s own anger mirrored back at him. Myles had known poverty as a kid. Nolan knew that Kai’s past would bring up a lot of things that Myles had worked hard to put behind him.
“I don’t know man, but I’m not letting it go. I want to know everything about this piece of shit and I want that will.”
“If it still exists.”
Nolan tapped his finger on the edge of his desk, his brain racing ahead of him, trying to plan their next move.
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Forward the e-mail to Noah. The contact for Edith’s lawyer is in there as well.”
“I’m on it. I’ll put together his standard fee package and drop it off.”
“Daddy!”
“Thanks, man. I gotta go. Kai’s home.”
“Kai’s home?” Myles asked pointedly, amusement lacing his voice. Nolan flipped him the bird, but the heat in his cheeks was more pleased than embarrassed.
“Fuck off. Bye.” He ended the call and closed his laptop just as Kai burst into his office.
“Hi.” Kai beamed at him, and Nolan felt that now-familiar surge of possessiveness mixed with affection.
“Hi, yourself.” Nolan returned the smile. Kai dropped his backpack on the ground and circled Nolan’s desk, hopping up to straddle his lap and planting a long, hard kiss on his mouth.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you. How was work?”
“Exhausting. I need a shower.”
“I can tell. You smell ripe, baby,” Nolan teased, burrowing his face roughly into Kai’s neck, making him shriek. “Come on. Let’s go.” This was Nolan’s favourite part of the day, when both of them reunited at home, with no pressure to do anything other than be together.
Their first week together had slid quietly into a second, and neither of them had said anything about Kai leaving until last Wednesday, when Kai had finally decided that he felt bad from being away from the boys for so long.
He’d gone home, but that had lasted two days before Nolan had to deal with a clingy boy for the whole weekend.
Not that he minded. The weekend had marked one month since they’d been together; Nolan would not forget the striptease Kai had done in his corset with the tiniest teal thong anytime soon.
Then he’d fed him strawberries and whipped cream in bed and rode his cock like he was trying to win a prize.
It was Tuesday again, and their last night together until Friday, because Matteo had asked Kai to work another job.
Since this one put him closer to home, it technically made sense for him to be there.
Nolan didn’t like it and had only agreed because Kai had consented to Nolan sending him home with groceries and had promised to take lunch to work every single day.
It also meant that, for the first time, Nolan was taking Kai all the way home in the morning to drop off everything he needed for their time apart.
It was a major milestone in their relationship, and Nolan was not taking it lightly.
The more time they spent together, the more Nolan learned what made Kai tick. He had trauma that Nolan was still figuring out how to handle, but the more time they spent together, the more Kai showed him that he was willing to follow Nolan’s lead.
When they got upstairs, Nolan turned on the shower and stripped them both down.
Both of them were already hard, because even a month in, they still couldn’t seem to get enough of each other.
They collided before they’d even made it into the shower, mouths clashing as they attempted to devour each other.
Nolan lifted Kai, and his legs automatically went around his waist.
“Daddy, will you fuck me?”
“Who’s in charge here, hmm?” he asked, nipping sharply at Kai’s neck.
“You are. I’m just saying that if you want to fuck me, my ass is right there.” Laughter rumbled through him and he pulled back as he leveraged Kai against the shower wall.
“Yeah, I’ll fuck you. Send you home with a sore ass so you remember where you belong,” he said between kisses. Something mischievous lit in Kai’s eyes, making Nolan immediately suspicious.
“What?”
“Nothing. Fuck me.”
Nolan smacked his ass, earning a grunt from Kai.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“Fine. I’ll do it myself.”
Kai reached below him, but Nolan grabbed his wrist. He pulled both hands above Kai’s head, holding him against the wall with just his hips.
“I see what’s happening. My baby boy wants to brat.”
“Is that okay” Kai asked a little breathlessly.
“You think you can handle the consequences?”
“I think so,” Kai said, biting his lip and grinding his hips into Nolan’s. Nolan swallowed a groan.
“If you want to play, we can play, but there’s limits,” he warned. Kai nodded. “I’ll tolerate disobedience but not disrespect. Tell me your safe word.”
“Onions. Wait, you never told me yours.” A wave of affection had Nolan pressing a light kiss on his mouth. Brat. Kai could pretend, but he was mostly just a sweetheart. Nolan was willing to let him figure it out himself though.
“It’s cantaloupe.”
“Cantaloupe,” Kai whispered to himself, like he was committing it to memory. “Got it.”
Nolan untangled them and set Kai back onto the stall floor.
“Alright, baby, let’s see what you got.” Nolan reached for the soap, scrubbing down his body to the astonished look on Kai’s face.
“Wha—?” He pointed to the erection he was still sporting.
“Oh, brats don’t get sexy fun time, baby.” Nolan closed his jaw with a soapy hand and dropped a kiss on his mouth. “But I want you to know you can change your mind at any time.”
“Fine. I can wash myself then.” Kai glared at him, grabbing the soap and scrubbing it across his body as Nolan rinsed off. Nolan saw his slight hesitation as he reached for his cock.
“Careful, sweetheart. Remember there will be a punishment for every transgression.” The threat seemed to work, because he kept his touch to what was strictly necessary to get clean.
Nolan suppressed a smile. He was fairly sure he wouldn’t be as lucky for whatever else Kai had in store, but breaking that particular rule seemed like it wasn’t worth the risk.
Nolan exited the shower first, drying himself off and grabbing his discarded clothes to drop into the hamper.
“Hey, are you forgetting something?” he asked Kai as he brushed past him, motioning to his clothes scattered on the ground.
“I’ll do it after,” Kai said blithely.
“Okay.” That was one. When he followed him into the bedroom, Kai had thrown himself across the bed, his phone in his hand. Nolan got dressed, willing to see how this played out.
“I’m going to get dinner started. After you finish picking up those clothes, remember to pick up your backpack from the office.” No response. That was two.
An hour and a half later, Kai was at seven transgressions.
The clothes were still on the ground, as was his backpack, and so was the new Lego set that had been Kai’s treat for meeting with Landon.
He’d refused to answer the call to dinner and had refused to eat his brussels sprouts, which were still sitting on his plate at the table.
He was also becoming increasingly riled by Nolan’s refusal to react to any of his shenanigans, but Nolan could tell he was getting close to the end of his tether. Nolan just had to wait him out.