Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
L eo was damn near hysteric when Torres and Saint returned. “Are Kade and Valk ok?”
Saint nodded tiredly. “Yeah, they’ll be ok.”
Leo sighed in relief. “Good.” He held out a plate. “Brownie?” He seemed to bake when he was stressed.
Torres smiled softly. “Thanks.”
Leo nodded. “Lunch will be ready in about twenty minutes.”
“Thank god I’m starving.” Torres said around a mouth full of brownie. He’d left Kade the bagels hoping to make him feel better.
Leo smiled softly at him. If there was one thing he knew about the man, it was that he loved to eat. It was almost orgasmic the way he enjoyed food, and considering the man was built like a tank, he could imagine it took a lot of food to keep him going.
“Hey Torres, will you help me feed the animals?” Bram asked from the doorway, ignoring his son’s glare.
“Absolutely.” Torres shot a grin at Leo, knowing exactly what this was. He followed Bram out, and while he wasn’t scared of the man, he was definitely intimidated.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t a ‘grill the suitor’ type deal. I just want to get to know you better as you’re interested in my son.” Bram chuckled.
Torres sighed in relief. “That I can do. What would you like to know?”
“What are your plans for life?” Bram asked as they made it to the barn and he rationed out the feed for the horses.
“To work for Kade until I can’t anymore. I already own my house, so the next step is a husband…I’m not totally sold on the whole kid thing, but maybe one of those too.” He shrugged. He was a simple man who didn’t need a lot.
Bram grinned. “Ready to settle down.”
Torres snorted as he set out the hay and refilled the water buckets. “I have been for a while, but I’m picky and I want someone who can match me.”
Bram raised a brow. “And you think that’s Leo?”
Torres shrugged. “I’ve wanted him for a while now, even before I knew about his husband. He’s stronger than most realize.”
Bram grinned. He liked the man even more now. “Yes, he is.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I don’t plan to use him or whore around until he makes up his mind. I want him, so he’s my main focus.”
Bram smiled widely. “Good, he deserves it, but be prepared for Sanem’s attack.”
Torres rolled his eyes. “I’d be more worried if there wasn’t one.”
Bram laughed. “She’s momma bear all the way.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Torres asked as he tossed a bale of hay into a horse’s stall.
“It’s only fair.” Bram said, chuckling.
“Did you want kids growing up?” Torres rubbed the horse while he waited for an answer.
Bram cocked his head as he thought. “I grew up Amish, so it was always expected of me to have kids, but no I didn’t until Sanem told me she was pregnant with Daniel, and then it was just like things fell into place.”
Torres nodded. “My family expects me to get married to a woman and have a bunch of kids.”
“They’re not supportive.” Bram asked softly. He never could understand how a parent couldn’t love their child unconditionally.
Torres snorted. “No, my family is Roman Catholic. I’m the youngest of thirteen. They know I’m gay. I never hid it, but to them, it’s a lifestyle choice. They want me to conform and not embarrass the family.”
Bram winced. “Damn, but you’re not going to agree to that?”
Torres shook his head. “I’ll tell you over lunch. I need to tell Leo too.”
Bram nodded. “Ok,” they quickly finished up and headed back to the house. He waited until everyone had dug in before he continued. “So, what are you going to do?”
Torres grinned. “Embarrass the family, I guess.” He shrugged. “Kade helped me legally change my name, so it’s not like I’m tied to them.” As he spoke, his phone rang. “Speak of the devil. Hello, Father.”
“Judas, you will come to dinner tonight. Your mother wants to see you.” His thick Indian accent made Torres cringe. His whole childhood had been hearing that voice berate him.
“I can’t do that. I’m with a client and can’t leave him alone.” Torres said as politely as he could muster.
“That was not a suggestion, Judas.” His father snapped.
His father hung up before he could reply.
“Son of a bitch,” Torres cursed.
“Do you have to go?” Leo asked quietly.
“Yeah, I pay for one of my nephew’s sports teams and his equipment. They’ll take it away from him if I don’t.” Torres sighed, pushing away his food, no longer hungry.
“Judas?” Leo asked, bewildered.
Torres snorted. “Yeah, Judas Samael Reddy is my birth name. I had a buddy growing up that had two dads, Vince and Mikey, so Kade helped me change it to Vincent Michael Torres. Torres is my mother’s maiden name.”
“That suits you better.” Leo grinned.
Torres laughed. “I know. Name your kid after the guy who betrayed Jesus and Lucifer’s name as an angel and wonder why he doesn’t like you.”
Leo snorted. “Jesus.”
“I need to call back up to watch you.” Torres mumbled, reaching for his phone again.
Leo shrugged. “I can go with you.” He chuckled at Torres’ horrified face. “It’s only fair.” He gestured to his family.
Torres winced. “Fuck me, just ignore what they say, OK?”
Leo nodded. “Will do.”
As the day progressed Leo could see Torres getting more agitated as it came closer to time for them to leave. “Are you ready?”
Torres nodded even though he was the furthest thing away from ready. “Do you need to stop at my place for anything?” He asked hopefully.
Leo shook his head. “Sadly no, let’s tell everyone bye.” He had to press his lips together to keep from laughing at Torres’ pout as he walked around the room to say goodbye to his family. Once in the car, the silence became too much for him to bear. “It’ll be ok.”
Torres sighed. “This is either a dinner for one of my siblings to announce a new baby or a dinner where my mother has brought a woman to try and marry me off to.”
Leo hated how defeated he sounded. He patted his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Torres snorted. “Thanks, Leo.” He said dryly, grinning as Leo laughed.
Leo was glad Torres wasn’t as stiff now. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if his parents hadn’t been supportive. He studied the modest, yet classy, house as they pulled up. It was painted a bright white with black shutters and a gray front door.
Torres sighed as he parked on the street. He didn’t want to give his family the chance to block him in if he decided he needed to leave. “Are you sure about this?”
Leo wished he could wipe the hesitancy and embarrassment from Torres’ face, but he nodded. It showed Leo exactly how his family worked when they walked up to the front door and knocked like they were guests in his family home.
“Tió Vince!” a young voice shouted excitedly.
Before Torres could warn Leo, he had his arms full of his gangly nephew. He held him tight. This kid was the only reason he still spoke to anyone in his family. “Gabe, this is my friend Leo, Leo, this is Gabe.” He pulled back to introduce them.
Leo grinned. The kid was the spitting image of Torres. Same shock of curls so black you wanted to pet them, and the same reassuring brown eyes. “It’s nice to meet you, Gabe.”
Gabe grinned widely. “You too, Tió Vince. I have something to show you.”
“His name is Judas, and you will refer to him as such under my roof.” An older man with a thick Indian accent barked as he met them at the front door.
Gabe shrugged. “He prefers Vince. it’s called respect.”
“Gabriel,” another man who Leo guessed to be Gabe’s father gasped. “Enough or you will miss your uncle’s visit.”
Leo saw Gabe’s eyes darken with rage. The kid couldn’t be more than eleven, but he bucked up like he was an adult. “You play sports, right?”
Gabe huffed out a breath. “Yeah, football, baseball, and basketball,” he said sullenly.
Leo snorted. “Jeez, leave some ladies for the rest of them.”
Gabe laughed.
Leo’s breath caught. The kid was Torres’ reincarnated. He studied the father for a moment. He wasn’t as dark as Torres who was more mocha versus his brother being caramel. He had to get a good look at the mother. Something wasn’t right about this.
“Behave yourself.” Torres hissed at Gabe.
Gabe just shrugged, uncaring. “Pisses me off how they treat you.”
“I know.” Torres ruffled the kid’s hair. He was so damn proud of this kid he wanted to shout. “Let’s go in for dinner, and watch your mouth.” He followed behind Gabe while Leo trailed behind to look at the decor.
“Judas,” an older woman greeted from the table, not bothering to stand and greet her son.
“Mother.” Torres nodded at her, not bothering to greet her in any other way.
She gestured to the young woman seated beside her. “This is Priyanka, why don’t you sit next to her?”
Torres’ blood boiled. He knew it was a setup. He tried to reign in his temper and smiled warmly at the woman, who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. “Hello Priyanka, I apologize for this but my parents seemed to have failed to mention I’m gay as shit, so they brought you here under false pretenses.” His family gasped while the woman sagged in relief.
“Judas!” His parents snapped at the same time while a few of his siblings glared at him, and the others tried to hide their smiles.
“What? Do you honestly expect me to doom this woman to a loveless marriage?” Torres asked, outraged.
“We expect you to honor this family!” His mother snapped, her face red with rage.
“Sorry baby, got distracted by the elephant painting.” Leo murmured as he laced his fingers with Torres’.
Torres gasped at the bolt of energy that flowed through him at the touch and looked down at Leo in shock.
“Who are you?” His father demanded.
“Leo,” When that got no response, he shrugged.
“My partner, I told you I was busy tonight.” Torres fired back.
“You said you were with a client.” His father shit back.
Leo raised his hand. “Yup, that’s me. See I got robbed, and they wanna hurt me, and well, do you honestly think Vince would allow anyone else to guard me?” He blew a raspberry and looked at Torres in shock. “You didn’t tell me they were stupid.”
Gabe choked on his water as he sputtered out a laugh.
Torres tried to hide his grin. “Behave.” He smacked Leo’s hip.
Leo rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He looked at the woman who had been tricked and led here under false pretenses. He couldn’t even imagine what was going through her mind. She was fighting back a smile. “Oh…she’s pretty. I wanna sit by her.” He left Torres’ side and sat next to her. “Hi, I’m Leo.”
She grinned at him. “Priya.”
“You’re absolutely gorgeous, I love your hair.” Leo gushed, playing with the ends and charming the pants right off her. He felt bad she had been involved in this ordeal, but he was glad to see her smile.
“Damn, Tió Vince, I like him.” Gabe muttered.
“Gabriel, language,” a woman sitting beside Gabe’s father snapped at him.
“Chill, Mom.” He rolled his eyes.
Leo studied the woman out of the corner of his eye. Her ivory skin was flawless, and so were her auburn hair and green eyes. He met her eyes and looked slowly from her to her husband to Gabe and finally back to Torres before he met her gaze again and narrowed his eyes. She paled, which was saying something with her pale skin. Bingo! “Vince, baby, I need to call Saint. I’ll be right back.”
Torres nodded.
Leo ruffled Gabe’s hair as he passed, making sure to take a few strands. He felt like James Bond.
“Hey Leo,” Saint’s brother’s chipper voice greeted him.
“Hey Saint, I can’t talk long, but can you run a DNA test?” Leo asked quickly.
“Yeah, on you?” Saint asked, confused.
“Torres and his nephew, I swear to god that kid is not his brother’s.” Leo muttered the last part.
“Gabe?” Saint asked.
“Yeah,” Leo sighed.
“I’ve always thought he looked a little too much like Torres, I’ve got a DNA sample of Torres from work. Can you get me one from Gabe?” Saint asked, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for one of his brothers. Even if that meant running a secret DNA test on one of their men.
“I got some hair.” Leo said uncertainly.
“Ok, I’ll grab it from you tomorrow at Mom’s.” Saint said, chuckling.
“Do you think he knows?” Leo demanded.
“No, I think he has always thought Gabe was his nephew. He’s always been gay Leo. I don’t think he’s ever slept with a woman.” Saint assured him.
“Awesome thanks, Saint.” When he got back to the porch, Gabe came rushing out after Torres.
“Please don’t leave Tió Vince. They won’t let me see you if you do.” Gabe begged, his bottom lip wobbling.
“They can try, bud, but I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Ignore what they tell you. You’ve got my number. Use it anytime.” Torres told the boy firmly. He couldn’t stay any longer. Shit would hit the fan.
“I’ll give you mine too.” Leo quickly wrote his number down and handed it to the boy.
Torres wiped the tear that fell on Gabe’s face. He hated leaving it always ended this way. “I’ll be here for your birthday, bud, I promise.” Gabe’s birthday wasn’t for another couple months but it helped soothe the boy.
Leo watched as Gabe flung himself into his uncle’s arms and sniffled against his chest. “You promise?”
“Yes, I do. Now go back inside before your mother comes out to find you.” Torres urged.
Gabe nodded glumly and walked inside.
Torres’ father was on him within a moment. “How dare you, Judas,” he hissed.
“I told you I was busy. You didn’t want to listen to me.” Torres stepped up toe to toe with his father. “If you punish Gabe, take away anything that I’ve gotten for him, or try to keep me from him, we’re going to have a problem.” He grabbed Leo’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Leo followed him silently. The ride back to his house was deathly quiet and Leo worried about Torres. When they got back to his house, Torres led him to the room he would be using. “Are you going to be ok for a little while? I need to work off some anger on a punching bag.”
Leo snorted. “Go, I’ll be in here.” He waved him off.
“Thanks, Leo.” He gave him a sad smile before leaving.
Leo had a feeling he was thanking him for more than just giving him time to process. He sighed heavily, pulled out his laptop, and got to work on his newest character. He liked to do a detailed character sheet to keep his thoughts straight when he was writing. Once he finished the sheet, he looked up to see almost three hours had passed. He stood and stretched, trying to work out the kinks from leaning over the desk for too long before he went in search of Torres. He found the man in question in the kitchen, guzzling a bottle of water. His busted and bruised knuckles of his left hand were buried in a tub of ice before he switched hands and dunked his right. “Jesus, you do know you’re supposed to wrap your hands, right?”
Torres turned to look at Leo. He was still heartbroken from the events of earlier and he could only hope his threat worked. He had no idea what he would do if he couldn’t see his nephew. “I know, but I needed to feel the pain.”
Leo nodded. “To focus on it instead of your family.”
Torres nodded, grateful Leo understood.
Leo sighed. “I’m sorry your family is shit, makes me so happy, mine has been amazing. I know my mom likes you but I wish you had grown up knowing that type of love.”
Torres smiled sadly. “Yeah, sometimes I wish that too.”
“I can help you feel better.” Leo said, moving closer.
Torres’ brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean, I’m ok.”
Leo snorted and poked his erection, which he could see outlined in Torres’ cargo pants.
Torres jerked, his eyes going wide. “Uh…” he took a sip of water to ease his suddenly dry mouth. He closed his eyes and kicked himself for not taking Leo up on the offer. He cleared his throat. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to use you just to get off. I want more from you. I understand why you can’t give me that, but I’d rather not know what it could be like with us—if you know what I mean.”
That response cemented Leo’s decision. He grabbed the back of Torres’ neck and smashed their lips together. Torres’ grunt and shiver made his libido skyrocket. “So, does that mean the offer still stands?” He asked, panting as he pulled back.
Torres licked his lips in a daze, his focus on Leo’s mouth. “What?”
Leo grinned. Being able to scramble this man's brain was more enjoyable than he’d expected. “You and me?”
That got his attention. Torres met his gaze. “If that’s what you want, but you’d have to explain to me what you want.”
“I don’t share.” Leo stated.
Torres nodded. “Not my thing either, but I’m serious. I don’t want to date just to fool around. I want to build something serious with you.”
Leo nodded. “Right before Deagan died, I had him served with divorce papers. Only my parents know. I’m not hung up on him or anything like that, but I do miss him, you know what I mean?”
Torres paused, shocked. “Yeah, I’m sorry Leo, that must have been really hard.”
Leo smiled sadly. “It was, but the man who came back to me wasn’t my husband. I don’t know what changed, but he became volatile and I couldn’t deal with that.”
“I will always be gentle with you Leo. I don’t think I have it in me to treat you any other way.” Torres said softly.