Chapter 15 #2
Fortunately for him, Matthew liked the sound of his own voice and had a flair for the dramatic.
“If the truth about what my lovely ex is guilty of got out into this room of people,” he gestured to the tables of stuffy businesspeople still eating their supper, “it would ruin him.”
“Now you’re just being a drama queen,” Javier said with a huff. “And coming from me, that’s saying something.”
Matthew shrugged. “You remember Martha Stewart and that little stint she spent in prison?”
Javier frowned. He’d been too young to be interested in what trouble some American celebrity got into at the time, but it was one of those things that lived in pop culture worldwide. She’d done some knitting in prison or something and was now friends with Snoop Dog?
“What she did pales in comparison to what our good friend Desmond is guilty of,” Matthew went on when Javier didn’t react outwardly.
It took a lot more composure not to react outwardly to that statement than Javier liked. “He would never,” he said.
“Oh, but he did.” Matthew’s smile grew wider. “Des and me and Angus had a right good holiday last summer. It was wild.”
Javier scowled, frustrated by the way the man was dragging his dirt out. He didn’t give the bastard the satisfaction of asking for more, though.
“Desmond is in a position to know things, of course,” Matthew continued.
“Things that aren’t public knowledge. Things that could make a lot of people a lot of money.
” Chills started to race down Javier’s back as the pieces inched together.
“It just so happened that he told Angus a whole bunch of those things. Things that made him and Goulding McTavish a lot of money.”
Javier sucked in a breath, though he tried to hide it. Everything clicked into place in his mind. Desmond, his Desmond, the man who loved plants and was far quieter at home than he was in the high-pressure world of finance, had broken the law and given his fiercest competitor an edge.
It wasn’t just about taboo sex. It was about integrity and loyalty.
Exactly the things Desmond had just pointed out that Javier valued above all else.
But Desmond was wrong. Above all else, Javier valued his lover’s happiness and his peace. He valued what the two of them had together, and that would only be made more precious if the two of them would just share and lean on each other.
Before Javier could say anything, the sound of someone tapping on a microphone pulled his attention to the front of the room. The suited woman stood in front of everyone at the tables, who started tapping their glasses to bring the conversations to a stop and shift focus to the ceremony.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” the suited woman said.
“On behalf of the Peabody Honors, I’d like to welcome you to our twelfth annual awards ceremony.
I’d like to start off by introducing our chairman, Eleanor Beauregard, who will kick things off by announcing this year’s recipient of our prestigious Lundy Prize. ”
The audience applauded. Javier’s heart sank.
Suddenly, Desmond’s fears and anguish made perfect sense.
His kind-hearted lover was about to be paraded in front of a room full of people to receive an award he didn’t think he deserved because he saw his past actions as transgressive in the worst way possible.
Even if, Javier suspected, he’d been manipulated into those actions.
“This should be interesting,” Matthew said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms.
Javier’s heart sank to his gut. He searched the makeshift stage area as an older woman came up to the mic and launched into a speech about how good and wonderful Desmond was.
She wrapped her introduction up by saying, “And so, it is my honor to announce this year’s recipient of the Lundy Prize, Desmond White.”
The audience applauded, all smiles and good will. Javier applauded with them, but his stomach was tied in knots.
“I’ve known Desmond for over a decade now,” the smiling woman said, glancing into the wings of the small stage.
“I had the privilege to work with him when he was fresh out of university and hungry to make a name for himself in the financial world. I’ve always been impressed not just by his firm, no-nonsense way of approaching each new financial deal or client contract, but by his genuine caring and compassion, even in the most trying of situations.
Desmond is second to none when it comes to putting people before profit, which isn’t something you find often in this world. ”
The audience laughed, and Javier’s heart bled.
It was true. Everything the woman said about Desmond was true.
But it was so much more than that. Desmond was more than that.
He was a sweetheart and a gentle soul who was sometimes buffeted by the storms of the world more than he let on.
He was someone who deserved to be taken care of, not pushed around.
He was someone Javier wanted to spend the rest of his life loving and looking out for.
“And so, without further ado,” the elderly woman said, turning to look into the wings, “Desmond, come claim your prize.”
Javier held his breath, his heart thundering against his ribs as the man he loved walked out onto the small stage looking as though he was headed to his execution.
The audience smiled, and a few people even rose to their feet.
None of them seemed to see the pallor that had come over Desmond or the haunted look in his eyes.
“Thank you, Mrs. Beauregard,” Desmond mumbled, then had to clear his throat and repeat, “Thank you,” when the crowd settled back into their seats.
He swallowed hard, swept the entire room with a look, then spotted Javier standing off to the side.
The look of apology in his eyes as they met Javier’s was torture.
“Thank you to the Peabody Honors for bestowing me with this prestigious award.”
Silence fell as Desmond’s gaze swept around the room again. It was painful to watch. The conflict and torture were all there, blatant in the flush that painted Desmond’s cheeks and the fear in his eyes. Javier could hardly stand to watch, feeling like things were about to fall apart at any second.
Finally, Desmond cleared his throat. “I….” He glanced down, looking at the small stand the gleaming, golden award had been placed on. “I….” He looked up, turning his head slightly and staring straight at Javier.
The silence was sharp and brittle. Javier did everything he could to send his love across the tense space to Desmond, but it didn’t seem to do any good.
“Integrity is the foundation of business,” Desmond said at last, dragging his eyes away from Javier and speaking to the room in general.
“We deal in people’s hopes and dreams on a daily basis.
The companies and accounts we work with are not just numbers in a ledger, they’re real people with hopes for the future and ambition to create something bigger and better than themselves, something that will help others. ”
His gaze snapped back to Javier, and Javier knew he was speaking directly to him.
“All the money in the world doesn’t matter if we have to sell our souls or break the rules to obtain it,” he went on. “This life is not about bank accounts or competing to see who dies with the most zeroes. It’s about helping people, making connections, seeing dreams become realities.”
Javier’s chest hurt. Desmond knew. He knew how important his dream of creating a talent agency on his own terms was, and he knew how painful it was when the dream didn’t work out. But he was right, as long as the entire point was to help people to achieve their dreams, the money didn’t matter.
“That is why I cannot accept this award,” Desmond went on, shocking everyone, even Javier.
A murmur swirled through the room, but Desmond stood straighter and said, “I’m sorry, it wouldn’t be right.
I’m not the shining example of integrity that you think I am.
I cannot accept an award for something I’m not. ”
No one seemed to know what to do. All the men and women in suits leaned across the tables to each other as if asking what was happening and how they should proceed.
Desmond was the only one who acted. He stepped away from the microphone and strode quickly off the stage.
“That bastard,” Matthew said behind Javier.
Javier turned to glare at him. “Don’t you dare call Desmond names,” he said.
Matthew looked as shocked as anyone else in the room. “I don’t believe he did that.”
“Was that not in your plans, honey?” Javier snapped, pouring every last ounce of sarcasm he had into his words. “Or were you planning on working behind the scenes and spreading rumors to expose him and ruin him, just like you’ve been doing with me?”
Matthew’s wide-eyed gaze pulled away from the empty stage and focused on Javier like he’d been caught with his hand in the biscuit tin.
“You didn’t think I knew you were the one behind all the trouble my agency has been having lately, did you,” Javier said, taking a step closer to him.
“Desmond is mine,” Matthew said, either as an excuse or a way to defend himself.
Javier didn’t even want to dignify that statement with a reply. Whatever planet of immaturity Matthew was living on, he wanted nothing to do with it. “Desmond has more integrity in his little finger than you, and probably everyone else in this room, has in their entire, puny bodies.”
He stepped right up to Matthew, and since they were already at the wall, Matthew had nowhere to go and nothing to do but to shrink down.
“If you ever contact him again, I’ll make sure you regret it,” he threatened. He would have poked a finger into Matthew’s chest, but he didn’t want to touch the man.
Instead, he pulled back and headed for the door at the side of the ballroom that Desmond had walked through to get backstage.
The hallway on the other side of the door was empty but for the catering staff, though. Desmond was nowhere in sight.
“Have you seen Mr. White?” he asked one of the rushing caterers.
The young man glanced back over his shoulder to a door at the end of the hall. “He ran out of here awfully fast just now.”
Javier swore under his breath and marched down the hall and out into the cramped alley behind the hotel. Desmond wasn’t there either. Chances were he’d called Hassan to come get him, or he’d just buggered off all on his own. Leaving Javier behind.