GIDEON

William’s right.

If only I told Lyra some truths, she wouldn’t be so angry at me.

I was too afraid to say anything, too scared that she’d hate me.

Just as I open my mouth to speak, there’s a knock on my office door, and as William and I look in the direction of the sound, Victor steps inside.

His eyes move around the room before they land on mine.

“Sorry for interrupting, but can I speak with you?”

Victor asks as he looks directly at me.

I nod before motioning for him to come inside.

“Be my guest.”

William says, pointing to the chair beside him as he makes no effort to stand up or leave my office.

Victor stops walking any further into the room as his eyes dart between William and I.

“William, get out.”

I growl out as my best friend finally stands up, dramatically sighing before he leaves the office without a word of argument. He doesn't say anything about Victor or I either.

I shake my head as Victor shuts my office door and walks towards the desk, taking a seat opposite me.

“Dom called me,” he says as soon as he’s sitting down. “They’re short-staffed today, and he asked if I could go into work. Would you be able to drop me off tonight?”

Staring at sweetness, I wonder if Dominic has told him about my offer.

If he had, I’m sure either one of the two would have informed me. There would be no need for Dominic to call Victor tonight if the offer was discussed, but if he hadn’t yet found the chance to tell him, and this call had been made so that Dominic would be able to speak to him in person…

Letting those thoughts slip out of my mind, I ask sweetness a question.

I ask him whether Diana knows what he does for work.

“Why does that matter?” He asks me instead of answering as a small dip appears between his eyebrows.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, sweetness. I was only asking because I wondered what she would think if you stopped working altogether.”

“You want me to stop working?” He asks me in a quiet voice.

“I don’t want you to do anything – that decision is up to you. What I’m trying to say is that I know you work at Dom’s Den for money, but money will no longer be an issue for either yourself or Diana. Your sister will be looked after, and so will you.”

He listens to me speak before he opens his mouth after a few seconds.

“I’m nothing to you,” he begins saying as I shake my head at him, already knowing that’s not true. “Apart from being your plaything those couple of days you visited me as my client, I’m nothing to you.”

“That’s not true, sweetness, and you know it. Even if you want to claim the title of being my plaything, I’ll accept it. But you and I both know that you’re something to me, even if you don’t want to admit it. I won’t force you to leave your job, but just know I’ll happily support you and Diana if you ever choose to leave.”

He takes his bottom lip between his teeth as he bites down on the plumpness. All the blood rushes to my cock, and my balls feel heavy, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the feel of his body against mine so damn badly. That kiss we shared last night was nowhere close to being enough. If anything, it made me want more.

So. Much. More.

“I’ll think about it. Thank you, Gideon.”

And with that, he pushes his chair out as he stands up, walking through my office before he steps outside and shuts the door behind him.

Plaything, my ass.

------

Plaything.

It slipped out from my mouth.

I told him I was his plaything.

Gideon’s plaything.

His guilty pleasure.

Flopping onto their sofa, I groan loudly as I tip my head backwards.

I feel my sister’s eyes on me but for once, I can’t offer her an explanation.

I’m too embarrassed to even think about what was said between us in that office, not even five minutes ago.

“What’s wrong with you?” Diana suddenly asks as I feel the sofa dip beside me.

Opening my eyes, I turn to look at my sister.

“It’s nothing. I’ve got a bit of a stomach ache, that’s all.”

She looks skeptical at me as she puts the back of her head to my forehead.

“I’ve got a stomach ache, Diana, not a temperature.”

As she drops her hand to her side, she scoots closer to me.

“If you had a stomach ache, you would have been upstairs in your room chewing my ear off about it. Your skin is flushed and you’re acting weird. What’s up, Victor?”

For a second, I wonder if I should just tell my sister about Gideon and I. Since she already knows I’ve been on a date with him, it would be easy to tell her about him. But I remember I told her that he was a client of mine, and I don’t think he’d appreciate me telling her that. Besides, if word was to get to Dom that I violated a client’s confidentiality, I’d be fired on the spot.

Not that I’m too keen to continue working with what Gideon has told me…

“Hello, earth to Victor!”

My sister shouts as she waves a hand in front of my face.

Sitting up straight, I open my own mouth to shout back at her when something catches my eye.

“Diana,” I murmur out as I spot someone walking towards us. “Heads up.”

My sister turns around, and as she does, her sister looks straight at her.

It’s freaky seeing both of them together in a room like this, but since we’re living here with Gideon for however long he’s willing to have us here, I guess we’ll have to get used to it.