Chapter 40

Everyone in the house was asleep, but Francesco didn’t feel like it. After an entire day of fooling around and shooting the breeze, tomorrow would be a different issue altogether. He had yet to talk to Mouse about his plans, or to Karl about their common future.

He walked down the stairs and went outside. The summer air was balmy and it was pleasant just to be there. He looked around and something caught his eye. Outside the main gate, there was a car parked with its headlights on. Who was there? He looked over his shoulder at the house sunk in darkness. Maybe it was one of Morgan’s friends? Or the captain’s?

It was an easy choice. Just walk into the house without caring about the mysterious car. Obviously, since it had the headlights on, the person behind the wheel didn’t care if they were noticed. That meant that it couldn’t be someone bent on doing something nefarious. Still, curiosity got the best out of him. The house he shared with Karl was the only one on the hill, so anyone who drove up there had to have something to do with the owners.

He walked over to the gate and pulled it open. From that distance, he tried to see inside the car, but the headlights were too bright, and he couldn’t see beyond that. With a shrug, he began walking toward it. Was it right now when the audience of a horror movie started shouting things like ‘don’t follow that cat’? He was being paranoid for no reason. What if it was someone who got stranded there with a flat tire?

He had survived a lot of things. Maybe that was why he was paranoid, after all. He walked over to the car and knocked on the window. To his surprise, the door opened brusquely.

When he saw the man climbing out of the car, he turned on his heel, but a strong man caught his shoulder. “Just a word, Francesco.”

His heart was racing already. He could shout and alert the people in the house, but could they really hear him?

“Don’t shout for help,” Don said as if he could read his mind. “I doubt they would hear you through those two-pane windows.”

Right, most probably, Don had had a hand in picking this house for him and Karl. He knew about the amenities, so to speak. This wasn’t the time to behave like a scaredy cat. So, he turned to face his nemesis. In the faint streetlight, he didn’t look that dangerous. Not that Francesco cared so much about appearances. “What are you doing here?” he asked, shaking off the man’s hand from his shoulder.

Don chuckled. “What? Can’t I visit my son and son-in-law now?”

“No shit. Don’t tell me you were about to ring our bell at this hour. And you could’ve called first. We could have told you to go to hell and saved you the trip.”

Don laughed and took him by the shoulders. “You really have a mouth on you, Francesco. But I would have thought you’d be more scared of me.”

Francesco put his chin up. “Do something to me, and Karl will make sure that gangbang you got was a pleasure fuck.”

That seemed to take something from Don’s self-assurance. “Eh, had to give the boy a taste of success.”

“The fuck you mean by that?” Francesco asked and frowned.

“Just something between Karl and me.”

“Like hell. Why are you here?” He said every word, making sure Don understood the question.

“As I said, just wanted to pay you boys a visit.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“The best time to know no one would interrupt us. I was going to call Karl and invite him out here for a chat.”

“Leave Karl alone.” Francesco crossed his arms. “Whatever you want to say, say it to me.” He braced himself. Shit with Don wasn’t over, apparently.

“I transferred properties and all to him. The lawyers will give him all the papers tomorrow.”

“You didn’t have to bother for so little.”

Don laughed again. He patted Francesco’s cheek, not hard. Then, to Francesco’s surprise, Don caught his chin with his other hand. “Make sure to give him this.”

Francesco didn’t have time to dodge. Don clamped his mouth hard on his and pushed his tongue in, giving him a dirty kiss. He staggered when he was let go. Don caught him by the shoulders and licked his lips. “Sweet,” he commented and turned to climb behind the wheel.

“Did you fuck Karl?” he asked.

Don grinned, his hand on the car door. “That’s something you have to ask your husband.”

“I’m asking you.”

“Not telling.” Don shook his head and made another move to get into the car.

“Are you going to leave us alone?” Francesco asked.

“Sure.” Don shrugged. “You boys earned it. It’s not every day that someone outfoxes me. It’s good that it was my son. Anyone else would have gotten a rotten deal on this. But you don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll cherish all the memories of fucking you.”

“And Karl.”

“Nice try, Francesco. What do you say? Care to give daddy-in-law a blowjob for the road?” Don grabbed his cock through his pants.

“You’ve got some fucking nerve,” Francesco mumbled but looked at the man’s crotch anyway.

“My son got himself a good whore. I’m pleased with it. As I am that I could sample the goods. The only thing missing is that I couldn’t get you pregnant.”

“Fuck off,” Francesco said through his teeth. “Would you have done that if Karl was married to a woman?”

Don shrugged. “I would have tried. Maybe. Who knows? Karl learned how to fight and win from me. Each time he breeds you, remember what I’m telling you right now. You’re in bed in a winner, because he came from my nuts.”

“Right, it’s going to be my go-to reference whenever,” Francesco said.

“Sharp tongue, sweet tongue. Karl brought home a real treasure.”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck off now. And don’t call Karl. Let him sleep.”

“I’ll talk to him another time. Now go and give him that kiss from me. He’ll know what that means.”

Francesco had a mind to tell Don to take all that shit talk and shove it up his ass, but it was too much to bother. What he wanted is to get that fucker out of there and fast. Next time, he was going to trust his instincts, no matter how paranoid they were.

“Bye-bye, Francesco,” Don said mockingly. “And if Karl’s dick is no longer enough, come to daddy.”

“I have one of those, too. Two, actually.”

“Ah, the bodyguard and the army man. But do they really bring out the bitch in you, Francesco? Food for thought, my boy, food for thought.”

Francesco no longer waited for Don to start his car and get out of there. He turned on his heel, and only heard the engine starting and the sound of the car moving away from him. Now that was some shit-tier meeting.

And he would make sure to ask Karl about what Don meant by all that shit. Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was something. Either way, he wanted to learn about it.

“Don was here last night.”

Reynolds had some business to deal with, and Morgan was out, as well. That left only the three of them at home.

“What the fuck?” Mouse asked.

“Here, in the house?” Karl narrowed his eyes. “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me up, Cesco?”

“He was out in the street. I couldn’t sleep and caught him there,” Francesco explained.

Karl had his wild eyes on. “Cesco, are you fucking mental? What did he do to you?”

“Nothing.” Francesco put his hands up, as if to demonstrate that he was in one piece. Still, Karl grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him close in a possessive gesture. From his place across from them, Mouse quirked an eyebrow in question. At least, one of his lovers had his head screwed on right.

“Look,” he continued, “he only wanted to tell you that he transferred everything to your name.”

“Lawyers talked to me all morning, making my head hurt,” Karl said through his teeth. “The fuck did I need him to tell me any of that legal shit?”

“I asked the same. He said something weird, like, you know, he let you win or something,” Francesco said.

Karl frowned. It was like he was searching for something.

“Karl,” Francesco asked, “could it be that all that shit could have gone sideways that night?”

Karl shook his head. Mouse cursed under his breath.

“He’s just bluffing, right?” Francesco insisted.

Mouse got up from his seat and put his hands on his head with a groan. “For fuck’s sake.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Francesco turned toward the redhead.