Remaining diplomatic is my best option here. My gut tells me I can trust Candor, and those instincts have never been wrong before. I’m not going to start doubting them now.
“Well...” Candor’s voice trails off, and he looks away for a moment. I can see the thoughts turning behind his eyes. He’s either concocting a story, or he’s trying to figure out a way to explain something very complicated. “I miscalculated.”
I’m not sure how to respond so I just sit quietly and wait for him to explain.
He turns back to me but won’t meet my gaze. “My parents live in a nursing home not far from here. That’s the whole reason I chose this place. I wanted to be closer to them. But...” He sighs and finally looks me in the eye. “No matter how I say this, it’s going to sound bad, so I’m just going to come out and say it. My parents’ care isn’t completely covered by their insurance and retirement money. I’ve been covering the difference, which isn’t much. But moving to a new state is more expensive than I’d planned.” He exhales heavily, apparently reluctant to finish explaining his situation.
“Candor...” I furrow my brow and try to keep my tone even. “When we discussed your situation, you assured me that you’d be able to cover the rent and utilities.”
“And I can,” he insists, sitting up as straight as possible. “Normally it won’t be an issue. I can even write you a check right now for part of what I currently owe you. I’ll be able to cover the rest of it once my next disability payment clears.”
I bite the inside of my cheek as he talks. I can already guess how pissed off Lucius is going to be when I tell him Candor only paid part of what we originally agreed upon.
“I never wanted to put you in this position,” Candor assures me. “I don’t usually make mistakes like this. I’ve just been really distracted lately. There’s...a lot going on. That’s no excuse, I know. You’d be well within your rights to ask me to leave. But, if you let me stay, I swear you won’t regret it.”
Our eyes meet, and in that moment, I’m a goner.
“Let’s get a new check on the books.” I pull up the accounting software on the computer so I can make the adjustment.
Relief floods his face. “Thank you. Thank you so—”
“Candor,” I interrupt him before he can thank me too profusely. “I will not be taken advantage of. If this payment doesn’t go through, there will be no more chances.”
“I understand.” His expression sobers and he looks me right in the eyes. “I would never take advantage of you, Leon. This won’t happen again. You have my word.”
Call me a fool, but I believe him.
Now I’ve just got to figure out how I’m going to explain this to Lucius.
5
Lucius
I’m exhausted.
No, it’s more than that. I’m drained.
“The card’s been canceled, and a new one’s in the mail, but the bank is dragging its heels about the money,” I say to Leon as he sits beside me on the sofa. We may not have proper beds yet, but we’ve gotten pretty lucky with all the other furniture. Between garage sales, estate sales, and Craigslist, we’ve furnished both our apartment and the office without breaking the bank. “How much do you think the sofa’s worth?” I muse, running my hand across the cushion.
“We’re not selling the sofa.” Leon groans, looking up from the laptop. “Did you figure out how they got the account information in the first place?”
“No, but I’ve spent all day changing the passwords for everything. I’ve added extra layers of security where I can, and I finally fixed the paper shredder we got at that yard sale last week. There haven’t been any new purchases, but that might just be because the account is empty.”
“Well, it won’t be for long,” Leon says, forcing an awkward smile.
“Good, you got Mead’s payment?”
“Well, part of it.”
I look sidelong at Leon, but he immediately looks away.
“He gets paid at the end of the week. He’ll cover the rest then.” Leon runs a hand through his messy hair. “It’s not like we’ve got people lining up to take his place, anyway. I thought this would be better than letting the place stand empty.”
My personal reservations about Candor Mead aside, I can’t exactly fault Leon’s reasoning. “You’re right. I just hope he’s good for it.”
Leon furrows his brow, clearly surprised by my response. “I thought for sure you’d be pissed.”
“Oh, I’m definitely annoyed,” I correct him. “This whole situation never should have happened. The contractor has agreed to keep working because we’ve been on time with everything so far, but that grace only extends till the end of the month. As long as we get the rest of Mead’s payment and the money returned from the bank, we should be able to keep things moving. Otherwise, we’ll be left with a half-finished renovation and no one to do the work.”
“We’ll figure it out. We always do.” Leon sets the laptop aside and turns to face me. “Whatever happens, as long as we’re together, everything will work out.”
My heart tightens as he speaks. That now familiar knot in my stomach returns once more. Our eyes meet, and my cock stirs. I want to tell him all the things that have been going through my head since I came home. I want to explain that my feelings for him have grown deeper than I ever thought possible. Every night, I’m plagued with dreams of him. Every morning, I awake to an aching cock.
I’ve tried to ignore it because I know it’s wrong. I shouldn’t feel this way about my brother. But I can’t stop it either. I’ve kept myself busy and pushed the images away, trying everything I can think of to ignore my growing attraction to him.
Lust dies down if it’s starved. Infatuation dwindles if it’s not pursued. This is neither of those.
But now, I can’t ignore it anymore.
I think I’m in love with Leon. And I don’t mean in the way brothers love each other. I mean really in love with him.
“What do you have against Candor?” Leon asks, shattering my moment of enlightenment and forcing me to return to reality. The reality where we can never be together.
“Nothing.” My response is too short. Too tight lipped.
He rolls his eyes, knowing me too well to let my lie go unchallenged. “Are we really going to do this?”
“Do what? I’m not doing anything?” How can I explain anything to him without sounding completely insane?
“Lucy...”
I cringe and narrow my eyes at him. “You know I hate that name.”
“Then tell me what’s really going on?” Leon slides across the sofa, closing the gap between us as he sits cross-legged, facing me. “I’m your partner, aren’t I? I need to know if something’s up with a tenant.”
“It’s...complicated.” I swallow the lump in my throat and force my gaze anywhere other than at Leon.
“That makes it sound like you were lovers or something.” Leon snorts in amusement. When I don’t respond, he grows still. “You weren’t, were you? I mean...it’s not like I’ve got anything against it, of course. I just never pegged...I mean, I never thought you were the sort of alpha who would be into other alphas.”