But it didn’t last long. Roland was good at maintaining composure. Not only that, but he seemed to lie every day of his life and hide away from the spectators of the world. His true intentions and thoughts were always buried deep within him. He was used to pretending.

  “Well, let’s all go inside. We’ll get Maria to whip us up some lunch and beverages. Sound good?” Roland spoke, his composure fully regained. She couldn’t get over how pleasant he sounded. But she wondered what the truth actually was. He was so good at hiding everything that she was sure she wouldn’t find out until later—if she ever would completely find out.

  The door was already open, and Roland gestured with an outstretched hand for Denny to enter the home, followed by Holly, and finally Alex. He stood there, his arm pointed into the home’s front door, allowing everyone entrance into his world, his sanctuary.

  As Alex crossed the stoop and stepped over the threshold, beside a smiling Roland, she made sure to look into his eyes. It was an act—a ritual—she seemed to always perform nowadays, like it was the window to his soul. She could see more of him when she looked into his eyes and was pleasantly surprised to see that they didn’t hold their distant blackness. They were brown with a sparkle of golden.

  Was he really OK with them being there?

  Was he really in a good mood?

  As they all walked into the living room, she watched Holly and Denny’s heads move all around, filled with child-like wonder, taking great care and concern to look at every corner and every item in the extravagant home. They were in awe, and she could tell. She, herself, probably would have been the exact same way had she entered initially under different pretenses.

  “So what is it that the two of you do?” Denny asked, a little too comfortably, before sitting at the edge of the far side of the leather sectional, which—for its size—took up hardly any room at all inside the large living room.

  “What do you mean?” Roland asked, curiously, following the group and rounding them like a normal hovering host.

  “I mean, my sister lives here with you… why?”

  Roland’s eyes widened in horror. He obviously assumed that she had made some sort of excuse for her absence in the boy’s life. She could tell that he also thought that she had taken care of all the residual curiosity as well.

  Obviously he was wrong.

  The truth was she didn’t know what to say to Denny. And she sure as hell didn’t know how to say it.

  But now, watching Roland, eyes widen, like a deer caught in massively bright headlights, she couldn’t help but be a little amused. “Yeah, Roland,” she cut. “Why am I here?”

  She looked over to Denny, and his face was that of utter confusion. And Holly, who had made her way to sit beside him, just looked down awkwardly at the large area rug beneath her feet.

  Holly obviously hadn’t said anything to anyone; and for that, Alex was grateful. After all, it wasn’t exactly in her nature to keep quiet about anything.

  Alex’s gaze fell back onto Roland, who still couldn’t find the words to say, ‘She’s my slave,’ knowing it would likely not go over well. Just then, as if sent from a blessed angel from above, Maria entered the room.

  “What can I get everyone for lunch?” she asked, innocently. Alex had to wonder though if she had been listening and knew that it was better she stepped in. Although the woman didn’t know Alex was a slave per se, Alex knew the woman knew she was at least there as a sexual friend. She wondered if perhaps the woman was somehow defending her honor. It was no secret she liked Alex. So, to her, it was likely that it was true rather than just the imaginative thoughts within the trespasses of her own mind.

  “Do you have sandwich stuff?” Denny asked sweetly.

  Maria laughed in response and went over to him. “What kind of sandwiches do you like?” she asked, obviously amused. Alex knew that Maria was understanding of his questioning; they were of similar financial backgrounds. Maria probably didn’t have all the food that Roland kept in the house. Hell, if she hadn’t worked there, she likely wouldn’t have even heard of half the stuff he stored in his kitchen. Alex hadn’t, after all.

  Roland had a cook on duty most nights, but every other meal was on Maria. She knew that Roland was a foodie. Because of that and the fact that Maria had been preparing meals for quite some time, she was good at that aspect of her job as well. Alex didn’t usually eat anything that Maria prepared herself. She usually only ever ate dinner with Roland, which Maria did not prepare. During breakfast and lunch, Alex usually felt the need to make her own meals.

  “Ham and cheese?” Denny said in a questioning tone. Maria laughed again, nodded and walked away.

  “He’s so cute… like my son,” Maria muttered in the happiest tone Alex had heard from the woman as she walked past. Alex smiled. At least she wasn’t the only one that saw Denny for the cute and adorable little boy that she felt he still was.

  He brought more joy to her than she could ever have thought, or ever even hope for. He was everything to her, and she didn’t know if she could ever completely make herself grasp that, not fully.

  He was everything.

  He was the reason behind all of this: the luxurious house surrounding her with its walls, sheltering her beneath its roof; the maid that came out from the kitchen, a smile on her face, handing everyone sandwiches much fancier than she would have ever thought when requesting “ham and cheese”; and the mystery man in the corner who finally suggested that he and Denny go play pool together. Alone.

  The man was mysterious indeed, and he was characterized by his Dr. Jekyll eyes and strong jaw. He held a kindness about him in the moment that was almost intoxicating. His brows were relaxed rather than furrowed in anger or negativity like they usually were, and she felt his smiles were actually genuine. She wanted to take him in and become addicted to his demeanor. It was as if it was drug-like, and she found herself wanting more, needing more, and craving more of this sort of behavior from him.

  He seemed to converse so well with Holly and Denny that it almost seemed as if they had been long-time acquaintances rather than merely meeting for the first time.

  Each person grabbed their sandwiches consisting of a nice asiago-encrusted bread with large, fresh cut slabs of ham and freshly sliced merlot cheese. It was definitely a unique take to the classic ham and cheese sandwich, but when she looked over at Denny she could tell that it was being enjoyed. She smiled, happy that his appetite was finally present. Usually they weren’t so lucky with the chemo.

  It was all so nice that she found herself wanting to get her hopes up with this new medication, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t allow herself. There was no such thing as a miracle drug, and she knew that. She couldn’t let her guard down just yet.

  “You ready to go play pool?” Roland asked before biting into his own sandwich. Denny could only nod in response, his mouth completely full. Like Alex, Holly too, looked on, amused, her glance falling on Roland almost continually.

  Alex knew she had been shocked; she could tell. She was likely expecting someone that looked a little more like Mr. Gresky to buy her for his own personal gain, but alas, that wasn’t so. It was none other than the gorgeous fucking idealistic man sitting across from her in the living room.

  She was lucky; she knew that. It could have been much worse.

  However, it was pretty bad that she had fallen for her buyer, her captor, her master. Stockholm syndrome at its finest, she thought, amused.

  Meanwhile, as Alex contemplated her likely psychological disorder, Roland and Denny had scampered off into the bonus room for a lively game of pool. In fact, it was a lot livelier than Roland had anticipated. The kid was actually good. And not only that, he was quite enjoyable to converse with as well.

  As Denny bent over the pool table, Roland watched the precision behind the young man. He knew exactly how to line the shot up, and just as he smoothly pulled the cue stick back he spoke, “So you’re fucking my sister,” Denny announced, just before launching his arm and stick towards the cue ball to make his shot. With a crack, he hit his target, and the ball swiftly and accurately sunk into the far right corner.

  Roland choked from the mere shock of it all, and he knew it was a mix between the unexpected excellent shot the boy had just made, but it was also from the surprise that the boy possessed some sort of additional sense that told him what Roland had been up to.

  He coughed, still scrambling to find the words to respond to the boy.

  “It’s fine. I know. I’m not stupid. Alex is gorgeous, and you’re wealthy. I’m sure you get women to spread their legs for you fairly easily. I’m not concerned about that.”

  Roland couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The boy seemed to know far more than he expected him to know about life, and sex in general. He had a much fouler mouth as well. He was almost completely opposite of what his sister so obviously saw him as.

  He wasn’t innocent or little at all. He was a young man. And not only was he any young man, he was also the product of the same manufacturer as Alex. They were cut from the same cloth; it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he was so outwardly crass.

  “And you’re keeping her here?” Denny asked, and again Roland had no idea how to respond.

  “I see,” Denny continued when Roland said nothing. “Well, if you’re not going to let Alex leave, then how about you let me stay here?” he asked with what seemed like humor at first, and Roland laughed, finally able to respond to some degree.

  Awkwardness seemed to fill the room, though, the more he laughed. And the tension began to grow as Denny looked at Roland, not blinking, his face full of seriousness. “I need my sister, Mr. Peters… I need to be with her…”

  Roland felt himself wanting to say “yes,” which both confused him as well as completely pissed him off. He hated feeling empathy for others. What he hated more, was that Alex seemed to continually trap him into feeling things he had no business or wish to feel ever again.

  “No,” he replied blatantly. “That’s enough. I don’t care if you need your sister. Just no. You’re not staying here.”

  “Well, damn. At least you don’t let the sick-card get to you!” Denny replied with a chuckle.

  Roland’s eyes fell to the floor. If only he knew how well the sick card was working on him. He felt his heart thrash when he even mentioned the word. Sick. Sick. Fucking sick. This boy was sick, and he was denying him his wish.

  He felt a breath catch in his throat, as he remembered the fateful last few months of his wife’s life. She had unfortunately caught her cancer quite late, always the procrastinator about doctor visits and all. She passed away during her first round of chemotherapy. And here was Denny, standing in front of him having completed several rounds, and currently undergoing it.

  And he looked fine, but he knew he wasn’t. Alex told him enough to know he wasn’t fine. He was battling. And Roland did something that he hadn’t done in a long time…he hoped. He truly hoped that Denny would be fine. He didn’t even know the young man, not really, but he hoped he would make it through.

  The boy was strapping, good looking in every regard. He almost resembled his sister in attractiveness of features. They had the same thick brown hair, nose, and chin; and those eyes, the ones that pierced the soul, they were the same.

  But he was strong looking, with an almost square-jaw, incredibly defined for a boy of such a young age. And he was well put together, and not only that but he had character that screamed that his future could and likely would be bright if given the chance. He wanted him to have that future.

  What Roland didn’t know was that the boy also reminded him of someone. His character was that of someone he knew very well, but just didn’t see yet. And though he felt some sense of familiarity with the boy, he couldn’t quite place it.

  Denny leaned up, stood tall, and directed his gaze down at the seemingly crestfallen Roland and cleared his throat. Roland looked up, and he was met with eyes that were understanding of his temporary lapse of fallen composure. He probably faced it often; he was probably used to people looking at him with sympathy and pity.

  “Or maybe you do…” Denny said breathily, almost sadly, but before Roland could harp on the fact that he was caught, Denny continued, “But you’re still not going to let me stay?”

  “I’m not. You can’t stay here.”

  He was plain in his speech and concise. He couldn’t let Denny confuse the situation. He couldn’t let him stay. If he did, it would admit that he could feel empathy for a boy needing his sister, for a sick child, or for a person in general. He might even potentially admit some sort of repressed emotion he held for Alex. He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t let the boy stay there.

  Not to mention, how dare Alex even bring the two foreigners into his home? To her they were family, to him they were almost trespassers. He had never had to explain who he was or allow anyone see him for who he really was before. Now, she allowed two people in who could potentially see things that they were never meant to. It wasn’t part of the contract, and though he shouldn’t be surprised, he was angry at her insolence.

  “Well, since you’re not going to let me stay, then will you at least pay for me to go see my dad?” Denny asked out of nowhere and a little too enthusiastically for Roland’s taste. Where did that even come from?

  “Your father? What’s his story? I haven’t really heard anything about him… he’s still in your life?”

  He wasn’t sure why he was asking the boy so many questions; why he even cared. But he hadn’t heard Alex really speak much of her father. But it wasn’t like it was out of the ordinary for Alex not to talk about her family or anything personal for that matter. In that regard, they were very similar. He had come to find that out from the very beginning of their contract together. But still, he knew what happened to their mother, and he knew about Denny’s disease. He even knew that Holly was her best friend. He knew a lot more than he had realized, but he really knew nothing about her father.

  “What’s with all the questions?” Denny asked, confused.

  “I just want to know what I’d even be getting into if I agreed…and why you asked me that out of nowhere,” Roland replied.

  “Does it mean you’re thinking about it?”

  “No. I just want to know about him. Rule one of presenting, Denny…give the facts,” Roland pointed out before walking around the boy in very similar fashion to a shark circling his prey.

  “His name is Allen, and he lives in England. That’s all I know,” Denny responded, sounding a bit crestfallen as his head fell dramatically to look at the floor.

  “England? That’s a hard ‘no’ then, Denny! You’re sick! That’s far!”

  “Well, if I’m too sick to go, then shouldn’t I stay here with you?” Denny returned, seemingly quite proud of himself and his comeback.

  “Why do you even want to stay here?” Roland asked, truly wanting to know.

  “Have you seen this place?” Denny asked, throwing his hands up in the air and gesturing to the space around him whilst looking up and all around. He wanted Roland to understand that he was amazed by the large luxurious home that Roland, himself, now took for granted, but at one time was equally amazed over. “Plus… I miss my sister,” the boy finished sadly.

  Roland had to admit that the kid was a great manipulator. One way or another, he was going to get something he wanted. But first he had to speak to Alex. He had to know what she thought about the whole thing, and part of him even wanted to see her face when she found out that Denny had somewhat confided in him. He wanted to—on some level—show her that he had bonded with her little brother. But he didn’t know why.

  He didn’t know why it mattered; why what she thought or felt mattered. All he knew was that he missed her, and it caused an illness in his stomach to pound hard with agony. Why the fuck would he miss her? He just saw her!

  He hated feeling; and he wanted to find a way to stop it. Human emotion seemed to be overrated at best, and it made no rational sense. At least, not to him. He had to find a way to stop it from invading his mind and heart ever again.

  But before he could do that, he had to talk to her and figure out the Denny situation, and by doing that, perhaps he could get these people out of his house. Perhaps that would—once and for all—allow him to go back to a somewhat normal life without emotions or empathy.

  Chapter 3

  He found her bidding Holly goodnight at the door, and immediately was confused. He had reached the door just as Holly exited, making her way down the stone steps. Neither woman was aware of his presence. How long had it been? Had he and Denny really been in the rec room that long? They arrived just before lunch. It was now clearly dark, and though he and Denny weren’t by themselves the entire time, they had spent the majority of the day just the two of them.

  Roland felt horrible all of a sudden, as a pain in the pit of his stomach whirled with a nauseous fit. He knew how much Alex and Denny needed their time together. Not only because he was sick, but definitely especially because he was sick. There it was again, he thought with a tinge of anger. There was that fucking guilt once again, as well as all those other negative and dreadful feelings that he resented having.

  And wasn’t Holly Denny’s ride? What was even happening?

  “Where is she going?” Roland asked from behind Alex, whose head was at the door, which was slightly ajar. She pulled her head in after a quick wave of the hand and turned to face him.

  “She’s going home. I figured Denny could stay here tonight, and I’d either take him home or put him on the bus in the morning,” she replied.

  She f-figured? She fucking figured?! She figured he would stay!? Who was she to be making decisions! He felt rage bubble in the center of his belly. He wanted to breathe fire directly into her face and melt her to nothingness because of how utterly annoyed he was by her. They weren’t playing house; and he thought for sure, even she could have gotten that through her thick skull by now.

 

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