Chapter 3-1
610 Words
Chapter 3
Bay glanced at Felan. “Did you get the message?”
“Loud and clear.” Felan turned to look at Mattie. She nodded.
Curiosity got the better of him, so Dirk asked, “What message?”
“From Tonio, saying everything went down as planned.” Bay replied.
Dirk frowned. “How? I mean I didn’t hear your phones ring, or see you checking for texts.”
Bay tapped his forehead. “Instant messaging of the mental kind.”
“Mindspeak. Why didn’t he do it for me too?”
Mattie fielded that one. “Probably because you’re so new here it didn’t even occur to him.”
“Well, if I’m supposed to be a member of this team, he’d better remember next time,” Dirk said somewhat petulantly.
Felan patted his back. “I’m sure he will in the future, when Mattie points it out to him.”
“Why me?” Mattie asked.
“Because you seem to have a special rapport with him.”
“It’s none of my business, but are you,” Dirk looked at Mattie, “and Tonio, umm, a couple or something?”
Mattie and the two men broke out laughing. “Dirk,” she replied when she could get the words out, “believe me there’s nothing between me and Tonio. He’s definitely into men.”
“Any man he can get into,” Bay added with a broad grin.
“Oh. Well…” Dirk looked nonplused.
Felan frowned. “Does that bother you?”
“Hell no!” Dirk exclaimed. Then he turned bright red. “I mean…why should it?”
“It shouldn’t, but from your reaction…” Felan shrugged. “Just wanted to be sure.” Then he chuckled.
Dirk looked at him, one blond eyebrow arched. “What’s so funny?”
“You went from being startled to being enthusiastic. Take what Bay said to heart. Our Tonio is a player. He’s never, to the best of my recollection, settled for one man for more than a week at a time, if that. Ask Nina if you don’t believe me.”
“Nina? You mean Antonia?”
“Yep.” Felan smiled softly for a moment, before apparently realizing he was revealing more than he should. “His bratty twin sister. Have you met her?”
“No. I met Tonio a long time ago when I was a kid and Father was training him. But not her.”
“All ten years ago?” Bay asked, shaking his head in amusement.
“Eleven, and it seems like ages ago. I didn’t really get to know him though, because Mother insisted I come back home. She hated it when I visited Father.”
“Really? Why?”
“I think because she hated him. She didn’t know what he was when they met, at least to hear her tell it. Then she got pregnant and he felt he should do the honorable thing.”
“Marry her?” Mattie asked.
“No. Tell her he was an elf.” Dirk looked defiantly at the others. “Yeah, I’m a bastard.”
Felan snorted. “Sometimes I think that’s the way to go. You can have your family and eat it too, to paraphrase.”
Bay rolled his eyes. “That’s a particularly gruesome thought, especially coming from a wolf.”
“Is, isn’t it.” Felan grinned.
Before anyone could say anything more, Tonio and Reni came into the room. They were immediately bombarded with questions about what had happened. While they replied, in detail, Dirk leaned against the side wall of the room, listening while he eyed Tonio.
A player, huh? Interesting.
Tonio glanced at him, a small smile quirking his lips up, before getting back to the story.
Oh hell, he didn’t…
Again Tonio looked at him, winking this time. Dirk felt his face heat up and stared down at the floor, hoping no one else had noticed.
* * * *
None too happily, Bay watched the interplay. He felt sorry for Dirk, if he really was in anyway attracted to Tonio. All he’d get in return, if anything, would be a night or two of pretty fantastic s*x, before Tonio moved on to the next man who caught his fancy.
Which is unfortunate. The kid’s too young to know how to deal with that. Hell, I wasn’t all that happy when it happened to me, and I knew what to expect.
He kept his thoughts guarded, knowing Tonio’s ability to read people when they broadcast too loudly.
I should probably warn Dirk. Not that he’d listen. He doesn’t know me from Adam other than what he’s learned in the last couple of hours.
- Writer
