Two Lips, Indifferent Red

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“Don’t stand there hovering like a—a—” Sir’s lips were in a tight line. “Put that goddamned case down and sit.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Don’t call me that!”

I felt as if he’d struck me. I sank down onto a chair, my laptop on the floor beside me, and sat, stiff-backed. What a fool I was to think, after all these years, Sir could have come to care for me.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I had you come home.” He glowered at me from over the rim of his glass.

“Yes, Sir.”

“I have a marriage arranged for you.”

“M-marriage? But this is 2019, not 1819.”

“How like you to state the obvious,” he sneered.

“I can’t…” I swallowed, feeling the blood leave my face. This was the worst of all possible times to confess my s****l orientation, but it seemed I had no choice. “Sir, I…” I took a breath and then blurted out, “I’m gay.”

“Did you think I was unaware of that?”

“But…how did you know?”

“Seriously? Do you think you have the capability of concealing something so obvious from me?” Both his expression and his tone mocked me.

“But…then…I don’t understand. How could you ask me to marry a woman?”

“You’re the most stupid boy. I’m not asking you squat. You’ll marry who I tell you to marry. And of course it won’t be a woman. She’d demand an annulment as soon as she realized you couldn’t perform.”

“If she signed a prenup?” And what was I thinking, offering a solution to what would be insoluble to me? I shuddered at the thought of being naked in bed with a woman.

“No prenuptial agreement on earth would expunge the scandal you’d bring down on my name.”

“Who…” I swallowed and licked my lips. “In that case, who would you expect me to marry?”

“Hyde Wyndham.”

“Who?”

“Are you deaf or just a fool?” Suddenly he was looming over me, his breath in my face, and as much as I wanted to shy away from him, I couldn’t because there was nowhere for me to go. “I said Hyde Wyndham! Jesus, boy, don’t you read the Wall Street Journal?”

I had no desire to become part of his empire—that was what Geoff aspired to. I shook my head, but Sir didn’t appear to notice, or else he just didn’t care.

He turned on his heel and strode across the room, then paused to glare at me over his shoulder. “And shut your mouth. You’re gaping like a beached fish.”

I did as he ordered, then licked my lips again and asked, “But why would Mr. Wyndham want me?”

“The man’s as queer as a three-dollar bill.” Sir curled his lip. He added grudgingly, “And you’re not hard on the eyes. Wyndham came to me and told me he wanted to buy shares of Llewellyn, Inc. When I told him they stayed in the family, that I had no intention of ever putting them up on the open market, he offered a compromise—you’ll marry him, and once I’m gone, he’ll get your shares.”

I finally realized “why,” in this case, me and not Geoff. Geoff was straight. As a matter of fact, he was so straight he had a new woman every other week, and of course Sir was proud of that fact.

“It’s clear you have no respect for him, Sir. Why would you want to connect our family to him?”

He muttered something I didn’t catch and went back to sit behind his desk.

“Excuse me?”

“That’s none of your f*****g business. You may as well prove useful. Just don’t disgust him.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“When you’re in his bed, be restrained. Lie there and let him…do whatever it is he has to do.” He narrowed his eyes and sneered. “Why do you think Daniel dropped you?”

I gasped in shock. How did he know Daniel and I had dated, for however short a period of time?

“Of course I knew,” he snarled, answering my unspoken question. “I know everything that goes on in this house. You were so pathetic, sneaking out to see that boy. Just like your—”

“But you never said anything!”

“Why would I? Daniel taking you as a lover would have given me a hold over Jacob Richardson, and an ‘in’ to Richardson Industries.”

“I don’t understand. Mr. Richardson is your friend. Why did you need—” I shut up. I’d seen that look on Sir’s face before when he’d been plotting to make another killing, and for a second I thought I was going to throw up.

“I didn’t need it at that point. I wanted it. But you had to ruin that!” He was shouting now. “You were too uninhibited, too unrestrained. Of course Daniel bolted.”

I shook my head. “Daniel is straight. We never would have been lovers.”

“Immaterial. Your looks are enough like your mother’s. Straight or not, Daniel would have been tempted by you, and when his grandfather learned of it, learned it was a case of like father, like son…” He picked up his glass, seeming to study the amber contents, and smirked, and I swallowed bile. Then his gaze fell on me, and his expression darkened. “If you just hadn’t been so goddamned out of control.”

Sir would have used me to blackmail his way into Daniel’s grandfather’s business?

“Right now I’m stretched a little thin, but with Wyndham’s backing, things will turn around in no time.” If it was possible, Sir’s eyes would have shot sparks. “You won’t ruin this for me.”

“How long have you two been planning this?”

“A month? Two?” Sir waved away my question as unimportant. “I wasn’t going to agree to it—the man’s been a thorn in my side since—but when it became obvious how much he wanted the Llewellyn shares…” The twist to his lips wasn’t pleasant. “Well, let’s just say that I squeezed him until I got the deal I wanted.”

He was selling me? I shivered, and then I said to myself, Enough! Find your goddamned backbone! I drew in a deep breath and straightened my spine. “I’m sorry, Sir; I can’t marry him.”

“What?” The sound his shot glass made hitting his desk was like a bullet exploding from its chamber, and I jumped in spite of myself.

“I can’t—I’m in love with someone else.”

“Oh, is that all? Part of the agreement is you remain faithful for a year. After that…Have an affair, if you like. Have a hundred. He won’t care.”

I was horrified. “I wouldn’t do that to someone I’d pledged to be faithful to!”

“Why not? It’s what your mother did.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said it’s what he intends to do. Pay attention, for God’s sake!” A thin trickle of blood began to ooze from his left nostril, and he spat out a curse, reached into a pocket for his handkerchief, and blotted his nose.

The door to the study opened. “Not now, Higgins.” Sir looked up, irritated. “Oh, Wyndham.” His expression smoothed to a smile he offered those he considered not quite his equals. He put the handkerchief away. “I wasn’t expecting you. Come in and meet your fiancé.”

Fiancé. I was going to be tied to someone I didn’t know. I was so miserable I sat there staring at my fingers, unable to meet the gaze of the man who wanted Llewellyn shares so badly he was willing to buy me to get them.

“Llewellyn.”

I knew that voice. I spun around and nearly fell off my chair. “Ham?” He closed the door behind him and strolled into the study. He was wearing a charcoal gray pinstripe suit, a pale gray shirt, and a charcoal tie, and he looked so good I couldn’t take my eyes off him. But…“What are you doing here?”

“I decided I didn’t want to wait to have dinner with you.” He had beautiful lips, and the way they curved into an open smile…My heart turned over and I started to smile at him in return.

“Ham?” The disgust in Sir’s tone drew my attention from Ham. The quasi-congenial look on Sir’s face had been replaced with irritation, and his antipathy radiated out to encompass both of us. “Wyndham, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Kipp and I have met before.”

“You know Wyndham?” Sir stalked to the liquor cabinet and retrieved the bottle of Ladybank. The glare he leveled at me was venomous.

“No!” I protested. I knew…thought I knew…someone named Ham.

“You do, Kipp,” Ham assured me.

“You…you’re Hyde Wyndham?” I stared at him blankly. My pleasure in seeing him was gone.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I shivered. All I could think was it was another bet. Oh, God, this couldn’t be happening.

“Your father—”

“Goddammit!” Sir turned that glare on Hyde Wyndham, who simply raised an eyebrow.

“I was led to believe you were aware,” Mr. Wyndham said smoothly.

“Led by whom? I never…”

He ghosted his tongue over his lips, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his mouth. Those kisses? That embrace? He’d thought they indicated I had knowledge of Sir’s plans?

Cold. I felt so cold. “And you want to marry me, Mr. Wyndham?” He’d been nice to me all along, but lately he’d become more—what had Sir said? Their negotiations had become more intense in the past month or so.

“I’m still Ham, Kipp.”

No, he wasn’t. Ham was someone I’d fallen—I’d come to care about, and I’d let him inside my defenses because I thought he cared about me. I didn’t know who Hyde Wyndham was.

Worst of all, he didn’t care if I remained faithful to him. In fact, he’d had it put in the contract that after a year I could pretty much f**k whom I wanted.

What a stupid, stupid fool I was.

“All right, then, Wyndham. Everything is settled—the boy will be pleased to marry you.”

“His name is Kipp,” Mr. Wyndham corrected sharply. He took a step toward me and extended his hand, and I shied back. He frowned. “Kipp?”

“Why do you want to marry me?” Sir had explained the arrangement—if Mr. Wyndham wanted those shares, he had to take me along with them. Was I really hoping that for once I would come first? “No, don’t bother answering that.” I could see he was at something of a loss at my rapid about-face. God, I was so pathetic. I forced myself up from the chair I’d been virtually frozen in and edged away from both him and my father. “Thank you for asking—” Although, come to think of it, he hadn’t asked. Sir had simply told me what I was to do, including lying there and thinking of England. “However, the answer is no.”

“You can’t say no!” Sir’s face turned red, something I’d never seen before, since he’d always been very much in control, even when he’d been slicing his business opponents to virtual ribbons. And as for his eyes…

“You did tell Kipp about this, didn’t you?” The ice in Mr. Wyndham’s words distracted me, and I turned to him and blinked. He was staring at Sir, his gaze frigid and the expression on his face…No one had ever regarded Sir in that manner, not to my knowledge.

“The boy was informed when I felt it was necessary for him to be informed. If you’ve touched him—” He muttered something that sounded like, “Pervert.”

“I haven’t. Although I have to say it was difficult.” His words were warm now, and he smiled at me again. It was the same smile he’d used when we’d met at Georg’s. Was he trying to soothe me as if I were a nervous colt?

“In that case, there’s nothing to stop this deal from being carried out.” Sir glared at me again. “You will marry Wyndham.”

“I won’t.” I cringed at how petulant that sounded, but I wouldn’t be tied to someone who didn’t love me, who didn’t care if I remained faithful to him or not. I turned to leave the room.

“Think carefully, boy. If you step outside this room, you won’t set foot in my house ever again!”

“Shouldn’t you be a little more conciliatory toward your son if you expect him to do what you want?” Mr. Wyndham stood with his arms folded across his chest. I’d run my fingertips over it once. And God, his shoulders were—No. I wouldn’t let myself be distracted by how broad they were, how that action stretched his gray suit jacket snug over them.

“I’ll speak to him however I damned well please,” Sir snarled.

“You’re an asshole, Llewellyn. Kipp—”

“I’m sorry you went to the bother of driving all this way, Mr. Wyndham.” I could barely get the words past lips that felt wooden.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sir demanded.

“Back to Charlestown. Back to college.”

“And how will you afford it? If you think I’m going to cover your tuition—”

“You’ve said this is no longer my home. Why would I expect anything else from you?” I clenched my hands into fists at my side. “I know you never cared about me, but weren’t you interested in anything I did?” No, I could see he wasn’t. “Neither you nor Granddad have paid my tuition for the past two years.”

Reenrolling shouldn’t be a problem, but the scholarships I’d applied for would probably be given to someone else, and I’d have no choice but to wait for the winter semester. Fortunately, I could fall back on Georg’s, so at least I’d have a job. Getting back in the dorm, though…Maybe Hunter would let me sleep in the stockroom until I could get myself together?

“Kipp!” Ham—Mr. Wyndham took a step toward me, and I sidestepped him.

“It must have amused you to toy with me, Mr. Wyndham.” I thought of his kisses, of how he’d made me feel worth kissing, of that silly fantasy I’d woven of a future with him. Sir was right: I was a fool. But I’d never let Mr. Wyndham know how much of a fool I was. I did my best impersonation of Sir. “I’d ask why, but frankly? I don’t care enough.”

As I walked out, Sir raised his voice. I’d never heard it so strident. “This is your fault, Wyndham. He’s always been an obedient brat. What did you say to him?”

“Llewellyn, get out of my face.”

I didn’t want to hear any more. I closed the door, giving it the firm tug that was necessary to be sure the latch caught.