Rajan's Seduction (8 page)

"You're thinking of staying?" Laird questioned softly.

"No. I can get a ride home." He shrugged from his coat and placed it into Savaro's outstretched hand. When he left Xavier alone with Laird, it was as though he was meeting the parents. He took another drink from the bottle.

"The reason you haven't seen Raj in two days is because he had to run to LA. It was kind of last minute to film something really fast. He'll be back at some point today." Laird rose from the stool and opened the fridge. He pulled out a large, decorated box. Opening it, he placed it on the counter. "Honey buns, Savaro made them."

"I'm not hungry."

"Eat something, please," Laird pushed. "You look as if you're about to pass out."

Xavier smiled. "I'll be fine…"

"Why'd you come here today? You didn't know if Rajan would be here. You didn't know what you would find."

Xavier drained the bottle and placed it on the

counter. "I didn't. I didn't know where he was and—well I had to."

Laird stared at him and Xavier saw something in the man's eyes but he didn't question it. He simply reached into the box and grabbed a honey bun. Savaro entered the room then and helped himself to one of the honey buns. Laird chewed while Savaro ripped a piece off and shoved it into his mouth.

"I have to go—Jamal has a game tomorrow, which means he has to leave tonight," Savaro explained. "I don't want him leaving without me saying good-bye."

"Your husband?" Xavier asked.

"We haven't had the wedding yet—but you could

say that." Savaro hugged Laird and extended a hand to Xavier. "It was nice meeting you. You hang around for Rajan, eh? He may be tough-headed but trust me, he's worth it."

Xavier nodded, shaking Savaro's hand. When

Savaro left, the moment the door closed behind him Laird's cell phone rang. Laird had to go too and Xavier stood.

"No—you're staying here," Laird said.

"What? I can't just stay here in Rajan's house. He doesn't even know I'm here!"

"If you don't learn anything from us, Xavier, learn this. Rajan wouldn't have let you anywhere near his body if he didn't trust you. You get that right?"

Xavier blinked at him so Laird sighed and leaned in.

"Leaving you here is nothing compared to what happened between you and Raj. So just chill… there's food in the kitchen, there's beer, there's television in the living room.

Take a nap or something. I have to go before my client loses his house and I lose my head."

Xavier smiled. "All right… but I still wish I could just go and come back when he's…"

"Are you always this tough headed?"

"I'm a cop—comes with the job description."

"I'll see you later." Laird shook his hand again and hurried out.

Well, this isn't strange at all.

Xavier walked through the house with his gun still

holstered. If he was home he would already have packed it away in his safe. Shrugging, he checked out the photos on a table in the hall. There were pictures of the three brothers from when they were teens, graduations, proms, parties, just random shots, professional photos and many more.

There was a picture of an older man Xavier recognized.

That was their father—George Anatolis the millionaire.

The image was just coming together in Xavier's head. He remembered reading something about one of his sons

cooking for celebrities but Xavier wasn't really a tabloid kind of guy. He watched more sports than anything else on television anyway. He stopped to focus on a picture of Rajan. It was probably professionally done. With his long hair pushed back, his brown eyes stared into the camera, just as intense as they always seemed to be. Xavier trailed a finger over Rajan's nose.

Wandering into the living room, he flopped to the

sofa and picked up the remote. Before he could turn on the giant television, however, a black notebook beside him caught his attention. Xavier lifted a hand still toward the television but curiosity would not let him leave that book alone. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the book and flipped it open.

A picture of him in full SWAT gear caught his eyes.

It looked so real. In the picture he wasn't wearing his helmet. His eyes were hollow, almost as if they weren't really there at all. Beside the picture was a flower missing all its petals but one. Inside the petal were four echoing words,
he loves me not.

Rajan eased his body from the leather back seat of

the hired car and after accepting his bag from the driver, he thanked him, tipped him and walked toward the front door.

Halfway there he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

There was a motorcycle parked on his curb. Rolling his shoulder he figured the rider probably ran out of gas and would come back for it. He fished his keys from his pocket and let himself into the house. Without turning on the lights, he dropped his bag, locked the door behind him and scrolled instantly to Xavier's number. The phone beeped then began ringing. From somewhere inside the house another phone rang—a strange instrumental version of
I
Shot the Sheriff.
Arching a brow, he hung up the phone.

The ringing stopped.

"What the…"

He redialed the number and once more the phone in

the house started ringing. Sneaking back to the front door, he grabbed the baseball bat lying against the wall then walked back through the dark, following the sound to the living room. He darted into the room, bat high above his head and flipped on the light. To his shock, he was looking down the barrel of a cop issued berretta

"What the fuck!" Rajan screamed.

"Shit!"

"What are you doing here? And why are you aiming that thing at me? Jesus! You could have shot me!"

Xavier bowed his head and shoved the gun back

into his hip holster. "I'm sorry, all right? I was sleeping and then you came barging into the room like a crazed

maniac—what did you expect?"

"Erm… you not to be here?" Rajan lowered the bat.

"I see…"

Xavier walked back but it wasn't to stay. It was to grab his coat then made his way by Rajan. His scent swirled around Rajan's head sending his heart in a race and his knees tremble.

"Look," Xavier stopped. "I didn't want to stay here without you anyways. Your brothers insisted that I stick around. That you wouldn't mind and me like an idiot believed them."

"Wait. You met my brothers? Laird and Savaro?"

"They're the only brothers you have, right?"

Rajan swallowed the lump in his throat. "Shit."

Xavier laughed bitterly. "Wasn't the reaction I was looking for but, good to know. There is no redo in life, Rajan but just this once, we'll pretend like none of this ever happened."

Rajan wasn't sure what to say. He pressed his eyes

shut. The front door slammed shut and he jerked slightly.

He stood there long after the motor died in the distance with his cell in one hand and the baseball bat in the other.

He needed to speak to someone and heaven help him if he was to call his brothers he would cuss them both. Finally, he dropped the bat and dialed.

"Hello?" George sounded like he was asleep.

"Appa?"

"Rajie? What's the matter?"

"I know it's late but can I come over?"

"Of course—where are your brothers?"

"I-I don't know. I'm coming over."

"Raj…"

Rajan hung up, dropped the bat and stopped long

enough to grab his keys. Soon he was speeding through the streets, past Anatolis to the other side of town. Draby Street was dark because of the shadows of the trees above and since everyone was on the whole conserving energy kick, most of the street lights were off. Still he knew precisely where to make the left turn onto Coal Miner then a sharp left onto Hennington. He stopped before his father's house to see the light in the living room. He only had to knock once, and George yanked the door open.

Rajan said nothing. He simply walked into his

father and pressed his face into George's neck. Holding George tighter, Rajan wasn't even sure why he'd driven over but he knew he needed his father.

"George? Is everything all right?" a feminine voice called from the living room.

Rajan looked up with an arched brow.

"Angela," George explained.

"Appa I'm sorry. I should go…"

"No. you're my son and you seem to be in trouble!"

George frowned. "Come on."

Following his father into the living room, Rajan

looked at the woman sitting in one of his bathrobes that was obviously too big for her slim frame. She had some gray littering her dark hair but in a regal kind of way that reminded him of a queen. She had kind eyes and Rajan smiled.

"Angela, this is one of my sons, Rajan."

"The actor," Angela replied, walking forward and hugging Rajan tightly. "It's nice to finally meet you Rajan.

Your father has been gushing about you boys—well, men."

Rajan laughed. "All good things, I hope."

"Of course," George interrupted with a smirk.

"I guess you boys need time to talk." Angela patted George's back. "I'll be upstairs."

"We don't have to talk now, Appa," Rajan said. "We can talk some other time."

George was about to say something but Angela beat

him to it.

"Nonsense." She batted a wrist in Rajan's direction.

"I always say the only reason a child calls his parents at this hour is because something is wrong. You're never too old to call Papa, you know."

Rajan blushed. "Thank you."

She smiled brightly at him and disappeared out the

door. Rajan watched her leave before slumping to a stool.

"Tell me what's wrong," George ordered softly, walking to the fridge and grabbing a jug of juice as well as some cookies.

The two sat down over the snacks and Rajan

explained everything starting from the beginning. When he was finished, he shrugged.

"Sounds to me your brothers set you up," George replied.

"That's precisely what they did."

"But why did he come over?"

Rajan bit into a cookie and chewed. "I don't know."

"You didn't ask him?"

"I had a gun in my face!"

George sighed. He took a long drink from his cup

and reached for Rajan's hand. "You listen to me… the fact you just met this man is something to be considered. But look how torn up you are about him leaving. I mean, sure, you're not going to jump up and go racing down the aisle or adopting kids with him just yet but you're attracted to him."

"It's more than that, Appa. I don't know what it is but it's way more than that. I never cared what strangers saw me as or said about me. But with him—I care. He looks at me and my body does things… tell me what to do."

George laughed softly. "I can't tell you what to do, sadly. Even though I'm your father and I would love nothing more than to tell you what to do to make you happy. I simply can't. That's not how it works. But I will tell you what my father told me. You don't know the future, but you know your body and you know your heart. Use what your body, heart and mind tell you."

"But what if he doesn't care what my body, heart and mind want?"

"Then he's not the one."

"It cannot be that simple."

"Yes it can," George said, releasing Rajan's hand for a cookie. "Humans make matters of the heart complicated.

We toss things in like betrayal and lies—we talk too much or too little. We trust the wrong people while the right ones are right under our noses. Love, my son, is not complicated if you really think about it… call him, Rajie. Talk. This is one of those times where you should talk too much."

Rajan laughed softly. "Thanks Appa."

"You wanna spend the night?"

"Nah. Your lady is upstairs. You've earned the right to walk around naked and there are just some things a child is never too grown up to ever see."

George laughed. "Tool," he accused, shaking his head. "But seriously… a SWAT agent?"

Rajan grinned impishly. "He looks good in the

uniform."

"Where did I go wrong with you boys?"

"You haven't seen him in full gear."

George laughed and patted Rajan's shoulder. Rajan

hopped from his stool and kissed the side of his father's head. "Go back to bed, Appa. I'll call you later."

"You do that…"

"Tell Angela I'm sorry."

George hugged Rajan tightly. "She doesn't mind, Rajie. As long as you're fine, we'll be all right."

Mack gripped him by the shoulder, shoved a leg

into his ankle and flipped Xavier hard to the mat. "Damn it, X!"

"Sorry, I can't concentrate today," Xavier replied, lying on the mat staring up at the ceiling.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Would you believe I don't remember?"

Xavier hadn't slept for a couple of days. He had to get his stuff together soon for he had to go back to work the next day. Taking a breath he pressed his eyes closed and felt it when Mack laid beside him.

"What's bothering you X? It's not like you to be taken down… you got skills!"

"I just need a good night's sleep. I'm a little tired."

"Sure… and I'm the tooth fairy. Look, it's not like…"

"It's not like what?"

"X, you got a visitor."

Xavier turned his head and instantly his eyes caught Rajan. He sat up with Mack. Mack lifted the ropes and climbed out. "I'll see you later."

Xavier frowned. "Yeah."

Mack greeted Rajan. "Hey Bollywood." He then disappeared out the door. Xavier didn't move from where he was sitting. He curled his legs up beneath him and locked eyes with Rajan.

"What do you want, Rajan?"

"At this precise moment?"

"I can see you're here to test my patience…"

"No… you asked me what I wanted… what I

want… at this precise moment is you."

Rajan walked to the ring and sat on the first step. He turned his body so their eyes could meet and though Xavier wanted to look away, he didn't. In fact, he lifted his chin and stared back.

"You scared me last night," Rajan admitted. "And that's the truth."