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  The last touch—making the bed, which Clayton helped Rom with. When Clayton sat on it, his awestruck gaze made Rom wonder if they’d ever reach the bottom of how heartbroken he felt for this boy.

  “Thank you so much for this.” Clayton looked up at them. He started to say something else, but then a yawn hit him.

  Rom patted him on the shoulder. “Take a nap, buddy. When you wake up, if you want to eat, we’ll make you dinner. If you sleep through the night, we’ll wake you up in the morning to go run errands.”

  “Thank you.”

  They both hugged him and left him so they could work on rearranging the living room. When Rom checked just a few minutes later, because Clayton had left his door open, he found the boy sound asleep.

  * * * *

  Colton watched Rom give him a thumbs-up and pull the door nearly shut again.

  “Good,” he said when Rom rejoined him. “He looked exhausted.”

  They spent two hours rearranging the living room. It was nearly nine o’clock by the time that was finished and they had everything tidied, plus they’d eaten and taken showers. The new living room configuration didn’t give them as much room as they’d had before so Rom could easily swing a flogger, but it wasn’t like they’d have as much privacy to play out there, either.

  Shit. Guess we will be going to Venture on a regular basis now.

  They’d need to, so he could get a spanking fix when he wanted one.

  Or to Kent’s.

  This situation was beyond fucked up. He was torn between numb and wanting to rage. He was about to note that to Rom when Clayton’s door opened and the boy emerged, yawning.

  “Hey, there,” Colton said. “You want something to eat?”

  He nodded, his eyes and nose puffy, like he’d been crying again. “Yes, please,” he softly said.

  “Is it finally all hitting you?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s okay. I cried for a few days, off and on. And even after that. It will get easier.”

  They got him seated at the kitchen table and fed him until he finally said he was full. Then, they put him on the couch between them to watch TV and decompress.

  And he promptly dozed off again.

  Colton noted Rom’s sad smile. “I wonder if he’s ever been able to just sit and relax like this,” Rom whispered.

  Colton studied his little brother’s profile, at the worry still etched deep in his face, even in sleep. “Doubtful. Knowing them, probably not.”

  Around eleven, they roused Clayton and sent him to bed before they retired to their room. Colton’s plans for the day had been shot to hell, and with a barrage of old memories and emotions swamping him, he didn’t feel the slightest bit romantic.

  Thankfully, Rom seemed to understand. “Let’s just cuddle tonight, boy. Okay?”

  Colton nodded. “Thank you, Master,” he whispered. He’d need to do a sound check of their room when Clayton wasn’t home. He had no idea what could be heard over there.

  This was not a problem he was used to having. Sure, on weekends they had to be quiet because of the store, but they could at least make love without worrying about the grannies hearing about it.

  “Now I kind of wish I still had Grammy’s house,” Colton said.

  “Why?”

  “Privacy.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Rom told him. “I accidentally walked in on Chad and Ina having sex once, while they were dating.”

  “Yikes!”

  “Yeah, they forgot to lock the bedroom door, and I’d had a nightmare.”

  “Did that give you new nightmares?” Colton teased.

  Rom laughed. “No, that didn’t, but Chad then insisting on sitting down and having ‘the talk’ with me nearly did. He wanted to be a responsible parent and assure me I could talk to him about anything, but once I realized what was going on, I just wanted to crawl into a pit and hide, I was so embarrassed. Finally got over it, both of us.” He snorted. “It’s amazing we both didn’t end up traumatized from that.”

  “And Ina still married him?” Colton joked.

  “Yeah, nosy little brother and all. I can tell you, though, once he had ‘the talk’ with me, that cured my nosiness. I had no desire to go peeking through his drawers. I didn’t want to see a damn thing.”

  “Good to know.”

  They lay there for a few minutes and Colton thought Rom had been close to going to sleep when he spoke again. “So we’re agreed, we need to see Ed first thing, right? We need custody paperwork ASAP, and to enroll him in school.”

  “Yeah.” Colton sighed. “I wonder how much this’ll cost us?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Even if I need to dig into savings.”

  “I hate my parents.”

  “I wouldn’t call them parents,” Rom said. “More like biological creators. Parents don’t discard their kids like this.”

  And that was the thought rolling through Colton’s brain as he fell asleep.

  That, and he’d lived a charmed life to have both Grammy and Rom loving and supporting him. Hopefully, they could be a stable, loving home for Clayton and give him every advantage so he could succeed, too.

  If Colton didn’t get himself arrested for punching the man and woman who’d discarded them.

  Chapter Four

  Monday morning, Rom and Colton had just started their morning coffee when Clayton emerged from his room. Rom hadn’t slept well but didn’t want to tell Colton that. He’d had nightmares he hadn’t experienced in years.

  Just another reason for him to hate Colton’s parents, sight unseen, for setting this series of events into motion.

  “You sleep okay?” Colton asked the boy.

  He nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  “Let’s get some breakfast into you,” Rom said.

  Rom called Ed’s office as soon as he opened, and the attorney told them to come in ASAP once Rom gave him the short version of recent events.

  With Rom driving, a little after eight thirty the three of them were sitting in front of Ed’s desk with a teary Clayton telling the attorney his story. Then Rom and Colton told Ed what they wanted to do, to drive to Georgia.

  Ed wore a dark expression Rom hoped he was interpreting as anger on Clayton’s behalf.

  “I would prefer you handle this by mail,” Ed said, “but we can’t guarantee they’ll sign the paperwork if we do that. And it could take weeks. We need the paperwork back before then so we can get him enrolled in school, and to protect you two legally. I mean, we can file for an emergency order, but they could claim he’s a runaway and demand him back. It’s better if they sign him over.” He removed his glasses and laid them on his desk so he could rub his eyes. “When do you want to drive up?”

  “Tomorrow,” Rom said. “Leave first thing in the morning.”

  “How do you know they’ll be there? They work, don’t they?” Ed asked.

  “They usually come home for lunch,” Clayton said.

  “And Clayton told us where they work,” Rom said. “We’ll show up at their jobs, if need be, and hunt them down.”

  “So here’s the thing, I can’t go tomorrow. But I have three friends who are attorneys, I can call them and see if one of them has their schedule open and can do it. You’ll have to pay, but the pucker factor of having an attorney standing on their doorstep and threatening to call the law on them for throwing Clayton out might make them sign the papers. Actually…let me make one call right now. Loren’s a notary, she could go, too, then you wouldn’t need to find a bank.”

  “Loren?” Rom asked.

  “Yeah.” He glanced at Clayton, then back to Rom. “Our friend in common?”

  A laugh escaped Rom. “She married us Saturday.”

  “Oh.” Ed chuckled. “Then even better. She knows you. Hold on.” He placed the call, summarized the situation, and then noted something on his sticky pad. “Excellent. I’ll call you back shortly with details.” He hung up. “That was easy. You know Ross, her husband? He’s licensed to pra
ctice law in Georgia, too. Normally, his area of expertise is IP and trademark law, but an attorney is an attorney. And he said as long as you drive and buy lunch and dinner, they refuse to take any money.”

  Rom gasped. “We don’t expect him to do this for free. We can pay.”

  Ed smiled as he sat back. “They like to pay it forward. Ross is semi-retired and said they didn’t have any plans tomorrow.”

  When Clayton burst into tears, Colton reached for the box of tissues on the corner of Ed’s desk so he could hand him one.

  “What if they won’t let me come back with you?” Clayton asked. “What if they say I have to stay with them?”

  “No, you’re not going tomorrow,” Ed said. “Because exactly that might happen. It’s better you’re down here. Otherwise, we could have a nasty custody fight on our hands, and I wouldn’t put it past your parents to try to hand you off to one of their church friends or something. We really need to get you enrolled in school, but we can’t do that without paperwork. If you’re down here, it gives us leverage to call the law on them and report them for child endangerment and abandonment. Colton, can he stay with your aunt tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. Aunt Roberta will be happy to have him in the store with her.”

  Rom took a deep breath to try to ease his anger. He hated that Clayton was in such pain.

  That Rom knew how much Clayton looked like Colton made it only that much worse for him, because he could easily imagine how his husband had suffered when younger.

  “I’ll draw up all the paperwork this morning and e-mail the file to Ross to print to take with you guys tomorrow.” He jotted something else on the sticky pad and then tore the top note off and handed it to Rom. “That’s Ross and Loren’s address and phone numbers. What time tomorrow…”

  By nine thirty, they were out of there and on their way to the clerk’s office in Sarasota to file their marriage license. Approximately halfway there, Clayton spoke up from the backseat in a heartbreakingly timid voice.

  “I’m sorry I’m so much trouble.”

  “No, hey, you’re not trouble,” Rom said before Colton could respond. Rom adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see Clayton. “Think of it this way—you’re upgrading.”

  “I want to know why they told me Colton and Grammy were dead.” He looked angry, and Rom understood that.

  “Because they’re evil,” Colton grumbled. “And I plan on telling them that, too.”

  Rom also wanted to, but honestly, he wasn’t sure Chad and Ina might not get themselves in legal trouble. Ross was a Dom and definitely had a Dom kind of presence, imposing when he wanted to be. As much as Chad and Ina wanted to go, Rom was inclined to ask them to stay behind. Especially since Clayton had clarified that he’d had very little in the way of personal belongings left there, mostly some clothes and a few books and a mattress on the floor.

  Poor kid didn’t even have a desk or dresser of his own.

  Once they filed their marriage license, and Colton filed his name change form to make his last name Quinn, they headed to the DMV so Colton could change his license.

  While they waited, Rom fielded questions from Ina via text about how the day was going, how Clayton was doing.

  About if they could come over that night to introduce the boys to him.

  Rom had already broken the news to her, and Chad, that they wouldn’t be going to Georgia with them tomorrow, so Rom figured the least he could do was give in and let them come over tonight.

  From the DMV, they headed out to Siesta Key. Rom wanted to take Clayton to lunch and let him see the beach. This was a shitty time in the kid’s life, and maybe this one thing he could do would make a good memory for him to start with.

  Rom noticed Clayton seemed to hesitate while looking at the menu. “What’s wrong, buddy?”

  Clayton kept his voice down. “How much am I allowed to spend on lunch?”

  Colton laid his menu down and looked at him before Rom could formulate a response to that heartbreaking question. “Buddy, don’t order like a champagne special or something, but order what you want. What looks good?”

  * * * *

  Colton was having a really difficult time not swearing up a storm. It was bad enough their parents had fucked up his childhood and his self-esteem, but to turn around and do it again to another son enraged him.

  Then there was the whole creepy issue that they’d literally tried to replace him, by how they’d named his brother Clayton.

  “Can I have the grouper sandwich?” Clayton asked.

  “You can have anything you want off the menu,” Colton assured him. “Get fries and a salad with it, if you want.” No wonder the poor kid was so freaking skinny. He was lucky Grammy had always fed him—

  Oh.

  Now he got it. Before he lived with her full-time, one of the first things Grammy always asked him when he arrived at her place, or at the store, was if he was hungry or wanted a snack. He remembered always being hungry at home, and how his father would bitch if he had seconds at dinner, or a snack at home, always making him feel self-conscious.

  But his father was far from skinny and had no problem taking seconds when he was hungry.

  Clayton nodded and set his menu down. “Yes, please.”

  Colton exchanged a glance with Rom and knew the other man’s thoughts were probably running along the same wavelength as his own.

  There would be a lot of deprogramming, and probably some counseling, in Clayton’s future.

  After lunch, they headed over to the beach. Clayton had never been to the beach before, and as Colton and Rom kicked off their shoes and walked with him, showing him how to look for sharks’ teeth, he thought about all the times he walked Venice Beach with Grammy, times spent much like this.

  In some ways, Clayton acted like a boy much younger than his age. Having spent a lot of time recently with Rom’s nephews, Colton could see the ways in which the boy hadn’t been nurtured.

  There weren’t a lot of people out today, since it was a Monday, and school was in session. As Clayton straightened with a small shark tooth in his hand to show them, Colton tried not to think about tomorrow, about confronting their parents.

  He hadn’t seen them in twenty years.

  He damn sure wasn’t a skinny, terrified kid anymore.

  “Hey, that’s a good one,” Rom told him, and the smile Clayton gave him nearly broke Colton’s heart.

  He knew that fear hiding in Clayton’s eyes. He recognized the hope the boy wore on his face after hearing praise.

  I guess I should consider myself lucky I didn’t have to risk my life hitchhiking from another state.

  Rom led them up the beach, past the high-tide line, to dry sand, where they all sat. “Is there anything you want to tell us?” Rom quietly asked. “I get the feeling there’s more you’ve held back. It’s okay. Say whatever you need to—no judgment from us.”

  Clayton seemed to need a moment. He stared out over the Gulf as the sea breeze blew in and ruffled his hair. He was a little on the shaggy side, like he needed a haircut, but that wasn’t a battle he’d have with him. If he wanted to shave himself bald or grow it long, that would be up to him.

  “Why’d they lie to me all my life and tell me Colton and Grammy were dead when they weren’t, but I’m the ‘bad’ one because I’m gay?”

  Colton didn’t even know what to say, but Rom did. “Because people can be evil in lots of ways, buddy. They can do bad things and still look like good people. They wear people suits to hide what they really are, and when you least expect it, they do stuff that can ruin or even end lives.

  “And you’re not ‘bad.’ We are the way we are, and there’s nothing wrong with us. There is far less wrong with us than with a guy who murders his wife and an innocent woman, and the guy cheating on that innocent woman with the man’s wife. There’s far less wrong with us than people who will do what your parents did.

  “I need you to understand and take it to heart that while what they did is going to hurt
for a long time, it’s about them, not you, and not us. We didn’t do anything wrong. We were born. I don’t ever want to hear you say that about yourself, either.”

  Clayton studied the sharks’ teeth in his hand. “We won’t go to church, will we?”

  “We don’t go to church. If you ever want to go, we won’t stop you. We’d have to ask around with Aunt Roberta and the grannies, though. I wouldn’t want you going to a church like you just escaped from. There are good churches out there. It’s just not our thing. It sounds like your parents are basically in a cult, not a church. Cults hurt people.”

  He looked at Rom. “Will I ever stop being so…angry?”

  Rom looked to Colton, who took over. “I had trouble with that. We can work on that. But we need you to be honest with us when you’re angry. Don’t hold your feelings in. That’s toxic. Anger can come out in other ways, too. It can make you depressed, or make you cry, or make you want to hurt people who didn’t do anything to you. The trick is figuring out how to recognize it and use it in a healthy way until you can process it. I had my art and the gym. We need to find what your thing will be. It could be anything that helps you process it.”

  Clayton’s gaze returned to his palm. “I liked computers. In grade school, we were learning about them, and they were teaching us coding. Like to make games and stuff. I didn’t have a computer at home, though. Dad told me that was for sissies.”

  Rom held up a finger. “I’m going to put another rule in place, right now. Eliminate that word from your vocabulary, too. I went to college and got my degree and I work at a bank. I started out as a teller and I’ve been promoted. I might one day be a branch manager or something. I’m not rich, but I’m happy. Colton is a personal trainer and runs the shop. He’s happy. It’s not a bad thing to do what you love for a living, college or not. Your father strikes me as an unhappy man.”

  “He is,” Colton muttered. “He always was. I think that’s one reason he hated Grammy. She was happy and did what she loved, and made a living at it. He resented her for it. Mom hated working in the store while she was growing up and saw it as a chore, and she just fed into his resentment.”