When they stepped into the suite, Joker whistled. His entire apartment would fit inside the living room area. The spacious suite included a kitchen and what looked like two bedrooms, everything decorated tastefully in neutral colors. “Nice.”
“Thank you.” Gio removed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of one of the pristine cream-colored couches. “The menu’s just there on the coffee table. Order whatever you like.”
Joker snatched up the menu and plopped himself down onto the couch with a flourish, making Gio laugh. “Don’t mind if I do.”
Saint headed for his room. “Let me know if you need anything,” he told Gio, who nodded his thanks.
As Joker scanned the menu, he sneaked glances in Gio’s direction, noticing how he closed his eyes and rubbed at the back of his neck. If these events took this much out of him, why did he do them? Then again, Gio didn’t strike him as the kind of guy to let a little thing like his health get in the way of his do-goodery.
Gio removed his shoes and took a seat on the couch opposite Joker. “Anything look particularly good?”
“There’s a couple of steaks with potential.”
“Wonderful. I’ll have whatever you’re having. Medium, please.”
Joker snickered. “You’re gonna want to rethink that. I might not look it, but I eat a lot.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Hm. And why’s that?” Joker braced himself for some flirting.
“You need a lot of energy to keep up with Chip.”
Well, that was unexpected. “Um, yeah. Malinois are high-energy dogs. They like to be challenged.” He stood and walked over to the phone to put in their order. “What do you want to drink? They’ve got all kinds of fancy wine and cocktails.”
“I don’t drink alcohol.”
Joker had suspected as much. Since Gio’s return, anytime they were in the same place, he’d never seen Gio drink alcohol, raising another red flag. There were many reasons why Gio might not consume alcohol, but with everything he’d seen so far, his gut told him it was connected to whatever the hell was going on with Gio’s health.
Once he’d put the order in, Joker returned to the couch. Only then did it occur to him that he and Gio were alone. Together. He hadn’t considered that when inviting himself to dinner. They were rarely alone, and when they were, it was usually a few minutes. He rested his right ankle on his left knee and tapped his fingers on his boot.
“You didn’t have to punch that guy, you know. I’m used to guys like that underestimating me.”
Gio’s expression darkened. “No one disrespects you in my presence.” Joker opened his mouth, and Gio shook his head. “No one.”
Joker nodded but didn’t respond to that, which was probably for the best. Although he wouldn’t have allowed William to continue his verbal attack, he’d restrained himself for Gio’s sake. Of course, had Joker not been in the middle of a job, things would have turned out a little differently. He recalled William’s words about Gio being frigid and selfish.
“Who was that asshole anyway?”
“William and I were together for three years.”
The words hit Joker harder than he’d expected, and he shifted in his seat. What the fuck? Why did he care if Gio had dated that asshole? Gio had probably dated plenty of people. Hell, Joker had fucked his way through most of St. Augustine, so who was he to judge?
“It ended almost two years ago. We met in Paris during a charity summit. He was everything I thought I wanted in a life partner. It turns out I was very wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“It took me three years to discover he was nothing but a sycophant. The only reason he was with me was for my money and connections. He’s a real estate financial broker, and when we met, he’d just opened his own business and started operating internationally. In the beginning, he refused to let me help him, stating he wanted to get ahead on his own and didn’t want to take advantage, but as time went on, he started throwing hints.” Gio loosened his tie, then slid it out from around his shirt collar. Joker shifted in his seat again, his pants suddenly feeling a little constricting.
“I wanted to help him, so I connected him to several wealthy acquaintances who were looking for someone with William’s skills. For over a year, everything was lovely. We traveled together, even had fun. Then one day he asked me to meet new clients of his. A couple of brothers he strongly believed my charity should help.”
“Uh-oh.”
Gio hummed. He absently unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white dress shirt, and Joker’s mouth went dry. The guy needed to stop undressing, or Joker could not pay attention. That would be better. He really shouldn’t find the divot of Gio’s collar enticing, or the expanse of tanned skin he’d exposed below it.
“The brothers had a business proposal to breathe life back into their little coastal village in France. On paper, everything looked great. They were buying up abandoned properties and had plans to revive tourism.” Gio unfastened his left cufflink, then started to roll up his sleeve. Oh, for fuck’s sake. This was not happening. He wasn’t attracted to Gio.
“However, William should have known better. My charity never blindly agrees to anything,” Gio continued, unaware of Joker shifting in his seat again. “That’s not how it works, especially when something feels off. I’ve always been good at trusting my instincts. So I traveled to the village, and sure enough, there were several abandoned homes and businesses, but as I spent more time there and earned the trust of the villagers, I discovered something alarming.”
Gio rolled up his other sleeve, and Joker also discovered something alarming.
He was attracted to Gio.
Fuck.
Not only that, he’d been attracted to Gio for months.
Double fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. This was not happening.
“The brothers weren’t buying abandoned properties. They were forcing villagers out of their homes, terrorizing them, and forcing them to sign over their homes.”
That had Joker sitting up. “Wait, what? Did they not go to the authorities?”
“The brothers had the local authorities in their pockets. If that wasn’t bad enough, William was brokering the deals between the brothers and the foreign investors they’d acquired to buy these properties at obscene amounts with the promise of turning the village into the latest must-visit tourist destination.”
“So they were stealing these properties and selling them at a fortune. But then why did they need you and your charity?”
“Because the purchase of the properties was based on the shiny ‘new’ vacation villas, shops, and restaurants. Meaning someone needed to pay for the restorations and renovations.”
Joker shook his head in disbelief. “And William believed that would be your charity?”
Gio pursed his lips and nodded. “When he found out I’d flown out there, he showed up at my hotel, furious. Accused me of betraying him, lying to him about our relationship, and not trusting him.”
“What a fucking asshole.”
“Yes, well, I ended it. He pleaded with me. I refused. And then…” Gio sighed. “He broke my arm.”