And I Will Consume You

36

From that morning on, Venice had been almost literally glued to his older brothers side, refusing to leave him alone unless he went into the bathroom or was in a meeting over the phone. Pete didn't mind at all, he actually thought it was cute, but it had started getting on his lover's nerves. He never was the most patient guy. All that he could do was deal with it as best he could. It wasn't Venice's intention to annoy him anyway, and Vegas knew that. All a kid wanted if they kept bothering you, was to impress you. Pete had told him that, and Vegas made sure to take a mental note of that so he'd be able to use it when summer was over and Venice was handed homework for the first time. Vegas was quite anxious about that actually. Knowing himself and knowing the kind of business he was in, it was more than likely one of his rivals would eventually find out about his new 'son'. If that happened to be later in high school or university, it wouldn't be a problem, but having to explain to a little kid why he's being followed by a group of scary men in suits and why he wasn't allowed out of their sight. Luckily Venice had his mothers name and was not cursed with he Theerapanyakul title, so It wasn't likely they'd find out so soon unless they planted a mole among the people that worked for him. Nothing was impossible, both Pete and Vegas knew that, but just because anything was possible didn't mean everything would happen. Maybe they'd end up being lucky and no one would find out. Vegas had managed to go this far without anyone finding out about his relationship with Pete - save for his personal bodyguards who had surely caught on by themselves and just never said anything. Everyone under the minor family knew about Vegas' 'lifestyle' so it wouldn't be much of a surprise to anybody. His coming out had been quite direct too; as direct it can be when it's never actually been verbalised. Instead he'd just been very blunt about his previous 'toys' and wasn't shy to bring them straight home whenever he pleased. This, naturally, had infuriated his father, but a part of Vegas had done it out of spite. His dad knew he was gay, and he had hated him for it. It was probably the number one thing on the list of reasons he despised Vegas so much. Kind was in a similar position. Because most people simply assumed he was straight, no one ever asked, and therefore never gave an explicit answer. People put it together after Tawan, but only the two families had known about that relationship.

Currently sitting in the desk chair of his office with one foot resting on his knee and his fingers tapping anxiously at the leather mat seperating his computer from the wooden desk beneath it. There was nothing in particular that had been bothering him recently, other than on course his mother showing up out of the blue, but still Vegas felt as if he was drowning in stress. Again, nothing seemed to be good enough for him. He didn't work hard enough no matter how many hours he poured into it, he didn't take good enough care of Pete no matter how much he spoiled him. He similtaniously didn't do enough, and did too much all at once. And it was because of this that he failed to notice Petes growing concern for him. Phone call after phone call, Vegas had barely left his office at all, not even to eat. The most he'd done was fill up on caffine and light snacks he could choke down in one or two minutes before continuing on with what he had been doing. The majority of his work, at least right now, was regarding the casino consession he'd had a meeting about back at the club. He knew it wasn't exactly the biggest deal, but it would profit him quite a bit not only monetarily, but also status wise. If he managed to beat Kinn as well as all the other bidders interested, he'd be able to conduct much larger weapons trade deals and drug distribitions with less hasstle or threat like at the club where you could sell goods freely, but in much smaller amounts than was desirable. The Minor family didnt sell drugs to individual buyers often, and when they did, it was someone who needed a discretionary guarantee. The tap of Vegas' fingers was brought to an abrupt end as he heard three gente knocks come from the other side of his door. Vegas' head perked up slightly, but took a moment to consider answering before calling out. "Come in"

He had half expected Pete to be carrying Venice when he walked in, but was surprised to see his lover enter on his own, a somewhat distrought expression on his usually bright face. "Yes?" Vegas asked, raising a brow as he watched Pete approach, but continued to type for a moment longer before closing his laptop and allowing for his chair to swivel with Pete's steps growing. near and drawing a half circle around his desk before eventually finding himself in stood directly before Vegas in silence, contemplating how he was going to phrase the intrusive thoughts that had been plaguing his mind all day. "Have you eaten properly yet? Drank some water? I haven't seen you all day... I'm a little worried. Is everything okay?" Vegas sighed, motioning for Pete to come closer before gently pulling the boy into his lap and fixing a stray strand of hair on his head. "I know. Everything's fine. I'll be done soon, princess, but this is very important. I have to take care of it first." Pete frowned seeing how Vegas pretty much entirely ignored the first half of his questions, and likely the most important ones. "More important that me?"

Vegas chuckled to himself quietly and shaking his head, no. Pete really knew exactly how to make him weak, no less make him obey. This must be why the wonderful phrase 'happy wife, happy life' came from. "No, of course not." Vegas smiled, kissing Pete on the cheek and holding him close. "One more hour and I'll be done. I promise. But first, let me recharge." He hummed softly, nuzzling his face into the crook of Petes neck where he closed his eyes and simply embraced the warmth of his lover's body. Having Pete near made all that stress and anxiety go away, almost like magic. He felt bad for Pete. Pete had expected today to be... different. He thought he'd be able to go out with Venice and Vegas and shop for toys, for bedsheets, for blankets and pillows and anything Venice needed or wanted. But instead he'd ended up going with Venice on his own. He'd gone out to eat on his own. He'd watched tv and cooked and done anything at all to pass the time, all on his own. But then again, Vegas did say it was important, and that he was almost finished. "Dont overwork yourself, Vegas" Pete said, almost pleasingly with a shimmer of what could only be described as early festering regret in his eye. "I wont."

"Thank you for worrying about me. I love you Pete."

"I love you too"