Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 153. A Hickey

The moment the door closed, Jake's smug smile vanished, and a cold light replaced the greed in his eye. He put down his foot and straightened his back, sitting more comfortably. Misha was still behind him, hugging him like a mama bear, and his head thus leaned a bit more into his chest. The teenager didn't complain, and Jake didn't point it out, letting Misha's warmth envelop him. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he needed it right now. Whenever he talked with his mother, it brought back memories he'd rather forget, agitating him more than he wanted to admit. Unfortunately, his old heart wasn't made of stone, and it'd clench in pain from time to time.

"Honestly," Stephan chuckled, bringing back Jake to the present, "it's amazing how you and Gabriel can switch between your personas and real personalities in a snap. It's like a magic trick."

"I have to second that," Misha sighed. "It makes me doubt my eyes and ears every time."

"Right?" Stephan winked, sitting in the chair before Jake. "So, how did it go?"

"Rather well, I'd say."

"But?"

Jake answered with silence. He stared at Stephan, then snorted. Angela's request popped into his mind whenever his eye landed on him, and Jake was almost angered into laughing. He had nothing against same-gender relationships, but it didn't mean he was ok with being bedded by a man. Thanks to his mother, he was quite dispassionate about sex. Still, the idea of getting his ass pounded didn't settle well with him; if anything, he'd rather be on top, but that wasn't what Angela was expecting of him.

"Why are you giving me the death glare?" Stephan half-laughed, half-cried. "I'm fairly sure I haven't done anything to anger you today."

If looks could kill, Stephan had a hunch he'd be dead by now. It made him silently shed a few tears; he truly hadn't done anything—yet—to anger Jake! So, why was he shooting daggers at him?!

"Does it have something to do with the conversation you just had with Angela?" Gabriel asked, ignoring Stephan's antics. He appeared on the verge of committing murder, startling Misha into holding his breath. "What did she ask of you this time?"

"Just the usual."

Gabriel's eyes seemed to darken, the green of his irises growing deeper. After reading the diaries, he found out about Angela using Jake to strike a few deals, and he knew what the "usual" referred to.

Before, he thought that his brother was simply the sort of wicked man who would use whatever method he could to get what he wanted, including sleeping with clients. Gabriel had never once imagined that he could have been acting under his mother's order.

Should he be grateful she had waited until he was of age before sending him to "entertain" their guests...? Like hell he was! It happened under his eyes, yet he didn't even notice it. Just how much of an idiot was he? He had been too self-confident, unable to see through Jake's facade. He had deemed him a jerk and never gave him the time of the day. There must have been signs, but he ignored them, refusing to see Jake as something other than an imbecile. However, the idiot had been him, not his brother.

Gabriel had always thought of himself as a rational man, but the more he learned about Jake's past, the harder it was to keep his emotions under control. Sometimes, he wondered if he shouldn't just kill Angela in the most painful way he knew. Now, sending her to jail seemed like a show of mercy. What if Angela rotted away in prison? She would never suffer just as much as Jake had, and that was giving him nightmares.

"The usual?" Stephan said, snapping Gabriel out of his thoughts. "With me?"

"Who else? Thanks to you sticking to me like a leech, she has decided to use me to hold you down," Jake spat out. "But well, I'll be able to use you as an excuse to refuse a few things for a while, so all is good in the end."