Beloved: A Henry Dawncraft Novel |boyxboy| Sequel to Lover for Pay

XXIX - Hands

"He wants a hundred thousand dollars."

Henry scoffed, "You say that like I'm about to pull that outta my ass and hand it over. Are you kidding me? If there is anything I'm going to hand that prick, it's going to be a fucking ass whoopin'. If there was anything you did right when I was a kid, Travis, it was turning me into the kind of man who doesn't take shit from anyone, and I'm not about to be shat on by a piece of literal fucking garbage like this big bad Otto guy. I don't give a shit what he's done. I'm not letting him or anyone fuck with my family."

Travis shook his head, seeing as he'd also managed to raise a stubborn kid as well. "Listen, Henry," he said. "I know complying with his demands doesn't fit your style, but—."

"But nothing," Henry cut in. "Besides, we don't just have that kind of money lying around. We already spent so much on Dimitri alone and the new car put a huge damper on our finances, okay? If I wanted to pull out a hundred thousand dollars right now my banker would laugh at me."

"What about—."

"Don't say Marbell," Henry shook his head, refusing to plead with his brother-in-law for something like this. The guy had already been blackmailed by his psycho ex-wife years back, supplied so much money for the entire family to have the current lives they did; the last thing Henry wanted to do was make Marbell buy their way out of this situation with Otto. Besides, what if they ended up trying to go after Marbell or them further just for the fact that he could magically make $100,000 materialize out of nowhere?

Henry would be devastated if any more drama unfolded in London and Marbell's lives. They were two guys with their own lives and family to look after. Then again, Henry remained in his thoughts for a moment longer, thinking about the anger that would inevitably fill London if he found out Henry was hiding this situation from him, especially something as big as this.

"Fuck..." Henry sighed, running a hand back into his dark colored hair. As the strays hanging in his face were readjusted, he met Daniel's eyes before letting his gaze fall onto Dimitri. A weakness Henry absolutely loathed started at his fingertips and spread through his entire body. There was a threat disrupting what should be the continuation of the greatest moment of he and Daniel's lives. He'd already been so iffy in the beginning on whether or not he wanted to have a kid, and now that they'd finally reached that agreement and watched Dimitri enter the world, now... things just had to turn them down this path.

Nearing Daniel a moment, Henry leaned down and kissed his infant son's forehead, seeming to bring alertness to his senses when Dimitri opened his low-lidded eyes. "I'll be back," he said then, the statement catching his husband's and his father's ear.

"Where are you going?" Daniel asked.

"I'm not taking us back to the house unless I know it's safer than it was this morning," Henry said. "I'm going to change out all the locks on the doors and windows and buy a security system. You would figure living in a gated fucking community would make things a bit safer when it comes to shit like this, but I guess living at the edge of the neighborhood comes with its downsides."

"I don't want you to go alone," Daniel worried.

"I'm not taking you with me."

Travis interjected then, "I'll go with you."

Henry sighed, "Look, Daniel, you're not coming with me because I need you with Dimitri, and TJ, you're not coming with me because I need someone with Daniel."

Before anyone could utter another word to hold Henry back, he scooped the keys to the Honda in his hand and started out the door, ignoring his father's call the entire way until he was strapped in and heading down the road. While he now wished they'd installed a security system years ago, now was just as good a time as any. He also almost had the idea of getting a vicious dog to patrol the backyard, but cameras, maybe a motion light, and one of those handy systems that detected what door or window was open would be good enough for now.