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

XXXII - Love

Henry was ready to bolt out the front door the second he hung up with Tucker. With this agreement to hand Daniel over for $125,000, he was more than ready to 1) see and kiss and hold his husband, and 2) put his fists to good use again. Granted he hadn't been in an actual fight since one squabble at university some years ago, but he was still confident enough to believe he could knock just about anyone on their ass, especially a cheap shit guy like this Otto person. Just hearing his voice through the phone had been enough to make Henry's blood boil.

With the pictures that the bastard had sent of Daniel naked and scratched up, and then simply being able to hear the terror in his husband's voice, he just wanted to get things rolling so Daniel would be in his arms again.

Becoming a bit impatient while waiting down in the dining room with Dorian, Henry tried to control his frustrations and headed upstairs. Benjamin was in the upstairs television area with a book in his lap, and down the hall he could see Joyce dressed in her pajamas already.

When she locked eyes with him for a second, she hurried out with an elated smile on her face. "Is the baby here?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Um, yeah," Henry nodded, moving out of the way. He was glad she hadn't quite picked up on the dread filling his bones. "He's downstairs. Can you keep an eye on him for me?"

"That's exactly what I planned on," she said, a smile in her voice. "Don't worry!"

After she raced downstairs, Henry worked up the best smile he could in Benjamin's direction before heading toward London and Marbell's bedroom. The door was cracked and they were "whisper yelling" at one another. Henry already hated this whole situation that was going on, but now an added guilt of being the reason for their frustrations worked its way into him. They were never really a couple to have arguments. Maybe a few minor quarrels here and there, but Henry had to admit he really didn't like when there was any sort of tension between the two.

Remaining outside the door for a moment, Henry listened in.

"You are staying here," Marbell asserted. "I know you want to be by Henry's side in this, but you have a face everyone and their grandmother can recognize and I don't need a scandal like this attaching itself to your name." A rustling could be heard, as if Marbell was getting dressed. "Not that I would refer to this as an outright scandal. I love Daniel and I'm definitely going to do what I can to get him back, but this is my money I'm willfully handing over to whoever this piece of shit thinks he is."

"I'm just saying I'm not comfortable with you being around people like this. They're clearly dangerous."

"No, shit. Just say it, London," Marbell huffed, "You think I'm small and have no backbone, no reason to think I can look the least bit intimidating to anyone, but that's not my goal here. I'm going with Henry to wherever these people have Daniel and I'll be the one to hand the money over. Besides—."

There was a pause for a moment before the bedroom door came open and Marbell stood there. He was dressed more like he was heading into work, clean cut and wearing dark slacks and a button down. It already looked like he was expecting to see Henry standing there, and he continued where he left off. "These guys aren't going to take my money and walk away like they just won the lottery, especially since it came at the cost of Daniel."

"So you're coming instead?" Henry said.

"Yes," Marbell nodded, "And I don't want to hear anything more about it. They demanded $100,000, right?"

"Yeah, but...I kinda upped it so I could get my hands on one of them."

"What?" Marbell almost looked dumbfounded. "By how much?"