YOURS // Les Twins {Sequel to MINE}

15 - Leave It Alone

Sitting alone at the same corner table in the same little cafe, Larry smiled to himself as he gazed at a now empty chair...the one Caroline sat in just a few weeks ago when he'd felt his daughter kick for the first time. This table had become one of his favorite places when he just needed to get out of the house, still waiting to transition to the new studio. But he was shaken from his thoughts when a shadow fell over him, and he looked up into the face of Gus Richardson.

"Are you stalking me? Seriously..."

Gus shook his head and dropped a large manila envelope on the table beside Larry's laptop.

"Sure, make yourself at home," Larry said dryly as Gus took a seat uninvited. Still, he instantly picked up his phone and began to scroll for Charles Roarke's number.

"Just give me five minutes," Gus said, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Why should I?" Larry asked, eyeing the envelope suspiciously.

"I thought you might wanna know the truth," Gus replied. And while he seemed sincere enough, Larry knew better than to trust it.

"The truth about what?" he asked hesitantly.

"The truth about your...husband," Gus answered.

Oh, this oughta be good, Larry thought to himself, noticing the way Gus could barely utter the word husband without contempt.

"This better be good," Larry muttered as he picked up the envelope.

"I just wanna make sure you have all the facts," Gus elaborated as he watched Larry remove the small stack of papers.

Larry's stomach churned as he sifted through the first couple of pages, all documents relating to Laurent's childhood.

"I already know all of this," Larry pointed out, and he began to shove the papers back into the folder, but Gus shook his head.

"Keep going."

"I can guarantee I know much more than you do," Larry said as he shuffled through a few more. "And did it escape your notice that he was NINE—"

The words died on his lips as an eight-by-ten photo surfaced, and Larry glanced around quickly, thankful that his back was to the corner so no one could see what he was looking at.

The image appeared to be a still taken from surveillance footage, with a date and time stamped in the top left corner. But the image itself had Larry covering his mouth with one hand and struggling to suppress his gag reflex.

Set in what looked like a hotel room, the image showed a side view of Laurent reclining in a chair, fully clothed but in disarray, a young woman kneeling in front of him...and she was completely naked. While her hair obscured her face and Laurent's exposed skin, there was no question what she was doing.

Larry's gaze shot to the date on the photo before lifting to look Gus in the eye.

"Weren't you married by then?" Gus asked, trying like hell not to show just how much he'd obviously been looking forward to this moment.

Larry ignored the question and forced himself to focus on the image again...on everything but the girl's full mouth. He took a deep, steadying breath and then he sorted the papers, slipping them back into the envelope.

"Today is not the day, and I am not the one," Larry muttered under his breath as he slipped the envelope into his laptop bag.

Finally setting his eyes on Gus again, Larry noted the look of smug victory on the man's face, and it was all he could do not to lay his ass out right there in front of God and everybody.