Suited

Forty

Lucas Alberici's Point of View

It is easier than one would think to get a protective order. It can be done in a matter of hours. Of course, a piece of paper doesn't stop pazza, but fear just might and I'm sure being served the documents at the door of a sorority house on a bright and early Monday morning was quite the surprise. I wasn't there, so I didn't get to see the look on her face, but I'm sure it would have made me laugh.

Lawrence and I attended a community service event hosted by his fraternity and it was rather nice. I was allowed to participate, so I helped him sort the non-perishable goods being collected. His friend, the president, Derek introduced himself to me properly that day. Apparently, he found himself interested in the lifestyle through his fiancée and was wondering if I had any resources. I just gave him Kendrick's email address. He was a walking encyclopedia on the subject and probably had a physical one he could loan him. I saw Amelia pull up in a car with a few other girls but when she saw Lawrence, she handed her donations to another girl, got back in, and left. The green wasn't large enough to stay one hundred yards away.

Lawrence finished his semester with flying colors. He was very excited to show me his grades. My ragazzo was very smart. He had a 3.7 GPA this time around. I was very proud of him. His father found it a good reason to celebrate, so we spent an evening at the estate for dinner, followed by brunch the next morning. Gabriel and Haydn even showed face. I stayed in Lawrence's bedroom in the interim. We had to be very quiet that night, but we managed. I'm sure we had less trouble than the mutt and his handler down the hall.

February came and I was given horrible news. Gabriel had meetings to attend in New York, and I was meant to go with him. One of Highest Standard's flagship facilities was located there and it, like Lawrence's fraternity, was welcoming a new batch of students, or trainees in this case and pledges in that. The Chairman and my replacement in his office had attended the ones in Los Angeles, so he found it fit for us to attend in his place.

"Lucas," he assured, sat at the desk in his home office. I was stood in front of him. It was the night of the monthly dinner the family did, which Haydn and I were bound to attend these days even though neither of us were legally part of the family. Lawrence was with his mother and Jessie in the garden having tea while Gabriel and Haydn would meet the four of us at the restaurant. Jessie wouldn't be attending. There were new staff that needed to be kept in line. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"You could send your assistant instead."

"I will do no such thing." He smiled. "You and Gabriel are a team. If one goes, so will the other."

Gabriel and I were not a team. He was my boss. Lawrence was my team. He kept me from quitting every time his brother did something stupid. Wait. "Can I bring Lawrence?"

He laughed. "You two are attached at the hip."

When we were fucking, yes, but that wasn't what he meant. He meant we liked each other. English was so strange. "Yes, sir. That is my condition for the trip. Otherwise, I will simply miss the flight and misplace my papers so I can't go on the next one."

The nerve of him to shake his head at me. I swear to god, I'll—"Very well." Never mind. "Gabriel is bringing his fiancee anyway."

It took everything in me to smile instead of roll my eyes. "Thank you, sir."

The news was broken at dinner and Lawrence immediately checked his phone. "When do we leave?"

"The twenty third," his father said, "and you'll be back on the first."

Lawrence frowned. I glanced and he was looking at his calendar. "I have a quiz on that Monday."

Gabriel chuckled across from him. "I'm sure the hotel has WiFi."