Your son for Mine

chapter 15

Mario gripped the wheel of the car, his knuckles white. He'd been trying to come up with an alternative plan. Some way to keep Lucas from going through with this. He hadn't completely ruled out the idea of turning the car around and heading to O'Hare and catching the next plane out. He didn't think dragging Lucas through the terminal bound and gagged would work out so well.

He pulled up next to a parking meter, amazed to have found street parking at this time of day. He didn't want Lucas to face the parking garage again. They sat in silence less than two blocks away from Lucas's building as he turned the ignition off. They'd barely spoken since they'd left the hotel. Hell, we've barely spoken in the past three days. Three days of dodging Lucas's looks, answering any questions with a simple word or two. Beyond that, Mario pretended to be busy most of the time. Afraid to look at the man for fear his body would give in to what it wanted instead of doing what his brain told him he was supposed to do.

Mario sighed, still facing forward. "You sure about this? We don't have to go in. We can go somewhere, not the hotel, anywhere you want and figure out a plan."

"I'm sure, Mario. Really." The words struck a place in his heart that he'd forgotten he'd had.

All right then, let's get this over with. Mario threw open the door and made his way around to the front of the car, meeting Lucas as he stepped up on the sidewalk.

Mario's eyes scanned the area, coffee shop, and hotel. Nothing was necessarily outside of the norm, though he doubted it would appear so on the surface anyway. He put his arm around Lucas's back to usher him quickly into the back door of the high-rise. The weight of the gun in the back of his waistband made him feel slightly better, but he couldn't shake the nerves.

They made their way through the back entrance to the service elevator, where Lucas pushed the button and they stood waiting for it to arrive. Mario looked over at the younger man. He was still wearing his hoodie. It warmed him; he liked seeing Lucas in his clothes, but they so weren't the man's style. He couldn't hold back the soft chuckle that escaped through his lips.

"What?" Lucas looked over at him, questioning. "What's so funny?"

"If nothing else, it'll be a relief to be able to choose clothes out of your own closet."

Lucas looked down at himself as if he'd forgotten about his clothes. A soft pink colored his cheeks and a small smile turned up on his lips. "Oh, shit. Sorry man. Let me give this back to you."

"No, no. Keep it. It looks good on you." Mario smirked

Liar." Lucas elbowed him in the ribs and Mario winced.

"Hey now. Stop beating on the old man." Mario heard the ding of a bell and watched as the doors to the elevator opened. Lucas straightened himself up and stepped inside, looking straight ahead, and Mario followed him in and watched him hit the button for his floor.

"I didn't fuck my professor." Lucas was looking at the floor.

"Huh?"

"I wasn't fucking my professor when I missed the meeting at my parents. I had to meet with my advisor to
explain the situation, and tell him that I might need to withdraw for a semester." Lucas's voice was soft when he spoke.

Mario wanted to hug him. "lucs, you don't have to apologize or explain. I have no right to judge you for the choices you make."

"I know, but I wanted you to know."

"Thank you. Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome. And I'll get your sweatshirt back to you."

"Keep it. Maybe you can dye it purple.

Lucas looked up at him with a sad smile. Just then the elevator jostled to a stop and the doors opened. He walked straight out and into the corridor, and suddenly Mario couldn't breathe. Just a few seconds and Lucas would be walking into the less than capable hands of the FBI and out of Mario's life. Shit, fuck damn it all. Mario jumped out of the elevator before the doors could close on him and took two hastened steps.

He reached out his hand to touch Lucas's arm just as he was pulling out his keys.

"Wait a minute, lucas. Hold on."

"Oh, the sweatshirt...
Damn it, Lucas. This isn't about the hoodie. I want to talk to you, for just a minute. Please."

Lucas turned and looked at Mario. His hazel eyes were doing that swirling thing that Mario had realized he liked so much. His teeth were nibbling at his bottom lip, and he wished those were his teeth doing the nibbling. Get a grip, Mario. He tightened his grip on Lucas's arm ever so slightly, dragged him over to a sofa outside the elevators, and sat down next to him.

"Sit down a sec. I need to talk to you before you go in there.