La Maison 2: Differences (Complete: BDSM mxm)

March 9

A/N: the last chapter was very short so, here, have another one

A little Daddy kink here, heads up

Dexter

When I get to the restaurant on Friday, I'm surprised to see François is already there, with Ellis, for the first time. Chase and Xander are already there too, and Gray arrives a minute after me, with Christian shortly after. My confusion is complete when Landon and Nikolai arrive together. We come together for dinner in one of François' restaurants every week, but we've never brought subs with us. It's Gray who asks the question.

"So, why the change, Frankie?"

"I thought it might do us good to develop our conversational repertoire by having new people join us for dinner. It's a shame Owen couldn't come."

"He's working, but you know I approve."

"Actually, tonight, I have an ulterior motive. I've been hiding something from you all, except Dexter, and I think it's about time I let you know. Some months ago, I received a request from a member of a Russian crime family to let him in on my family's business. I refused him, and shortly after I began to receive regular threats – both written and in the form of telephone communication. I assumed that the threats were from him and asked Dexter to help."

"That's why you have sexy Connor following you around?" Chase points toward the bar where Connor is unobtrusively sipping a water.

"C'est pourquoi," François admits. "Anyway, a few things have happened lately that led to me confronting Volkushkin and, well, it transpires that he wasn't where the threats were coming from."

I already knew all this, as I'd insisted on being involved in his meeting with the big Russian, who had that special kind of reasonable persona that only comes from being very, very dangerous. I believed him, though. If he'd have wanted to take François' business by force, he simply would have attempted it. He wouldn't have hidden in the shadows. This threat is coming from somewhere else.

"Why didn't you tell me, Suzu?" Ellis' eyes are glistening with concealed emotion and I note Gray is watching François' face with apparent interest in his response.

"Ellis, I didn't want you to worry."

"But this is why you've had Connor with me all the time? And is it why you haven't been letting me do anything, or answer the door when you aren't there?"

"Partly." François looks around the table. "I should have told you, baby. Come with me."

They go, to the manager's office, to talk I presume, and I turn to Gray.

"He didn't tell you?"

"No. I assume he felt I had enough to worry about. He should have told Ellis though."

"Would you have? Told a sub, I mean."

"If he was my boyfriend and lived with me? Yes, I would have. It's one thing to take the responsibility for someone, but it's selfish to hide things that could affect their actual safety."

"But don't we do that all the time? We don't want our subs to worry about things. It's our job to do the worrying."

"We do, too much. Sometimes I think we forget that our subs are adult men. Even if we make all the decisions and keep them safe, don't you think we're taking something fundamental away from them if we treat them like people who can't be trusted with knowledge that directly affects them?"

"Maybe it's the dichotomy in what the lifestyle entails. Yeah, they're adults, but they don't want the responsibility that comes with that."

"You think? Some of them, sure. But I really don't think Ellis is like that. Do you think Dae is? For all the sweet boy he plays, how do you think he'd feel if you hid something so important from him?"