La Maison 2: Differences (Complete: BDSM mxm)

April 18

Dexter

I still haven't heard from Dae by lunchtime the next day, and he hasn't read any of my messages. I didn't sleep a wink the night before, and I feel sick from too much coffee and too much worry when Lori calls me.

"Sorry for the delay, Boss. Some of the facts weren't easy to come by."

"Tell me what you have."

"Dae Musgrove. Father Gary Musgrove, born in West Virginia, moved to New York City at eighteen, where he met Pak Seon-ok, Korean-American, second generation. They married within a few months of meeting, and little Dae was born seven months after that."

"So his mom is quite traditional?"

"Was. And, not necessarily, because this is where it gets interesting. Seon-ok was the only daughter of Pak Dae-won, who Dae is presumably named for. And Pak was the leader of the Jo-Pok Korean Mafia, in New York City, until his death eight years ago. So it might be reasonable to presume there was a certain amount of pressure behind the marriage. Regardless, there was a divorce, and Dae's father disappeared from his life when Dae was two, and hasn't been seen or heard from since. And, yes, I've checked everywhere."

"Okay." I know she's going somewhere with this, so I wait her out.

"Anyway, Seon-ok married again when Dae was twelve. Yi Seung was one of her father's lieutenants. And on the suspicious death of Pak two years later, he was poised and ready to stage a coup and take over the Jo-Pok business interests."

"Convenient."

"Extremely. He brought with him Yi Chul-moo, his son from a previous marriage, who was eighteen at the time, and who took over as his own second-in-command at twenty, when Yi became leader."

I start, because I know that name. It was the creepy guest Kevin invited. When Dae safeworded in the club. His fucking stepbrother. At least it explains why he was so freaked out. It would have been a compromising position to be found in. But it doesn't explain, at all, why he's refused to tell me.

"Anything else?"

"Only the strange fact that shortly after Pak died, Dae was removed from the prestigious prep school he attended, at age fourteen, and there is no trace of him attending any school since. He lived at home until last year, and the apartment he lives in now is owned by Yi Seung. He has worked as a waiter in a restaurant owned by Yi Seung and more recently one owned by François Girard, so I presume you're aware"

"When did his mother die?"

"Three years ago, when he was nineteen. An apparent accidental drowning in the bath, following taking her usual sleeping pill."

Things aren't clear yet, but there's an idea forming. A nasty idea that I don't like. We ruled out the Russian mafia. Andrei's shady dealings aren't what have been causing François problems – we've established that. But here we have the introduction of a different kind of mafia – the Koreans. And we have Dae. Inexorably linked to that mafia. I want to believe it's a coincidence, but I can't do that to myself.

He's been there, for what reason? This whole time. I want to speak to him. I need to. But, of course, he isn't at his apartment, and Lori can't give me anything more other than the address of Dae's stepfather, and I'm not stupid enough to go there, either alone or with any of my men. Unlike the Italians, the Russians, hell, even the Japanese and the Jamaicans, I have no contacts with the Korean Mafia.

I debate telling François. I don't know what stops me doing it immediately (fuck, I can't lie to myself. Of course I know. It doesn't feel good to fall in love with someone who had an agenda, or was making a fool of me the whole time).

So, I procrastinate. Not wanting to make the admission. Cowardly.

I leave it too late.

A/N: OMG it's so short...am I that mean? No, gimme 5, and the next chapter will be up