Page 33 of Broken Promises (Soho Knights #5)

JASON

It was Sunday brunch. His brothers surrounded him but he felt miserable.

It had been three weeks since he last saw Patrick, and he’d heard nothing.

He knew it would take time, but Jason was not known for his patience.

Not being able to talk about it with anyone was also a challenge.

He was an open book, often too open, but he’d had to just accept the consoling from his brothers.

It felt wrong to lie to them, but he didn’t have a choice.

Langdon suspected Grant was involved, but thankfully hadn’t pressed the issue.

Gregory was back from his honeymoon, and smiling like someone who was regularly having a lot of sex.

It wasn’t so much the sex Jason missed from Patrick, although that was incredible; it was the intimacy.

After Patrick had given Jason a thorough fucking that last night, he’d held him in his arms and they’d fallen asleep.

They’d set the alarm so there was time for Jason to get dressed and leave.

Patrick had offered him a shower, but Jason had wanted to keep the smell of his daddy on him for as long as possible.

Something he didn’t vocalise, because it would probably sound creepy, even though it was sweet and romantic in his head.

“Are you okay, Jason?” asked Paolo .

What was he supposed to say to that? He just shook his head. At least that was the truth.

“Do you want me to talk to Patrick?” asked Charlie.

“No . . . don’t do that. We . . . erm . . . we said everything we needed to say.”

“Maybe you should take your own advice,” said Langdon.

“You need to narrow it down. I give out a lot of advice.”

“There he is. Our feisty baby brother.”

Jason smiled, but it was forced, which Langdon picked up on because he frowned.

“You were saying?” Jason prompted.

“The best way to get over a man is to get under another one.”

Jason gasped. There was no way. As far as his heart was concerned, he and Patrick were still together.

The last thing he was going to do was cheat on him.

They hadn’t discussed it, but he’d assumed neither of them would sleep with other people.

What if Grant now expected Jason to have sex with him?

Could he refuse? Grant was his husband, but if he didn’t comply, would he suspect Jason and Patrick were still together?

Grant had also been quiet. Other than a text that acknowledged he’d broken up with Patrick, there had been nothing. It was driving him mad.

“Jason!” said Langdon, snapping him out of his doom spiralling.

“What?”

“Do you need a wingman to go out with you?”

“I’m not interested.”

Four jaws dropped in front of him. He’d said many a thing over the years that had shocked his brothers, but nothing that had gotten them all at the same time.

He couldn’t help but laugh. To be fair, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone three weeks without sex.

Gregory looked out the window, like he was trying to find something.

“What are you looking at?” asked Jason .

“Seeing if there was a pig flying.”

“Since when do you make jokes?”

“Since you last had sex.”

It was Jason’s turn for his jaw to drop as the others all laughed.

He couldn’t help but laugh with them. This is what he wanted– Sunday brunch with his brothers, his work, and Patrick by his side.

That would be his life complete. In a week’s time, he wouldn’t have any of those things.

Charlie’s wedding was on Saturday, which was the anniversary of when he and Sebastian had met a year earlier.

Who’d have thought that by Jason insisting Charlie go out that night after a shit day at work, it would lead to them both meeting the men of their dreams?

The difference was that Charlie was going to marry his dream man in less than a week, and Jason didn’t know if he was ever going to see Patrick again.

It was Wednesday, and the week was dragging.

He still hadn’t heard anything from Patrick or Grant, and Simon had been freezing him out of meetings again, and giving more time to his peers.

He felt close to the edge with all the uncertainty.

Now he was in a leadership team standup to give quick updates on their projects, which Simon was obsessed about.

He wanted “quick wins,” which was HR speak for his probation is up at the end of the month and he wanted to take credit for his team’s work.

“Clear your diaries for Friday. I’ve booked us a venue offsite so we can have a strategy session. Alex wants a three-year plan from us by the end of the month,” said Simon.

There were looks exchanged between the rest of them, but nobody said anything. The end of the month was less than a fortnight away.

“I know it’s short notice, so does anyone have anything that genuinely can’t be moved?”

“I’m on annual leave on Friday,” said Jason .

“I’ll send you a list of what I need from you. Get it to me by the end of the day so I can review it tomorrow in case I have questions. We’ll let you know what’s been decided next week,” said Simon, waving his hand dismissively.

Jason snapped!

“Let me get this right. You’re having a people strategy session and you don’t want my input into it?”

“That’s not what I said, but we can’t delay things because you decided to take a last-minute day off.”

“Firstly, this day off was booked before you even arrived, so it’s not last minute. What is last minute is you planning a strategy session with forty-eight hours’ notice.”

Everyone looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but in this room as Jason and Simon stared at each other, neither of them breaking eye contact. Jason’s heart was beating so fast he could hear it in his ears.

“We can’t delay things until you’re back. The business doesn’t revolve around one person, you know. I’m in the States for the rest of the month. It’s Friday or it won’t happen.”

“And what a coincidence it happens to be when I’m not here. Alex would not spring something this big on you last minute. You’ve been sitting on this and waiting so I can be excluded. Just like you’ve been doing since you arrived. What did I ever do to you?”

Simon prickled. His face was reddening. It looked like he was trying to maintain his composure, but Jason’s filter was already on annual leave. His brain wasn’t managing what he was saying anymore. If he thought it, it was coming out.

“I think we should pick up this conversation privately,” said Simon.

“I’d rather have witnesses. I have no idea what I’ve done to piss you off, but since the first week you’ve treated me differently to everyone else.

You barely spend any time with me. You’ve been here ten weeks, and we’ve spent all of two hours together one-on-one, whereas the others have each had at least ten. ”

Jason picked up some shocked faces, but Simon wasn’t giving anything away.

“I don’t know what it is. I know it isn’t a homophobic thing because everyone in this room likes dick in some form.”

Dexter couldn’t hide his snort.

“That’s a very inappropriate thing to say in the workplace, Jason,” said Simon.

“So is making someone feel like a worthless piece of shit all the time, and that’s how you make me feel?”

“You’re overreacting here. I know you were disappointed not to get the role, but this behaviour is really not acceptable.”

“Woah. Is that what this is about? You know I withdrew from the process, don’t you?”

Simon looked surprised for a second, but recovered quickly.

“It all makes sense now. That’s what this has all been about.

Do you think I’m after your job? I only applied because Jane asked me to.

I knew I wasn’t ready, so I withdrew. Then I have a new boss come in, and not just anyone, but another gay guy in a senior position.

I was hoping I could learn from you, and you’d be a role model, so when another opportunity arises in five or ten years, then I’d be ready. ”

“Jason, I –”

“It’s pretty clear what you think of me, so I’ll save us both a lot of stress. I’m done. You’ll have my resignation by the end of the day.”

Jason grabbed his laptop and got out of the room as quickly as he could. He thought he heard someone call out to him, but didn’t stop to see who it was. Passing by his desk, he swooped up his belongings. The letter could be sent from home. The quicker he could get out of here, the better.

The lift was on his side, as it arrived in seconds, but it didn’t look like anyone was coming after him anyway. They were probably pleased he was leaving and taking all his drama with him. Fuck them. He’d take his awesomeness elsewhere.

As he stepped out of his office building onto the street, he didn’t feel any regret about what had just happened. That was his typical reaction when he snapped. Reality would usually creep back in later and he’d cringe at what he’d done. But this time, he felt free.

The feeling of freedom didn’t last long.

He’d submitted his resignation formally to Simon, and had said it was with immediate effect.

Jason had heard nothing back, and still had access to the company network.

Either way, he wasn’t going in tomorrow, Friday he had booked off, and then he was supposed to be going to Liverpool with Grant.

That was someone he needed to speak to. He understood why Patrick wasn’t speaking to him, but what was his husband playing at?