Page 30 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them (Fated Mates #4)

André came into the house, whistling a tune he didn’t remember the name of, pleased with himself.

He had the whole weekend planned out. He’d grab Ian from work after two a.m., take him back to the dorm, then in the morning, they’d leave for the vacation villa up in the mountains for a pre-Christmas getaway.

He’d have his lover all to himself for two days straight without interruption.

It had been a solid week since the big reveal.

Ian still struggled with the idea of being a mate, and some days, André let it lie.

It was a major thing, and Ian needed a little time to wrap his head around it.

André also suspected Ian’s personal history hampered him.

It wasn’t that Ian had a low self-esteem, per se—he had no trouble standing up for himself and being confident—but he also had this mental image of himself being a “regular guy,” someone who wasn’t particularly noteworthy.

André absolutely and vehemently disagreed even before the big reveal, but growing up an orphan had impacted Ian deeply. He didn’t think of himself as amazing.

Well, André would be able to help him overcome that, little by little. They just needed more time. For Ian, André had all the time in the world.

In the meantime, he intended to spoil Ian rotten until his boyfriend couldn’t live without him. Starting with their romantic getaway. All he had to do was pack and throw things into the car. He had four hours to work with, so plenty of time.

“André!”

Oh? Mom was home. She sat at the dining room table, spreadsheets and folders spread out in front of her, obviously in the middle of something.

“Hi, Mom. Work?”

“For one of my charities. Sit. I want to ask you some questions about Ian.”

“My favorite topic.” André pulled back a chair and dropped into it.

She shoved her planner away so she could focus on him. “I asked a little from Ian, and I think I know the situation, but clarify things for me. The man who adopted him died last year. Did his adoptive father not have relatives?”

“Well, he did, but how Ian explained it, they didn’t like that his father was a single dad with an ‘unpredictable’ teenager.

Apparently they tried to convince him to get a baby if he insisted on adopting a kid, but his father loved Ian, so he went against his family’s wishes.

How they could meet Ian and not love him is mind-boggling to me, but they couldn’t accept him. ”

“So, for all intents and purposes, he’s alone.”

André pointed a finger at himself in outrage. “What am I, chopped liver?”

His mother rolled her eyes. “I meant familywise, André. This disturbs me. He’s such a sweetie, your Ian. I don’t like the idea of him being on his own. After spending the day with him, I’ve grown fond of him. Is he managing college, financially speaking?”

“Yeah. I had to put the pieces together on that. He didn’t tell me anything outright, but apparently, his dad left him a little money.

He’s got a scholarship covering most of the tuition.

The bartending job handles the rest. He’s doing okay financially.

I just…” André blew out a breath and looked away, remembered anger simmering to the surface.

“He did say once that when his father died, the family wanted to take away his inheritance. Because he’s not blood related, they didn’t think he deserved anything.

His father must have anticipated this happening, as he’d locked it down so they couldn’t take it away from Ian. ”

Mom’s expression looked reminiscent of a mother storm coming in hot over the horizon. “They thought they could rob him of the money he needs for college?!”

“I get the feeling the family’s a bunch of assholes, his father being the exception to the rule.”

“There are limits to greed, surely.” She blew out a breath, glaring through the dark picture windows. “Now I’m even more impressed with Ian. He does rise above every challenge.”

“Man’s an old hand at it.”

Mom looked back at him, expression firm. “I want him as a son.”

“Working on it.” André grinned, pleased they were on the same page.

“I’m not joking, André.”

“Neither am I. I’ll never meet a man better than him, to start with. Or someone who I could love more. He’s the most loving, selfless, incredible man I’ve ever met. Him being a mate is icing on the cake. I’m keeping him, Mom, don’t worry.”

“Good.” She paused before tacking on, “But finish school before you propose; I want you done before you get married.”

“Okay by me.”

“I know Ian has his dorm room near campus, but I would feel better if he lived with us here.”

“Ian has a cat,” André said, reminding her.

“Right, Casper. She’s darling and super sweet. We’ll need to get cat trees and perches set up through the house so she’s comfortable too. You start working on him moving in with us. I’ll reinforce it as I can.”

There’s a reason why he loved his mother. André was all smiles, downright giddy. “I can bring him home?”

“I insist on it.”

“Mom, have I recently mentioned how much I love you?”

“You can stand to mention it more often,” she drawled. “Look at you. I haven’t seen you this excited in…ever, come to think of it.”

“It’s because I’ve never been this happy in my life.” André leaned over the table to kiss her cheek. “I’ll bring him home as soon as I can talk him into it.”

“Excellent.” Satisfied, she sat back. “Now, the second thing I need to talk to you about. It pertains to what’s in front of me.

I have fashion week coming up in Paris, as you know, and your charity event, of course.

I think we should leave on the thirtieth, so we have plenty of time to set everything up. ”

The blood drained out of André’s face, and he felt lightheaded with the realization for a second. Oh shit. The event. He’d completely forgotten about it.

The charity was something he’d organized three years ago, and it only held an event once a year.

Kids from around the world could submit a business idea.

If it passed the first round, they were invited to Paris for a week so they could pitch the idea to entrepreneurs and investors.

The kids were often either taken up on the idea, which became a business, or landed internships with their future bosses.

It gave underprivileged kids a real shot at making something of themselves.

André was incredibly proud of what he’d done there.

He normally wouldn’t miss the presentations for the world, but…

Ian.

He’d only just gotten Ian. Two weeks they’d been dating—two blissful weeks.

He was firmly in the honeymoon stage with the man, no question there, but he wasn’t under any illusions, either.

Ian was still feeling his way into this relationship, working through insecurities.

They hadn’t found their footing with each other yet.

A month apart would destroy them.

He knew it without a shadow of a doubt.

Sheer, raw panic slammed into him. White noise filled his brain as panic set in, and he couldn’t even string the words together to explain anything. André shook his head immediately, hands up. “No. Sorry, no, I-I can’t.”

Mom canted her head in question, expression puzzled. “What do you mean you can’t go? André, this is your charity. You’re the organizer. You have to be there.”

“I’ll do the work remotely this year, but I can’t go.”

“Honey, remote isn’t an option. I know you like being in America, but it’s only for a month. You’d be back in time for spring semester—”

He shook his head again, firmer, standing now because he couldn’t make himself sit still. “No. I…I can’t. I can’t leave Ian alone for that long.”

“Honey, Ian of all people will understand. I know you’ll miss him, but you need to go. And it’s only four weeks.”

This sounded like an eternity. André didn’t know how to explain the all-consuming emotion. His mind was wiped clean with panic, nothing more than static and white noise. He shook his head again, over and over. “No. I’ll figure it out, but I’m not leaving.”

“André—André?!” His mother looked alarmed now. Go. He had to go.

He turned on his heel and raced up the stairs two at a time, not able to keep arguing about this.

Once he was in his room with the door closed behind him, only then did he manage a full breath.

It was fine. He could figure this out. He had very capable people who helped him run this charity.

They didn’t need him riding their shoulders to get things done. It was fine.

The one thing he couldn’t risk was Ian.

André slapped his cheeks lightly. The problem could wait a few days more. He had to pack and go get Ian from work. That was the priority tonight.

The rest, he’d figure out later.

It was hard to slam the panic down far enough to focus, but André managed it. He got a bag packed and succeeded in getting out of the house without running into his mother again. He did feel bad about refusing to go with her, as he knew she hated to travel alone, but…he just couldn’t.

André firmly put it out of his mind as he drove to the bar. After coming here frequently, everyone on staff knew him, so he said hello to the valet and slipped him a tip as he went in. The manager gave him a wave and smiled as he stepped in, and he returned both, even though the smile felt stiff.

There was Ian behind the bar, pouring drinks and doling them out with his usual efficiency in a delicious all-black outfit. Just the sight of him downgraded the overwhelming panic. André swallowed it back and focused on the here and now.

He found an open stool at the bar and slung himself up onto it, greeting his lover with a smile. “Hey, sexy. Imagine seeing you here.”

Ian glanced up from the beer he was pouring. “Yes, funny how you found me at work. What do you want?”

“Just give me a soda.”

“Making my life easy.” Ian shot him a quick smile.

“I do try to stay in your good graces.”