Page 4 of He is Poison

He answered it with afrown, cutting short the chorus of Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’, and zipped up his bagwith one hand. A deep voice in the speaker sent a wave of heat all the way downSeth’s spine.

“I’m waiting.”

Seth swallowed. “Yeah,I’m coming,” he said in a voice so dead serious, he hardly recognized it. Heturned off the phone. “Peter, come here.” Seth held out his hand, but withPeter frozen in place, he had to force him into a hug. The scent of flowersfilled Seth’s nostrils as he handled the unresponsive body of his now-formerboyfriend.

“Seth… what do youmean?” rasped Peter.

“I mean, my father needsme there.” He kissed the side of Peter’s head.

“What does this have todo with us?” Peter pressed his face into Seth’s neck in the very instant‘Barbie Girl’ spoiled the moment again. He’d kill the fucker who thought it wasa good idea to choose that ringtone.

“I said I’m fuckingcoming!” Seth snarled into the phone and turned it off right away, looking downinto the pale face. “Pete. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back, ifever, and I can’t hold you back indefinitely.”

“But… we can visit oneanother… and talk via Skype, right?” Peter shook in his arms. “We wouldn’t bethe first couple to have to live in a long-dista—”

Seth snapped. “Youcan’tvisit me. I don’t know how long I will be gone, and my family is a bunch ofhomophobes. I’ll leave you my number, but I can’t promise anything,” he saidand forced his way to the corridor. He might have been the Don’s son, but thelast thing he wanted was for Domenico to come upstairs and see who he livedwith. He quickly wrote down a made-up number in a notebook by the door, alreadyfeeling ashamed for doing so. But he needed to be out quick, and he’d callPeter when it was safe.

“Thank you,” whisperedPeter, hugging him with all the strength of his willowy limbs. “Will you missme?”

“Fuck, Peter, I have togo. I will.” Seth gave him one last kiss and moved away, snatching the bag fromthe bed.

“Seth, be careful,”muttered Peter. He didn’t make any more attempts to stop him though.

Seth stroked his hairone more time but ran out of the apartment and stomped down the stairs. Hisheart couldn’t take any more guilt, so he ran from it as fast as he could.

Down in the street, hequickly noticed the black car and sped to the door opened for him from theinside. He’d barely slammed it shut before the car started moving. He foundhimself awkwardly kneeling on the seat with his bag in Domenico’s lap. Sethstared at the unbelievably symmetrical features.

“Is that all you have?This country doesn’t serve you well," asked Domenico in a voice that madeSeth break out in goosebumps all over.

Seth pulled back his bagand put it between them before settling in the seat. “Whatever,” was all he hadfor the dickhead. They were alone, with thick black glass separating them fromthe driver.

Domenico relaxed againstthe backrest and cracked his knuckles. “You took so long that I was beginningto wonder whether you were folding your underwear.”

Seth gaped at him, coldspreading through his veins. “For fuck’s sake, I had to take care ofsomething.”

Domenico reached intothe pocket of his slacks and took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Thesoft glow of the gas-fueled flame lit up the man’s handsome features, and theair filled with smoke.

“Your father is gettingimpatient. He would be furious if we missed our flight.”

“I know,” Seth mutteredand couldn’t help stealing another glance at Domenico. Somewhere behind thefacade of the made-to-measure suit and calm demeanor, he tried to find the boyhe once locked in a trash can. Who knew, maybe Sethwasoverreacting.Maybe Domenico had forgotten all about silly things like that. He certainlylookeddifferent.

He had the same coololive complexion and clear amber eyes with thick black lashes, but the formerlyinnocent, somewhat pudgy face was nowhere to be seen in the clean-cut, straightlines of Domenico’s nose, strong brow line, and high cheekbones. The guy couldbe a model. Unlike the boy from almost twenty years ago, this man displayed aconfidence Seth rarely witnessed. Each move was both nonchalant and scripted.And the accessories, an expensive watch and fashionable sunglasses, onlystrengthened the image of flawlessness.

Seth still felt anundercurrent of attraction, but he tried not to stare, now more focused onevaluating his opponent. Competing instead of trying to attract. He had no ideahow to deal with someone like Domenico. Seth’s instincts kept telling him hewas a mouse approaching a trap that was about to snap his neck. Being injureddidn’t help his confidence.

“Why did he sendyouof all people?” Seth finally grumbled.

Domenico gave him a slowglance, and Seth couldn’t help but follow the swirl of smoke that left thoseperfectly cut lips, curling around the soft flesh as if it couldn’t helpitself. “Well, he couldn’t allow them to cut off anything more, could he?”

Seth swallowed. This wasworse. He was still a mouse, but Domenico wasn’t a trap, you could avoid those.It was like being locked in a cage with a cobra. A part of Seth screamed forhim to just open the door and jump.

He looked at the lockeddoor of the car, then at his hand. “Better a little finger than a thumb,” hesaid, trying to sound tough. Maybe with a bit of effort, he could pull offbeing a porcupine? Okay, hedgehog.

The rich baritone wasboth a pleasure to listen to and an infuriating nuisance. “I believe it was allabout saving the index finger,” said Domenico light-heartedly.

Seth squinted at him.The fucker was younger than him as well. How could he joke about such seriousmatters? “You think this is funny?”

Domenico let out somesmoke through his nose, glancing at Seth with an amused twinkle in his eyes.“Of course not.”