Page 4 of Lost Room Lawyer (Room #4)

I paused for a moment, enjoying the tingling sensation he sent down my neck with his velvety touch.

This guy had something about him that just made me weak. And he was right. It had been too much fun to find anything negative about it. When Rossi gave me a goodbye kiss, I forgot everything around me and savored the heat of his soft lips on mine once more.

“How do I get out of here?” he asked with a captivating smile. “Through the parking garage?”

I laughed, stroking his cheek and neck as our gazes locked. “No, you can go through the stairwell. It should be open, as far as I know.”

Rossi nodded and gave me one last smile before disappearing through the door. I fastened my belt, walked to the sink, and washed my hands. After drying them with several paper towels, I was about to leave the restroom when something inside me screamed.

My hands still felt dirty.

I stepped back to the sink, scrubbing my hands vigorously and using a generous amount of soap. After washing thoroughly, I grabbed a handful of paper towels to open the door handle with before tossing them into the trash. As the door closed behind me, I felt a sense of relief.

Maybe it was good that Rossi had left so quickly; it spared us further awkwardness. But somehow it also hurt. Who knew if we would ever see each other again. Bruce Lee’s poker nights were sporadic, and with all the work I had, it was impossible for me to attend every game.

Still slightly intoxicated from the intense encounter with Rossi, I returned to the parking garage and got into my black Jaguar.

I loved that car. Even as a kid, I was into that brand and had vowed that if I ever had enough money, I’d buy one. I’d had the money much sooner than expected, but at that time, I first needed a family car.

“You can still buy your dream car later,” Viktoria had said to me. I can still see her standing in the kitchen, heavily pregnant, with two-year-old Mina clinging to her skirt. That was fourteen years ago. Mina turned sixteen this year, and little Luna is thirteen.

How time flies.

I retrieved the wedding ring from the cup holder, hesitated for a moment, then slid it back onto my finger.

With a sigh, I started the engine of my not-at-all-child-friendly coupe.

The car roared to life as I swiftly drove out of the parking garage and into the quiet, shadowy streets of Zurich under the night sky.

If Viktoria didn’t have a shift tomorrow, I would have stayed in the city—in the apartment I sublet to two students.

I had set up an office and a bedroom there that I occasionally use.

I would have loved to linger a little longer on my encounter with Rossi, but tomorrow was Saturday, and Luna was far too young to fend for herself.

To make matters worse, my in-laws, who lived right next door, were away in Alsace for the weekend.

With no other options, I had to drive back to the countryside on the outskirts of Zurich where we lived.

Our house was far too isolated to be practical for the children.

With only one bus running every hour, they often had to rely on their bikes, and even then, it took at least fifteen minutes to get anywhere.

Every time Viktoria and I considered looking for a new house, the kids protested against moving. And I understood why.

The house was enormous, with each room decorated in its own unique color and style.

When the kids had friends over, they could run wild without restraint—there was no one around to complain about the noise.

We also had a vegetable garden, an herb garden, a small orchard, and a pool that naturally attracted friends in the summer.

It was, indeed, a little paradise, one my parents had left me, and where we lived as a happy family.

At least that’s what everyone believed—including my wife, my children, and my in-laws.

It wasn’t that I was unhappy, but the secret about the callboys was something I had been living with for fourteen years.

It had been so long that I no longer even questioned whether I was okay with it or not. I simply didn’t know any different.

My house of cards was stable, and that’s how it should stay.

The mere thought of anyone finding out and having to answer questions—a nightmare!

I preferred to keep this little secret to myself, believing it would make everyone happy.

I loved my wife, and this gay thing was just something that happened on the side. Occasionally. Nothing more.

A quick hand sanitization, and everything’s fine.

I quietly closed the car door and massaged the sanitizer into my hands as I walked down the gravel path to the house. There was no way to open the front door quietly, but the bedrooms were on the upper floors, so no one was woken up.

I removed my shoes and climbed the stairs to the top floor, where the kitchen was. After drinking a glass of water, I headed into the bedroom. If Viktoria knew I was coming home, she would leave the light on in the bathroom—a silent signal that she was expecting me.

I went straight there and got into the shower.

The cigar smoke clung to my hair, and my wife would never have allowed me to lie next to her like that.

I brushed my teeth, put on boxers and a T-shirt, and crawled under the covers.

It took less than three seconds for Viktoria to turn toward me and snuggle up.

“Hello, honey,” she said, kissing me with her eyes closed.

“Hello,” I replied softly.

“How was it?”

Hot! “Good. It was a nice game.”

“Did you win?”

“No.” Though… counting Rossi… I wonder what his real name is. “And here? Everything good?”

“Yes, Melanie is sleeping over with Luna tonight. And Mina is at Jessica’s. Rony said he’d bring her home around noon.”

I let out a confirming hum.

“And Sylvia is sick, so I’m covering her shift on Sunday. You’ll get to play dad all weekend long.”

“I have a lot of work,” I said, which wasn’t even a lie.

“Good thing the kids are old enough to entertain themselves,” she teased me with a drowsy smile.

“Good thing,” I said, not very enthusiastically. “So we’ll see each other Sunday evening?”

“More likely Monday morning.”

Since I usually took care of a few things from home on Monday mornings, we often had breakfast together. But this coming Monday, that wouldn’t be possible.

“I probably won’t be able to wait for you,” I said. “The intern is coming.”

“Oh, is this the Monday when Leo’s son starts working with you?”

“Yes. I have no idea how this will go. I’ve never had an intern before.”

“But you were an intern once yourself,” she reminded me lovingly.

“If he wasn’t Leo’s son, I would never have said yes. But Leo was my mentor, and I owe him a lot.”

“I’m sure you’ll be a good mentor. You’re a good father too.”

I laughed. “That’s probably not the same thing.”

Viktoria snuggled closer to me, resting her forehead against my neck. “I didn’t know Nils studied law.”

“It’s not Nils. It’s the other son, the one from that short marriage.”

“Ah, how long ago was that?”

“Twenty-seven years.”

“Do you know the boy?”

“No, we’ve never met. He grew up with his mother. I tried to google him, but the guy can’t be found online.”

“No photo in the application?”

“No. It wasn’t necessary, since Leo is his father. But from what I’ve heard, he’s supposed to be quite the genius.”

“In what way?”

“I don’t know, but it gives me hope that he can do something.”

At that, Viktoria slipped her hand into my pants and started to massage my penis. It wasn’t the first time I had come home already satisfied—and from a man, no less. As so often before, nothing stirred.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked, knowing Viktoria had to get up early the next day.

“I’m just taking a break from sleeping. You, on the other hand, must need to unwind a bit—you work so hard all the time.”

“Sorry, Vicky, but… I don’t think I can. I’m really tired,” I said, though my body still felt heated and electrified. The encounter with Rossi had just been magical.

“Too bad,” she murmured and rolled back to her side of the bed.

It took her less than three minutes to fall asleep again. A talent I envied. But sometimes she worked thirty-hour shifts at the hospital, so it was probably no wonder she’d learned to sleep on command.

I often had nights when I lay awake for hours.

Sometimes, I could sense during the day that winding down later would be difficult, so I’d skip going home.

Instead, I’d ask Linda, my secretary, to reschedule any early appointments and work late into the night.

I’d usually stay in Zurich, sleeping in the city apartment, and wouldn’t return to the office until around noon.

This arrangement was feasible because Viktoria’s parents lived right next door.

I would have loved to savor the memories of Rossi and his irresistible, nonchalant smile a bit longer. But tonight, of all nights, it took less than five minutes before I, too, was fast asleep.