Wealth (free and completed)

Chapter 19 - United Front

Valerie

A confession of love. He had stormed out of my room not too long ago, but he came back with emotions that were the complete opposite but also just as strong. I would like to think they were stronger, too.

I didn’t know what to think. I realized I loved this man, but we faced an uncertain future. I could give him my trust completely, but it would also mean submitting myself to his control. After all, he was supposed to take care of me for life. I was already his responsibility whether or not he took it to a romantic level.

“Well?” he asked, still waiting for my response. His word could have come out harsh, but he managed to make it somehow soft, even kind.

“You’ve screamed at me, slammed my door, and accused me of murder. You can’t expect me to give in right away. Do you think I’m stupid, Janus?” I asked.

“You’re right. I just want you to know that it bothered me so much all day today. I should have checked on Dr. Dillon first, but I was filled with -.”

“You are blinded by rage. I get it. But now you know that while my condition is improving, I am still a cripple. I couldn’t have killed dad. I wouldn’t have done it even if I could walk or run. He saved me. He was a better father than either biological parent I had.”

Janus slid down on the floor and knelt in front of me. I couldn’t even get up to pull him from his humble position. I could only muster a sharp exhalation. He was making it difficult for me.

“Please forgive me. That was ridiculous and uncalled for. You don’t have to take me back as your lover, but at least allow me to stay by your side. I’m here to -.”

“Protect me? What else do you think can happen to me? I’ve been threatened by the people I grew up with. I had been molested in my own home.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he said, his voice strangled. His forehead was pressed on the bed while he remained kneeling.

Janus broke my heart. While it didn’t take long for him to return and apologize, accusing me of murder was the worst he could have done to me. It was worse than cheating on me. After all, I didn’t even have a hold on him. Our situation was precarious.

“How will you protect me? Will you always be there?”

“I will. Do you need me to work from home?”

“You know I’m not going to ask that from you,” I grounded out. It was tempting to ask precisely that from him, but what would that make me? A coward? A damsel in distress? Everyone already assumed I was one – a cripple in a large, gothic mansion. I could play the part to perfection.

“Yeah, I know,” he finally raised his head. His eyes were moist and red. From the way his shoulders were hunched, he was tense. Janus might want to be with me, but he also had his responsibilities and roles to prove to everyone else he could play. He might not be a cripple and have the biggest chunk of the inheritance, but he also came from poverty. He had to test the waters every time, dip his toes, and check if his actions were proper.

“Then, we’ll be back to how we were,” I said firmly.

“No. I am willing to show them all that you are more to me than they could ever dream.”

“You’ll expose what we are – were – to them? Why would you do that?”

“I want them to know that I love you.”

“Y-you’re crazy. We can’t do that.”

“Why can’t we do that? For all we know, Emilie and Joseph had been lovers for years and may still be. It’s why Joseph had to step out of the mansion to be with his girlfriend. It’s why Emilie had to show up with various boyfriends. They are digging at each other’s nerves in front of all of us. Do we say anything? No. We watch their little charade over and over, and we let them get away with it.”

I pushed at the bed with both palms to sit straighter.

“Going out in the open? It won’t be good for you, Janus. People will think you took advantage of the poor cripple left under your guardianship.”

“You know full well you’re not the sort to just give in. I don’t care what they say if you don’t care, Val.”

It was a dangerous proposition. Taking a relationship in the open. This particular relationship. Yet, at the same time, he said that I didn’t have to accept him yet – not as a lover but perhaps as an ally – a protector.

He could tell that it was where my thoughts had gone.

“Again, it’s up to you if you want to take me back. Into your heart. Your bed. But I won’t hide how I care about you. Not anymore.”

It would be so easy to give in. I looked at his handsome face and took in everything: the straight nose, full lips, and the chiseled jaw covered with a five o’clock shadow.

“Come closer, Janus,” I whispered, knowing that I would regret all my decisions, perhaps not sooner but later, but it wouldn’t be perfect. Everything hurts in this world.

He sat on the bed, but I pulled him close to me.

“Wait. Don’t panic. I am just taking my work clothes off,” he said, careful not to frighten me. He folded his clothes and placed them on the chair facing my vanity table. I couldn’t help but smile at how he thought about organizing his stuff. I could imagine his mother teaching him to do those things. They only had each other when he was growing up. At least he had her. My mother wasn’t much of a mother even when she was still alive.

In his boxers and undershirt, he rested himself on the bed. He smelled of musky perfume, mysterious and male, just like himself.

“Have you eaten yet?” I asked.

“Oh, s**t. Yeah, you should eat your food before it goes cold,” he scrambled to rise and retrieve the tray. I moved to a sitting position, the straightest I could muster. It was getting easier and easier.

“You can rest that on my lap, Janus,” I said, seeing that he was about to get a spoonful to give to me. “I’m not a child.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry about that. I was willing,” he said, placing the tray gently on my lap.

“But have you eaten? You didn’t answer me.”

“I grabbed something,” he said. “Something fast. A burger on the way home. I missed those little slabs of fat.”

I laughed. “There are some pretty posh burgers at dad’s favorite restaurants.”

“Yeah, but you’ll have to wait a long time for those and pay a ridiculous amount of money.”

I loved how Janus still cared a lot about keeping the budget. It felt refreshing when my siblings threw money here and there, especially Emilie with her designer clothes and Rafael with designer substances.

“Listening to you right now, nobody will believe that you have billions,” I said, shaking my head. My stomach felt tight, shocked by the food I had been avoiding for hours.

“I don’t need all this, Val,” he said. “I can live without all this, but I also cannot live to see all of them go to these horrible people my father chose to take under his wing. I am also taking the money because my mother would have wanted me to. Then, of course, there’s you. Now that I’ve found you and fallen for you, I can think of a few things we can do with the money.”

“Charities,” I said, and I was serious about it. “We can help many people and still keep a lot of money. Even the shares that we got are too much.”

“Well, to be fair, some of them will have to go to business and estate maintenance. I need a lot of accounting to determine how much goes into everything. I need to take over Joseph.”

Jaw clenched, Janus showed just how determined he was at taking down Joseph. I could feel it, giving me goosebumps.

“I’m done, Janus,” I said after a few minutes. Then, I slid to the other side to get on my wheelchair. I saw that he was itching to help me but stopped himself. I wheeled myself toward the bathroom to brush my teeth. My bathroom had been set up to make it easier to reach all the things I needed.

Janus watched from the doorway, fascinated.

“It’s the first time you’re really looking at my bathroom,” I teased. He usually just used the toilet after s*x but hadn’t really scanned everything and saw how things were set up. “You haven’t even seen me in the shower yet.”

“That can be arranged,” he said, his husky voice making me swallow hard. But I was not ready to take him in that quite yet.

“Prove yourself to me first, Janus,” I said. It wasn’t a plea. It was an order.

**

“Strange. I didn’t see both of you for dinner last night,” Joseph remarked during breakfast. The garden setup was the new favorite. So, we were all outside, eating egg omelets, toast, and cheese slices amid the scent of flowers.

I’d like to ask him why everyone was still home and eating breakfast together. Usually, Joseph and Janus would be rushing to work early, and Emilie and Rafael took their sweet time.

Joseph and Janus were already dressed in their corporate suits, Rafael in a shirt and jeans, while Emilie still looked rumpled in a nightgown and robe. I wondered if she was forced into joining us all. I wore a frilly and jeans, ever ready for my online classes.

I knew at least that Janus wanted to get everyone used to our united front. We weren’t quite a couple, but we weren’t siblings either. We were more – of something, and he wouldn’t hide how he felt about me, although it would reflect poorly on him more than me. Although an adult, I was what everyone thought of as a liability, someone everyone had to take care of all the time.

“I don’t ask when I don’t see you and Emilie around,” Janus said pointedly, alarming me. He couldn’t be possibly directly antagonizing Joseph.

However, Joseph didn’t look displeased. Instead, a wide grin broke on his face. There was something malicious in his eyes. Somehow, Janus had revealed too much about us with that one sentence. Still, Joseph couldn’t comment on it without putting his ties with Emilie in the open. We all knew, anyway. I saw Rafael flinch. His shoulders were rigid as if he was ready to bolt or fight. Few people knew that he was not only a talented danseur but also had a black belt in martial arts. The latter never really did have much good. He had gone home with black eyes a few times when he was still in high school. Classmates weren’t too kind when they realized what he was – bisexual.

“So, what are you trying to tell me, Janus? Are you ready to play this game?” Joseph asked, his eyes hard despite the smile on his lips.

“What game are you talking about?”

“Well, this. Whatever this is. Are you ready to put it on the table, risk Valerie?”

“Why am I risking Val by doing it?”

“Oh, you know. We both know.”

“I’m taking the fact that I am in charge of her seriously.”

“Oh, look, you, being in charge. Do you think that’s what Valerie wants? Is that what you want, love?”

I shuddered at the word “love” and how it sounded strange and awful when coming from Joseph. What did he know about love?

“Okay. I apologize. Val is her own person, but I will protect her from anyone who tries to harm her. I just want to be clear.”

Rafael cleared his throat while Emilie yawned softly. The former wanted to end this now, while the latter didn’t give much of a damn.

“Hey, both of you, I think we can all agree we have Val’s best interest at heart,” Rafael tried the diplomatic turn, but I knew that he was aware of the kind lies in his words.

After everyone had their breakfast, nobody moved from the dining area. Janus wouldn’t move from his seat, possibly waiting for Joseph to leave the house first.

“Well, I’m off,” Joseph grumbled. “Some of us actually have to keep the family business floating.”

“Go on. I’ve done much of what I have to do at home and will just be there as a formality,” Janus replied.

“And you have Andrew there, don’t you?” Joseph smirked. “I sure hope he doesn’t get his heart broken knowing that you and Val – care so much for each other.”

Then, he rose and left. Emilie stood up and went inside the house, possibly to get more sleep. After Janus got up and kissed my head, I was left with Rafael’s eyes and the questions in them.