Seduction in Black and White

Chapter 2-2

Though the running water muffled their voices, it was enough just to hear their rhythmic heartbeats as Gideon stretched out on the bed. The shower was big enough for all three of them, but from the sound of it, Jesse and Emma were taking their time enjoying each other. For all he knew, Jesse might be talking to her more about moving in. Gideon would give them these moments uninterrupted.

Three weeks was a long time to be away. He hadn’t been out of Chicago that long in decades, and the slight worry of something happening in his absence nagged enough in the back of his mind to make it difficult to truly relax. Emma had picked up on his concern already. He had hoped a quick romp with Jesse in the dungeon while she unpacked would take the edge off, but then Emma had walked in, and he knew in the first second before she teased them that she knew. At least she’d played along. If there was anything he knew he could count on Emma for, it was for trusting them enough to follow blindly.

Except for the moving in. She wasn’t following blindly there. She’d dug her heels in, and she wasn’t going to budge, no matter what. The one time he needed her more than ever to accept what they said, she refused. It was incredibly frustrating.

The bathroom door opened and closed, and Gideon turned his head to see Jesse emerging with a towel wrapped around his waist. He glanced over Jesse’s shoulder and frowned. “Emma’s still in the shower?”

“Yeah, she’s taking a bit of time to herself.” Jesse sat on the edge of the bed, the towel draping over his thighs. “I half expected you to come in and join us.”

Gideon rolled onto his side. “I’m on vacation. Aren’t you supposed to be coming to me?”

“Oh, right. How silly of me to forget.” His hand slid up Gideon’s leg. “But it’s my vacation, too, you know. Maybe I can get a break from serving you.”

“Since when is serving me not your favorite thing in the world?”

“Well, you’ve got me there.” His hand came to a stop on Gideon’s hip. “Is there anything I can do now to serve you?”

Gideon knew a thousand things Jesse could do, but before anything decadent sprang to his lips, the sound of the shower reminded him where Jess had been. “You can tell me you’ve managed to convince Emma to move in already.”

“No, though the issue did come up.” Jesse frowned, and Gideon knew something was on his mind. Something besides serving him. “And now I’m kind of wondering just what is going on with you.”

He shrugged it away, stretching out on his back again. “Nothing a vacation isn’t supposed to fix, remember?”

“Except you didn’t want to go on this vacation. The only reason you agreed to it was because I used Emma as bait. And now we’re here, and you’re not letting it go. When you get this tenacious, it’s because something is going on. So what is it?”

He wanted to turn it into a joke. Just a bone I’ve been gnawing at. Wanna share it with me? But Jesse’s firm tone and steady gaze said a joke probably wouldn’t go over well.

“Nothing’s going on. I just think it’s time all of us were under one roof. She practically lives with us now anyway, so why waste her money on an apartment she doesn’t really use?”

“Because she’s happy keeping the apartment she doesn’t really use, and I don’t think she needs a reason beyond that. And what do you care how she spends her money? The only reason you’re on my back all the time is because I’m actually wasting your money.” Jesse paused, before asking in a softer voice. “Does this have anything to do with the Deacon Gowdy situation?”

The unexpected name made him stiffen, and almost immediately, Gideon cursed himself. Jesse was too astute not to notice, and the last thing he needed right now was for Jess to be distracted from the matters at hand.

“It has to do with the three of us being together. All Claudia’s death did was remind me that nobody’s safe. Getting Emma to move in means we can watch her better. We can be there to stop anything from hurting her.”

Jesse’s brow arched. “Are you suggesting she move in with us, or are you angling to lock her in your cage and never let her out of your sight again? Because that’s what it sounds like you’re suggesting, and I can tell you right now, she won’t be agreeable.”

“But at least she’d be alive to argue with me about it.”

Jesse blinked. “Okay, you are freaking me out. Do you have any reason, any good reason, to believe there’s somebody out there who would hurt her? Or is this just general paranoia because you can’t control the situation?”

There was no good way to answer Jesse’s questions. Though their relationship had them sharing more and more as time passed, there were still some corners Gideon preferred left alone. The biggest of those was his past. He had lived for centuries before changing his ways, and his history was littered with more blood and even more bodies than Jesse could ever accept. More than that, some of those deaths continued to haunt Gideon, decades after they were dust. He could live with the guilt, but he didn’t have to share it, no matter how often Jesse might ask him to.

“How many people have I pissed off in Chicago? Are you going to tell me you don’t worry about her? She can’t defend herself. Hell, she’s already been put on the auction block once. Why can’t I worry about something like that happening again?”

“Right. So, what you’re telling me is this is general paranoia because you can’t control the situation completely?”

Gideon growled in frustration. “You make me sound crazy when you say it like that.”

“Because you’re sounding crazy right now. And I know you’re not. So this brings us back to the original question, doesn’t it? Is this related to Claudia’s death somehow? Emma noticed that’s when you started distancing yourself from her, even as you insisted she move in.”

Damn it. He’d hoped Emma hadn’t been quite as aware as that. Though, in retrospect, he should have known better.

Lying had never sounded so good before. Except Emma might walk in at any minute, and the last thing he needed was for her to pick up on something he didn’t want her to. Not to mention the fact that Jesse would hate him if he learned what Gideon did after the fact.

“Claudia reminded me of Mary.” Maybe mentioning her name would be enough.

Jesse chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment before speaking. “Why?”

“Does it matter?” He rolled away, sitting up and rising from the bed. “Why can’t that be enough?”

“I think it does matter, Gideon.” Jesse stood as well, his chin set with determination. “Your history with Mary affects so much of what you do, of who you are. Every bloody day you make decisions based on this whole part of your existence that I know next to nothing about. Don’t you think that matters to me?”

“How did this conversation turn into being about you and not Emma? I know you hate it, Jess, but there are some things that are better left buried. Mary’s one of them.”

“This conversation wasn’t about me or Emma. This conversation was about you.” Emma’s shower stopped. Jesse glanced at the closed bathroom door, then scooped his unpacked bag off the floor. “I’m going to get dressed. Emma wants to get some dinner.”

Gideon felt every step Jesse took to walk out of the room. At every step, he felt the urge to call out to him, to tell him to stop, to apologize for not wanting to talk about it. But every step went uninterrupted, until Jess was gone and Gideon was the only one left in the room.

“Shit.”

This was not how he’d wanted to start his vacation.