The Boss's Daughter

Chapter 10: Revealed & Unrevealed Secrets (5,6K)

Chapter 10:Revealed & Unrevealed Secrets (5,6K)

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Magnus's PoV

Magnus looked down at the plate of pancakes in front of him, slightly frowning as he saw that most of them were burnt. He wondered if they were homemade, or if the batter came from a box, before chuckling at himself, perfectly aware of the answer. For a year that he has been seeing Alec intimately, he had never seen the man cook something well. Even pasta managed to get messed up in the end. But nonetheless, he smiled at the dark haired man when Alec put a bowl of fruits in the middle of the table, along with syrup.

They have been seeing each other for almost a year now, and Magnus never managed to tell Alec that his cooking wasn't that good. It wasn't awful, Magnus had definitely tasted worst in his life, but Alec's was never something he was looking forward to.

"I missed you, yesterday night. I thought you'd come after work," Alec said, to make conversation, but only managing to make Magnus rather uncomfortable.

The thing was, he never told Alec about what his job actually consisted on. To Alec, Magnus was simply a glorified bodyguard, overpaid by a very paranoid father. He knew that even though Valentine was Alec's Godfather, and even though Maryse (Alec's mother) was well aware of who Valentine really was, Alec only thought of his Godfather as a powerful businessman, and as his mother's best friend. Alec had no idea of what was happening underground, and neither did Clary. Though Magnus was sure that Clary always suspected something, but never confronted her father about it, preferring staying in an illusion.

Magnus had known Alexander for almost as long as he had been officiated Clary's 'bodyguard'. There was a five years gap between them, and still, sometimes Magnus felt like he was the younger one. Alexander had come out to his parents as soon as he was sure of his s****l orientation; whereas Magnus was still hiding safely in his closet. Alexander had confronted many of his demons, whereas Magnus was more comfortable at hiding from them. Alexander had not hesitated on pursuing him, whereas Magnus had been attracted to the man and did nothing. It was one night after a movie that Alexander crossed the line and kissed him, crossed the line and became Alec to Magnus, instead of Alexander.

Due to the fact that Magnus often dropped Clary at the Lightwood's so she could spend time with her best friend Isabelle, Magnus ultimately got to spend some time with their eldest son who would flee the girls as much as he could, especially when the years started passing by and their hormones started drifting apart their centre of interests. Alec used to speak to Magnus a little, and when he reached majority, they started seeing each other more outside of Magnus's work hours. It had always been rather friendly, and Alec had never been afraid to talk about his boyfriends to Magnus.

But the more the years passed by, the more Magnus started wishing they could be more than friends. For a long time, he fought against this feeling, because he felt that he of all people shouldn't feel anything for a man. But he would often picture himself kissing the blue-eyed man, or doing things to his body that he never thought he would ever want to do, though he never acted on those thoughts.

Until the day he went to see a movie rather dull, and Alec spotted him there while he was hanging with a bunch of friends. He dismissed his friends, telling them that he would see them at the end of the movie, and as soon as the lights were off, Alec had leant his head and kissed Magnus on the lips, without any warning. And to his greatest surprise, Magnus didn't complain. He actually liked it, and responded to it, making out with the man for the whole movie.

This was how they started their relationship. Alec told Magnus that he didn't like hookups, and Magnus told Alec that if they were to try anything, he didn't want Valentine to know. Not that he thought that his boss would have a problem with him being gay (if this was what he really was), but more because he didn't want the word to get out and go to his comrades in arms.

But most importantly, Magnus had told Alec to not ask questions about his past, or what he was up to when they were not together. He would be faithful and loyal to Alec, but there shouldn't be any questions asked. Alec lived by that rule, not asking a single question for more than eight months; but for the last couple of months or so, he had started getting weary of that rule, saying that they couldn't build a real relationship without trust and that Magnus clearly didn't trust him if he couldn't ask questions.

Magnus shook himself out go his inner thoughts, and gently smiled at the man in front of him, losing himself in the blue of his eyes as he told him, "I got caught up with some things, making me finish rather late. I didn't want to wake you up."

Alec had given Magnus a spare key to his apartment, so he could come and see him whenever he pleased since Magnus never took Alec back to his place. Not that he ever intended to do so. Several times, Valentine had tried to make Magnus move out, and he never did, keeping his place of residence private. Only Jace knew where he lived, and of course, Jace never judged Magnus for it. Actually, Magnus was sure that had Jace had had a place like that, he would have done the same as him, no matter what. It was the place where he had managed to survive, the place that saw him rise from the dirt, he would keep it. But he wasn't that proud to show it to his boyfriend. Especially when that said boyfriend had parents owning a whole floor of apartments in Manhattan, in addition to important holds in Clark's Inc.

Alec shook his head, not really interested in the answer and started eating his pancakes, drowning them under syrup and whipped cream, before slyly letting Magnus know, "The whipped cream was supposed to be for yesterday night's dessert if you had come… But instead of having it on some delicious part of your body, I have it here, on my boring pancakes. Because you didn't want to 'wake me up'."

Magnus didn't say anything, eating more the fruits than the pancakes. Alec often joked about their s*x life, even if Magnus never bounced back on those jokes, and Magnus never held any kind of hard feelings against his boyfriend for making jokes. It was what normal couples did. It was what normal people did. All people he knew made joked about s*x, men or women. Whether it was Clary whom he saw get bolder and cleverer about her jokes as she grew up, whether it was Jace who always knew about to be extremely subtle about them, whether it was Jordan who was crude and direct to the point or whether it was his lover who was always flirty when making them.

The only person he knew who never made a single s*x joke was Valentine. But then again, Valentine was different from other people in many many ways.

"Anyway. I was thinking … Next week is our anniversary, in case you didn't know," Alec said, his plate now finished and picking from the bowl of fruits as well.

"I know. Would you like something in particular, or would you rather have a surprise?"

"Well, there is this thing I want … Now, will you give it to me, here is the question?" Alec eluded. Magnus rose an eyebrow at him, surprised that he was being so elusive. Usually, when Alec wanted something, he simply said it, even if he knew it would bring an argument.

"How about we make a reservation at The Circle?" The younger man proposed, making Magnus frown.

He knew that Alec thought of him as a glorified bodyguard, and that was the reason Alec always felt like he had to pay for everything. No matter how many times Magnus would tell his boyfriend that he could afford whatever activity they would do, Alec always felt like he should pay. So instead of having arguments over arguments, Alec stopped proposing fancy restaurants and places to go, and tried to live 'like the rest of the people'.

But The Circle was a very fancy and expensive restaurant that belonged to Valentine and had been handed over to Alec for his twenty-one birthday. It was one of those restaurants where the menus handed to the ladies didn't have prices, and where they would put a whole set of cutlery on the table, just for the salad.

"I thought we could … eat there with my parents. So you could meet them in a neutral environment."

"To answer your earlier question, I won't give you what you want for our anniversary. Pick something else," Magnus sternly said, putting down his fork and looking straight in the eyes of his lover.

They had had this conversation already not even two weeks ago, and it had ended with Magnus storming out of Alec's apartment saying that he didn't want to meet the Lightwood parents as Alec's boyfriend. Alec stared right back at him, crossing his arms over his chest as he told Magnus,

"You're going to have to meet them someday. I don't like feeling like I'm treating you as a dirty secret."

"I'm not your dirty secret, Alec. I just don't think it's a good idea for me to meet your parents, yet."

Of course, those words were lies. He knew that he wasn't fearing meeting his boyfriend's parents as one should be at this stage of their relationship. And the excuse he gave himself about not wanting people of Idris to know was not reason enough to not grant this simple thing to Alec. No, the real reason he didn't want to meet the Lightwood parents was that he knew that it would mean a lot to Alec, and he didn't want to end up hurting him.

Even though he had been with Alec for almost a year, having s****l encounters with him and often fantasising about the man when he was alone, Magnus still wasn't sure of his sexuality. When he would look at himself in the mirror and ask himself if he were gay, he couldn't answer with certainty. He couldn't say if he enjoyed being intimate with Alec, or if it was just his body answering to something familiar.

Alec heavily sighed, before taking a different approach, "Well, maybe you could meet Izzy and Max as my boyfriend, then? You know, one step at a time."

Magnus suspiciously narrowed his eyes at the blue-eyed man in front of him. "You told your family about me?"

"No. I told them I was seeing someone. I never used your name. But I have to warn you that Izzy is clearly hoping that you are some sort of stereotypical queer she can go to shopping sprees with, all the while 'throwing glitter over the world'. Apparently, I'm not gay enough for her."

This had the merit to loosen a bit the thickening atmosphere, making both men laugh for they knew that neither of them fitted that description. If anything, Magnus was even less gay than Alec according to his sister's definition.

"She'll be disappointed, then. Maybe I should start wearing eyeliner to make her feel better in her stereotype," Magnus joked. Alec laughed a little more, dimples creating on either side of his face. This was something that Magnus liked very much on Alec's smile. It didn't only bring butterfly to his stomach, it was also beautiful to watch because of those dimples. And even when Alec hadn't shaven in a week, Magnus could still see those dimples.

When their moment of joy passed, Alec moved his chair to sit next to Magnus, and once there, he laid his head against his boyfriend's shoulder as he told him, "Maybe we could go pick Max after school, and go to a coffee shop just the four of us. So you can get to know my siblings better, and they can get to know who you are to me."

"Alec…" Magnus sighed, not wanting to get into a fight when they had just shared a peaceful moment. But apparently, it wasn't the thing to say for Alec rose to his feet, glaring at Magnus as he demanded,

"Are you ashamed of me, Magnus?"

"You know it's not that. How can you even think that?"

"I don't know. Maybe you don't like the idea of being with a Daddy's boy who never had to work hard a single in his life?!"

Magnus reached to take Alec's hand in his own, but it was snapped away from him before he could do so. So instead, Magnus passed it over his face, trying to find the rights words to say,

"It has nothing to do with who you are, and how you live. You're the one who keeps bringing that up. It … it's just me."

"'It's not you, it's me'? That's what people say just before they break up," Alec accused. Magnus strongly shook his head, sure of one thing, he didn't want to keep Alec away from him.

"I don't want to break up with you, Alec."

"Then what is it? Because I keep trying to understand, I really do. I try to understand why you don't want for us to go to the next step. But I can't. I need you to tell me why I can't present the man I love to my family!"

This made Magnus freeze on himself, before looking back into Alec's blue eyes. None of them had ever said the three fateful words to the other because they were out of place. Alec didn't know Magnus. He knew nothing of him, of who he was, of what he was capable of. He only knew the facade that Magnus presented to him, and nothing else.

"You didn't mean that," Magnus said, his eyes never looking away as his voice appeared so cold to his own ears.

"Don't you dare tell me what I mean or not! I know what I feel, and I know I'm not the one afraid of my feelings in this couple!"

This wasn't the first time Alec was raising his voice. Every time he felt like he was losing an argument, Alec would lose his cool and raise his voice. It was his way of staying confident in himself, and it never frightened Magnus, he had learnt to live with it. But he couldn't let a man believe he loved him when he barely knew the shell of who he was.

"You don't know me, Alec. There are things about me that you don't know. That you don't want to know."

"Let me be the judge of that."

Magnus slightly sighed, before specifying, "Things I don't want you to know."

Alec's face lost all colours and expressions in the matter of a second, his eyes suddenly becoming blank at this piece of information, and Magnus immediately regretted his words. Or at least the way he said them. He got up to take Alec in his arms, but the man stepped back, refusing for Magnus to touch him. He started clearing the table, saying,

"My father said he wanted me to drop by his office. I better do it when it's still early and there aren't many people there yet."

Magnus was perfectly aware that it was either a lie, either a way to get him to leave the apartment without breaking them apart, but he didn't say anything. He sighed, and simply said, "I have to pick up Clary anyway."

He was about to leave the kitchen, when Alec frowned, confused as he informed Magnus, "Clary isn't here."

Magnus froze, looking at Alec and hoping that this was some kind of sick joke. But Alec simply shrugged and explained, "I was at Izzy's yesterday night when Clary sent her a text that she wasn't feeling very well and that she was rescheduling their girls' night. Izzy was very annoyed, she said she had 'important' matters to discuss with Clary."

Magnus felt his insides disappear all of the sudden, his first thought being that Valentine was going to have his head for not looking properly after his daughter. He swiftly left his boyfriend's apartment, not without quickly pecking his lips; and called Raphael, a very small part of him hoping that Clary had been telling the truth and that Valentine simply forgot to let him know, no matter unlikely it was of him.

But of course, Magnus wasn't that lucky, and Raphael told him that everything was in order. Magnus thanked him, letting him know that he was on his way to pick up the redhead, and knowing that he didn't raise any sort of suspicion in Raphael's mind, it was usual of him to randomly call to see if everything was alright, just like it was usual of Jace to do the same.

For a moment, Magnus tried to figure out where his boss's daughter could be. She never snuck out on him like that, because no matter how much Valentine wasn't fond of his daughter having a dating life, he never put a stop to it, to avoid that very situation. More than once, Magnus had dropped Clary at a boyfriend's for her to spend the night there (to Valentine's greatest displeasure). So Clary had no reason to sneak out. And even if it was a last minute call, why would she lie to her best friend about it?

He kept on trying to understand where the redhead could have gone when he thought of his best friend. Jace was the best at disappearing from radars, but also at finding people who vanished into thin air. A couple of times he found for Valentine people who had been so well hidden that even Raphael hadn't been able to find them. Magnus put that on the fact that when Raphael had been plucked from school because he was the best, Jace had to learn to be the best to survive in the streets, and there were things that Raphael would never understand because he didn't have the same background as Magnus and Jace.

So without a single hesitation, Magnus took the elevator to Jace's apartment, knowing that no matter how loyal the blond was to Valentine, he would first try to help Magnus find the missing girl. He couldn't really explain why he felt that Jace was his best friend when he knew other people for longer, and when there were still so many things he didn't share with him. Maybe it was the way Jace would always wait for Magnus to come in his own time or the way he would always make sure that Magnus was comfortable. Maybe it was because both of them had shitty childhoods and had to learn to survive, or maybe it was because Magnus admired Jace for surviving so much better than him.

Once in front of Jace's apartment, Magnus used the spare key the blond gave him to let himself in, and the first thing he noticed was that Jace was nowhere to be seen. For as long as he had known him, Magnus had never even heard of Jace sleeping in, he knew that Jace was a night owl and an early bird at the same time. So he had been expecting to find Jace having breakfast, or relaxing in his living-room. But then again, maybe Jace was in the shower, or worse, sick.

This was an odd thing about Jace, he was never sick. Magnus had never known him to have a fever or to get a cold or even a stomachache. But he always placed that under the fact that Jace was a freak of nature. He barely slept, and yet, he never suffered from sleep deprivation. And he didn't know any sort of addiction. Whether it was something hard and illegal as drugs, something socially acceptable as alcohol or coffee or cigarettes, or something subtle as sugar, Jace always lived without including any of those substances in his life. Even when it came to s*x, he wasn't that interested in the matter, more interested in the relief that it procured than in the act itself. Magnus even wondered if Jace had ever m*********d.

Magnus often joked to Jace that he was a vegan diet away from being a robot because nobody could be that healthy in life.

But as he got upstairs, Magnus didn't hear a noise from the shower, comforting him in the idea that Jace might be sick, and therefore unable to help him in his hunt for Clary. He opened the door, his mouth already opened to apologise for barging in like that, when he got face to face with Jace.

Relief washed over Magnus when he saw that Jace was all but in good health, though his hair clearly indicated he just got out of bed. Magnus glanced at the bed, where he saw a sleeping form. He was about to tease Jace for being human for once when he saw who was in the bed.

For a second, he tried to find a reasonable explanation that would explain what Clarissa Morgenstern was doing in Jace Wayland's bed. Maybe she had been really sick and had gone to Jace, unable to make it back home. Maybe Jace had called Valentine to let him know about his daughter's whereabouts, and the two of them forgot to let Magnus know as well.

But Magnus's false hopes all died when he saw Clary's bra strap on her shoulders. He glanced around, seeing her clothes alongside with Jace's rumpled on a chair. And of course, there was the fact that Jace was shirtless, with his tousled hair, just coming out of bed when this was so unusual of him.

When Magnus regained possession of his voice and of his heartbeat, he stated the most obvious thing in the world, "You're a dead man!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" Jace ushered as if the most important thing at this instant was the volume of his voice.

Magnus watched Jace with disbelief, not really believing his eyes and ears at this moment. He watched Jace glancing behind him, assuring himself that the redhead was still sleeping before he closed the door and indicated Magnus that whatever conversation they would have, they should have it downstairs.

So the two men went to the living room, Jace clearly more relaxed than Magnus about the situation, going to the kitchen space to pour himself a glass of water. Magnus waited for the blond to explain himself, but when it became clear that he had no intentions of doing so, he accused him,

"Of all the girls in this f*****g city, Jace, you had to f**k Valentine's daughter? Do you want to die? Do you want me to die?"

Jace rose an eyebrow at him before leaning against his sink and drinking his water. "Why would you die? Just don't tell Valentine."

"You want to keep secrets from Valentine?"

Of all the things that had happened in this morning, this was the least believable thing. Magnus could understand that Jace and Clary had fallen into bed, they were both attractive people. Magnus could understand that Clary hadn't wanted her best friend to know of this one night stand. Magnus could understand that neither of them thought they would get caught since Magnus was in the building to pick up Clary earlier than he should. But what he could not understand or even believe was Jace willingly keeping secrets from Valentine. Especially something like that.

Jace crossed his arms over his chest, looking slightly conflicted. But that expression barely lasted a second. Then, he rose an eyebrow at Magnus, interrogating him, "What are you doing here, Magnus?"

"I came to ask you to help me look for her!"

"Keep your voice down," Jace gritted between his teeth, glancing in direction of the stairs. He waited for a little to see if the redhead had been awakened by their voices, and when it became evident that she was still sleeping, Jace returned his focus on Magnus who did not forget about his line of questioning.

"Jace! Are we going to talk about the fact that you just f****d our boss's daughter?! You know, the man owning this city! The man owning the mob we work for!"

"Your voice, Magnus!" Jace ushered, but all Magnus could do was glare at the blond man. He couldn't believe that he was more worried about waking up the girl upstairs than of the consequences of having that said redhead upstairs in the first place.

"We didn't have s*x yesterday night if that's what you're worried about. We met in the elevator, she came up, and we fell asleep whilst talking."

Magnus rubbed his forehead, trying to make a sense of all of it, but things didn't add up, and there was this constant threat that was looming over him. If Valentine knew that Jace fooled around with his daughter, Magnus knew that he would be caught in the problem. Clary was his responsibility when she wasn't at the mansion, and Magnus hadn't known and informed his boss about something so important.

But as Magnus was trying to calm himself and understand what was happening, something Jace said lit a bulb in his head. "What do you mean, 'yesterday night'? How long has this been going on?"

Jace didn't say anything, his face unreadable and void of expressions before a slight frown rumpled his face. "Isn't it a bit early for you to come to pick her up? It's barely nine, and you usually come around eleven…"

"I was in the area," Magnus eluded, but it didn't make Jace drop the issue as he had hoped.

"And Isabelle told you that Clary was at my place this morning?" Jace asked with a small smirk as if he already knew the truth, which made Magnus play safe, and stay the closest to the truth as possible

"No. Alec was on his way out when I came and he told me that Clary texted Isabelle to let her know that she wasn't feeling well and therefore not coming."

"Alec? I didn't know you were on short name bases with the Lightwoods," Jace countered, and Magnus realised his mistake. Still, he didn't let Jace stray him away from the main topic.

"Why are we even talking about me? Don't avoid my questions, Jace. Why did I find Clary in your bed?"

Jace glanced to the stairs as if he was making a decision, and just as he did so, Magnus decided that he was ready to believe whatever lie he would be fed with. If he believed the lie, he wouldn't have to feel bad or guilty about anything. All Jace had to do was lie about the real reason their boss's daughter was in his apartment.

But of course, it was Jace Magnus was dealing with. "Because we had a lot to talk about, and I wanted to sleep with her in my arms," He truthfully said, making Magnus whimper at this truth he wasn't ready to hear, nor that he wanted to hear for that matter.

"Why did you tell me that? Why didn't you lie? You knew I would have bought anything!"

Jace furrowed his brows, probably confused that Magnus would suggest him to lie, before he told him, "Because you're my best friend, and you asked me a direct question. If you didn't want the honest answer, you should have asked another kind of question."

Magnus passed his hand over his face before he started pacing throughout Jace's living room, whilst Jace observed him from the kitchen space. He was trying to understand how Jace could be so calm when Valentine was famous for his short temper concerning his daughter's suitors. And he was trying to understand how Jace could even think of keeping this secret from Valentine. This idea was going against everything Jace was to his very being.

And suddenly, he understood. "It's not your secret to share."

"No, it's not."

Magnus looked at his best friend, seeing him differently as he uttered those words. Never in his life, he would have thought that Jace would break his most sacred rule for someone who wasn't Valentine Morgenstern. His loyalty to Valentine meant everything to Jace, and now, Jace was ready to put it in danger for someone else.

"Jace …"

"I'll never ask you to lie for me, Magnus. But it's my head that's at stake. No matter what, I won't bring you into this. I'll accept whatever consequences will come to me in time, as long as their repercussions are only on me."

Magnus didn't say a word for a while, understanding would Valentine learn about Clary and his best man, Jace would take to the grave the fact that Magnus had known about them. He could also see why Clary didn't want her father to know about Jace. Valentine wasn't known to like any male around Clary that wasn't him.

He finally stopped pacing and leaned against the sofa, facing Jace as he asked, "So … How did it happen, if yesterday night wasn't your first time together?"

Jace smirked, turning so he could pour himself another glass of water all the while informing his friend, "I took your word a little too seriously when you told me to enjoy myself in Japan."

Magnus couldn't hold the chuckle that came out of him, shaking his head a little. "You know, she has had a crush on you at some point. She and Isabelle."

"I know, she told me."

Magnus bit the inside of his cheek, wanting to say something more, but not sure of how Jace would take it. He didn't want his best friend thinking that he was trying to talk him out of anything, but there were still things he felt he needed to say, for both their peace of mind.

"Jace … You know Valentine. You should tell him before he finds out. Valentine always finds out. And he will have your head for touching his daughter, and your soul for betraying him."

Jace looked down on the floor, lost in his thoughts before he looked back at Magnus with a glimpse of tortured sadness in his eyes. But of course, like every time Jace started showing his emotions, he masked his feelings before they could be properly seen.

"I can't, Magnus. I made a promise. So it would appear that it is a risk I'm willing to take."

Magnus nodded, and walked toward the front door, informing the blond man, "I will be in front of the building at midday sharp to pick up Clary. Don't make me come back inside the building."

Then he left the apartment, his mind troubled with the version of Jace that he just saw. And the more he thought about it, the more resolved he was on making sure that Valentine would never find out about Jace. Because he loved Jace and knew that Valentine would punish this sort of betrayal. Because he didn't want his best friend to suddenly go missing. Because Jace's smile when he said that he knew about Clary's crush was something that he had never seen before.

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