Beast shrugged and walked through the billiard room, which was now occupied by Rev and Fox, who played in the company of scantily-clad women. “Yes, but we should go to the eye doctor next. I called the clinic, and an appointment opened up for today, because someone couldn’t make it.”
“I… um… when did you manage to do that? I mean, King paid me a bit of money for sorting out the documents that Jordan messed up, but I doubt I have collected enough for the surgery.” His heart drummed as they walked into the garage.
Beast stretched as they approached his big bike, with the scary-looking hounds at the front. “Oh, you were taking a bit long, so I thought I’d make myself useful. And don’t worry about the money. I’ve got this,” he said, looking at Laurent with such warmth it was enough to melt the frost of unease around Laurent’s mistrustful heart.
He squeezed Beast’s hand after making sure no one was around to see it. “I don’t know if I can accept an offer this generous. I’ve already taken so much from you.” And wasn’t he supposed to fend for himself? Find independence? Why did it feel so good to be cared for then? For someone to freely offer protection and affection?
Beast shrugged, also glancing in all directions before rubbing Laurent’s hands with his big, warm palms. “You should accept it. I promise this isn’t... a transaction, or anything like that. I just really want you to be healthy again.”
Laurent buried his face between Beast’s pecs, unable to explain how much it meant to him. The only reason Mr. Barnave ever wanted Laurent healthy was to have him useful. There had never been anyone who cared for Laurent’s well-being just for the sake of it. Maybe his grandmother.
“Thank you,” he whispered against the soft fabric of Beast’s longsleeve and sighed in relief when the thick arms embraced him in return.
Chapter 18 - Beast
“Do you think he just saw my last name somewhere and that’s why he used it? Because there is seriously no record of a Laurent Mercier,” Knight said, his voice like the buzz of a fly by Beast’s ear. After three glorious weeks of having Laurent fall asleep in his arms, for all he cared, Laurent could have fallen from the heavens just for him. And he was here to stay, if Beast had any say in it.
He exhaled, trying to keep his cool, because otherwise he’d lose to Knight again. Slowly, he leaned over the pool table and arched his body, watching the balls and mentally planning their trajectories before finally making one precise hit. The white ball rolled over the table, knocking into a blue one. Beast’s breath caught when he watched the ball first crash onto the edge, and then run across the surface, all the way to the hole in the corner. He exhaled loudly when it fell in.
“Beast, are you even listening to me?” Knight asked, and Beast wasn’t even sure if his friend really wanted to know the answer to those endless history questions or if he wanted to distract Beast.
“You’re overthinking it. He can’t be from here. How would he have found out about you? It must be a coincidence. There have to be other families with the same surname as yours,” he said, seeking another ball to approach, and he fought the smile widening on his face on its own when he thought back to when they’d come here with Laurent the other night and he taught his boy all about how to play pool. Laurent’s back had fit so well against Beast’s chest…
“Well, okay, there are, but if I knew his lineage, I could track who he descends from, and that could give us some answers,” Knight insisted, frowning as he leaned over the pool table. He lowered his voice. “I get it, all you care about now is fucking his brains out, but what if he’s involved in something that will come back to bite us all in the ass?”
Beast missed his mark and hissed in exasperation when the white ball only grazed his chosen ball, spinning off and almost falling into a hole itself. “He’s just a boy. What could he possibly do to us? Someone just dropped him off here, and that’s that,” he said sharply. He didn’t want to discuss this anymore. Laurent had many issues and his past was an enigma, but he was intelligent, and eager to learn, and so sweet Beast wanted to be with him all the time.
In the first week after Laurent’s surgery, he needed a lot of care despite the healing process going smoothly. He’d been released on the day of the operation and has been doing very well after the initial shock of his vision turning blue before his eye got used to its new state. Beast was more than happy to provide him with all the care he needed, applying medicine to Laurent’s healing eye several times a day and reading to him, so that he wouldn’t be too bored. It’d been weeks since, and Laurent was slowly preparing for the final surgery—on his other eye. This was what Beast needed to occupy himself with, not some genealogy bullshit.