Page 54 of Something Unprofessional

“Shut up,” Ev snapped, unable to continue listening as she tried to steamroller his life again. He clenched the phone to keep from dropping it, his entire body vibrating. He wanted to stomp his feet and scream at her. He wanted to run. He wanted his Daddy. “I’m not interested. That should be clear as fucking glass by now.”

His mother gasped, and Ev could imagine her clutching her pearls. “Don’t be so dramatic, Everett,” she chided. “And watch your language. This is a difficult business, and you need your parents’ support if you want to be successful.”

Ev laughed, but the sound came out wrong. “You’re seriously delusional if you think you can force your way back into my life at this point. I cut you off for a reason, and you clearly haven’t learned anything from it.”

“Don’t be rude, Everett. If you would just calm down and listen—”

“Listen? Why should I listen to you when you’ve not once in your life listened to me?”

“That’s uncalled for. And no way to speak to your mother. I only want what’s best for you.”

“In that case, don’t ever call me again. I have no interest in hearing from you, and I’m sure as shit not going to roll over and give you what you want.”

There was movement at the office door, and Ev looked over to see Gabe watching him with one eyebrow raised. He cringed, well aware of how bad this sounded from one side. He didn’t bother to draw things out any longer. He hung up the phone, with his mother still railing at him.

“Everything okay?” Gabe asked, his gaze drifting from Ev’s hand, still crushing the phone’s handset, to his tense arms and shoulders, and finally to his face, where he searched Ev’s expression.

Ev pressed his lips together to stop their trembling, but it didn’t work. He shook his head, vision blurring.

“I’ve got you, tiger,” Daddy said, gathering Ev up and ushering him back into the office.

When Daddy sat down on the sofa, Ev crawled into his lap and curled against his chest. Daddy rubbed his back and murmured soothing words in his ear until Ev’s breathing evened out and his tense muscles started to loosen. He sighed and wiped at the dampness on his cheeks, hating that she could still get to him after all these years.

“I can think of three people who that might have been—well, four, if we include that asshole agent I cut ties with last week.”

Ev gave a wet laugh. “I would have been slightly more polite to that guy.”

Gabe waited him out, his hand never ceasing the gentle massage up and down Ev’s spine.

“It was my mother. I guess she saw the video of Kels and me on TV, figured out where I work, and conveniently forgot that I don’t want anything to do with her.” Ev groaned. “I hung up on her. Shit. She’s probably going to keep calling back until she gets to talk to me again. Fuck.Fuck.”

Gabe caught his chin and pressed a finger to his lips, quieting him. “Breathe, tiger. It’s going to be okay. IT will block her number and any associated numbers from our system, and I’ll make sure security knows she’s not welcome in the building.And if she does somehow get in contact with you again, you give the phone to me, and I’ll handle it.”

Ev looked into Gabe’s warm blue eyes and believed him. Ev didn’t need to worry because he had a real Daddy now—a Daddy who loved him. And Daddy would take care of everything.

Ev

Ev sat in Daddy’slap, sipping his drink and swinging his feet as they waited for the demo to start. They had a prime spot, their curved booth positioned on the side of the stage, where they could see the action without being in the center of things. It was one of the perks of Daddy being old friends with the owners, as well as being the guy they went to for everything PR.

Ev tilted his head toward Daddy and got an absent kiss, Daddy not even pausing in his conversation with Jack and Spencer. It made Ev grin. He’d trained his Daddy well in the months they’d been officially together. Ev knew most people assumed the Dom trained the sub, but in his experience, it went both ways.

A crowd was starting to gather for Max’s scene, when Owen hurried up, cheeks flushed from the cool spring air and still stripping off his jacket. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I had a bridewho cried all her makeup off, and I had to go back and fix it before the reception. You’d think they’d believe me when I saywaterproof mascara only, but no. They always think they know better than the professional makeup artist. Thank you.” He took a big swallow of the drink Daddy handed him and collapsed back against the sofa with a sigh. “Sorry,” he said again, reaching out to pat Ev’s knee. “I wish I could have made it to dinner. How’s Kelsey?”

“She’s good,” Ev said, chasing the straw around his drink with his tongue until he could catch a sip. “Ahh. Super excited that we got paid and she can make her mother shut up about reality shows, but having serious FOMO ’cause Daddy wouldn’t let her come to the club with us.”

Daddy leaned in and nipped the shell of Ev’s ear. “Despite what she claims, she’s not twenty-one yet, and the last thing this place needs is the scandal of an up-and-coming social media star getting caught at a kink club with the sexy piano player she claims she’s not dating.”

Ev kissed Gabe’s cheek sweetly. “If anyone can make a scandal go away, it’s you, Daddy.” He rolled his eyes while Daddy wasn’t looking and caught Owen hiding a giggle behind his drink.

Daddy poked him where he was ticklish, making Ev yelp. “And I am handling it. By banning her from the club until she’s at least twenty-five.”

Once Daddy stopped torturing him, Ev sagged back against his chest, snuggling and sipping his drink. It was his third of thenight, but the first two had been at dinner. They’d all gone out to celebrate Ev and Kelsey getting their first commission checks from the social media platform where they posted the videos of their performances. When that first video, the one from LA that Remy had shot, went super viral, Kelsey had approached Ev about working together again. She liked his style, which complemented her own, and loved his music.

It had taken Ev a couple of days to think it over, but in the end, the worst had already happened, and Daddy had taken care of it. He hadn’t heard from either of his parents in the months since his mother’s call, so Ev had agreed to record a series of covers with Kelsey. Owen had done their styling and had a friend who filmed for them.

They’d put the first one up on their channel a week later, and after a strategic bump from Remy, they had gone viral for the second time. Then things really got crazy when the original singer of one of their covers saw it and posted a response praising Kelsey’s talent and memorably saying, “Now I know what that song’s supposed to sound like.”

The channel wasn’t much work. They were only posting once every few days and they could record all the videos in one shot, but it was bringing in good money. That first check had four zeros attached, even after they split it.

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