Page 70 of Perfect Night

“No, it’s more complex than that. He’s not, like, out and proud. But it’s not a big secret hanging over him. He never dates or hooks up. And he wants Captain, so any time he has to deal with someone from the community, he likes to make sure he is going by the book. When it comes to promotion time, nobody will be able to say he was too lenient on his own.”

“Great. A self-hating, ambitious queen. I guess he hates rich middle-class white gays as well?”

Max winced. Sebastian laughed. What more could he do?

He’d been at the police station for three hours and was getting restless. They’d formally arrested him and taken his belongings. He’d been left in an interview room with Max, who was always calm, but even he was getting irritated at the holdup. Simmons had yet to make an appearance – the same guy who’d implied if Sebastian didn’t get here quickly, they’d turn up at his apartment and arrest him. He was about to ask Max to speak to someone when the door opened.

Two men entered. One looked suave and oozed charisma. The other looked like a potato. Simmons introduced himself, and of course he was the suave one. They took their seats andSebastian was reminded of his rights. The tape started and formal introductions were made before Simmons wasted no time in getting to the point.

“What’s your relationship with Brandon Fletcher?”

“We were boyfriends for two years, which ended ten years ago.”

“And why did that relationship end?”

“How is this relevant?”

“Just answer the question, Mr Steele.”

“It wasn’t a good relationship. He’s a very controlling man and liked to throw his weight around. One day, he put me in hospital and I didn’t go back to him.”

“You left him in possession of a two-million-dollar apartment, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I signed it over to him.”

“Why would you do that if he abused you?”

“I wanted a clean break and had no intention of staying in that apartment. It was agreed he’d never contact me again if I signed the apartment over to him.”

“Must be nice to be so rich you can just give away apartments worth millions to people who allegedly abuse you.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Well, you never filed a report against Mr Fletcher. You weren’t married. From what we’ve been able to discover, you made all of the payments on the apartment. And yet you just gave it away.”

“I told you why.”

Simmons whispered something to his colleague, who took out a picture. It was of Brandon and the bruising to his face. Sebastian winced. He didn’t realise he could do something like that.

“Are you responsible for this, Mr Steele?”

“Yes, but I was only acting in self-defence.”

“Self-defence? I don’t see any bruises on you.”

“You know what I mean. He was kicking the crap out of Charlie. I had to get Brandon off him.”

“Yes, we’ve read Mr Davidson’s statement and received his medical reports. The question here is, did you need to punch Mr Fletcher in the face in order to stop him assaulting Mr Davidson, or did you see it as a perfect opportunity to assault a man who took a two-million-dollar apartment away from you?”

What the fuck?He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Yes, he could have just pulled Brandon off and restrained him, but with Charlie on the floor crying in pain as Brandon booted him, he had seen red.

“I’d like to understand why you’re bringing up something which happened ten years ago as a motive for this incident,” said Max calmly. “You see, Mr Fletcher has form for this behaviour. Did you not speak to his most recent partner, Hunter? He was covered in bruises as well.”

“We’ve been unable to locate him.”

“And where is Mr Fletcher now?”

“He’s on bail.”

---