Page 53 of Pose for Me
After we get dressed, I lead him out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Lane stops walking when he sees thedoor that leads down to my basement, staring at it with a glazed look in his eyes.
“You want to go out front?” I ask, not sure what else to do.
Lane studies the door for another moment, then shakes himself. “No. We can…we can…go.”
I hold my hand out and Lane takes it, letting me lead him through the back door.
The smile that spreads across his face once we’re outside is breathtaking. I admire his profile as he tips his head back, taking in how gorgeous he is. Still pale and his cheeks hollow, but he’s fucking beautiful.
When he lowers his head and opens his eyes to look at me, he’s still smiling. “What?” he asks, a blush climbing up his cheeks.
I just shake my head. “Come on.” I take his hand, and we walk through my backyard. My property sits on a few acres of land with no neighbors for about three miles and an old logging road at the edge of the property, so I don’t have to worry about him getting away and telling anyone I’m holding him captive.
We walk slowly, Lane gazing at his surroundings, smiling softly.
“It’s pretty here,” he says after we’re silent for a few minutes. “How did you find this place?”
I give him a long look, then say, “I needed something secluded, and I wanted a lot of privacy. Not just for…what I do but because I don’t like neighbors.”
“What about…if something…like a fire…” He tilts his head. “Won’t you need someone, Daddy?”
A zing shoots through me, but I tamp it down. “I haven’t before.”
“Where does your brother live? Close by?”
“No. He lives in the city. About half an hour away. He visits sometimes.”
Lane looks at me sharply. “Did he…come while?—”
“He hasn’t been here in a few months.”
“Does he know you have…company?”
I look at Lane, wondering if I should lie to him. I mean, I lied when I said Jacob hasn’t been over in a few months, but I don’t count him helping me dismember and dispose of a body as visiting.
“Yes,” I say. “He knows.”
He turns slightly green. “Is he…”
“A psychopath?” I fill in for him. Lane nods. “Yeah. He’s like me. But he doesn’t kill. It’s too messy for him. He likes to channel his psychopathy by being a ruthless businessman.” I glance over at him. “He’s an architect.” His face shows recognition, then he chuckles softly with an eye roll.
“So you told me you wanted to be a doctor but became an architect. So I take it you just swapped you and your brother’s professions?”
I shake my head. “It’s not that simple. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to be an architect.” We reach the wooded edge of my property and walk the perimeter slowly. It’ll be dark in about an hour, and I want Lane to get as much of the sun as he can to bring that healthy tan back, not this ghostly pallor he’s rocking. “But I ended up transferring to college with a pre-dental program during my freshman year.”
“Why?” he asks, peering at me with curious eyes.
I bring us to stop. “Do you really want to know? I’ll tell you, but I’m not sure you can handle it.”
He gives me a dry look. “I know who you are. I’ve been studying your work for years. I’veseenwhat you do. I think I can handle what you’ve done in your past, Daddy.”
I can tell that he’s warring with himself to accept what I do or what I’ve done. Will I be making it worse if I tell him about crimes he’s never known about?
Fuck it. He’ll just have to figure out how he feels about it with himself. I won’t apologize for who I am.
Nodding, I grab his hand so we can keep walking, making our way slowly back to the house. “I initially enrolled at the same college as Jacob. Though I don’t have the capacity to love like most people, I love my brother and wanted to be just like him. I figured we could start a firm when I graduated, and we’d take the architecture world by storm. But we both had to pretend that we were normal. Jacob had an easier time of it, making friends even if he didn’t really care about them. I was always quiet, kept more to myself.”
“The poster child of a murderer,” Lane says quietly.
