Chapter 275
"I'm not jealous, I just need to know if you pursued Kenji the way you pursued me. I mean, was I even any different?" Andre asked, drying his wet hair with a towel as he stood in front of the bathroom.
Cross sighed, pinching the pillow on his lap, "I never pursued Kenji. We were just friends and I intended to keep it to myself. After all, I realised that he was developing feelings for Zeno back then, so I was already losing interest. It was just a crush, baby. Nothing happened between us. You cast a spell on me the moment you appeared, it's been you since then, it's always going to be you," He clarified.
Andre sighed, "Yeah... I believe you." He hung the towel over the chair and walked over to the bed, sitting on the side.
"You do?" Cross questioned, smiling.
"Yeah. We'll be visiting Andrew tomorrow. He should be ready for discharge," he sighed.
"You care about him," Cross crawled over to Andre, hugging him from behind.
Andre scoffed, "I don't. I just want him to recover quickly and go back to wherever he came from." He said, clenching his fists.
Cross placed a gentle kiss on Andre's shoulder, "You don't have to dent it, Babe. Trust me, I hate that guy, too. But, it's just that you too are so similar –"
"We're not. He's blond, and he wears contacts." Andre corrected.
Cross chuckled, "Okay, hot guy. Still, you two are so striking. I'm sure you can't hate on your own face. Even I can't bring myself to really hate him because he looks just like the man I love." He kissed Andre's shoulder again.
"I think you need to speak to him, listen to yourselves and sort out whatever grudges you hold against each other. Alright?" He asked quietly, his fingers sliding through Andre's damp hair to massage it.
Andre sighed, "Yeah." He nodded.
"So..." Cross blew softly on Andre's earlobe, "Are we picking up where we left off on the beach? I'm really horny, you know? How long are you going to let me suffer?" His hands slid over Andre's shoulder, his fingers circling his nipples.
Andre groaned and removed Cross's hand from his chest. He turned and stared into Cross's silver eyes, "When the time is right," he kissed Cross's cheek and slid up the bed, lowering himself on the pillow.
Cross frown, "This is starting to get malicious of you. You're still punishing me aren't you?" He asked, sliding up to sit beside Andre.
Andre cocked a brow at Cross, "More like punishing myself." He said, smiling.
Cross propped himself his elbow and gazed down at Andre's face, "Then, why are you holding back? My body doesn't appeal to you anymore?" He whispered, trailing his finger across Andre's chest.
Andre chuckled, "You imagine impossible things. Come here." He placed his hand behind Cross's head and pulled him down for a searing kiss.
Cross moaned into the kiss, opening his mouth to offer every part of his mouth to Andre's hungry lips.
He gently bit on Andre's lip, sucking it into his mouth. But as his hand wandered lower, Andre stopped him and slowly pulled away from their heated kiss.
"Go to bed, first, baby," Andre whispered huskily.
Cross's eyes turned misty, "This isn't fair. You clearly want me, why are you keeping yourself from me? Is there something I did I haven't apologised for? Please, Andre, I want you," he cupped Andre's face, his eyes begging.
Andre caressed Cross's face, "I don't know either. Just give me a little more time. I love you, Cross." He whispered.
"I love you, Papito," Cross murmured and rolled away from Andre.
He rolled over to the other side of the bed and hugged a pillow to himself while backing Andre.
Andre sighed, his aching so badly as he stared at Cross's rejected figure.
He hated himself for making Cross doubt him even for one second. But he wanted to make sure that this wasn't just lust. He wanted forever, and he would make sure Cross understood his intentions when he explained it to him.
He loved Cross too much to do half-measures. He was all in, and he wanted to get Cross to be all in for him as well. But, he wasn't so sure if he was doing the right thing or not.
He closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the light rain on the roof, allowing the sound to lull him to sleep.
"You're really not being fair," He heard Cross's whisper before he felt him cuddling up on his chest.
He didn't respond, just hugged Cross closer and together, they fell asleep to the sound of the raindrops on the roof.
——
Cody stood beside Ida's car, pushing his hair back to fix his black baseball cap on his head.
"Hey, bro. Going somewhere?" Jeremiah asked, Jasper besude him.
"Yeah. Boss asked Ida and me to look into some old Mr. Vale," Cody replied, pretending he didn't see the way Jasper's hand was resting on Jeremiah's ass so shamelessly.
"Oh? Drugs? Trafficking? Embezzling? What is this Mr. Vale into?" Jeremiah questioned as he playfully slapped Jasper's hand away.
Cody rolled his eyes, "We don't know, that's why we're going right?" He bit out.
Jeremiah smirked, "So... is this the only reason he called you out separately yesterday?" He asked, wiggling his brows.
"Yes, Jerry. Ida and I over. Accept it and move on for Christ's sake," He snapped, folding his arms.
"Keep us updated, Ida," Jasper suddenly spoke to someone on the other side of the car.
"Sure, Jasper. It'll be a quick one," Ida's voice reached Cody's ears and froze him.
'Oh no, how long has he been standing there?' Cody gritted his teeth in embarrassment.
"Then, I'll see you later, Cody," Jeremiah patted Cody's shoulder and walked away with his boyfriend.
"Sure..." Cody muttered and took a deep breath.
'This is going to be one awkward ride,'
The car started beside him and he had no other choice but to open the door and get in beside Ida.
He fixed his seat belt as the car drove slowly out of the resort, the silence deafening his ears.
He pulled his shades from his pocket and put them on to cover his eyes. At least, he felt a little protected from Ida's glances.
Yesterday, he had thought that Ida might want to talk about them, his hopes rising for the for time since Ida's return. But, his swivelled down hill the moment Ida opened his mouth.
He spoke in the most detached tone Cody had ever heard as he informed him about Sebastian's orders, after which, he left.
Cody had felt so heartbroken when Ida left him standing alone by the side of the bar. He thought that was the point where Ida told him that he wanted him back. But, he'd been wrong, Ida would never want him back.
And, he had promised never to throw himself at Ida again.
He was still hurting as he sat in Ida's car, driving towards some classy hotel. He just wanted this investigation to end so so could crawl back to his room and lock himself up.
He was starting to feel suffocated by all the stuffed-up emotions. He needed to let them out somehow to someone, it was starting to feel so heavy to keep to himself.
"Are you listening to me, Cody?" Ida's calm voice asked, breaking the silence in the quiet car.
Cody blinked, forcing his mind back to the present. He kept his eyes on the road and asked, "Sorry, what did you say?" He stared out of his window, watching the cars drive past them.
Ida clenched his fingers around the steering wheel, briefly glancing over at Cody, who was staring out of the window and not at him.
"You know, if you have something bothering you, you can say it, I don't want anything to ruin this trip –"
"Don't worry, your mission will go smoothly. What was it you said before?" Cody's tone hardened.
He was done letting his emotions drive him. He needed to put his mind back in the game.
Ida sighed, "I was asking if you would like to stay in the car while I go speak to Mr. Vale." He said, glancing at Cody again.
Cody scoffed, "Then what would be the use of my coming? I'm no princess, Ida. I'm going." He replied, frowning.
"I never said you were a princess, Cody," Ida muttered, keeping his eyes on the road.
Cody didn't respond, he simply pulled out his phone and kept himself busy. The more he talked to Ida, the more tempting it was to confess his silly feelings, which Ida would gladly turn down.
He wasn't giving anyone that power to hurt him again. Once was enough.
The car slowly pulled over in front of a tall, fancy silver hotel, and Ida turned off the engine, turning to Cody.
"We're here," He said.
Cody looked into from his phone and stared at the building, "Okay." He was already opening the door and ready to leave the car when Ida grabbed his wrist, pausing him.
"Wait, hold on," Ida called.
Cody turned and snatched his hand from Ida's hold, "What is it?" He questioned.
"We're just going to question this Mr. Vale about his business. The boss suspects he runs trafficking, but that's what we have to observe by ourselves. Alright?" He informed.
"Yeah," Cody replied shortly and left the car.
Ida got out and followed him through the sliding doors and into the cool reception.
"Hey, come over here," Ida suddenly pulled Cody into a corner, frowning as he peeked out from their hiding.
Cody's pulse danced in his ears, his cheeks heating up in seconds as he stood flushed against Ida's front.
It happened so quickly that he didn't have time to build his shield up. He was literally hyperventilating from the proximity and his eyes decided to torture him by locking onto Ida's tempting lips.
'Would it be so bad if I just pressed mine against it? Just risk it this once?' He sighed, biting his own lip.
"That's Leon, what's he doing here?" Ida whispered slowly turning his face to look at Cody.
Cody didn't respond, his eyes still transfixed on Ida's lips.
Ida narrowed his eyes and gently pushed Cody's shade up his head, catching him red-handed staring at his lips.
A smirk tugged on his lips, "I need your attention on the mission, Mr. Cody. Can I get that?" He asked, his voice dropping low and husky.
Cody gulped, immediately pulling his glasses back down to cover his eyes.
"Of course, I'm focused on the mission. What else would I be focused on?" He asked, biting hard on his lip.
Ida allowed himself to stare at Cody's lip between his teeth before he took a deep breath and pointed out in the reception, "Leon was out there, and he went into the VIP elevator. Do you think he might be working with Mr. Vale?" He questioned, returning to business mode.
"Let's go find out?" Cody suggested.
"Yeah. This time, try not to get lost in my lips," Ida chuckled and slid out of their hiding place.
Cody stiffened for a second, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him.
"Fuck, this is going to be harder than I thought," Cody muttered and followed Ida behind.
——
AUTHOR: I'm so sorry to inform everyone that I will be taking the book down from the platform very soon. This will likely be my last chapter for this book on this platform. If you want to continue reading the story, search for "THE DEVIL'S MANNY" on Inkitt to continue your reading. It will be available there by next month. See you there!
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