Chapter 18

Anderson was pleasantly surprised to see Olivia Duquesne sitting in the room with Gavin and Zeke. He had heard from Zeke that she wanted nothing to do with her son, but here she was.

He went over everything with Gavin, explaining why he was still in the hospital. They were going to keep him until Tuesday so Dr. Wright could see him when she returned. He noticed that his color looked better, but he opted to leave the oxygen on him just in case.

Anderson wanted to talk to Zeke alone, but he knew by the look on his face he wouldn't leave Gavin alone with his mother. For the last sixteen months, the woman had refused to see or speak to him. Anderson had heard of the birthday party for his grandmother and how the entire family had shunned him. He knew how much Zeke despised the people who had all but abandoned their child. So he would wait to talk to Zeke about all of this.

Before he left, he did what everyone else had. He stroked Gavin's head gently. The twenty-two year old had wiggled his way into everyone's hearts. Maybe it was his silent strength or his willingness to take on an illness alone. Anderson couldn't pinpoint it, but he also knew he couldn't just leave him coldly. He had grown fond of the kid in the eight or nine weeks he had helped treat him.

Zeke watched Anderson talk personally to the young patient. Gavin's face was open to him as he answered. He was still tired but he looked stronger. He knew Anderson would see it and take it as a good sign.

He looked at the woman sitting in the far corner. When he'd called Olivia early that morning, he had refused to back down from her. He hadn't taken the shitty reasons she spewed over the phone. Gavin was a degenerate for living with him. Gavin had made his decision. Gavin had done this, Gavin had done that. He'd finally just told her to shut up.

"Your son is in the fucking emergency room, and all you can say is he broke your heart?" he'd spat. "What about his? What about what you did to him? Have you ever thought of that?"

He'd let the questions hang between them so they would sink into her thick skull. Then he'd asked the medical questions to which he needed answers and hung up. He had no idea she would fly from New Orleans to come see Gavin.

Obviously Gavin was as shocked as he was. Except he was trying to hide his excitement. He hadn't seen his mother voluntarily like this. The birthday party didn't count. His entire family had been there. This, this was different. She had come to see him. He was tired, but he was itching to know why his mother was there. His foot twitched under the blankets as he tried to control his outburst.

Zeke had no qualms about his. He turned to her and waited until she looked at him. "When I called you, I had no idea you would hop on a plan," he said.

She stiffened at his tone. "You said my son was in the emergency room. Clearly I had no choice but to come."

"All I needed was his medical information."

"You didn't ask her to come?" Gavin asked.

Zeke turned to him. "No. I just called to ask about your blood type and if anyone else had it in your family among other things. I had no idea she would come."

Gavin's excitement died down. His brown eyes shrank a bit as the light slowly dimmed in them. "Oh. Okay."

Olivia scooted forward and put a hand to his foot. "How did it happen?" she asked. "How did you end up here?"

"I fell," Gavin said. "I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back to get some ointment out of the sidetable drawer, I stumbled over the foot of the bed. I hit my head on the edge of the table. It must have knocked me out immediately."

"You shouldn't have needed a transfusion for that."

"He has leukemia, Olivia," Zeke reminded. "One of the side effects of his treatments can be bleeding easily from an open wound. If he fell and hit his head, not only do head wounds bleed faster, but there was a chance he wouldn't be able to stop it. Anderson said he'd been there for an hour or two before I found him."

"And where the hell were you?" She rounded on him, brown eyes furious. "Why was he alone?"

Gavin squeaked a bit as he tried to stop them from fighting. He saw Zeke puff up as he was getting ready to destroy the woman. "Wait a minute. He was asleep next to me when I got up. He's a heavy sleeper so I'm not surprised he didn't hear me."

Olivia's face took on a pained expression. "Do you sleep with him?" Gavin closed his mouth, his bottom lip puffing out as he tucked it between his teeth. He nodded slightly. She let out a heavy sigh. "It was a mistake to come."

"Mom?" Gavin waited until she acknowledged him. "Why is it so wrong? He's been good to me. I haven't wanted anything, my grades have been good until now, and he's done everything he can for me. Why is it so wrong to be with him?"

"Because he bought you like you were a car, son. He had no respect for humankind when he told my father he wanted to buy you along with his stocks."

"Is that what the old bastard told you?" Zeke demanded.

"Watch how you talk about my father-in-law. He's a good man who would have raised Gavin right had you not come into his life. I know all about you seducing him when you came to the house."

"He did what?" Gavin asked. He was just as confused as Zeke. The two looked at each other like his mother had grown a second head.

Olivia didn't back down. She produced several envelopes from her purse and handed them over to them. Each one was addressed to the other. "He said you'd been corresponding for weeks before you agreed to buy stocks."

Zeke looked over the letter that had been written to him. He read it, trying not to laugh at the flowery language. They traded letters, reading the ones they supposedly had written. Gavin's frown deepened before he looked at his mother.

"Mom, I didn't write this. And that's not even Zeke's handwriting much less his signature," he said.

Confusion rippled over Olivia's face. Zeke handed Gavin a pen, and the younger man scribbled on the back of the envelope. Zeke did the same on his, and they handed them back. Olivia looked them over, face paling as she flipped between the handwriting in the letters and the ones they had just written.

"Grandpa lied to you," Gavin said. She crumpled the papers in her hands. "Grandpa reached out to Zeke for help, not me. He's the one who wrote into the contract that I was to be part of the deal. I didn't have a choice but to move here, or Zeke would have been in breach of the contract and his reputation would have been ruined."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"I didn't know until several weeks ago. But you wouldn't answer my calls anyway so I wouldn't have been able to. When I last saw you, I didn't even know."

Olivia looked at Zeke. "Did you know?"

Zeke nodded solemnly. "We figured it out several days after the contract had been signed. There wasn't anything I could do. I was considered the 'highest bidder' so I had no choice. If I had walked away, I would have lost everything."

Knowing that Raoul Duquesne had backed both of them into a corner then lied about it still upset Gavin. He didn't want to think his grandfather was capable of it, but he couldn't deny the facts. He'd seen the contract. His name had been in one of the last clauses that had been tucked minutely. It was easily skipped over, and that made things worse. Any court could throw it out, but they could have also had the contract nullified due to the sale of a human being. It would considered as human trafficking.

Zeke hadn't offered to nullify the contract. He had taken Gavin into his home and tried to hide it. But after he had started a sexual relationship with him, he knew he couldn't hide it forever. Gavin would find out and things would have gotten out of hand. Had he not been diagnosed with leukemia, he was sure he would have had a little more time before he'd have to tell his darkest secret. But he was glad he had told the younger man. Honesty had always been his personal philosophy, and it didn't weigh on him anymore like it had.

"Zeke, will you do me a favor?" Olivia asked. The older man frowned but looked at her expectantly. It was strange to hear that from her. "Will you continue watching over Gavin? I have some things I have to say to his grandfather, and I don't want him anywhere near him."

Gavin motioned to the room around them. "I don't think I can go anywhere right now anyway, Mom."

She tweaked his cheek. "Don't be cheeky." He smiled at her. "Your only job right now is to get better. Do you hear me?"

Her son nodded. "I do. This was just a small hiccup. But what are you going to do to Grandpa?"

"Your father left a trust to you when he died. I have been the executor over it for several years. There are enough stocks for you to own the company. I plan to sell them."

"Sell them?" Gavin asked. "To whom?"

"Zeke Daniels of course."

It was Zeke's turn to be shocked. "Why in the hell are you selling them to me?"

"If I sell them to you, you will be the majority shareholder which means you can bring to the board a vote. You're a businessman. You should know this."

Zeke did know. He also knew Raoul Duquesne currently was the majority shareholder with thirty percent stock. "How would I be the majority shareholder? I only have twenty-five percent."

"Gavin was given some stock at birth. Five percent I think, but my late husband Michael had twenty-five percent. That's thirty percent in total. All of that is in the trust…" She trailed off.

"Which you have access to and can sell the stocks contained within it." Zeke's wheels started to turn. "When was Gavin able to obtain access to his trust?"

"After he graduated college or after he turned twenty-two. Since he is already twenty-two, he can have it if he wishes."

They turned to the patient in the bed. He looked between the two of them. "I don't want it if it's going to cause issues. Besides, what will happen to Grandpa if you take away his position?"

"I can draft a plan and present it to the board. We can take it from him and leave him with a monthly stipend. Or we can force him to step down with nothing."

"There's a third option," Olivia said. "I can control his money like he has done mine."

Gavin licked his chapped lips thoughtfully. "Can we discuss this before we make any decisions? I want to know more before I make any drastic changes."

"I think that is a very diplomatic answer," Zeke agreed.

Olivia agreed with them. She decided Gavin was in good hands with Zeke and went to find a hotel. She would come back the next day before she returned to New Orleans. Gavin and Zeke didn't make any promises about when they'd have an answer to the trust issue, but she didn't seem to mind. She kised Gavin's head and left the room.

Gavin looked at Zeke, meeting his blue-green eyes happily. He untangled himself from his blankets and held them out. Zeke slid into them, his head going to the patient's chest. The stickers to the heart monitor were a little uncomfortable, but at least his heart was beating.

The younger man rubbed his shoulders slowly. "When did you call her?" he asked.

Zeke sighed and nuzzled his face into the rough fabric. "It was after I called your friends for help. I told her not to hang up on me since I used your phone."

Gavin laughed before he started coughing. "I can hear your tone in my head." He sighed as he rubbed his cheek on the top of Zeke's head. "I'm ready for this to be over."

"I know you are. Hopefully on Tuesday you can get a more definitive answer."

"Zeke?" The older man tilted his head up. Gavin dropped his until his mouth covered Zeke's. He could feel him smile into the kiss before he lifted his head because he couldn't breathe. "Thank you."

"If this is how you say thanks now, I can only imagine what more you'll do."

Gavin slapped his back sharply, enjoying the laughter that bubbled out. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

Zeke sat up. He rearranged the blankets and patted them securely. "Get some rest. Your dinner will be here soon. Emily said she will bring me something by later."

"Do you think I can have a milkshake?"

Zeke laughed. "I'll ask Anderson."

Gavin nodded and settled back against his pillows. He lowered the head again so he wasn't sitting up as much. Zeke watched him until he was asleep. Then he pulled up his laptop and some files he had saved. He called his assistant.

"Martin," he said. "Email Kepler for an appointment on Wednesday. We need to discuss something important with him. I'm going to need some documents drawn up."

Satisfied with his assistant's answer, he went back to work as he kept one eye on Gavin and his many monitors.