Page 103 of Beautiful Disaster

“It’s too late. The damage is done. I’ve got a plan. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry? You’re fucking joking, right? Of course, I’m worried. I refuse to let you lose your restaurants over this asshole or… for me.” I start to leave his office, but stop at the door. “I’ll fix this.”

“Jinx, wait!”

I ignore Mason and rush upstairs to get dressed as a plan starts to play out in my mind. My eyes water for Mason, for me. It’s not something I want to do, but I have to if I want to protect and save him. I owe him everything.

He follows me and tries to stop me. “Let’s sit and talk about this.”

I close my eyes, and with a deep breath, I work on calming him just enough to get out of here. “Trust me. Let me fix this.”

He drops his arms and nods.

I run out of his house and rush home as I think about what I plan to say and do.

Chapter 29

Jinx

As soon as I get home, I’m firing up my laptop. I go to the community group on Facebook and read all the comments shared about Ristorante Vitali, and more specifically, about Mason.

Several posts are gushing about the food and how nice Mason is. Then I stumble onto Mr. Bush’s posts, trashing Mason, claiming he’s a fucking pedo. Fucking asshole. I swear to god…

I read the responses. Some are saying they have no idea what he’s talking about, that they’ve never seen Mason with a younger man. Some are going on and on about Mason being queer, but most are tolerant. I feel a little better knowing he has a lot of supporters.

Even better, some people are blasting Mr. Bush for doing this, especially when they’ve learned that there have been death threats against some of the staff.

Still, people are hating on Mason—enough that it could ruin his business—and it will eventually spread to his other restaurants.

The people have no idea who I am yet. Mason and I don’t go about town showing off our relationship. Most of it has been spent at his house. All they know is that I work at Sugar-Sweet Ranch. That reminds me to ask Julien if he’s been harassed, which adds another layer of stress.

The rage is building inside me at people who don’t have a fucking clue as to what’s really going on. Well-meaning people who are ruining a good man. I want to lash out at them, but I have to think clearly, calmly, and rationally. I understand enough about social media that if you’re not careful with your words, you could get eviscerated online. I also know grooming and trafficking are a real fucking problem globally. I mean, my friends and I were all subjected to it. I would know first fucking hand about what it’s really like. These people also don’t understand that Mason resisted me once he found out how old I was.

I can’t help but see the parallels between Jude and me when it comes to Mason, having to choose us over his own life. I don’t doubt for a second that he’s struggling to find a way to keep me and keep his restaurants going. I also see the parallels with Phillip, but he doesn’t get a fucking hall pass. He knew I was just a child.

Eventually, Mason will have to choose between me and his business, just as he was forced to choose between Jude and his parents.

Poor Mason. It’s so fucking unfair.

I pinch my eyes as they start watering. It hurts like hell, but I won’t let Mason destroy all he’s built for me. I refuse to. I won’t let him make that tough as fuck decision.

With a deep breath, I type out a post on the community page.

My name is Jinx. I’m the one Mr. Bush is talking about. The apparently younger man who Mason Vitali is dating. Mr. Bush is very much mistaken. He approached our table one night while we were having a business dinner, interrupted us, and started accusing Mr. Vitali of dating a man half his age. He got it into his head that Mr. Vitali groomed me for some reason.

Let me be very clear. Mr. Vitali is a future client of ours at Sugar-Sweet Ranch. I don’t know what Mr. Bush saw, but he’s destroying lives for no apparent reason. Is it a vendetta? Was he wronged in some way? Who knows?

Let’s say for a minute I was dating Mr. Vitali. I’m a grown adult who’s capable of making life choices and decisions.

We at Sugar-Sweet Ranch have all been victims of grooming, sexual abuse, and trafficking since we were infants. We have formed a family to start new lives and a business, free from our pain. Mr. Bush has made our trauma worse. I would know better than anyone if I were being groomed or abused. Better than Mr. Bush would.

Or maybe the problem is that Mr. Vitali is gay? Are you accusing him of such things because of his sexuality? Is it bigotry that’s fueling this fire? It’d better not be. That’s not the Durango I know and love, living here, helping to run a business owned by queer men with trauma. I love this town and the people in it, but everyone has deeply upset and disappointed me. I no longer feel welcome here, and neither does Mr. Vitali.

I hope this matter can finally come to rest. Stop ruining people’s lives based on hearsay instead of facts.

There. Done. I turn off the commenting on the post because I don’t want to fucking read gaslighting, lies, anger, or even support. Fuck ’em.

Orange Crush rubs against my ankles. Like most animals, they pick up on distress. I lift her into my arms and carry her to bed. All my anger morphs into grief. I fucking hated denying my love for Mason, pretending we’re nothing. I’m going to fucking miss him, but it’s the only way to protect him.