Page 61 of Sweet Thing

CHAPTER 30

GHOSTS

Bastian closed the door in Simeon’s face. He felt like a total shit for doing it, but he needed Simeon as far away from him as possible tonight. Bastian had a feeling in his gut that his evening was going to get a hell of a lot worse than it would at seeing one of Simeon’s petulant scowls because he was not getting his movie night and a fuck. Bastian scolded himself for that mean-spirited thought. Sim didn’t deserve this, but the situation that was developing was out of his control.

That night Bastian had been leaving the office when he received a phone call. The voice on the end of the line sent him reeling back into the darkness Simeon had fought so hard to pull him from, over the past months. The voice said:

“I want to tell you the truth about your father.”

Even though the thought of the meeting made him feel physically sick, Bastian could not refuse this meeting, not after he’d been searching for the truth for three years. He would make it up to Simeon; all would be fine. He needed to deal with this alone. They had plenty of time to thrash out hurt feelings at a later date.

The sharp knock on the front door made Bastian nearly jump out of his skin. He strode back to the door hoping that Simeon hadn’t decided to get fighty, and returned to have it out with him. He couldn’t deal with Simeon’s temper tonight. Bastian put his eye to the peep hole and shuddered when he saw the face of the person he had been searching for since his father and Mattieus died. Max Schloss, Hugo Roth’s chauffeur for nearly forty years.

From what Bast read, the police reports confirmed Max Schloss had not been driving his father and Matti to wherever they were heading on that fateful day. Max had apparently been dismissed a week before the event. The police and a private investigator had been unable to track the man down in all that time. But Max had now reappeared and voluntarily chose to speak to his ex-employer’s son and set him straight as to what he knew of the events on the day Bastian’s world fell apart.

He opened the door “Max,” Bastian greeted flatly. The man nodded in acknowledgment but said nothing. Bastian stood aside and gestured for Max to enter. He closed the door behind him and, overtaking his visitor, strode up the hall and into the open-plan lounge.

Bastian moved to the seating area, only then registering that everything Sim had prepared for their romantic evening was still laid out on the coffee table, and the aroma of pizza permeated from the kitchen. A stab of guilt ripped at his gut.

“Please, take a seat”, Bastian directed coldly, gesturing to the couch opposite. Max Schloss unbuttoned his black suit jacket and hitched his trousers a little to sit in comfort. He stared at Bastian, and Bast glared right back. The silence put Bast on a knife edge.

“It comes to me now how much you remind me of a young Hugo,” Max said absently, his voice deep and masculine with a strong accent.

“I am nothing like my father,” Bastian shook his head and rubbed his face, exasperated. “What the fuck is this all about? Why has it been so hard to track you down? What did you mean; you want to tell me the truth about my father?” Bast was not in the mood for small talk. Not tonight. Not after he’d pushed his boyfriend away to deal with his ghosts.

“I need you to understand, Bastian. This is difficult for me”, Max confessed, his voice a deep rasp, etched with emotion.

“DIFFICULT FOR YOU?” Bastian was stunned. Max held his hands up in an attempt to calm Bast’s temper. He clenched his jaw to prevent another outburst.

“I’m sorry. It’s just a very delicate situation. I knew Hugo for a very long time. I cared for him very much.”

Bastian’s brows knitted together in consternation. “Cared for him?” Bast drawled disdainfully, “Hugo was your employer.” He was done with the cryptic chatter. “Out with it!”

Max sighed as if he carried a boulder on his back.

“Your father and I knew one another for a long time…”

Bast gritted his teeth and glared, ready to bite back. Max held up a calming hand again, “But we were more than friends Bastian. Secretly, your father and I were lovers for over forty years.”

The words and their meaning registered in Bastian’s brain and his body reacted like he had repeatedly been punched in the gut. He sucked in a breath. The Hugo Roth Bastian knew and detested had been a homophobe. Bastian refused to touch the media company he’d inherited or any of the billions. His father was determinedly far-right, and his media empire had been built on hatred. He did not want to be associated with Hugo Roth in any way. His name and inheritance were a noose around his neck.

Bastian was incredulous. “You’re lying,” he said, his voice stony and emotionless. Bastian knew his father, knew the kind of man he’d been—cold, ruthless and very much a ladies’ man.

“This is the truth, Bastian. Hugo led a double life, and the only way I could be in his life was to serve him. I was his submissive; he was my master“, Max admitted. “I am not proud of what we did—what he did to you when he found out you were also gay. Homosexuality was a part of himself that he detested, but he could not deny what he truly desired when we were alone together.” Max sat forwards in his chair and in a calm, measured voice said”When Hugo discovered you were tainted too he blamed himself, you know.”

A dart of fury rose to Bastian’s chest. “I am not tainted,” he retorted through gritted teeth.

“I cannot judge you on what I also am. I’m at peace with my sexuality. It was very difficult for me to love a man who hated that part of himself. He was always conflicted about our relationship.”

Max sat back and took a calming breath. “We met at University, and then when he turned twenty-one and gained his inheritance, he made me his chauffeur and bodyguard so we could be together always. Nobody suspected we were anything more than employer and employee. But he loved me. He loved ME!” Max insisted. “Your mother was—inconsequential.” Bastian never knew the woman who had given birth to him; he’d only seen a few photographs.

“When he made her pregnant, we cooled things down. Then she died from birth complications, and he was left with an heir. But he had no idea how to raise a child. He came back to me. For many years you… You were like a son to me Bast.” The words tumbled out of the older man’s mouth in a torrent, as if the dam had burst at last.

“STOP!” Bastian stood swiftly and glared murderously at the other man. “STOP WITH THESE LIES!” He ran his fingers through his blond hair and swept it off his brow. Bastian’s belly churned with nausea. All of the years of knowing his father hated the kind of man he had grown in to came into focus. He understood now; deep down he knew that it was true. His father was a liar and a hypocrite. Hugo had tried to ruin his son’s life for being gay, for doing something he himself did in private. Bastian was sickened.

The two men remained locked in tense silence for several minutes before Bastian turned to his guest and spat.

“Where does Mattieus come into this?”