Page 52 of Conquest

Evan looked up, forcing a smile, but Jesse could see the tears in his eyes. “Do you want to see a picture of him?”

Jesse nodded. Evan swiveled his chair toward the safe. He pulled out a photo album and turned back to the desk. He scooted back in the chair, patted it between his legs, and Jesse hopped off the desk to sit in it with him. Evan wrapped one arm around him and laid his chin on Jesse’s shoulder as he opened the cover.

Jesse’s eyes widened at the picture of a breathtaking man with amazingly blue eyes holding a beautiful little boy on his lap while they both played the piano. “You look just like him.”

“Yeah, quite a bit.”

Jesse chuckled and pointed to a picture of Evan and his father sitting on the floor playing with Matchbox cars. “Look at little baby Evan. You were so cute.”

Evan laughed softly and nuzzled Jesse’s hair. “Don’t tease me.”

“I’m not. You were adorable.”

Jesse looked at a photo on the next page, showing Evan as a toddler held in the arms of a stunning woman with long, dark brunette hair. “Is that your mom?”

“Yeah,” Evan grumbled.

“You don’t sound real pleased about it.”

Evan gazed at the picture of his mother. “Things are tense between us. They have been ever since my father became sick. She’d get so angry at him, as if it was his fault he got cancer, then I’d get pissed at her and we’d end up fighting, but I think there’s a part of her that resented him for never continuing his career and when he got sick, she couldn’t keep it in anymore. When they were young and first met, he had probably seemed exciting to her, being an opera singer. Then he ends up becoming a mechanic to support his family, and I think she looked down on him for that.

“After he passed away and my career was rolling, I never saw her except a Christmas here and there, then three years ago she decided to remarry and begged me to come to the wedding and meet her new man. I went, and never felt so disgusted in my life, watching her hang on him, him on her. The guy’s a no-talent hack of a painter and it was so obvious he was only with her because I set her up very nicely financially, as my father asked me to do, and to top it off, the guy’s daughter, my new stepsister, was trying in every way possible to let me know she was game for being more than siblings by law. When my mother started cooing how the jackass was her one true love, I left without saying goodbye.

“The last time I talked to her was a couple months ago and she spent the conversation trying to convince me to wire some extra cash to her account because her man had lost his ass, or that is to say, a good portion of the money I gave her, playing stocks. I hung up on her and haven’t talked to her since.”

Jesse laid his hand over Evan’s. “I’m so sorry.”

Evan shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, really. We were never that close. She used to complain all the time about my father spending money on lessons and instruments for me. He always gave her everything she wanted and did whatever she asked, except when it came to me. With me, he did what he thought was best for me.”

Jesse looked at him, a warm smile on his lips. “He was an amazing person, wasn’t he?”

“He was.”

Evan slowly turned the pages of the album, telling Jesse memories from some of the more humorous photos. Jesse listened and laughed at the stories, all the while feeling that with each memory Evan shared, they were growing closer, and even though Evan hadn’t specifically said why he quit recording music, he felt that all Evan shared with him was a big step.

Evan flipped the last page of the photo album and closed it.

“Do you have any more?” Jesse asked, not wanting the sharing to end.

Evan embraced Jesse with both arms and laid his head against him. “A couple, but I’ll show you another time. I’m feeling pretty beat right now.”

Jesse laid his hands on Evan’s forearms. “Thank you for telling me about your dad.”

Evan nodded. He tightened his hold on Jesse. “Did you mean what you said earlier today? About wanting to have a real relationship with me?”

“Of course.”

“You really…like being with me that much?”

Jesse looked, trying to see Evan’s face, but couldn’t since he had it turned away. “Well yeah. Why are you asking things like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jesse knew it wasn’t “nothing,” but also knew Evan didn’t want to talk anymore. He patted Evan’s arms. “How about we go back to bed, and I’ll give you a backrub until you fall asleep?”

“That would be amazing.”

Jesse hopped up from the chair. He wrapped one arm around Evan’s waist, glancing at the photo album before walking out of the office.