Their Little Beauty (MxMxM+)

Chapter Sixty-Five: Something's Wrong

Life was going so fucking well, Devon inwardly sighed as he sat in the back garden on a bench- a bench that was gifted to him and his husband in celebration of their marriage. It was a favourite place to calm himself, away from the eyes of his lovers.

Everything had been so hectic recently that the man simply needed a reprieve.

Quinn's more recent artworks had been requested for a gallery display and auction, the gallery itself renowned within the artistic community. So, the handsome man had been busy getting things ready for it, working together with a charity organisation to make the auction into an event to raise money towards Suicide Awareness and Prevention. Devon was extremely proud of his husband, relieved to watch him use his mother's memory as a source of strength and inspiration rather than let it eat away at him, as it had been in the process of doing when they first met so many years ago.

The master's semi-disobedient little slave was being just as cheeky as always, only now needing to do it more often than not from the comfort of their favourite armchair, swaddled in blankets as they slaved away on video call meetings and projects. It still made Devon laugh to remember the look of shock upon Briar's face when he learned that despite Jesse's relaxed, no-shits-given attitude, he was incredibly hard working, and actually took their responsibilities seriously.

Briar, the lovely man himself, had begun researching again in preparation for a meeting with... Evangeline Ridgeon? Devon never could remember if that was her name, as it sounded so similar to Evelyn who was currently on his shit-list, but he remembered the important details; his sexy model boyfriend (and now submissive) had been asked to model for Evangeline's magazine campaign featuring many femboys with the theme of embracing your inner 'woman'. Which, the lovely man had been so damn excited about, spending every spare moment researching into past campaigns heavily focused on women and femininity. It was the first time he'd been this passionate for a gig in a while. Which had left Stephen feeling slightly jealous and worried his precious star was being lured away, as he had drunkenly said the one-night Quinn and Devon met up with the man for drinks.

So how did it all go to such shit... he sighed, leaning forward to cradle his aching head between two hands.

See, the thing that he'd kept secret from his submissive lovers, and only kept his husband in loop of, was that Devon had been looking for something. It was something that niggled away at the back of his mind so unnoticeably he often forgot about it, until that is, he saw or heard something that stirred up such dark and violent thoughts they made even himself shudder.

He was looking for Harlow Flaxen. Always had been, since the night he abandoned a precious, sweet and incredible young man so cruelly. After seeing how heartbroken his two lovers had been at the time, worried beyond understanding about the person they'd secretly held affection for, Devon had been unable to stay idle.

So, he'd called an old friend of his father's.

Ivan Cromwell had been an incredible man in life. A high-ranked officer within the Navy, a devoted husband and a doting father, as well as a ferociously skilled sailor, he had been a man respected by all who knew him. And despite having witnessed horrific sights when aiding in the relief following natural disasters, or supporting skirmishes between warring countries, Ivan's heart had remained soft and kind upon his returns to land, his inner demons kept hidden from young, impressionable eyes.

Devon loved his father dearly, respected him above all other men, and although always resented that he'd never gotten to spend as much time with his father as he'd have liked, held every moment they had been together close to heart.

And when Ivan Cromwell was laid to rest, given a burial worthy of an Admiral of the Fleet, he left behind a son yet to become a man, and a heartbroken woman made into a widow. Devon had been lost without the guidance of the man he saw as both a father and friend.