The Stone Knight (gay)✔️

30. A crack in the levee.

Very much against his wishes, but actually he had little choice, Dylan spoke via Skype with his lawyer. Before he could even take a step towards Lucas, he needed to know the details of the situation he was in. What situation they both found themselves in.
"Congratulations, you're married," was the dry conclusion of Morris Courier.
The lawyer made no effort to remove the mocking grin from his face.
"Since I've clearly explained to you what the circumstances are, that doesn't seem like an appropriate comment, Morris," Dylan grumbled dissatisfied.
The grin widened. "Ah well, every relationship has its ups and downs." He tapped his fingers on the papers Dylan had sent by fax. "There are several things I can do for you, but everything depends on what you want."

Dylan scraped his throat and leaned back. "Like?"
"For starters, it is important to approach the tax authorities. This is a simple paper matter and easy to handle. If you're willing to take on the cost, we don't have to tell Lucas."
Dylan nodded.
"As the Professor said, it is not possible to file a new annulment, but I can start a divorce procedure for you," said the man, smiling internally, because if Dylan had wanted to do so, he would have already given Prof. Rivers permission. As expected, it remained silent. "There's no need to hurry," Morris assured. "I will take care of business with the tax authorities. If you want to use my services further, I'll hear this from you."
"It's my strong preference to keep my mother out of the loop," Dylan said, looking at Morris sternly. "If she gets wind of this... brr... I don't even want to think about it," he shuddered with cold chills running down his back.
"This conversation is covered by our client-lawyer privacy arrangement. All the details remain between us," Morris assured him.

"Thank you for the reassurance, but you know as well as I do that my mother has her own sources of information. Is there anything to be found?"
Morris thought for a moment. "Of course there is a paper trail, if that's what you mean. Honestly, you're lucky with the way you're married. Professor Rivers has his own archive and can guarantee you optimal privacy. Actually, the document can only be found if you know what you're looking for. It's not going to be any safer than this."
Dylan breathed a little relieved. His mother wasn't the only woman he wanted to keep in the dark. Since his arrival in Cortina, he had received some ugly messages from Annika. She threatened to go to the tabloids if he didn't apologize and made up with her. In turn, he had informed her bluntly that he had no intention of continuing their relationship. Now that she showed him her true colors, he wondered what he had ever seen in her.
Alone in his hotel room he felt reluctant to return to an empty house. All the people who were important to him were in LA at this time and it took him a lot of effort not to book a flight immediately so that he could join them. Just the realization that he had to lie to them and tell them that he had no new information stopped him. He knew everyone would be disappointed with his news. After several hours of internal debate he admitted defeat and grabbed his phone.

Lucas was pleasantly surprised with the cheerful group that had joined him, but didn't know what to think of the news Madeleine brought. "So he travelled to Cortina on his own?" he asked, swallowing laboriously.
"Hm," Madeleine nodded. "According to Dylan, their relationship is over."
Staring into his coffee, he pondered what Dylan might discover during his quest.
"Instead of waiting, you could just approach him," Madeleine suggested.
Lucas hesitated for a moment before replying: "I gave him the chance to get to know me better. We've been on three 'dates'," he added with hand quotes.
"Dylan told me that he emphatically banned you from moving to L.A. Doesn't that mean anything?" she asked, hopeful.
He shook his head. "Dylan doesn't take me seriously, Madeleine, and he never did." Lucas leaned closer to her. "Don't think I'm running away from the subject, but this is not the right place to have this conversation." They exchanged a look of understanding and missed the shoulder thrust jake gave to his little brother.

Noah cleared his throat. "Jake just got a message from Dad. He's at the front desk. Is it okay that I pick him up?"
Lucas had no way of keeping the blush off his cheeks. Madeleine knocked on his arm unseen for the boys.
"If you can wait another count, Noah, Jake and I will walk with you." She turned to Lucas. "We'll intercept Dylan, and you'll have to get ready for your meeting."
Her kind reminder of his obligations here were accepted with a grateful nod. "That's right. I'll send word as soon as I'm done," he promised. Relieved Lucas saw his table mates leave towards reception and left the hotel via a side exit.

"Where is Lucas?" were the first words Dylan spoke when he saw his mother and sons approaching.
Madeleine raised her eyebrows. "It's nice to see you, Dylan," she pointed out. A gruff look was her answer. "Unlike us, Lucas is here for his work. As soon as he's done, he'll join us." She hooked an arm into his. "You're going to have to be patient. Or is this a problem?" she asked him obliquely.
As expected, Dylan immediately tied in. She hid a laugh because of his telling reaction and nodded approvingly. "Beautiful. That means we have time to do something fun with the boys."
Dylan frowned. He found her lack of interest in his stay in Cortina very suspicious. "No questions?" he asked directly.
"Do you have answers?" she bounced back.

'Well, chucks. She had him there!'
"My memory hasn't come back yet," he said in an attempt to gauge her.
"That's too bad."
"Is that all?", he asked in a wondering tone.
This time she made no attempt to hide her broad smile. "Why don't you just ask me what you want to know so badly, Dylan?"
After a skittish look at the boys, who walked carefree in front of them, he leaned towards her. "Did you tell him about Annika?"
She nodded. "Yes. Just now, at breakfast."
"How did he react? Did he say anything?" he asked a little too eagerly.

Madeleine looked at him with reproach. "Now you have to explain to me why you want to know this! Because I don't understand why his answer is so important to you."
With his mouth full of teeth, Dylan looked at everything but his mother.
"I can't make sense of your strange behavior towards Lucas anymore. A person can get whiplash at the randomness you treat him with. I understand that his quest for independence leaves you without a reliable assistant, but for God's sake, Dylan! Find out which relationship you want to maintain with him and act accordingly." 'Cursed if she didn't see right through him. That was exactly his dilemma!'
"You could start with kissing him," his mother continued. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, now would it? You never said anything about it, but I remember the intensely satisfied look on your face."
Purely out of automatism, Dylan shook his head. "That's because I messed up his plans with Mark."
"Really?" Madeleine smirked when the memories of their forbidden kiss in the wine cellar forced themselves on him and his cheeks turned bright red.
"Shit!" escaped him before he realized.

While his mother and the boys hung out with tourists in LA, he couldn't escape the storm surge of emotions that didn't want to leave him alone. Time and time again, he experienced the moment buried deep in his memory for years. The desire for those hot lips and the unconditional surrender of that supple body against his, pulverized his last resistance, and frankly he had no idea how he managed to not drag Lucas over the table and subjugate him at dinner.

Lucas didn't know where to look. Dylan's eyes hadn't left him since his return to the hotel. At first he thought Dylan was mad at him, but the hot promise in those stormy eyes didn't leave much to the imagination. Oh heavens! Maybe it had been a bad idea to bring along the writer with whom he would work a lot. The only time Dylan had taken his eyes off him was to take a deadly look at Jordan. He thanked Madeleine on his bare knees for the kind reception she had offered him, but no matter how he weeded it or turned, it seemed to make no difference to the feelings that Dylan's attitude conjured up in him. Jordan Sovel was a nice guy. One of which he thought he wanted to spend some more time with that afternoon. The truth was as crushing as liberating. Without saying a word, Dylan pointed out his place. Subsequently tying him at his side.

And what followed was as inevitable as his next breath.