Promises Part 2 (Bounty Hunters 2)

He dropped the chart on the corner of his desk, grinning wide, wondering what Quick had sent him now. He picked up the card, ripping it open excitedly. As soon as he saw the handwriting, his smile dropped.

Dear Cayson,

I tried to deliver this to you personally today… but you had company. I’m not blaming you for falling for that man’s tricks. Now that it’s over, this is just the start of our new relationship. I love you. I do. Here’s something to prove it.

Love

J.

Cayson felt bile rise in his throat, the nasty acidic taste making him gag. What the hell did Joe mean by “Now that it’s over”? Nothing was over with Quick. And was he insane? Joe didn’t love him; he’d just tried to buy him for the going rate of one million dollars. Cayson wasn’t even calm enough to call Joe yet, and now he’d gone and pissed him off even more. Lifting the lid off the box, he was knocked off his feet. It was a 24K gold, premier edition stethoscope. He had it marked in a catalogue under his coffee table. How’d Joe find it? It didn’t matter. He couldn’t buy Cayson and he damn sure couldn’t buy his way into his heart.

Running his hands down his face in frustration, he groaned when he thought of having to tell Quick. He couldn’t keep this a secret. Joe was acting irrationally, and he honestly had no clue what they were dealing with. All he wanted was a chance to be happy. Joe needed to grow the fuck up. This was getting crazy. He yanked up his receiver and punched the number for Joe’s cell phone. He answered on the first ring.

“Hi handsome. Did you get my gift?”

Cayson scoffed. “Are you for real? Have you lost your mind, Joe?”

“Why are you mad?”

“Why am I mad?” Cayson lowered his voice, although no one was around. “You tried to buy off my boyfriend this morning, now you—”

“Wait! Boyfriend? He’s not your goddamn boyfriend. I am!” Joe yelled, loud enough to make Cayson pull the receiver away from his ear. He’d never heard Joe yell or swear like this. “This has gone far enough, Cayson. Are you in your office? I’m on my way.”

“No, don’t—”

Joe had already hung up. What’s he thinking coming up here? Was he trying to get outted? Shit. Cayson wasn’t sure if he should call Quick, or not. He couldn’t run to him to fix all of his problems. Cayson was a grown ass man and he wasn’t scared of Joe. He was going to stand up to him, once and for all. How dare he, or anyone, think they could control his life?

He made rounds on a few of his other patients while he waited for the lab results on his post-op patient. He needed to stay busy. His smile was gone, now replaced with concern and nervousness. He went back to his office when he had nothing else to do. He opened his door to find Joe standing in the far corner of the office, in the dark. He had on black slacks and a black turtleneck. If he weren’t such a rat bastard, he’d look quite handsome in his own regal way.

“You left the door unlocked,” Joe admonished.

“That wasn’t done intentionally.” Cayson gritted his teeth. He couldn’t yell. Although his door was closed, you never knew who was lurking. “You should leave… and you can take that with you.” Cayson pointed to the expensive gift still in the box on his desk.

“You wanted it, didn’t you? I saw you looking at it. Don’t you like it?”

“The question is: would you have bought this for me if Roman wasn’t in the picture?”

Joe shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe. Probably.” As he moved closer, Cayson took a few backwards steps. Joe looked predatory, his dark brown eyes shining bright with his intent. Cayson would’ve loved to have seen that look on Joe’s face a few months ago. Now it was too little, too late.

“I want you to know that I understand why you were traipsing around with that man.” Joe waved his hand dismissively. “I’m not going to even ask, because I don’t want to know. I’m going to make sure you never want for him again.”

Cayson shook his head. He didn’t know what was happening. He was still trying to understand why Joe was being so persistent when he’d made Cayson feel like nothing but a nagging housewife while they were involved. Anything he suggested for them to do, especially if it included going out, Joe would look at him like he’d sprouted horns.

It wasn’t until Cayson heard the rattling of Joe’s belt buckle that he snapped back to focus. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to fuck you.” Joe sneered. The look on his face was a mask of anger and revenge.