Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

Xbox.”
    “Would you?” Kael chuckled. “You know my rules on games.”
    “I certainly do. We have better things to do than waste our time on mindless
    crap. School comes first, fitness comes next. You have to be disciplined to be a good
    slave.” Angel repeated almost verbatim what Kael had told him when he had asked
    for a game console.
    “I see you have been listening to me.” Kael pulled the dressing gown closer
    about Angel‟s shoulders.

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    43

    “I always listen to you, Daddy. You know, I thought my mom would be
    impressed that I‟m in school, but she didn‟t give a damn. She doesn‟t think learning
    is important.”
    “Daddy thinks it‟s important,” Kael said.
    Angel sipped his drink and looked into Kael‟s eyes. “That‟s all I care about,
    what you think, Daddy. I always wanted my mom to think I‟m important, but after
    tonight I‟m not sure I care anymore. Who needs a mom when you‟ve got the best
    daddy in the world?”
    Kael swallowed. Whenever Angel said something like that, he always felt his
    eyes prick with tears. But he never cried. “Come on. It must be three in the
    morning. You‟ve got school in a few hours. Let‟s go back to bed.” Angel finished his
    hot chocolate, and Kael took his hand and led him back to the bedroom.
    “Can I brush my teeth in the morning?” Angel asked. “I‟m so tired.”
    “Do them now,” Kael ordered. He got into bed and waited. Wearily Angel
    wandered to the bathroom and returned shortly. He lay down, and Kael pulled the
    duvet up over Angel‟s shoulders, holding him close to get warm again. Angel still
    held his blankie in his hands, and Kael could feel its softness against his skin.
    Briskly he rubbed his hands up and down Angel‟s back.
    “You know what, Daddy?”
    “What?”
    “I think my mom will invite us to France to stay with her and Gregoire, maybe
    around my birthday. She‟ll be thinking of something to make up for last year. What
    do you think?”
    The hope in Angel‟s voice nearly broke Kael‟s heart. “Yes, of course she will,
    but let‟s wait and see. It‟s not till September. Go to sleep, boy. I wish I could make
    your mum perfect, but I can‟t.”
    “I know, Daddy. I don‟t need her to be perfect. I‟ve got you now. You‟re perfect.
    The perfect daddy. Don‟t ever leave me.”
    Kael felt the immense weight of responsibility to be the perfect daddy for his
    boy. “I‟ll never do that, sweetheart.”

    44
    Fyn Alexander

    Chapter Five

    In the middle of the morning, Kael‟s mobile buzzed. He snatched it off his belt
    and checked the caller ID. “What do you want, Conran? I‟m at the gym.”
    “Meet me by the lake in St. James Park in thirty minutes. The path on the
    Mall side.”
    “No, I‟m busy.” He almost ended the call but changed his mind. “I‟ll be in this
    afternoon to teach my class. Talk to me then.”
    “Thirty minutes. By the lake,” Conran insisted.
    Kael hung up. He had already worked out until he was sweating hard in the
    weight room and was about to run twenty or thirty laps on the indoor track.
    Deliberating for a minute, he watched a handsome man in his forties working his
    thighs on the leg extension machine. The man glanced over at him, obviously
    appreciative of Kael‟s well-developed muscles and perfect proportions. The bloke
    was just the type Kael would happily have fucked in the showers later. But that
    was before Angel. “Where‟s your little blond boy today?” the man asked.
    “At college.”
    Coming to a decision, Kael walked to the showers, stripped off his shorts, and
    stood for five minutes under the steaming hot water, scrubbing himself vigorously
    with shower gel before dressing quickly. He was at the lake before Conran arrived,
    leaning against a weeping willow, using it for cover so that he could watch the other
    man approach. In his suit and overcoat, hands pushed into his pockets for warmth,
    Conran walked along the path. When he stopped to look at the swans, it appeared
    very natural.
    Conran would never make an operative—he was too scared—but he knew his
    part. When Kael appeared at his side, Conran walked on beside him, lengthening
    his stride to keep up with Kael.
    “I knew you‟d come,” Conran said.
    “Are you looking for a smack?” Kael was instantly annoyed. “Come to think of
    it, is that what this is about? You want to come to my dungeon and let me flog your
    arse?”
    Glancing quickly about, Conran