Angel and the Assassin

close, resting his head against Kael‟s chest.
    “I‟m really sorry, Daddy. Is my punishment over?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why can‟t you be my daddy?” Angel looked up into his eyes.
    “Why is it so important to you?”
    “I don‟t know, but I always wanted a man to call Daddy. I‟ve never had one.”
    “What does having a daddy mean to you?”
    Without hesitation, Angel said, “A daddy means acceptance and kindness and
    protection. Stuff like that. Teaching me things. Making me smart.”
    “I‟ll do those things anyway,” Kael said. “It‟s the mushy stuff I can‟t get into. I
    don‟t do relationships. I like things cut-and-dried. I give the orders; the boy obeys.
    That‟s the sum of my rules.”
    “Yes, Daddy. I want to be a good boy for you.” Angel tilted his delicate chin up
    bravely and tried to smile. “I deserved that ass whipping, Sir. I know that.”
    Kael tapped the tip of Angel‟s nose. “Yes, you did. Now I want you to go to bed
    and take a nap.”
    “I‟m not tired, Sir!” he burst out.
    Kael looked long and hard at him. “You still don‟t get it, do you? I‟m the
    master, and you eat when I tell you, piss when I tell you, sleep when I tell you.”
    “Fart when you tell me,” Angel said gravely.
    Kael took a deep breath to prevent himself from laughing. “Right now, I need a
    break from you, so you are going to bed for a while. When you wake up, I‟ll order
    some food, and then when it‟s dark out, we‟ll go for a walk.”

    Angel and the Assassin
    57

    “Yes, Sir.”
    “Come on; I‟ll tuck you in.”
    They walked hand in hand to the bedroom, and Angel got into bed. He took his
    blanket from under his pillow and held it to his chest, rolling onto his side. Kael sat
    on the side of the bed, rubbing the boy‟s back. Exhausted from the last couple of
    days and the time change, Angel fell asleep quickly despite his protestations of not
    being tired. Kael sat watching him for a while. He was beautiful, lying on his side in
    a slender curl, knees drawn up, his buttocks still red from his punishment. He had
    caught on quickly. He had known he was getting a beating, and he had known he
    deserved it.
    “What am I going to do with you?” he whispered. He pulled the duvet up over
    the boy‟s shoulders and left him to sleep. In the living room Kael poured a whiskey
    and threw himself down on the soft leather of the couch.
    The way things stood, Conran would assume Angel had left the house with his
    mother. But if Mrs. Andresen tried and failed to get in touch with Angel, she would
    call the police, especially when Andresen was found to be missing. But that could
    take weeks. In the meantime, as long as he was vigilant and never let Angel go out
    alone, they could have some fun while he decided what to do with him long-term.
    Kael put down his empty whiskey glass and decided to do his sweep of the flat.
    Once a week was usually enough to make sure no listening devices or cameras had
    been left in his absence. He had found them on more than one occasion, and he
    never took it personally. Sometimes he would leave a listening device in place on
    purpose just to let Conran know how mean he could be to a sub and to let Conran
    know what he was missing out on. Everyone in his line of work was under
    surveillance at least part of the time, but this would not be the time to have Conran
    eavesdropping on his business.
    Methodically he began feeling under the couches and tables and along the
    shelves. He had a strict procedure, and he followed it exactly every time to avoid
    making mistakes.
    A tiny device, complete with a camera, was attached to the top of the wall-
    mounted wide-screen TV that he hardly ever watched. Angry, Kael snatched it off,
    examining it carefully. He cursed himself for an idiot for not doing a sweep as soon
    as he had arrived home from Cape Cod, but then he had hardly been acting rational
    from the moment he met Angel. The device filmed the room but had to be retrieved
    and played back. Thank God it was not sending out real-time images. He went to
    the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet.
    The only thing Kael knew for certain was that he was not going to kill Angel,
    and he would kill anyone else who tried.

    58
    Fyn Alexander

    Chapter Seven

    They sat in the living room eating take-out Greek food. Kael had grudgingly
    succumbed to Angel‟s begging and allowed him to sit on the couch watching TV
    while he ate. Even with the towel he had made Angel spread