Facade

you!” Tanna smiled and nodded, and then she coaxed Jonas in the other direction. “Phew, that was a close call.”
    “It was?” Jonas asked.
    “She’s a terrible gossip. Not to mention very conservative and filthy rich. She’s given Nicky a lot of business, so we tolerate her, but we’re very careful around her.”
    “So you told her you were Nicky’s wife?” Jonas fished.
    “No, she pretty much figured that out all by herself.” Tanna still looked cautious, despite their having moved quite some distance from the woman. Jonas thought she was going to elaborate, but she didn’t. So was it all just a ruse to keep the conservative buyers from spending their money elsewhere, or were Tanna and Nicky really closer than Jonas liked to imagine?

    70
    Zahra
    Owens
    They were nearing their seats and made it just in time for the lights to dim in the hall and the show to start. Jonas recognized many of the young men they had chosen the day before and found himself enjoying the rugged but imaginative clothes in browns and blacks. From time to time, he looked around to see who was in the audience. Here and there he recognized a celebrity or a socialite he’d seen on TV, all enthralled by the catwalk show. He felt proud of Nicky and exchanged looks of appreciation with Tanna.
    Then suddenly two gorgeous boys walked out in nothing but extremely tight chocolate brown leather hotpants and large angel’s wings. Between them was a tall, veiled figure dressed entirely in white; they each held one hand to guide this mock bride. Jonas didn’t know much about fashion shows, but he did know it used to be fashionable to end a runway show with a perfect bridal gown.
    Nicky had told him earlier this wasn’t the case with the men’s show, though, so this had to be something else.
    Jonas watched the angels unwrap the figure, removing layer after layer of organza, slowly revealing white flowing pirate trousers, then something that could only be described as a codpiece, then a tightly laced white corset. Just as it was dawning on the crowd, and on Jonas who it was, he threw off the large hat with the last of the veils and shook his hair free.
    Nicky placed one hand on the back of one of the gorgeous angels and kissed him full on the mouth, and then he turned to the other and did the same, before turning to the crowd and bowing.
    Roaring applause broke out, drowning out the gasps Jonas had heard here and there. Judging from some of the faces, not everyone was impressed, but Nicky had certainly made sure his show would be talked about.
    As the standing ovation continued and Nicky thanked his models and his audience, Tanna ushered Jonas out of the hall and toward the back entrance.
    “Did you enjoy that?” she asked.
    Jonas nodded. “He’s very talented, and quite a shocker in some people’s eyes, I think.”

    Façade
    71
    “Oh, they should be used to it by now. There’s a reason why he’s the bad boy of fashion, you know,” Tanna quipped. “If he had a bigger cock he’d be showing that off too, I’m sure.”
    “Well, he is a bit of an exhibitionist,” Jonas had to admit.
    “You have no idea,” Tanna laughed. “I don’t think he even knows how far he would go. Maybe you could bring it out in him, Jonas,” she suggested. Jonas wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that. Did Tanna want Nicky to break out of his public persona and become even more of a bad boy? Or did she want him to explore his own person? Did she want Nicky to show more of the person only certain people got to see and that was so elusive that Jonas didn’t always know who he was looking at in any given moment? Maybe Tanna was using a roundabout way to tell Jonas about some of Nicky’s fantasies. In any case, it gave Jonas a way to take a step back from the uncomfortable closeness between him and Nicky.
    Indulging Nicky’s fantasies was what he was good at. He could do that.
    They had arrived at the back door, and Tanna urged him to step into the limo. With a quick, “Nicky will be right here. I’ll go see what’s keeping him,” Tanna left him alone with the driver, who discreetly stepped back after opening the door for Jonas.
    Jonas had only just gotten comfortable in the back seat of the limousine when the door burst open again and Nicky crawled in, clearly in a hurry. He was still wearing the white outfit, complete with laced corset, and didn’t even bother to sit down on the seat next to Jonas. Instead he straddled the older man,