"Zeke Daniels! My god, man. You have been missing for the entire season!"
Zeke smiled at Benedict Mortimer. "Come now, Morty. I was only away for the winter. Nothing major happened then, did it?"
"Anastasia Rockefeller married Dominic Ortiz. I think that is very important, don't you?" The leader of the Mortimer Group and lead gossip of Zeke's friend group looked him up and down. "And what about you, Mr. Eligible Bachelor? When are you going to tie the knot? Now that Anastasia is taken, you're the last of the billionaires still single."
"Oh, I'm not single, but I'm not getting married either."
"You're not single?" The three words caught Morty's attention as well as Benson Simon, president and partner of Simon, Lovell, and Kepler. "Who is the lucky lady to catch your eye?"
Zeke smiled into his whiskey then sipped it. His friends had always known when he was dating someone. There had always been a tall blonde on his arm in a slinky dress. If he wasn't dating anyone, Eva accompanied him. This was the beginning of the year party he had come unaccompanied.
He saw Anderson pass by with a beautiful red head on his arm. Anderson never showed off in public, but he was on the Board of Medicine as a general surgeon. Since Gavin's diagnosis and treatments, he had been given a commodation by the Board. Angela Wright had turned it in for going above and beyond the call of duty for a patient. An article had been written on the good doctor, and a wing at the hospital had been named in his honor. The mayor had given him the award as well as the keys to the city. But Anderson was still Anderson, and he did his job with as much passion as he had started with.
"Zeke!" He turned his attention to Morty and Benson. They looked at him expectantly. "Who is this person who makes you go quiet? Usually you flaunt her off until we're all jealous."
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?" All heads turned to the dais as the emcee stood in a spotlight. It was Mark Atwell, chairman of the Romsart Foundation who put on the beginning of the year fundraiser. "It is my great pleasure to introduce the new members of the Romsart Foundation. Please welcome President and CEO of Duquesne Construction Olivia Duquesne, and interim President of Internal Affairs Gavin Duquesne!"
Applause filled the room as mother and son took the stage. Gavin's hair shone brightly in the spotlight. It was growing back thicker and healthier. His skin had a bright glow to it, and his brown eyes danced excitedly. His mother dropped his arm and spoke into the mic.
Since the end of December, the young man had been healing. The bone marrow transplant had done its job. The cells had started regrowing normally, and within six weeks his strength and color had come back. Within eight, his hair had started coming back and curlier than ever.
After they had taken over Duquesne Construction, Raoul Duquesne had suffered a heart attack and had passed away peacefully in his home. Being eighty-nine had given him less of a chance of survival, but it was the minor stroke that had followed that had killed him. Gavin's grandmother had barely shed a tear at the funeral, catching everyone off guard when she'd called him a conniving bastard as they'd lowered him into the ground.
Though the headquarters of the company remained in New Orleans, Olivia and Gavin had brought to a vote whether or not they should open a branch where Gavin lived. Excited at the new prospects of going global, the shareholders and board had adamantly agreed. Zeke had helped open Duquesne Construction in the Northeast, and within weeks of opening, they had a multimillion dollar account.
When he had felt better, Gavin had enrolled in classes. His minor had been law so it hadn't taken too much to double major. Instead of working on his biology, he had started taking online law courses so when he was able to graduate, he would have both a law degree and a biology degree. Until they could hire more people, Gavin had taken the interim President of Internal Affairs. It had helped him immensely. Everyone thought he would continue with the job when he graduated from college.
Olivia finished her speech to another set of applause. Everyone was happy more jobs had come open, and the support for Duquesne Construction had far exceeded anyone's expectations.
"That young man could very well be the next eligible bachelor if you would hurry up and marry," Morty mused.
Zeke shook his head and watched the mother-son duo mingle with people ahead of him. Gavin had come out of his shell since he'd been in remission. He was able to do more things as his health improved. Since New Year's, he'd accompanied Zeke to the charity season's opening gala and the Vanderbilt Masquerade Ball. He'd missed the last four since he'd been busy helping his mother and going back and forth to New Orleans.
Zeke had all but abolished his rules. Gavin could come and go as he pleased, but the only stipulation was Sampson has to go with him. Gavin had become so close to Sampson he had willingly agreed. However, if it was to doctor's appointments, the young man was able to drive himself in his new Lexus Zeke had purchased for him. Seeing the excitement on Gavin's face had been enough for Zeke that he hadn't had the heart to tell him about the black box in the car. Zeke trusted Gavin wholly, but old habits die hard.
Gavin still enjoyed having structure, but Zeke provided that in other ways. His diet was still closely monitored, and he still ate high protein meals. He'd grown fond of the protein shakes so Mrs. Morgan made them for him every morning. Zeke had bought a treadmill and elliptical so Gavin could get more exercise, so the young man worked out an hour each day at home.
Over the course of the chemo and multiple tests, Zeke had found other ways to be intimate with Gavin. It wasn't always about sex. They spent many nights laying on the couch listening to old albums or out on the balcony having a drink. Gavin still didn't drink much, but every so often he had one with Zeke. There was always a fire in the hearth. Sometimes, Zeke threw several blankets on the floor, and they would lay on the floor watching the flames dance. That was Zeke's favorite time. He always watched the warmth dance across Gavin's face as he lay relaxed in his arms.
Olivia smiled as she came their way. Morty and Benson fawned over the widow as she talked candidly with them. Her relationship with her son had improved. They had talked about everything that had happened between them, and Olivia had promised to ask Gavin if rumors ever floated around about him again.
Gavin slid in beside Zeke. He pressed his side into the older man's, smiling brightly at him. Zeke couldn't help himself; he dropped his head and kissed Gavin in full view of everyone. The younger man slapped his arm in warning but didn't stop him.
"Hold on." Zeke looked at Morty as his friend's face rotated between shock, concern, and embarrassment. "When you said you were dating someone but weren't getting married, did you mean him?"
Zeke wrapped his arm around Gavin's waist and pulled him as close as he could. "I would like you to meet my partner Gavin Duquesne. Gavin, these are Benedict Mortimer and Benson Simon. Benson's partner Ada Kepler is my attorney."
Gavin extended his hand, shaking the two men's hands strongly. "Nice to meet you. Zeke has said many good and not so good things about you."
Benson laughed. "I can only imagine. But why has he never told us about you?"
The younger man smiled. "It's probably because I just recently went into remission with leukemia. I had treatments for it throughout the fall and beginning of winter. Zeke took care of me throughout all of it."
Morty sighed and nodded his head. "That makes sense. He didn't show up to any of the Thanksgiving and Christmas events and never gave any reasons why. Now it makes sense. If you were sick, there was no way in hell he'd leave your side."
Olivia smiled as she took up the place by her son's side. "I will be forever grateful for everything he's done. Through my fault and others, I was not able to be by his side. Zeke did what I could not. He is a good man."
Zeke looked at the woman who had made leaps and bounds. There was no way they could change the past, but Olivia was ready to move forward. She had accepted Zeke as both Gavin's lover and partner in business. There was nothing she wouldn't do to make sure her son was now taken care of in the best way possible.
Morty and Benson vied for Olivia's attention. They wanted to escort her around the rest of the event, but the widow was very coy with them. She led them away from their friend as she tried to gently let them down.
"They're in for a rude awakening if they think my mother will back down," Gavin said. He laughed and shook his head. "I hope they don't get their feelings hurt too much."
Zeke pulled at one of the curls closest to him. "I have missed these."
The younger man turned his gaze back to the older man's. His smile was softer and his eyes shone with so much love Zeke thought he would burn him.
"It's thanks to you that they're back. I don't know what I would have done had you thrown me out when you found out I was sick," Gavin said.
"I wouldn't have done that. It's heartless to do that to someone who is sick and can't do much for themselves. By the way, next week is Eva's birthday."
"I'll have to send something to her."
"No need. She will be here with her family. They want to know if they can have dinner with us while they're here."
"Why don't they just stay with us? We have enough room. Emily is in Europe for the semester and Davis won't be back until she is. He says your house is way too stuffy."
Emily and Davis had moved into the house after the New Year because their apartment was being torn down. It was the least Zeke could do after all they had done to help Gavin. Their little family had grown even though Zeke and Davis didn't see eye to eye all the time.
"That would be fine. I'll let Eva know. It will be up to Paolo though. If he doesn't agree, they'll stay in a hotel."
Gavin nodded and allowed Zeke to escort him throughout the rest of the event. Everyone asked questions to which they gladly answered. Zeke noticed how happy Gavin really was. He was being admonished as Zeke's equal and his other half. Zeke himself was excited. He had never had anyone he could show off to his peers as someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Now with Gavin at his side, he felt like he could conquer the world.
What started as a part of a contract had become something truly remarkable. They say to the highest bidder go the spoils, but Zeke disagreed. The person who takes on the hardest moments reaps the biggest benefits. Zeke's benefit was Gavin, and he was going to make sure the man was taken care of for the rest of his days.
THE END