A Daddy for Damian by Joe Satoria

23. DAMIAN

What was supposed to be a trip for me and Emile to go explore Berlin, turned into Theo taking over, and Emile loving every minute of it. I still hadn’t told either of them that I’d quit working for Kristopher, even though I kept looking at my phone.

We were in the second bar of what Theo dubbed the Berlin bar tour. I didn’t even think he would be drinking considering the smell that had been coming from him earlier. He’d showered and cleaned himself up since then, but it didn’t mean I’d forgotten.

“There are twelve bars,” Theo said, “you’ve got to drink faster than that.” He tapped the bottom of his glass against mine. “Come on.”

I was preoccupied thinking about Kristopher. He’d left an hour ago, and I hadn’t heard a word from him. I’d offered to go with him, and that would’ve been a nice thing to do, especially since we were dating, but I could see things from his point of view. I was only nineteen, and he was thirty-five.

Downing the rest of the beer, I could feel myself becoming a little lightheaded. “Does the next place serve food?” I grumbled. As much as I wanted to drink with my friend, I also wanted to see Kristopher again, and I couldn’t do that if I was drunk. The last thing I wanted him to think I was, was a liability.

Theo shrugged. “Live a little.”

“Yeah,” Emile chimed in. “Plus, eating is cheating!”

“What he said,” Theo let out a belly-slapping laugh. “I mean, he’s right.”

The third pub had a small list of food.

Theo slapped a hand to my back. “Look, you’ve got some sausage there,” he said. “Get one of those if you must.” He clicked his tongue.

“I’m actually a little hungry,” Emile said, looking over the small table menu with me. “We should’ve ordered proper room service.”

I wasn’t hungry before we left, so we ordered some food to share, this was while we waited on Theo to get ready in his room three floors above. I couldn’t stomach much, thinking about how Kristopher had opened up to me.

“Tell me what you want then,” Theo said, his foot tapping impatiently. “I’ll go up and order. They don’t do table service here.”

It almost felt like he was being forced to watch over us. That wasn’t in the plan Kristopher had told me, unless Kristopher had told him something different, or maybe we were being made to watch Theo and make sure he did nothing stupid. I could see that as a real possibility.

My phone buzzed with a text notification from Kristopher.

—Where are you at?

—In some pub or pub with Theo and Emile.

—Can you leave them? He asked.

I looked at the two of them as they spoke about beer. I could leave them, but I wasn’t sure if that was the right question. perhaps the right question was whether I should leave them together.

—Yeah!

—Ok. I really want to be with someone. I’m leaving my parents in fifteen minutes. I’ll be back at the hotel in thirty.

—I’ll be there!

My heart racing. He’d asked for me. He wanted to see me.

“You look flushed,” Theo said. “Hope you’re not coming down with something.”

I glanced back and forth between the two of them. “I should probably head back to the hotel,” I said. “Maybe something I—I had earlier isn’t sitting in my stomach properly.”

Emile’s face pinched. “Ew, ok,” he said.

Theo wrapped an arm around Emile’s shoulder. “That’s fine, I’ll look after your friend.”

Emile chuckled. “Yeah, I think I’ll be the one looking after you!”

I didn’t know how to process their flirting, on one hand they were probably well-suited, but on the other, I didn’t like the way Theo had spoken to me before, and the way he assumed I liked Kristopher because he had money. It made me feel bad.

As Theo went to the bar, Emile pushed his finger in at my side, grabbing my attention. “I saw that text,” he said.

“What?” I couldn’t even play it off cool.

“From Kristopher,” he said. “I saw the text. I know that’s where you’re going.”

“Do you hate me?” I asked.

He scoffed. “I’m just glad his friend is hot.”

So, the flirting was real and not part of my mind. “Ok, but promise me,” I said, holding out my pink finger to him. “If you sleep with him, use protection.”

Scoffing louder and rolling his eyes, Emile took his pink finger and wrapped it with mine. “We won’t sleep together,” he said, “but if we do, we’re definitely wrapping it up.”

That was something I definitely needed to know.

We weren’t too far from the hotel. It took about ten minutes to get back.

Anxiety sitting in my stomach. I didn’t know this place, and I didn’t know the language. I also didn’t know anything about Kristopher’s family. I didn’t know if he would cry, or if he would be in a place where he didn’t want to talk about that and maybe he just wanted sex.

I pulled my green dinosaur teddy from my suitcase and waited in my room for him to text or knock. I clutched it close, squeezing it tight in my arms, trying not to tear its head off from my grasp.

The knock came.

He looked defeated, his shoulders slouched, his eyes dipping on his face and without his signature smile. “Let’s go upstairs,” he said, finally noticing the teddy in my arms, he gave a small smile. “I don’t know, but I think that’s the most adorable thing I’ve seen all day.”

“All day,” I asked. “But you’ve seen me already.”

Kristopher took my hand. “Let’s cuddle.”

We continued to hold hands in the elevator, all the way up to his room. He didn’t let go of it, not once.

“How was it?” I finally asked.

In his suite, he pulled me into a giant hug, squishing the teddy between us. His chin resting on top of my head. He stroked a hand at the back of my neck, letting it tickle down my bod. “It’s over with,” he said.

“Was it bad?” I continued.

“Well, let’s say I’m still not doing as well as my brothers,” he mumbled. “Not that I care, I only come here once a month to feel like I’m not in the business I should be in. It’s not like I want to, but if I don’t, it’s like a slap in the face to them. My name—” he sucked back. “My name gives me a lot of things. And if I just stop being part of the family, it’s like everyone will see me doing things on my own.”

I didn’t know about him before the job, and even now, I felt like I knew even less about the business. “But you’ve got your own business,” I said. “You don’t even do business here.”

“I have businesses invested here,” he said, “and maybe I should sell those interests, maybe I should leave all of them behind.”

I felt him sigh against me. “Did you at least have something nice to eat?”

I still had one thing on my mind, and that one thing was food. Naturally, I was starving.

“It was great,” he said into a light chuckle. “But that’s the chef. I can’t complain about him.”

“I’m hungry,” I said as he squeezed me a little closer.

Finally, giving some room he looked at me and smiled. “Let’s order something to eat,” he said. “I don’t want you going hungry.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead. “We should also talk about what we’re going to do since I’ve no longer got an assistant.”

I smiled. “Did you even need me?”

He couldn’t say no. And I didn’t blame him. “Of course I need you,” he said. “And right now, I need to cuddle.” He pulled away. “Before I forget.” He pushed his hand beneath his pillow. “I brought this. I figured this is how tonight would go.” He revealed the pink dinosaur teddy I’d left at his place. “So, lets order food, desserts, and cuddle.”

I liked that plan.