Edwin had a lot to think about since the dinner with Alexei and Ethan. He had his suspicions before but became certain that what they had was anything but a casual relationship. Alas, his pretentious parents did not think so. They were so hung up on their plans of pimping out Ethan that they ignored all the obvious signs. He had no intentions of pointing it out though, instead he hoped they would piss off Alexei so much that he would destroy all of them. He hated his parents. He hated Ethan. He hated Edith. He wished the whole family would disappear off the face of the earth. Even if they were clearly out of line, he would do nothing to stop them… like right now, given how the dinner had ended with Alexei obviously being very displeased, the last thing they should do is appear at the home the two shared but not his parents, those bitches were clearly high on something, thinking this was the right thing to do. Although, they always acted like sophisticated elites, they had no sense of shame and even less sense about what was appropriate, which is why they had no problem having someone tail Ethan to find out where he lived.
The typical Saturday morning for the pair involved lazing about in bed, with Ethan nestled in Alexei's arms as he played on his phone and Alexei read through business proposals, investment ideas, reports or whatever Dawson sent to his email the day before. The two would snack on whatever culinary delights Irene sent up from the kitchen. This would go on until 10:30, when Irene would get tired of waiting and coax them out of the room for a late breakfast.
After breakfast, the lazing about would continue but rather than their bedroom, they would move to the lounge where Ethan would shift his attention from his phone to the movie selection already prepared. Like always, the two would remain glued to each other until Ethan grew bored of what he was watching and went for a workout. Typically, Alexei would not be far behind.
Before Ethan's arrival, Alexei would be holed up in the office on such days and if he were home, he would be camped out in his home office; when Ethan spent the weekends at the gym, it was basically the same thing but Alexei came home earlier but seeing as Ethan no longer visited the gym, the man's presence at home every weekend became an absolute must.
Was it a little disconcerting for the staff to see? Yes, but life at work was a lot less oppressive.
But their precious Saturday morning was disturbed by the arrival of unwanted guests.
"Ethan's parents?" Alexei felt the person in his arms stiffen, clearly an invitation had not been extended by either of them. "Where are they?"
"I had them wait on the visitor's lounge for now."
"Leave them there. We'll be down whenever we're ready."
When Irene left, Ethan tried to climb out of bed, only to have Alexei pull him back.
"I need to clean up." Ethan fussed but he was held down firmly against the other's chest "Let go."
Alexei patted his butt "Stay still, if you keep wiggling about, I won't be able to focus on my work."
"Alex!" He squealed when he felt a hand slip into his bottoms "…d-don't be like this."
"Like what?"
Ethan tried to escape but the man would just not let him go "My parents are downstairs."
"Ah! That's right. I forgot about that for a moment…" his voice echoed his false urgency as he put the tablet aside "…we should get ready to see them."
He pushed against the other's chest "Yes!". This time he was released.
Alexei let him go, rolled off the bed and picked Ethan up "Let's go get ready to see them."
"A-Alex?"
"A bath is a must. We have to get ourselves cleaned up, don't you think so? Can't be dirty when we meet your parents."
"Wait! No! Stop!" Ethan panicked when he realized what the other intended to do, twisting and wriggling fiercely only to have the other's hold tighten.
He laughed "You look like a fish out of water when you struggle like this. I think I like it." He shut the bathroom door.
"Alex..." Ethan shrunk into a corner of bathroom.
Alexei looked confused "It's just a bath, why are you so excited?"
"Really?" he eyed the other suspiciously "Just a bath and nothing more?"
Alexei disrobed "Really." He turned on the faucet. He beckoned to Ethan, who obediently came to him to be undressed while the tub filled "It's just a bath. A nice relaxing bath."
"We don't have to do it to-together at the same time… d-do we?"
He cocked his head to the side "Time management?"
Ethan felt a shiver go down his spine when he heard that.
It was a nice bath.
A very nice, very long and very, very relaxing bath.
Alexei made sure of it. Ethan was like soft clay when it was over, he had completely forgotten about the people downstairs.
Alexei chuckled "Do you want to go again?" He whispered
Ethan whimpered.
"Dismiss the staff, I only want the necessary people around and…" Alexei said coldly to Irene when Ethan went down the stairs, he could tell a real shit show was about to happen "…be discreet."
"Look at the time, how could you laze around and keep us waiting for so long?"
This was the first thing Alexei heard when he entered the visitor's lounge. He was right. It was about to be a real shit show.
"Don't scold him so harshly darling, you know how Ethan always dawdles."
Alexei walked into the room, heading straight for the single couch in the middle, with Ethan's parents to his left and Edwin on his right. He gave a casual hum in response to their greetings, his focus entirely on the person standing on the side. He felt a wave of nostalgia, when was the last time he saw his baby so indifferent to everything around him. He wanted to poke at him "Baby, what are you doing standing way over there?"
Ethan subtly glowered at him, lips pressed into a thin line in protest, but he said nothing.
He did nothing.
He remained rooted in his position.
Alexei brought a hand to his face to cover the smile that was forming on his lips. It was too cute.
Clarisse was displeased with his response "Take a seat, Ethan." She commanded.
Ethan dragged his feet to the spot beside Edwin.
"What are you doing? I'm right here."
Ethan shot the man another impatient glare.
It really was nostalgic.
He made way to Ethan's side and pulled him on to his legs "You can't do that, baby. We had an agreement. I feel lonely whenever you do this."
The forgotten trio had different thoughts as they witnessed the exchange.
Edwin was starting to feel even more hateful. Did Alexei really like his brother that much? A single glance at his parents and he already knew what they were thinking. Could they really not tell that this person they were trying to take advantage of was very clearly ignoring their presence? Or were they playing dense?
Clarisse and Thessa on the other hand, were not as aware as their son. They saw many possibilities instead. If they knew of Ethan's worth earlier, they might have paid closer attention to him.
While this was happening, Irene came to announce breakfast.
Uninvited or not, it was poor etiquette to leave guests without food, so they were served.
Every dish served was tailored to suit the tastes of the most important person at the table, as was basically everything else in the household. It goes without saying that for almost the last year, that person was Ethan and no one else.
Breakfast was a choice of scallops benedict with brown butter hollandaise or simple shrimp scrambled with whatever beverage they fancied. This option of having a choice was solely for Alexei and Ethan, the rest got whatever the pair didn't want. Setting a place for them at the table was as far as Irene's consideration went.
Clarisse looked at the dishes in dissatisfaction. Seafood in the morning? She didn't think so. She turned to Irene "Take this away and serve him a slice of fruit. He can't eat such salty and fatty food."
To Irene, they were air. She finally understood now why the staff were dismissed and the others were asked to be scarce. To think, they would step into someone's home uninvited and disrespect him. It was truly classless behaviour.
"Excuse me!" Clarisse called out to the woman who now had her back to her, ready to return to her post.
Edwin sneered at her reaction. Did Clarisse actually think she had any pull here? Either way, he was happy to get some actual food. He didn't wait for anyone, he started eating, ignoring the disapproving glances both mothers gave him. Besides forcing him to throw up the food what else could they do?
"Baby, why aren't you eating?" Alexei asked when he noticed the person by his side had not made a move "Do you not like it?"
"I like it."
He chuckled and returned his attention to his meal.
Clarisse was very dissatisfied with the way things were going but that was fine. The moment she spoke with Ethan, everything would be fine.
"I have to get back to work." Alexei announced, satisfied with the meal, he set down his cutlery.
Clarisse was relieved. With him gone, she could speak to Ethan. Her relief did last very long because Alexei remained seated, watching Ethan finish his food.
He leaned over and whispered "It's good right? I knew you'd like it."
Ethan ignored him, set aside his cutlery and wiped his mouth clean with a napkin.
He was not disheartened by the lack of response, but remained relentless "Ethan is so graceful, I'm always captivated by you."
Again, he was ignored, Ethan left the table without a word with Alexei trailing behind.
"Alex must really like Ethan, don't you think so Darling?"
Clarisse scoffed "It is just a whim." Her eyes settled on Edwin "Haven't you had enough of stuffing your face? After all the effort wasted on you, you couldn't even find one alpha." She eyed him with obvious disdain "So pathetic. Go now and get rid of the trash you ate."
"Ethan.... Baby, stop being so cold…" Alexei said when they were out of earshot "…although I have to admit seeing you like this again gets me a little excited."
Ethan glared at him.
Alexei gasped dramatically as a hand covered his cheek "Those eyes make me shiver. Are you going to slap me again? Just like the first time we met?"
"I can't believe you." He slapped Alexei's hands away when he tried to hold him "Don't follow me."
Edwin sank to the floor, exhausted. There was nothing left in him, but he didn't regret it. The food was delicious, he ate what he wanted for once, so he didn't regret it.
"Edwin..." Ethan looked so sad when he saw his twin hunched over the toilet, forcing himself to throw up what he had just eaten. This wasn't new, it happened all the time whenever they ate out of their planned diet. Once, Edith had given them a slice of cake to share, their parents found out, forced a tube down their throats and filled their stomachs with massive amounts of water until they threw up everything they had eaten that day. They were both sick for days and Edith was punished severely. It was one of the worst experiences of his life.
Edwin glared at him "Don't look at me like that."
"I thought you were going to get married."
He wore a sardonic smile "Married? To whom? I've been pimped out to so many alphas, I don't know who you're talking about."
Ethan's heart shattered "You were supposed to get…" he stepped closer "…you were engaged."
"That shithead? Ha! He met a dominant omega he liked better."
Ethan frowned "Weren't... Weren't you both in love?"
"What are you talking about?" Edwin laboriously came to his feet, straightening his shirt "That idiot was just my ticket out of that hellhole. It would have worked if Mother wasn't so greedy." He rinsed his mouth in the sink "I guess not everyone is as lucky as you."
"I thought you were happy."
Edwin sneered.
"Where's Edith?"
"No idea." He checked his teeth in the mirror "…if my teeth get ruined again, Clarisse will bitch about it non-stop." He mumbled during the inspection.
"Edith..."
"She up and left shortly after you did. I guess I was the only one that wasn't brave enough." He met his brother's eyes in the mirror "…those cheap drugs really changed your fate."
Ethan was no longer sympathetic "Shut up. I almost died. You have no idea what I've been through."
Edwin turned around to face him "You're right. I can't imagine what you went through and I don't want to, I don't want to sympathize with you nor do I need your sympathy. We simply did what we had to do for survival."
He pursed his lips "I can help you."
Edwin came closer and lowered his voice "Rather than me, focus on making sure they don't find out about your little situation here."
"What?"
"They think Alexei knows about your glands, but he doesn't, does he?"
Ethan bit into his lip and looked away.
"I'm not… Look, I read he really hates omegas…" he took a deep breath and dropped his voice to an even lower register "…it's better if they believe what they think. That you're just a whim that won't be a bother later on when he has to marry someone… more like him."
"Edwin, I can help you. I'll talk to Alex-"
He steeped closer as he whispered "You should focus on hiding your little secret and don't feel bad for me. You worked hard to escape those crazy bitches so don't get yourself involved with them anymore. I'm just the one that fell behind."
Ethan pulled on his sleeve "Alex is a really nice person."
"Yes, I can see that. And you're also very spoiled, it makes me a little bitter."
Ethan laughed softly, suppressing the sob that threatened to escape.
Alexei watched Dawson arrange file after file on his desk "And why are these being placed in front of me?"
"The vice president is unavailable, sir."
He shot his secretary a questioning look.
"It seems he has some personal matters to address."
"Personal matters? That's no excuse." He protested but still reached for a document "I also have personal problems. I know you've heard about my recent leech problem."
Dawson's lips curled a bit "I have been made aware."
"Hmm..." His pen danced across the page "You have issues with your in-laws, don't you? How did you handle it?"
"I have never experienced such a thing, sir."
Alexei stopped, his eyes trailing from the page to his secretary, full of doubt "No." He shook his head "I've met that old coot, there's no way… No."
"I have a very good relationship with my in-laws, and I make enough to keep my family traveling the world. There are no problems."
"Are you saying I'm the one who maintains the peace in your family?"
"You are a very generous man, sir. All I have now is because of you."
He nodded, satisfied by the praise "You're right, I am very generous but that doesn't solve my leech problem. They're sucking the joy out of my baby."
"Sir, you can't give in to their demands."
He reached for another file "I'm not doing anything. Even if I wanted to, he hasn't asked."