The plan was to meet Chloe in the restaurant of the hotel at 8:00. I arrived at 7:30 and sat in the lobby and at about 7:45, Chloe walked through the doors leading from outside. I hadn’t expected that. I thought she’d be coming downstairs from her suite. I stood, and as she hurried through the lobby toward the elevators, she saw me.

God, I’d never tire looking at her.

She looked like she was occupied with something on her mind. Chloe messed with her hair as she walked toward me.

“Hi, beautiful,” I greeted her with a kiss on her cheek.

“Hi, Wesley.”

Chloe kissed my lips and made me feel so good. Her hands on my biceps and the sweet gaze she gave me, instantly pulled me out of my down mood.

“I’m running a little late.” Chloe looked around nervously and then back at me. “My business meeting ran a over. I still need to get cleaned up for dinner.”

She was nervous and cautious about something, which was making me feel the same suddenly. I glanced toward the doors the led to the street.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. “You seem a little tense.”

“The meeting just frazzled me, is all. Do you want to come upstairs with me and wait while I get ready?”

I nodded.

“I’d like that,” I said as we made our way to the elevator.

As the elevator arrived, I glanced toward the lobby to make sure no one saw us. The lobby looked empty and quiet. During the long ride to the floor where her suite was, Chloe seemed to relax.

“So, long meeting?” I innocently asked.

“Yes. I was rather annoyed, to be honest. Crude men were in full swing at the meeting. Many seemed more interested in getting in my panties rather than business at hand.”

Chloe’s frustrated face eased, and she smiled shyly at me while leaning on the wall of the elevator.

“Well, I can see why they’d be interested. And I can vouch that the inside of your panties is the hottest place to be.”

Her lips parted as her beautiful smile widened exposing her perfectly white teeth. She was gorgeous and not only was my dick telling me that but the rapid beating in my chest.

“Were any of the business guys assholes to you?”

“No.”

Her answer was quick and short. I wouldn’t press her on this anymore, for now. Once we were in her suite, she sat down on the sofa in the sitting room. She looked worn out, but still, I found her to be sexy even with the wear and tear of her daddy’s work on her face.

“Chloe, you look like you’ve been through a really long day. Would you rather reschedule our dinner?”

“No! Wesley—”

Chloe stood and crossed the room to me until she was less than a foot from me. She placed her hands on my chest, and as she looked up into my eyes, her fingertips roamed. The soft pads of her fingers and the sharp fingernails combined to be the perfect mix of sweetness and playfulness.

“Wesley, you’re all that I’ve thought about today,” she admitted. “Our time is limited as it is.”

I grinned as I watched her toy with the buttons on my shirt while my cock stirred to life. From where I stood, I could see her tanned cleavage perfectly.

She was good at the art of seduction. She knew how to toy, tease and make a man want her. I could see exactly why her father used her. It got him what he wanted. Either way, she was beautiful, and my cock was straining at the fabric of my pants.

“What do you say that we pass on the noisy restaurant and order room service?” I offered up.

“I’d like that, Wesley.”

With her sitting on my lap, we examined the menu and settled on steaks. As I placed the order, Chloe’s fingers worked on the buttons of my shirt until it was completely open. Then she lowered her head to kiss my chest and lick my nipples. She was making me unbelievably hard. After I ordered, I pulled her face up to mine and crushed my mouth on hers.

“Mmm,” she moaned into my mouth. “Wesley,” she whispered. “I’m going to take a quick shower before dinner arrives.”

She pushed herself off my lap, and as she walked towards the bedroom, she began pulling off pieces of her clothes. She’d look over her shoulder at me as each piece fell away, revealing more of her sun-kissed flesh.

“Temptress,” I said.

“Just giving you a preview,” she laughed. “You can come watch...if you’d like, Wesley.”

I stood and followed behind her. I stopped in the doorway of the bathroom and gazed at her body while she waited for the water to warm. The water cascaded down her body, as she stepped under the spray. I wanted to run my tongue over the places on her body where the heavy trails of water flowed.

There was no doubt in my mind that she was teasing me. Chloe propped her foot up on the tiled ledge on the opposite side of the shower. With her back to me, she bent over to wash her foot and lower leg, which gave me a glimpse of her pussy from behind.

Last night was rushed. Tonight, I wanted to savor this woman.

After her feet and legs had been washed at the slowest, most teasingly pace possible, she took the sudsy coconut scented sponge to her chest. White foam ran down her breasts quickly and dropped off the peaks of her dusty pink nipples.

“Chloe, you’re making me so hard.”

“Good,” she giggled.

From the other room, I could hear the knock on the door.

“Dinner is here. I’m going to go let them in.”

“I’m sure the room service guy will love the visual of your hard cock pressing against your pants,” she teased and laughed again.

As we settled in to enjoy our dinner, I decided to get a bit nosey with Chloe. I wasn’t used to having dinner dates, or dates for that matter. I had learned years ago that I wasn’t good boyfriend material.

The idea of commitment to a woman scared the shit out of me. The only obligation that I had been comfortable with had been with my family. I was unconditionally bound to them.

“What do you do for a living, if you don’t mind my asking?” I boldly asked while I poured her a glass of wine.

Chloe slowed her chewing I’m sure to give herself a moment to think of what to tell me. Her answer was clever, especially since I actually knew what she did and what her family did for a living.

“I work for my father,” she replied.

I swallowed my food and nodded.

“And what does your father do?”

Chloe slowly took a sip of wine and kept her eyes on me as she savored it in her mouth and swallowed.

“He’s in sales.”

“That’s fantastic.” I paused and took another bite of my food. “What does he sell?”

“Pharmaceuticals.”

I nodded at her smart response.

“That’s a great industry. Lots of money to be made there I imagine.”

“There is. You have no idea, Wesley.”

I did have an idea. A very good one in fact. I smiled as I sipped my wine casually.

“So, what do you do for your father’s business?”

“I help line up meetings with new potential clients and make frequent contact with them. I show them around town, take them to dinner.” Chloe paused for another bite of food. “That’s the kind of stuff I do in London.”

That made sense to me.

“Well,” I started. “I have a feeling you’re very good at what you do,” I complimented.

“Oh yeah? Do you think so, Wesley?” she teased.

Chloe’s lips parted to reveal her beautiful smile that touched her eyes. Even if I couldn’t see the smile and I was just looking into her eyes, I’d know she was smiling. I’d always heard the saying about eyes that twinkle, but I never understood it really. But after looking in Chloe’s eyes when she smiled, I could say that I understood it now.

“Yes. I think you’re probably perfect for that. I’m sure you know the business and such. If I were a potential customer, I’d sign up for sure.”

She tilted her head back and burst out laughing.

“Would you be saying that based on the fact that we’ve slept together?”

It was unavoidable for me not to laugh.

“Not at all.”

We continued our meal and Chloe continued opening up to me.

“So, your meeting this afternoon was to try to bring your father’s business to Amsterdam and recruit new customers?” I innocently asked.

I knew she was trying to take business back to daddy. And my family was hoping to be the big winner.

“Something like that. Wesley, do you know what the difference is between a ‘customer’ and a ‘client’?”

I shook my head slightly.

“A ‘customer’ is typically a one-time thing. Think of it like, going to a restaurant. You’re their customer. You may or may not return depending upon how you’re treated and the service you’re given. A ‘client’ is someone you build a relationship with. Like a lawyer or a doctor. You go to them for your needs as they come up. You trust them to take care of you. Make sense?”

I nodded.

“I get it,” I confirmed.

“My father is trying to build a relationship with a new client. So—”

“Your father sent you here to impress the potential new client.”

She nodded, and this time she wasn’t all smiles.

“I’m the one he sends to meet the new ones.”

“The pretty face to meet clients “

“Yes, Wesley.” Chloe’s stressed face had returned. “I’m a product of his business.” Clearly, she was unhappy about her position in her family. “It’s not a wonderful job, Wesley. It usually sucks.”

“Have you thought about telling your father that you’re not happy and don’t want to do it anymore?”

“It’s not so simple, Wesley,” Chloe said. She leaned back in her chair and looked at me with sad eyes before saying something that chilled me to the bone. “I was born for this.”

Instantly my mind catapulted to the night Thom showed me that the docks had been shut down. I stood near that horrific property line when he told me that couples were selling their boys to the docks.

Chloe’s comment about being “born for it,” made me wonder if I had, in fact, also been born for something specific...the docks.

“Wesley?” Chloe’s soft voice and gentle hand on my forearm pulled me from those thoughts.

I took hold of her hand and smiled as I snapped out of it.

“Chloe, you’re a lovely, smart young woman. Though I don’t know your father, I’d imagine he’d just want you to be happy,” I offered.

“You don’t understand. Our family is very rich in tradition. We only go into the family business. Olsens don’t do anything else.”

I felt terrible for her. She hated what she was doing, and it made me wonder if Thom would be supportive of any of his sons if they said that they wanted out. I wouldn’t want to do anything else though. I was grateful to be part of my family.

“Let me show you something, Wesley.”

Chloe went to her purse and brought back her phone. For a fleeting moment, I feared that she knew who I was and was going to show me the evidence. She studied the phone for a moment, and I watched her move her fingers over her phone as she looked for something.

“Here,” Chloe handed me the phone, and I stared at a picture of an awkward young, chubby girl with an obtrusive overbite and braces. “That was me in middle school.”

I raised in my eyebrows as she pulled her phone back. She began searching for something else and soon turned the phone to face me.

“That was me in my senior year of high school.” Chloe’s senior year picture showed her as a sweet, soft and curvy teen. Her smile was bright, and the dental braces she had worn in her middle school picture had done an excellent job straightening her teeth. The overbite that was evident in her senior picture was nowhere in sight now.

“You looked happy in that picture,” I said.

“I was. But my natural look wasn’t what my father needed.”

Chloe didn’t pick up her phone but swiped to reveal the next picture, and I moved in closer to see the picture. Chloe’s face and neck were bruised, and her eyes were swollen.

“My God, Chloe. What—”

“What happened? My father spent the summer after my senior year fixing my flaws.”

I stared in shock as she swiped her phone revealing the aftermath and recovery from medical and dental procedures.

“I had reconstructive surgery done on my jaw...all of my teeth were removed and replaced with permanent implants...gastric surgery and liposuction...breast augmentation and implants. Not to mention a handful of minor cosmetic surgeries to fix me.”

She pulled her phone back and then set it to the side.

“See, Wesley? I was born to do this for my father. He went to extreme measures to make sure that I knew my place in life and was prepared to work for the family.”

My heart went out to this young woman. Her father was an asshole who was so absorbed by his business that he altered her physical appearance so that potential clients would stare and grope her with their eyes.

Shit, hopefully just with their eyes.

Chloe was the beautiful face to Gareth Olsen’s ugly, dark business. There really wasn’t much that I could say to hide my disgust that a parent would, as she put it, go to those extremes. Of course, I may have been sold as a child for money.

My appetite was gone for my steak. I looked at Chloe’s hand in mine as I stroked her thumb with mine.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed and broke down crying.

I moved my chair closer to her and pulled her to sit in my lap. Her head naturally went to relax against my neck, and I hugged her against my body.

“I didn’t mean to ruin our dinner and evening,” she said.

“Shh, it’s ok, Chloe.” I kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry you went through that.”

I could feel her shrug against me.

“It’s okay.” She laughed lightly as her fingertips moved over my chest. “Hey, at least I’m pretty and perfect looking now.”

I winced as her words echoed in my head. How could she say such a thing? I recognized what she was doing though; making jokes so it was easier for her to digest.

“I’m sorry that the decision to make all of the changes wasn’t made by you. No one should have the right to make decisions like that for someone. Not even your father.”

“Sometimes I look in the mirror and don’t even recognize the woman staring back at me.”

I stroked her back as we sat there in silence. I just couldn’t imagine how a parent could do that. No wonder Thom said she’s the apple of her daddy’s eye...he constructed her just as he wished.

“Be grateful you don’t have baggage like me.”

I swallowed hard. I had some baggage, alright.

“Even though I look perfect, I rarely feel that way. Many times I can’t even look at myself in the mirror.” Chloe nuzzled her head against my chest before she added, “I have never told anyone that before.”

I sighed.

“Well, I’d like to make you feel pretty tonight.”

I titled her head upward so she’d look at me. As I smiled, she smiled. When I had been sure that she was on board with my thoughts, I stood with her in my arms and carried her to the bed.

Chloe’s light purple nightie crept up her thighs as she lay on the crisp white sheets. Her eyes twinkled, and a smile spread across her face as she watched me unbutton my shirt. As my shirt came off, her eyes immediately went to my chest and tattoo.

From my wallet, I pulled out a condom and tossed it on the bed before I began pulling my pants and boxers off. Her smile broadened as I stood at the foot of the bed naked.

“Part those pretty legs. Chloe. My appetite has returned.”

Her cheeks became flushed when I crawled onto the bed and settled on my stomach between her legs. I was touched by her bashfulness. Chloe took hold of the hem of her nightie and began drawing the material upward. I hooked my fingers inside the waistband of her panties, and gazed in her eyes as I slowly pulled them from her body.

“Wait! Should we take the tablets?” Chloe asked.

“No, sweetheart. I want to make you feel good without the tablets.”

I dragged my tongue over her wet slit until I reached her swollen nub that was poking out at me. I didn’t rush and took my time savoring Chloe and her sweet body. She tasted exquisite, and her skin smelled like the coconut body wash she used earlier in the shower.

Chloe’s quiet whimpers grew into loud moans. Her fingers gripped my hair as she pulled me closer to her snatch, as if I could get any closer. She tossed her head from side to side as she uncurled her fingers from my hair and pressed her palm against the back of my head.

“Mmm, Wesley,” she whined.

I could tell that she was close to her orgasm because her whimpers and moans had an urgent tone to them. I wanted to feel her come on my cock rather than against my face. I pushed myself up on my knees, reached for the condom and rolled it down my shaft.

I leaned over Chloe and slid my hands under her upper and lower back and lifted her up, then I sat back on my heels. She straddled my lap and wrapped her arms around my shoulders as she smiled and looked into my eyes. Her hands fell away from my shoulders, and she rubbed my biceps.

“You’re strong, Wesley.”

I just nodded. God knew I had worked out nearly every day since Thom took me in. All of his sons had good builds, but I was kind of scrawny at the time. Martin and I worked out each morning together. I was proud of my body now...except for the tattoo.

I let go of her upper back and grabbed my hard cock at the base. Damn, I was so hard, and I needed relief soon. I flicked it forward so my shaft slapped against her lower abdomen. Her warm laughter filled my ears as I playfully smacked my aching cock against her skin.

“Chloe, I need to be in you now.”

“I’m all yours, Wesley.”

Chloe moved toward me, lining herself up with my rock hard cock. Her body sank on my cock, and she tilted her head back as she moaned. Her grip tightened on my upper arms as she began to bounce on me. Fuck, she felt so good.

She let go of my arms, and her fingers twisted and gripped my hair as my mouth teased her firm, puckered nipple. I captured her nipple between my teeth and ran my tongue over it while she moaned. I repeated this on her other nipple and by that time, she was ready. My hands went to her waist, and I helped her along with bouncing on my cock.

“Oh, Wesley!” she moaned and whimpered. “God, Wesley!”

“Come on, baby,” I encouraged her toward that orgasm.

I was desperate to feel her pussy contract around my cock. The only sound that could be heard was the slapping noise of our sweaty skin moving against one another. Chloe flung her arms around my shoulders and leaned into me as she ground her swollen clit down against my shaft.

“Wes...ly!” Chloe cried out.

Her pussy began pulsating on my cock for a moment until the sensation washed over me and I exploded my warm jizz into the condom.

“Yes!” I yelled and continued to assist her motions of going up and down on my cock. “Your pussy feels so good, Chloe.”

My head was buried against her neck, and I began placing kisses on her warm skin. On my lips, I could taste the salty goodness. We collapsed on the bed next to one another as both of us tried to catch our breaths.

As we lay there, our noisy, rapid panting and gasps for air slowed, and the adrenaline settled. Chloe snuggled up to me and rested her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her as I lowered my head to kiss her. Her fingertips danced around my chest, and she traced the ink outlining my tattoo.

I felt so comfortable with Chloe. And it wasn’t just the sex. I felt like we connected well. She told me all of that stuff about how her father molded her for his business. I doubted many people knew that, but she trusted me with it.

I thought maybe I could tell her about my tattoo and how I got it...but that would lead to more questions, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. And really, I shouldn’t have worried about it. Chloe would go back to London in a few days, and this would all be over.

It wasn’t supposed to even happen.

But it did.

And now, I was trapped feeling something for this woman.

“Sex with those tablets last night was pretty wild Wesley,” Chloe whispered.

I laughed while I stroked her arm.

“Are you suggesting that without the tablets, I wasn’t able to satisfy you?” I teased.

She playfully slapped my chest before turning her head to kiss the spot she just slapped.

“Of course not. I was merely commenting on how good it was. Those tablets were pure and enhanced the experience that was already a stellar performance by you, Wesley.”

Ah, back to business. It was a subtle reminder mixed with a layer of guilt that what I was doing with Chloe was wrong and shouldn’t have happened.

But it did.

“So, Van Doorn’s stuff is pretty amazing,” Chloe said with a smile.

“Yes. Like I said before, I always make the trip to their restaurant to buy mine. It’s the only place I trust.” While I was working on selling the business to Chloe, I decided to throw in some history. “Van Doorn’s has been around the longest in Amsterdam in the ecstasy business. They actually have a family owned and operated lab just outside of the city limits. I’ve never had anything but pure tablets from them. And that’s the reason I trust them. With others, you just never know.”

“You’re right, Wesley. Or some places will give you the first one that is pure, and then you go back to buy more and it’s not as good of an experience as the first,” she said.

What struck me funny was that both of us knew more about the business than we were letting on.

“Some sellers will even put dangerous as fuck ingredients in to substitute,” I added.

“Yes! That’s so shady.”

“Yeah, and dangerous. And no one holds them accountable. It’s not like a buyer will go to the authorities with it.” Chloe moved her head up and down on my chest as she nodded to agree with me. “Plus, some cheaper sellers may have various suppliers.”

“Unknown suppliers.”

Time to sell again.

“That’s why I only trust Van Doorn’s. Since they have their own lab, I know it’s good and trustworthy. The last thing I want on my hands is uncertainty with tablets at a party or on a date.”

Chloe lifted her head and tilted it upward to look at me.

“And I’m sure your dates are very grateful for that,” she giggled and then let her head crash back to my shoulder.

“What? It’s not like this is a habit for me,” I innocently said. “I don’t just go out to party and go home with anyone.”

Her sweet laughter filled the room while she teased me. She reached under the sheet and grabbed my cock and playfully shook it.

“I’m sure Wesley Berlin doesn’t have a lineup of women at his door every night,” she sarcastically remarked.

“I don’t.”

“Come on, Wesley. You can tell me. I bet you have lots of women each week.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but no. I don’t.”

“Strapping young man like yourself hasn’t fucked his way around Amsterdam?” I shook my head at her as I laughed. “I don’t even know how old you are, Wesley.”

“Twenty-five.”

“You’re a nice guy. I’m surprised some woman hasn’t attached herself to you or shoved a ring on your finger.”

I shook my head again. I wasn’t a nice guy. I was pretending that I didn’t know who she was and, in the process, I felt like I was betraying my family.

“Just because I look desirable, doesn’t mean that I am, sweetheart. I don’t fit the boyfriend mold.”

“Well, I don’t fit the girlfriend mold either.”

Chloe continued to run her fingers over my tattoo again as I stroked her back. I wished there was a way she and I could be together. But it’s just not in the stars. She lived in London, I lived here. Both of us were devoted to our families, which was our way of life.

It would never work out.

I needed to get my head out of the clouds and regroup.

“Do you have meetings tomorrow, Chloe?” I asked even though I knew she did.

“Yes,” she groaned. “I’m not looking forward to seeing this client.”

“Oh, why not?” I asked.

I was genuinely interested in the reason because it might be info I could somehow relay to my family. It might be of use.

“I don’t think their…product is as good as the others my father is considering. But he still wants me to meet with them.”

I temporarily forgot that I wasn’t supposed to know her father was shopping for a new ecstasy supplier. It was her tone when she said “product” that reminded me. I knew that she was meeting with the Heines family rep tomorrow. Chloe seemed to have some intel on their products. I had to see if I could extract some info but make it sound like we were talking about legal pharmaceuticals rather the ones that I knew both our families were in the business of.

“What makes their pharmaceutical products not as nice as the others your father is considering, in your opinion?” I casually asked.

She was quiet for a moment as she crafted her story of reasoning.

“Well, little is known about their…facilities. To me, that’s a concern. If we don’t know anything about their facilities, that’s a downside.”

I almost laughed at her phrasing. “Facilities,” otherwise known as the lab where they make their ecstasy. I had to hand it to her though. She was making this sound like they were actually seeking legit pharmaceuticals.

When I shut the light out, she commented about how she wasn’t looking forward to going back to London.

“Why?” I asked.

“You’re here.”

While I was happy that she was enjoying her time and was going to miss me, there was a part of me that hated when she said that. It was because that comment gave me hope that there could possibly be something more between us.

I thought about it through the night and played out many scenarios; none of them played out well. I doubted my family would be accepting or understanding, considering how we met. I was also almost certain that I would not stack up to the expectations of Chloe’s father.

Exhaustion was the predominant feeling I had when Chloe and I woke up. The sun was already up and streaking through the window.

“Mmm, don’t make me get up, Wesley,” she sleepily moaned.

“Okay. You can stay in bed with me today,” I offered.

I rolled on top of her while supporting my weight with my forearms. I joked and teased about keeping her captive with me today and that she’d be my sex slave. I lowered my head and kissed her stomach and sides while I tickled her with one hand. She laughed and tried rolling away from my tickles. I really thought I could get used to waking up next to her. I loved her accent and laugh.

“If we get up now, Wesley, we can take a slow shower together.”

I softly kissed her belly button and then rested my cheek on her abdomen as I looked up at her. A shower with Chloe sounded fantastic, but I was content right where I was.

“Are you sure you can’t stay in bed with me all day?” I tried one more time.

I was fully aware that it wasn’t actually a realistic suggestion. Chloe had shit to do, and I had a family dinner meeting tonight. But I had to find time to see her again tonight.

“I’m sure, Wesley Berlin, lucky number six,” Chloe teased.

My stomach instantly hurt. WB6. That was my name of the docks while I was there. Not Wesley or Wes...just WB6.

“Wesley, are you okay?”

I nodded and sat up.

“Yes, I think I’m starting to get light headed from being so hungry. You wore me out last night, baby.”

“I’m only a few years younger than you are, Wesley. Better get in shape so you can keep up,” Chloe said with a smile.

I followed her naked ass from the bed into the shower. Under the warm spray of the water, our hands flew to one another’s body like magnets. Our mouths consumed one another until she pulled away and began moving her mouth down my body.

My cock was hard by the time she got to it. I leaned against the glass of the shower door as Chloe took the head of my dick into her mouth.

“Fuck,” I hissed.

Chloe wasted no time. This wasn’t a sweet blowjob, nor was it an awkward behind the school blowjob after class I’d had many times. Chloe could suck cock like any of the professionals down in the Red Light District. The difference was that I actually meant something to her and wasn’t just a client. At least, I thought that I kind of meant something to her.

“Damn, Chloe.”

I closed my eyes and put my hands on her head. I wanted to just fuck her mouth, but I let her control this. She took me deep into her throat and swallowed. The swallowing motion sent me so close to coming.

“Oh, fuck, Chloe!”

“You like that?” she pulled her mouth away from my cock to ask.

“God, yes. I love it.”

She went back to work on my stiff cock and alternated from running her tongue around my head to deep throating me and swallowing. The back and forth was driving me crazy, and I finally went over the edge when she took hold of my balls and swallowed.

“Fuck!” I moaned as I released my load in her mouth.

I quickly opened my eyes and looked down at her. Had I overstepped my bounds by coming in her mouth? Chloe was looking at me, and she made a production out of pulling my shaft out of her mouth and swirling her tongue around my head.

“Jesus,” I panted.

She smiled and kept her eyes on me as she continued to clean my cock. While she cleaned me with her tongue my cock remained semi-hard. When she finished, I helped her to stand, and I kissed her.

This was a first for me. I had never kissed a woman after coming in their mouth. Chloe’s kisses were special though, and there was something so sexy to me about her swallowing the load I just pumped into her mouth. It was as though my kiss sealed something.

What it sealed, I didn’t know.

I wanted it to seal the fact that we had a chance to be together...though I didn’t know how that would work.

After the shower, I watched Chloe get ready for her meeting with the Heines family while I smoothed out the same clothes that I wore yesterday.

Her clothes were neatly stowed hanging in the closet. She pulled out a few hangers; a skirt, a top, and a blazer. If I didn’t know better, I’d believe that she was really meeting with a legit pharmaceutical company to attract business.

“So, tonight?” I carefully asked.

I wanted badly to see her again tonight, and I hoped she wanted to see me as well.

“Of course, Wesley. Would you like to get dinner tonight?”

Dinner. Shit. I did but had the family dinner meeting this evening. I couldn’t get out of that. My family is priority one. I could just eat light with them and then Chloe and I could get dinner.

“Yes, dinner would be great. How about 7:00?” I suggested.

Knowing that my family dinner was at 5:00, that should give me enough time to eat and talk business with them and then get to Chloe. We decided to meet in the hotel lobby at 7:00 and would eat at the quaint restaurant across the street.

“I’ll see you at 7:00, Chloe.”

I leaned close to kiss her before I left her suite. Our lips locked and tongues began spearing at one another. Her hands gripped my chest while I weaved my fingers through her hair.

“I look forward to tonight, Wesley. I’ll be thinking about how good your cum tasted and how thick it was as I swallowed it.”

My eyes were locked with hers.

“If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll coat that mouth of yours with it again,” I teased.

She grinned big and gave me a sweet kiss before feeling my crotch.

“Hopefully I get lucky tonight, WB6.”

WB6.

I hated that. Chloe didn’t know of the horrors behind that tattoo so I couldn’t be angry with her.

My mind was all over the place as I rode the elevator down to the lobby alone. I really enjoyed being with Chloe, and I wish I could make it work with her.

I kept my head down as I walked to my apartment. I could have taken the metro, but I just felt like being alone and walking right now. Maybe it was a mix of depression lingering from the tablet the other night and the fact that it would nearly be impossible for Chloe and I to end up together.

Like many times when I was depressed, I found that my feet would bring me to the spot where I now stood; across the street from the docks. I sat on the three-foot-high brick wall and stared at the property across the street.

I looked down at my calloused hands that I earned while I lived there. I worked my ass off from the time I got there. I learned fast. They weren’t people you fucked with or tested. We just did as we were told, at least, most of the time.

As my eyes scanned the barren property, I could almost hear the other boys. Some were older, and some were younger than me. We all had a lot in common. We were given up or sold to Skagen and were all trapped and afraid.

So much of where I came from was a mystery. Ever since Thom told me about the people who were selling their boys for money, I’d wondered if I had been sold. Did I have parents out there? Did I have any biological siblings? If I was sold, how much did my parents make?

All of my questions had built up over the years. I never thought that I’d voice any of them, but I was feeling more and more curious lately. I had a feeling that Thom knew more than he had initially told me. Maybe he withheld additional information on purpose. I was almost sure that Thom had to know more. After all, he somehow got this place shut down.

I looked at my watch: 9:30 a.m. Time to send a text to Dad.

Did I have a biological father out there somewhere?

Even if I did, he obviously was never a father to me; Thom was.

Proud that I was earning my keep, I felt better as I set off for the apartment. By the time I got there, some of the depression had subsided, and I knew that the walking had helped. I decided to work out for a while, hoping to shake this “off” feeling. Working out and jogging was usually a remedy for me and the slight depression.

Martin was walking some woman out as I entered the apartment. He gave me a cheesy grin and went into the hallway with the woman while I went to my room. He came into my room as I was changing into my workout clothes.

“How was your night, mate?” he asked as he flopped on my bed.

“Not as good as yours apparently,” I joked.

Truth be told, my night was fantastic. I couldn’t let on though. It was special; I learned so much about Chloe.

“I’m going for a run. Want to come?” I asked Martin.

“Yeah, give me a few minutes to change.”

Soon, our feet were hitting the pavement, and we began to jog our usual route. Our jogs typically were where we talked the most. I was more comfortable talking as we jogged because I wasn’t under his stare and the jog was actually a nice distraction. When I first moved in with them, Martin took to me the best. He helped me build up my physique and stamina with jogging and swimming. And we also became the best of friends.

He was also a curious bugger on these jogs, and it was during our runs that I opened up the most to him. We always kept the conversations that we had out on the route. We never brought the topics we spoke about back into the house when I was younger, or to our apartment now. For many of our early jogs when I was fourteen, Martin tried getting me to open up. It was probably a good six months of him trying before I finally did. And when I did, I made him promise that he wouldn’t tell Thom certain things.

Martin and I had built a bond during our jogs. It was my first relationship built on trust, which was hard for me. To this day, my bond with Martin was the strongest of my brothers.

“You coming off that pill okay?” he asked as we rounded a corner.

“Yeah,” I panted. “For some reason, this one seemed harder on me.”

“Don’t give it too much thought. You’ve got a lot on your plate right now with tailing that Olsen chick. Your body might be reacting a little different to it with the stress.”

I waved my hand in the air to show that I wasn’t too concerned over it. If light depression and feeling down weren’t a common side effect, then I’d be concerned. But this was something that I was used to by now.

The sounds of our heavy breathing and feet punishing the ground were broken by Martin again.

“Did you go down to the docks again, Wes?”

I frowned when he brought it up. Martin knew that when I felt down, I often went down to the docks. Why I did this over and over, I’d never know or understand. It made no sense to me. Why did I continue to go back to a place that I hated? I used to freak out just when we’d be in the vicinity of the Skagen Group Home for Boys. For years now, I’d been going there when I got depressed, and it never made me feel any better.

“Yeah,” I panted as we began jogging uphill.

I was pretty sure that even if I hadn’t said anything that he still would have known. Martin knew me really well.

Martin never gave me any shit about going back there nor did he ask me why I went there. Maybe he knew that I had no clue myself.

“Did you sit on the wall?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

I never made it further. A few times in the past I’d stood up and even stepped close to the edge of the sidewalk. But I never crossed the street. Sometimes I felt like I needed to be able to walk along the grounds again, without fear. It’s hard for me to understand the reasoning behind this feeling, so I usually pushed it out of my mind.

“Don’t worry about it, mate.” We jogged the length of the city block before he spoke again. “You know that if you ever want company that I will go down there with you.”

I wanted to get on another topic with Martin.

“I know, Martin.”

“We can both piss on the grounds,” he said as he extended his arm to lightly hit my chest.

A few quick, short laughs burst out of us, and I tried to move the topic away from the docks slightly.

“Martin, remember when dad said how a lot of the kids had families and had been sold?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Do you think I was one?” He was quiet for a few moments, and then I tried to stop the awkward silence. “Or do you think that I was just an orphan with no family at all?”

“I don’t know, Wes.”

Everything that I’d wondered and thought about for years came tumbling out.

“I wonder if any records were kept...Most orphanages or homes keep records I imagine...Maybe like a record of existence, or something...Maybe there’s something that showed how I ended up there...Or who took me to them or dropped me off there...I wasn’t just born in the streets or a hospital and then ended up there.”

I paused to catch my breath for a short distance.

“I was somewhere with someone until I was six years old. Someone had me...Maybe Thom knows...Or has the records...What do you think Martin?”

Martin slowed his jog until he stopped altogether. I stopped a few feet in front of him and turned to look at him. His hands were on his hips as his chest heaved. I frowned and walked back to him.

“What?” I asked. “Why’d you stop?”

“Wes, you should talk to Dad.”

When Martin said that I felt like maybe he knew more than I thought. Could it be possible that my adoptive family knew all about my past while I didn’t even know? Did they keep it from me? Was there a reason to keep it from me?

“Relax, mate.”

“No,” I shook my head and looked down.

Did Martin know more and had he deliberately kept something about my past from me?

“Do you know something, Martin? Do you know where I came from?” I pointedly asked him.

He was quiet, but his eyes hadn’t moved from mine.

“What do you know?”

“I don’t know anything, Wes. I suggested that you talk to Dad so if he does know more, then he can talk to you and share it with you.”

I nodded and apologized for jumping down his throat.

“For a minute there, I thought that maybe you knew something and had kept it from me.”

“Wes, we’re best friends and brothers. I know it’s been eating at you. I wouldn’t have kept something like that from you. But I think you should talk to Dad because he might have more information.”

“Don’t you think he would have told me if he had?”

“You were just fourteen when he brought you to live with us, Wes. He hadn’t shut the place down until many months after that.”

“Yeah,” I said and looked away. “But if Thom knew something, he had lots of opportunities to tell me.”

“I don’t know if it would have helped you or hurt you though, Wes. And if Dad knows something, consider that he may not have felt it would help you either.”

“Martin, you don’t know what it’s like to wonder where you came from. You know where you came from. You have a dad.”

“You do too, mate. Thom loves you just as he loves me or Mason or Kyler.”

Martin was right. Thom had been a father to me and took me in off the streets. I nodded to acknowledge that Martin was right and looked up the street.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Martin said as he hit my upper arm.

We resumed our jog and headed home quietly. I spent the rest of the afternoon alone in my room and thinking about Chloe. For hours, I stared at the few pictures I had taken of her from a distance.

Pictures that she didn’t know I had of her.

Pictures that my family didn’t know I had of her.

Guilt continued to set in as to what I was doing exactly. Was getting close to Chloe going to pull me away from my family?

Was there even anything for me to really worry about? Chloe was going back to London in a few days and chances were good that it’d be the last time that I saw her.

Though I wished otherwise.

I’d told myself over and over that it’s not practical to think that there’s a life for me with Chloe. Even though I knew this, I still would sit and think of the “what ifs.”