William’s heart tore to pieces at the history behind Adathan’s words. In an instant, he was holding Adathan tightly against his chest.You matter, he wanted to say to him, but he found himself unable to. He just embraced Adathan, hoping he would understand.
He couldn’t believe he’d jumped to conclusions about Adathan’s silence. When he’d created the email account this morning, he said it was for Adathan to contact him, not the other way around. And Adathan had taken that literally because of course he had. He’d been told all his life he was a fucking possession.
Thingsdon’t receive emails.
William’s throat tightened as he remembered the collar from the Serviteur box.
Adathan had been trained to expect being tethered while his master was gone. And yet, he’d had the courage to go out and introduce himself to a total stranger. He’d kept himself busy all day of his own volition. He’d even taken the initiative of moving furniture around without asking permission.
William wanted to tell himself it was because Adathan felt safe here, but it was never that simple. Not when trauma was involved.
Adathan had spent the entire day fighting his deepest instincts because he was a goddamn warrior.
William closed his eyes, but it didn’t stop the stupid tears from rolling down his cheeks and into Adathan’s hair. He was so tired, he wasn’t even sure what was causing them anymore.
All he knew was that he was so proud of Adathan, it hurt. But even that felt wrong.
Adathan wasn’t a child; he was a grown man. And he deserved better than to be infantilized.
CHAPTER 13
New Memories
William dropped into his desk chair with a sigh, his body humming with endorphins from his workout. He kicked his gym bag under his desk and leaned back, rubbing a hand across his face.
It felt good to go to the gym, but even with the energy boost, he still craved a nap. One good night’s sleep wasn’t enough.
He opened his desk drawer and grabbed the lunch Adathan had woken up early to pack for him. He took the containers out of the bag—a ham and cheese sandwich, veggies and dip, vanilla yogurt, peach slices, and a bunch of cookies.
William smiled, a fuzzy feeling swelling in his chest. He never took the time to prepare such nice lunches for himself, so he wasn’t used to having all this variety. It would make his afternoon so much more tolerable.
A small voice told him it was wrong to turn Adathan into a housewife, but William did his best to ignore it. It had been Adathan’s initiative, and it clearly made him happy. William would be a real asshole to ask him to stop.
He reached for the spoon at the bottom of the bag and spotted a piece of paper. He unfolded it, his smile widening as he discovered a drawing of ants carrying miniature food items, like burgers, ice cream cones, and pizza slices.
Or maybe they were giant ants carrying regular-sized food.
Either way, Adathan was remarkably talented.
A thought crossed William’s mind, but he kicked it away. It didn’t matter whether Serviteurs were taught how to draw. He chose to believe Adathan’s talent was his, and his alone.
William would have to unpack the remaining boxes from his move tonight. If he recalled correctly, one contained brand-new art supplies he’d bought a while ago—when he’d been convinced expensive colored pencils and professional-grade sketchbooks were all he required to become an artist. Turned out what he needed was perseverance.
William grabbed a thumbtack and pinned the drawing to his cubicle wall. If Adathan could make something like this with a cheap ballpoint pen, then William couldn’t wait to see what he’d achieve with decent supplies.
Chatter erupted around him as his colleagues returned from their lunch break. William would normally put on his headphones, but he knew the noise would soon die down and be replaced with a low stream of keystrokes and clicks.
It had been like this for weeks—dead quiet, like they were already mourning their job security.
Ever since the higher-ups had fired the director and replaced him with an outside hire, everyone was on edge. They all knew what was coming: layoffs disguised as business restructuring. It gave William another reason not to put his headphones on.
To listen.
William savored his sandwich as he unlocked his work computer. He stared blankly at the spreadsheet he was working on before the break, the numbers blurring and swimming before his eyes. God, he was so tired of this place.
It didn’t help that his mind kept drifting to Adathan.
William shook his head. He had to stay focused. The new director was taking notes, evaluating their performances. Shewasn’t even subtle about it. William couldn’t wait for this nightmare to be over.
