“I take it you have something for me?” Othello asked.
“Yeah, and it’s not good, Othello."
“Alright, we’ll meet tonight at the usual place.”
"No, let's meet somewhere more private. I'm not coming alone," Gratiano said, causing Othello to furrow his brows.
"Who?"
"You'll see when we get there. Meet us at eight at the docks."
"Okay." Othello hung up just as Des entered and walked over to him, drying his hair that had gotten longer since they'd been together. He took Des's towel and finished up the job.
"Tesoro, there's something I need to ask you."
Des hummed, wrapping his arms around him. "Yeah, what is it?"
"What's your connection to Cassio Ricci?"
Des groaned. "He's my new and only client."
"Client?"
"Yeah." Des raised his head. "He's paying me a lot of money for a painting."
"How much is he paying you?"
"More than he should."
"I'll pay you double to drop him as a client," Othello said.
"What? Why?"
Othello draped the towel around Des's neck and looked Des in his eyes. "He doesn't care about the painting, Des. He's trying to seduce you to get to me."
Des furrowed his brows, stepping out of Othello's arms.
"What the hell do you have to do with this?"
"It's a game to him, Tesoro." Othello went over to the stove, grabbed the cooled pan with the vegetable frittata he had made for breakfast, and brought it to the table.
"Is that all you're going to say?" Des snapped.
"Sit down, and I'll explain things," he said to his lover, who seemed hesitant but did as Othello asked.
He plated the frittata, handed it to Des, and encouraged him to eat. "I say it's a game because he's done this before. The last person I thought I was in love with, Cassio seduced him. Most would say someone who didn't want to be seduced wouldn't have gone, and Phillip was very willing. I’m not sure how his wife put up with it, but Cassio paraded Phillip in front of me every chance he got." Othello smiled but felt no joy. "Now that we're together, he's playing the same games."
"Why would he do that?" Des asked.
"Because he hates me, Tesoro. He finds me unworthy of taking my father's place. Or it could be that he's been holding a grudge since high school.”
"What did you do?" Des asked.
"I beat his ass so bad he couldn't show his face for a few months." Othello smiled, recalling the memory. "Look, I don't like him either. Just stay away from him. Besides, you don't want to be the third wheel in his marriage or deal with his other lovers."
If Ricci thought no one knew he and Greco were fucking, they were both stupid. It was talked about, just not within ear’s distance of the two of them.
The silence dragged between them. "What happened to Phillip?"
