His stomach tightened at his own words. He hadn’t thought that was what would have come out of his mouth.
He also didn’t expect usually silent Charlie to ask, “Would it help people if you took those photographs?”
Jonathan turned back to him again. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “Brutus and his brother were alarmingly vague about their intents and how the photographs would be used. They raised more questions in my mind than they answered, if I am being honest.”
“Questions?” Charlie tilted his lovely head with a small frown.
Jonathan shrugged. He put the bread he’d sliced onto a plate along with a pot of butter and a block of cheese, then took it to the table.
“One lurid afternoon was by no means enough time for me to decide whether Brutus and his brother’s intentions are noble or nefarious,” he said as he buttered a piece of bread, then handed it to Charlie. “One does not wish to find themselves on the wrong side of morality, after all.”
Charlie stared at him.
The look sent prickles down Jonathan’s side. He supposed it was a bit rich of him to prattle about morality when he earned the bulk of his income creating pornography using young men he’d plucked off the street. But he fed and paid those men. It wasn’t as if he forced them to do anything against their will.
Charlie continued to watch him without picking up the buttered bread Jonathan had set in front of him. The intensity in his eyes became more uncomfortable with each second that ticked by.
Finally, Jonathan sighed and let go of the tension he hadn’t realized had gathered in his shoulders.
“I’m just a hedonistic pornographer, Charlie,” he made the excuse for himself. “I choose to live unconventionally and to expose the hypocrisy of my father’s class. That does not necessarily qualify me to participate in whatever plot Brutus andhis brother are hatching. I cannot help but feel as if everything we saw today and everything that is being asked of me is far outside the purview of who I am.”
That was the heart of it, really. Brutus and Titus were part of something much bigger than the world Jonathan had created for himself. Who was he to pretend he could help them?
“I think you should help them,” Charlie said, eyes lowered, barely above a whisper.
Jonathan’s brow shot up. “You do?”
Charlie nodded.
Jonathan lifted a piece of bread to his mouth, then froze as Charlie said, “The Zagreus Den is a good place.”
Jonathan’s mouth remained open, even when he lowered the bread. “A good place?”
Charlie nodded.
When he didn’t offer more, Jonathan said, “It is a den of iniquity. Scantily clad young men, lurid artwork, dubious entertainment, and more.”
Charlie lifted his head and met Jonathan’s eyes. “It is safe.”
Jonathan’s mouth twitched. He wasn’t certain if Charlie understood what he’d seen at the Den. “Er, Charlie, you know why those young men are there, what purpose they serve, do you not?”
Of all things, a small smile danced over Charlie’s lips. “They are safe. They are clean and well-fed and happy.”
Jonathan sat back slightly. He supposed that would make the place feel like a sanctuary to someone who had spent the last month cast out on the street.
“They are prostitutes, Charlie,” Jonathan explained carefully, resting a hand over Charlie’s.
Charlie shook his head. “They are owned. They are cared for.”
Jonathan’s body tightened all over again. Was that what he’d seen? Was that why some of the men in the banquet hall hadsmiled and petted their companions as if they were cherished pets?
“I want to belong to you,” Charlie blurted, jolting Jonathan out of his thoughts.
Hot and cold raced through Jonathan with the fury of a storm. For a moment, he was the one who couldn’t speak. He gaped at Charlie, wondering if he’d heard the young man correctly.
Charlie shied away from him, turning his head. Color flared in his cheeks again, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just said.
“Charlie,” he began cautiously, placing his hand over the young man’s again.
