Priceless

style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Camberic;color:#FF6600'>Priceless

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style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Camberic;color:#FF6600'>Chapter Two:style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Camberic;color:#FF6600'>

“You
set me up.”

Daemyn
looked up from his desk, “So what if I did? You’re lonely and so is he.”

“You
didn’t even ask about my preferences!
He said you promised him a ‘good time’ from me. What the hell did you mean by th-…”

“That’s
not what I promised him, Adan. Saba has a way
of bending words to suit his own needs. I told Saba
that he may be able to finally find happiness with you. He’s been through a
lot, Adan. He’s alone, and being a male escort takes a toll on you after a
while. He wants to be happy. That’s all I told him. Besides, how did you get in
here?”

Adan
calmed down a bit, sighing as he could feel the piece of paper in his pocket,
seemingly burning a hole through it, “Your door was open. Again. Now define ‘male
escort’, if you please.”

“It’s
exactly what it sounds like. People hire escorts to accompany them in places
where a date is required but they haven’t been able to get one, so they hire
one. They’re like… accessories, really. His job is to entertain a party of
people. If the client wants a… nighttime companion, however, they have to pay
up front and give their phone number and address.

There
is no sex allowed in the club, and so all… relations are to be had elsewhere. A
bouncer-like guy goes along to make sure nothing bad happens. As I’m sure you
can guess, sex isn’t commonplace. Saba is a
desired entertainer because of his skills, but few can pay his price. He’s
ready to give it to you for free, Adan. That means something to him.”

Adan
sighed as he leaned against the desk, not liking the guilt trip his brother had
just delivered, “No pressure, huh?”

“C’mon,
you got any other questions?”

“What…
what role is… is he? I mean…”

Daemyn
chuckled, “Saba’s… he knows what he likes.”

Adan
was silent for a moment before whispering for Daemyn’s ears only, “Does… does
it hurt? I mean, not that I’m afraid of pain, but…”

“Drop
the tough guy act. You cry at the sight of needles,” Daemyn said, playing his ‘I’m
your big brother and I know you best’ card, “knowing Saba
as I do, he’ll try to make it as pleasurable as possible. He doesn’t want to
push you away, Adan. And don’t look at me like that. I can’t afford an escort
like Saba. He’s a friend.”

“Speaking
of which, when were you going to tell me you were engaged, huh? To w:st="on">Saba’s friend, what’s-his-name…”

“w:st="on">Logan,” Daemyn said softly, “his name is w:st="on">Logan, and I was going to tell you later.”

Nodding,
Adan relaxed a bit more, “Have you talked to him since that time? Is he still…”

“Yea,
he’s still there. No need to worry about someone attacking him there, either. w:st="on">Saba can take care of himself. He may dress like a girl,
but he fights like a tiger. Never get on his bad side, lemme tell you…” Daemyn
muttered, “Mind if I meddle again?”

“Yes,
actually, I do. This is my choice, Dae. Let me decide.”

“All
right, all right, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later,”
Adan said as he headed towards the front door, “and hey, learn how to lock your
door, would you?”

Daemyn
smiled as his younger brother walked out, not about to tell him that he was too
late in telling Dae not to meddle any further.

Back
in his own apartment on the floor above his brother’s, Adan checked the piece
of paper, seeing a note on the other side:

‘style='font-family:Andalus'>One is work, two is me.

w:st="on">Sabastyle='font-family:"Century Gothic"'>’

Confused
to say the least, Adan picked up his cell phone and dialed Saba’s
number.

A
message picked up, “For a direct line to Blue Moon Agencies, please press one.
For help on problems I can’t and won’t help you solve, press two.”

Adan
blinked at the unusual message, then remembered what the note had said. He
pressed two and waited as it rang.

And
rang.

Hanging
up, Adan called Daemyn, too lazy to go back down the stairs, “Hello?”

“He
didn’t answer his cell phone; I let it ring for a good while.”

“What?
That’s not like him. He likes getting personal calls. Could you go check on
him? I mean, I’m sure he’s fine, but… could you? He takes medicine to sleep
sometimes, so that could explain it…”

He
gulped, “Go see him?”

“Yea,
please? Just check up on him?”

“All
right,” he sighed, “I’ll do it.”

“Thanks,
Adan. Means a lot to me.”

“Sure,
not a problem. Call you back later.”

“Bye.”

Hanging
up on his younger brother, he decided right then that he wouldn’t tell Adan of
his meddling. Best he not know.

Half
an hour later…

Parking
in the lot just before the beach, Adan walked along the waterline before
turning to go up underneath a pier to where the cave was located, picking up a
rock and tossing it inside.

No
one came out to accept the invitation.

Concerned,
Adan walked in slowly, noting that Saba had
placed a dark curtain to hide the fact that candles were lit in the far back.

style='font-family:"Century Gothic"'>“Saba?style='font-family:"Century Gothic"'> Saba,
are you here?” Adan asked as he stepped further back, already past the curtain,
“Saba!”

The
young man lay naked atop the two mattresses, hands tied tightly behind his
back. His red hair was tied in a messy ponytail at the nape of his neck, and
his amber eyes tired as he opened them, turning his head as Adan noticed that a
ball gag had been shoved into his mouth.

Removing
the gag and untying his hands, Adan grabbed a bottle of water and waited beside
him as he drank it, “Thank you.”

style='font-family:"Century Gothic"'>“Yea, sure.style='font-family:"Century Gothic"'> What happened to you?”

“I…
I got hired…” he said quietly, looking at his dresser, “took all of the money I’d
hidden here — I hate banks — and said I would get all of it back — doubled, no
less — if I did what I was hired to do.”

“And
what were you, er, hired to do?”

Saba
licked his lips before answering, “Anything I wanted… after you got here, of
course.”