Nye almost jumped out of his skin when someone touched his shoulder. It was Jon. There was a strange look on his face... almost tender, almost angry, almost sad.
"I thought it might be better if I took you. I've brought the car round to the door. Can you stand?"
"I'm not that drunk."
"No... but you're not that well either."
"I'm okay."
He did manage to stand, although he swayed, and he eschewed Jon's arm as he made his way through the bar towards the back entrance. He was damned if he was going to have someone tell Adam that he had to be supported by Jon.
A thought struck him so hard that it almost brought him to his knees again and he had to grab the bar to stop himself from falling. Damn! Someone was bound to tell Adam about Kane. They wouldn't know who he was but Adam had met him. How many Americans did he know? Adam would recognise the description and know it was Kane. More than that he would be told of the conversation, the hug... damn and double damn.
It occurred to him to wonder why it should dismay him so much. Why should he feel guilty that he had been visited by a friend? Damn, he would have to tell Adam about the party on Friday. He wasn't going to be happy.
Suddenly a wave of anger washed over him. Fuck that! He was NOT going to let himself get into the position where he had to be afraid of speaking to his friends and family. He was NOT going to have to ask permission to go to a party. Maybe the slave thing was not a good idea after all. He smiled as he straightened and shook off Jon's hand to walk more steadily to the car.
For a time Jon was silent but as they approached the flat he asked.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"Yes. Thank you. I'm okay now."
"I know that's not true but... well to be honest Nye that is not exactly what I was asking."
"What do you mean?" Nye was surprised. Jon had always been friendly but they had rarely spoken other than regarding matters relating to the bar and the business.
"Don't take this wrongly Nye but I have been... concerned about you." Nye looked up puzzled.
"Concerned?"
"Look... maybe you don't want to hear this but..." He paused, gathering himself. "I may well be overstepping the mark here but I have to get it off my chest. When I'm done I will be more than happy for you to tell me to mind my own business... or even to sack my arse but... You're not the first person that Adam has got... attached to. He has a liking for beautiful boys and he has had a succession of them. None lasted long and he has never made a commitment to any of them like he has with you but...
"All of Adam's previous lovers have been... different to you. They came to him with full knowledge of what he did, what he was. They came to him Nye. They wanted the...discipline, the lifestyle. They sought it out. You're different. You are... gentler, sweeter. Some of the others were... gentle like you, delicate even and they were broken... he sent them away in pieces." Nye gasped, shocked by the unexpected turn of the conversation.
"Jon..."
"Please Nye. Let me speak. If, at the end you feel the need to take action I will understand but I can't go on watching you go down. This life is a harsh one and only those with a certain... attitude survive. You've seen what goes on and I have never witnessed anyone go through what you have. That you have done it at all shows you have far more stamina and endurance that you appear to but... Adam is... he's not what he seems Nye. He breaks people."
Jon turned to look at him and was struck, not for the first time, by how young he looked, far younger than his 21 years. He looked like a boy, a stunningly beautiful boy, just as Adam liked them. Even though he was beginning to realise that he had an inner strength that was not apparent on the surface he was still concerned by the apparent fragility of the fine boned face with its enormous wide eyes. Part of the thing that made him look so fragile was the innocence that shone from those eyes.
Jon was not naive, nor was he easily fooled or moved by apparent innocence on a face that had clearly seen more than enough to shatter innocence. However, even though he knew full well what Nye had seen, heard and experienced he was also sure that it had somehow failed to touch him. Somehow he had kept that purity and innocence despite everything that had happened. It was that which made him so appealing, and what put him in so much danger.
"You are very beautiful Nye, you know that, but there is something more... an innocence, a kind of naivety about you that is very, very attractive. The people who come to The Club like that... they like it a lot. You are a great asset to Adam... you bring a lot of good business his way, simply by the way you look... and on top of that..." He paused. "You're a really good person Nye. It shines out of you and that is even more rare than physical beauty in this game. People flock to you and in this kind of life that's dangerous.
"At the moment Adam is besotted with you. You have no idea how hard he is working to protect you from the darkest sides of the business, and the people who lurk there. But I have seen that before. There have been others he has tried to love. There was one in particular that he... maybe he did love. That ended badly and for a long time it made him hard and cruel.
"When he met you it was as if he came alive again. He changed, became more of what he used to be but he has changed. Something died in him that has never fully come alive, not even when he is with you. I'm not saying that he doesn't love you, in his way... what I am saying is that even though he does love you he's dangerous.
"Adam doesn't understand weakness. Pain and suffering are tools to achieve an end. Sickness is something he has no time for and weariness doesn't exist for him. He is strong and he expects everyone around him to be strong too... sometimes unreasonably so."
He paused again as they pulled up outside the flat. Turning to look at Nye he frowned. "It's not that I think you're weak Nye... truly it isn't that. I've seen your strength and it has surprised me over and over. But... you are a good person, a nice person... and good people don't last in this business. Adam is being far more gentle with you than he has ever been with anyone before, but I don't know if that's a kindness.
"I know you probably hate Lian but he had a point to make and he made it. This is a harsh and brutal business and that's why 'new meat' is treated so harshly... so that if they don't have what it takes they find out and leave before they get in too deep."
"Are you trying to tell me I don't have what it takes?" Nye spoke softly but there was an edge that Jon had not heard before and he wondered if he really had signed his own death warrant so to speak.
"I don't think you have any idea of 'what it takes'. You've only scratched the surface. Has Adam asked you to be his slave yet?"
Nye's eyes widened and he bit back a retort along the lines of 'Mind your own fucking business'.
"Yes."
"Have you accepted?"
"I'm sorry Jon but what does this have to do with you?"
"Has he explained to you exactly what it would mean? Have you thought about what it would mean? You've seen the other slaves. You know what they do, what is done to them. Are you really sure you want to do that?"
