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When Jack declined, Ewan shrugged. “Suit yourself. Bet I know why Chan’s dad hates you,” he added gruffly, settling back into his chair. “Bet he thinks you made his kid gay and all.”
“Certainly, but I think he could have accepted it if not for the fact that I’m more successful than he is,” Jack said by way of agreement. “I make it hard for Howard to ignore what a terrible father he’s been when I give Channon everything he never did. Which is mostly attention, but to him the money seems a personal affront.”
Ewan snorted. “Your money isn’t what Channon likes about you.”
“No,” Jack agreed. “Channon’s talked to you about his father?”
Ewan frowned. A timer went off on his phone and he picked up the teapot to pour. “Aye. A bit. He’s a bawbag.”
“I’ve been…dissatisfied with Mr Beaumont for some time,” Jack said slowly, choosing his words with care. This was Channon’s business, and he didn’t intend to expose more of it than Channon would be comfortable with. “Every time he lets Channon down, I think up ways to ruin him.” This got Ewan’s attention, his stormy eyes flickering up to fix on Jack with a sudden intensity as he pushed Jack’s mug over to him. “It would be extremely satisfying to tear down the life he’s made for himself and leave it tattered around him. To make sure he knew it was me. Make sure he knew it was because of his negligence as a father.”
Ewan’s mouth twitched. “Oh, aye. And hear the lamentations of his women?”
Unbidden, Jack felt his own mouth curve into a smile. “Yes,” he said. “Except that’s the problem, isn’t it? Howard Beaumont has young children and a partner who don’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire. And Channon would be upset,” Jack admitted. “Which is unacceptable to me.”
This seemed to give Ewan something to chew over. He busied himself with his tea, his gaze flickering restlessly around the room. Jack added milk to his cup and tasted it. Surprisingly good. Ewan did seem to take tea seriously, if nothing else.
“So you can’t have your revenge,” Ewan said. His mouth twisted into a nasty smirk. “Bet you hate that.”
“I do.”
Ewan added, “Cos you’re a control freak.”
“I am,” Jack agreed. “And it’s an itch I can’t scratch. I must take care of Channon. His father hurts him. Therefore, I am compelled to hurt his father. But that would upset Channon, and so all I can do is make sure he feels the lack of his father’s presence in his life as little as possible.”
Ewan nodded sagely. “And that’s why you make him call you Daddy.”
It went through Jack like a shock, hearing that word in Ewan’s mouth. He forced himself to unclench. “I don’t make him.”
This seemed to satisfy Ewan; he pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his cup on top of them. It looked untidy. “Why’re you telling me this? You want help putting pins in Channon’s dad’s voodoo doll?”
“I,” Jack said in a low tone, “find it cathartic to imagine how I might ruin Mr Beaumont. In as much detail and to the greatest extent my imagination can manage.”
Ewan’s eyes twitched toward him, stormy and uncertain. “Aye?”
“And I thought you might enjoy the same thing, with regard to your ex.”
With an explosive breath of air, Ewan dropped his feet to the floor, drumming his heels restlessly. “I don’t get to have revenge. How would I even do that? I can’t just…put shrimp in his curtain rods.”
The thought of the smell as they rotted made Jack wince. “Creative. But you can think bigger than that.”
Ewan slunk down in his chair. “Like…strap him to a rocket and blast him into the sun?”
“If you like. I prefer my revenge fantasies to be more realistic,” Jack said. “As though I could actually achieve them.”
Ewan scrunched up his nose. “Shrimp in the curtain rods it is, then.”
“Or,” Jack said, turning his cup in his hands, “we could hit him where it hurts. What matters most to him?”
Ewan shrugged. “Money. His image. His fucking suits.”
“Well, first we get him blacklisted with his tailor,” Jack said, easing into the idea. “That would annoy me. Then expand that to include every tailor in his city. Just for the inconvenience.”
Ewan looked skeptical. “How?”
“Bribery.”
“I don’t have bribe money,” Ewan said acidly.
