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quietly.
    â€œIt’s disgusting,” Devon snapped, hating himself for being so cruel, but unable to stop the words spilling from his mouth. “And I promise you, it won’t happen again. Stay away from me, Jesse. Go and sort your life out. I never want to see you again.”
    With perfect timing, the taxi pulled into the kerb and Devon slipped into the back seat, leaving Jesse standing in the rain, staring after the car.
    â€œYou okay, mate?” the driver asked, pulling out into the early-evening traffic.
    â€œFine, thank you. Please, just take me home.”
    â€œNo problem.” The man met Devon’s gaze in the rear-view mirror and smiled sympathetically. “Kids, eh? I’ve got a son about the same age. They drive you crazy, but you love them anyway.”
    â€œHe’s not my son,” Devon replied. He twisted in the seat, looking out the back window for one last glimpse of Jesse, standing lost and forlorn on the wet pavement. “But you’re right, I love him anyway.”

Chapter Five
    THE REST of the week passed in a flurry of business meetings, paperwork, and thrice-daily phone calls from Antonio. Whether his need to keep checking in was out of friendship or guilt, Devon had yet to decide. He arrived at the office early, skipped lunch, and worked late, before going home each evening to fall into an exhausted sleep. There was little time to think of Jesse, although he couldn’t suppress the small pang of disappointment he felt each morning when Jesse wasn’t waiting outside work, and again when he wasn’t there in the evening. It seemed he had taken Devon at his word and was staying away. That was a good thing, Devon told himself. It was what he wanted.
    So why did he still look for Jesse everywhere he went?
    Friday arrived, and with it Antonio’s dreaded dinner party. If he was honest, Devon would rather stay home and wallow in self-pity than face people, but Antonio was sending a car. It was easier to give in and go to the damn party than argue. He dressed simply in a navy-blue suit and a pale-blue dress shirt, knowing he looked good, although it did little to make him feel any better.
    Arriving at Antonio’s, he shook hands and made polite conversation with the other guests, all the while cursing Antonio for inviting him to a party where he was the only person Devon knew. There were eight of them in total. Antonio was accompanied by his latest love interest, and then there was Devon, a married couple, and three of Antonio’s single friends as promised... or threatened, depending on which way one looked at it.
    As the evening wore on, Devon found he was spending most of his time with Antonio’s new boyfriend. Sean was young, though he still had several years on Jesse, and felt as out of place at the dinner as Devon did. He was witty, amusing, and possessed a good deal more intelligence than Antonio’s usual choice of partner. The sad thing was, it was those same admirable traits that made it doubtful he would last longer than a couple of weeks. Antonio liked his boys to be a little on the dumb side.
    For now, however, it was not lost on Devon that Antonio kept a jealous eye on both him and Sean throughout the evening. Perhaps he was worried Devon would tell Sean about his dalliance with Jesse. Or maybe he thought Devon would get his own back by seducing
his
boyfriend. If it hadn’t been for the fact Sean was a nice kid and obviously besotted with Antonio, Devon might have been tempted to do just that.
    By dessert, Antonio had tired of being ignored by both his beau and his star guest. Quite deliberately, he concocted some weak excuse to remove Sean and replace him with one of the eligible bachelors. If the evening had been bad before, it suddenly seemed much worse. The man, whose name Devon could not remember for the life of him, was a crashing bore, droning on endlessly about his city financier job, two large houses, numerous cars,