Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:33:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: taarob <taarob@yahoo.com>
Subject: Protecting David-Alex's Story 32

This is a work of fiction.  I love getting email so if you would like to
contact me you can at taarob@yahoo.com or if you'd like to see some other
things that I've written you can go to my web site at
http://www.mygaystories.com .

From the previous chapter:

I didn't really "get" why David wanted to buy us suits and gave him what
apparently was an odd look.

He smiled back at me and said, "It's a dad thing.  Besides this is probably
the last time you'll let me do this.

Larry surprised me by quickly picking up on what David was saying and what
he really meant.  He glanced at me squeezed my left leg and said, "We'd
really appreciate that, David."

I suddenly remembered that David had never answered my question about
security.  "So what is it with all the security?  I've never seen you
travel with this much."

He glanced down before answering and Mark casually draped his arm over
David's shoulder.  "From time to time Mr. Tam gets antsy but I usually take
his suggestions."

Authors note: I have taken many liberties with geography and the
immigration and passport control procedures of various locales.



		     Protecting David-Alex's Story 32

				   Alex


As many times as I've flown and as much traveling as I done of all kinds
it's still exciting, it still gives me this enormous rush.  For me it's the
idea of embarking on an adventure and now I've got Larry to share
adventures with.  I think that he gets as excited as I do but he doesn't
show it.  Larry's harder to read than I am.  You only have to look at me to
know what I'm thinking.

So I had packed and unpack and repacked like five times while Larry just
sat there on the bed shaking his head.

"Larry, you can't tell me that you're totally packed and we gotta leave in
like thirty minutes!"

He rolled over on the bed and propped up his head with his hand.  "Alex, I
been packed for two days, it's not that big of a deal."

"A month, Larry, were gonna be gone a month!"

Larry grabbed me and dragged me onto our bed where he pushed me down and
rolled over on top of me.  The heat of his body quickly burned thru our
clothing while I smiled up into those entrancing eyes and soaked up his
body heat.  His breath was sweet and warm on my face.  He said, "Look, this
is all you need; a navy blue blazer with a dress shirt a tie and a pair of
dress pants, two pairs of jeans and two pairs of Docker's, a half dozen
shirts and six changes of underwear, a pair of gym shoes, a pair of walking
shoes and a pair of dress shoes."  He kissed me lightly as he thrust his
crotch into mine and smiled.  "And actually even that is way too much.  You
could cut that in half and it'd be closer to right."

"Yeah but what if say, Jamie, you know David's partner in England, well
what if he invites us to some formal dinner or something?"

"Hon, everyone will know that we're on vacation and nobody's gonna expect
us to be traveling with navy blue suits.  And besides, if we need anything
else, we can buy it."  He grinned and waggled his eyebrows.  "But more
importantly, how can we get away with fucking on your dad's plane?"

An hour and a half later and David's plane was climbing steeply into the
darkening blue evening.  After an unbelievable dinner we were about to
settle down to watch a movie when David came over to us.

"Alex, something has come up.  I was just on the phone with Emi and he
reminded me that since Armento's son will be getting married on Saturday
and we'll, in a sense, be in the neighborhood, it would be considered a
slight not to deliver our gift in person.  I really don't know how we avoid
it."

David turned to Mark.  "Apparently Armento lives in a small village outside
of Palermo and we've been invited to the wedding."  David looked from Mark
to Larry.  "You guys should stay in England because we're just going to fly
in say our hellos and get out.  We'll be back in England that evening."  He
turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder.  "You okay with that?"

Frankly it made me incredibly nervous but I knew that we owed this Armento
guy and it wasn't something that could be avoided.  "Sure...I mean I guess
we have to.  Right?"

David smiled.  "We really do."

Finally we all settled down to watch a movie.  Larry and I were on the sofa
and I wiggled down so that I was lying flat and rested my head in his lap.
I could feel his cock under my cheek and every few seconds I moved my head
slightly and got the expected reaction but finally he started to laugh
silently and then he grabbed my head and whispered, "Behave!"  The sound of
his voice comforted me and the warmth of his body comforted me.  I felt the
sense of belonging to him.  Not like being owned by him but in the sense
that our love for each other had created this third unit, not him or me but
us and somehow that "us" was more important than the other two and I could
feel the two of us growing up and growing into something more important
than two separate people.  His hand rested on the side of my neck with his
fingers lightly touching my throat.  My cock got hard but I ignored it
because it was only a symptom of something more important than horniness
and then I slept.

It was a restless sleep like it often is when I'm flying and I woke often
but after a few minutes the steady low roar of the engines seemed to be
wrapping us in a cocoon and with my arms around his back and waist we
seemed to be floating alone thru a magical nothingness and I'd doze off
again.



The next morning we made our way thru the immigration and passport control
procedures and then were driven into London to our flat.  There wasn't much
time for David and I because we had to leave for Sicily but we both
insisted that a shower was an absolute necessity before we headed back to
the airport.  When I dragged Larry into the bathroom his eyes were hooded
with lust.

I was backed up against the marble wall of the shower as Larry's tongue
explored my mouth while our hard dicks kept each other company.

He pulled his lips from mine and whispered, "I am so fucking horny for
you!"

I laughed and said, "I know what ya mean.  I'm horny too."  From the first
day we met nobody has ever been able to turn me on like Larry.  The genetic
gods have been kind to him and he's got one of those bodies that always
looks ripped even though he exercises minimally.

He stared at me and tilted his head to one side.  "S'not just horniness,
Alex."

I whispered back, "I know...it's getting worse...or rather better.  I think
about you constantly."  And I did too.  Ever since our Washington trip we
just kept falling more and more in love.  The back of Larry's forefinger
traveled slowly down the side of my face and the sensations went straight
to my dick.

Larry reached down with his other hand and held our cocks together while
slowly thrusting his.  He slowly looked into my eyes.  "I wanna fuck you."
He rushed to add, "Then you can do me."  He grinned.  "I promise that I'll
keep this even...mostly."  I really didn't care.  I loved to have Larry
fuck me but he was on an equality kick and I figured I better go along with
it while he was in the mood.  I turned and braced my hands against the
marble shower wall and spread my legs.  His cock was lying against the
small of my back as his hand reached around and began to stroke me.  Larry
nibbled at the back of my neck while, with the aid of a little soap, his
cock began to move slowly into me.  I groaned and dropped my head back
against his shoulder.


                                                             David


As Billy lowered the flaps for our approach to the Palermo airport and as
the plane slowed I glanced over at Alex who was flicking his thumbnail
against his teeth.  It's something he does when he's nervous and I knew he
was concerned about this meeting with Armento.  I guess that's
understandable.  How often does an American twenty year old meet the head
of the Sicilian mafia, not to mention that Alex's only other exposure to
organized crime had been pretty unpleasant?  This time though the meeting
was strictly social and with Emi promising to be in attendance we'd at
least have someone we knew to talk to.  Alex particularly liked Emi but he
was still nervous.

I reached across the isle and squeezed his arm.  "Quit worrying."

Alex got an embarrassed grin on his face.  "Just seems...kinda odd."

"You know there's nothing to be afraid of."  I laughed.  "For one thing
this is the weekend and he's probably off-duty."

"Dad."

"He's just a guy, Alex.  Besides I'm giving his kid a lot of money to show
our appreciation...it'll be okay."

"Dad, it's not like he's just another business man."

"In a way he is.  It's just his collection procedures that are a little
different."

The door of the plane opened onto a perfect day in Palermo with a light
breeze blowing the skies a brilliant blue and temperatures in the mid
seventies.  I draped my suit coat over my arm and walked down the stairs to
the back doors of the car.  Samantha was standing near the open rear door
of the limousine while Ellen loaded the money into the trunk.  At the same
time there was a long train of baggage carts going past us about fifty feet
away when suddenly Samantha yelled to Ellen and I felt myself being shoved
hard head first into the back seat of the limo.  I landed sprawled on the
seat and started to get up as the gunshots began.  The gunshots sounded
muffled and distant but made what seemed like a loud thudding sounds as
dozens of them slammed into the car but none of them seemed to penetrate
the exterior of the vehicle.  There was a brief pause in the sound of
gunfire and then suddenly the sharp staccato sounds of gunfire were coming
from us and I realized that Samantha and Ellen were firing machine guns and
all the while Samantha was screaming into her radio, "FULL POWER BILLY,
FULL POWER!!"

I could hear and in fact feel them as the powerful engines began winding
up.  Then I was dragged quickly out of the car and stared into the tense
faces of the two women before Ellen literally threw me up the stairs of the
plane while Samantha swept the area with her gun on her hip.  Halfway up
the stairs I felt a vise-like grip on my wrist and I looked up into Alex's
anxious face. I looked back quickly and could see the bodies of two men
lying sprawled on the tarmac by the baggage train.  Alex jerked me forward
and up and he seemed to even be lifting me off of my feet and moving me
quickly to the first seat.

There was panic in his voice.  "Dad, are you okay?  I thought you were
dead!  You gotta buckle your seat belt!  We gotta get the fuck outta here!"
I saw Samantha finish closing the door and latching it. I tried to calm
Alex while I staggered to my feet and walked to the cockpit where Billy was
flipping switches and screaming into the radio apparently at the traffic
controllers who had lost their cool professional English speaking voices
and were now screaming back in Italian.

I looked to Samantha.  "What about our driver?"

"He's already gone...getting help but it'll be over by the time anyone
comes."

I put my hand on Billy's shoulder.  "How's it look?"

The plane lurched as Billy began releasing the brakes and pushing forward
slightly on the throttles.  "I was thinking we could just move away from
this trap but if you look about 200 meters ahead of us you'll see a truck
moving to block us." He seemed to be calculating.  "Unless maybe we make a
hard left here."

I squeezed Billy's shoulder and said as casually as I could, "Better get us
outta here then, Billy."

He shook his head and grinned.  "Boss, you are a piece of fuckin work!"  He
sighed.  "Okay...get buckled in...this is gonna be one rough fucking take
off."

The starboard engine roared and the plane pivoted to the left and began to
move.  We had only been moving forward for a few seconds when we could hear
the approaching roar of a large plane and the Gulfstream stopped violently
and we were all pitched forward.

Suddenly we were engulfed in a mind numbing roar that vibrated everything
and made even thought impossible as a huge British Air 747 passed only
slightly above us and a bit ahead.  As soon as it was over us Billy gunned
the engines and we turned onto an active runway but going in the opposite
direction to the flow.

Billy yelled over the intercom, "Hang the fuck on!" The engines took a
second to reach full power and then we were hurtling down the runway with
the oversized Rolls-Royce engines screaming for the skies and before it
seemed possible Billy had rotated the nose up and we were rocketing out
over the sea and climbing at an amazing angle.  After climbing for a half a
minute Billy called me on my phone.

"So, Boss, where am I flying this thing to."

"How's our fuel?"

"I can take you anywhere you wanna go."

"Well...let's stay out of Italian air space for the moment.  They might not
be too thrilled at the way we left their airport or the bodies on the
runway.  Head for Germany."

"Not back to England?"

"I don't want to lead anyone back to Mark and Larry.  No...Germany is best.
I'll call around and try and get the lay of the land."

But before I could call anyone Mr. Tam called me.  "David are you unhurt?"

"Yes.  What the hell is going on?"  I was truly pissed at him.

"Forgive me, David, but it was not to be helped.  Armento had an informant
among his closest aides.  The man is now hanging in the village square."

"Surely, Mr. Tam, this wasn't done by Armento."

"No.  It's as we discussed, Bonurato's nephew.  We should have moved
against him last week and I am prepared to finish it tonight but Armento
has begged me to let him handle it.  This has been a tremendous slap in the
face to him.  I told him I would get back to him."  It was my fault that he
hadn't finished him last week.  I was still hoping nothing like this would
happen.

"Can he handle it?  Is his reach that long?"

"Yes...under the circumstances I'm quite certain it is.  Of course, he'll
contract the work out.  It's not like he actually must have his own men
there."

"Very well...give him twenty-four hours but emphasize that he must finish
this business."

I called Billy.  "Billy, go north and then thru Switzerland to Salzburg.
Stay out of Italian airspace.  We'll just go to our meeting a few days
early."  I called Gerhardt.



                                                              Alex

It is an understatement to say that the Bank Haussman maintains a low
profile.  Even standing directly in front of it one is struck by its
reticence, its reluctance to draw attention to itself.  Once thru the front
door however and that impression is somewhat dispelled.  There one is
confronted with Brazilian Rosewood and stainless steel and the crisp
efficiency of some of the finest bankers on earth.

Gerhardt himself, flanked by two young men in dark suits, met us at the
door.  I watched David closely as he and Gerhardt exchanged warm handshakes
and then David did the same with the two younger men.  Seconds later
Gerhardt was pumping my hand and pulling me over to introduce me to his
assistants whose names I instantly forgot.  In my defense, unlike David,
this was all a little overwhelming for me.

A waiting elevator carried us quickly and silently to the sixth floor of
the building to what were obviously the executive offices.  Gerhardt seated
us in front of his large desk and his secretary got us coffee which came in
a silver server with incredibly delicate porcelain cups.  I was really
afraid that I was gonna break one of those cups.

As his secretary closed the office door behind her Gerhardt sat forward in
his chair and opened a manila folder that was sitting on the desk.  He
turned for a moment to David.

"I spoke with Mr. Armento this morning."  He ran his hands thru his
thinning hair.  "I made it quite clear to him that I didn't want to ever
have to make that phone call again and that if I did the penalty to him
would be considerable."

Gerhardt turned to me and said, "Alex, I represent an informal group of
private bankers...very private.  Mr. Armento has been a customer for some
time and because he respects certain conventions we accept his business
willingly.  All things considered he's quite a sophisticated man and runs
his organization very cleanly.  But, and this is very important, he could
not survive without our assistance."  He waved his hand in the air.  "I
know, I know, people would say that he's a gangster and we shouldn't do
business with him.  The fact is that we will end up doing business with him
whether we want to or not but this way we have some control over him.  He
was not responsible for you being attacked but he was in a position to stop
it and he now has done that.  So...all is well."

David said, "Does he truly understand?"

"Yes...this time I'm sure he does."

Gerhardt looked up at me and said, "I assure you, Alex, that there will be
no more such attempts.  To paraphrase one of those silly gangster movies, I
made Mr. Armento an offer he couldn't refuse and apparently this business
has been dealt with."

Gerhardt leaned back in his chair took a deep breath and seemed to shift
gears.  "David, you must have wondered why Helmut left so little money when
he died."

David nodded.  "Yes but I never really knew what his net worth might be and
I had no idea what his illness had cost him.  But yes I wondered."

Looking like he had a secret Gerhardt asked, "Did you ever wonder why the
Zander Gruppe was always so willing to send a plane or help in any way they
could?"

David smiled slightly, "Yes, I did wonder."

Gerhardt sat up straight and said in heavily accented English, "Well today
it will all be made clear."

He turned to me.  "Alexander Drueger...Alex, to this bank you will always
be that name for reasons that will become clear.  Alex, you are a citizen
of the Federal Republic of Germany, you are twenty years of age and you
have been, for the last twenty years, a resident of the Principality of
Monaco.  Your residence is, as it has been for the last eighteen years, on
the top floor of the apartment building that you own on the Avenue de la
Costa."  He slid something across the desk to me.  "In that envelope is
your passport and driver's license, you will see that since the age of
twelve years you have made one trip per year to someplace that needed a
passport.  Over the years your photo has been changed and it now contains a
photo of you as you are now."

I had a thousand questions but kept my mouth shut.  Gehrardt continued.
"Alex, as you know when your father died he left you approximately six
million US dollars.  This, of course, David has been investing for you with
great success.  But your father also left you, here, a great deal more than
that.  He was already building the apartment building in Monaco and left
detailed instructions about additional buildings that we were to be pursued
around the world in places where he had taken options on land.  If I do say
so myself our bank has the finest real estate management division in
European banking and over the years we have been able to realize many of
the dreams that your father had for that business and that he laid out in
great detail.  Your father's philosophy was that these apartment buildings
were only to be built in the most desirable locations, locations where the
wealthiest people might want to have a residence without necessarily owning
a house.  Currently, besides Monaco, there are buildings in London,
England, both Naples and Palm Beach, Florida, San Francisco, California,
Hawaii and Paris.  These followed the very detailed, very complete
instructions that your father left us.  And I must say that, as usual, he
was correct."

Gerhardt paused for a moment.  "I know that all of this is complicated,
Alex, but we've prepared a written report on your real estate holdings
complete with photographs and all the important figures."  He touched the
palms of both hands together and then spread them again.  "Fortunately with
only seven buildings it's not as complicated as it could be.  You'll want
to exam the plans for additional projects.  These are all in keeping with
your father's instructions but they are yours now, they belong to you and
we, of course, will follow your instructions.  Some new projects, a
building in Washington, D.C. and another in Palm Springs, California are
already under development and those projects would be hard to stop but
otherwise if you would rather we did something differently, we will."

Gerhardt settle back into his chair.  "Before you were born, Helmut also
purchased..."  He paused.  "Well let me give you some background.  As David
knows during the 1970's a small group of German engineers got together and
formed a company, the original name got changed but you know the company as
the Zander Gruppe.  Their young company got off to a marvelous start and
before long they sold shares to the public but, as things happen, all was
not to remain well and late in the 70's the company's stock was battered by
a stock market that was in serious decline.  You must remember the times.
Germany's economy, with the Soviet bloc watching us, was subject to more
than the typical stresses. In any event the stock in the young company
faired even worse than stocks in general and eventually dropped to below
one US dollar per share.  Several of the founders approached your father to
get him to buy shares and he ended up investing," He shrugged,
"approximately $800,000 for about that many shares."  Gerhardt turned to
David.  "That was about the time that you invested too, isn't it David?"

David nodded.  "At Helmut's suggestion."

Gerhardt smiled.  "But more since, eh?"

Again David nodded and something in his eyes told me that he had invested a
lot.

Gerhardt turned back to me and spread his hands.  "Of course the world
didn't end and in fact the stock ended up splitting four times after that.
You now own 12,800,000 shares of Zander.  The close on Friday was...29
Euros...so approximately 371 million Euros."  I couldn't even begin to
grasp how much that was but I knew that in dollars it was even more.
Gerhardt smiled and said, "That by the way makes the two of you Zander's
largest private shareholders."  He smiled at David and said, "A partial
reason for the great service...but not the whole reason."

He turned to David.  "David, I'm sure the first thing that enters your mind
is that that's far too much of Alex's net worth invested in one company and
I totally agree but until he reached the age of twenty we were specifically
forbidden to sell the Zander shares.  I don't really think that Helmut
regarded the stock as being that significant, he seemed much more focused
on the land."

I could see David running the figures in his mind and then he said, "Alex,
we can discuss this more this evening but if you'd like I'll buy ten
million of those shares from you for my account.  That way you won't have a
big transaction fee and we'll be keeping the shares in the family."

Gerhardt turned back to me.  "Alex, David's company is perhaps the most
talented of its kind and you couldn't find anyone better to manage that
portion of your wealth that resides in stocks.  What I would propose to you
is that that portion of your assets be turned over to your father to be
managed and that the real estate portion be left with us.  We are uniquely
capable at managing real estate.  The real estate is more difficult to
value but we estimate the gross value of it to be in the area of 500
million Euros with the net value at roughly 200 million.  Late last year
all of the mortgages were rolled over into similar products but at very low
interest.  We have long expected values to drop but the amount of leverage
we are using is very small and you can feel quite secure.  The real estate
group is also generating substantial cash that we use for expansion.  How
do you feel about what I have proposed?"

I didn't know what to say but looked at my dad who smiled and nodded yes. I
smiled at Gerhardt and said, "I think that that would be perfect.  My
father has been urging me to become involved with his company and having my
own money at stake would give me added incentive."

Gerhardt leaned over the desk and looked directly at me.  "Alex, you must
take that opportunity.  David's company while far from the largest is the
most distinguished in a very distinguished group.  It would be perfect for
you, assuming your interest continues."

David sat forward and said, "Gerhardt you said that one of the reasons that
Zander was so helpful was because of the stock, was there another reason."

"Yes.  Before Helmut's death he came to this office and met with Jon
Suhrbier the head of Zander and myself."  He looked at me.  "He asked us to
swear that we would help you Alex, that we would help you and protect you.
The debt that we both owed him was beyond price and we both agreed,
although we would have agreed anyway."

Gerhardt reached into a large envelope and withdrew a slim black leather
case.  "And this too is yours, Alex."  He turned to David and smiled.
"David, do you remember Helmut's watch?"

David slapped the arm of the chair.  "My god I forgot!  That remarkable
watch!  How could I forget that, he was so proud of it!"

Gerhardt laughed.  "Yes!  Made especially for him."  He turned back to me.
"Alex your father dearly loved this watch.  It was designed and made
especially for him by Patek Philippe & Company."  He slipped the watch from
its supple leather case, the fine metal band draping over his fingers like
heavy silk.  "He wanted it to look like stainless steel but it's actually
platinum."  He slid it back into its soft leather case and handed it to me.
"I've called the Patek people and they're sending someone to your hotel
this evening to set it up for you."

I must have given him and odd look because he said, "It is indeed an
amazing watch but it's been just sitting here for almost twenty years.
He'll have to adjust it and show you how it works.  There's also a stand
that comes with it."  He reached back to his credenza picked up box about
six inches square and handed it to me also.  He smiled at me and shook his
head.  "It is an amazing watch."

Gerhardt reached once more into the folder and extracted a standard size
manila envelope.  He looked at the front of it and then handed it to me.

He gestured to the envelope.  "When your father gave me that he told me
that it was his last opportunity to speak to you so I assume it is just
that, a personal message."  He slid it across his desk to me.  "Alex, if
you would rather wait and read it in private that would be perfectly
understandable."

I really didn't know what to say, this wasn't something that I ever thought
might happen.  "It's okay, I'll take a look at it."  I slit open the
envelope and took out several sheets.  It was handwritten in German.




My dearest Alex,

Well...if you are reading this you must now be twenty years of age. How I
wish that I could be there with you to see the man that you have become and
to be standing there with my hand on your shoulder.  It is so hard to leave
you because there are so many things that can hurt you and I won't be there
to protect you.  So much of what I've done in the last few months has been
to try and insure your future and to protect you from that danger.

In a very few days you and I will be going to America, hopefully to
convince David to become your new father.  I believe with all my heart that
I can do that although I have taken other steps should I fail. David has a
partner now and I have never met him but knowing David as I do this man
must also be a good man.  You must trust David completely for of all the
men I have known, he is the most honorable and in very many ways the most
like me.

By now Gerhardt or his successor will have told you of your European
inheritance.  Hopefully it will have been successfully managed and knowing
Gerhardt I'm sure that will be the case.  I have instructed him to maintain
your German identity.  I don't really believe that this will be necessary
but then I can't be sure.  Such are the circumstances I must plan for and
yet to never know if I'm correct.  How will I ever rest with this worry and
yet that rest above all is sure.

Here in Europe the communists are weakening and if that continues it will
make your future brighter.  If only I could count on it happening!

As you no doubt now know I've taken the precaution of making David only
aware of a portion of your inheritance but I'm sure that he will have
handled what he will be given appropriately. I realize that to some degree
I am creating boxes within boxes and I may seem to be overly cautious but I
am so beset with concern over the realization that I won't be there to help
you.  I hope that never in your life do you have to know the fear of
leaving your only son without family in this world.  I don't greatly fear
my own death but my worry for you is boundless.  Gerhardt and Jon have
sworn to protect you and I trust their word but also pray that it won't be
necessary.

I have included with this letter some pictures of your mother and myself
that I am quite sure that you have never seen, or certainly at least, won't
remember.  I beg you to keep us in your heart for you will be in ours for
all eternity.

Your loving father,

Helmut




I was stunned by the realization that this man...my father, had to die not
knowing if his only son would be safe.  I couldn't begin to imagine the
pain that must have caused.  I tried to imagine myself in the same
situation and thought I would go crazy if I had to do that.  Then I became
aware of David kneeling next to me with his hand on my arm.

"You okay, Alex?"

I felt the wetness on my face and realized that I had been crying.  I
pulled out my handkerchief and dried my eyes.  I smiled at David and said
with a choked voice, "Yeah...yeah...I really am okay."


Gerhardt cleared his throat and slid some papers to me across the desk.
"Alex some years ago private accounts, checking and savings accounts, as
they would be called in the U.S. came under some pressure.  The United
States government was convinced that we were hiding criminal fortunes and
put pressure on our government and on other governments to make more
information available about these accounts.  Before that became the law we
were able to get excluded from that decree older more established accounts.
Naturally, as a matter of course, we reserved several of those accounts for
you as we did with all of our best, oldest, customers."

"I realize that with the income from your trusts in America that you
probably don't need additional income but using these accounts whatever
money you wish to have up to the value of your account can be made
available.  This can all be handled over the internet if you wish."  He
pointed to a line on the form.  "If you go to this url and enter your pin
number you will be automatically transferred to another site where tracking
your private business by concerned governments will be made almost
impossible."  He looked up at me and then smiled.  "Alex, our bank is very
concerned about the privacy of its customers."


Back at the Hotel Sacher I walked into my suite almost in a daze and was
immediately engulfed in Larry's warm strong arms while his lips covered
mine almost in a frenzy.  I slumped against him.  We hadn't called he and
Mark until this morning when we explained what had happened and arranged
for a plane to bring them to Salzburg.

Then abruptly he pushed me away and stepped back and turned to the wall.
There were tears in his eyes.  He turned back grabbed my shoulders and
shook me like he was mad at me then pulled me back tightly to him and
buried his face in my neck.

He was almost sobbing.  "What the fuck is it with the fucking shooting,
Alex?  When are they gonna stop trying to kill you?" He leaned back and
took my face in both of his hands.  "I'm not letting you outta my
sight...no fucking way!  That's the last goddamn time you go someplace
without me!  The last goddamn time!"

Larry is a big tough guy but now his body was trembling.  I held his head
tight to my shoulder and whispered, "I know, Baby, I know and it'll never
happen again.  Really!  Never again, it's been settled."

He mumbled into my shoulder, "How settled?"

"Permanently settled, they're dead.  They were doing something that nobody
wanted them to do and it backfired on em."

He moved me over to the couch and pulled me down on top of him.  I kissed
his eyes and then rubbed the tears out of them.  "We didn't call you guys
right away cause there wasn't anything you could do but worry and besides
David had already done everything.  We just didn't want you to be upset for
any longer than necessary."

He just stared up into my eyes for a while then said quietly, "I know."  He
sighed.  "It just makes me crazy, you know?  Alex, I just love you so
fucking much and the thought of what might have happened...it just makes me
nuts."

He held up my hand and I was still holding my dad's letter to me and his
watch.  Larry said, "That what they gave you?"

"It's a letter my dad wrote me and his watch."  He looked confused.  I
laughed and said, "My biological dad, Larry.  You didn't really think that
David and Mark gave birth to me did ya?"

He gave me a lopsided grin.  "No dumbass!  I knew that you were coming here
because of your real dad.  What's in the letter?"

I laid my head on his chest.  "It's really sad.  It's all about why he did
what he did and the stuff he was afraid of...for me.  Stuff that he
couldn't be here to help me with.  And some pictures of him and my mom."  I
opened the envelope and handed him the pictures.  "They were really nice
looking.  My mom was beautiful."

He looked thru the photos and then kissed my neck.  "You really look like
your mom."

I kissed him back and wiggled down until all of my weight was on
him. "Thanks.  My dad was good looking too."

He held up my hand again.  "What's in the leather case?"

"His watch.  David and Gerhardt both said that it was a really remarkable
watch.  The guy from the factory that made it is supposed to come here
tonight to show me how it works."

Larry slid it out of its case.  "It's beautiful and heavy.  It's way
heavier than it looks."  He turned it over.  "Oh wow.  You can look in the
back."  He held it to his ear.  "It's ticking."

I turned it back over so that we were looking at the face and showed Larry
the different dials while we pressed our crotches together.  "See this one
shows the year and this one the day and day of the week.  It adjusts itself
for leap years and all kinds of things.  Supposedly it sets itself too but
I'm not sure how.  Maybe with the base that you can put this on.  I guess
I'll find out later."

Larry took my wrist and slid the watch onto it and the shut the clasp.
"Hey it fits you too."  I was thinking about my dad and how twenty years
before he had worn this watch and how those little gears that were turning
inside had last kept time for him.  The watch fit me perfectly and I
decided that I'd wear it forever, that I'd wear it in memory of him."

When I looked down at Larry he was staring up into my eyes and seemed to be
searching them.  I smiled down at him and said softly, "What?"

He lifted his head and kissed my nose.  "I don't want anything taking you
away from me.  I love you so much more than I ever thought that I could
love anyone or anything.  I want us to be together forever."

I touched my lips to his chin.  "I love you too and I promise will be
together.  Nothings gonna get me away from you...not ever."


				  The End


Note: If there is any interest in my continuing this story I will, after a
break, jump the story ahead five years.  If you're interested in that let
me know at taarob@yahoo.com