Collateral Ch. 16

"You think. That is the operative word. No, I will not just beat you. First, I will prove to you that I am innocent. After that I will handle the punishment as I see fit. And you will accept it. Of course, if you are man enough to admit right now that you were wrong. Should I say three?"

"Go ahead," Jake set his chin high. "I don't see how you can prove that."

With a smooth move, Klaus took his phone out of his coat, punched a speed dial key and placed it on the night stand.

"Who are you calling?"

"Hans. I suppose you will not go as far as to think I could have staged this. I could not have foreseen you going into a jealous fit out of the blue like this."

Jake fell silent. He pursed his lips. The silence in the room was getting thick, only the faint sound of the phone breaking it.

"Guten Abend Klaus, zu was ..." Jake heard Hans speaking in German.

"Hey, Hans. Let's have this conversation in English, all right?" Klaus spoke quickly.

"Hey, man, what's with you?" Hans spoke. "Aren't you already home? I thought you would be in your fantastic Jake's arms by now. Tell me you're not stranded somewhere and you have to talk English in front of the authorities."

"Nothing of the kind. I can assure you. I wanted to talk to you about Sebastian."

"Sebastian?" Hans's voice sounded surprised. "Why do you want to talk more about that asshole? I swear to God, I thought he was going to get down on his knees and suck your cock right there on the sidewalk, at that very moment. What nerve on the guy, really! And when you flatly told him 'no', he went crazy. I am glad Stephen and I were with you to help deal with him. I heard he landed in some random guy's bed that evening."

Jake could feel his resolve faltering with each word he heard. No, that could not be staged. Hans was genuine.

"I believe that you helped me a great deal again, my friend," Klaus said with a small smile. "I just needed to have my reputation cleared in front of a particular someone who proves to be quite jealous."

"Jake, are you there?" Hans's voice sounded concerned now. "Buddy, run. Klaus doesn't do jealousy."

"Thank you, Hans," Klaus cut the connection.

Jake took a step back.

"Do not even think about getting close to the door," Klaus said slowly, his voice thick.

What had he gotten himself into?

"No, I won't run," he finally spoke and stood upright.

"Very well. I expect nothing less of you."

Jake flinched when Klaus took off his belt in one fluid motion.

"Shit," he whispered.

"Three," Klaus confirmed.

TBC

*****

Author's Note:

I just want to add a short note on the gaming lingo used in this chapter.

PvP - Player versus Player (a gaming mode)

Kill stealing - one of the biggest dick moves in gaming; when someone does almost the entire output damage to an enemy and one teammate comes and scores the kill, by landing the last hit

Also, I must tell you that I will be away for the month of August, so there won't be any updates. Thank you for all the comments, you guys are really awesome. For the anon who asked me about the power dynamics, I responded in the comment section of the previous chapter, as it seemed the fastest way to do it. Starry and N, you guys are the sweetest.