Levi closed his eyes. “So…before I give you this, there’s something you should probably know.”
When he didn’t continue, Jericho gave him an impatient look. “Are you going to tell us or is this a guessing game because I haven’t had my coffee yet and I’m due at the garage in an hour, and we still have to get the kids up and ready so Ever can watch them.”
It was so weird to think of Jericho and Atticus as parents. Like, real parents, to little kids. Sure, the guys all thought of them as surrogates for their own shitty parents, but Jett and Jagger were literal toddlers—preschoolers? Without Jericho and Atticus, they would die. That was just so much responsibility for two guys who said they were too selfish to have kids.
Levi took a deep breath and let it out. “When you watch the footage, you’re gonna see…”
“Gonna see…” Atticus prompted.
Levi didn’t know how to explain it. He’d watched the footage himself. He couldn’t even say he’d only kissed Shiloh to distract him. It was clear at first that the kiss was a surprise—to both of them—but then…then they’d settled into it?
Levi had watched a grainy 720p version of himself holding Shiloh’s chin, adjusting his position, tugging his mouth open, pushing his tongue between his lips. He’d watched Shiloh stiffen, then panic, then melt. Just rewatching it had made him hard.
Luckily, there was no audio, no way for them to hear the way Shiloh had whimpered and whined into Levi’s mouth, practically begging for more.
It hadn’t seemed like the kiss had lasted that long in person, but on camera, it didn’t look like Levi was thwarting a felony. It looked like he was attempting to execute one on Shiloh. And a not small part of him was disappointed it had ended with a kiss. He didn’t even care what kind of monster that made him.
He just wanted Shiloh.
He felt his face flush. “You’re gonna see me…kiss him.”
“Kiss him?” Jericho repeated.
Levi nodded. “Uh, yeah.”
Atticus chuckled. “He put a gun to your head and you…kissed him?” He looked at his husband fondly. “Yeah, he’s definitely one of yours.”
Jericho smirked, voice full of mock innocence as he said, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Mm,” Atticus responded, his tone implying otherwise.
“Why did you kiss him, exactly?” Jericho asked.
Levi sighed, flouncing back onto the sofa cushions. “I was afraid Mendel would see the footage and see the gun in his hand. As soon as he raised his arm, I grabbed it and yanked him forward to block the gun from view.”
“And you just thought, while you’re there, you’d have a little taste?” Atticus asked, sounding amused.
“I thought it would look less suspicious on camera if it just looked like I was kissing my boyfriend,” Levi muttered, face flushing.
“Ah, so, it was for altruistic purposes?” Atticus said, nodding.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Levi admitted. “None of that matters. He thinks his brother is going to kill him. We need to find him, protect him.” Levi looked at the sun creeping into the sky, his chest tightening. “If it isn’t already too late.”
“He’s not dead,” Atticus said with a confidence Levi found impressive considering he hadn’t known Shiloh existed two hours ago.
Levi frowned. “How do you know?”
Atticus sighed. “His brother likes to beat the shit out of him, no?”
Levi nodded. “Yeah?”
“He’s not going to kill his favorite victim. You said the kid was nervous, scared, fidgeting, had no idea what he was doing? Made several mistakes?” Atticus asked.
“Yeah?” Levi said again, unsure where Atticus was going with this.
Atticus looked at Jericho then back to Levi. “He knew the kid wasn’t going to kill you. He sent him in there to fuck with him. Maybe he even hopedyoumight kill him, but chances are he sent him in there to fail so that he’d have an excuse to beat him when he did. It’s a control tactic.”
“But why? Why say that I was a message?” Levi asked, shaking his head.
