Vale didn’t allow his emotions to take over.He carefully walked through the apartment, making sure that no one was there.He found Oscar, and for once, Oscar didn’t try to attack Vale when he saw him.Instead, he skittered closer, hooking his tentacles into Vale’s jeans as if trying to climb him.Vale wasn’t going to leave him behind, so he picked him up and put him on his shoulder.
A noise in the direction of the front door made Vale tense.He left the bedroom and inched toward the entrance, his gun ready, only to stop and sigh when he saw Russell standing there.“I could have shot you.”
Russell had his gun out, too, and he wasn’t alone.Cyril was standing behind him with wide eyes, and while Vale was glad to see him, he wasn’t happy.“I told you to stay in the car,” he said.
“Russell’s here.He’ll protect me if something happens.”
“Still.There’s a reason I asked you to wait downstairs.”
Cyril wasn’t paying attention to Vale anymore.He was looking around the room, his mouth hanging open.
Vale lived here, but it really was Cyril’s apartment.He’d been living here for years, and it couldn’t be easy for him to see it in the state it was in.It had to feel like a violation to someone who wasn’t used to this kind of thing.
Russell put away his gun.“No one’s here?”
“You should ask that before putting your gun away, but no.They’re long gone.”
“I hate this,” Cyril murmured.“Why did they do it?Who was it?”
“They didn’t leave any messages, but if I have to guess, I’d say it’s the Organization,” Vale told him as he put his gun away and reached for him.
Cyril came instantly, and once again, Vale was glad they’d talked things out.He wanted to be here for Cyril through this, even though there wasn’t much he could do.
“Why are you here?”he asked Russell.
“When you refused Rachel’s offer to install cameras, she had me install a silent alarm.”
Vale would have to thank her for that.He wished he’d known about it, if anything, because he wouldn’t have been as worried for Cyril as he had been.“Does she know anything?”
“I haven’t talked to her yet.You don’t have cameras, though, so my guess would be no.”
“Maybe we should get them,” Cyril said.“I know what I said about wanting privacy, but I think I’d rather be sure that no one’s in the apartment.”
Vale kissed the top of his head.“I’ll talk to Rachel.”
“Why did they do this?Were they looking for something?”
“I don’t have anything they could want.They want me dead, so I don’t think they were looking for anything.They just wanted me to know they’re here and that they’re coming for me.”
Cyril looked up at Vale.“I hate them.”
He wasn’t the only one.A few years ago, Vale wouldn’t have believed that he’d get to have what he had with Cyril.He definitely wouldn’t have believed that he would retire, even though it was what he was working toward.He’d thought he’d have many more years of work in him, and maybe he did, but he wished people would stop forcing him to come out of retirement to deal with their shit.
He also wished people would stop trying to kill him and his boyfriend.
Chapter Nine
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WHEN VALE’S PHONE RANG, he didn’t think anything of it.He snatched it up from the coffee table and answered, frowning at the fact that the number of whoever was calling him didn’t appear on the screen.Usually, Rachel made it so that he knew she was the one calling.
It made sense that she hadn’t this time since she wasn’t the person on the other side of the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Roux.It’s been a while.”
Vale sat up, attracting Oscar’s attention.The pet was lounging on the couch next to Vale, but he tensed as if he expected them to be attacked.It made sense because Vale certainly did.
