“They will,” Santa assured him. “Something tells me you mean a lot to them.”
Leo couldn’t help his big smile. “King said something similar earlier. Do you think he’s going to like it? He’s not the kind of person to get mad, but what if he’s disappointed I did everything without his input? Or that I picked the time and place?”
“Leo, from what you’ve told me about King, and from what Clara has seen of him with you, he’s clearly a good man who loves you. I think your gift is going to make him very happy. Don’t second guess yourself.”
Santa was right. Leo needed to stop doubting himself when it came to King. They’d been together almost five years now. He was so very lucky to have found someone like King. Well, more like King had found him.
“Did I tell you how we met?” Leo asked as he helped Santa finish setting up the chairs. Santa shook his head. “Oh, you’ll like this. It involves a top-secret underground government black site—which is about all I can tell you about that part—my favorite fishy crackers, chaos, betrayal, bad guys, and King kicking butt.”
Santa blinked at him. “Sounds…intense.”
“And that was allbeforea helicopter landed on the roof of my apartment building! So, buckle up, Santa. You’re about to find out what happens when you fall in love with one of the Kings.”
CHAPTERFOUR
“This amuses you, doesn’t it?” Leo asked as he hung the wreath on the lamppost hook. “You know, most people just use a ladder.”
King chuckled and lowered Leo back down onto his feet, the double pom-poms on his red knitted hat tickled King’s nose on the way down. Where was he getting these hats from? A new one seemed to appear every day. The only logical explanation was “Santa”. King turned Leo so he could kiss him. It was quick and sweet.
“It does amuse me, yes. Also, this way is much quicker. We’re saving time. The math says so.” He laughed at Leo’s arched eyebrow. “Am I wrong?”
“Don’t be smug,” Leo said, making King laugh. He was so damned cute, and King loved Leo’s reactions when he teased him. No one was as expressive, whether he was simply muttering something to himself or running through a park shouting about killer snails.
“You two make my teeth hurt,” Joker said as he grabbed another roll of lights from the large plastic bin.
Red snorted. “Please. We’ve all noticed the way you are with Gio when you think no one sees you.”
Joker was not impressed. “First, I’m disturbed you all watch me. Second, you’re supposed to be the nice one.”
They laughed, and King handed Leo another wreath, lifting him so he could hang it before they moved on to the next lamppost. Fitz appeared, looking far more cheerful and lighter than he had in a while. He even had a little spring in his step, and King was glad. From what he’d surmised, it looked like Fitz and Jack had finally worked things out.
“I don’t know what you did,” Joker said as he wrapped lights around the garland on the lamppost. “But Jack wasn’t an asshole this morning. He was all smiley and in a good mood. He even apologized for being a dick yesterday.”
King frowned at the reminder. The two often argued and rough-housed like brothers, but they rarely got into a real fight. From what he’d heard, Jack had been out of line, so it surprised no one that Joker had lost his shit. Not that Joker needed an excuse to kick someone’s ass, but these days he was somewhat calmer, a lot of it down to Gio’s influence. The man had a calming way about him.
King wasn’t thrilled the fight between Jack and Joker happened, but at least it had been enough to snap Jack out of his self-destructive spiral, making him realize what he’d been doing to his family and to the man he loved.
Ace snorted. “Duh, what do you think Fitz did?”
Fitz smacked Ace on the back of the head, and King had to hold back a laugh. Anyone who messed with Fitz did so at their own risk. He might be sweet and cheerful, but he took no nonsense from anyone, not even his family.
“Ow! What? You think we didn’thearwhat you did?”
King hadn’t, but then he’d been a little busy himself last night. He squeezed Leo, who looked up at him, eyes wide; if Leo’s cheeks hadn’t already been pink from the cold, they would have been from blushing.
“We talked,” Fitz growled. “And yes, we had sex, but we had a really good talk. He promised to take better care of himself and even talked about making some changes at work so he could work fewer hours.”
“Really?” That was news to King. He handed Leo another wreath and lifted him so he could hang it off the hook on the lamppost. “What kind of changes?” He’d been having conversations with the guys about opening a Tampa branch of Four Kings Security and then pulling back on their schedules once things settled down. They’d worked damned hard to build something amazing, it was time to enjoy the lives they’d created for themselves.
“Promoting Maury,” Fitz replied, fixing Leo’s hat when King put him down. “And hiring another person for the team.”
That was great news! King had been after Jack for so long to bring someone else in, and Maury deserved the promotion. He’d been at Jack’s side since they’d opened Four Kings Security. Next to Jack, no one was as skilled as Maury. It was about time.
“Finally,” Joker said, shaking his head. He climbed back down the ladder. “Stubborn asshole.”
Red nodded. “I’m glad he’s finally listening to reason. We were all real worried.”
King nodded, wrapping an arm around Leo. His sweetheart was probably relieved. Leo had gotten really close to Fitz over the years, and it broke King’s heart knowing deep down Leo feared his dear friend would leave him like so many others had. Those people hadn’t deserved Leo.
