Asa’s gaze drifted to the grubby water. “He isn’t around anymore.”
“Since when?”
“Thought you didn’t want to hear about my tricks?”
Luis conceded the point. He’d been vaguely aware of the power struggle the police had warned him about, but he’d had other things on his mind, and it had been all too easy to stay away. “You’re right. I don’t care about any of that. You know why I’m here.”
“You want to know if I’m gonna call on you for work?”
Luis nodded. “I figured you’d left me alone because of the heat from Dante’s case, but that’s over now.”
“So?”
“So...” Luis forced himself to look at Asa. “Just be real with me. I need to know.”
“There isn’t anything to know. Dante’s gone, man. And he was the only one who wanted you back on the road. Me and Martell didn’t agree on much, but we both knew you’d be a liability if you didn’t want to be there, and that hasn’t changed.”
“What about the threats Dante made to the Cilberto family?”
Asa huffed out a laugh. “He did that shit on his own. Come on, Luis. Even if you didn’t know me, you think stalking elderly folk is good for business?”
“I don’t know you. It’s been nearly seven years since we had a real conversation.”
“We never had real conversations.”
Another point to Asa, but Luis didn’t care. Instinct had already predicted that Asa had zero interest in Luis’s life, and perhaps he’d been a fool to force an encounter that didn’t need to happen, but it felt good to hear the words. And even better to know that he didn’t have to go home and lie about where he’d been. He’d made Paolo a promise—no more secrets—and it proved easier to keep than he’d ever dared dream.
He left Asa by the water and walked into town for no other reason than he wanted to see Paolo. It was Monday, the quietest day of the week, and Paolo had taken to not letting Luis work, but there were no rules about visiting, a loophole Luis exploited on a regular basis.
The cafe was easing down from the breakfast rush as Luis slipped in the back door. Paolo was in the kitchen, slicing mushrooms and muttering under his breath about whichever poor soul had annoyed him. He glanced up as Luis shut the door, and his smile was all Luis would ever need.
Redemption? Nah. He just wanted to live.
* * *
Toni’s thick brow furrowed as he glanced around the half-furnished flat. “It’s nice, but I don’t understand why you moved. There was nothing wrong with where you lived before.”
Paolo sighed, searching for the patience only Luis seemed to possess when having this conversation for the dozenth time. “I already told you. It was weird to live in my flat while Luis worked for me too. It wasn’t fair on him for me to have so much power over him, that’s why we didn’t move into the flat above the cafe either.”
“I didn’t hear him complaining.”
“So? That didn’t make it right.”
Toni shook his head and moved on to inspect the kitchen, and Paolo tried not to regret bringing him out for the day, something he’d only had time to do since Nonna had passed away. Losing her had been harder than Paolo had ever feared, but life went on. And Toni seemed happy enough when he wasn’t bitching about Paolo’s housing decisions.
He took Toni back to the home after lunch, then returned to the new flat to carry on unpacking. They’d brought the bed from Paolo’s old place. It was in pieces on the floor. Paolo put it back together and tried not to count the hours until Luis came home and they spent their first night in the riverside apartment block.
Days with Toni always wore Paolo out. Still missing the sofa, he stretched out on the bed under the pretence of watching the news. He dozed off before the headlines played out and woke sometime later to soft lips at his neck. “Hmm. Please tell me it’s you and not that weirdo from downstairs letting himself in?”
Luis rumbled quietly and sank his teeth into the place that made Paolo squirm. “He wouldn’t have needed to let himself in. You left the door open.”
“Damn it. Toni promised he’d shut it.”
“Don’t blame him. You do that shit all the time.”
Guilty as charged. Paolo was just grateful that Luis no longer felt the need to triple lock the doors every night before he could sleep. That hedidsleep, like a man who was loved and safe, and that he woke slowly every morning with the sun instead of jumping awake with fear in his eyes. Paolo was grateful for everything about Luis, even the parts that still made his heart ache with sadness, a feeling that was a million miles away while Luis had his lips on Paolo’s neck.
They’d fucked a lot in the last six months, but Luis still found ways to surprise him. He stripped Paolo naked and then himself, revealing every inch of lovely tattooed skin as Paolo licked his lips, and slowly jerked his lubed cock. “What do you want? You want me to fuck you?”
