A silent sign of friendship—I needed to make sure he was with me forever…
“ARE YOU FINISHED with your dinner, Rafael?”
The sound of my name had me blinking back to reality, where Father John was standing beside me, gesturing to my empty plate.
“Oh, sorry, yes.” I picked up my plate and handed it to him. “Thank you. This week must’ve finally caught up with me.”
“I’d say so. I was worried you might pass out in your stew.”
I chuckled as he made his way down the long table, picking up and stacking the empty bowls.
“No need to worry, though,” Father Ignatio said. “We were ready to jump in and save you. No drowning in beef stew on our watch.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Thank God, indeed. However, you might want to take the night off? Let someone else take any late-night visitors.”
I nodded, knowing full well Alessio and his brothers wouldn’t be stopping by, since they’d visited just last night.
“Would you like some help?” I asked as Father John made his way to the kitchen door.
“No, no, I’ve got this. You need to go and get some rest.”
“I think you might be right,” I said, and got to my feet. I pushed in the chair and looked around the table atmybrothers, my fellow priests, and couldn’t help wonder what kind of night Alessio was having with his brothers. Something very different, I was sure. “A good night’s sleep is exactly what I need.”
But as they all waved their goodbyes to me, and I headed out of the dining hall to the church grounds and my residence, the rectory, I wasn’t sure if a good night’s sleep was possible.
Not when all I could seem to think about was the young boy with dark eyes who’d made me smile, and the man with dark, long hair who made my heart and body…ache.
3
ALESSIO
One Month Later
THE NIGHT AFTER another monthly confession and I sat alone in what my brothers deemed my “tech cave” in the underground of Libertine, our private club in the center of Manhattan. It was late, but in the eighteen floors above me, our members indulged in all our club had to offer. They were some of the richest, most powerful men in the world, giving us access to anything and everything we could dream of, and my brothers regularly wined and dined and networked with them all.
I, on the other hand, preferred the solitary confines of my cave. It was filled to the brim with every tech gadget you could imagine, all the latest and greatest that were practically toys for me.
My fingers flew over the keyboard as code scrolled across the many screens lining the wall. This was where I was happiest. It was the world I understood, where I felt the most in control.
At least, I had up until a few months ago, when I’d almost been bested by a hacker. One with murderous revenge on thebrain, one who’d almost killed Theo. I never would’ve forgiven myself if one of my brothers died on my watch because I couldn’t crack a code.
But it had almost happened. And I’d beaten myself up about it for months until King, our indomitable leader, had finally given me an ultimatum a few weeks ago—get my shit together or I’d be gaining a partner.
That had been the rude awakening I needed, because I’d be damned if I shared my space and had some other asshole watching over my shoulder. Fuck no.
That meant giving our systems an overhaul, though, building an impenetrable system brick by brick so nothing slipped by me ever again.
Never again,I told myself as I hit the last bit of code and then let the diagnostic run to check for holes. I waited, practically holding my breath, and it only took seconds for the soft beep of approval to come through.
The scan was clean. Perfect.
Fucking finally.I blew out a breath and leaned back in my chair, cracking my neck from side to side as all the tension I’d been holding for the last few hours drained out of me. With every successful night I felt my confidence slowly coming back, something I’d been desperately missing.
I couldn’t be anything less than perfect, not anymore.
Rubbing a hand over my face, I debated whether to head upstairs to the bar or open the bottle of whiskey Lachlan had dropped by, hoping for a favor. Not the first or even tenth time he’d done that, but if he wanted to stock me up with expensive liquor, I wouldn’t complain.
