“No,” I say firmly. “He didn't try to kill himself, not really. But he did try to use me as some fucked-up form of self-harm. Things were a mess when you were gone, and some wires got a bit crossed. He touched me when he shouldn't have and I reacted.”
“But he’s okay?” He tries to sound unaffected, but there’s a crack in his voice, and I hate having to break his already fragile heart.
“Yeah, Baby Boy, he’ll be okay. He needs to be on bedrest for a while because the knife nicked his kidney. It was dicey at first, trying to avoid internal bleeding, but now, they just wantto make sure the organ is healing well before they allow him to move more. I’ll take you to see him soon, okay? I know he misses you.”
Lio doesn’t respond to that, he simply nods.
I try to reassure him. “I would never lie to you, Baby.”
“Okay…” Lio’s expression is shuttered, and it kills me, knowing I’m not capable of properly caring for him through this type of tragedy.
I reach up and wipe his eyes. “He’ll be okay, and so will you.”
He sighs, looking down as he picks at a button on my shirt. “I talked to Javi…my new psychiatrist,” he says softly. “I…told him some things, and he reminded me that relationships are fluid, and I need to communicate with my Doms…”
I bite back my sigh. I know exactly what he’s talking about, and as much as I want the answer to be‘fuck no’, I can’t do that to him. Not after catchingfeelings.
“Your Owner and I talked to Allesandro. We know what he means to you, and while I…disagree with him, and will never fully trust him with you, I know you love him. I want you to be happy, Emilio. It grates that Hollis and I can’t fill that void, but I know better than most that love doesn’t work that way.”
“Do you trust me?” He looks back up at me, his eyes wide and pleading.
“Yes.” I offer no further explanation, because there doesn’t need to be one. We’re both very aware how hard trust is to come by these days.
“I love you, Daddy. I…” His eyes fill with tears again. “I’m sorry for…for not being strong enough, for being so weak that I can’t stop needing him.”
“Hush.”
Holding Lio tightly, I slide him off my lap to my side. Before he can protest, I push myself up and over him, trapping him beneath me. Capturing one of his hands, I hold it between us. “Ilove you, Emilio. I know why you made the choices you did, and I don’t fault you for them. It’s not a mark against you, so you don’t have to be sorry about that.
“As for Allesandro… I don’t like him. I didn’t like him before you and I got together, or even before he hurt you. That won’t change. I won’t ever trust him, but my trust in you is absolute. I won’t stand in the way of your happiness, because while I’m an obsessive bastard, I'm not a controlling one.”
There’s such trust and love in his eyes, I have to take a shaky breath. “I am your Daddy. You need to be cuddled and loved? You need me to build you a nursery so you can relax and let all your stress melt away? Then I’ll do it. I will do everything and anything you need me to, Little Monster, because that is the gift you gave me.”
Lio’s breath stutters and he gasps out a sob. “Wh—what if I need Allesandro, too?”
I swallow, unsure how to respond, so I close my eyes as some type of fuckingfeelingrushes through me, striking my heart.
“He doesn’t fucking deserve you. He lost all right to care for you when he threw you away like you were nothing. He can be your Master. I understand he gives you things I can’t, but that…”
Fucking shit. The constricting feeling I had when Roman and Lio were taken starts up again, and I bury my hands in the sheets of the bed, unwilling to let my Little Monster down because of stupid fuckingemotions.
Lio reaches up and frames my face. “You’re my Daddy,” he says firmly. “You will always be my Daddy. You’ve shown me what having that level of care is, and I want it desperately. But…I need him, too. He…showed me how to be the Boy I am. He made me trust in the care, and…yes, he gave me things I hate, but I wouldn’t be here without him. The first time my mind went dark, he was there. And now, he’s showing how much he loves me by letting me have an Owner and a Daddy.” His chest rises and fallsrapidly, and his eyes get glassy, but he continues. “Hollis is my Angel, my Owner. He owns me heart and soul, and he is at the top of this all. I know it’s only because of him that I have you, and the potential to have Allesandro again.”
Lio licks his lips, his eyes seeming to plead with me to understand. “Daddy…that’s more than a title, it's an honor. A place in my heart that only you can have, much like Sir will be my only Owner. But…while Allesandro is my Master—and has been for a long time—and will be myonlyMaster, I want him to be my Papa Bear as well. Both he and Javi said I need to talk to you about it first, and so I am.
“Please, Daddy… He isn’t the same as you. He’s more like a bear: growly, firm, and sometimes a little stern, but cuddly as well. He cares for me, but he isn’t my Daddy. You are.
“I love you, Tennant. I love the care you give, the way you protect everyone, and how strong you are. You’re the feels whisperer, and I think you’re the only one who can ever truly make those stupid things make sense. You’re my Daddy, and I want everything that comes along with that—except the diapers, I don’t like those, Daddy.” The way he blushes and squirms underneath me tells a different story, but I’ll let him pretend I believe the lie.
Leaning in, I kiss him softly, tasting the dried blood on his lips, but I keep the kisses I give him gentle. “I won’t let him hurt you again. If you need this, Baby Boy, I hope you know what you’re signing him up for.”
He sighs. “Overbearing Daddy?”
I nod and give him a serious look. “Yes, he can play with you, help you heal from everything you’ve been through, and be in your life in whatever capacity you’ll allow, but that means he also forfeits every bit of privacy. Leandro’s overlording will come in handy.”
He tries to glare at me, but really he looks like the puppy Hollis collared him as. “Don’t scare him, Daddy.”
I laugh a little. “Never. So long as he knows what he has, and doesn’t do anything stupid again.”
