“Roman,” Tennant starts, but Lio moves out of my embrace and goes to his friend.
He frames Roman’s face in his hands, and says, “I trust him with my life. As much as I trust you, Daddy, and Sir. He did something evil and unforgivable…and I understand you won’t like him or trust him, but trust me. Please, Caro Mio. I love him. Trust me, Rome.”
Rome?I look at Tennant, his amused expression probably mirroring mine.
Tears fall from Roman’s eyes. “I need you to be safe.”
“I will be. Daddy will be there.”
“I will,” Tennant reassures.
Roman studies Lio for a long moment, before reaching up to cover Lio’s wrists with his hands. “You need this?”
Lio nods. “I’m sorry.”
Roman shakes his head. “No, Amore. No. Never tell me you’re sorry, not for this. I love you too much to let you suffer.”
Lio moves in and kisses Roman. I look once more to Tennant, his eyes meeting mine as we process what we’re seeing.
Not that either of us cares that the two of them have…found their way together, but after this long, I never expected them to cross that line.
Roman deepens the kiss for a moment before pulling away. “Okay, I trust you. I…hope you have fun, and get what you need.”
Lio caresses Roman’s face. “You’re part of what I need. Be here for me after?”
“Always, Amico Mio. Always.”
Lio looks back at me, and I reach out to gather him in my arms again. “I’ll be here, too,” I assure him.
Tennant picks up Roman, holding him close, and the two of us sit on the edge of the bed, our respective Boys in our laps.
It’s…nice. It's not anything I ever expected, but the four of us—five when Jude is here—is something I never want to be without. So, as much as my insides still churn with fear, I know this is the right thing to do. Then we can have more of these moments in the future.
Pressing a kiss to Lio’s hair, I lean against Tennant, buoyed by having the three of them with me, knowing it’s as close to almost perfect as I can have.
“Ihate everything about this,”Hollis says in my ear.
“You hate anytime I leave,” I point out.
“For good fucking reason,”he retorts.“The last time any of us left the house there was a kidnapping and a shooting. So excuse me for being worried about you.”
I smile; I love this side of my Tesoro.
Joel side-eyes me as we park at the far end of the lot. “It’s like we’re either going to be buying or selling,” he mutters. “Haven’t been in this position since I was seventeen.”
I snort, remembering when he—and consequently, his brothers—was promoted in the Amato Organization because he proved himself to be more useful than a simple drug runner.
“Oliver is in position,”Leandro says.
Joel and I exit the car, my bodyguard on high alert, as am I. There are so many ways this can go to hell, starting and endingwith it being a trap because the guy Leandro is…doingthingswith is a traitor.I wonder if I can accidentally kill him?
Joel was right about the location—a park in the opposite direction of both the Council’s house and the Senator’s—is the perfect place for a drug deal to go down. Thankfully, the territories around the park seem to use it more as neutral ground, rather than trying to stake their claim. We have too much shit going on right now to worry about pissing off some small timer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s not hard to find Oliver; he’s waiting by a small, crumbling fountain, under one of the only lights in the whole place.
Before he can say anything, I punch him in the face. “What the fuck?!”
I stare at him as he cups his nose. He lowers his dark eyes, unable to hold my gaze.
