Limitless Love: A Polyamorous Charity Anthology

Epilogue

TWO YEARS LATER…

“Where the fuck did he get those?” Lorenzo hissed, sidling up to Samuel who stood out of sight of the current tour group in the Tasting Room with Pauli.

“Get what?” Samuel replied with a smirk. “The pants… the shirt… the boots?”

“Fuck, I don’t know? The whole damn ensemble!”

Pauli’s clothing choices weren’t bad…per se. However, Lorenzo had thought they’d come to a consensus on how to present themselves to the public when they came on these tours. Ideally, that had meant clothing like a dress shirt paired with a tidy pair of jeans or dress pants. Except the more time Pauli spent in the Tasting Room while the others—himself, Samuel, and Andretti—were tied up with vineyard or other business matters, the more his choice of clothing changed.

Lorenzo couldn’t argue that their customers didn’t appreciate it. Who wouldn’t when Pauli sauntered around the Tasting Room delivering flights of wine wearing pants that were almost skin-tight… and were these ones leather? Fucked if he knew, fashion wasn’t his thing while admittedly Pauli had always been a clothes horse.

Yeah, no, it was definitely the entire ensemble Pauli wore that he had a problem with because those boots… the heels on them weren’t suitable for anything but indoor activities and drew the eye up his legs too… Lorenzo swallowed hard and glared at the women giving Pauli an appreciative glance. Storming out there in a jealous rage would do little for the reputation of their vineyard, but it wasn’t the only reason for the heat surging through his veins.

“And does he have to flirt with them so much?” he grumbled, watching as Pauli laughed at the wine-inspired pickup lines being dropped by their customers. Women who didn’t know that Pauli preferred cock over tits these days. “And how come you don’t have a problem with it?”

Samuel snorted. “Really? It’s like you’ve forgotten that this”—gesturing at Pauli and his adoring fans, batting their eyes and scrawling down numbers on receipts—“was my reality until I came here. Except this time, I know none of them will be sharing his bed.”

“Yeah…good point.”

It couldn’t be denied that Pauli had a way with their female customers, flirting easily with them while they sampled flights and convincing them to leave with several bottles of wine. Made sense in a way, considering his ability to never have an empty bed in the past. But Lorenzo and Andretti had also struggled to trust that Pauli would stay, and that he wouldn’t try to take Samuel with him if he left. The fact that Samuel was the whole reason he stayed at all was thrown in their faces whenever something went wrong, which only made it harder. But thankfully it wasn’t a threat he’d heard Pauli say in anger for over a year now.

“And from a business perspective… whatever he’s doing, he can keep on doing it. Profits are up on last year, which is almost unheard of a small winery… and they almost rival those made by the runs the Devil Hawks make into Adelaide with our other merchandise.”

Lorenzo sighed. “So, I can’t tell him to get rid of the pants?”

“Nope,” Samuel replied with a grin. “Although I can’t imagine your reason for being here has anything to do with Pauli’s wardrobe.”

Dragging his gaze away from Pauli, Lorenzo tamped down the desire to drag him from the Tasting Room and strip the offending clothes off him. Samuel was right, his reason for coming down here had nothing to do with Pauli, and there was no point in disrupting him while he had buyers on the hook. Gesturing for Samuel to follow him, Lorenzo headed away from the Tasting Room toward a nearby private office space he knew would be empty.

“It’s nothing serious… I promise,” Lorenzo said, holding out his to Samuel once the door closed behind them. “Andretti and I simply need to confirm a few things about you and Pauli.”

“Confirm what?” Samuel asked, arms folded across his chest as he leant against the wall opposite Lorenzo.

Lorenzo drew in a deep breath. “Like whether you’re both happy being here… that you are still willing to take up a place beneath us, so to speak—and not like that, get your mind out of the damn gutter.”

It was the one role within the fledgling organisation that had yet to be filled despite it being more than five years since he, Andretti, Albie, and Gio had sat down to discuss expansion plans. He and Andretti both had brothers who could technically fill the roles, but neither had wished to take on that responsibility believing they best served the Family in their current positions in Portland. Accepting their brothers’ desires had been easy but had still left them scrambling to figure out who among the family would be best suited to step into the empty roles. Samuel and Pauli had been a logical choice until a heartbreaking tragedy had befallen the family, pretty much ruling them out.

But fate had other plans.

It had only taken the past two years for Everett and Ryland to agree for their brothers to make the shift to Mt Gambier and to fill the roles they’d left vacant. Now their chance at forever was in their grasp, so long as that was what Samuel and Pauli wanted too.

Samuel pushed off the wall and crossed the floor to Lorenzo, grabbing a hold of his hands and squeezing them tight. “We are staying here. Even if my brother wanted us to return…we wouldn’t. Our home…our life it’s here in Mt Gambier amongst the vines.”

“And Pauli…agrees?” he asked.

“I do,” Pauli said, startling them both when he stepped through the door, not having heard it open. “Where Samuel goes, I go. And besides… you’ve got a bed big enough for four, so why would I want to be anywhere else.”

“Really? The bed is why you’re staying.”

“Well, yeah… anything smaller wouldn’t fit us all…and it’s too damn lonely whenever I need to sleep by myself.” Pauli shrugged.

“Fuck… and here I was hoping that you loved us,” Lorenzo replied with a smirk.

“Yeah… that too,” Pauli mumbled as his cheeks turned red. “I didn’t think I need to say it again… this morning.”

“But why are you asking this?” Samuel asked.

“Oh, right, I haven’t explained that.” Lorenzo laughed wryly. “I just got off the phone with Everett… and your positions within the organisation here can finally be approved. Officially.”

“Everett has settled on our replacements?”

“That he has… but they haven’t been announced to the family yet, so I won’t say who they are either.”

“Honestly,” Pauli said, wrapping his arms around Samuel while also leaning into snatch a kiss from Lorenzo. “All that matters is that we are staying, and our brothers won’t demand we return to Melbourne at some point. And I think that calls for a celebration… because you and Andretti won’t be getting rid of us now.”

“Like we’d want to. Your ours. Forever.”