32. Skye
CHAPTER 32
SKYE
I rapped once on the door before peeking my head into Luca’s office. He’d pretty much locked himself in here unless one of us dragged him out. I got it—it had been a frustrating as fuck week of sitting on our hands with absolutely no answers and no sign of Matthew.
Luca was on the phone and looked pissed, but raised his head and smiled at me before turning back to the conversation. I took that as an invitation and walked in, closing the door behind me.
“Don’t fuck with me, Covington. Are you telling me that you haven’t been in contact with your son for months and you have no fucking idea where he could be? We’re sitting here like fucking fools. You asked us not to confront Larsen until we get visuals on Matthew, and since you’re paying for this waste of time, I’ve been honoring it, but I’m starting to believe you don’t want your son back.”
“He’s not my son!” the fucker screamed so loudly, I heard it through the phone. I winced, getting flashbacks from my own father when I’d told him I was leaving his land.
Luca, for his part, looked like he wanted to murder someone. Since Covington was, unfortunately, half a world away, it wasn’t possible right now, so I walked up to him and started to massage his shoulders. I bent down and kissed the side of his neck. Luca squeezed my hand and looked up at me, thanks in his eyes. He put the phone on speaker so I could hear it clearly.
“You still raised him, Covington. And he’s your fucking grandson, which you seem not to acknowledge. You asked me to come here and find him. To make sure he was safe and not in the hands of his biological father. Is that still what you want me to do?”
There was a long, heavy sigh. “Yes. I apologize for my outburst.” I snorted. What a crock of shit.
“I do still want that,” Covington continued, “The police are sniffing around again. They said they can’t find Bradley Fieldburg, but they searched his house and found some ties to me.”
We knew all that already. Wes and Diego had also been keeping an eye on them while we were here. While the cops didn’t know where Bradley was, we did. He was still in the United States and lying low. He also didn’t have Matthew with him, nor had shown any indication of trying to find him. We were all pretty sure he was involved, at least with Fieldburg’s murder and the attack on Brooks and Diego, but with no proof now, all we could do was monitor him.
Everything was shady as fuck, but we were in too deep to back out now. Something had happened to that kid. Diego, with Wes’s help, had turned to the dark web and were searching for any mention of Matthew in all the deepest crevices. It made me sick that we had to assume that possibility, but at this point, it seemed likely.
Luca was getting more pissed by the second and needed to get off this call. I walked around him and straddled his lap. He raised an eyebrow at me, but his hands cupped my ass and squeezed. I kissed the side of his jaw.
“And what about the kid?” Luca ground out. Diego had run facial recognition, but there hadn’t been a hit. He was now also looking through all missing children reports that would fit his age and description.
Covington sighed. “I already told you. I don’t know anything about that. As far as I know, Larsen has no kids. He came recommended to me by someone I trusted. I naively took it at face value. What that kid has to do with this, I have no idea.”
I shook my head, digging my fingers into a knot in Luca’s shoulder. I found it very hard to believe that Covington hadn’t done his own research on Larsen before hiring him. Even if he didn’t care much about what happened to Matthew, he cared enough about his reputation to not leave something that could potentially ruin him in the hands of a recommendation.
Luca just held back a moan as I dug in. “Fine. We’ll do it your way till the end of the week, Covington. If we’re still in the same boat, I’m changing tactics. You may not give a real fuck about finding your son, but we do.”
Covington’s voice was strained but he replied, “Understood.”
Luca hung up without another word.
“Sometimes I feel like a slimy piece of shit that we even took this contract.”
I shrugged, rubbing my hands up and down his chest. “Yeah, but if we can find the kid and he really was in danger, it’s worth it.”
Luca squeezed my ass again. “Yeah, I guess. Did you draw the short straw to drag me out of here today?”
I laughed rocking my hips. Luca pinched my thigh through my jeans, his gaze heated.
“Skye . . . ,” he warned. Though we all knew I didn’t heed warnings very well.
“Trust me, Boss, it’s no short straw. We do have a chart though.” I grinned so he knew I was kidding.
“Brat.”
“Nah, that’s Brooks. Who’s missing the fuck out of you. We all are. But I think he’s struggling the most, being away from home and Diego. And with all of this being so new to him and with everything in your past,” I trailed off, but Luca understood. Brooks needed extra reassurance that Luca wasn’t going to walk away again, and burying himself in work and ignoring his men wasn’t the way to do it.
“Fuck.” He burrowed his head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, darling. I’m fucking this all up.”
“You’re not. We all get it. Even Brooks. He understands how hard you’re working. I just think spending some time with us might do all of us some good.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I will. I’ll do better.”
I kissed the top of his head. “You’re doing fine. You know we all love you.”
“I love you all too. So fucking much.”
There was a small lull when we just sat there. I showed immense willpower and didn’t grind against him. Even I understood that he needed a moment.
When his hands started to caress me again, I told him the real reason I was here. “We’re having a family dinner. Wes and Diego are FaceTiming us. I bet Wes would love to see your pretty face.”
Luca growled, lifting his head. He tugged on my hair, tilting my head back and exposing my neck. A shiver ran through me.
“I’m not pretty.”
“No? How about cute, Boss?”
Luca’s teeth sunk into my neck and I screamed. Holy fuck, that man had a direct line to my cock. I moaned as he sucked a bruise into my skin.
“I’ll give you cute,” he grumbled playfully before slapping the side of my thigh, “C’mon. If you keep moving like that, I’ll forget all about family dinner and making up for ignoring my men.”
“Well,” I said in my most seductive voice, dragging my ass long and slow over his legs and stopping right on top of his bulge. “You can start by making it up to me,” I suggested.
“Boy . . . ,” His tone dripped with all the sexy dominance. “I’m thinking you need some time tied to the wall. Blindfolded and gagged while Mav and I take Brooks apart. You’ll be able to hear everything but won’t be able to see or talk or participate in any way.”
I stood up, shooting Luca a dirty look. “You play dirty, Boss.”
He laughed. “I know.” Luca stood and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me sweetly. I loved this side of him as much as the aggressive one, and I loved how he could so easily flip back and forth.
“C’mon,” he whispered into my lips. “Let’s get dinner.”
We walked into the dining room hand in hand. Maverick was lounging in a chair at one end of the table sipping a whiskey, his eyes practically undressing Brooks as he was laying out silverware.
Brooks turned and grinned at us when we walked in. “You’re joining us, Sir?” The excitement and surprise in his voice was obvious, and I felt Luca wince. I squeezed his hand, letting him know it was all good.
“Yeah. A little birdy told me that I was working too hard and neglecting my men.”
I smirked. “Nothing little about this bird,” I teased, squeezing my bulge with a Michael Jackson move.
Maverick rolled his eyes but didn’t contradict it, because he knew I was right.
Brooks eyes dashed toward me and down before focusing back on Luca. “We understand you’re busy.” He didn’t argue that Luca wasn’t neglecting us though. “Anyway, dinner’s ready. Don’t worry, Mav cooked it. I just cut shit and did what he told me.”
“Brooks is a good sous chef. Just don’t let him handle the spices on his own.”
Brooks stuck his tongue out at Maverick, very careful to be well out of grabbing distance and strategically placing me and Luca in between him before he did. “You weren’t putting enough.”
Maverick’s eyes took on a dangerous glint, one that had me shivering and wanting to play. “Just because I’m too lazy to chase you now, doesn’t mean you’re off the hook, boy. I have a memory like an elephant.”
Mav’s words gave me an idea, and I immediately started planning. The tablet that was in the middle of the table rang before I could express it, though, so I tabled my thoughts. I’d bring them up later.
Brooks hit accept on the call, and Diego’s and Wes’s faces showed up. They were sitting together on the big cuddle chair, like really close together.
I met Brooks’s eyes that were wide and surprised. I couldn’t see their bodies and if they were touching or not, but even if they weren’t, it was closer than I’d seen Diego be to anyone besides Brooks. We had gotten to know each other over the weeks, but he still flinched if he thought I was going to touch him.
Brooks opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but Wes’s eyes flashed and he shook his head subtly. Ok, message received. Brooks received it, too, because he stumbled for a second before saying, “D! Fuck, I missed your face.”
Diego rolled his eyes. “You saw it yesterday when we video chatted.”
“I know. Too long.”
Diego sighed, but I could tell he didn’t mean it.
“Holy shit, do my eyes deceive me, or is the great Luca Castellano actually joining us?” Wes added with more sarcasm than I’d ever heard from him before. I guessed we weren’t the only partners Luca had been ignoring lately.
Once again, Luca flinched before walking closer to the tablet. “I’m here now, baby. I’m sorry I’ve been a shit boyfriend to all of you lately. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
Wes’s eyes darkened. “I’m looking forward to that.”
I cleared my throat. Holy fuck, his husky sex tone was top of the line. The way Brooks just stood there gaping like a fish told me he felt the same. I slipped my hand from Luca’s and closed in on Brooks, wrapping my arms around him from behind. “Hi, sunshine.” I pushed my front up against his back.
“H-hi.”
“How was your day? I feel like I haven’t seen you since we worked out this morning.”
“Good! I talked to my parents for a while, then worked on some skills with Maverick. Then helped him cook dinner.”
“It smells delicious.”
Brooks shrugged. “Well, that’s all him. After I tried doubling the ginger, he supervised every single fucking move.” His voice was all grumbly.
Laughing, I brushed my hand along his backside. I didn’t think he had on underwear since soon my hand grazed along the hard base of the butt plug he was wearing. “What type of skills was Mav really going over with you?”
Brooks blushed. “Stop embarrassing the boy, Skye,” Maverick chimed in. “You’re just jealous it’s not you.”
True enough.
Soon, we were all sitting down with the tablet propped up in the middle of the table so we could see Diego and Wes. Since it was only lunchtime there, they were eating sandwiches.
Brooks served us all, which was honestly kind of nice, even if it was unexpected, then we all sat down to eat.
Mav’s supervision had done wonders because the food was awesome.
“You need to cook more at home,” I told him. “Don’t get me wrong, chef is great, but there’s something special about your man cooking for you.”
Maverick was pleased even if he tried to act like he wasn’t. “I don’t see you volunteering.”
“Fuck no. I like our house. I’m not burning it to the ground.”
“Considering it’s been in my family for a hundred years, I appreciate it,” Luca drily answered.
The rest of dinner was light, all of us laughing and chatting and just catching up. It was nice and so sorely needed. We were all on edge. The longer this went on, the more restless we were all becoming. I thought we knew there was this anvil over our heads and it was bound to drop eventually, but there was nothing we could do but literally wait for it to happen.
Not to mention, Wes was having his own issues at home. Someone was stalking Dakota and, by extension, Jay. From the little bit of conversation I’d heard Wes having with Luca, I could tell he was stressed about that situation. I wished we could help more. Diego and Wes were already overloaded, but there was very little we could do from a different country.
None of that came up during dinner. It was just family time. We continued to good-naturedly rib Luca for being MIA and he took it like a champ. Diego told a couple embarrassing stories about Brooks when he’d been a kid. I even shared an MMA story or two. It wasn’t a time that I talked about a lot. Not because I hadn’t loved my career, but it had ended so suddenly, with a blow to my head that had landed me in the hospital. I’d in shock and hadn’t taken it well. If it hadn’t been for Luca and Maverick showing up and recruiting me into Il Fortunato, who knew where I’d be. They’d saved my life.
Anyway, we all chatted for well over an hour, but eventually Wes and Diego hung up, and I could tell Luca was getting antsy to go check his emails or whatever it was he needed to do. It was the perfect time to bring up my idea.
“Sooo, I’ve been thinking . . .”
“Oh no,” Maverick deadpanned. I didn’t even bother giving him a dirty look.
“We should have a hunt.”
The two Doms froze, the atmosphere changing immediately. Brooks glanced between us all, seeming confused.
“A hunt? Like bears?”
That ended the tension immediately as we all started cracking up. “I don’t think any bears are on the menu, brat,” Maverick chimed in. “But there’s a tatted, mouthy, subby boy who I bet would taste delicious.”
It clicked then and Brooks basically jumped out of his seat. “Oooh? Like a primal hunt?” I nodded at him to let him know he was right. “Yes! Can we, please?”
He looked toward Luca and then Mav and then back again, because he knew it would be up to them in the end.
“Do you think this is the right time for it?” Of course that was Luca.
I opened my mouth, but Mav chimed in first, “I don’t see why not. You said yourself we’re just sitting on our asses over here. We’re all getting antsy. We could use it to let out some of our aggression. Then, when we do finally get to real work, our heads will be on straight.”
Luca tilted his head, considering, but I could already tell he liked the idea. He needed it as badly as we did.
“Not tonight. Mav and I have been drinking. But tomorrow. That’ll give us time to plan and Skye a chance to prepare Brooks on what to expect.”
“Fuck yes!” I jumped up and scooped Brooks out of his chair, planting a wet kiss right on his lips.
“Get ready, sunshine. Because out there, we’re not on the same side, and I’d love to be buried in that thick ass of yours.” Brooks shook slightly, his eyes glazed over.
“I can’t wait for you to try.”