Chapter 15 Sean/Beau #2
Then I saw Rafael. My second-in-command was behind the counter, half-turned toward a tall man in a slate-gray suit. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way.
My bear growled. Even without Sean in the equation, I didn’t like that guy. But Sean was in the equation, and he was my priority.
I flagged Dorian down with a nod. “Cover for me.”
Without waiting for a reply, I slipped through the swinging doors and out the back.
The alley behind Bear and Bun was quiet. The scent of fresh bread gave way to asphalt, motor oil, and damp brick. I spotted him instantly.
Sean was crouched near the wall, arms wrapped around his knees, chest heaving. He looked like he was trying to disappear into the shadows between a stack of old crates and a garbage bin.
My heart twisted.
“Sean?”
He didn’t respond at first. Just trembled, like the wind could knock him over. Then he looked up, his eyes locking onto mine, and something in him eased. Like a string pulled too tight had finally slackened.
“Beau?” he whispered, voice barely there.
The sound of my name in that small, broken tone, it nearly undid me.
“I’m here,” I said gently, approaching slow. “Just me. You’re okay.”
He gave the faintest nod, but his shoulders didn’t stop shaking. His whole body was locked in place like a trap had sprung around him.
“Can I touch you?” I asked, crouching down to his level, keeping my voice soft, low, like I would with a scared animal in pain.
He nodded again, barely perceptible, but I saw it.
I reached out and wrapped an arm around him, tugging him gently against my side. He didn’t resist. In fact, the second he felt the contact, he collapsed into me like a wave breaking.
And I held him.
I didn’t speak at first. Just rubbed circles on his back, anchoring him, letting him feel my warmth, my scent, my presence. His breath hitched against me.
I felt him trying to pull air into his lungs, like every inhale was a struggle.
“I’ve got you,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his temple. “You’re safe.”
“I saw him,” Sean whispered, his voice hoarse from crying or fear, or both. “He’s here. Orin. He’s in the bakery, Beau. He’s talking to Rafael.”
My blood ran cold.
Orin. That bastard.
The name alone was enough to make my bear lunge forward inside me, snarling. The image of Sean frozen, panicked, haunted. This was why.
I tightened my grip around him. “Are you sure?”
“I wish I wasn’t,” Sean whispered.
I could feel his body trembling against me, smaller than usual. Folded in on itself. Like he didn’t even want to take up space.
It made me want to rip Orin apart with my own claws. But I forced myself to stay still. For now.
“Okay,” I said, my voice low, steady. “Okay. Then we’re getting out of here. You shouldn’t be out here alone. Come on.”
Sean didn’t move.
I ran a hand through his hair. “Just come with me. We’ll go to my place. You can sit. Breathe. I’ll make tea or a milkshake or whatever you want. But I can’t help you out here. Please,” I said.
He hesitated.
But then, slowly, he nodded. “Okay.”
I stood and helped him to his feet, keeping one arm around his waist as we moved. He leaned into me the whole way, silent, trembling, but with me.
That was all that mattered. We didn’t go back through the bakery. I wasn’t about to walk him past that monster again.
Instead, we took the side path around the building, down the narrow lane that looped behind Main Street. I kept him close, my eyes scanning every shadow, every pedestrian.
My bear was on high alert. If Orin showed his face now, I wasn’t going to be polite. I wasn’t going to be civilized. I’d end him. But for now, I just walked Sean home.
My apartment above the bakery wasn’t much. It had an open-concept kitchen, couch, big windows that overlooked the town square, but it was safe. I unlocked the door and stepped in, pulling Sean in behind me.
“Sit,” I told him softly. “Wherever you want.”
He dropped onto the couch without argument, curling into the throw blanket I kept there like he was trying to disappear again.
I went straight to the kitchen, filled the kettle, and set it on the stove. My hands were steady. Barely. Rage and fear churned under my skin like a storm.
I glanced back.
He was watching me. Still pale. Still shaken. But his eyes met mine, and there was something there that hadn’t been in the alley. Trust.
I walked back over, crouched in front of him, and took his hands in mine.
“You’re safe now,” I said. “I won’t let him near you again. I swear it.”
“I didn’t even mean to see him,” Sean murmured. “I was just working. Then I looked over and it was like my body knew before my brain did. I froze, Beau. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even think.”
“That’s normal,” I said gently. “It’s not weakness. It’s your body remembering something terrible. You did the right thing, Sean. You got out. You found me.”
He didn’t respond right away.
Then, quietly: “He won’t stop.”
I cupped his face in my hands, brushing a thumb over his cheek.
“Then we don’t stop either,” I said. “He picked the wrong town to crawl into. You’ve got me, and you’ve got the rest of the crew. He’s never touching you.”
Sean’s lip trembled, but this time when he leaned forward into me, it wasn’t out of panic. It was out of trust. Of relief.
I held him again, tighter this time, and made a silent promise to the gods and whatever forces were listening: If Orin so much as breathed wrong near Sean again, I’d tear him apart.