Chapter Eight
––––––––
CYRIL AND VALE WERE out on a date, and Cyril couldn’t stop glancing at his boyfriend.
The warm glow of the restaurant’s lighting caught the angles of Vale’s face, highlighting the line of his jaw and the freckle just above his upper lip that Cyril loved so much.
He’d gone all out tonight, trading his usual casual clothing for perfectly fitted dark jeans and a nice button-down shirt.
The jacket he wore over it fit him like a glove.
He looked good enough to eat, and it had been incredibly tempting to stay home and do just that—to pull him back into their bedroom and show him how gorgeous he looked. But Vale had insisted on taking Cyril out, and Cyril could rarely say no to his man.
Vale had said he wanted to spoil Cyril, and apparently, he’d meant it.
They were seated at the best table in one of the city’s most exclusive French restaurants, a place that Cyril could only have dreamed of visiting before.
They’d been led to a corner booth with soft leather seats that looked more expensive than every piece of furniture in their apartment put together, which made Cyril nervous.
But this had to be the most perfect date of Cyril’s life—not that he’d had many.
The meal had been delicious and like nothing Cyril had ever experienced—the food had arrived displayed on plates that made it look like small works of art that were almost too beautiful to eat.
Vale had ordered wine that probably cost more than Cyril’s rent.
He was making Cyril feel cherished, which he hadn’t realized he needed after everything that had happened between them.
“Try this,” Vale murmured, leaning across the table to offer Cyril a bite of his dessert—an elaborate chocolate creation that Cyril had been tempted by before opting for something lighter.
“God, that’s incredible,” Cyril said as he tried to ignore how close Vale was leaning.
Cyril wasn’t going to say no to being spoiled like this, especially with things still feeling somewhat fragile between them.
The past few weeks had been a minefield of carefully chosen words and tentative touches, both of them dancing around the elephant in the room until they’d finally had no choice but to face it head-on.
It had left them raw and exposed, but also stronger.
They were good now. Cyril was sure of that, and he knew how lucky he was to have someone who understood why trust didn’t come easily to him. Vale had been patient with him and honest about his own feelings, and he’d forgiven Cyril’s mistrust.
It felt good to be able to let go of the worry and questions for a bit, to focus on the warmth in Vale’s eyes and the way he laughed when Cyril told him about Oscar’s attempt to rearrange the furniture.
He’d apparently become strong enough that he felt he could move the couch closer to the window to sunbathe.
Cyril couldn’t help but wonder why Oscar was changing and where it would stop.
He had enough to worry about with his ability evolving in ways that left him feeling disconnected from himself, especially after losing it.
The Organization was still out there, still a threat that loomed over their happiness and future.
He was glad he didn’t have to add a breakup to his growing list of concerns.
Even when he’d believed that Vale had killed Melissa, even when fear had made him question everything he thought he knew about the man he loved, he hadn’t wanted to walk away. He’d wanted to know the truth, even though he’d been terrified of it.
He knew now. Vale might be a professional assassin, but he was also a man who’d tried to save an innocent woman and had walked away from the Organization when he’d realized he couldn’t stop them. He’d thought they were a thing of the past, but they were coming after him.
And there was Cyril’s ability to worry over, too.
He had no idea what was happening with his gift or why it was growing stronger.
He’d never had many problems understanding or controlling it before, not even when he was a teenager and everything about his life felt chaotic and uncertain.
The ability had been his constant, something that made sense even when nothing else did.
Now, it felt like it didn’t belong to him anymore, like some weird entity had taken up residence in his mind and was reshaping his gift without his consent.
He didn’t know what to do with that, know how to fix it, or even if it could be fixed. It was terrifying. His ability was a part of him, and now it felt like that part was rebelling against him.
The death dreams were becoming more frequent and more vivid, dropping him into other people’s final moments and making him feel them.
It had made him afraid of going to sleep at night, even when he was exhausted.
He always wondered if he’d be in his own body when he woke up, or if he’d find himself dying someone else’s death in some unfamiliar place.
Vale took Cyril’s hand, distracting him. “I love you,” he murmured, leaning even closer, his breath warm and sending shivers down Cyril’s spine. “I know things have been complicated, but I need you to know that.”
“I love you, too,” Cyril replied. He meant it with every fiber of his being. “Even when I was scared, even when I didn’t know what to believe—I never stopped loving you.”
Cyril could feel the tension of the past weeks melting away, replaced by the solid warmth of Vale’s presence. It wouldn’t last long, but he’d enjoy it while he could.
* * * *
VALE WAS INCREDIBLY relieved that things were going better with Cyril.
For a while, he hadn’t thought they would.
He’d been sure he’d lose his boyfriend, but instead, Cyril was here, enjoying the evening with him.
Things weren’t perfect yet, but then, Vale had never expected them to be.
Their lives were too messy for things to ever be perfect, but as long as they had each other, he knew they could be happy.
They could fight whatever came next and whoever tried to hurt them.
Even if they were as powerful as the Organization.
Vale had enjoyed the date, but he was glad to be able to take Cyril home.
He couldn’t wait for them to change into more comfortable clothes and climb into bed together.
He wanted to hold Cyril. He wanted to feel him close—closer than they could be in a public place.
He suspected the same went for Cyril, who didn’t argue when Vale asked for the check.
Everything was almost perfect until they got home. Vale should’ve known something was going to happen. He couldn’t feel too much happiness before something ruined it. It seemed like today wasn’t any different.
He knew something had happened as soon as he stepped out of the car. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone or anything. That didn’t mean there wasn’t someone there, unfortunately.
He heard the sound of Cyril’s car door opening and rushed to his boyfriend. Cyril was smiling, but that smile quickly disappeared when he realized something was going on. “What? Is it the Organization?”
Vale shook his head. “I don’t know. Stay in the car and take out your phone. If I’m not back in five minutes, call Russell. If anything happens, get into the driver’s seat and leave.”
“I’m not abandoning you.”
“If it comes to that, I want you to do just that. Don’t stick around waiting to get hurt.”
It was clear that Cyril wanted to argue, but Vale didn’t wait for him to. He leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend hard, then quickly stepped away.
He had a job to do.
He waited until he was out of sight of Cyril to take out his gun. First, he did a sweep of the area to make sure that no one was hiding in the parking lot or behind one of the dumpsters in the alley. When he found no one there, he turned his attention to the apartment.
Everything on his way upstairs seemed normal, but his instincts were on high alert.
He knew something was wrong. Maybe he should’ve accepted Rachel’s offer to place cameras around the apartment.
He hadn’t wanted Cyril to feel like he didn’t have any privacy anymore, but losing some of it would be worth it if it meant Cyril was safe.
It was definitely something to reconsider once they were done dealing with the Organization.
Vale had no doubt that if someone had been here, it was them. He hoped no one else was hunting him at the moment because he could only deal with one of those at a time, and the Organization was going to be a handful.
The apartment door was closed when Vale reached it, but that didn’t mean much. He unlocked it and slowly pushed it open. The creaking sound it made was loud, but it was easy to ignore when he saw the scene in front of him.
The people who’d been here had attempted to hide their presence from the outside, but not from the inside. The apartment was trashed, making it obvious that someone had been looking for something. They’d looked everywhere, from behind the TV—that was now on the floor—to inside the couch cushions.
Vale didn’t allow his emotions to take over.
He carefully walked through the apartment, making sure that no one was there.
He found Oscar, and for once, Oscar didn’t try to attack Vale when he saw him.
Instead, he skittered closer, hooking his tentacles into Vale’s jeans as if trying to climb him.
Vale wasn’t going to leave him behind, so he picked him up and put him on his shoulder.
A noise in the direction of the front door made Vale tense. He left the bedroom and inched toward the entrance, his gun ready, only to stop and sigh when he saw Russell standing there. “I could have shot you.”
Russell had his gun out, too, and he wasn’t alone. Cyril was standing behind him with wide eyes, and while Vale was glad to see him, he wasn’t happy. “I told you to stay in the car,” he said.
“Russell’s here. He’ll protect me if something happens.”
“Still. There’s a reason I asked you to wait downstairs.”
Cyril wasn’t paying attention to Vale anymore. He was looking around the room, his mouth hanging open.
Vale lived here, but it really was Cyril’s apartment. He’d been living here for years, and it couldn’t be easy for him to see it in the state it was in. It had to feel like a violation to someone who wasn’t used to this kind of thing.
Russell put away his gun. “No one’s here?”
“You should ask that before putting your gun away, but no. They’re long gone.”
“I hate this,” Cyril murmured. “Why did they do it? Who was it?”
“They didn’t leave any messages, but if I have to guess, I’d say it’s the Organization,” Vale told him as he put his gun away and reached for him.
Cyril came instantly, and once again, Vale was glad they’d talked things out. He wanted to be here for Cyril through this, even though there wasn’t much he could do.
“Why are you here?” he asked Russell.
“When you refused Rachel’s offer to install cameras, she had me install a silent alarm.”
Vale would have to thank her for that. He wished he’d known about it, if anything, because he wouldn’t have been as worried for Cyril as he had been. “Does she know anything?”
“I haven’t talked to her yet. You don’t have cameras, though, so my guess would be no.”
“Maybe we should get them,” Cyril said. “I know what I said about wanting privacy, but I think I’d rather be sure that no one’s in the apartment.”
Vale kissed the top of his head. “I’ll talk to Rachel.”
“Why did they do this? Were they looking for something?”
“I don’t have anything they could want. They want me dead, so I don’t think they were looking for anything. They just wanted me to know they’re here and that they’re coming for me.”
Cyril looked up at Vale. “I hate them.”
He wasn’t the only one. A few years ago, Vale wouldn’t have believed that he’d get to have what he had with Cyril.
He definitely wouldn’t have believed that he would retire, even though it was what he was working toward.
He’d thought he’d have many more years of work in him, and maybe he did, but he wished people would stop forcing him to come out of retirement to deal with their shit.
He also wished people would stop trying to kill him and his boyfriend.