Chapter 26
Chapter twenty-six
Gator
By the time Julius got up from his nap, the ninth floor was already buzzing. Sunday meant football, snacks, and a ton of trash talk.
I wasn’t sure if Julius would be up for socializing, but he wanted the distraction. He’d put on my jersey again, even though the Saints weren’t playing today, and I still thought it looked way better on him than on me.
Wolfe was sitting in his usual spot at the poker table, Axel and Maddox were arguing over who was winning the fantasy league, and Hawk was pretending he didn’t care about the game while still managing to shout at the refs. It was loud, familiar, and exactly what I needed after the week we’d had.
I leaned against the counter, beer in hand, letting the sound of it all wash over me. For the first time in days, my shoulders didn’t feel like they were carrying the weight of the world. Julius was safe. That’s all that mattered.
“Hey, Gator!” Maddox called. “You in for the pool this week?”
“Depends. Are you tired of me taking your money?”
That got me a chorus of laughter and a middle finger from Maddox.
“Damn it. I don’t even know why I get my hopes up,” Hawk grumbled when the Cowboys threw an interception.
Trixie was sitting on the perch on top of her travel cage, and she chimed in. “How about them boys?” That was followed by a whistle and then, “Cowboys suck worse than Axel.”
I had a feeling I knew where she’d learned that because Maddox was practically rolling on the floor with laughter. When he finally got himself pulled back together, he said, “Maybe we should get her a bigger cage for this room. I like her.”
“You can’t have my bird,” Julius called from over by the snack table.
“But she’s so much fun!” Maddox yelled back.
I watched him as he laughed at something Mika said. It was hard to believe it was only yesterday that I’d been so afraid I’d lost him. He was resilient, though, and I thought he was going to be okay.
He made his way over to me, carrying a plate that was loaded with snacks. He brushed a kiss against my jaw. “You look relaxed, Daddy. I like that.”
“Stick around, and I might even start smiling.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He laughed and popped a jalapeno popper Mika had made in his mouth.
Axel pointed a finger at him. “Careful, those are spicy.”
Julius raised one eyebrow. “You think these are spicy? You aren’t from around here, are you?”
The room erupted in laughter, and it felt good—hell, it felt right—seeing everyone laugh again.
A while later, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Noah had cracked open the door to the apartment down the hall. He lingered for a second, half in shadow, before stepping out. He looked unsure, like a man trying to remember what normal felt like.
Mika spotted him first. “Hey, Noah, you hungry? I’ve got enough snacks here to feed an army.”
Noah hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
Mika handed him a plate stacked high with food, and for a minute, Noah stood there awkwardly, not sure where to go. That’s when Crowe crossed the room and stopped beside him.
“Only rule is you gotta pick a team,” Crowe said, voice easy and low.
Noah glanced at the screen. “Which one are you rooting for?”
Crowe smirked. “The one Maddox isn’t. Cause they’re pretty much guaranteed to lose.”
That got a small laugh from Noah, and Crowe seemed pleased with himself.
They talked for a few minutes. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw the way Crowe angled his body, protective but not crowding him. The way Noah’s shoulders eased a little more with every minute.
A few minutes later, someone scored, and the room erupted. Axel swore at the screen, Hawk cheered, and Maddox laughed like a loon. Of course, Trixie chimed in with, “Where’s the flag?” like she knew what she was talking about.
Noah flinched slightly, and Crowe leaned down to say something. Noah gave him a weak smile and handed him the plate before slipping back toward the apartment.
Crowe stood there for a long second, watching the door close, then looked over at me.
“He okay?” I asked.
“No, but he will be,” Crowe said, like he was sure of it.
The rest of the afternoon rolled on in easy rhythm—laughter, food, friendly arguments, and the steady thrum of belonging.
Julius ended up stretched out across my lap, half-watching the game, half-dozing while I traced lazy circles on his hip.
When Wolfe yelled about a bad call and the room erupted again, Julius lifted his head and looked up at me. “You guys seriously love your football.”
“Yeah, we do,” I said, smiling down at him. “But that’s not the only thing I love.”
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of soft snoring and sunlight creeping across the bed. Julius was sprawled half on top of me, hair a mess, mouth slightly open, looking more peaceful than I’d seen him in days.
For a long minute, I didn’t move. I just listened—the steady rhythm of his breathing, the faint hum of the fridge, and Trixie talking to herself in the other room. Normal sounds. The kind that meant everything was okay.
He shifted against me and mumbled, “You’re staring.”
“Maybe.”
“Creeper,” he teased, voice rough with sleep.
“Just making sure you’re real, mon petit.”
He smiled without opening his eyes. “You confirmed that plenty last night.”
“Can’t be too careful,” I said, brushing a kiss over his hair.
He laughed quietly, the sound warm and easy.
“So what’s our plan for today?” I asked. The salon was closed on Mondays, which meant Julius had the day free. I didn’t have Mondays off normally, but I’d already let Wolfe know I would be unavailable all week.
I was already trying to convince myself it would be safe to let him go to work on Tuesday. I chuckled to myself at the thought, like I had any say in what my boy did. No one, not even me, let Julius Petros do anything.
Logically, I knew we’d caught the bad guys. That he was safe at the salon. Of course I’d thought that before, hadn’t I, which was why I also planned to go to work with him for a little while, just to ease my mind.
He interrupted my thoughts with a long, sexy stretch before rolling towards me.
“We should go by my house today. Get my stuff so I can officially move in. I miss my good coffee maker and my clothes.”
“You sure you’re up for it?”
“Yeah. I want to get it done. Not that we can get it all today, but I’d rather have all my important things here in our place. I can decide what to do with the rest later.”
The words hit somewhere deep in my chest. Our place. It wasn’t just my house anymore. It was his, too.
A short time later, Julius unlocked the door to his house, humming under his breath, and went straight to his closet.
He didn’t waste a second. No hesitation. Just started pulling clothes off hangers, stacking boxes of shoes, and debating out loud which jackets he needed to keep.
When he’d finished in there, he moved around the house, putting things into boxes and muttering to himself about what to take, what to leave for later, and what to get rid of.
Once we had everything loaded, he took one last look around. “I liked this place,” he said softly. “It was good to me. But it’s time.”
I stepped closer, resting a hand on the back of his neck. “Then let’s go home, baby.”
He smiled, eyes shining. “Let’s.”
Back at the condo, he wasted no time making himself at home. Within minutes, the spare room had become a walk-in closet, every inch of it filled with neatly arranged clothes, shoes, and enough skin care products to open his own spa.
When I passed by the doorway, he was standing there, hands on his hips, surveying his work. “This is much better. You had an entire empty room, and now it has purpose.”
I leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. “You’ve been here fifteen minutes, and you’ve already taken over my bathroom and a whole bedroom.”
He turned, grinning. “Correction—our bathroom and our bedroom. Don’t act like you mind.”
He wasn’t wrong. Watching him move around the space like he’d always belonged there made something settle inside me. I’d built a life around protecting other people, but now I had someone of my own to protect.
By late afternoon, everything was unpacked. Julius curled up beside me on the couch with a mug of coffee while Trixie perched on the back cushion, whistling softly.
“You ever think,” Julius said quietly, “that sometimes things have to get bad before you take the steps to get you where you’re supposed to be?”
I smiled, kissing the top of his head. “Yeah, I think about that a lot.”
He tilted his head up, eyes soft. “Good. Because this feels a lot like where I belong.”
“Oh, don’t you doubt it, mon petit,” I said, pulling him closer. “It is.”
He settled against me with a happy sigh, his hand sliding over my chest until it rested right above my heart.
I brushed my thumb over his knuckles. “You know, my mee-maw always said that home isn’t the place you sleep—it’s the people who make you want to stay.”
Julius looked up at me, eyes full of that love, making me feel like the luckiest man alive. “Then I guess we’re both home, huh?”
“Yeah, baby,” I said, voice low. “We are.”
Outside, the city kept moving—sirens in the distance, traffic, life carrying on—but in here, everything was still. Safe. Exactly how it was supposed to be.
For the first time in a long damn time, I didn’t have anywhere else to be.
I hope you loved reading Gator and Julius's story. Up next is Crowe and Noah story. You can get it here: Crowe
It’s been six months since Noah escaped hell.
Therapy helped him find his footing again, and for the first time in a long time, he’s starting to believe he’s safe.
Until the man who bought him—the one he never met, but never stopped fearing—tracks him down to claim what he thinks he owns.
Desperate and terrified, Noah turns to the only people who ever made him feel safe: the men of Three Bears Tactical.
Crowe usually runs the training camp, not protection details.
But when Noah walks back into their world, shaken but determined to fight, Crowe can’t stand on the sidelines.
He’ll keep Noah close—closer than he should—and protect him with everything he’s got.
But the more time they spend together, the harder it is to tell where the job ends and something deeper begins.
Because protecting Noah isn’t just duty anymore. It’s personal.