Chapter Fifteen
Roman
With my hands full, I couldn’t knock, so I kicked Oakley’s door a few times, hoping they’d come answer it. I had a key to their place, but I didn’t want to risk dropping the tray of food.
After a minute, the door opened, and I couldn’t help but grin. Oakley stood there with their very short hair that’d been growing back, sticking up all over the place. They had a pillow crease on their cheek, and their eyes were only half open.
“Good morning, sunshine.”
They grunted at me and stepped aside to let me in. I walked right over to their small circular dining table and set the tray down, then reached into two of my pockets to pull out two thermoses of coffee—luckily, my tactical pants had huge pockets.
“Is that what I think it is?” they asked, plopping into a chair.
“Yep. Your favorite, sweetheart.”
A flush bloomed on their cheeks as they took one of the thermoses from me. “Thank you.” They opened it, sniffed it, then took a sip, humming in delight. “Delicious. Just how I like it.”
“We’ve been living together on mission for months now. I think I know how you take your coffee.”
That made them smile tiredly before they reached for the covered dishes on the overlarge tray. There were pancakes, sausages, bacon, omelets with some veggies thrown in, and toast, along with some fruit and juice.
“Holy shit, Rome, you went all out.”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit that I wanted to impress them. “Well, being home means I have access to all my cooking gear, so…”
“This is amazing.” They shoved a piece of bacon in their mouth, then stabbed a sausage with their fork and used it as a pointing stick. “Aren’t you going to eat any of this?”
I nodded but still waited until they’d made their first plate before I made my own. I wanted—needed—them to take the things they wanted first.
Because Oakley didn’t grow up in a dragon community—the cult they lived in didn’t count since they ignored nearly all dragon traditions—they probably didn’t realize that bringing them food, cooking for them, and making sure they were well fed was a…
display of courtship. A way for me to tell them I wanted to court them and that I cared deeply for them.
They probably didn’t realize how much it meant when one dragon shared food with another person.
Which was fine because I was mainly doing it to ensure they were eating enough and to obviously make sure they didn’t burn their kitchen down.
But there was some deep satisfaction that happened every time I supplied them with food.
“This is delicious,” they mumbled around a bite of omelet.
“Good.” I sent them a small smile.
Oakley nudged me with their toe, swallowing their food before speaking. “I didn’t think you were serious about feeding me breakfast this morning.”
I frowned at them. “Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?”
They shrugged and played with their food with a fork for a few seconds.
“It’s just… I’m not used to… people caring that I ate or slept or anything else.
I honestly can’t even remember a time when my mother cooked for me or did my laundry or anything like that.
I suppose she must’ve done it when I was little, but I…
back at the, um, cult, I always had to fend for myself. Ever since I can remember.”
Mother of Scales, I really wanted to hold them right now and take away every hurt they ever felt. I hated what their mother did to them. I hated that Oakley had to grow up in such a horrible place. I hated that they weren’t shown love and comfort when they were young.
I wanted to make up for it. So badly.
But I didn’t know how.
Before I could formulate a response—what did one say to that, anyway?—Oakley’s alarm went off on their phone. They grimaced as they pulled it out of their pocket and turned it off.
“We have thirty minutes before we have to meet Dad downstairs in a meeting room. I’m assuming other people are coming, otherwise, I think we’d just talk to him in his office or even in his condo.
” They shrugged and picked their fork back up before glancing at me through their eyelashes.
“I just… thank you for this.” They gestured to the food.
“And for… for everything, Rome. I know it’s not easy for you to let me go into dangerous situations, but I appreciate that you do. ”
I gave them a nod. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I like making you breakfast and everything else.”
That blush came back onto their cheeks, and I really, really, really wanted to kiss them.
But we still hadn’t talked yet, and there wasn’t enough time for it right now, anyway.
We finished breakfast quickly, then I cleaned up while they hopped in the shower since I was already ready for work. Oak got ready swiftly, and we headed down to the meeting room Garrick had told us to meet in.
When we walked inside, I was surprised to see an entire king’s guard squad already sitting at the table. I frowned and met Oak’s eyes before we took our seats. They narrowed and stared across the table at their father.
“Dad? What is this? I thought we were meeting about our next steps in regards to our case?” They gestured between us, obviously not wanting to say trafficking case in front of the others since we didn’t know who was read in on the case.
I sat beside Oakley, staring across the table at my best friend, already getting angry at him on my and Oak’s behalf.
Garrick sighed, long and drawn out, then simply said, “We are. I sent scouts ahead, and the info we’re getting…
well, it’s going to take a lot more than just the two of you.
You two have done a great job, but you need a break.
You’re both grounded for the next four weeks.
Kharis Phiwenys’s team is going to take over for now. ”
Oakley shot to their feet. “What? No! This is our case.” They waved between the two of us.
“We need to see this through. We need to follow up on our lead and get back out there. We can leave tomorrow. Hell, we can leave today, right after this meeting. We’re ready.
” I hadn’t heard them this angry since the very first day they’d come back to us a couple of years ago.
Garrick shook his head. “No. You need to rest.”
“What the hell, Dad? This is what we do. This is our job. This is—”
“Oakley, I said no.”
The two stared at each other for a long moment before Oakley turned on their heel in a huff and marched out of the room.
Standing, I glared at Garrick. “They aren’t wrong, Garrick. This is our case. You shouldn’t be doing this to either of us.” In a spout of anger, I shoved my chair in, making a loud clatter, then I followed Oak out the door.
I found them outside of the offices, pacing the length of the hallway in front of the elevators. As soon as they saw me, they rounded on me, so pissed-off they had smoke coming out of their nostrils.
“How can he do this to us?” they hissed. “This is our case. This. Is. Ours.”
“I know.” I stepped into their path, blocking them from pacing, and grabbed their upper arms. “Take a breath for me, babe. You have smoke coming out of your nose and mouth.”
They blinked at me, then glanced down as if to look for the smoke. It was billowing out around them, so I wasn’t sure how they hadn’t noticed, but I supposed they were too focused on their anger.
They took a deep breath, closed their eyes, and after a few seconds, the smoke stopped coming out.
“Listen,” I said quietly. “I’m pissed too, and I told Garrick I was.
I don’t think he’s thinking straight where you’re involved.
I think he’s worried about losing you again.
He didn’t handle it well when we were gone for so long.
He missed you, and after what happened when you were a baby, I think he’s just being overprotective. ”
“So you think it’s okay that he’s taken our case, our mission, away from us?”
“No. Absolutely not. I’m not saying what he’s doing is right. I’m simply trying to get you to understand why he’s doing it.”
They blew out a long breath. “Fine. But I reserve the right to be pissed off until he lets us back on the case.”
I grinned. “I’m right there with you.”
They nodded. “Alright. Let’s go talk to Lilura Periculum. Maybe we can’t go right now, but we can still stay up to date with everything and make sure we don’t lose the lead we have.”
“Agreed. Let’s go.”
I easily followed Oakley into the elevator and to the floor that many of the auction victims were given. It used to be a floor filled with den members, but they’d been killed years ago by the same cult that’d kept Oakley hostage for twenty-five years.
Some of the people we’d rescued decided to go back to their homes, but others were too scared of being taken again, especially since a few had been sold to the traffickers for money and who knew what. So Garrick had offered them a place at the tower.
It made sense. We had plenty of empty condos here, and the tower was one of the most well-protected places in this world. They would be safe here.
Oakley found the correct door and knocked.
The young woman—the teenager—from the other night answered, and I couldn’t believe how much she’d improved.
Her dark circles were already looking better after only two nights of peaceful, safe sleep.
She was clean, and her skin had a healthy pallor now that she’d been eating full meals for a few days.
All in all, she was looking about ten thousand percent better than before. It was quite the transformation.
When she saw Oakley, she smiled widely, and in that moment, I could truly see how young she was. She was still a kid. A teenager, no older than sixteen at most.
“Hey, Lilura. Can we come in?” Oakley asked, softening their voice.
“Of course, Oakley.” She smiled at them, then looked over at me, seeming a little confused.
“I’m Roman. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, but I was there with Oakley that night.”
She nodded, and the tension in her shoulders released. “Nice to meet you. Thank you for saving us.”
I smiled and stepped inside. “No need to thank me.”
Oakley walked over to the couch and sat down, so the rest of us followed suit. Oak asked, “Did you get ahold of your parents, Lilura?”
She shook her head. “No. They haven’t answered any of my calls or anything. They… well, I didn’t leave on good terms with them, obviously, seeing as they… gave me up. But I thought… they’d answer if I called, you know? Especially since I’ve called multiple times in a row.”
Oakley ground their teeth together. “We can have someone go to their home and check on them.” That likely hit a spot considering their relationship with their own mother. No wonder they were so determined to help this girl out.
She nodded and pushed her hair behind her ear. “That would be good. Thank you.” She took a breath. “I suppose you want me to go over everything I remember?”
Oakley nodded. “Only if you feel up to it.”
She squared her shoulders, and I couldn’t help but admire her bravery. “I’m good. I want you to catch these bastards so they don’t harm anyone else.”
Oakley sent her a small grin. “That sounds good to me.”
After Oak finished Lilura’s interview, they asked her to join us for lunch.
There were a few restaurants on some of the lower levels of the tower, so we took her to one of those, and then Oakley decided to take her on a shopping spree since the poor thing didn’t have any clothes or even any belongings that actually belonged to her.
After all the hard stuff was finished, Lilura and Oakley really hit it off. Maybe because they were both younger. Maybe because they’d both survived horrible situations.
Or maybe because Oakley was that magnetic and everyone who met them always wanted to be around them and spend time with them.
I knew I did, that was for sure.
By the time we took Lilura back to her condo, it was nearing five o’clock, and I was beat.
For some reason, Oakley walked me back to my own condo, and as we headed down the hall to my door, they said, “Let’s go out drinking tonight.”
I blinked. “What?”
They snorted at me and wrapped themself around my arm—mmm, I really like that. They’d been touching me in some capacity all day, and I was really loving it.
Even if it was also a little bit torturous since I couldn’t touch them back the way I really wanted.
They said, “Let’s go out drinking. I’ll invite Ker, Anton, Jed, Shiro, Phae, and whoever. We can go to a supe bar that serves blood for the vamps and dwarf beer for us.”
“You want to get drunk?”
They nodded emphatically. “Yes. After what my dad did to us today, I could use a drink.”
The last thing I wanted to do was go out tonight—I was feeling my old age at the moment—but if that was where Oakley would be, then they could count me in. “Alright. But we have to get all our notes and things from Lilura to the team that’s handling the traffickers now.”
Oakley beamed. “I did that already.”
“What? When?”
“While Lilura was trying on some clothes, I put everything together on my phone and sent it off. I got a terse thank you from the new team lead, which is bullshit, but whatever.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
That made them stop short. “What? No, I’m not.”
I snorted. “You are, but I’m not going to argue with you. I know how stubborn you can be.”
They sighed. “True. I’d obviously win.”
“Obviously,” I said sarcastically with an eye roll, making them laugh.
“Seriously, though, will you come out?”
I’d go with you anywhere, sweetheart. “Sure thing.”
They smiled, kissed my cheek, then literally skipped back to the elevator, calling over their shoulder, “Be ready by seven!”
“See you then.” With a big grin, I let myself inside, holding the spot Oak had kissed with my hand.
That had been… simply amazing and made my belly swoop like I was a teenager and my first crush sent me a note saying they liked me.
Good grief. It was just a cheek kiss.
I’d seen Oakley give their friends a cheek kiss a million times.
But they’d never given me one, and for some reason, this one felt… different.
Were they… maybe, possibly, finally feeling the pull toward me? Was that possible?
Could I maybe try to find out tonight at the bar?
Yes. Yeah. I liked that plan. Try to find out what they were feeling while we were out. That would work.
Right?
Now I just needed to find something to wear that would get me noticed by my Oakley. Hmm. I was pretty sure all I had was black.
But… I could work with that.