Chapter 16 Wes
WES
“Damn, Ev, are you sure you never played before? You’re amazing.” Matty laughed, his tone caught somewhere between exasperated and impressed. Honestly, so was I.
After having a really rough night, Matty had taken it upon himself to help Everett relax and show him he was safe here.
We would need to talk to him eventually, get a better sense of what he knew so we could protect him, but Matty had told all of us, under no uncertain terms, to back the fuck off today and let Everett breathe.
Since I had a bad habit of hovering, I had been relegated to office duty with Diego. Which was never a hardship because it meant spending time with him. Also, he had cameras in almost every room, and I could spy and keep an eye on the boys without being in their way.
“What game are they playing now?” D asked without looking up from the phone in his hand, where he was doing actual work.
Luca and Skye had dropped off Sven’s cell a couple of hours ago, and he was trying to get whatever he could from it.
Diego didn’t sound judgmental about my stalking—no one snooped on the down-low more than my angel—but it reminded me how ridiculous I was being.
“Darts. The kid is insanely good at everything,” I muttered, in awe.
“Mm-hmm,” Diego acknowledged. “It’s the math brain thing, probably.
Makes it easy for him to figure out patterns.
” He groaned and tossed the phone down on his desk, spinning his chair to me.
It was Diego’s universal sign for wanting attention, so I dragged my gaze away from the security footage and to my man.
I spread out my legs and held open my arms in invitation and waited. Diego didn’t move right away, likely contemplating if he desired my touch. He knew it was entirely up to him. I would never be upset if he turned me down. Which, he did this time.
“For a fucking hitman, this guy was boring as hell,” he complained, without ever getting up from the chair.
“But also smart. He never accessed his banking details from his phone. There’s no contact from whoever hired them, either.
I don’t know if Andre handled it all or if he had a burner we didn’t get, but this won’t be as simple as reading text message threads. ”
I frowned and scooted my chair closer to him to stare at the phone as if that would solve all our problems. “So it’s useless?”
“Not necessarily. I can see what I can access from the memory, but it won’t be simple. I honestly think our best chance of getting somewhere with this is through Everett. Even if he doesn’t realize it, he likely has all the answers stored somewhere in his brain.”
I had been thinking that too. He had explained some of the way his mind worked when he’d been staying with Ramirez.
I couldn’t pretend to understand it all, but it was almost like a database.
Everything he’d ever read, even at a quick glance, had been stored.
He just had to be directed to access it.
It was that part that made him dangerous to the criminal organizations that had exploited him.
It was one thing to use his knowledge to make money and gain power, but if Everett ever got away, he could ruin them.
I was sure they’d planned on never letting him live long enough to talk.
“Yeah, I know. But I also agree with Matty. Let them have this day. The kid has been used his whole life. Let’s give him a chance to just be.”
Diego fell quiet as he thought about what I’d said.
His practical side likely just wanted to get it over with.
After all, this was for Everett’s safety.
It wasn’t like it was for our gain. But the more it sank in, the more I thought he’d understand.
For someone like Everett, who had only been used and wanted for what he could give people, it would take a long time for him to see the differences about what we were trying to do versus everyone who had exploited him in the past. We likely didn’t have the time needed for him to completely trust us, but we could give him today.
After some time, Diego’s shoulders slumped. He looked exhausted. “Yeah, okay. It can wait till tomorrow.”
“Good boy.” I fucking loved the way his cheeks got red whenever I said that.
The office felt stifling all of a sudden.
I didn’t want to be in here anymore, watching while Diego drove himself past the point of frustration while I acted like a fucking weirdo.
I trusted Matty. I needed to let him handle this.
Being in here wasn’t doing either of us any good.
I stood up, stretching my aching back. I was not meant to be sitting for so long.
“C’mon, angel, let’s get out of here.”
Diego looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about how you need to see something other than these four walls, and honestly, so do I. We need a break.”
“What do you want to do?” He sounded so fucking skeptical, and I tried not to let it get to me. After all this time, I wished trust would come easier to Diego, but that was my problem, not his, so I pushed down my hurt feelings and smiled at him.
“Anything. We can hang out by the pool, take a walk, watch something in the media room. Whatever you want. I’m not picky as long as it’s out of this office and with you.”
That knocked down the last of Diego’s walls. His lip twitched as he tried to fight a smile.
Still, my boy had grown up with Brooks, and no matter what he said, there was a bit of a brat in him. Or maybe he liked to be contrary. “I can’t. I have too much to do. You can go—”
“I wasn’t asking, angel.” My tone was no-nonsense.
Diego’s breath hitched. His pupils dilated. He looked torn between fighting me and giving in.
“We talked about this,” I reminded him gently.
“You gave me permission to intercede when you got too caught up in your work or in your own head. You asked me to make those decisions for you. Do we need to renegotiate?” I held my breath, waiting for his response.
Diego was stubborn enough to say yes to spite me even if it wasn’t what he wanted.
He took so long to respond, I thought that was exactly what he was going to do. Finally, he deflated.
“Fine. I could go for a walk. But only because this morning was leg day and they’re feeling stiff.”
If that was what he had to tell himself to be okay with obeying his Daddy, then I’d take it.
“Great!” I held out my hand, all too aware of how overeager I sounded, but I didn’t give a fuck. “Let’s go.”
Diego huffed but took my hand anyway. “C’mon, angel, let’s see if there’s anything in the kitchen we can scrounge up for a picnic, and we’ll eat outside.”
“Yeah, okay,” he conceded. “I could eat. Not too long though, right?”
Instead of answering, I tapped my lips, silently asking for a kiss. “Are you trying to distract me?” Diego asked. He was trying to sound serious and failing.
“Is it working?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Yes.”
“Yes, it’s distracting you, or yes, I can kiss you?”
He licked his lips. “Both.”
“Good.” I leaned down, my lips lightly brushing along his jawbone and then to his mouth. His lips parted with a gasp, and I took advantage of the opening, gently pushing my tongue inside, more questioning than anything else. Diego let me, opening up, his hand resting on my shoulder for balance.
I pulled away too soon. It was always too soon when I had to separate from Diego, but he grabbed my hand with a small, sweet smile. The kind reserved only for me.
We made our way downstairs and into the kitchen, raiding the fridge for a small picnic.
Thankfully, it had been nice the last few days and not unbearably hot as summer wound down.
I’d spent enough time wading through humid jungles during my career; I didn’t need to feel that way now in semi-retirement.
We managed to get outside without seeing anyone.
Luca and Skye were in his office working, while Maverick and Brooks were out conducting reconnaissance for another potential job.
We didn’t say much to each other, but the silence was comfortable.
We ended up at our favorite gazebo that overlooked the sprawling gardens on the property.
They were something that Luca’s grandmother had been very passionate about and one of the few things his mother had kept up when she’d been in charge of the estate.
Luca had fond memories of his grandmother, the only parental figure in his life who was ever truly there for him, so her gardens were meticulously attended.
I wished we spent more time in them, but they were always restoring.
I set up a blanket over the slabs of the gazebo while Diego pulled out the containers of salads and sandwiches we had put together.
We hadn’t even sat down and I could already see some of the tension oozing out of him.
Even though he wouldn’t talk about it, I knew he was taking Ramirez’s death hard.
If anyone was to blame, it was Luca and me.
We should have noticed something . . . anything.
The guilt of failing him when he’d come specifically to me for help would always sit with me, but assigning blame to anyone wouldn’t bring him back.
The only thing we could do was honor his sacrifice by keeping Everett safe and getting to the bottom of this.
I settled down on the blanket and tapped the spot next to me. Diego easily walked over and sat against my side. I shivered in pleasure at the contact before making our plates.
Diego was lost in his thoughts, but he didn’t seem to be spiraling, so I let him be, content to just be with him and enjoy the beautiful weather.
He rested his head on my shoulder as I fed him strawberries and chocolate chip cookies. Then, when the food was gone, we packed up and lay on the blanket, holding hands.
I turned my head to look at Diego. He was staring straight up, a small smile on his lips. “I love you, angel.”
He twisted to look me in the eyes. “I love you too. Thanks for doing this. I didn’t realize how much I needed it.”
I squeezed his hand. “Any time. I needed it too.”
We fell quiet again, and before I realized it, my eyes began to drift close.
It was the spasming pain in my back that woke me up.
My eyes flew open, my mind immediately assessing, my body ready for a fight.
Except, there was nothing going on but me being old and an aching back.
Note to self, I was past the age where falling asleep on the wooden planks of a fucking gazebo was acceptable. Hell, how long had I been out?
I gingerly rolled up to a sitting position, which only made the twinge worse.
“Fuck.”
“Are you okay?” Diego was next to me, so close that our sides were touching. His dark hair was falling out of his ponytail, and his eyes were still adorably sleep crusted.
I tried to smile at him, but it came out as more of a grimace. “I’m fine. I guess I’m past the sleeping on the ground portion of my life.” I rubbed my back, trying to massage out the kinks.
I didn’t even remember falling asleep. One minute we’d been lying there, talking, holding hands, and the next the sun was setting and my back was reminding me I was nearly fifty years old.
Diego climbed to his feet with a stretch. “Need help standing?” he asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes. He didn’t call me an old man, but it was a near thing.
I playfully scowled at him before climbing to my feet because I wasn’t that pathetic, thank you very much.
“How long were we out for?” I asked, twisting this way and that.
“A couple of hours.” He sounded as surprised as I was. Rest wasn’t easy for Diego, and while he tended to nap more than sleep through the night, it didn’t usually happen outside like this.
I checked my phone. It was a little after five, almost time for dinner.
Most nights, Mav and I alternated cooking, since Skye and Brooks couldn’t be trusted near a stove on their own, Diego usually needed to be dragged out of his office for family dinners, and Luca still thought food magically appeared, freshly prepared and ready to eat.
His chef still came in a couple of times a week, but since Mav and I both enjoyed cooking, we tried to do it as much as possible.
Luckily, it was his turn tonight because I was out of it.
“C’mon, let’s head back to the house and see if Mav started dinner yet.”