40. Dante
Dante
Ipocket my phone as I make my way over to the bar cart and pour myself a glass of scotch. “Anyone want one?”
“Yes please,” they all say in unison.
I pour Luca and Sebastian a Merlot, and Joe a club soda with lime.
Placing them all on a tray, I head over to where everyone is sitting on the sectional.
It’s been a full forty-eight hours since we found Enzo, and the four of us have barely slept in three days.
Only shutting our eyes for brief periods when we’re next to him.
It’s safe to say these drinks are much needed, non-alcoholic or not.
“Here you go, Mama,” I say as I hand Joe her drink. She smiles as she brings it to her lips, knowing I remembered not to give her alcohol. Luca and Seb each take their Merlots before I sit down on the couch next to my girl.
“Who were you talking to?” Luca asks.
“I just wanted to call Clara to check-in. I wanted to make sure she was okay and hasn’t seen anything suspicious.
” Anyone who has paid any attention to us knows that we spend a great deal of time around her and care for her deeply.
She’s one of our own, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without her.
I swear the woman has magical superpowers. I’ve never seen a person be able to juggle so many things at once… Luca included.
It’s why none of us thought twice of putting her in charge while we figure all this shit out.
“That was sweet of you.” Joe runs her hand along the back of my head and I find myself leaning into her touch.
“She good then?” Seb asks after taking a long sip of wine.
“She’s good. Reminded me she probably deserves another raise and a vacation when we come back.”
Luca chuckles. “I’m sure she did. She ask any questions about what’s going on?”
I shake my head. “No, but she told me to be safe before I hung up the phone. She’s not a stupid woman. She knows it’s serious.”
“Speaking of which”— Luca drapes his arm over Sebastian’s shoulders—“Do we have any idea where Andrei and Maxim may have gone?”
Sebastian sighs. “I’ve looked everywhere.
They don’t have any other properties that I can dig up.
The two of them have no more living immediate family members they could hide out with.
I put a hold on all of their accounts, including the ones they hide under any aliases, which means they have no access to their own funds unless they have a stockpile of cash somewhere, which we all know is extremely plausible.
So, unless we go door-to-door of every single Bratva member’s homes, I have no idea where they could be. ”
He feels like this is all on his shoulders. I know he does, but despite how hard he tries, he and his computers can only do so much. Reaching across the sectional, I squeeze his leg just above his knee. “We will help you find them, it isn’t all on you. Okay?”
Sebastian nods in agreement.
“Until we do though,” Luca adds, “nobody leaves here alone.” His eyes level with Joe. “Especially you.”
She rolls her eyes and I bump her with my shoulder. “Ugh fine. I know, I know. But I do need to go back to my apartment one of these days. I need some more of my things and I have to water my plants.”
A look of sadness crosses her face at the mention of her apartment. I know how much she loves it and how proud she is of the fact she got it all on her own. And since she met us she’s hardly been there at all. “Do you want to spend a few nights there?” I ask her warily.
Sebastian and Luca's eyes widen in panic, but I shoot them both a look, silently warning them to be quiet and let her think.
Joe plays with the rim of her glass as she answers.
“No… and yes. I just”—she sighs in frustration—“I love my apartment. I’m so proud of it.
And being there is like my own little sanctuary.
It’s my home. But,” she looks up at the three of us.
“I’m proud of what we’re building too. I feel safe here. Comfortable. Here feels like home.”
Unable to resist, I lean over and kiss her temple.
“What if we gave you your own space here?” Luca asks.
Joe pinches her face in confusion. “What, like my own room?”
“Yeah, Love. Like your own room,” Sebastian replies.
Her face falls slightly. “You guys don’t like me sleeping in your rooms?”
“We love having you in our beds, Mama.” I run my free hand down the back of her head and twirl her dark strands between my fingers. “But you’re a woman with four boyfriends now. You’ll want your own space every once in a while.”
“And we want you to be happy here,” Luca adds. “You deserve to have a space here that’s all yours. This is your home now too.”
Joe smiles before Sebastian adds, “We have an extra room. You can decorate it however you want.”
“I can?”
“Of course, you can, Love. You can get rid of or change anything you like.” He gestures around the apartment.
“This is all yours if you want it.” Sebastian stands from his spot on the sectional and moves to sit on the other side of her.
Luca follows and sits on the edge of the coffee table in front of us.
“I can speak for all of us, Enzo included, when I say that our home is with you now. You are home for us. Wherever you are is where we want to be.” He places his hand on her thigh.
“And if you don’t want to stay here, that’s fine, but you better make room in that apartment of yours for the four of us. Because if you go then we go too.”
“I don’t think I have enough towels at my apartment for all of you,” she replies with a smile.
“Well I know we have plenty,” Luca adds.
Joe’s smile grows as she looks around the apartment. “I’m not sure if that guest room has a big enough closet. I’ve got a lot of clothes.”
I huff a laugh. “Then we will build you a bigger one.”
She pauses for a moment before she finally says, “Okay.”
“Okay?” Sebastian asks.
“Okay,” she repeats softly.
Sebastian gets up on his knees and tucks his finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Then it’s settled. We’ll help you go to your apartment to get some more things tomorrow and figure out what to do from there, okay?”
She nods and Sebastian touches his lips to hers. The two of them kiss deeply for a minute.
Luca and I don’t look away.
No, we watch the people that we love, express their love for one another.
I think this is the most I’ve seen her smile in three days, I’ve missed that pink hue on her cheeks and the way her eyes crinkle at the corner when her smile reaches her ears.
And to think, I was almost too scared to have this for myself.
There was a moment when we opened that door and we found Enzo, a moment when I thought to myself… “This is exactly what I was afraid of.”
I had let myself find a love so deep and so pure that the sight of him lying on the cold cement ground, covered in his own blood, lifeless was enough to make me feel like I was going to die right then and there. And what’s worse is I feel that same love four times over.
But then Ronan said he was alive, and I knew that without my love for them, this wouldn’t be a life worth living. Sure, I may risk loving and losing them, but the pain from that is incomparable to walking through the rest of my life and never letting myself love any of them at all.
And sure, my love for each of them differs greatly.
I will never love Luca, Sebastian, and Enzo in the way that I love Joe.
But I will also never love her in the way that I love the three of them.
And my love for Lorenzo is… it’s growing.
It’s changing and ever-evolving. It’s growing deeper and deeper every time I look at him.
Every time I touch him. It’s turning into a love I could have never expected in a million years.
But so is my love for the two men sitting across from me.
I never could have imagined I would find myself in the situation that we are right now.
That we’d be sharing Joe. Sharing Enzo. I love Sebastian and Luca enough to put my love for Joe and Enzo in their hands.
That alone speaks volumes.
Sebastian pulls his lips off Joe, shoots me a wink, and turns to Luca. “Might wanna finish that quick,” he says as he points to the wine glass in Luca’s hand before downing the rest of his in one swallow.
“Why?” Luca asks with an amused grin.
Seb nods toward the stairs. “Time to give our boy a shower.”
Luca dramatically rolls his eyes and Joe laughs. “Great.” He tips the rest of his wine back and stands from the coffee table. “This should be fun.” Luca reaches for Joe’s free hand, letting his fingertips touch hers before following Sebastian upstairs.
“You wanna watch some Harry Potter?”
Her eyes light up as she looks up at me. “Oh my god, I thought you’d never ask.”
Joe hands me her drink and I set both of ours down on the coffee table after finishing mine and grab the remote. As I search for one of the movies she nuzzles deeper into my side. “Oooo how about Fantastic Beasts?”
“That’s not Harry Potter,” I grumble.
“Same thing.”
I look at her in shock. “You did not just say that?”
She snorts a laugh. “Country fan and a little nerdy… I like it.”
Smiling, I roll my eyes and press play. “Just shut up and get in here.”
She nuzzles deeper into me, and then a commotion sounds from upstairs followed by an, “Enzo, now is not the time to touch my dick. Just get in the shower!”
Joe and I share a look then we bust out into laughter.
I laugh deep and loud. The first real and true laugh I’ve had in days.
And it feels fucking good.
The opening scene starts to play, and I hear Joe take a deep and relaxed breath. I gently kiss the crown of her head before resting my cheek there. We sit in silence and watch the movie. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes for her body to relax and her soft snores to float through the room.
And only a few minutes later, I fall asleep right along with her.