Chapter 27 #2
“Yeah,” Magnus said, looking at Dante like he was crazy. “Aleks’s bedroom door doesn’t have a lock on it.” He looked pointedly at me and Aleks. “Use the bathroom on the second floor. It’s big and has a lock. It’s also pretty soundproof.”
“Um, no, it isn’t,” Aleks interjected as he eyed his brother briefly before shooting Magnus a grin. “And thanks, that’s a great idea. Come on, Vaughn, let me show it to you.”
“Nope, nope, nope,” Dante said as he came around the island and stood in front of his brother.
“Okay, okay, you win. You can close your door when Vaughn is in there with you. Just… just stay out of that bathroom. You’ll just ruin it for us—” Dante said.
“Me,” he quickly corrected as he realized he’d pretty much just confirmed what he and Magnus really used that bathroom for.
Aleks laughed and hugged his brother. I returned to the island to sit down and watched as Aleks nudged Dante a few times, then motioned silently to Magnus with his eyes. I had no idea what was going on until Dante blurted, “I picked a date!”
Magnus stilled and looked up from where he’d been wiping down the counter.
“What?” The older man had a weird mix of surprise and hope in his expression.
Dante went around the island. “I know what day I want to marry you.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Dante,” Magnus whispered in a rare show of distress.
Dante’s eyes softened as he stepped up to Magnus and gently grabbed his face. “I’m not, baby. I swear, I’m not.” Dante looked at Aleks briefly. “I’m sorry I’ve been so… so…”
“Stubborn,” Aleks softly supplied as he moved back to my side and took my hand. Dante actually nodded, which led me to believe this topic had been one of probably many the brothers had discussed the night before.
“Yeah, stubborn. I’m sorry I’ve been so stubborn about committing to a date, but I just, I was trying to give you enough time to back out.”
“Two years, Dante,” Magnus growled as he closed his hands around Dante’s wrists.
But I could tell the man wasn’t actually angry.
“I’ve spent the last two years learning who you are, inside and out.
And all it’s done is make me love you even more.
Whatever flaws you’re waiting for me to see, I assure you, they don’t exist.”
“They’re in my head,” Dante acknowledged.
“But here… here is where I know I’m enough for you.
” He pointed to his chest, much like Aleks had the night of the party.
“I’m not sure my head will ever catch up,” he said softly.
His vulnerability was almost painful to watch, but it made him so much more human to me.
And it was proof that Aleks’s brother and I had a lot more in common than I ever would have guessed.
“It will, Dante,” Magnus said with a sigh. “But even if it doesn’t, I’m going to have the best time reminding you that you’re not just dessert.”
Dante let out a wet-sounding laugh at that. Aleks and I looked at one another because the statement made no sense to us.
But then again, it probably shouldn’t.
Aleks and I had him liking my grits the best, these two men had a strange obsession with dessert…
“So when?” Magnus asked as he put space between his and Dante’s bodies.
“Um, now?” Dante said. He glanced at his watch. “Well, in half an hour, anyway. The father or reverend or whatever he is is on his way. He’s got to be back at his church by nine. It’s Father O, remember? He runs that church that Levi and Phoenix volunteer for and Mav and Eli got married at.”
“We’re getting married today?” Magnus asked.
“I know it’s crazy, Magnus. It’s not that I want to get it over with or anything, but I want it to be just us and our immediate family for the ceremony. We can go to the courthouse tomorrow and make it official and then maybe have a party at some point—”
Magnus kissed Dante to shut him up. I put my arm around Aleks as he leaned into me. I could feel the happiness radiating off him in waves.
“We got it, Pop-pop,” I heard someone call as the front door flew open behind us.
Three little boys along with a big yellow dog ran into the kitchen, and I quickly tucked my gun into the waistband of my pants and covered it with my shirt so the kids wouldn’t see the weapon. Magnus shot me a grateful smile.
One of the taller of the three boys was carrying a box of cereal and I smiled when I recognized what it was.
“Here, Aleks,” the boy said as he shoved the cereal at him. “Pop-pop says you like Trix.”
“Thanks, Matty,” Aleks said as he leaned down to hug the little boy. I saw two men come through the door and I could see the tell-tale sign of a gun at the larger man’s back when he shut the door behind him. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew who he was just the same.
“Matty’s fathers,” Aleks whispered to me. “Hawke,” he nodded at the bigger man with the gun. “And Tate.”
“Hi,” Tate said as he reached out to shake my hand. “You must be Vaughn.”
“I am,” I said. I shook his hand, then Hawke’s, then looked at the three boys who were all watching me with curiosity.
“You’ve got lots of hair on your face,” the boy in the middle said. He was as tall as Matty but had black hair, whereas Matty’s was brown.
“And you have no pants,” I said. “You must be Leo.”
The kid looked down at his underwear that had some kind of superhero I didn’t recognize on it. “We had to get here fast because Pop-pop said Aleks was hungry,” Leo said as he eyed me like his comment should make perfect sense to me.
I chuckled and said, “Got it.” I looked at Matty. “So, you’re Matty. That must make you” – I looked at the smallest boy who looked like he was a couple years younger than the other boys – “Jamie.”
Jamie nodded but remained silent.
“Guys, this is Vaughn,” Aleks said.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Matty asked.
“No—” Dante said.
“Yes—” I responded at the same exact time, not bothering to look at Dante.
“Matty,” Magnus called. “Guess what MawMaw and I are doing today.”
Leo suddenly whispered something into Matty’s ear. Matty nodded and spouted, “Cleaning the bathroom again?”
Aleks, Hawke, Tate, and I all burst into laughter as we looked at the two men on the other side of the kitchen island.
Magnus looked at a flushed-looking Dante. “I guess our secret’s out, babe.”
“Jesus,” Dante muttered, then he went around the island and knelt down in front of Matty and his little friends. “No, your Pop-pop and I are getting married.”
“Can we throw your flowers?” Leo asked excitedly.
“Oh, well, we don’t actually have any flowers,” Dante said as he looked around the room.
“We can use this, MawMaw,” Matty said as he grabbed the box of cereal.
“Sounds like a plan,” Magnus said. “But Leo, buddy, you’re gonna need to wear pants for the wedding. Isn’t that your dads’ rule?”
Leo’s face fell, but Matty grabbed his arm. “I’ve got my Captain America pajamas here!” he exclaimed and then all three boys were off like a shot.
“Hey, this cereal doesn’t have any fruit and flower shapes,” Aleks said as he studied the bright red box of cereal.
“The company discontinued the shapes last fall,” Hawke said as he went in search of coffee.
“I’m not going to ask how you know that,” Dante murmured.
“Well, MawMaw, when you have your own kids, you’ll get to deal with that day when your child discovers that his favorite cereal looks different and even though you try to explain that the taste is the same, you feel so damn bad that you decide to do something about it.”
“What’d you do?” Dante asked. “Threaten the company or something?” he asked jokingly.
“We got a letter from the company’s lawyer politely asking us to never contact them again,” Tate said as he patted Aleks on the shoulder and then went around the island to get his own coffee. Then he was hugging Magnus. “Congrats, you two.”
Then it was Hawke’s turn. “I need a best man,” Magnus told him.
Something warm passed between the two men that I didn’t quite understand. But it had Hawke smiling and patting Magnus on the back.
“A lawyer?” Dante asked. “What exactly did you say, Hawke?”
“Nothing, MawMaw,” Hawke drawled.
Dante shot him the bird at the nickname.
The behavior seemed par for the course for this group. It reminded me of my own family.
“Hmmm, does taste the same,” Aleks said. “Wonder why the cereal Con gave me looked different?”
“We use that house as a safe house. Con keeps it stocked with nonperishable stuff. The cereal had probably been there for a little while. And you guys took that cereal with you to the beach house when you left—”
I had the sense to shut up when Aleks stiffened next to me. I thought it was because I’d brought up the reminder that he’d snuck out on me that morning, but when I went to reassure him I was no longer angry about that, he blurted, “Are you going back?”
The tremor in his voice had the entire room going silent.
“Back where? To the Hamptons?” I asked. “I don’t actually live there,” I began, but Aleks shook his head.
“No… are you going back there.”
It hit me all at once what he was talking about. It was a topic we’d avoided since we’d left New York… well, in truth, we’d avoided it altogether from the moment I’d made it clear how much he meant to me. Mentioning the safe house had brought the reality of our situation crashing back in on him.
He was asking if I was going back into the dark world where kids were sold for sex.
“Shit, Aleks, I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“No,” Aleks said softly, the heartbreak in his voice clear.
He pulled away from me and started heading for the door.
I reached him before he could get it open.
While Ronan had assured us the men who’d been arrested at the party had gotten the message that Aleks was off-limits, it still wasn’t completely safe for him to be out and about by himself.
To that end, several of Ronan’s men were monitoring the outside of the house, but I was still reluctant to let Aleks out of my sight.
Not to mention I had a lot of explaining to do.