Chapter 8 Alessio
ALESSIO
SEVEN MONITORS GLOWED in front of me, my eyes sweeping across each one of them as they loaded the information I needed to rip this motherfucker a new asshole.
“Damn,” Lachlan said, shaking his head where he sat beside me drinking whiskey from the crystal glass I’d gotten each of the guys during my last trip to Japan. “I know you’re feeling better when you’re this vicious.”
I ignored the insinuation that I’d been feeling shitty—because he wasn’t wrong—and began to type out the code that would dismantle the chief justice’s assets.
“It’s not my fault he decided to cast the key vote in overturning Parker v.
Manheim. Now he can know what it’s like to be a shithead with no money to back his mouth up. ”
Lachlan smirked at me over his glass, eyes twinkling mischievously. “Have I mentioned I love how petty you are?”
“Just doin’ the Lord’s work.” Because surely God wouldn’t mind taking down ass-wipes who took away human rights like they were the man in charge.
Once everything loaded, my fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly demolishing each of his investments. All that wealth he hid behind would be anonymously donated to charities that funded the very group of people he’d hurt with his actions.
The fucker.
A few taps, a little code, and I successfully finished my mission for the night, one King had given me the go-ahead for. He had the ultimate faith in me, more than I’d had recently, and when I mentioned wanting to see the chief justice fry, he hadn’t hesitated in his support.
The world needed balance, after all.
I blew out a breath, sitting back against the leather, and Lachlan handed me a full glass.
“How long until his meltdown?” he asked.
“Let’s just say he won’t be enjoying his dinner at J?nt tonight.”
“The fact that you know his every move is a little terrifying. I approve.”
I grinned and tapped my glass against his before letting the whiskey do its job. No way in hell was I having more than one drink tonight, not after Tequila Fest, but one to celebrate wasn’t gonna hurt anyone. “Of course you do, but why are you down here tonight instead of out with Cooper?”
“He’s busy with a new story, and when he gets like that it’s best I just leave.”
I smirked and side-eyed my friend. “He kicked you out, didn’t he?”
“Fuck you.”
I snorted and turned my attention back to the screen, deciding to check on another bank account.
Why not keep my hot streak going and look into the other asshole I’d been keeping an eye on, one that was next on my list for anonymous gifting to a charity of my choice?
I just needed to do a little more digging around before I brought it to King.
“You’re the worst when you want attention,” I said. “Great at skulking in shadows, but terrible when you want attention.”
“Meaning?”
I hit several more keys, doing a deep dive the forensic accountants at the FBI would be proud of, as I followed the money trail across countries and oceans.
“Meaning, if you want someone’s attention, you get in their space and don’t leave.”
“You know what? You can go—”
“Cooper is actually a fantastic example. First, you stalked him, skulked around all shady and shit in the shadows, watching him. Then, because he’s apparently got a death wish—or maybe just because he’s got that journalistic need to put himself in danger for a story—he ended up falling for you because you kept showing up, as both his stalker and—”
“The hot coffee guy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. You just wanted to be near him. Admit it. Always in his space, always watching.”
Lachlan reached for the whiskey bottle and poured himself another drink. “I’m not admitting shit. But if we’re talking about people watching other people…” He glanced toward the monitors on my left that currently showed each entrance of Libertine, and one monitor that was currently blank.
The camera monitoring St. Andrews.
“You should know all about that.”
I grunted but didn’t respond. Of all the people in Libertine, I was closest with Lachlan.
He was a hellraiser, the enforcer of our crew, and usually that meant our working close together to get shit done in a covert manner.
We both knew how to keep a secret, and he was the one person who’d kept mine.
He knew about the camera I kept on Rafael, but had never brought it up… until now.
“I just like to make sure he’s okay.”
“I mean, that’s all I was doing with Cooper too.”
I narrowed my eyes on the I-know-your-secret smirk crossing his lips. “Fuck you.”
“Hey, I’m not judging you.” He let out a loud laugh and took a sip of his drink. “But just remember, God is.”
I flipped him off, and as I turned back to my computer, an alert came up on one of the screens.
“Bingo, motherfucker!” I shouted, and shot to my feet, as the connection I’d been hoping for appeared between Asshole One and Asshole Two.
“What just happened?”
“A twofer, that’s what,” I said before scooping up the bottle and taking a swig straight from it to celebrate. “I’m a genius. Have I mentioned that before?”
“Well, not lately. You’ve kind of been a mopey loser, but—”
“That’s in the past, fucker.” Another swig and it was time to put that down. “I just found the link. I rock, you’re welcome. Feel free to buy me another bottle of that, or hell, a whole carton.”
I did a quick victory dance that had Lachlan shaking his head, and as my eyes swept the room, they skidded to a stop on Lucien, who was lounging against the entry, dressed head to toe in his usual black-on-black attire, looking suave as fuck.
Where I was in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers.
It was clear why his establishment was upstairs and mine was down in the catacomb tunnels the seven of us kept hidden away.
“We having a party?” Lucien smiled when Lachlan jolted in surprise.
“Would it hurt to announce yourself, asshole?”
“Where would the fun be in that?”
Lachlan scoffed, but settled back in his chair muttering, “Slinks in here like a fucking panther.”
“Hey, pot—meet kettle.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Lachlan rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a wedding to plan or some shit?”
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you,” Lucien said, straightening. “Kai and I set a date.”
I wanted to give him shit, but he just looked so damn happy that I couldn’t find it in me to hate on his news.
“Congrats, man,” I said, grasping his hand and pulling him in to clap him on the back.
“Aren’t you supposed to send that in writing?” Lachlan said. “Like a—”
“Save-the-date?” Lucien finished for him. “Yeah, but knowing the way one of us is always out of the country, I figured the sooner I told you, the better.”
He wasn’t wrong about that, and I moved back to the keyboard to pull up my calendar. “When’ll it be?”
“A month from today.”
I let out a low whistle as I marked the day as busy. “Not wasting any time.”
“Well, it was the only day Father Vitale had availability.”
My fingers froze, hovering over the keyboard, and I slowly lifted my head. “You asked him?”
“Of course. Who else would I ask?”
“Anyone,” I said, shoving to my feet. “Literally anyone else.”
Lucien’s brow creased, like he was taken aback by my response, but fuck that. He knew better.
He doesn’t really know anything, the little voice in the back of my brain reminded me, but I pushed that thought away.
“Besides,” I said, “he’s Catholic. He can’t officiate shit for you.”
“Not officially at the church, no. But he’s making an exception for us. For Kai.”
It felt like another blow to my chest, and after the last twenty-four hours, it was the last thing I’d wanted to hear. I couldn’t see Rafael at a wedding. Especially spouting vows for two men when he couldn’t even…
I swallowed hard and dropped my gaze to the floor to get a hold of myself, to breathe through the irrational anger rising inside me.
“I thought you’d be okay with it,” Lucien said, a little more gently than before. “You’ve been talking to him regularly—”
I let out a loud, sharp laugh that had his mouth snapping shut. “Talking,” I repeated. “Is that what you’d call it?”
Lucien glanced at Lachlan and back at me, frowning. “Is something going on?”
“No.” The word came out too fast, before he’d even finished asking, and he narrowed his eyes.
“That wasn’t convincing—”
“Drop it,” I snapped.
What had been a teasing, chill atmosphere had suddenly turned tense, but if Lucien was bothered by my threat, he didn’t show it. Instead, he looked curious.
“It’s what Kai wants,” he said finally. “He trusts him. And we don’t know any other priests.”
“I could’ve given you an introduction.” I folded my arms over my chest and tried to keep my emotions in check. I needed to stop giving myself away. I’d done too much of that already, and the last thing I wanted was to spill my guts to these two as well.
“Alessio.” Lucien waited until I met his eyes to continue. “You need to work that out. Whatever it is. Don’t let it consume you.”
There was no judgment in his tone, no accusation.
It made me feel like shit.
I nodded once, ready to be done with this conversation. “Fine. Congratulations.”
Like he’d sensed it was safe to reemerge, Lachlan lifted his almost-empty glass toward Lucien. “Yeah, congrats. But you’re not going to make us groomsmen or some shit, right?”
Lucien grinned. “No chance in hell.”
“Thank God.”
Here he was again. God. Sticking his nose in where he wasn’t wanted.
“Anyone want to hit the bar?” Lachlan said, getting to his feet.
Lucien glanced at his watch. “Yeah, Kai won’t be done with work for another hour.”
I was tempted to roll my eyes, because fuuuck. These two were so whipped for their guys that they scheduled their days around them. I fucking hated it. Almost as much as I hated the fact that I couldn’t do the same.
“Better get the hell out so you can be home before curfew, then,” I muttered, waving them off and flopping back in my chair.
“You should come with,” Lachlan said, kicking my booted foot. “You could use another drink.”
“Trust me, that’s the last thing I need.”
He shrugged and left his empty glass on the corner of my desk. “Your loss. But we’ll circle back to this whole”—he circled his finger at me—“emotional repression thing later.”
I shook my head and reached for the mouse to wake my screens back up. “Bye.”
They left without giving me any more shit, and once I was alone again, I let out a deep, shaky exhale.
It shouldn’t matter that Lucien and Kai had asked Rafael to be there for them. It shouldn’t matter that he’d be standing in front of everyone, smiling, blessing their vows, giving them the happily-ever-after he’d denied us.
It shouldn’t matter, but it did, and I couldn’t figure out which one made me more upset.
Either way, I needed to work it out.
I glanced at the dark screen.
I had one month.