29. Caspian
CASPIAN
Max crawled on his knees for her.
Max made her come with his tongue.
Max looked at her like she hung the fucking moon and stars.
Finally.
Six months ago, seeing that would have killed me. I would have burned alive with jealousy, and then imploded because I never believed that she would want me.
Now, it felt like we had always been barreling toward this moment, and it was the last puzzle piece slotting into place. He was finally doing what he needed to do. As his best friend, it filled me with equal amounts of warmth, pride, and excitement.
This was good. They both needed it.
I stood from my place on the floor where I’d watched them, hard as a rock and just dreaming of the day when we could share her together, and walked over to where she’d slumped into Ryuji’s arms. He nuzzled her neck, whispering to her in Japanese.
When I bent over to reach for her, her arms raised to meet me.
“Come on,” I said as I picked her up. “Let’s get you cleaned up, princess.”
“Mmm,” she said, her head resting on my shoulder. “Shower, please.”
Obi walked to us. He’d watched Max, but I couldn’t read what was going on inside his head either. He didn’t seem upset, but he also didn’t seem relaxed or pleased. Probably because the entire night had gone to shit, and Leona had borne the brunt of it.
The FBI and its issues weren’t something I cared to think about now. Leona was safe, at home with us, and that was all that mattered. She’d survived an assassination attempt tonight. The FBI could wait while we repaid that transgression back on the Camorra.
Obi curled some of Leona’s hair around her ear. His eyes went softer than they’d been all night, but he said nothing. Just gently caressed her cheek before he glanced down at the bandage wrapped around her arm.
“Obi?” she asked quietly.
He bent over to kiss her. “Do you need anything?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, I promise.”
“Take care of her, Caspian,” he said before he walked out of the room, toward the study in the back of the house, without another word. Great. Maybe I needed to check in with him, too. I didn’t want us to backtrack to where he started hiding his plans again.
The Camorra would only win if we stopped communicating. I couldn’t let that happen. She needed all of us, and she needed us working as a unit.
Leona looked up at me, but I just kissed her forehead. “I’ll change your bandage, too. You guys, good?”
The rest of the guys nodded.
Wynn looked at Ciel. “Let’s get ready for bed. We can do more tomorrow.”
Ciel agreed before Ryu clapped me on the shoulder and gave Leona a quick kiss. “You’re beautiful. I call dibs on eating you out in front of everyone next.”
She laughed. “Great.”
Max pulled himself up by the edge of the couch and stood. He swallowed while he watched me holding her, a sheepish look on his face. When I didn’t lash out—likely how he expected—he gazed softly at her.
“Go change,” I said. “Too much excitement for one night.”
I took her to her room and set her gently on the bed before I turned on the shower. She needed to get clean so she could sleep better, and then, when it was light out, we could get back to work. Maybe after this, I’d ask the guys if they wanted to set up another big bed in the living room…
“Cas?” Leona called from the bedroom. Her voice turned up sharply at the end of my name.
Cue the freaking out.
“Yeah, baby?” Her head hung between her shoulders while she stared at the ground with her legs pressed together. “Is everything all right?”
Her head peeked up, and her cheeks were pink. “What did I just do?”
I smirked. “You let Max eat you out while we all watched.”
“And nobody stabbed him.”
“Nope.”
“And everyone is alive and well.”
I pulled my shirt over my shoulders before I crouched down in front of her. “Looks that way, yeah.”
Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Why isn’t anyone mad? Are you mad?”
I shook my head slowly. “No, princess. I’m not mad. Actually, I’m pretty happy right now.”
“Why?”
My hands found her knees. I exhaled slowly, trying to find the right words.
“I guess I can only speak for myself, but I know what you both mean to each other. I know what you both mean to me. If you can find a way to forgive him, to accept him, and he can finally be honest about his feelings and how he fucked up, then I don’t see a problem here. ”
“You don’t think…I care for him more than you?” Her voice came out as quiet as a whisper.
In the past, I had been incredibly jealous. Jealous of Max. Jealous of the relationship she was developing with the guys. But once I learned that jealousy was about my own insecurities and had nothing to do with her, I left it in the past.
What we had together wasn’t going to change at all. Ride or die, baby.
“No.” I cupped her cheek. “I know how much you love me. I love you just the same. And I know that your heart has room for all of us.” My heart twisted when her cheek pressed into my palm, and she closed her eyes.
“It’s okay for you to forgive him, and for him to forgive himself.
The more he opens up, God knows I’m forgiving him, and I never thought that could be possible. ”
“You’re forgiving him?”
I nodded, but I hesitated on a bigger explanation.
He still needed to tell her about his father’s journals, how long he’d tried to protect us, how Luciano had tried to manipulate Max’s feelings for her.
It wasn’t my place to share it, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t change the way I looked at everything.
“What he’s told me…it doesn’t fix the hurt he left in his path, but it helped. I believe he was trying to protect us, in his own fucked up way.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “You’re still keeping his secrets?”
“He needs to share those things with you.”
Her voice went low while she squeezed her legs together and stared at the floor. “What if he doesn’t tell me?”
“I will.”
Both our heads snapped to the door. Max peeked inside.
“Max,” she said as she straightened.
“Can I come in?”
I gave her an up to you look, and she turned back to him to nod tightly.
He shut the door behind him. “I have a lot to tell you, and I want you both to listen. If that’s okay.”
Her hand found mine, and she curled our fingers together. “Okay,” she said.
“One second,” I said as I dashed back to the bathroom to turn off the shower. This felt like it would take a while. I sat next to her on the bed, adjusting both of us so we could face him. “Okay.”
Max didn’t move away from the door. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and started talking.