Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
THORNE
As I walk up the stairs to my apartment, my heart rattles around in my chest, beating a frantic rhythm that I don’t remember happening in my entire life.
I haven’t contacted Golden or Firebird since I called them about Professor Cooke.
I looked at their messages every day but fear I haven’t felt in close to a decade seized me before I could type out a single word to them.
I was afraid that hearing from me would push them over the edge and they’d want to get away from me as fast as they could.
Now, standing in front of my apartment door, I wonder what I’ll find when I push inside. Emptiness? A note? Fucking cops?
I scoff as I slide my key into the knob and turn the lock.
The first sound that greets me is Chance’s laughter. It’s followed closely by Warren’s reprimand.
“I swear to God, if you don’t stop sticking your fingers in the food,” Warren says, though his tone is playful.
“I’ve had my fingers in your ass, so what’s the big deal?”
My surprised and relieved laughter bounces off the walls, and all sounds stop until the shuffle of feet fills the silence.
Warren peeks around the corner, eyes filled with fear until they land on me. “Thorne. Jesus. We didn’t know when you’d be back.”
A second later, my arms are full of my Firebird and Golden, both of them hugging and kissing me like I was gone for months instead of a few days.
My heart settles as I hold them, breathing in their scents. I couldn’t even hope they’d be here when I got home. All I could hope was they wouldn’t tell my secret and put my family in danger.
“Hey,” I say in a rough voice. “I missed you two.”
“So much that you called or texted us, huh?” Chance says in an accusatory tone. “We’ve been worried sick.”
Sighing, I lock the door and drag them to the couch. “I’m sorry. I…” I run my fingers through my hair. I’ll need to dye it again soon. “I didn’t expect you to be here and I wasn’t ready to face that.”
Warren looks confused. “Where would we go?”
I shrug, my words caught in my throat. Anywhere besides here.
In a low voice, Chance says, “So you don’t love us? Were you just saying that because you were doing something like…dangerous and didn’t think you’d come home?”
My head snaps up as I look at him. “What? No. I mean yes. Yes, I love you.” I look at Warren. “You too. I just…I thought you’d be afraid of me now.”
Warren’s features soften as he runs a hand down my face, stopping to brush over my lip ring. “I’ll admit, watching you…kill Barb was scary, but you’re not.” He pauses, humor dancing in his eyes. “Okay, that’s not entirely true. Chance did say you dressed like a serial killer at the airport.”
Chance snaps. “I did. Good call on my part, huh?”
I can’t help the chuckle that bubbles up my throat. Giddiness fills me as I look at them, seeing the brightness on their face. They’re here. They didn’t run from me.
Warren gives me a quick kiss, then hurries into the kitchen to stir the food.
Saddling closer to me, Chance says, “I love you too.”
My heart full to bursting, I kiss his nose. “I know.”
“You’re an asshole,” he quips.
“How do you feel? Your shoulder been hurting?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to sleep in one position so I don’t end up lying on it. But I’ve been taking my meds like I’m supposed to. I have an appointment next week. Wanna come? Warren can’t until we’re done with this semester.”
“Of course I’ll be there.” I kiss him softly.
“Dinner is ready,” Warren calls, waving us into the dining room.
While Chance sits at the table and Warren makes his plate, I grab my bag from the front door and stash it in my closet. When I come back out, Warren has a piping hot plate ready for me as well.
“Thanks,” I say, choked up for a reason I can’t really explain. “Looks great.”
He beams, his green eyes bright. “I hope it tastes good too.”
We dig in and I have to admit the food is phenomenal. Warren will have to cook for us more often.
I’ve almost cleared my plate when Warren clears this throat. I peek up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Can I ask a question?” he asks quietly.
“Of course.” I shoot him a small smile, hoping he knows he can ask me anything.
“How did you start killing people?”
My stomach turns sour and I push my plate away, my appetite gone. I knew I’d have to tell them what happened in my past now that they’ve seen the darker side of me, but I’d hoped I had more time.
“Can we go to the living room?” I ask. “It’s a long story and it’s not pretty.”
“Sure.”
Warren clears the dishes from the table as I help Chance to the couch. He shoots me a dry look for treating him like a child, but he’ll have to suck that shit up.
Once Warren is back in the living room, I lean back against the couch cushions and drag a hand through my hair.
I say, “I told you about my sister, Summer?” They both nod. “She was…the best thing in my life. Smart, funny, and she loved me. Unconditionally, you know? I took care of her when we had no one. We were all we had.”
If I close my eyes, I can still see her face—her curious brown eyes, small button nose, and perpetually smiling mouth. Her plump cheeks that were dotted with tiny freckles. Her blond hair hanging in thick waves down her back that she forced me to learn to do.
She was everything good in the world. When I think of her, I think of how pretty she looked the last day I saw her alive, her hair braided in two Dutch braids that took me ages to master, her school uniform that was a bit too small but all I could afford, and makeup that I told her not to wear, but she never listened. So pretty.
I never imagine the beat-up body I had to identify, her face almost unrecognizable. She’ll always be the girl that I raised, always the bright light, not the person who was snuffed out and left on a slab in the morgue.
“One day when she was fourteen, a group of older men saw her walking home from school. They…they abducted her, raped her, and murdered her.”
“I’m so sorry,” Warren says, rushing over to me. I’m a selfish bastard and I know it, but I hug him back, taking his comfort for all it’s worth. When I tell them the rest of my story, he’ll probably dash as far from me as he can.
“That’s awful man,” Chance mutters. “It had to be hard.”
I wrap my arms tighter around Warren, needing his warmth as the frost of my memories takes over.
“It was. It was…I went a little crazy after that. I spent most of my days hunting down the men that hurt her. Cops had no leads, but the streets talked. I heard news from someone about three men that killed a girl they were trying to sell. But she was too feisty, so they had to teach her a lesson.”
My hands tighten on Warren, but he doesn’t react. He absorbs my pain and rubs a hand up and down my back.
“So I found them. And I killed them all.”
I still remember how the walls were stained with blood, their brains exploded all over the furniture in the rundown apartment they rented.
The three of them were lounging around like they didn’t have a care in the world when I kicked the door in. With my Glock pointed at them, I made them tell me what happened to my sister and why they chose her.
Summer had been innocent.
They told me she was what their boss was looking for to settle a debt. He was going to sell my sister to someone for some shit he’d gotten into.
I lost my mind then and blacked out. By the time I came to, all three men were dead, beaten to death with not only my gun, but a bat that had been resting by the door.
With my heart racing, but my thoughts quiet, I called Bensotti and told him what I’d done. He showed up, saw the carnage, and told me he’d get someone to clean it up if I told him what happened. I told him who the men were and why I’d done it.
He took care of me, making sure I didn’t face any jail time because I wanted to avenge my sister.
Then and there, he asked if I wanted to work for him, getting rid of scum that got away with this type of shit. I immediately told him yes.
And to pay me back for my loyalty, Bensotti found the man that was going to sell my sister, and I put a bullet in his head while he slept.
I don’t tell Chance and Warren any of that though. I won’t bring Bensotti into my shit when I’m the reason why they saw me kill someone.
Warren kisses my forehead. “You got revenge for your sister.”
“Yeah. And I’m still doing it for the people that don’t have anyone to get that revenge. I don’t just kill random people. I’m not a monster.”
“No,” he whispers. “You’re like an avenging angel.”
I bark a laugh, relieved that they still haven’t left. “I wouldn’t go that far, Firebird. Angels are nice.”
“You’re nice to me.”
“Hey, he’s nice to me too,” Chance says in a playful tone and my heart soars.
“Wait,” Warren says slowly. “Before you left, you said that you were hunting down a trafficking ring.” I nod, holding my breath. “Is it because of Summer?”
Exhaling slowly, I nod. “When Bensotti gives us assignments, he usually gives me the rapists and the traffickers. It’s kinda like therapy? I get to work out my aggression on people as a way to honor my sister.”
“Bensotti is your boss? The cop?” Chance asks, eyes wide.
Fuck, I didn’t realize I’d implicated him in my shit.
I don’t answer, but he puts more together. “So that means Knox kills people too?”
“You also said you and your brothers,” Warren adds. “How many more?”
I might as well tell them everything. If they haven’t left yet, I don’t think they will after finding out about my family.
“Yes,” I say, hoping I’m not fucking my family over. “Bensotti is our boss. He’s able to get into files of people that slip through the cracks of the justice system.”
Chance snaps his fingers, a wide smile on his face. “He’s the man you met.”
I grimace, but nod again. “Yeah, he took me, Knox, Pyro and Orion under his wing and trained us to work as his private hit squad.” I tell Warren and Chance about my brothers and more about what we do.
“Our latest case is this trafficking ring. Orion came across something about it on the dark web, and we started hunting them down. We’re almost done. Almost wiped the whole fucking thing out.”
Chance swallows hard but nods. “That’s admirable. Whoever is leading a ring like that needs to die. That’s fucked up. Only a monster would do something like that.”
In a small voice, one I’ve never used, I ask, “So you two aren’t going to leave me?”
They both look at me with that same insane look they gave me earlier. “Why would we do that?” Chance asks. “Because you killed the professor or the people from the trafficking ring?”
“Both?” I say tentatively.
“No,” Golden says, “Who knows what that crazy bitch would have done to Warren? She had a knife!”
“You protected me,” Warren says, tipping my head up so he can brush his lips against mine. “You protect other people. Why would we leave?”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Nope,” Chance says, resting his head on my shoulder. “You could have hurt us a long time ago if you wanted to. You have fucking cleaners that could hide our bodies. I think we’re safe with you.” He winks.
I kiss his forehead, letting my lips linger against his skin. I know he’s joking, but I impress upon him that, “I’ll never hurt you. Either of you. You’re…you’re my heart. Each of you takes up space in there.”
Warren melts and rests his head against mine. “I love you, Thorne.” He looks at Chance. “I love you too. It’s…” he lets out a surprised laugh. “It’s actually still a mindfuck that I love two guys.”
“I’m easy to love, baby,” Chance says, leaning over to kiss first Warren, then me. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with you both since we started this whole thing. Nice of you two to catch up.”
I’m overwhelmed with feelings and emotions and don’t know how to express them, so I take Warren’s face in my hands, kissing him long and deep. He returns the kiss with equal fervor, rolling his tongue over mine.
I want to show him, want to show them both, how much it means to me that they stay and that they love me.
Laying Warren on the floor, I undress him first, then Chance, stripping them naked before me.
Being careful with Chance’s arm, I open him up, getting him ready for me. Warren kisses and licks at us both.
“Let me show you how much I love you two. How much I need you,” I say as I slide into Golden. His gasp is high, his eyes bright as I roll my hips, pushing into him as deep as I can go.
He moans his pleasure, touching me all over with his free hand, urging me on. Warren takes Chance’s cock into his mouth, sucking in time with my strokes.
Being with them like this, showing them with my body how much I can’t get enough of them makes me feel complete, like all the fucked-up shit I went through in my life led me to them.
My hand under his ass, I thrust into Chance, watching emotions cross his face before he explodes, coming in Warren’s mouth.
Then I take Warren, his back to my front as I ease into him, fucking him long and deep. Chance swallows his dick, sucking him eagerly as I roll my hips. Warren grabs the back of my head, looking back at me as lust and an overwhelming love dance in his eyes.
I want this forever. For the rest of my life, I want to make Chance and Warren feel this good. I want to love and protect them, make sure they have everything they need.
I want to be their everything, just like they’re mine.
“Thorne,” Warren gasps into my mouth as he reaches his peak. I groan as my orgasm hits me, painting his walls.
I breathe in Warren’s scent as I kiss down his spine. When Chance pops off his shaft, I kiss him greedily, hoping he feels every ounce of love I have for him.
“Shower?” Chance says.
“You can’t shower with us,” I say. “Your arm.” He pouts, but I quickly follow up with, “We can get in the tub instead. Give me a minute to fill it up.”
He smiles widely, his eyes crinkling. “Thanks, Daddy.”
I groan, resisting the urge to toss him out the window. “You’re not on drugs now, so no more of that.”
He huffs, though he’s still smiling. “Fine.”
I pad to the bathroom and start the water in the tub. Then I go grab towels and wash cloths.
As I’m placing everything on the sink, Chance’s phone rings. It’s so obnoxious, the blaring making my ears hurt.
I wonder who it is calling at this hour.
It could be whoever he’s been talking to all secretive like.
I’ve noticed he’s been real sus with his phone, making sure not to leave it around for me and Warren to see.
I’m not worried about him dating anyone else—he’s ours and he won’t leave us—but his behavior is raising all kinds of flags.
Not wanting to put up with his secretiveness tonight, I make my way to the living room and say, “No more secret phone calls. We’re gonna take a bath and—” When I round the corner, I see Chance on the couch, staring off into space as Warren whispers softly to him. “What happened?”
Chance looks up at me, heartbreak dancing in his gaze. In a hollow voice, he says, “That was my dad. My mom died. She’s…she’s dead.”