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Sirens sounded outside and Hollis snatched the knife out of the wall and shoved the picture into his pocket.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Ian said, his voice so wobbly, it barely broke out of his throat. “Isn’t it evidence?”
“I don’t give a shit.”
He looked up at this cop he’d fallen in love with and took in the reddish scruff covering his own bruised jaw, his black eye. He knew bruises colored most of Hollis’s upper body from his fight with Jagger the night before. Sliding his arms carefully around Hollis’s waist, Ian laid his cheek on his shoulder. “I’m not that boy anymore, Banner.”
“I know,” Hollis breathed into his hair as he wrapped his arms around him. “I really do know that. But that boy was you and someone hurt him and it broke my heart. It still breaks my heart and makes me want to show you nothing but love for the rest of your life.”
Ian smiled into his shirt as he heard the police cars stopping outside. “That sounds good. I’d like that.”
Even as footsteps sounded on the porch and voices started to get louder, Hollis framed his hands around Ian’s face and stared into his eyes. “I do want to spend my life with you, Ian Pierce. And I never want to see that look in your eyes again. Ever. I promise to do everything I can to make sure it never comes back. Okay?”
Ian smiled. “Okay,” he said, standing on his toes for a kiss. “I’m ready for that life to begin now.”
“So am I.” Hollis kissed him. “I feel like the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”
Ian glanced around at the chaos around them, at the police filing into the room, and couldn’t stop the laugh that shot out. “Only you would say something like that when your house looks like this and we’re about to have another exhausting round of questions with cops.” He stretched up even more so his lips could touch Hollis’s ear. “I love you so much, Cop.”
“I love you, too. And I plan to show you every day for the rest of our lives.”Chapter 21Christmas lights, small and delicate, had been carefully strung along the walls of Rialto. Those, along with the ambient glow of the nearby Aronoff Theater and the rest of downtown Cincinnati shone through the windows, illuminated the room lit only by candlelight. The tables were bare except for one long section in the middle covered with deep red tablecloths and filled with shiny white plates, salad bowls, and sparkling silver flatware. Evergreen sprigs peppered with cranberries wrapped around fat red candles, and champagne glasses reflected the golden blazes that flickered between the settings. The room smelled of roasted turkey, sage, chocolate, and cinnamon. It was perfect.
Ian stood, staring at the tables that had been pushed together to contain his ever-growing family, his heart feeling twice its size and warmer than the sun on the hottest beach along the equator. They would all be here in moments, the people he loved above all others, the men who had taken him from a harsh life and given him a loving place to thrive, to grow. And to discover himself.
For the first time in years, they were free of the threat that had ripped apart their lives. So many people had paid a high price. It would be a long time before his guilt over their deaths left entirely, but he couldn’t help but feel thankful for what he did have tonight. For everyone who had survived.
He’d closed Rialto for this night and cooked a special Christmas meal to celebrate the holiday with them. To celebrate their freedom.
Lucas and Andrei.
Snow and Jude.
Rowe and Noah.
And…now, Hollis Banner.
These men had come together and created a family that might seem unconventional to some but to Ian, it was infinitely priceless. These men made his heart beat with strength, with courage…with love and acceptance. They would be married, have children…build a world among themselves that couldn’t be broken.
One man had tried.
And failed.
Ian was already a brother, and now a partner. But he’d be an uncle at some point and hopefully, a father.
How had he gotten so damn lucky?
Thick, warm arms surrounded his waist and a nose poked behind his ear. He clutched Hollis’s wrists and turned toward the mouth he knew would be ready to kiss, to taste. Hollis took his lips and turned him around, drawing him tightly into that big, strong body.
“Can we skip this dinner and move on to dessert? There are beautiful chocolate things—things I don’t even recognize—on that table over there that I want in my mouth. Or on your body. So I can eat them off it. Wanna leave now? Taste at your place? I’ll make a ‘to go’ box.”
“Our place,” Ian said into his mouth. Hollis’s house would take a long time to repair and in the meantime, he’d moved in with Ian. Everyone had been shocked, and Lucas and Snow had both had a few choice things to say about them moving too fast, but Ian had rolled his eyes at Snow and told him he had no room to talk and then told Lucas he’d taken too damn long when he knew he had a great thing. He appreciated their concern, but he knew what he wanted and that was Hollis Banner. They still had a lot to work out and although Hollis had been fired, a lot of cops thought he was a hero for his work in shutting down White Rock. And he’d been approached by Jude’s friend, Shane, about possibly doing private investigative work. Ian had no doubt Rowe had put that bug in the man’s ear.
