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“At Swain’s house, you ran right toward a man with a gun, a man you knew wanted you dead.”
“I did, but the whole time I was well aware he could kill me.”
Emilio’s brow furrowed. “Do you always take risks like that?”
“Less and less these days, since I have to work hard to make sure no one recognizes me.”
Emilio yawned widely and brought his hand to his mouth. Color rose in his cheeks, making him even more adorable.
“Tired?”
“It’s been… a hell of a day.”
“No shit.”
Emilio sighed, and I encouraged him to rest against me again. “We’ll stay here until Niall gets back, but there’s no reason why you can’t get some rest. I’ll watch over Leo.”
“It’s okay. You can keep talking to me.”
I did for a few minutes before realizing he was sound asleep. I wrapped an arm around him and held him close. It felt… right.
Several moments later, Leo stirred. He fluttered his eyes open for a moment, but he didn’t say anything before closing them again. Soon his breathing returned to a slow, steady rhythm.
I heard someone in the hall. I assumed it was Niall, but it was Giorgio.
“You’re supposed to be sleeping.”
Giorgio sighed. “I can’t.”
He looked at Emilio, then looked back at me and grinned.
“Don’t you dare give me shit when I’m putting up with you dating my son.”
“I just think it’s cute, that’s all.”
“Not shocking?”
“No, just cute. You spend so much time with all us gay guys, it was practically inevitable you’d eventually want to see what all the fuss was about.”
“That’s not—”
Giorgio laughed. “Relax. I’m joking. Seriously, though, what happens now?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“So you’re just going to let him go?”
“No. I’m going to protect him.”
Giorgio raised his brows. “Are you taking him to Carrington Manor?”
“No. I haven’t worked out the details yet.”
“I’m sure the Marchesis would loan out one of their safe houses. He could—”
“No, those are too remote.” Shit. Snapping at him was not going to convince him to back off.
“I’m sure Emilio can get a signal, even if—”
I shook my head. “They’re too remote for me.”
Giorgio’s smile grew wider. “Wow. You’re planning to guard him yourself? This is more serious than I thought.”
“No, it’s not.” It was, but I wasn’t ready to talk about it, even with the man who knew almost all my secrets. “I put Emilio in this position, and I need to be the one to keep him safe.”
“You trusted me to protect your son.”
“Yeah, and see what a mistake that was?”
“Ha! You know you love us together.”
I grimaced. “Please don’t put any images in my head.”
“So I can protect your family for you but not—”
“Of course I would trust you to protect him. I’d trust anyone in Vigilance. I left him at Swain’s house with Niall.”
“So…”
“He’s my responsibility.”
Giorgio rubbed his chin and gave an exaggerated nod. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“You realize it’s easier to stop fighting this and just give in.”
“Giorgio, you—”
He snapped his fingers, then cringed, realizing he’d been too loud. “Take him to the island.”
“What?”
“You and Emilio can hide out on Arlington Island.”
“You know I renamed it.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. Take him to Island X.”
I scowled at him.
“You know I named it MacIntyre after my grandfather. The one who’s first name was Xavier.”
“Yeah, but Island X sounds cooler.”
I decided to ignore that. “I can’t be that far away from everything that’s happening here.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Someone has to run the foundation, and—”
Giorgio’s glare silenced me. “As much as you—and fine, even me—might think it, you’re not a god. Other people can manage without you.”
“For how long?”
Giorgio’s expression softened. “Not forever, but long enough for us to find out who is coming after Emilio or the rest of us.”
“Walsh thinks Swain’s contacts in New Orleans will make the first move. No doubt they’ll want to silence all of us.”
“They’re all low-level players. We’ll take them easily.”
I frowned. “You and Leo are injured. If they move in fast—”
“We’ll handle it. Devil and Joe are due back from their honeymoon tonight.”
Devil Marchesi’s husband, Joe, had worked with us on several recent missions. I trusted the two of them almost as much as I trusted Giorgio. Still, I wasn’t sure.
“Go,” Giorgio urged. “Take care of Emilio and see where this goes.”
“It’s not going anywhere.”
“That’s what I said about Lane. Of course, I expected you to kill me, so that was a barrier.”
I glared at him. “I thought about it.”
“But you love me.”
“You know I do, and I know you’ll keep Lane safe.” Like I would protect Emilio.
“You’ve had a thing for Emilio for ages.”
That truly surprised me. No way in hell had I been that transparent. “What do you mean?”
“The first time he came into the field with us, you talked about him nonstop the next day.”
“I did not.”
“You did.” His mocking smile made me want to punch him.
“If so, I was just telling you about all the things he’s capable of because I realized what a great asset he is.”
