Page 68 of Laken's longing

He released a relieved breath after listening out and hearing nothing to cause him to run away and hide his eyes. When the door swung open, Laken didn’t know how to take Popi’s swollen, red-rimmed eyes. He glanced over his shoulder to the man sitting on the bed wearing a grim look that hurt Laken’s stomach.

“Come in, sweet boy.” Popi motioned him in and shut the door behind him with an ominous click.

He stood just inside the door, feeling like the teenage boy he’d once been, unsure, with terror holding his throat hostage. He couldn’t look directly at either man. Instead, his gaze traveled the room that was both warm and welcoming in shades of brown and creams. The color schemes had changed over the years, but the feeling of being welcome in this space no matter the time of day or night, was missing. Right now, with the icy dread growing with each passing second the silence continued, it sucked away the warmth.

“Sweet boy, it's going to be okay.” Popi took hold of his icy hand and rubbed at it as Dad rose and walked to him, looking as if he’d aged overnight.

He searched those blue eyes for answers, and his chest constricted at what was coming.

“I knew who did this to me,” he uttered into the quiet, letting the thought slip out as his nose picked up something he had not scented in many years.

Dad took his other hand, linking them all as he slowly nodded. “It was your father and brothers.”

Laken’s breath hissed out so fast, his chest caved in while his brain worked to process Dad’s words. Trembling started in his legs, and Dad and Popi guided him to the small couch they had sitting by one window, overlooking the garden. Popi used it to sit and read.

His backside sank into plump cushions, and Popi sat next to him while Dad crouched in front of him. Neither let go of his hands and he clung to them, needing that solid reminder that these two men were his parents. Were his family, not those who had thrown it out.

“Why?” he choked out on a sob. “How?”

He couldn’t compute how they’d known about the rape and…

“The men who used you thought they could blackmail you—them. They kept the pictures—”

He was grateful Dad hadn’t said family; they hadn’t been that in years. “And thought they could make a buck or two off me,” he said in a lifeless voice. His foundation was not as steady as he’d have liked. Why would they want to punish him further? “Why wasn’t kicking me out enough of a punishment for being me?”

Popi’s sobs broke Laken. To be the cause of his suffering was too much. He let go of their hands to pick Popi up and put him in his lap, forcing Dad to move. He squashed himself onto the couch and his arms came around them both, bringing them into his chest. Laken gave in to the need to accept the support. To acknowledge that, by whatever divine plan the universe had for him, these two men were the family it had picked for him.The one who loved him. Cried for him. Hurt for him. It was humbling. Even now, as an adult, they were there to hold him up when he needed it.

“I’m sorry,” Laken whispered.

Dad’s powerful arms crushed him tighter. “You have nothing to be sorry for. That worthless sack of shit isn’t worth it.” There was the fierce love that Laken accepted came with nothing but a hope he’d see it for what it was—genuine.

“I love you, love you both. I don’t think I’ve ever said this before. Thank you for picking me.”

“Ohh.” Popi’s sobbing came out as a harrowing wail at his declaration, his chin wobbling as tears ran in a torrent down his pale cheeks.

“You’ve done it now,” Dad replied in a hoarse voice that sounded close to tears.

When the first one slipped free, Laken couldn’t hold back his own and buried his face in Dad’s neck. “What are we, the blubber family?”

The wet chuckles helped settle the anxiety partying in his tight chest.

When they all managed to stop crying, Laken and Dad didn’t look any better than Popi had when Laken had first come into the bedroom. He kept hold of Popi when Dad loosened his hold. “What happens next?”

There was something so threatening about the glint in Dad’s eyes, Laken was glad that, from the way he was cuddling Laken, Popi wouldn’t see it. “It’s dealt with, they won’t bother you again. The pictures have been destroyed. All of them this time.”

“What’s to say they won’t try some other tactic?” Laken questioned, not as assured as Dad came across.

Dad pinched his chin, holding it steady and meeting his gaze. “He isn’t able to bother anyone, anymore.”

Popi’s head turned in Dad’s direction. “Tell me we won’t find the police at our door arresting you?” Gone was the soft, sobbing man. In his place was the iron willed man that could make Dad cower. Because sure as hell he was, despite doing his best to fight it. “You promised.”

“No, my love. The police won’t be bothering us. There was a hunting accident up at their cabin. The two sons have attested to the police that a wild animal attacked their father.”

The way he said it, careful what words he picked, Laken got the impression they had had little choice but to agree, and the wild animal had been Dad.

He kept quiet as Popi eyed his husband, seeking what he wasn’t saying. “Is that why it took two days to come home? To clear up the mess?”

Evidently not hoodwinked at all.