Page 21 of Sicilian Savior

“What?” Knox said, then shook his head. “No. No way. You stay here where you’re safe.”

“I don’t mean I want to go on the mission with you. I know I’m not qualified, and I’ll just get it the way, but I’m coming to Sicily. When you get Luca out, he’s going to be scared of being with strangers. He hates strangers. I’ll be there to comfort him when you take him from his father. He’s going to be confused. It’s been a year that his father has been brainwashing him. Please. I can’t bear the thought of being away from him a second longer than I have to or having him scared the whole time you bring him back to the States. Just let me come to Sicily, and I’ll stay out of the way.”

His chiseled jaw ticked as he twisted his lips. He rubbed a hand through his beard, then finally answered, “Okay. You can come. We’ll set up somewhere safe that you can stay. You’re right. The boy will be confused and scared, and having you with us will be the best thing for him.”

Closing my eyes, I exhaled a breath and fell forward into Knox’s arms. He wrapped me up tightly, and I relished the feeling of safety I got in his embrace. A feeling I’d never thought I’d have again until he’d walked into my life.

“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The intimate embrace should have felt strange, considering I still barely knew this man, but something about him soothed me, and I let myself relax in his arms, knowing that as long as he was at my side, no one, not even Victor, could hurt me.

His phone beeped, and he kept one arm around me while he pulled it out. “Hey, Pretty Boy,” he said into the screen.

I realized now that meant he was talking to Wesley. He always referred to him as “Pretty Boy.”

“Quit calling me Pretty Boy,” Wes said. “I’m not pretty. I’m handsome. How about ‘Handsome Boy.’ No. ‘Sexy Boy.’”

“Ew. No.” Knox twisted his face. “You’ve always been, and will always be, Pretty Boy.”

“Ugh. I’m not that baby-faced twenty-year-old boy who joined the team a decade ago. I’m a man now. How about ‘Unbelievably Attractive Boy.’ No... ‘Unbelievably Attractive Man.’ Yeah. That’s the one.”

Knox turned his phone around and showed me the face on the screen. “Don’t you think he’s pretty, Lucia? Those long locks, that sweet baby face, those blue eyes? Pretty, right?”

Knox wasn’t wrong. Wes was pretty, but not in a feminine way. Just in a softer way than the powerful, handsome man still holding me in his arm. Wes had a masculine face with his sharp, chiseled jaw, but he looked younger than Knox. Closer to his late twenties like me.

“I don’t have long locks!” Wes argued, pushing a piece of his wavy, light-brown chin-length hair back out of his eyes. “This is some grade-A rockstar hair. And rockstars don’t have locks, dude.”

“Pretty Boy,” Knox teased.

“Whatever, Beefcake,” Wes taunted back.

“Beefcake?” Knox arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah. From now on, you’re Beefcake as long as I’m Pretty Boy.”

Knox opened his mouth to argue, but Wes turned his eyes to me and smiled a bright, white smile fit for the cover of a men’s magazine. “You must be Lucia. It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Wesley, but everyone calls me Wes.” He flicked his gaze to Knox and narrowed it. “Or Pretty Boy, but Wes works best.”

“Hey, Wes.” I lifted my hand to wave at the screen. “I can’t thank you enough for helping us find Luca.”

He scoffed. “Walk in the park. And I’m here to help with anything and everything you guys need. No Douchey McDoucherson is taking your kid from you. Not on our watch. We’ll get your boy back. You’re in good hands.”

Get my boy back.

It sounded so good to hear those words and knowing we were one step closer started to make the dream feel like a reality.

“And he’s okay? Have you seen him?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Wes smiled. “I hacked the cameras at the estate, so I’ve got eyes on him twenty-four seven. He’s a good-looking kid. Wait,” Wes said, his head disappearing for a second before popping back up again. “Here, you can see for yourself he’s okay.”

The breath trapped in my lungs as he spun his laptop to face the phone camera. I nearly came undone when I saw Luca lounging on his bed with a book. I couldn’t make out the details of his face due to the camera’s distance, but I knew that was my boy in a second.

“Luca,” I whispered, pressing my fingers to the phone screen. “Oh, my God. It’s Luca.”

Knox tightened his grip around my shoulders. “Told you Pretty Boy would find him.”

“Quit calling me Pretty Boy! We’re going with Unbelievably Handsome Man now,’” Wes’s voice called, but I couldn’t see his face. I was still staring dumbfounded at my child.

A moment later, Wes reappeared on the screen, and my heart clenched that I lost sight of Luca.