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“When he puts his up first,” Alexei replied smoothly. The twink standing in the passenger-side door smirked at him. His pale-blond hair shone in the setting sun and his makeup was done in such a way to give him luxurious, smoky eyes, but when they turned to Charlie, they were cold and dead. The only time he’d seen the man’s gaze warm was when his eyes were on Soren.
With an exasperated sigh, Charlie shoved his gun into his holster and lifted both of his hands to show that he was currently unarmed as he took a step away from the house toward the car.
“And what about your handsome friend?” Alexei pressed.
Will immediately stepped forward, his hands up and empty. “I’m completely unarmed, I promise.”
“Holy shit! Will?” Soren gasped. “What the fuck are you doing here? And with this idiot?”
Before Will could reply, Alexei stopped in the middle of tucking his own weapon away and squinted at the doctor. “That’s the Will you told me about? Huh.” The assassin then looked straight at Charlie and grinned wickedly. “He’s a lot hotter than I thought you could snag. Not bad, old man.”
Charlie sucked in a breath to shoot a snide remark back to the snot-nosed punk when Will’s hand clapped over his mouth as he stepped in front of him.
“It’s good to see you again, Soren,” Will said loudly. “You’re here because I find myself in a bit of a mess and Charlie volunteered to help along with Ed, Kairo, and West. Sorry to drag you in as well.”
Soren stopped in his approach toward them, his eyes shooting a thousand questions past Will to Charlie.
Grabbing Will’s hand, Charlie pressed a quick kiss to the palm and then pulled it down. “We told him everything.”
“Oh, shit.” Soren winced, his shoulders shrinking in a little as he lifted his eyes to Will. “I’m sorry…for any and all trouble that we caused you in Paris.”
Will exhaled loudly, the sound rising from old wounds that were probably still healing on his soul. Charlie wrapped an arm around Will’s waist and pulled him until his back collided with Charlie’s chest. They were doing better, but it was going to be a long time before all the pain Charlie had caused him faded to a distant memory. That was fine. Charlie was going to be with him every step of the way.
“It’s okay. Things happened. I’m just looking to move on from all of that,” Will murmured.
“Alexei!” Kairo’s voice rang out from the front porch.
Charlie chuckled as the young man’s face transformed into an expression of pure delight as he slammed the door shut and raced up to greet the other man. While his and Kairo’s time in Amsterdam hadn’t been long, Kairo and the assassin had managed to bond over tech toys and guns.
Loosening his hold on Will, Charlie walked with his lover the last few feet to greet Soren. The cat burglar hugged them both prior to Soren formally introducing Alexei to Will. Something tightened around his heart to see Soren in Argentina with them. It was like getting the team back together. And while Alexei made him nervous, he couldn’t deny that the assassin was a good asset to have on hand. He might be young, but he had a good head on his shoulders, even if he did fall for a reckless idiot like Soren.
After helping to grab their bags from the trunk, they all walked into the house, where Kairo was already introducing Alexei to West and Ed. Charlie swore Alexei and West exchanged a strange glance and a nod. It was as if some silent communication had passed between them and the two wolves had decided to be civil to each other. Completely different from the effusively warm greeting that passed between Alexei and Ed.
Of course, Ed had a way of being a ball of sunshine and liked everyone until you dared to hurt someone he cared about. Then you were just fucking toast.
“Okay, get me up to speed on this mess you’ve made,” Soren demanded nearly three hours later. It had taken that long for them to catch up on stories from Amsterdam, Istanbul, and now Buenos Aires. Soren might have also taken some time to give Ed and West grief for getting hurt in the first place.
Charlie presented a concise recap of all the events that had occurred in Buenos Aires, the roadblocks they’d encountered, and the time crunch they happened to be facing. Soren nodded through it and glanced at his boyfriend when Charlie was done. Alexei was snuggled up against him, sipping some tea and looking very relaxed.
The assassin shrugged. “The mom.”
“I agree. Benicio is the Picasso,” Soren murmured.
“Totally,” Alexei instantly agreed.
“I’m sorry,” Will interjected. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?” He shifted to the edge of the chair he was sitting on. Charlie moved a little where he was perched on the arm of the chair in case Will intended to get to his feet. A surge of joy rushed through his chest when Will placed his hand on Charlie’s knee, keeping him right where he was.
