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“Bro, during our first gathering, you asked me if he and I knew each other. Well, we did. I’ve known Austin for four years because we went to the same college.” He presses his hand on my hand touching his collarbone, then turns to his brother whose face is scrunched up in surprise. “I was in love with him,” Connor breathes. “I had no idea that he was a member of The Void, or that he could possibly feel something for me. He’d never even met me, until a few weeks before graduation.”
“So that’s why you were so determined to go with him to Paris,” Vic mumbles.
“Maybe,” I tease, certain that my gaze is matching Connor’s—warm and secretive and so infatuated.
“We had a bit of a rocky start,” Connor muses, and my grin turns into a full-blown smile. “But here we are. And the answer is yes. I’ll go with you and set up a new,mutualalliance.” I place my free hand behind his nape, then lean in for a kiss. It’s soft and short, yet full of promises.
“Can I come too?” Charlie asks, a pleading look on his face.
“Absolutely not,” Samuel growls.
“Please? I can be very useful, do all kinds of paperwork for you. I took French in high school.”
“No one is going anywhere,” Logan roars. He pushes me away, then puts a hand in front of Connor, shielding him. He looks exhausted, but being tired apparently doesn’t do anything to his arrogance. Though he looks confused, sort of. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but if you think that I will freely let my brother go withyou, you are mistaken.” He gives me another shove and this time I back off. Not that I want to, but because he’s Logan Donnelly, one of the biggest mobsters in New York, proud as fuck and standing in front of his entire team. And his baby brother just told me, in front ofeveryone, that he loves me.
My heart stops when I realize the full meaning of that bold confession, especially coming from the mouth of my shy man. Ignoring Logan’s anger, I look at Connor, at his beautiful face. “I love you too,” I say and see his face split into a gorgeous smile. “That video was the best thing that ever happened to us.” Logan pushes me again and I take another step backward. Connor’s smile now turns cheeky and he lets out a huff. It doesn’t stop me. “Because it brought me to you.”
“What the hell is going on here?”
We all turn to see Thomas walking in, his eyes sending daggers at Logan.
“Oh boy,” Ro mumbles. “Austin here was just offering Business boy a job in Paris.”
I growl. “His name is—”
“Connor, I know that.” Ro has moved to stand next to me and gives me a wink. “Perhaps you want to fill father in on the rest as well?”
“Which is?” Thomas walks up to us, surprise carved onto his face.
“Connor and I…” I look up at my sweetling, who gives me a faint nod. I swallow. “We want to go to Paris together. For work and for life. I love him.”
Thomas’s eyes search my face, looking for God knows what, then he turns to face Connor. “And you?”
“And I love him.”
“Christ,” Thomas scratches the back of his neck, as he mumbles, “When did you have time for that?” Then he seems to make his mind up. “A combination of The Void and The Business. I have to say, I like it.”
“Well, I…” Logan starts with a snarl, then he stops himself and shakes his head. “What do I say to this? Little bro, I want you to be happy, man. I don’t know ifhe…” he gives me a point of his finger and a—surprise, surprise—scowl, “is the right person for that. Though I already made you a promise, didn’t I,Austin?” Though I remember that moment in his office and the dramatic chess game, I’ll only grant him a casual shrug. “And I won’t hesitate to bank it, should it be necessary. Now, if you all excuse me, I need to go back to the hospital to my wife and daughter.”
“Congratulations,” I say, but he shakes me off, snapping his fingers at Samuel to follow him.
I wait for him to leave before I practically jog back to Connor.
“We’re doing this,” he breathes, pulling his arms around me. He looks soft and he looks hard, his eyes full of love and mischief, and oh, there will be so much of him to explore and to love, his big brain and his complex character. He’s like a Rubik’s cube with endless different combinations and I can’t wait to get my hands around it and discover every single fucking one of them.
“Yeah, baby, we’re doing this,” I muse, and then I pull him in for a long, dirty kiss.
All mine.
Epilogue
“Are we there yet?”
We’ve started our everlasting project in Paris, where we’ve been studying the different European cities and their markets. The penthouse we’ve rented is on the Seine in the colorful, artistic neighborhood we’d promised ourselves.
And so far, life with Austin is…insane. He’s so very energetic and creative, constantly working on new projects, convinced that he mostly wants to focus on expanding our business here in real estate and shark loans. No drugs. Even his family back home is negotiating with other groups to explore new avenues. I want to expand The Whisper, our Gentlemen’s Club.
After all, sex sells, doesn’t it?
