AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Renzo sagged forward, fighting the urge to bang his head against the table. “I hate this. I hate that I can’t just come with you. My sister won’t be back before then.”
“I figured,” Emil said. “But please know this has nothing at all to do with you or the fact that we haven’t talked much. I’m still so fucking wild about you.”
Renzo’s whole body ached with a need to have Emil there with him. “When does your flight leave?”
“We’re booking private, so whenever Victor’s ready,” Emil admitted. There was a reluctance to his tone, which told Renzo he was hesitant to remind him of just how wealthy he was, but Renzo couldn’t give a single fuck about that.
He was too busy forming an idea. “Promise to call me a lot while you’re away?”
“Not a chance in hell I wouldn’t. Unless you asked me not to,” Emil added. He cleared his throat, then hesitated before he asked, “Will Matty forgive me? He’s not still upset that we were kissing, is he?”
“No, sunshine. He’s not upset, and he’ll forgive you once I explain why. It would mean a lot if you called him too though. He’s pretty obsessed with the idea of you sticking around.” And being his new brother, but Renzo didn’t say that aloud. Matty would always get ahead of himself, and Renzo knew he had to tread carefully.
“Count on it. Send me his number, and I’ll FaceTime with him as soon as I can,” Emil said, then cleared his throat a little awkwardly. “I should get going. I have to grab a couple things from my place before we take off.”
Renzo nodded. “I—” He stopped himself. He felt the words right then—those three important words. But he wanted to be more sure, and there was no chance in hell he’d say them for the first time over the phone. “Talk later.”
“Yeah,” Emil all but whispered, and Renzo knew right then he felt it too.
The line went dead, and then he looked up at Oliver. “If I leave right now, I can beat him to his condo. Maybe. I don’t have the address, but?—”
“I have it,” Oliver said without looking up from his phone. “And I’m going to buy you some time. Will half an hour be enough?”
“No,” Renzo said, “but I can make it work. Thank you. I love you.”
Oliver looked up with a grin just as Renzo’s phone buzzed. “I love you so fucking much. Now, go. You’re wasting time.”
As though someone lit a fire under his feet, Renzo began to move faster than he had in years, and in a flash, he was gone.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Emil was an emotional mess.The only time he’d ever felt worse was when he’d been removed from his mom’s custody and given over to his dad, only to learn the man wouldn’t even see him for almost an entire year. But Emil had been a teenager then, and now, his emotions felt sort of unused and atrophied.
He’d finally started to thaw when shit hit the fan at Renzo’s, and then he spent the next seventy-two hours just…waiting. Renzo had texted once, and Emil had replied as politely as he could manage without losing his grip and begging Renzo not to abandon him. But he’d been starting to wonder if maybe begging was the right choice since Renzo had gone completely silent on him.
And Emil might have felt like the world was finally coming together when his phone started to ring and he saw Renzo’s name on the screen, but moments before the call came through, he and Victor had gotten the email.
Charlie was suing them for breach of contract and defamation of character. Emil didn’t even need to contact his lawyer to know that the lawsuit was both frivolous and pointless—and there was no chance in hell it would see a judge before it was thrown out—but the fact remained he had to go back.
He had to deal with the consequences of selling his shares of the business and leaving Charlie high and dry after what he’d done. Emil was pretty sure this was some sort of karmic event, considering the part he’d played in covering up Charlie’s affair with Victor’s ex, but it was killing him.
He hadn’t been sure he was even still invited over for New Year’s Eve with Renzo and Matty, but he’d been sitting on the edge of hope.
Now, he had the invite and had to turn it down, and he wanted to put his fist through the wall.
“You need to take a breath,” Victor said, letting go of one of his crutches to grip Emil’s shoulder. He squeezed gently while catching Emil’s gaze. “This isn’t the end of the world.”
Emil dragged a hand through his hair, trying to tamp down on his frustration. “How bad would it be if I told them all to fuck off and just send me the fine?”
“Bad,” Victor said. “The sooner we can get this taken care of, the sooner you can be back home.”
Back home. The words tumbled around his chest like a pinball—heavy and weighted—and he rubbed at his sternum. He hadn’t felt like anywhere was home. Not since he was a child, and even then, everything in his life had been fragile and prone to breaking.
It felt right now though, and his throat got a little hot, so he quickly cleared it.
“Sorry,” Victor said. He removed his hand and grabbed the handle of his crutch, easing a few steps back. “I didn’t mean to?—”
“You didn’t,” Emil said before Victor could finish his very misguided apology. “I’m terrified because I really like him, and it feels like the timing of this is purposefully trying to get in my way.”
