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“I only had bits of pieces and Rhys isn’t doing well with us talking around shit. He deserved to know-”
I let out a dark chuckle, shaking my head as I stepped closer. Valentyn placed a firm hand on my waist, stopping my approach. We stared at each other for several seconds and I watched his breathing slow, his silent demand for me to take a breath before I spoke again. “Val, you know that’s not what the fuck I’m talking about.” In some ways, I was bigger than this man in front of me, and yet in moments like this, I never felt like the one in charge.
“And there was nothing you guys didn’t already know or suspect. We have no fucking clue what we’re dealing with. They only want to talk to Rhys and the clean-up job is done.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And you might whisper well enough for Rhys but what was that bit about thebody?” Valentyn had told Rhys last night that Owen was dead and I had no doubt Ada was the culprit, however, I had been overhearing the calls for the past week and the one yesterday was pretty clear.
Owen’s body hadn’t been where we had dropped it and by the rising intonation in Valentyn’s voice, it hadn’t been at the house at all. Valentyn relaxed back against the counter, his hand still squeezing my hip, dangerously close to the healing wound from our last job. I grit my teeth together as I tried to focus on anything else.
“Because I don’t know shit about that either, Dmitri.”
“You know we’ll figure this shit out, right?”
“Like we did at the last job? The one where you nearly died? We’ve avoided hospitals for a long fucking time, Dmitri. That shit was too close.” His fingers dug in a little more before he dragged me flush against his chest and captured my lips. I didn’tfight him, sinking into him in a way that only he could demand. I had scared all of us with that stunt–although it wasn’t any of our fault. The fucking client had been less than truthful and we had suffered for it.
The one who would have suffered the most was Paval–he always did even though he didn’t know it. He was the easiest kid to handle, enjoying the different locations as we moved. The random trips and impromptu outings that involved ice cream kept him from having to deal with the stress of our jobs. Even so, Paval had caught onto a few things and I couldn’t imagine what he’d have to deal with as he got older. I didn’t even want to think about middle or high school when Paval would be old enough to understand that we weren’t really repairmen and that the fucking scars and mishaps we endured had nothing to do with construction tools.
We held each other for several minutes, breathing in each other’s scents, soaking in the warmth that we both were offering. Gianni and Rhys were our missing pieces but Valentyn could understand the demons running through my mind like no one else could.
“I won’t fucking lose you, Dmitri. I’m not losing anyone else.”
The conviction in his voice was more than just a promise, it was a statement about our future. A future that didn’t involve this high-stress work. After all, we couldn’t do this shit forever.
“I’m taking you up on that,” I mumbled against his lips, answering his unasked question.”
Gianni wandered in like he always did, frowning when we both glared at him like teenagers caught having sex in their bedroom. He just snorted and moved toward us. “Rhys is keeping Paval plenty occupied with a pillow fort as he spouts the best mathematical way to ensure the pillows stay standing. And Paval islistening.” Which meant that our son was going to turn out to be another genius who would end up studying shit we couldn’twrap our brains around. I always knew Paval was a bit ahead of the game but hanging around Rhys would put him in a different fucking orbit.
Valentyn released me as we moved away from the sink so that Gianni could wash out his mug. Gianni twisted around, throwing us a knowing smile. “So, wanna tell us more about this body?” I smirked as Valentyn just threw out an annoyed huff. He stepped into the living room, watching Paval and Rhys for a moment before heading to the bedroom. It was the only room that had a door that would keep this conversation locked up. One of us could relay it to Rhys afterward.
I pulled out my phone and set up the living room camera to keep an eye on the rest of our family should anything happen. It shouldn’t but I wasn’t playing that game again. I opened a second screen to show the front of the house as well, just in case.
Only when the door was closed, Valentyn sitting on the edge of the bed did he speak again. “I spoke with Reggie. Everything was cleaned up but no body. I didn’t think much of it but he called back this morning and he went through the security tapes. Looks like Ada wasn’t the last one in the house. It was Chester and whichever hired hands he had at the moment. Seems they took the body with them.”
Silence fell between the three of us and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What the fuck is Chester thinking?” No one answered because we didn’t know. In my mind, it made sense though. In this kind of business, information was key. Blackmail was stronger, and betraying someone was as good as death. I knew for a fact that Owen had fucked over AdaandChester but had Ada done something that set Chester off?
A little blackmail in the way of a body?
“So what are we looking at now?” I asked. Gianni leaned against the door beside me as we stared at Valentyn.
“Probably a week or less at this point.” He let out another huff, dragging his hands down his face. Dragging Rhys through all of this again in a few days would wreck him. He put on a brave face but he wasn’t cut out for this life.
“Seriously? We can’t put him through this shit again.” We didn’t have any other choices though. Rhys had said he was all in, that he wanted to be here with us but I couldn’t imagine the fucking stress all of this shit was putting on him. The fact that he already thought he was a burden meant that he was slowly retreating to the man we had first met and I fucking hated it.
“No, we can’t.”
I looked over at Valentyn, studying the tortured emotions swirling around in his expression. It dawned on me that he had been dealing with this for a week now, trying to protect and provide for all of us on his own. Like he always did. He took the world on his shoulders, trying to keep the pain of the outside world far away from this family of ours. It had nothing to do with trust and everything to do with the fact that he couldn’t stand to watch us break again.
It was one of the many reasons that I loved him.
I threw a glance at Gianni, the man nodding enthusiastically as he excitedly approached the edge of the bed. Standing in front of Valentyn, I ran my fingers through his hair before tilting his chin up. Our eyes met as I lowered my lips to his, loving the way he melted against my chest, his hands falling to my waist and squeezing as if I was going to disappear. I gasped as his grip tightened, the stress of our work seeping from him as he then deflated.
Silently, I pushed him to lay back onto the mattress, Gianni helping him scoot farther until his head was just shy of the other edge. We all had our needs and desires, and ways to drag us out of our heads – this was Valentyn’s. He was our dominant protector but he loved when we took charge in little ways.
Still watching him for any sign of discomfort or if he would rather just sleep, I undid his trousers and slowly slid them down his massive thighs. He was staring down at me, observing my careful movements as I bent down to lick his tip. His entire body shuddered beneath my touch, his head falling back as Gianni undid his own pants and placed his cock against our protector’s lips.
The entire ordeal was silent but we didn’t need words. Consuming him, as Valentyn had once named it, was all he needed. It was a gentle but thorough reminder that we were here for him, through thick and thin. Sure, therapy could have also helped us talk through our emotional distress but this seemed to work well enough for us, and fuck if I didn’t enjoy the way Valentyn lost himself with us.
Valentyn willingly opened his mouth, swallowing Gianni as I did the same for our protector, the conflicting sensation of being filled and being taken helping him relax. One of his hands grabbed a fistful of my hair and tugged, guiding my movements, his other hand wrapping around the back of Gianni’s thighs.
