“Listen—” I cut him off. “—can we just talk before the meeting tonight? I’m in the middle of something right now.”
“Do you mean someone?” I hear Sparrow shout from the background.
“Dude, you’ve got your husband listening in on our calls?” I grumble, and Xav grunts.
“You try telling him what to do.”
I laugh and glance at Spettro again, who’s got his jeans on now and is working on pulling a T-shirt over his head. I can relate.
“I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up.
I probably should have tried to find out what lead he might have, but as long as Spettro is safe at my apartment, it doesn’t matter right this second.
“Hey,” I say to him, and he glances over his shoulder at me. “Are we fighting?”
He snorts. “If we were fighting, you’d know it.”
“You’re not pissed about me not wanting to rush you right over to Lorenzo’s house?”
“A little.” He shrugs, raking his fingers through his slightly messy hair. I can see his roots starting to grow out, the blond visible right around the base of the pink strands.
“Just give me a little time, okay?”
He shrugs again, and I’m pretty sure that’s the closest thing to an agreement I’m going to get. He walks over to the bed and stands over me, bringing his bare hands back to my face, gliding his fingertips along my stubbled jaw.
“It’ll take more than a disagreement for us to have a problem, Alessio,” he assures me. “I’m used to handling shit my own way, so we’re bound to have plenty of situations where we don’t see eye to eye.”
The implication that he’s going to be around long enough for us to have lots of disagreements is more romantic than it has any right to be.
“You hungry? I’ve got eggs and coffee,” I offer.
His lips twitch. “Sure, but I’ve gotta warn you, I don’t have a damn clue what people talk about first thing in the morning.”
“If I didn’t mind the trauma dumping while your cum was still warm and trickling out of my hole, I doubt I’ll have a problem with whatever pops into your head over breakfast.”
Spettro chuckles. “You get me.”
I really think I do.
Chapter
Seventeen
ALESSIO
Since I still have thecar that got dropped off last night, it’s easy to make it to Wild in plenty of time to hear Xav out before the meeting. My stomach has been in knots since I left the apartment, not just with worry about what lead Xaviaro found, but also whether Spettro might take off while I’m gone.
I know he doesn’t like the idea of lying low, and he seemed restless when I left. It’s not like I can stop him if he decides to leave, but I’ll sure as hell look for him. He wouldn’t exactly be hard to find. All I’d have to do is follow the trail of dead Reapers. I chuckle to myself as I get out of the car and head towards the entrance. I nod to the doorman like I always do, then pull my phone out of my pocket and type out a quick text, weaving my way between strippers and customers with their hands down their pants on my way to our usual table.
ALESSIO: Would it be too boring and normal to suggest that I pick up a pizza on my way home and we watch a shitty movie on the couch?
Maybe I’m looking for reassurance that he’ll be there when I get back. Maybe I want to see if he’s only into this when it’s nothing but kinky sex and murder. Not that I’m against either one, but even I know that real relationships have quiet nights every once in a while, and that’s what I want with Spettro. I want this to be real. I want to help him take out the Reapers and let him tie me to the bed and fuck me any way he wants, but I also want trauma dumping over morning coffee and pizza on the couch. I want to know if there could be a future between us.
SPETTRO: Does it have to be a shitty movie?
ALESSIO: I guess I could settle for a good movie instead if it’s a dealbreaker.
SPETTRO: What about a terrible movie with good actors?