“Mm-hmm,” Assa replied. “We’ve been on the other side of this. As soon as we met Zinn, we knew we wanted him to be a part of Ryde’s life. Then you, too. Parents want infinite love for their kids, alpha. At least the good ones do.”
“Infinite love is something I have,” Valentin said, pulling Assa down for a kiss, before motioning Wes over to do the same to him.
An hour later, Assa and Wes were doing tummy time with Lachie while Valentin sat at the table going over accounts for The Cracked Heart. After he, Wes, and Assa had their commitment ceremony, he hired a new manager, Sandi, and was trying to be home at night more often. He trusted Sandi, and of course Xan was there as well. The club was finally turning a realprofit, and Valentin was proud of the things he’d done to make it a success. Installing a better sound system and instituting theme nights had provided great returns. It also helped that Bergam had been in jail for a while. He’d get out soon, but for now, Valentin appreciated the reprieve from his threats.
His phone buzzed, and he looked down to see a message from Zinn.Assa sent me the picture of you and Lachie.This is how I always imagined it in my mind when I was pregnant the first time. *red heart emoji*
Valentin’s throat clogged with emotion. He thought of a million ways he could respond, but in the end, he replied with his own heart emoji and turned the phone over on the table.
Fifteen minutes later, it rang. He really hoped it wasn’t Zinn asking for a longer explanation about why it had taken him so long to hold the baby.
But it wasn’t Zinn.
It was the landline for The Cracked Heart.
“Sandi?”
Valentin heard crowd noises and distant sirens in the background. “Valentin! You need to get down here…or maybe to the hospital… I’m not sure!”
“Wait—what’s going on?” The din behind Sandi made it difficult for Valentin to make out his words. Across the room, Assa and Wes looked at him with concern.
What’s wrong?Assa mouthed.
Valentin shrugged, then shouted back into the phone. “Sandi! Tell me what’s happened. What were you saying about the hospital?”
Sandi let out a long, tired breath. “It’s Xan,” he finally got out, his voice catching. “He’s been stabbed.”
***
When Valentin got to the hospital, he found Asher sitting next to Xan’s bed.
“What are you doing here?” Valentin asked.
“Hello to you too. I was at the club when everything went down, and the staff all had to stay to be questioned by the police. I figured you wouldn’t want Xan to be alone.” Asher lifted a shoulder. “Plus, we’re friends.”
“Friendsmight be overstating,” Xan mumbled from the bed. Valentin was relieved to see him awake and talking, even though he looked like he’d just been run over.
Asher laughed. “Whatever, man. Now that Valentin’s here, I’ll take off, but I’m glad this wasn’t worse. See you around.” He grabbed Xan’s hand and squeezed, sliding their fingers together slowly as he pulled away.
Valentin clocked the intimate gesture.
“Something going on between you and Asher?”
“Nah. We fucked a few times a while back. But nothing serious.”
“Really?”
Xan made a noncommittal noise. “I didn’t think you needed to know. He’s private. And he wanted to keep it on the DL in case it affected getting back in his brother’s good graces.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think Zinn cares if Asher dates.”
“You’re probably right, but it doesn’t matter because it hasn’t happened in months.”
Valentin could see it, Xan and Asher. They were great guys and both had the same dry sense of humor. He didn’t know a lot about Xan’s past, but he’d worked for Ang for a while before Valentin came along and had never gotten pulled into any of Bergam’s nonsense, even when a lot of the other employees had.
Valentin laughed lightly.
“Finding out I fucked Asher is funny?”