“¡Puta madre!”

Stavros lifted his head from Daniel’s throat to peer up into his lover’s face. “Did you just swear?”

Eyes still hazy from their lovemaking blinked at him. “It was not my intention, no.”

Stavros barked a laugh, and Daniel’s muscles clenched around him, making them both moan. He should pull out. They should clean up. But this position, Daniel straddling him, Stavros still lodged deep inside him? This position demanded he stay here, palms flat on Daniel’s back. He didn’t want to move. Sweat slicked their skin, and hot cum squeezed past Daniel’s hole and dripped down Stavros’ length, bathing his balls.

He liked this, and for some reason it looked as though he might get to keep this. He might not deserve it, not after all the things he’d done. Not just to Daniel. But falling in love was in itself a selfish act. So he hugged his lover a little bit tighter, nuzzling his neck as they sat in the middle of the bed.

Bodies connected.

Daniel shifted slightly and brought both hands up to grip Stavros’ hair. “There’s somewhere I want to take you,” he murmured against Stavros’ forehead. “Tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Daniel’s chuckle vibrated between them. “Will that be your response to all my requests?”

“No, so enjoy it now.” Stavros tilted his head to meet his eyes. “Where do you want to take me?”

A heavy sadness clouded Daniel’s eyes for a minute before disappearing. “It is—” He pursed his lips. “Tomorrow. I will tell you tomorrow.”

Stavros could push, but what would be the point? Instead he nodded. “All right.”

They settled into a calm silence again, until Daniel spoke softly. “We were not the perfect couple.”

“Hmm?”

“Petra and I.” Daniel’s response was so soft, Stavros mostly felt it against his skin. “We were not perfect, but we were perfect for each other.”

Stavros swallowed. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to shake the guilt and shame that touched his soul at the mention or thought of Petra. But he couldn’t hide from it. There was no escaping her. It could be a hindrance if he let it.

“Do you want to talk about her?”

Daniel gazed at him in silence for a few heartbeats then started to lift off him.

Stavros gasped, grabbing his ass to keep him there for a while longer. “Fuck.” Breath shuddered through him. “Jesus.” He dug his fingers into Daniel’s ass cheeks. “Christ.”

“I know.” Daniel kissed his chin. “Sorry.” He took his body away, as Stavros huffed at the acute loss. But Daniel didn’t leave the bed. He simply moved closer to the headboard, tugging Stavros until they sat side by side with their backs against the pillows.

Daniel took Stavros’ hand closest to him and linked their fingers before bringing their joint hand to his mouth, brushing his lips across their knuckles.

Stavros literally just finished fucking this man bareback, and that simple gesture felt way more intimate.

Then Daniel spoke.

“She was more than just a wife. Every step of the way, she stood with me.” His voice was hoarse, but steady. “She knew every detail of what I did.” He glanced at Stavros. “Because I needed her to trust me, and if or when push came to shove, she had to know why I’d ask her to do something. In every way she was my equal.”

It wasn’t as if Stavros didn’t know those types of relationships existed. He’d just never seen one up close. Had never been privy to that kind of sacrifice and devotion.

“She didn’t make me better,” Daniel said softly. “She didn’t want to. She liked me as I was, she always said. And I loved her more for putting up with my life.”

“But she was there from the beginning.”

Daniel nodded. “She was. She gave advice, even when I didn’t think I needed it. She tended my wounds. The visible ones, and especially those I thought I’d hidden from her.” He turned toward Stavros. “Diablo, I don’t want you to think she was a saint. She was human. Sometimes she frustrated me. She was so stubborn.” He snorted. “And she liked to argue. Dios,” he breathed out the word. “That woman could argue.”

Stavros smiled. “You never won those arguments, did you?”

“Never, but it was worth it when time came for the making up.” Daniel’s mouth curved. “She was a wildfire I never thought about containing.”

Stavros tightened his fingers around Daniel’s. It was awkward, listening to this. So weird. But he liked to all the same. Liked that Daniel thought nothing of sharing Petra with him.

“That night—” Daniel’s gaze turned inward. “We’d been trying and trying, but we found out that day she couldn’t have children.” His dark eyes filled with remorse as he returned his focus to Stavros. “I was relieved, diablo.” His voice dropped about a million octaves then. “My wife wanted my baby. And I was relieved that she couldn’t have one.”

Shit. “Daniel—”

“It was a betrayal.” Daniel rolled his head back against the headboard and stared up at the ceiling. “After everything she’d given me, after all she’d sacrificed and put up with for me, I was happy she couldn’t bear my child. She saw it for what it was, a betrayal.” He touched his free hand to his left cheek. “She slapped me.”

Stavros swallowed. “Why were you relieved?”

Daniel tensed then blew out a loud breath. “The easy answer would be that I didn’t want to bring an innocent child into the life we led.”

“And the not-so-easy answer?”

“I would not be a good father. I would not be selfless and gentle. All I knew was what my father taught me, and I’d emulated his blood thirst in business. It was only a matter of time before I was cold-hearted and violent in my own home, too.”

Stavros shook his head firmly, a frown on his face. “You know that’s not true. Petra would never allow that. And most importantly—” He grabbed Daniel’s chin, jerking his head around so their gazes could meet. “Most importantly, agápi mou, you would never hurt your wife or your child.”

“I’d like to think that—”

“Fuck that.”

Daniel smiled.

“No, seriously. Fuck. That.” Stavros leaned forward until their noses bumped. “You’re the best man I know, and I’m not saying that because you let me tongue-fuck your ass.”

“I should hope not.”

They stared at each other for a heartbeat then burst out laughing. Stavros touched his lover’s face, tracing the curve of his smile. “My favorite thing is when you smile,” he whispered. “My second favorite is knowing I made you smile.”

Daniel circled his wrist. “There hasn’t been much to smile about, not for a long time.”

Because of Stavros. The white-hot guilt flared bright in his chest, and he glanced away. Fingers on his chin forced him to meet Daniel’s tender gaze.

“That was not a recrimination against you, diablo.” He brushed his thumb over Stavros’ bottom lip. “I have forgiven you. You must forgive yourself.” He cocked his head. “Have you forgiven me?”

“For what?” Stavros gaped at him.

“I kidnapped you. I tortured you.”

Stavros waved that away. “That shit was fucking foreplay to me. You know that.”

“Do I know that?” Daniel lifted an eyebrow.

“You know that.”

“Penance.”

“Yes.” He wouldn’t lie. “But more than that. I wanted to feel what you made me feel. The pain, the lust, the fear of falling.” Stavros licked his lip, tongue dragging over Daniel’s thumb in the process. “I can’t stand the thought of you not being close enough to touch.”

“We connected through blood and violence,” Daniel said thoughtfully.

“We’re bloody, violent men.”

A slow smile broke across Daniel’s face. Goddamn. He would never not stun Stavros with that gesture. “We deserve each other.”

“Got that shit right in one.”

Daniel squinted at him. “Must you always swear?”

The happiness in Stavros’ chest bubbled over, spilling from his lips in the form of low chuckle. “Fucking yes.”

Daniel kissed him. Hard and fast, but shit, with so much possession. “Lie with me, diablo.”

“Anytime. All the time.”

* * *

“Beautiful house.”

Daniel grunted at Stavros’ soft words as he put the key into the lock. They stood on the half wrap-around porch of the Greek revival hidden about a mile and a half away from any main roads. Ten-foot walls around the perimeter hid the two-story white house with dark blue shutters from the view of anyone traveling down the barely worn dirt track outside.

No one came here except him.

“Why are we here?”

To his credit, Stavros had waited a long time before asking the question. Though he’d thrown Daniel some curious glances on the plane, he hadn’t asked. Daniel appreciated his restraint, especially since he had yet to fully find the words to explain.

Stavros touched his shoulder. “Daniel?”

Daniel took in his lover, always impeccably dressed, love bites and Daniel’s fingerprints decorating his neck and throat.

It had been a spur of the moment thing last night to ask Stavros to join him. Testament to how much Daniel had changed. He wasn’t known for spur of the moment anything. He didn’t regret the invite. This was something Stavros needed to know if they were to continue with this…whatever this was.

He wished to continue, so he nodded once. “There is someone I want you to meet. She is inside.”

“Okay.” Stavros dragged the word out. “Who is she?”

“Someone I love,” Daniel told him softly. Someone he’d disappointed time and again. She deserved better. Stavros didn’t speak again, but the questions remained in his eyes, so Daniel told him, “I’ll explain when we get inside.” Immediately he regretted the flash of caution in Stavros’ eyes, but before he could reassure his lover, the door was yanked open from the inside.

The tip of a gun touched his forehead. He didn’t move, but next to him, Stavros swore viciously, hand going to his waistband.

“No.” Daniel grabbed Stavros’ hand, staying his movements before meeting the eyes of the slight woman holding the gun. “Charlie.”

She blinked and her hard brown eyes widened. “Sir!” She dropped the weapon to her side, eyes darting from Daniel to Stavros and back. From her blank expression, she knew who Stavros was. “Sir, forgive me. I—”

“What is this?” Stavros snapped.

Daniel didn’t look at him, simply holding up a hand as he addressed Charlie. “It is fine. I should have called ahead.” He usually gave Charlie and her companion advance notice, but he’d let that slip his mind. “I am sorry.”

At five-four, Charlie’s head barely made it to the center of his chest as she pursed her lips. Something she did when she had more to say.

“What is it, Charlie?”

“Is-Is something wrong, sir?” The tremor in her words gave away her worry.

“No.” He shook his head quickly. He jerked his thumb toward Stavros, who stood stiffly next to him, being quietly loud. “He is with me.”

Charlie swallowed.

“He can be trusted.” Charlie should know better than to doubt his words, but he’d been the one to show up without advance notice, a man with a reputation like Stavros’ in tow.

“Of course, sir.” She stood off to the side, allowing him entrance.

Daniel stepped inside, Stavros at his heel. In the foyer, Daniel gazed up the circular staircase, painted the same white and dark blue as the house’s exterior. “Where is she?”

“Upstairs.” Her gaze rested on Stavros for a hot second before she continued, “Lành is with her.”

Daniel needed something to do with his hands, so he shoved them into the pockets of his coat then fisted them. “How is she?”

“Today is a calm day.” Charlie’s tone switched from hesitant and cautious to a softness borne from caring. Daniel’s doubts about her and her partner, Lành, caring for one of the most important people in his life had dissipated a long time ago.

He turned to Stavros. His lover’s expression was smooth, flawless, but Daniel read the confused curiosity in the depths of Stavros’ eyes. “Come.” He held out his hand. “There is someone I would like you to meet.”

He appreciated Stavros’ immediate and tight grip. He appreciated how easy Stavros made it seem, making a decision and sticking to it. They climbed the stairs, Daniel leading, Stavros behind him, Charlie at the bottom of the stairs watching with wide eyes.

On the second floor landing he walked the few steps to the bedroom, and stopped at the closed door.

Hesitated would be the correct word. It wasn’t about trusting Stavros with this, because he trusted his lover implicitly. This was about finally sharing the weight of something he’d dragged around on his shoulders for a long time.

Fingers touched his chin, gripped his jaw. “Look at me,” Stavros muttered fiercely. “Look at me.”

Daniel looked at him. Stared into his eyes. There was a power somewhere inside his lover. A magnetic something that pulled him close. That calmed him. Centered him. “Diablo.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Stavros turned them, pushing Daniel into the wall next to the closed door. Fingers tight on Daniel’s jaw, lips brushing his when Stavros repeated, “It does not matter what or who is behind that door. I’m with you one hundred percent.”

Fact was, Daniel didn’t know who waited for him behind that door. Her face would remain the same, but her mind…

“Open the door for me,” Stavros whispered against his lips. “Let me walk through it with you.”

Daniel wrapped his arms around Stavros’ waist and held him. Just…held him. Breathing deeply. Taking a moment, that moment, to lean on someone. He used to have Petra. Now he had Stavros.

“Okay.” He nodded and pulled away, turning to the door. One hand on the knob, the other gripping tight to Stavros, he opened the door and stepped into the bedroom.

Lành sprang from the bed, weapon raised. He’d been confused by their outward appearance when he first met Lành, and they’d been quick to instruct Daniel on the proper pronouns to use. Petite face framed by a neatly trimmed beard, muscular legs exposed under a pink, knee length skirt, bra straps visible under the sleeve of their tank top, Vietnam-born Lành was like no one Daniel had ever met.

“Mr. Nieto.” Stopping abruptly, their brow furrowed. “Sir, what—”

“All is well.” He glanced over to the woman on the bed. “How is she?”

“Resting.” Lành’s focus had switched to Stavros and their brow furrowed. “She’s calm today, sir.”

“Good.” He nodded to Lành. “This is Stavros Konstantinou. You can trust him.”

“Of course, sir.” They sounded like Charlie, cautious and skeptical.

Daniel bit back a smile. “Diablo.” He tugged Stavros forward. “This is my mother.” He gestured to the woman curled onto her left side on the bed. “Anna-Maria Nieto.” He watched Stavros take in the woman on the bed before he turned back to Daniel.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Alzheimer’s.” Daniel faced the bed, releasing Stavros’ hand to stride closer and stare down at her face. She looked peaceful with her eyes closed, hair brushed away from her face and secured at her nape. “Her mind—” He swallowed. “It’s going.”

Sometimes her mind left. Sometimes it returned, and sometimes he wished it didn’t.

“She’s been fed,” Lành said from behind him. “Medication taken.” They hesitated. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Daniel nodded without looking away from his mother. “Lành. Gracias.”

“Of course, sir.” Soft footsteps then the door closed, leaving them alone.

Stavros came to him, his presence at Daniel’s side somehow easing him.

“She’s beautiful.” Stavros’ shoulder brushed Daniel’s. “Delicate.”

Daniel nodded. “But so strong.” He turned to Stavros then. “She’s leaving me, diablo. Bit by bit. Memory by memory.”

“How long?” Stavros asked.

“Years.” Years of them dismissing the small, almost insignificant symptoms. Until they couldn’t anymore. “But she’s declined rapidly the past two years.”

“This is where you’ve been.” Stavros gestured to the bed. “When everyone thought you’d gone underground, you were here, taking care of her.”

“Sí.” Daniel walked around the bed, and climbed on, shoes and all, lying next to his sleeping mother. Hands folded atop his stomach. Stavros watched him intently, eyes soft and sad. “Sit, diablo.” He pointed to one of the armchairs over in the corner. “Stay with me.”

An indulgent smile creased Stavros’ face as he pulled the chair close and sat, right ankle propped on his left knee. “You know I’m going nowhere.”

“Do I?”

“Yes.”

It was Daniel’s turn to smile, caught in the open challenge of Stavros’ gaze. Until the bed shifted. The smile fell away, his gaze too as Daniel turned his head toward the woman beside him.

Her eyes were open, clouded with sleep and an emptiness he immediately dreaded. He faced her on his side, their heads side by side on the pillow. “Hola, mamá.”

Her brow wrinkled, and she touched him tentatively, a finger across his cheek. Her lips moved as she struggled to speak. “Who— Who?”

He smiled, even though that gesture was far too tight. Too brittle to really be classified as a smile. He also made sure to keep his voice calm and even. “I am Daniel. You are mi mamá.”

Her wide eyes flitted over to him, and in her confused gaze he saw Levi. He saw Antonio. She tried to speak again, but when only jumbled sounds escaped, tears streamed down her face.

“Ah, mamá. It’s okay.” Daniel sat up with her, touching her fragile wrist. “It is okay.”

“Ma-Ma,” she muttered urgently. “Mamá. Mamá.”

“Sí.” He hugged her close then, arms wrapped around her skinny shoulders. “Sí, that is what you are. My mother.” Emotion twisted his voice into a grating rasp. Stavros touched his leg, rubbing slightly.

Her tears, they fell harder, faster, dripping onto his arm. They ripped him open, every drop. He closed his eyes, trapping his own wet sorrow as he started to sing. An old song he’d heard her hum countless times around the house as he grew up. A song about finding the strength to move on after the loss of a loved one.

A song about bravery.

He sang it to her as his mother cried in his arms. Stavros’ grip on his leg tightened and remained on him, keeping Daniel tethered amidst the maelstrom of helplessness and useless anger that soured his gut.

At the end, he kissed her forehead. “Hush, mamá. You are safe.” Daniel clung to her when she tried to yank away from him. “You are safe. All is well.” Losing someone in stages, there could be no other pain like it. The drowning helplessness, nothing as debilitating as that.

One hand wrapped around her, he motioned to Stavros to get the brush sitting on her dresser. Then Daniel brushed his mother’s hair.

She sighed, closed her eyes, and settled with her head in his lap.

He brushed her hair with Stavros next to him, offering up silent strength.

He brushed her hair with trembling hands, trying to be in the moment. Knowing their time was limited. Her deterioration had accelerated. That knowledge froze his movements, and he stared down at his hands.

At his white knuckles clenching the handle of the brush.

Stavros touched him, nudging Daniel’s hand out of the way. And his lover took over where Daniel couldn’t anymore.

Stavros brushed her hair, his head bent slightly in concentration. Gentle. Respectful. He brushed her hair, and Daniel’s broken heart knitted itself together at that sight.

She fell asleep finally. Stavros stopped, putting the brush aside while Daniel settled her back onto the pillows and pulled the covers up over her.

Then he got off the bed and stared down at her. Stavros next to him, his lover’s thumb rubbing the fist Daniel made.

“Come.” Stavros tugged on him, and Daniel followed him past the wheelchair in the corner, out the room, and out onto the screened-in porch next door to his mother’s suite.

“Daniel.” The sadness in Stavros eyes. In his voice, propelled Daniel into his lover’s embrace.

He buried his face in Stavros’ neck. Holding on tight as he fell apart. He’d been watching his mother disappear before his eyes for the past few years, helpless to do anything to stop it. The medication. The doctors. There was nothing to be done except prolong the inevitable.

“What do you need?” Stavros asked against his neck. “What do you need me to do?”

Need. He’d tried harder than most to not need anything ever since Petra died. Need was a bone-deep thing. Need made the strongest of men weak. Need could get you killed.

“I need you.” He pulled away to look into Stavros’ eyes. “I need you, diablo.”

Stavros’ mouth opened. Then closed. A muscle in his jaw jumped. Then he opened his mouth again. “I meant for your mother.”

“I know.” Daniel nodded. “But the answer remains the same.” He pulled away from Stavros to take a seat in one of the chairs—white wicker with green cushions. Green was his mother’s favorite color. He waited until Stavros sat opposite him before he spoke again. Before he confessed, “I’m not all right.” He would never be all right with being this helpless, with watching his mother fade.

Stavros’ eyes flashed and he dropped to his knees in front of Daniel. “It doesn’t fucking matter. I’ll be here when you’re all right. And especially when you’re not.”

There really shouldn’t be anything to smile about in this situation. Nothing to be happy about. Except there was. The man on his knees with fire and promise in his eyes. He made Daniel smile when there’d been nothing to smile over in so many years. He made Daniel happy even in the midst of bleak despair.

“How do you do that?” Daniel asked softly.

Stavros’ brow wrinkled. “Do what?”

“Make me happy.” Daniel cupped his face, brushing his thumb along Stavros’ jaw. “How do you make the darkness bearable?”

“I don’t know, but I’m glad I do.” Eyes closed, Stavros turned his face into Daniel’s palm, pressing his lips there. “You deserve—”

“You. That is what I deserve, diablo.”

Stavros’ lashes lifted. “Then take what you deserve.”

Daniel bent, forehead against Stavros. “I want to share my mother with you, and everything else.” He was watching closely, so he saw the slight widening of Stavros’ eyes.

“You want to share a life.”

“I do.” Daniel licked his lips. “I know commitment and monogamy aren’t things you’re familiar with.” His fingers tightened on Stavros’ face. “I don’t expect—”

“Expect.” Stavros grabbed Daniel’s hand, bringing it to the middle of his chest. Holding him there in the tightest grip. “You brought me here. You let me see you. You damn well better expect things from me,” he said fiercely, gaze hot and heavy as the midday sun. “Expect things from me.”

“Diablo.”

“Expect me to love you like you love me.” He shifted closer, settling between Daniel’s legs. “Expect me to respect you enough to do right by you,” he said hoarsely. “For once, fucking expect me to take care of your heart.”

Between Daniel’s legs, he trembled. “Hush.” Daniel smoothed a hand over Stavros’ head and cupped his nape to tilt his head back. “Stavros.”

“No.” Stavros shook off his hold. “Tell me.” He fisted the front of Daniel’s shirt. “Tell me what you expect from me.”

Daniel kissed him, lips pressed to Stavros’ trembling mouth. He kissed him hard. Quick. Then soft and slow, coaxing Stavros open, sinking inside with a moan. Coming home, he always felt like coming home.

Warm and inviting.

His taste was tailored specifically for Daniel. Wet and wild. Dark and intriguing. Carnal and addictive.

“I expect you to love me like I love you,” he whispered into that kiss. “I expect you to do right by me, because I will do right by you.” Stavros shuddered. His grip on Daniel faltered. “I expect you to take care of my heart, diablo, because I will take care of yours.”

“Yes.” Stavros sighed into his mouth. “Yes.” He lurched forward, taking Daniel’s mouth again. Pushing his way inside, tongue shoving deep.

Daniel grunted, tugging on his hair.

Falling all over again.

Drowning.

Willingly.

Stavros broke away first, staring up at Daniel with wet lips and wide searching eyes. “I’ve always been a selfish man.” He cleared away the hoarseness from his throat. “That will not change, Daniel.”

Daniel smiled at that warning. “I’ve seen your selfish side, diablo. I like it.” In truth, they were both selfish men, which made them ideal for each other.

“I can’t believe you forgive me.”

Daniel shook his head. “That wasn’t a selfless gesture, Stavros. I had nothing, and then I had you. You have become everything, diablo. And to accept that gift, I had to forgive. But I can only give forgiveness. Redemption is yours.” He placed his hand over Stavros’ heart. “Redemption starts here.”

Stavros glanced toward the door leading back to Anna-Maria’s bedroom. “This road, this journey with your mother, I want to be there with you. For you.”

“I want that, too.”

Stavros squinted. “You’ve been doing it alone? What about—”

“It’s been a very long journey. Antonio knew. And Petra. But no one else.”

“Levi?”

Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face. He struggled with this for so long. “He doesn’t know she’s alive.”

Stavros stiffened. “Explain.”

So Daniel did, telling Stavros about the circumstances surrounding Levi’s birth and his life away from the Nieto life.

“Shit.” Stavros rocked back on his haunches. “And all this time you haven’t told Levi?”

“Believe it or not, I don’t know what to say. And is it fair to either of them?” Daniel asked the questions he’d been asking himself for years. “She doesn’t have her faculties. She won’t know him. How do I do that to him?”

Stavros got up from his knees and retook his seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “I would want to know.”

Daniel watched him as emotions played across his face.

“My mother, you know she died giving birth to me.”

Daniel touched Stavros’ folded hands. “I know.”

“Growing up without her, that was…hard. There was something missing that my father could never fix. At least, he didn’t try. If I could have her for one day…” He fisted his hands. “If I could hug her just once, tell her I love her—” His voice broke as he met Daniel’s gaze with red-rimmed eyes. “I would want that one day. That one hug. That one moment.”

Daniel squeezed his hand. “You think I should tell Levi.”

“Yes.”

Selfishly, he was relieved that someone made the decisions for him. “Then I will.”

Stavros cocked his head. “Yeah?”

“Sí, and you’ll come with me to Seattle.”

His lover grinned, mischief dancing once again in the depths of his eyes. “You know, Donovan Cintron is kinda the shoot first, ask questions later type, right?”

Daniel returned his grin with one of his own. “You should have thought of that before you kidnapped his husband.”

“You know me.” Stavros opened his hand, palms flat against Daniel’s, linking their fingers. “I live for danger.”