Three months later…

Mark and Damien were spending a lazy Friday morning in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, the television was playing in the background. After a lot of long, challenging weeks, things were finally starting to settle down, and Mark was starting to remember what normal was like.

Normal was not worrying about being tied up and plugged with an electric dildo for displeasing Angelo. Normal was not being disciplined at all. Normal was talking through your problems instead of beating one another’s ass to establish a pecking order. Normal was… boring, though Mark would never have admitted that to himself, much less to Damien who had asked him to move in with him shortly after securing Mark’s release in return for his testimony against Angelo Vitali.

With nowhere else to go, Mark had readily agreed and they’d fallen into a new version of their old affair, their passion for one another finally unleashed in the open. Whatever Damien did, he was keeping it quiet. Sometimes he’d disappear for a few days, but he always came back horny as hell and ready to renew their affections.

As for what he’d had to say and do to get out of jail, betraying the man he loved was not easy for Mark. His attachment to Angelo ran deep. Deeper than Damien could really understand, but he’d had no choice. If it was a matter of spending the rest of his life in solitary confinement or sending Angelo down, self-preservation had to win.

A sleek looking blonde read the news as they dozed together, limbs entwined in muscular yet tender embrace.

Angelo Vitali was sentenced to life in prison today for his involvement in over a hundred different criminal cases. The judge called his offenses vicious, calculated and subversive when handing down the ruling which will see the Manhattan businessman serving five consecutive life sentences.

Mark didn’t move as he heard the news. He stayed still, a slight misting in his eyes quickly blinked away. Damien would expect him to celebrate this news. Everything was supposed to be better now that Angelo was going to be behind bars, but Mark wasn’t as happy as he should have been. For one, Bobby was missing. He’d been released early in the process and just fucking disappeared. Mark was worried about him. Bobby was young, and he needed guidance in order for his worst impulses not to take over.

Life after Angelo was strange. It was better in so many ways. Mark loved Damien deeply. The guy was his soulmate, the one who had never forgotten about him - the one man who had been prepared to go to the ends of the earth to drag his ass from the devil’s den - but there was something missing with Damien. Mark didn’t like to think about it too much. He preferred to remind himself that he was happy, and he was free, and he no longer had to worry about being thrown in prison for the rest of his life. Maybe one day, that would be enough.

“It’s over,” Damien murmured against the back of Mark’s neck. “I told you it would be.

“It’s really not.”

It wasn’t Mark who responded. Both men startled in bed, jumping under the sheets to see someone standing in the doorway of their bedroom. Someone familiar, clad in a black leather jacket and dark jeans, dark eyes shining with malevolence.

Oh thank god! Bobby.

“You forgot about me?”

“How the hell did you get in?” Damien swore the question.

“Bobby gets in wherever he wants to be,” Mark said. “Hey Bobby, come on over here.”

“Come on over there? I’m here to kill you.”

“No you’re not,” Mark snorted. “Get your ass over here, boy.” He patted the bed, as both Damien and Bobby looked at him with doubtful expressions.

“Uh… Mark?” Damien cleared his throat.

“I’ve been with Bobby for a year,” Mark said. “He has a place with me. Always will.”

Damien nodded slowly. “Uh, well, I guess we’re going to have to talk…”

“Nothing to talk about, asshole,” Bobby said as he strode over. “I’ve had him more than you have.”

“It’s not a competition” Mark snorted, grabbing the younger man up. He hugged Bobby tight, yanking him down on the bed with him. Three in the bed just felt right. Bobby squirmed and cursed at first, but he settled down soon enough and actually let Mark hug him.

Meanwhile, Damien looked on with a bemused expression. Mark didn’t know if Damien would be alright with Bobby being around, but it wasn’t really negotiable in Mark’s mind. Bobby was family.

“Where have you been?”

“Just doing stuff,” Bobby sat up and tried to un-mess his hair.

“Uh huh. Well I want you doing stuff here from now on,” Mark said. “There’s a spare bedroom here.”

“So we’re just not going to talk about this at all?” Damien raised a brow.

“No.” Bobby and Mark spoke in chorus.

“Uh huh, so this is what I get for being with a gangster,” Damien smirked, his face relaxing as he accepted his fate. Mark had known he would. Damien was too good a man to leave one of Angelo’s victims out in the cold.

“One rule,” Mark said. “Well, more than one, but one very important one. Bobby, you are NOT allowed to try to kill either of us, alright? Hard limit.”

“I should though. You betrayed Angelo.”

“Angelo betrayed me first.”

“Yeah,” Bobby agreed. “He did. I told him it was a dick move.”

“I bet that went down well.”

“He couldn’t do anything to me. He was behind a perspex screen. He looks fucking great in orange.” Bobby let out a little giggle. “He really doesn’t like being in jail.”

“Oh I bet,” Mark smiled.

Bobby had escaped all charges, mostly because the prosecutor had decided he’d get more mileage out of painting Bobby as a victim than as an associate. Angelo had been in jail for quite some time before heading to prison. He was classified as a flight risk and all the money in the world hadn’t made the judge willing to grant bail.

“I’m glad you came,” Mark said. “I’ve been worried about you.”

“No need to worry about me,” Bobby smirked. “I just had some stuff to do, a few things Angelo never let me do.”

“Well,” Damien said, sliding out of the bed. “I think this calls for pancakes.”

“Mmm,” Mark agreed. “Sounds yum!”

He sauntered off to the kitchen, leaving Bobby and Mark alone, Bobby sitting on the bed with a cynical expression on his handsome face.

“Do you ever get sick of being with Rainbow Bright over there?”

“Rainbow Bright?” Mark snorted.

“Let’s make pancakes, guys!” Bobby put on a high pitched voice and a goofy grin. “I’m so wholesome I’m sickening.”

“He’s not that wholesome,” Mark said, picking up a pillow and banging Bobby over the head. “And you know I’m not. Come on. Let’s go see your new room.”

“Oh boy! Can I paint it whatever color I want, dad?”

Mark chuckled and cuffed Bobby around the ear. It was good to have the little shit back.