I heard the car coming up the driveway as I was leaving the bathroom. I’d ended up sleeping through the alarm I’d set, which was extremely unusual for me. Of course, I’d never had the pleasure of sleeping with Aleks before, so I couldn’t exactly be upset about it. But oversleeping meant I hadn’t been able to enjoy the sensation of just lying there with Aleks in my arms. I would have expected him to move away from me at some point during the night, but he’d been wrapped around me like a vine. Fortunately, my body hadn’t had too much time to react to that fact other than my normal morning erection. But as soon as I’d awoken to Aleks’s soft breath against my neck and his fingers pressed into my side, my dick had responded accordingly.

The night before had been both a near disaster and a nightmare. The nightmare had come first. Aleks hadn’t spoken to me most of the previous day as we’d made our way south and he’d refused to eat or drink anything. When we’d gotten to our destination, he’d been so exhausted he’d been on autopilot and he’d been out cold within seconds of his head hitting the pillow. I’d actually had to take his shoes off. It’d still been pretty early, so I’d gone to the kitchen to eat the sandwich I’d bought for myself from the gas station, though I hadn’t been particularly hungry. I’d also returned a couple of phone calls to some sick fucks who were in the market for “protection,” but I hadn’t done more than tell the assholes I wasn’t currently available. In a world like mine, that just made me more attractive and coveted. Even if I hadn’t been dealing with the situation with Aleks, my answer would have been the same. By being seemingly unavailable, my reputation actually strengthened because the assholes were making up their own reasons for what I was up to. As far as they were concerned, I was getting rid of witnesses or rivals for whatever degenerate I was working for. Little did they know it was all smoke and mirrors and it’d all been carefully constructed to catch a much bigger fish than any of them.

But all that was in jeopardy now because I needed to make sure Aleks was safe first.

I asked him to call me James…

What the fuck had I been thinking?

About any of it?

I hadn’t been thinking and fuck if that hadn’t been amazing. I’d just been feeling.

Just.

I almost laughed at that because that word made it seem like such a simple thing.

After the nightmare of Aleks once again hating me, I’d woken up to my dream come true because Aleks had been touching me and he hadn’t seemed scared. Then it had been a near disaster because I’d almost kissed him.

I’d only managed to come to my senses at the last second. Then I’d gotten all vulnerable and needy and asked him to call me by my first name.

No one ever called me James.

The last and only person had been my stepmother and that had been a lifetime ago.

I’d always been Vaughn… just Vaughn.

I sighed as I tucked my gun into the waistband of my pants. I needed to get this thing with Aleks under control. He wasn’t in any position to deal with any of this. I’d only ended up in the bed with him again because he’d had another nightmare. I’d managed to get him to drink some chocolate milk that I’d bought him from the gas station and then he’d fallen back asleep. I’d stayed in the bed to work on my computer for a bit until I was sure he was okay, but instead of going to sleep in one of the other rooms, I’d fallen asleep myself.

And woken up to Aleks’s gentle touch.

I was just entering the kitchen when the side door opened. I felt relief at the sight of the man who entered, but as soon as I saw who was behind him, I drew my gun and pointed it at both men. The betrayal sliced through me like a knife, but I didn’t have time to focus on any of that because I knew they wouldn’t be alone.

“Hey, hold up,” Con said as he put his hands up. My friend had his long black hair pulled back like he normally did and I could see bruises on his face from his most recent match. But I wasn’t interested in him. It was the other man that I pointed the gun at. “We’re just here to talk,” Con said.

“Is that so?” I asked coldly as I tracked the moves of the man behind Con. His eyes were dark with anger and his expression was pulled into the familiar frown that had become his new normal in the past eight years. “Is that what your men were doing in Seattle?” I asked him, ignoring Con in the process. “They were there to just talk to Aleks?”

“Don’t act like I’m the one who betrayed you in all this,” he responded, his voice ice cold.

“Luca,” Con said as he stepped between us. Not surprisingly, Luca was completely lacking in concern when it came to the gun I had pointed at him. To me Con said, “Vaughn, it’s just me and him. I made sure he left his phone in Vegas and I’ve been with him ever since. He’s not armed, and he hasn’t been able to call anyone and didn’t know why we were coming here until we were in the driveway and I told him.”

“And I’m supposed to just believe that?” I asked.

“Yes, you are,” Con responded tightly. “Because you called me for help, remember? Because you knew you could come to me out of everyone!”

“And this is how you help? You bring him here? You bring him straight to Aleks? Did he even tell you what his plans for Aleks were?” I snarled.

“He doesn’t need to!” Con snapped. “Because I know him and I know you and I know this is not what you’re about!” He waved at the combative stances Luca and I had each taken and I felt a sting of regret along with my fury.

Luca suddenly pushed past Con and walked right up to me, putting his chest against the gun. “You started this when you fucking lied to me and chose him over your own blood!”

I dropped the gun and punched Luca. He didn’t go down but he did stumble backward. He didn’t look overly surprised that I’d hit him.

“And you knew he was off-limits! I never asked for one goddamned thing from you, Luca! Not once in the eight years I’ve been doing this! All you had to do was leave him the fuck out of it!”

I didn’t try to avoid Luca’s fist. Not surprisingly, Con didn’t intervene. It wasn’t what any of us wanted. As close as Luca and I had always been, sometimes we’d resorted to making our point with our fists.

“Don’t act like I forced you into any of this!” he bit out. “Two years, Vaughn! Two years you’ve been lying to me! And who’s paid for that, huh?” he spat. “My son, that’s who!” Luca took another swing at me but this time Con got between us and shoved Luca back. “Every day you protected that boy was another day my child suffered! Was he really such a good fuck that—”

I was on Luca before he could finish the question. By the time Con managed to pull me off, Luca and I were both bleeding. I’d dropped my gun in the melee, but despite what Luca had done, he and I both knew I wouldn’t use it on him.

“We’re no longer brothers!” I said softly. To Con I said, “Get him out of here.”

“So you would just abandon your own nephew?” Luca asked as he wiped his face on his sleeve. He sounded uncharacteristically uncertain. He was one of the strongest, most ruthless men I knew, but I almost didn’t recognize him in that moment.

“No, you asshole,” I responded. “I’ll find Gio no matter what it takes. But I’m not sacrificing Aleks or any other victim to do it! But when we get your son home, you and I are through!”

I looked at Con and said, “I hope trying to play peacemaker was worth it.”

“Vaughn,” Con began, but I turned away.

“Get out,” I said quietly, then headed for the entrance so I could go upstairs and get Aleks. We needed to get the hell out of there before Luca could find a way to get reinforcements.

But I didn’t need to head upstairs to find Aleks.

Because he was standing in stunned silence in the entryway to the kitchen. And I knew instantly that he’d heard everything.