“The key is using stone-ground grits and if you have the time, put them in a slow cooker,” Magnus said as he held up a bag of grits. I nodded in agreement.

“You writing this down, son?” the man asked as he looked pointedly at the piece of paper and pen in front of me.

The ones Magnus had put there as soon as I’d sat down at the kitchen island.

“Oh, um, yeah, sorry,” I said as I rubbed at my eyes and grabbed the pen. I knew Magnus wasn’t actually that much older than me, so calling me “son” probably wasn’t an age thing, but it sure as shit was an indirect reminder that he loved Aleks like a son, not just a future brother-in-law.

I somehow managed to listen and take notes as Magnus got the grits in the slow cooker, but I was more than a little bit happy when he said the things needed to cook for several hours.

It was early Sunday morning and we’d been back in Seattle for just over thirty-six hours. Things had gone down exactly as Ronan had said they would after we’d left the party. I’d seen proof of that for myself on the morning news when we’d landed in Seattle.

Not only had the cops raided a building based on an “anonymous” tip and found nearly twenty men tied up with flash drives containing evidence of their crimes stuffed in their mouths, a whole passel of kids had been brought in by a couple of men who’d claimed to have found the children just outside the Emergency Room doors. Those same men had magically disappeared during the commotion of the kids being treated and the cops still hadn’t been able to find them or whoever had left the gift of twenty perverts bound and gagged for the police to find.

Since learning Gio was alive, we’d all been eager to get to Seattle, and while Luca could have made arrangements for us to fly there on one of his private jets, we’d been too shell-shocked by the news of Gio to do anything but agree to fly to the Emerald City on one of Ronan’s planes. Several of the men Ronan had introduced us to that night at the party had been on the plane with us, but two had been notably absent and that had made me very happy.

Vincent, the so-called interrogator.

And Dante.

And no, I hadn’t been happy Dante hadn’t been on the flight to annoy the ever-loving fuck out of me. I’d been happy he hadn’t been on there because it meant he’d been dealing with Brian. And if Dante had had Vincent with him, it meant Brian had probably felt some pain before he’d died.

Well, a lot of pain.

And since Dante hadn’t actually needed any information from him, the only end-game would have been to make Brian feel every one of the things Aleks had felt when Brian had hurt him. Oh, and of course, Dante’s need for blood.

Aleks had been upset to learn his brother wouldn’t be flying home with us, but he hadn’t asked why, since he’d probably known himself why his brother had stayed behind. Magnus and Ronan had returned with us and while Aleks had slept against me, Ronan had used the time to talk to me and Luca more about Gio. King and Con had stayed behind in New York to monitor the fallout from the party and to make sure Luca’s name didn’t come up in the investigation, something Ronan had assured us wouldn’t happen.

As grateful as I was to the guy, I was still struggling to accept the power and resources he seemed to have access to. Maybe once I saw Gio for myself, that would change. I just couldn’t relate the little boy I’d known to the tormented young man Ronan had described.

But if what he was saying about Luca’s son was true, bringing Gio back to us had gotten a lot more complicated. Because it didn’t just sound like Gio had been sticking to certain behaviors like Aleks had when he’d been rescued… it sounded like Gio had been brainwashed into believing he really was married to the man who’d purchased him like he was some prize-winning steer. I’d already seen the damage a manipulator like Brian could do after just a couple of years. If this guy had had Gio the entire time, the damage to his mental health would be extreme.

“Here,” Magnus said as he pulled my coffee cup toward him and filled it up again.

“Thanks,” I murmured.

“Go get a few more hours of sleep,” Magnus suggested. “They probably won’t be up for a while yet… they were talking pretty late last night.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything and I didn’t get up to go back to Aleks’s room.

Magnus chuckled. “Yep, you’ve got it bad already if you can’t sleep without him beside you.” Magnus filled his own cup. “Been there, done that – last night, actually.”

I smiled at that. I’d figured Magnus would be kicked out of his and Dante’s bedroom while Aleks and Dante had “the talk” Aleks had insisted on the second Dante had gotten back home the previous day, but I hadn’t realized the man hadn’t been allowed to sleep in his own bed.

“Do you know if Aleks ate?” I asked. “He’s just now starting to eat when he’s hungry rather than waiting until his alarm reminds him to.”

“I took them both some food before I went to bed… in the guest room,” Magnus said. “They were under the covers just talking. The guest room is next to ours so I could hear them throughout the night… there was lots of laughter… some tears too,” Magnus added solemnly. “But when I just looked in on them, they were both asleep.”

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee.

“You and Luca going to check on Gio today?”

“The doctor thinks today might be a good day for Gio to see Luca. I guess the medication they’ve put him on is supposed to start kicking in and calming him down without knocking him out, you know?”

“Yeah,” Magnus said with a sigh. “Just tell your brother… just tell him that no matter what he sees today, his kid’s still in there.”

The confirmation that the boy in the hospital was, in fact, Gio, had come in the night before. The second we’d landed in Seattle, Ronan had taken some blood from Luca for a DNA test. He’d already had a lab waiting to run the results, something I suspected the wealthy surgeon had paid quite a bit for. We’d had the results that the boy was Luca’s son in less than twenty-four hours.

But Luca had known just by looking at his picture that the boy who now called himself Nick was his child. He hadn’t doubted it for even a second. And he believed that as soon as Gio saw him, this nightmare would end.

I wasn’t so certain.

I’d seen the results of long-term mental torture for myself. Yes, Gio was a fighter, but he’d been programmed to believe something and that was what he would probably fight for first. Like Aleks, at some point after he’d been taken, his brain had made the switch from needing to fight back and escape to needing to do whatever was necessary to survive.

I downed the rest of my coffee and pushed the cup away. Magnus took it, then said, “Can I fix you something while we wait for the grits?”

I shook my head.

“When was the last time you ate?”

The question came from Aleks and it actually felt like a balm on my soul. All the stuff with Gio was still there, but it ducked behind the shadows for now so that I could take pleasure in having the man I loved back in my arms.

Aleks’s fingers slid up my back and along the nape of my neck as he sat down next to me. He turned my head so I was looking at him.

“Not sure,” I admitted.

“Grits will be a while,” Magnus said with a wink.

“Magnus, do we have any cereal with the tricky rabbit on it?” Aleks asked.

“No, but I know who does,” Magnus returned. “Let me make a call.”

Magnus stepped out of the kitchen and I used the opportunity to pull Aleks to me and kiss him deeply. He moaned under the onslaught and then tried to crawl into my lap. Someone clearing their throat had us separating.

Dante was standing in the kitchen, his hard eyes on us. “Aleks, I think we need to talk about some rules when it comes to having your… friend… over.”

“Boyfriend,” Aleks slowly corrected as he eyed his brother suspiciously. I was glad that there was nothing meek or nervous in his manner. I also liked that he was still touching me.

“Like maybe when you have a friend in your bedroom, you leave the door open.”

“Do you mean all my friends, like Caleb and Remy, or my naked sex friends, like Vaughn?”

I had to give Aleks credit because his timing was stellar. Dante had just taken a sip of coffee when Aleks said the words “naked sex.” Dante choked and then spit out the hot coffee. “Because I closed the door when Vaughn and I got home the first night. We were naked but we were too tired for sex.”

I laughed as Dante glared at his brother. Whatever the pair had talked about the night before seemed to have given Aleks a newfound sense of freedom. He began trailing his fingers up and down my arm as he continued with, “So I should leave the door open when Vaughn and I want to have naked sex, but close it all the other times?”

“One trickster rabbit cereal coming up,” Magnus announced as he returned to the kitchen. He patted Dante’s back. “What’s got you looking so surly this morning, MawMaw?” he asked.

Dante ignored the nickname and went to clean up the coffee he’d spit out. “I was just telling your future brother-in-law that we need to come up with a few ground rules if his fri—”

“Boyfriend,” Aleks smoothly interjected.

“…if his boyfriend” – Dante swallowed as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth – “is going to be staying with us.”

“What kind of rules?” Magnus asked. He winked at me and Aleks from behind Dante’s back.

“Like no more closing his door when he and Vaughn are in there,” Dante said, sounding proud of himself for how reasonable he’d made the request sound.

“I think that’s actually a good idea,” Magnus said.

“You do?” Dante asked in surprise as he watched his fiancé pull out a container of milk from the fridge, then go search for some bowls and spoons.

“Yeah,” Magnus said, looking at Dante like he was crazy. “Aleks’s bedroom door doesn’t have a lock on it.” He looked pointedly at me and Aleks. “Use the bathroom on the second floor. It’s big and has a lock. It’s also pretty soundproof.”

“Um, no, it isn’t,” Aleks interjected as he eyed his brother briefly before shooting Magnus a grin. “And thanks, that’s a great idea. Come on, Vaughn, let me show it to you.”

“Nope, nope, nope,” Dante said as he came around the island and stood in front of his brother. “Okay, okay, you win. You can close your door when Vaughn is in there with you. Just… just stay out of that bathroom. You’ll just ruin it for us—” Dante said. “Me,” he quickly corrected as he realized he’d pretty much just confirmed what he and Magnus really used that bathroom for.

Aleks laughed and hugged his brother. I returned to the island to sit down and watched as Aleks nudged Dante a few times, then motioned silently to Magnus with his eyes. I had no idea what was going on until Dante blurted, “I picked a date!”

Magnus stilled and looked up from where he’d been wiping down the counter.

“What?” The older man had a weird mix of surprise and hope in his expression.

Dante went around the island. “I know what day I want to marry you.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Dante,” Magnus whispered in a rare show of distress.

Dante’s eyes softened as he stepped up to Magnus and gently grabbed his face. “I’m not, baby. I swear, I’m not.” Dante looked at Aleks briefly. “I’m sorry I’ve been so… so…”

“Stubborn,” Aleks softly supplied as he moved back to my side and took my hand. Dante actually nodded, which led me to believe this topic had been one of probably many the brothers had discussed the night before.

“Yeah, stubborn. I’m sorry I’ve been so stubborn about committing to a date, but I just, I was trying to give you enough time to back out.”

“Two years, Dante,” Magnus growled as he closed his hands around Dante’s wrists. But I could tell the man wasn’t actually angry. “I’ve spent the last two years learning who you are, inside and out. And all it’s done is make me love you even more. Whatever flaws you’re waiting for me to see, I assure you, they don’t exist.”

“They’re in my head,” Dante acknowledged. “But here… here is where I know I’m enough for you.” He pointed to his chest, much like Aleks had the night of the party. “I’m not sure my head will ever catch up,” he said softly. His vulnerability was almost painful to watch, but it made him so much more human to me. And it was proof that Aleks’s brother and I had a lot more in common than I ever would have guessed.

“It will, Dante,” Magnus said with a sigh. “But even if it doesn’t, I’m going to have the best time reminding you that you’re not just dessert.”

Dante let out a wet-sounding laugh at that. Aleks and I looked at one another because the statement made no sense to us.

But then again, it probably shouldn’t.

Aleks and I had him liking my grits the best, these two men had a strange obsession with dessert…

“So when?” Magnus asked as he put space between his and Dante’s bodies.

“Um, now?” Dante said. He glanced at his watch. “Well, in half an hour, anyway. The father or reverend or whatever he is is on his way. He’s got to be back at his church by nine. It’s Father O, remember? He runs that church that Levi and Phoenix volunteer for and Mav and Eli got married at.”

“We’re getting married today?” Magnus asked.

“I know it’s crazy, Magnus. It’s not that I want to get it over with or anything, but I want it to be just us and our immediate family for the ceremony. We can go to the courthouse tomorrow and make it official and then maybe have a party at some point—”

Magnus kissed Dante to shut him up. I put my arm around Aleks as he leaned into me. I could feel the happiness radiating off him in waves.

“We got it, Pop-pop,” I heard someone call as the front door flew open behind us. Three little boys along with a big yellow dog ran into the kitchen, and I quickly tucked my gun into the waistband of my pants and covered it with my shirt so the kids wouldn’t see the weapon. Magnus shot me a grateful smile.

One of the taller of the three boys was carrying a box of cereal and I smiled when I recognized what it was.

“Here, Aleks,” the boy said as he shoved the cereal at him. “Pop-pop says you like Trix.”

“Thanks, Matty,” Aleks said as he leaned down to hug the little boy. I saw two men come through the door and I could see the tell-tale sign of a gun at the larger man’s back when he shut the door behind him. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew who he was just the same.

“Matty’s fathers,” Aleks whispered to me. “Hawke,” he nodded at the bigger man with the gun. “And Tate.”

“Hi,” Tate said as he reached out to shake my hand. “You must be Vaughn.”

“I am,” I said. I shook his hand, then Hawke’s, then looked at the three boys who were all watching me with curiosity.

“You’ve got lots of hair on your face,” the boy in the middle said. He was as tall as Matty but had black hair, whereas Matty’s was brown.

“And you have no pants,” I said. “You must be Leo.”

The kid looked down at his underwear that had some kind of superhero I didn’t recognize on it. “We had to get here fast because Pop-pop said Aleks was hungry,” Leo said as he eyed me like his comment should make perfect sense to me.

I chuckled and said, “Got it.” I looked at Matty. “So, you’re Matty. That must make you” – I looked at the smallest boy who looked like he was a couple years younger than the other boys – “Jamie.”

Jamie nodded but remained silent.

“Guys, this is Vaughn,” Aleks said.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Matty asked.

“No—” Dante said.

“Yes—” I responded at the same exact time, not bothering to look at Dante.

“Matty,” Magnus called. “Guess what MawMaw and I are doing today.”

Leo suddenly whispered something into Matty’s ear. Matty nodded and spouted, “Cleaning the bathroom again?”

Aleks, Hawke, Tate, and I all burst into laughter as we looked at the two men on the other side of the kitchen island.

Magnus looked at a flushed-looking Dante. “I guess our secret’s out, babe.”

“Jesus,” Dante muttered, then he went around the island and knelt down in front of Matty and his little friends. “No, your Pop-pop and I are getting married.”

“Can we throw your flowers?” Leo asked excitedly.

“Oh, well, we don’t actually have any flowers,” Dante said as he looked around the room.

“We can use this, MawMaw,” Matty said as he grabbed the box of cereal.

“Sounds like a plan,” Magnus said. “But Leo, buddy, you’re gonna need to wear pants for the wedding. Isn’t that your dads’ rule?”

Leo’s face fell, but Matty grabbed his arm. “I’ve got my Captain America pajamas here!” he exclaimed and then all three boys were off like a shot.

“Hey, this cereal doesn’t have any fruit and flower shapes,” Aleks said as he studied the bright red box of cereal.

“The company discontinued the shapes last fall,” Hawke said as he went in search of coffee.

“I’m not going to ask how you know that,” Dante murmured.

“Well, MawMaw, when you have your own kids, you’ll get to deal with that day when your child discovers that his favorite cereal looks different and even though you try to explain that the taste is the same, you feel so damn bad that you decide to do something about it.”

“What’d you do?” Dante asked. “Threaten the company or something?” he asked jokingly.

“We got a letter from the company’s lawyer politely asking us to never contact them again,” Tate said as he patted Aleks on the shoulder and then went around the island to get his own coffee. Then he was hugging Magnus. “Congrats, you two.”

Then it was Hawke’s turn. “I need a best man,” Magnus told him.

Something warm passed between the two men that I didn’t quite understand. But it had Hawke smiling and patting Magnus on the back.

“A lawyer?” Dante asked. “What exactly did you say, Hawke?”

“Nothing, MawMaw,” Hawke drawled.

Dante shot him the bird at the nickname.

The behavior seemed par for the course for this group. It reminded me of my own family.

“Hmmm, does taste the same,” Aleks said. “Wonder why the cereal Con gave me looked different?”

“We use that house as a safe house. Con keeps it stocked with nonperishable stuff. The cereal had probably been there for a little while. And you guys took that cereal with you to the beach house when you left—”

I had the sense to shut up when Aleks stiffened next to me. I thought it was because I’d brought up the reminder that he’d snuck out on me that morning, but when I went to reassure him I was no longer angry about that, he blurted, “Are you going back?”

The tremor in his voice had the entire room going silent.

“Back where? To the Hamptons?” I asked. “I don’t actually live there,” I began, but Aleks shook his head.

“No… are you going back there.”

It hit me all at once what he was talking about. It was a topic we’d avoided since we’d left New York… well, in truth, we’d avoided it altogether from the moment I’d made it clear how much he meant to me. Mentioning the safe house had brought the reality of our situation crashing back in on him.

He was asking if I was going back into the dark world where kids were sold for sex.

“Shit, Aleks, I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“No,” Aleks said softly, the heartbreak in his voice clear. He pulled away from me and started heading for the door. I reached him before he could get it open. While Ronan had assured us the men who’d been arrested at the party had gotten the message that Aleks was off-limits, it still wasn’t completely safe for him to be out and about by himself. To that end, several of Ronan’s men were monitoring the outside of the house, but I was still reluctant to let Aleks out of my sight.

Not to mention I had a lot of explaining to do.

“Aleks, wait,” I said as I pushed the door shut just as he tried to open it.

He turned around. Tears were streaking down his cheeks. “I want you to choose me,” he whispered. “I know that’s selfish and those kids need your help, but I still want you to choose me. Maybe… maybe you can still do that kind of work but come home to me whenever you can. I’ll take that, James. It would be hard, but I could do it. And you’d know you had someone to come home to when things get really hard—”

“Aleks, I do.”

“What?” he sputtered.

“I do choose you. I already have.”

“What?” His voice cracked this time.

“I was apologizing to you because things have been going a million miles a minute since we landed in Seattle and that first day we just crashed and slept and last night I wanted you to focus on you and Dante talking so I was going to tell you today—”

“Tell me what?” he cut in.

“I talked to Ronan on the plane after everyone else fell asleep. He told me… he told me there were things I could do to help those kids without having to go back in. He said he’s got men on the inside but what he really needs is someone who’s lived that life… someone who can prepare the guys that go in.”

I wiped at Aleks’s tears. “He offered me a job, Aleks. And I accepted. I’ll have to travel every now and then, but he says I can live anywhere… we can live anywhere.”

“You’re staying?” Aleks whispered in disbelief.

“I’m staying.”

Aleks threw his arms around me. “I love you so much, James.”

“I love you, Aleks,” I said as I hugged him. Then I was kissing him and pushing him back against the door.

“Oh man, I don’t need to see this,” Dante muttered, reminding me we had an audience. “Magnus, can you send my best man to our room to help me find something to wear when Vaughn gets his tongue out of his mouth?”

I heard laughter behind us but ignored it and continued to kiss Aleks softly over and over. “We should go check out that bathroom,” I muttered as my body responded to his.

“Yeah,” Aleks said. “It’s upstairs,” he whispered.

Before we could head for the stairs, there was a knock on the door behind us.

“Sorry, guys, that’s Father O,” Magnus said as he held up his phone. I assumed he was showing us a text from Ronan’s men notifying him the man of faith had arrived.

“Fudge,” I said.

“Fiddlesticks,” Aleks said at almost the same time. We both chuckled and then he released me. “I better go check on Dante.” He gave me another quick kiss, then he was gone.

The wedding took place less than ten minutes later and started with three little boys, one dressed in Captain America pajamas, throwing cereal all over the hallway floor as they made their way to the living room. Father O was standing in front of the fireplace. Tate and I were waiting off to the side as witnesses. Tate had managed to find the traditional wedding march on his phone and had figured out how to play it through the surround sound system that ran throughout most of the house.

Hawke entered the room after the boys, followed by Aleks. Magnus and Dante walked hand in hand to stand in front of Father O. There was little fanfare in the whole thing, but somehow that just fit for the two men.

Hawke and Aleks each stood off to the side of the grooms. I could see that the band Dante had been wearing on his left ring finger had been moved to his right hand, so I assumed that meant the couple had wedding bands to exchange.

Father O did the traditional introduction as he spoke to the rest of us about the couple in front of us wanting to commit themselves to one another. But when it came time for the vows, he seemed to catch Dante off guard when he asked, “Do either of you wish to speak your own vows?”

“What?” Dante blurted. “Oh shit, I didn’t know that was a thing.” He seemed oblivious that he’d just sworn in front of the reverend. He looked at Magnus and said, “Fuck, Magnus, I’m sorry, I just thought he’d ask us that love, honor, and obey shit and we’d say yes. But I should have thought of something special to tell you so you know how much I fucking love you.”

Magnus and Dante had been holding hands as Father O had spoken, and as Dante’s tirade continued, Magnus drew him closer and closer to himself. “How much, Dante?” he interrupted.

“What?” Dante asked, his entire attention switching to the man in front of him.

“How much do you love me, Dante?” Magnus repeated.

Dante seemed confused. I actually felt sorry for him. But the longer he looked at Magnus, the more he seemed to relax. He looked down at their hands and then took one of Magnus’s in both of his. He turned his hand over and skimmed his fingers over the open palm.

It was Magnus’s left hand.

I watched in curious silence as Dante took one of his fingers and began outlining shapes on the palm of Magnus’s hand.

And then I realized they weren’t shapes.

They were letters.

He was writing something on Magnus’s hand.

But I had no clue what and Dante didn’t say the letters out loud. When he was finished, he turned to look over his shoulder at his brother and held out his hand. Aleks placed a ring on Dante’s palm. Dante and Aleks shared a smile that said volumes about what they were to one another, then Dante turned around and slid his ring onto Magnus’s finger.

No one stirred or spoke as Magnus did the exact same thing to Dante’s hand. Whatever message he wrote on Dante’s skin had the man nodding and wiping at his eyes. When the ring was in place, the men joined both of their hands again.

Father O was a smart man, for sure, because the second the men joined hands, he said just a few words blessing their union, then he was announcing them as husbands. Dante and Magnus were in each other’s arms before he even finished speaking and we all began clapping even as the kiss went on and on. The men kept it tame considering the children in the room, but the look they shared was proof that Aleks and I probably wouldn’t have access to the upstairs bathroom anytime soon.

When the ceremony officially ended, Aleks came to me and I put my arm around him. Then I watched my new family start their celebration.

As happy as I was to be so warmly welcomed into the fold, I knew there was something I needed to do before I could really enjoy any of it.

I needed to tell my own family I wasn’t coming home.