Alex was on top of the world. He cleared a few more of his things out of his studio before they left the party, along with some of Maya’s. He wasn’t ready to just move in with Sol yet, but he did like staying there. He liked waking up in Sol’s arms. He liked sleeping in and waking up with the certainty he wasn’t alone. He liked waking up in the morning feeling loved, and going to sleep at night in the same comforting sensation.

He was blessed, and he knew it.

They spent Sunday with Carsten at the Central Park Zoo. Soon it would be too cold to enjoy the park very much, so Alex wanted to do as much of it as he could. Inge, who had studied early childhood education and all that, agreed. “Children should be outdoors for as long as they can,” she told them.

Of course, she came from a country where it was dark so long they had a real issue with seasonal depression so maybe her perspective was skewed.

Whatever. Alex and Carsten got to go pet the sheep, together, and that was what mattered. “So, you’re going to be with us all the time now?” Carsten held Alex’s hand in his as they walked through the zoo.

“Pretty much. It’s going to take some time for me to work up to living with you guys full time, because I’ve been living by myself for a while and because I’m having a hard time leaving the Bronx, but yeah. I’m going to live with you full time before all is said and done.” Alex gave the tiny hand in his a squeeze.

“I’m glad. Everything’s better when you’re around.” Carsten bounced for a few steps and then resumed walking like a normal kid. “Dad says you make life lighter. Does that make sense?”

Alex glowed under the praise, even though it was second hand. “I guess. The world can be a pretty dark place without love in it. There are different kinds of love of course, and they all bring different kinds of light. You make the world lighter too, in your way. You do it for both of us—and, I’d guess, for your other dad too. That’s why he’s fighting so hard to get you back, even though it’s not good for you. His life is pretty dark right now, and he’s craving that light for himself.”

“Oh.” Carsten stopped in his tracks. “Maybe if I wrote him some letters, it would make him feel better.”

“Hm.” Alex thought about it for a minute. “Well, I don’t know if that will help or not. I’m not an expert, and I don’t actually know Stuart. Remember how we talked about how some people get sick in their heads?” He crouched down to Carsten’s level and tapped his head. “Well, because I wasn’t part of your family back then, I don’t know why the judge made the decisions she did. But we can ask. And we can ask again, in a year or so, if the judge and the doctors say no. Okay?”

“You won’t be mad?” Carsten’s eyes shone with unshed tears.

“Nope. Not at all. It’s like I said, he’s still your dad, and you’re still allowed to love him, even if he’s done some things you aren’t crazy about. Now come on, I think the sheep are out.”

“Yay sheep!” Carsten pulled on Alex’s hand as he tried to get to the Children’s Zoo faster.

They stopped for more cupcakes on their way back to the house, because Carsten asked and because Alex was still feeling celebratory. He hadn’t been able to raise a glass during the toast yesterday, because he couldn’t drink right now. He needed to do something to mark the occasion, right?

He’d never had much of a sweet tooth before. Maybe it was the baby craving the cupcakes. He stroked his chin. It was food for thought, he guessed.

After dinner, he made Carsten’s lunch and let Sol talk him into staying the night. Jimmy Senior seemed to expect that, because he brought Maya over to Sol’s place instead of to Buddy’s. Senior stuck around for a drink, and then he left Alex and Sol alone.

“I’m not sure how I feel about basically having a mafia father-in-law,” Sol joked. “On the one hand it seems like a bad idea. From a legal perspective, I mean. On the other, I like the guy. He’s a good fellow. Open minded, generous, likes kids. Basically the complete opposite of my dad in every way.”

Alex grinned and put Maya down on the floor. She pulled herself up on the chair and bounced up and down, delighted to show off her new skill. “He’s a good guy,” he said after a moment, “who does some not so nice things. He means well. He’s gotten the family out of some of the less defensible lines of work, you know? You know how it is. I know Valor has an adult entertainment line.”

Sol squirmed. “We do. We do. I do my best to make sure it causes as little harm as possible, you know? I do a lot of audits to make sure the performers are all over eighteen, they’re all well paid and healthy, everyone’s consenting, that kind of thing. There’s always going to be a market for it, so if we’re doing it we can kind of try to keep it safer.” He pulled himself up short. “I see what you did there.”

“It’s not like he can just take the family legit, you know?” Alex shrugged. “Anyway, he’s a good guy, and he’ll do what he can to keep Carsten and Maya safe. That’s the important thing.” He smiled and led Sol off to bed, happy to have these two sides of his life together in comfort.

They both had to go to work the next day. Alex didn’t even mind. He took a cab to work, because after he got followed he didn’t want to risk something worse. The car might have been one of the ones from the cartoons he saw when he was a kid, the ones that looked like flying saucers. Eventually reality would intervene and he’d come crashing back down to Earth, but for now he was flying high. He was getting married. He could keep his baby. He could give Maya a good life, and he could be a good father figure to Carsten.

Heh. He was going from having no one but Buddy to being a father of three.

They had to re-shoot two scenes at work because his joy made him talk too fast, but no one complained. Everyone was just as happy as he was. Joy tended to be contagious, and he was more than happy to spread it around.

“I was so afraid to tell him,” he said to Buddy. “I was so afraid, but it’s been amazing. It’s just been incredible.”

“I’m glad. I’m still pissed about what happened before, but for what it’s worth I think he’s grown up a lot. I know he’s better positioned to stand up to that jackass that fathered him.” Buddy made a face. “I really don’t like that man. I just don’t.”

“Me neither, Buddy. Me neither. But the good news is, we’ll never have to deal with him. Sol said he’s not allowed to come up to the apartment, and I don’t imagine he’d want to, what with me and Maya up there.”

Buddy snickered. “Yeah, old Alden isn’t a big fan of guys from the Bronx. Good job on contaminating the penthouse beyond hope of repair, buddy.” He clapped Alex on the shoulder. “I knew you had it in you.”

Alex kept a perfectly straight face when he replied. “No, no, I think I’d have to have someone else take Carsten for the night for that to happen.”

Buddy choked on his sandwich. “TMI, Alex. TMI.”

Alex cackled with glee. “That’s me getting you back for all those times you made me look at pictures of you from the Hellion Club.”

“Fair’s fair.” Buddy shuddered. “It hurts, but it’s fair. I can’t argue with that. I’ll try, but I can’t argue with that.”

They headed back to Wardrobe to change into new outfits. People at home didn’t need to know they recorded two episodes in one day, when they could get away with it. Alex couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t think that was necessarily normal for television. It was definitely something to be proud of, though. Assuming everything came through as high-quality, the crew would be able to move on to other projects and make even more money. And Alex would be able to rest in the months before his baby was born.

Just thinking about the baby put a smile on his face he couldn’t wash away for the rest of the day. Filming was a breeze, and at the end of it all he sailed out to the cab stand to get a ride back to the house. He settled into the back seat, gave the address, and headed out.

Sometimes he felt like a real twerp taking a cab to only go a few blocks. Right now was one of those times. It was only about two weeks before Thanksgiving and the temperatures were so mild he could have walked home without a jacket. He shouldn’t pass up these opportunities. He should wallow in them, enjoy the sun on his face.

But the Fletchers were still out there somewhere, and he had to keep himself safe somehow.

“So, you’re the guy who thinks he can replace me.”

The cab driver was a little taller than Alex. His face might have been handsome once. Now it was red and splotchy. His generous mouth had lost a few teeth over the years, and his expensive button-down shirt had a few stains on it.

Alex glanced around. This was definitely a taxi. He could see the hackney license and everything.

“So, you’re Stuart Fletcher.” He licked his lips and tried to be subtle about trying to open the cab door. He wasn’t surprised when it didn’t budge. “I wasn’t expecting to meet you behind the wheel of a taxi.”

“I’m not a real taxi driver, dumbass. I’m in disguise. Can’t be too obvious.” Stuart chuckled. “Not until I’m done, anyway. Then it won’t matter.”

Alex struggled to breathe as his throat constricted. “What are you trying to finish, Stuart? Let me know, maybe I can help.”

“I’m getting my husband back from you, you skank. You’re not going to help me do that.” Stuart waved his right hand, the one that wasn’t holding the wheel. It held a shiny, silver gun.

Alex didn’t know guns all that well. He couldn’t have told anyone what kind of gun it was. He thought it might be a revolver, but that would have been an uneducated guess. “You know it’s basically illegal to have one of those in New York City, right?”

“The laws don’t apply to people like me, Alex. I can buy my way out of them with a flick of my wrist. People like you, you have to follow laws. Little laws against adultery for one thing. And staying away from other people’s kids. That’s a big one.”

Alex gripped the hem of his jacket. “You know I’ve never hurt Carsten.”

“He belongs with his father. His real father.” Stuart blew through a red light. Another taxi narrowly missed slamming into the trunk, and Alex curled into a fetal position. It wouldn’t help his baby in an accident, but it was an entirely instinctive reaction. He couldn’t help it. “Not some pregnant piece of garbage from the Bronx. Is Sol even the real father? Ugh. Don’t answer that. He hasn’t been able to get it up in years, not without going to that stupid Hellion Club.”

Alex kept his mouth shut. Stuart was the one with the gun. He got to say all the words at this point.

Stuart threw them into a parking spot in front of Sol’s building, right in front of the fire hydrant. “Get out and put your hands up.” Stuart barked the orders out in a tone that left no room for debate.

Alex debated anyway, if only to buy himself more time. “Don’t you think that’ll draw some attention?”

“Who cares? No one’s going to help a dirtbag like you.” Stuart slid over to the passenger side and waved his gun. “Out. Now.”

Alex opened the door and slid out of the taxi. He held his hands up and left the door open, hoping it would be an even more obvious sign of distress to anyone who saw it.

Stuart kept the gun trained on him and marched him into the lobby. The doorman made eye contact with Alex and nodded, just once. He’d seen what had happened, and he was going to reach out to someone who could do something about it.

Unfortunately, Stuart saw the gesture. He fired and shot the doorman right between the eyes. The doorman, who Alex thought was named Syd, dropped to the ground. His face was now permanently fixed into an expression of disbelief.

Stuart aimed the hot gun back at Alex. “Keep going,” he snarled. “Up in the elevator.”

Alex marched slowly toward the elevator that would lead him to the ugly glass hat on top of the Vesuvius. Stuart had just murdered Syd in cold blood, for no reason other than the fact that Syd had tried to offer him some comfort. He blinked back tears and kept his hands up. His shoulders ached with the unaccustomed stress of the position, but he didn’t dare move them.

He wanted to turn around and fight, to grab the gun from his hands and free himself, but he didn’t. He couldn’t trust himself to succeed, and what would happen when Stuart pulled the trigger? Maya would be an orphan once again. Carsten would lose yet another parental figure, and Sol—

Sol would be devastated.

Maybe that crap worked in the movies, but Alex wasn’t an action hero. He wasn’t a Sexy Former SEAL Living In Wyoming Among The Bears or some crap like that. He was a very normal, very human man, and he was going to die here. Unless some witness called the cops, or unless Syd had managed to get word out somehow, Alex was a dead man.

“You know, if you wanted to kill me, you could have just done it downstairs. Then you wouldn’t have to make a mess of Carsten’s house. He’s a good kid. He shouldn’t have to see that, you know?”

“Carsten is the whole point.” Stuart punched Alex with his free hand. “Carsten needs to see that his dad will always come to rescue him.”

Alex let the elevator wall hold him up. Hopefully someone, anyone, could get him out of this alive. Or, at the very least, someone could save Inge and the kids.

* * *

Sol bounced on the balls of his feet as the elevator descended. It moved too slowly. This god damned elevator moved too god damned slow, and because of it Alex was going to die. If this antiquated piece of crap could just get out of its own way, Detective Staley was waiting for him at the bottom. Staley had sirens at his disposal. He could drive on sidewalks if he had to.

All Sol had to do was get to him. Damn it, all Sol had to do was get there.

The elevator slid down to the ground floor of the Valor Entertainment building at its own ponderous speed while Sol sweated through his dress shirt. When the door finally slid open, he bolted through the crowd at the bottom and knocked over a tourist with a cane. “Sorry,” he lied as he ran past.

It was New York. The tourist could say he’d gotten an Authentic New York Experience and tell all his friends.

Staley beckoned him over. He was holding the door open, so they wouldn’t have to waste time. Sol’s shoes hadn’t been designed for running, but he pounded across the linoleum all the same as he raced for the open door.

Staley jumped for the driver’s side of his unmarked Crown Vic sedan. Sol slid into the passenger seat and shoved donut bags and receipts onto the floor. “How bad is it?” he asked Staley.

Staley turned on the siren and peeled out of his parking space. His spot would have been illegal for anyone else, and indeed a tour bus driver was busy honking and flipping him off as they drove away. Sol didn’t care. “It’s pretty bad. The doorman pressed the silent alarm right before he was shot. Someone in your apartment hit the panic button at about the same time.”

“Oh, god.” Sol bit down on his hand. “This is going to be a bloodbath.”

Staley swallowed hard. “I have to hope not. These guys, your ex and his mom? They’re nuts, but they’re predictable. They’ve got an agenda. They’re going to want to talk. They hate Alex, and they want him out of the picture, but you’re their real goal.”

“Your point?” Sol pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I’m being a dick. I’m just really, really uptight right now.”

“I can see that.” Staley managed half a grin. “Seriously, though, it’s understandable. Basically, they’re not likely to do anything to him until they can see and speak to you. They’re going to want to keep him hostage. That’s good for him, because it buys him time.”

“It’s something, anyway.” Sol grimaced. “What about Carsten, Maya, and Inge?”

“We haven’t heard from them since the panic button was pressed. We’ve tried to reach Inge, but no luck.” Staley tightened his grip on the steering wheel and hit the gas a little harder.

They pulled up in front of the Vesuvius, right behind a taxi cab with an open door that had parked in front of a hydrant. “Is this how Stuart got Alex here?” Sol asked, hands shaking.

“It looks like it. We haven’t had time to go over the tape yet. We had a dog take a look at the taxi and it’s only got a corpse, no explosives. We’re guessing Stuart killed the driver and stuffed him into the trunk, but we’re focused on Alex and the others. Right now, getting into that room is our top priority.”

Staley led him into the Vesuvius’ lobby, where a crime scene team was busy processing the doorman’s workstation. Sol had to look away. He didn’t know the doorman’s name, but he knew he’d always been there with a smile. He’d cooperated with every ridiculous measure the family had taken to try to keep safe, too. He didn’t deserve this, and certainly not on Sol’s behalf.

“All right.” He took a deep breath and focused on a clean wall. He could melt down later.

He and Staley rode the elevator up to the penthouse, although Staley warned him not to touch anything. They were still treating the elevator as a crime scene. They just had to get up to Sol’s place somehow, and taking the stairs was not an option with Alex or the kids’ lives on the line.

Sol took a deep breath and pretended he could still smell Alex in the little, slow moving space. It was absurd, of course. Alex wasn’t a perfume kind of guy, and they had great air filtration systems in this building. Sol let himself pretend, though. It made him feel closer to Alex. What had he been thinking, as the elevator jerked its way up to the top? Had he been afraid? Angry? Defiant? Had he cooperated, in the hopes of buying time?

Staley had his gun out by the time the doors slid open with a soft “whoosh.” He wasn’t taking any chances, not with Sol and not with Alex.

They had to walk a little bit to find anyone. That was Sol’s fault. He hadn’t wanted the kitchen to be in a place that was visible when he first got off the elevator, so he hadn’t designed it that way. He should have guessed Stuart—or Lena—would hide them there.

The hostages had all been gathered in the kitchen, although some looked like they were there a little more voluntarily than others. Inge lay on the counter, blood streaming from a cut just at the bridge of her nose. She wasn’t moving, and Sol had to look twice to make sure she was breathing, but she was alive. The blood told him that much, at least.

Carsten was holding Maya. He glared at his father and grandmother with a fury that bordered on rage, but he didn’t drop his little sister even though she was crying. “She won’t shut up because she wants her daddy,” he barked, in a remarkable imitation of Alex’s angry voice. “She doesn’t like seeing him tied up like that. I don’t like seeing him tied up like that. You’re my dad, and I have to love you, but you’re making it really hard right now.”

Lena stepped forward and slapped Carsten across the face, using her casted arm. That must have hurt her at least as much as it hurt Carsten, but she didn’t let it show when she sneered at the boy. “You’re not here to love him, you’re here to be a good boy and do as you’re told. You’ve been around this piece of Brooklyn trash too long if you can’t even do that right.”

Carsten’s face flashed bright red. “ALEX IS FROM THE BRONX, NOT FROM BROOKLYN! YOU’RE SO STUPID! YOU CAN’T EVEN TELL THE DIFFERENCE YOU STUPID OLD COW!”

Alex struggled to hold back a smirk from his position on the floor. He’d been tied with his hands up, bound to the stove. In another situation, he might have looked a little enticing like this. Now he just looked like he was in pain. “Carsten, sweetie, it’s not nice to call people stupid.”

“Even if it is true.” Sol stepped further into the room. “Let them all go, Stuart. The building is crawling with cops. There’s no way out of this for you.”

Stuart blinked at him and tilted his head. “Cops don’t apply to people like us, Sol. We pay them, remember?”

Sol clenched his jaw. “You can explain that down at the station, but it’s time to stop what you’re doing right now. You’re scaring Carsten. You’ve obviously hurt Inge. Put the gun down, surrender to Detective Staley, and maybe the DA will go easy on you.”

Lena scoffed and used the butt of her gun to crack Alex’s jaw. Sol saw his fiancé’s eyes water with pain, but Alex kept his silence. “We don’t have anything to worry about from the DA. You’re not going to press any charges. I mean look at this worm of a man.”

She squatted down and grabbed Alex’s jaw. That had to hurt. Sol had heard Alex’s bone crack, but here he was glaring into her eyes like all he had left was spit and vinegar. Lena, though, was either oblivious or uninterested in Alex's state. “He actually thinks he’s got a right to be here. He thinks the help gets to move up to be the master’s equal.” She wrenched his jaw and pushed Alex’s handsome face away.

“You know better of course.” She stood up and turned to Sol. “You’re coming home. We’re all going back to California, and you’re going to be a good little alpha and do exactly what you’re told.” She gestured to Stuart. “Take out the trash, son.”

Stuart raised his gun and pointed at Alex, who couldn’t move.

“Drop it.” Staley didn’t hesitate. “You so much as wrinkle your nose and you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “I appreciate the sentiment but can we stop all of this talk about shooting people in front of Carsten? He’s a child. He doesn’t need to hear this or see it.”

“You don’t get to shoot my Alex.” Carsten stomped forward as Maya held her hands out for Alex. “He’s my real dad. You can’t be my real dad. You’re just a dirtbag who goes around wrecking cars and waving guns around!”

Sol winced. It was true, but it might not be the most helpful thing to say to Stuart at the moment.

Lena slapped Carsten again. “If you don’t get some control of your brat, Solomon, he can join your little side piece here and the nanny in the dumpster. Come on, Stuart, get on with it. The truck comes in two hours.”

Sol gasped. They planned to throw Alex and Inge out in the trash, like garbage. His stomach turned. “You can’t expect to get away with this. The whole block is crawling with cops!”

“Don’t be stupid, Solomon.” She pushed Carsten at Sol. “Collect your child and let’s be going.”

Stuart aimed at Alex. Everything moved in slow motion as Stuart’s finger pulled back on the trigger. Sol heard his own voice screaming “No!” as the gun fired, but he didn’t remember choosing to yell just like he didn’t remember choosing to tackle his ex.

It just happened.

He could have sworn the whole thing took an hour. In reality, it took less than a second. Stuart’s gun rang out, and then Staley’s. In between, there was a strangled scream from over near the stove. After, there was another scream, this time from Lena.

Sol looked up. Carsten was kicking Lena in the shins, as hard as he could without losing his balance. Maya was still screaming. Alex was right where he’d been, hands bound above his head. He couldn’t even lower them to plug the hole in his lower gut.

The hole that poured his blood all over the shining hardwood floors.

Sol looked underneath him as he realized his shirt was wet. Staley’s aim had been true. He’d shot Stuart in the throat, and Stuart was dead. Sol was soaked in blood already, and more was pumping out through the gaping wound the bullet had left behind. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

Sol crawled over to Alex. He grabbed a knife from the drawer to cut Alex’s arms down. He already looked deathly pale, and he was shaking. He couldn’t speak. “Alex,” Sol said. He caressed his fiancé’s face. “Whatever happens, I love you.” Was Alex rendered silent by his broken jaw or by the loss of blood?

Staley had his phone out. “Yeah. It’s me. I’m going to need the medics, the coroner, more uniforms, and anyone who lets this psycho bitch out on bail at all is going to answer to me.” He dropped to his knees beside Alex. “Hang on, buddy. We’re going to get you help, okay? Just don’t close your eyes.”

Alex nodded. Then he closed his eyes and went limp.

Sol screamed. He should be strong for Carsten, and not add to Maya’s obvious distress, but he couldn’t. Alex was unconscious and bleeding out. Alex had only just come back into his life, and now he was leaving it. No, he was being taken from it.

He cast his gaze around the room looking for Lena. She had fallen to the ground beside the body of her wretched son, sobbing, while Carsten continued to kick her. “No, Son.” Sol pulled Carsten back. “You need to put your hips into it.”

He kicked Lena once, in the ribs. That was enough for Staley. He pulled Sol away and led him into another room. “I get that impulse. Trust me, I do. But you cannot do that. You can’t, Sol. If you kill her, no one gets tried. No one pays.”

“She pays.” Sol gritted his teeth.

“No. You do. Even if you get off on temporary insanity, which I’d totally support by the way, your kid sees you kick an old lady to death.”

Sol managed to calm himself at that, at least a little. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.” He rolled his shoulders. “Fine.”

“Very good. Now. Let’s go save your fiancé.”

Staley cuffed Lena in the bathroom, so no one would be tempted, while Sol worked to keep some of Alex’s blood in his body. By the time the paramedics arrived on the scene, the adrenaline had left Carsten and he sat in the corner sobbing.

Sol took him downstairs, along with Maya. He couldn’t do much for Alex or Inge, but he could take care of his kids. His whole body shook as they rode down the elevator, but he focused on them and not on his own misery.

When they got downstairs he found more medics, more police, and Buddy and Jimmy Senior. Sol opened his mouth to ask what they were doing there, but he knew the answer before he finished the thought. Staley had told one of them, at some point. Either Staley had or another cop had.

Senior hugged Sol and took Maya into his arms. Her screams turned into quiet sniffles, but she still seemed pretty miserable. “I’ll take Maya. I’ll take Carsten, too. We’ll keep them safe while you take care of Alex.”

Sol wanted to object. He was about to lose one of the two most important people in his life. Did he have to lose the other one too?

But he was in no shape to deal with the kids. He was covered in blood. He couldn’t stop shaking. All he could think about was Alex, and what he must be going through. “Thank you,” he said instead, and turned to Carsten. “You go with this man. He’s Maya’s granddad, and he’s going to take good care of you while we get Alex back to healthy. Okay? So you listen to him, and you be good for him, okay?”

Carsten sniffed and held out his hand to Buddy, since Jimmy’s were full. “Are we going to the Bronx?”

“Yeah, Carsten. We’re going to the Bronx.” Buddy’s voice was softer than Sol could remember hearing it.

“Alex always said he’d take me to the Bronx if I was good. I must have been very good.” And he burst into tears again.

Sol watched them go. He’d never felt more helpless.