21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Leigh

L eigh had known the moment he heard Tolly sing to cover his ears. Rosa and Leo weren't as lucky. They turned at the mournful sound, craning to hear better , until their eyes turned glassy.

"I shot him," Rosa said. Then, more passionately, " I shot Vinny. And so what if I did?" She spun toward Leo, already on her feet. "You planted that bomb! You could have killed me!"

"I should have been targeting you!" Leo jumped up. "I planted that bomb to get back at Sweeney for killing my brother! I blamed him and Hurley, and it was you ?"

"You hated your brother!"

"That doesn't mean anyone else gets to kill him! I did all the dirty work for years. I was the one manning the protection money and setting up the drug drops and gun trafficking at the docks. I planned everything around taking these streets from Sweeney. We were going to slaughter all of them piece by piece, and Vinny did nothing, just sat back and reaped the rewards."

Wow . Leigh hadn't expected that much. Rosa for killing Vincent, one of them for the bomb, hopefully something on Leo if he hadn't set it, but Horowitz was getting fed everything the CCPD needed to clean out the Moretti family completely, and Rosa had only incriminated herself. Sweeney would be safe, which meant Alvin would be safe, and Leigh could finally be free.

Speaking of, once Rosa and Leo stopped screaming and remembered the guns not far away, Leigh bolted. He didn't want to get caught in the crossfire or for either of them to remember he was there.

"Now would be a good time to raid the place," he hissed into his mic, rushing for the back, grateful that Tolly had come to his rescue but worried now that he hadn't reappeared.

The office door was still closed. The lounge? He reached to push open the door—

But Tolly pushed out first, looking sweaty and haggard like Leigh had never seen before.

"You okay?" He reached for Tolly's face, only to notice the ugly needle mark in his neck.

"They tried to p-poison me, but I will be all right. Are you okay?"

Gunshots rang out, and Leigh instinctively pulled Tolly to him, ready to rush into the lounge for cover, but an announcement of police followed and the rush of boots, so he held steady.

"Horowitz, Perez, we're in back. Moretti's men are…." Leigh peered around Tolly into the lounge where the door still swung, revealing the bodies on the floor.

"Alive, but no longer a threat," Tolly said.

Leigh wondered what Perez had heard listening to Tolly's wire compared to Horowitz listening to his, but Tolly said nothing more. He was winded yet obviously healing. By the time the police swarmed them, both their hands raised to play it safe, the mark on Tolly's neck was nearly gone and his eyes were clear.

Whatever Perez had heard, he didn't betray a word of it when he and Horowitz pushed through the uniformed officers to reach them. They had entered from the back, so they'd seen whatever carnage Tolly left behind. Tolly wouldn't meet Perez's eyes.

"Something wrong, detectives?" Leigh tried to play it cool. "You got what you wanted."

Horowitz looked green. "One of them was missing a hand," he said.

" What ?"

"I told him only you were allowed to touch me," Tolly said quietly, "but he would not listen."

If the way Tolly said that meant the goon had tried to touch him more than roughing him up, he'd gotten what he deserved, but Leigh didn't want to imagine how Tolly had removed a hand .

"Hear that?" Leigh turned to the detectives. "Sounds like self-defense to me."

"Sure was," Perez said, calmer than usual as if finally appeased. "Don't know who this guy is to you, Hurley, but I'm glad he's on our side."

Tolly glanced up with unsure eyes, and he and Perez shared a look of understanding.

The goon without a hand was still unconscious, as well as another being taken by ambulance, but a third, one Leigh hadn't seen, so he must have come in later, was led from the back through the club to the waiting police outside. When he passed Tolly, his eyes went wide, and he scrambled to get closer to the officer holding him.

"I'm telling you, man, he's not human ."

"Tell it to your cellmates, Russo."

There would be stories about Tolly and what had happened here, regardless of who believed what.

Rosa and Leo were broken from their siren trance, but they still spat insults at each other as they were questioned across the room, soon to be led away as well. All that remained was to talk to Sweeney.

"We might need more of a statement down at the station later," Horowitz said.

"And you better stay outta trouble," Perez added. "Still not sure why those two grew such loose tongues. Better not find anything in their systems to compromise this bust."

"You won't," Leigh said. "They'll come out clean. Maybe their consciences finally caught up to them. We free to go?"

"Yeah, get outta here. But I mean it. Stay outta trouble, you hear me?" He said the last with a touch of softness he hadn't used in years.

Leigh couldn't express how much it meant to him, meager as it was. He hoped he never let Perez down again, hoped Sweeney let him out of the life, and that somehow, he found another way to get by.

With Tolly beside him.

Tolly still seemed timid, slowed by whatever they had dosed him with, but Leigh couldn't immediately tend to him. It was too dangerous to go straight to Sweeney. Someone could be following if there were Moretti loyalists—or if there were opportunistic cops about—so he texted Alvin along the path home that all was well and that they could plan for a time to meet Sweeney tomorrow.

Then he called Tabitha.

"Hey, Beckett. Before any cops knock on your door, I wanted you to know what happened."

After hearing the story, Tabitha chided him for doing something so rash and dangerous, but still she said, "I'm proud of you, William. Now we just need those pay stubs."

"One milestone at a time." He chuckled. "I'm working on it."

Phone calls and text messages done, he wanted only to talk to Tolly and understand what had happened while they were separated, so as soon as they entered the apartment, he caught him by the wrist.

"Do you need anything? What did that guy do to you? The one who can't use a full pair of gloves from now on."

Tolly ducked his head. "I need only water and I will be fine. A drink will do." He avoided the other questions by escaping into the kitchen.

"Tolly." Leigh followed him. "Please. What did he do?"

A glass of water drained down Tolly's throat before he answered. "He only tried . He did not succeed. But he looked at me like a thing to be used and assumed you looked at me the same. Then he tried to touch me. I do not like anyone to touch me without permission."

"I know. But even when we'd only just met, you made an exception for me."

" You have permission." Tolly looked at him devotedly. "Always. Anytime. I am yours. But that does not mean I am a slave or a thing. I know you do not see it that way, but I did not like for him to assume otherwise."

"So, you cut off his hand?"

"I did not mean to." Tolly glanced away again. "I was angry and weakened, not thinking clearly."

"I'm not saying you should have done differently, just making sure you're okay. You're allowed to be dangerous. You saved me— again . You can defend yourself, defend me, and not be like the others." Leigh pulled Tolly against him, embracing him before he could pull away.

"But what if I am like the others?" Tolly said as a breathless whisper. "Would you still want me if I was?"

Leigh knew what it felt like to believe he wasn't worth anyone caring about him, so he held Tolly tighter. "I can't imagine anything you could do or be that would make me stop wanting you."

"Leigh, I…."

Leigh tensed, expecting those words again, the ones he didn't want to hear—not because he didn't feel them, but because he couldn't say them back. Not when his father had tainted them, drilling into his head again and again that love could get him killed, that it was weak and dangerous, something bad, and to this day, he could never shake the feeling that maybe that was true.

It wasn't . But he couldn't say those words without feeling burdened by them. Tolly deserved better than that.

He didn't say what Leigh expected, though.

"Thank you," he said.

Leigh should have been relieved, but that wasn't what he felt. "You're welcome, Tolly."