Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

West

After hearing everything from Spencer, I was determined to make this work. If Michael said he would take care of things, I trusted him to do just that. Now, with having one side of the story behind Skyler, I knew he’d be able to fill in the holes.

It was kind of funny how Spencer and I were each trying to find out more on Skyler/Shawn to make sure he’d be good for us. I never would have guessed in a million years that this guy from Edge would have left Dimitri Bruno’s daughter at the altar.

My plan had been to follow Skyler a bit to see where he went and worked. But things had quickly gone in an odd direction. While I was listening to Spencer, a car parked between where I was at and where Skyler lived. The man got out and went up to Skyler’s door.

Possible roommate?

That theory proved false when the man knocked on the door and then went to sit on a bench on the sidewalk. Weird. Moments later, a man walked out of the place and joined the other man on the bench. The two seemed to talk for a couple of minutes, and then the man from the car reached into his coat and handed the other man money.

Drugs?

The man went back inside the house, leaving the guy from the car on the bench. While Spencer went on about how he wanted us to pursue Skyler, the man came back out of the house, but this time he had Skyler with him. Skyler had his blue puffer coat and beanie on. Together, they went to the man on the bench, and the guy from the car nodded and smiled. Whatever the guy from the house was saying, Skyler was shaking his head in obvious disagreement.

What the fuck?

The man from the car continued to nod and reached for Skyler, wrapping his hand around Skyler’s upper arm. Skyler yanked his arm out of the man’s grip, only to have the man from inside the house take hold of him. He guided Skyler to the car with the other man.

Shit!

“Spence, I have to go, man.”

I disconnected the call without waiting for him to say anything else and got out of the car. The three of them were two cars ahead of me, and their altercation ceased when they saw me approach. I could see the silent plea in Skyler’s eyes when we made eye contact.

The man from the house spoke up when he saw me staring. “Can I help you?”

Inside my jacket I had my gun, and if things got ugly, I could protect myself and Skyler. I reacted purely on instinct… Skyler was ours, and he wasn’t going anywhere he didn’t want to go.

“I couldn’t help but notice a disagreement between you gentlemen. I wanted to check to see if everyone is okay,” I said while keeping an eye on everyone’s hands.

“You can move the fuck along,” the man from the house said.

“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” the man from the car said while looking at the other guy. “Can I just get my money back, and I’ll get out of here?”

Everyone looked in the direction of a lady and her two small kids coming out of the house next door. Good, additional eyes. The man from the house glared at me as he handed the money over. His eyes were blazing and still on mine as the other man drove off.

“Well, you better be a paying customer, because you just cost me four grand.”

It didn’t take me long to figure out that this guy was making money off of Skyler.

“Four grand? Man, no blow job or quick fuck is worth four grand,” I replied.

“There wasn’t anything quick about it. Skyler was going to stay the week with that gentleman. No limits,” the man smugly said.

What the fuck? Skyler’s silence told me he’d been trained on when to speak, but when I made eye contact with him, I could see the defiance in his eyes.

“Does Skyler have a say in that?” I asked.

“Skyler is a bit short on rent since he lost his best-paying client. So now he has to make his rent payment.”

None of this was okay, and I wasn’t leaving without Skyler.

“You alright, Skyler?” I asked.

Skyler nodded quickly but remained silent.

The man looked at him as he smacked Skyler’s upper arm and asked, “You know this asshole?”

“I’m not an asshole,” I answered.

The man ignored me and grabbed Skyler’s arm. He asked again, “Do you know him?”

Skyler nodded.

“Is he a new client you found on your own?”

Skyler looked at me, and something in his expression begged me to go along with the story.

“Yes,” Skyler replied. That response seemed to calm the man down immediately, and he turned to face me.

“I apologize for my outburst. I had Skyler arranged for a week with a new customer. I didn’t realize he already had something scheduled.” The man held his hand toward me to shake, but I made no move to exchange pleasantries with him. He withdrew his hand and looked at Skyler. “Don’t forget, rent is due at the end of the week,” he said before retreating inside.

“Do you need anything in that house?” I asked him.

“I don’t think so. I have my coat and phone.”

“No, I mean forever. Do you need anything in there, because you’re not coming back here.”

Skyler turned his back toward the house and reached for his hood to pull it over his beanie. “It’s my home. I have to come back,” he said quietly. Though he said the words, I didn’t think he wanted to believe them. His eyes told me he was trapped.

“It’s not your home. It’s your hiding place.”

Skyler’s gaze moved and looked around me. By calling it his hiding place and seeing his reaction, I knew that Michael’s info on him must have been true. It was obvious Skyler was nervous about being found.

“Who are you?” he asked as he took a step back.

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. And I’m not going to hand you over to Dimitri Bruno either.”

“Who are you?” he asked again. “Have you been following me? How do you know about Bruno?”

“I happen to work for someone who isn’t in the business of handing innocent people over to the Mafia.”

“I thought you worked for Black Diamond Resorts.”

“I do.”

Skyler looked around again as he digested everything. It would take a while, but he’d understand. I glanced toward the house and saw the pimp watching us from the window.

“Skyler, I’m not going to explain everything to you out here. And I understand your

apprehension, but we need to get off this sidewalk and into the SUV.”

Skyler kept his head still but peeked at the house and noticed the man watching us. When I made eye contact with him, he nodded and walked by my side toward my SUV.

The headlights flickered, and the doors unlocked as I neared the Range Rover. “I’m right here,” I gestured toward my SUV.

Skyler got in and buckled his seat belt. I pushed the engine start button and looked at him. He was very pale, and I didn’t know if that was from being cold or me basically telling him that I knew about Bruno.

“Where—”

“Am I taking you?” I finished his thought as I made a U-turn on the street. “I’m taking you home with me. Spencer is there and will be over the moon to see you.” I looked at him when I stopped at a red light. “He’s really into you,” I revealed. I had just enough time to see his cheeks redden before the light turned green. “I’m into you as well.”

“I’m into you guys too, but?—”

“Ah! We’ll be home soon and can all talk.”

When we got to the house, I walked inside ahead of Skyler. Spencer was in the living room on the couch, and he stood when he saw Skyler was with me. He walked toward us with a look of relief in his eyes and a broad smile on his face.

“The three of us are going to make this work,” I said.

Spencer reiterated my words. “West and I are dedicated to making this work out.”

“What work out? I can’t… I can’t get involved with anyone either long term or short term,” Skyler pleaded.

“You don’t want to be with us?” Spencer asked.

“I do, but I can’t get involved with anyone.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I can’t risk anyone I care about getting hurt because of who I have after me. I’m always looking over my shoulder, and I don’t want that for you,” he explained.

“We can fix it, Skyler,” Spencer said.

“No more running or hiding,” I told him.

“How?” he asked.

“You just have to trust us.”

“Believe us when we say that we can fix it,” I said.

“Can you try that?” Spencer asked.

Skyler’s eyes moved from side to side as he digested all of this. Finally, he focused on us and said, “I’d like this to work, but I have one request. Call me Shawn.”

“Consider it done,” Spencer said while I nodded.

I wrapped my arms around their shoulders and loved the way I felt with both of them here, safely in my arms. Spencer and I had fallen hard and fast for Shawn, but this is what we wanted. We’d finally found our perfect third.

THE END