Chapter One

Rossi

Present day

He angled his head away from the sun coming through the window of his large, spacious San Francisco office. He did enjoy the California sunshine—since SF had a propensity to always be cloudy—but not in the eye. Rolling his leather office chair a bit fixed the immediate problem.

“Did you hear me?” Stefano asked.

“Not yet. I’m sorry.” Rossi finally answered Stefano’s earlier question.

Silence greeted his words and he swallowed around the lump in his throat and squeezed the phone tighter. He studied the rich oak color of his desk while searching for words.

“I just don’t think now is the right time to tell all the guys we’re living together.”

“When then?” Stefano snapped. “It’s been two years.”

“No…”

Had they been living together that long? He honestly couldn’t remember because as corny as it sounded, every day felt like a new day with Stefano by his side. It had been that way for Rossi ever since he’d first seen Stefano during boot camp, and then finally got up the nerve to meet him sometime during AIT (Advanced Individual Training).

He’d known Stefano since before Terrance Manning and Ricky Stevenson had killed Noah’s mother and kidnapped Noah. And well before the Lakhonin family set about to destroy him and all that he held dear. Stefano had been through everything with him, keeping him sane.

Fast friends, they’d graduated to lovers early on. But back then, neither of them said a word about being together because being quiet meant staying alive.

They’d met during a time when a person kept their mouth shut or ended up dead. It had been the era well after Stonewall, but tolerance had stayed a distant dream. Hell, it was still risky, and he knew it could be several more decades before the majority of people began to show a margin of acceptance.

“Most of the unit knows we’re together,” he groused.

“No…only a handful know we live together. When will we just come out and live normally?”

Why now?he wanted to ask but bit back the words because they weren’t true. This wasn’t the only time they’d had this discussion. Stefano had been so excited when they’d moved in together that he made the same damned request on that first day and several times over the past two years. But lately, something had changed, and Stefano kept pushing and pushing.

Rossi struggled to hold on to his patience.

“Soon,” he murmured.

“How soon, Gio?”

“Give me more time.” He rubbed at his forehead.

“More time?” Was that a half sob in Stefano’s voice? The thought that it could be made his chest hurt.

“Babe, can we talk about this when I get home?”

“I can’t.”

“What?” He almost couldn’t get the word out through his tight throat.

“I’m not living in your closet any longer.”

The line went dead, and it wasn’t until he heard the noise of the unit arriving in the office that he realized he had sat holding his cell phone for God knows how long. He tossed his phone to the desk with a clatter and poked at the red crease in his palm from holding the device so tightly.

He wasn’t in the closet! He was bisexual. All of Phoenix and their families knew it. Hell, even the SecDef knew he preferred men.

But not many outside of the unit knew. He ground his teeth. Coming right out and telling all of his team he and Stefano were living together wasn’t something he felt needed to be said nor announced to the whole fucking world. So what if they had to meet at the guys’ houses instead of his and Stefano’s home?

That sounds shitty.Damn it.He let out a hard sigh. So, sue him if he didn’t want to broadcast that they shared a home together!

What are you afraid of?

Nothing! It was nobody’s business, he told the pesky voice.

Plus, there was a lot at stake.

He was a man of power and prestige.

Now you just sound like an asshole. He made a sound in his throat.

The sounds of the team entering the unit filled the CCTV he had on his desk. The camera displayed multiple shots of entry to the building. He could see anyone coming and going from the front gate to the back. The facility was state-of-the-art—filled with top-notch equipment as well as a bunker, kitchen, and command center. There wasn’t anything the Phoenix building didn’t contain and if need be, they could self-sustain during times of war. Not to mention, part of the building was rented by Cobalt Security, a bodyguard unit based both in California and Colorado.

“Chief?” Roscoe Burns, the unit’s lieutenant, rapped on his open door, bringing his attention from the monitor.

“Come in.”

He pushed thoughts of Stefano aside. It could wait. He wasn’t ready. And if Stefano really loved him, then he’d understand.

“I can’t find Stefano and we had a few things come in.” Roscoe lifted the electronic tablet in his hands.

Rossi cleared his throat and waved Roscoe closer. He wasn’t sure when Stefano would be in the office himself, but he wouldn’t tell the team any of that.

“Stefano is taking the day off.”

“Oh?” Roscoe frowned, crossed the cream-colored carpet, and then dropped into one of two black leather chairs that sat in front of his desk. “Is he okay?”

It was an honest question. Stefano had suffered a heart attack in the past and had almost given Rossi heart failure in the process. That day would forever be etched in his brain and still sent a feeling of dread through Rossi when he thought of how close he’d come to losing Stefano that day. He couldn’t imagine a world without the man in it.

He cleared his throat when Roscoe kept looking at him, expecting an answer. “Yes, he’s fine.”

“Okay then,” Roscoe said and launched into the details of a few local and minor cases.

About an hour later, Roscoe left his office and Rossi sat and stared at the open doorway until his desk phone rang. He picked it up and began handling one problem after another. From that point on, it was business as usual; the only difference was that Stefano wasn’t returning any of his calls or text messages.

Rossi’s irritation mounted.

It wasn’t the first time Stefano had given him the silent treatment. No matter, he’d take Stefano out to a nice restaurant and smooth over this latest misunderstanding.

Stefano always forgave him.