Chapter Twenty

Rossi

July 2001

“Gio!”

He whirled around in a circle, searching for that voice, and spotted the dark head of hair through the crowd of servicemen crushing to get through the gate.

“Gio!” Stefano said again, jumping up and down like a crazy man, and it made him grin.

People glanced his way and then toward Stefano. Fuck them, Rossi thought, but he kept cool as he approached.

He devoured Stefano, who’d let his hair grow. It brushed his shoulders against the cream color of his shirt. Stefano looked like a burst of sunshine, an oasis in an otherwise crazy ass world, and Rossi wanted to yank him into his arms.

So he did.

Stefano made a choking sound and slapped his back like he was greeting an old friend.

“Hey, buddy!” Stefano said loudly when Rossi kept holding on. It took another few slaps on the back for Rossi to release his hold.

Stefano immediately put several feet between them. Rossi frowned but then recognized a few soldiers from his unit walking toward them.

“Get a room,” JJ Marks said with a laugh and Rossi flipped the guy off.

Several others chuckled and the moment passed.

“Sorry,” he said, moving into step with Stefano on the way to the car. Yet, it wasn’t a car the man stopped at, but rather a Ford Explorer.

“Hey, this is new.”

“Yeah,” Stefano said with a quick smile and then slipped behind the wheel.

Rossi closed the door and reached across the center console to grip the back of Stefano’s neck. The man came willingly and he pulled them farther down out of view of the windows. The hungry kiss grew out of control for several long minutes and his lips were raw when he lifted his head. Stefano was breathing heavily and he ran his tongue over his bright red lips.

“Hi…” Stefano breathed the word.

“I can’t believe I’m home.”

“I can’t either.” When Stefano’s voice wobbled, Rossi reached across again and held him as close as the center divider allowed. Stefano clung to him like Rossi was a safe harbor in his world when in truth, it was the other way around—Stefano was his heart and home.

Laughter from outside the vehicle drew them apart and after a quick glance around Stefano, he gave a sigh of relief.

“They didn’t see us.”

Bitterness clawed at Rossi’s throat that he had to hide what they were to each other. He hadn’t seen Stefano since his leave. Of course, they’d exchanged letters and maybe a handful of phone calls, but he hadn’t touched him in a fucking year. If he was out of the Army, Rossi wouldn’t need to go through that bullshit.

He wouldn’t need to hide what he was feeling for Stefano.

And it wasn’t like the world wasn’t changing.

Hell, just last May, the first same-sex couple was married in Massachusetts. Of course, he reminded himself, most of the States and the rest of the world had scrambled for the remainder of the year to vote in legislation that made same-sex marriage unrecognizable.

“Ready?” Stefano’s soft voice drew him back to the interior of the Explorer.

“Yeah…” He frowned, rubbing his hand over the armrest and looking around at the inside. “How could you afford this?”

“I got it used, but it only had eighty-thousand miles.” The man started the engine.

“Where have you been working?”

“Oh, you know…” Stefano murmured and pulled out of the base parking lot.

He squinted and studied the man’s profile. Fuck. He suddenly had his suspicions.

“No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me.”

Stefano chewed the inside of his cheek—not looking any of his thirty years—and pulled out onto the street.

“Stef? Where are you working?”

“I picked up some mercenary work.” Stefano spoke the words so casually, it took a moment for Rossi to comprehend.

“God damn it! I told you that I didn’t want you doing that. I thought we settled this,” he growled, clenching his fists.

Okay, that was probably not the best tone of voice to use nor come to think of it, the best choice of words, but what the actual fuck?

“It’s none of your business,” Stefano’s said coldly.

“The hell it’s not.” His voice lifted and Stefano clammed up. Rossi realized his mistake too late and the rest of the drive to Stefano’s place was spent in icy silence when he wasn’t trying to coax the man into forgiving him.

They pulled up to a house in a newer neighborhood and one that was by his current base since the closure of Fort Ord. He’d put in and had been flown back to Fort Irwin in the Northern part of San Bernardino, California.

Again, as Stefano had done over the past several years, he’d rented a house for them. Rossi tossed a quick glance at the tight-lipped man who had followed him around the United States for fucking years.

He really had no right to tell Stefano what he could or couldn’t do. Rossi had no say where Stefano was concerned.

It wasn’t like they were married.

Stefano pulled sharply into the driveway, shut off the engine, and was out of the vehicle before Rossi could blink. He jumped out, grabbed his duffle, and closed the door before he followed Stefano into the house. He could tell Stefano had spent some time decorating and Rossi paused in the living room after closing and locking the front door. He dropped his duffle near the door and glanced around.

A Christmas tree stood fully decorated, and thick comfortable tweed couches sat around a low coffee table with a pinkish-colored carpet. Garland and lights trimmed the fireplace mantle. Beneath the tree in the corner sat brightly wrapped presents.

Ah, fuck. He’d messed up. Well, shit. He stalked through the house and found Stefano in the kitchen. Rossi moved up behind the man and wrapped his arms tightly around Stefano’s middle and placed his chin on the man’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Rossi whispered the words against Stefano’s ear.

With a small sound, Stefano turned into his arms and kissed him. After a moment, Stefano pulled him out of the kitchen and down a long hallway to a room at the end. The room had a massive king-sized bed center stage and Rossi yanked at his clothes as Stefano sauntered to the bedside table.

When the man pulled out a big bottle of lube and tossed several condoms on the bed, Rossi’s hands ripped and yanked at his jeans and combat boots. He fell to his ass on the carpet and Stefano chuckled.

Rossi followed Stefano when the man started pulling off his own clothes. Every inch of skin was bared to his hungry gaze. He pulled off his last god damned boot and stood.

Catching Stefano around the waist, he lowered the man to the bed, their mouths locked in a kiss he’d been dying for since he’d seen him at the airport.

An hour later, Rossi was out of the doghouse.

Stefano gasped, falling back onto the bed in a naked sprawl.

“You’re forgiven.”

Rossi chuckled at the breathless words and roamed his mouth over Stefano’s stomach to nuzzle into his chest before kissing his lips. Those red lips clung to his and he dove in for a deeper taste.

Sliding down onto the pillows, he wrapped an arm around Stefano and pulled him upward. Once the man was resting back against him, Rossi flipped the blanket over them.

“Where are they sending you next?”

Rossi let out a soft sigh. He did not want to even think about Terrance Manning Junior. They’d already taken care of the bastard who’d been selling and sex trafficking children and young adults in exchange for weapons. Now it was only a matter of rounding up everyone involved, but his unit had been granted a break over the holiday and no way in hell was he going to spend another minute thinking of the job when he had Stefano in his arms.

“Let’s not talk about that. Got any snacks?”

“No!” Stefano lightly slapped his arm and then toyed with his fingers. “I’m making an early dinner, ham and the works.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to wait for Christmas.”

Rossi glanced at the clock. It was just after five in the morning.

“Can we start the oven now?”

Stefano laughed and nodded before scooting around to give him a kiss.

The ham was very late getting into the oven—good thing it was fully cooked.