Chapter Twenty-Five

Rossi

April 2018

“How dare you!”

Across the distance, Rossi held Stefano’s furious gaze without wavering, but he did squeeze his hands into fists where they rested on his desk.

Stefano slammed his office door and stalked across the carpet to slap his palms down on the top of Rossi’s desk.

Rossi didn’t flinch.

He knew Stefano would be pissed, but so the hell what? That guy wasn’t right for Stefano, and if the man wasn’t so pissed right now, he’d know that.

“Why did you do it?”

Rossi’s lips twisted at the angrily hissed words, but he didn’t look away from the man’s furious gaze.

“He’s no good.”

Shock covered Stefano’s face and widened his deep brown eyes. His full lips pulled flat and he raked a hand through his dark hair, spiking the ends.

“What do you mean he’s no good? How the hell would you know that?”

Rossi clenched his teeth, feeling a muscle tick in his jaw. Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly to curb his temper.

“I had him investigated.”

“You had a United States congressman investigated?”

“Mhmm.” And he wasn’t fucking sorry one bit. Sure, it had taken a while to dig up the dirt his private detective had found on the congressman, but it was enough dirt to have the fucker slinking off into the shadows and, more importantly, rescinding his invitation to Stefano to join him for dinner.

Stefano studied him for a long moment. The anger in the man’s eyes morphed into something else entirely. Something that made Rossi’s throat tighten and saliva suddenly hard to swallow. Stefano’s beautiful lips curved just a touch at the corners and Rossi clenched his fists tighter.

“How many times have you gotten in the way of my dates through the years?”

“I’m your friend.” Rossi shifted and glanced away for a brief moment, scowling. “It’s my job to look after you.”

“Of course, it is.” Stefano leaned closer and Rossi stayed put. The man’s woodsy cologne sent a tingle to his fucking balls. The way Stefano ran his tongue over that plump lower lip caught the air from escaping Rossi’s lungs.

“And what about that kiss?”

Rossi’s heart almost stopped beating before it slammed against his ribs with a frantic beat. “Kiss?”

“The one beneath the mistletoe last year?”

“It’s mistletoe?” Rossi said and cringed at how lame that sounded.

“So, casual then?”

Rossi had no words for that because he wouldn’t lie. Nothing about that kiss had been casual. Nothing about them was casual as far as he was concerned, and watching Stefano wait for him the first few years had been bad enough, but witnessing Stefano start dating other men had become a knife in the heart. He had only himself to blame, but he couldn’t seem to get a fucking word out of his mouth.

“Well, I guess that’s it then,” Stefano murmured before he pushed back from the desk.

Rossi didn’t trust the light in the man’s eyes one bit, but damned if he could say a word. He wasn’t sure what “it” was, but he knew Stefano was going to show him. Maybe not this moment and hell, maybe not even today, but someday Stefano was going to give it to him good for interfering.

Without another word, Stefano turned and strode to the door. He tossed a look over his shoulder from beneath those fucking sexy lashes and then stepped out into the hallway. Stefano disappeared but left his office door open and Rossi let out the shaking breath he’d been holding.

A few seconds later, Rossi heard Stefano speak.

“Take it out of the building, boys.”

Rossi huffed a soft laugh when Stefano gave the order to someone in the hall. Their team was known for public displays of affection.

“Stefano!” Seth’s harsh cry brought Rossi up out of his chair and racing for the doorway.

Rossi stood blindly staring at the small array of ornaments on a clearance shelf. Go figure, just his luck to stumble across Christmas ornaments in the hospital gift shop. His eyes landed on a candy cane ornament made of spun glass. White and red twisted around the sparkling glass and he lifted it carefully.

“Can I help you?”

Rossi turned to the shopkeeper. “Yes, this one, please.”

“A lovely choice. All of our ornaments are hand-crafted by local artists. It’s a one-of-a-kind.”

Once the shopkeeper carefully wrapped the candy cane ornament, Rossi paid and made his way to the elevator. Several minutes later, he was standing outside Stefano’s door clutching the gift bag.

His hands shook and his legs felt unsteady when he slowly pushed open the hospital room door.

Standing in the open doorway, his eyes clung to the man sleeping in the bed—looking pale against the pristine white sheets.

The smell of antiseptic and bleach filled the room and his shoes squeaked when he stepped forward and gently swung the door closed.

Never before in his life could he remember being as scared as he’d been when Stefano had collapsed in the hallway of Phoenix just outside of his office. Hearing Seth cry Stefano’s name had sent his heart into his throat and his skin turning cold. Rushing to the hallway, he’d run to Stefano’s slumped body and pulled him into his arms. With his ass on the hallway’s carpeted floor, he’d rocked and prayed. He’d heard nothing over the pounding of his head.

Regret clawed at his chest.

What had started out as his own guilt over holding Stefano back from living a full life had turned into years of pain.

Keeping Stefano at arm’s length had been an asshole move on his part. He’d known it by the shock-filled expression on Stefano’s face the day he’d told the man he was getting his own apartment. It had been an asshole move on his part to kiss Stefano beneath the mistletoe, but fuck, he’d been so tired of living a lonely existence.

Over the years, the constant hurt that lingered in Stefano’s deep brown eyes had gutted Rossi and he’d meant to rectify the situation between them sooner, but every time when he had asked Stefano if he was happy, Rossi had received a resounding yes.

Lids fluttered open and tired brown eyes met his across the short distance. Rossi didn’t hesitate—not for one more fucking minute.

He went to the bed, sank into the chair next to it, and gently caught Stefano’s hand in his. His thumb brushed over the tape that held the IV in place.

Lifting Stefano’s fingers to his lips, he brushed his mouth over the man’s skin.

“I love you,” he whispered, and watched helplessly as tears filled Stefano’s eyes.

“Yeah?”

It shattered him that Stefano sounded so unsure of them.

“Yeah, who the fuck else would I love?” he tried to growl, but his voice came out hoarse and wobbly, bringing a wet-sounding laugh from Stefano.

“Nobody,” Stefano agreed.

“That’s right. Nobody else. Ever,” he said around a lump in his throat, and he kissed the man’s fingers again.

“It’s been almost eight fucking years, Gio.”

“I’m so sorry.” The words spilled hoarsely from his throat and he brought Stefano’s hand to mouth before he buried his face in the man’s palm.

“Now what?” Stefano whispered.

“You scared the life out of me.” He’d been petrified that he wouldn’t get a chance to tell this man just how much he meant to him. If Stefano had died, Rossi would have spent the rest of his days becoming a bitter old man. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want what time they had left to be spent apart.

“And now?”

“Will you go on a date with me?”

Silence greeted his question and he made himself hold Stefano’s unflinching gaze.

“Don’t ever break up with me again,” Stefano said.

“I won’t.”

“Promise me.”

“Cross my heart.”

“Okay then. You can take me on a date.”

Rossi’s laugh came out as a strangled sound and he held the man’s hand tighter.

Stefano’s brown eyes softened and his lips curved upward before his gaze landed on the gift bag. “What’s that?”

Rossi glanced at the bag and handed it to Stefano. He watched as the man’s eyes brightened at the ornament. The shopkeeper had placed the candy cane inside of a clear plastic box in order to protect the delicate thing.

“It’s beautiful.” Stefano gazed up at him. “I still have all the other ornaments we collected.”

Rossi swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded at the bright candy cane.

“It’s our new beginning.” Rossi wanted it hung with the rest.

“Yeah?” Stefano’s voice held so much hope, Rossi felt his eyes burn.

You’re my heart, you know that, right?” Rossi cleared his throat. “I can’t promise it’ll always be this easy, but ….”

“Hush.” Stefano placed his fingers against his lips. “If there’s one thing I know about you, Giovanni Rossi, nothing about you is easy.”

Rossi gave a wry smile and clung to Stefano’s hand. He closed his burning eyes and brushed the man’s hand gently against his unshaven jaw.

They’d eventually need to talk about their living situation, but it didn’t need to be addressed at the moment. Let them get through dating and see how that went. Right now, all that mattered was that Stefano was alive and the doctors had assured him the man would live a long life if he took care of his health.

And Rossi silently vowed he would do everything he could to keep Stefano happy.

Of course, best-laid plans didn’t always work out.

And old fears could be a bitch to overcome.