Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

Rico

“ P api?”

Immediately, I lifted my head from where I’d been staring at my laptop screen, giving my little puppy my undivided attention. “Yes, perrito ?” I asked, leaning back in my desk chair as I ran my eyes over him.

He’d still been asleep when I’d woken up this morning, and when we’d had breakfast together after he’d finally emerged in the dining room, he’d still been in his pajamas. I’d left him on the couch with his phone and the TV remote while I came to work. Since then, he’d obviously showered, his hair hanging damply over his forehead, and was now wearing a pair of light-wash skinny jeans and one of my hoodies, his feet shoved into his house slippers.

God, I loved it when he wore my clothes. It made me want to fucking devour him.

He stepped closer, so I rolled my chair back from my desk, an open invitation for him to come closer. He took it, just like I knew he would, and squeezed between me and my desk until he was standing between my spread knees. Leaning forward, I gripped his hips and tugged him a little closer.

“I… um…” He frowned, suddenly looking unsure of himself.

Reaching up, I gripped his chin and angled his face down so he was looking at me. Arching I brow, I asked, “You what, perrito ?” I didn’t like it when he was nervous with me. He never had any reason to be.

He swallowed thickly, and that pretty tongue of his came out to lick over his lips. My cock swelled to half-mast in my slacks, but I ignored it. He wasn’t here for sex or to get me off. He clearly had something on his mind but was too… nervous to voice it.

“Ace wants to come over,” he blurted.

“Okay,” I said simply, not sure why he was nervous about asking my permission for that. I wanted Anurak to have friends. Friends were a vital part of his recovery. “He can come over.”

Anurak frowned at me, his brows furrowing. “Really?”

I chuckled and stood, backing him up against my desk. He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he leaned his head back to look up at me. I palmed his narrow hips, giving him a gentle squeeze. “Yes, perrito . Really. You need friends. You need to be sociable outside of me and Bento.” His cheeks warmed a little. Leaning down, I planted a soft, tender kiss on his sweet mouth. “Ace will be a good friend for you. He’s protective, loyal, and he’s… smitten with you.”

“Smitten?” Anurak’s brows furrowed. “I don’t like him like that though.”

Yet , I silently thought because it was coming. One hundred percent, it was going to happen. And I wouldn’t stop it. I wanted Anurak to have everything, and the way those two had looked at each other when they met… yeah, growing feelings for each other was definitely inevitable.

I laughed softly and shook my head. “Not like that,” I assured him. “I mean he’s smitten with you as in he thinks you’re adorable and sweet and just wants to be in your company. You might find he can be overbearing, but he’ll be good for you.”

I wanted all the good things for my boy.

Anurak beamed at me then and leaned up, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips that made my heart flutter in my chest. When he pulled his lips from mine, I took a step back, letting him slip past me. He yanked his phone from his back pocket and began to rapidly type on it, almost running into the door frame of my office as he went. I sighed, dropping back into my desk chair.

“Careful, perrito ,” I warned.

“Sorry, Papi,” he called back, disappearing around the corner.

Papi . Fuck, I never knew I wanted to be someone’s Daddy. That it would be my kink. But it worked for us. It fit us. Anurak was eager to please and serve, and I craved to take care of him like I needed to breathe.

Grabbing my phone, I typed out a quick message to Niran.

Rico: Let me know when Ace gets here .

Niran: Yes, sir.

I set my phone back down and focused back on reading through the contract my attorney had sent me.

Niran knocked on my open office door. I glanced up at him. “Sir, Ace and his husband, Gunner, have arrived. I’ve shown them to the living room where Anurak is.”

I nodded once and saved what I was doing before turning my laptop off. Standing, I looked back at Niran. “Is Bento with Anurak?”

“Yes, sir. I also prepared coffee while waiting for them to get here. It’s in the living room as well.”

I rounded my desk and followed him into the living room. Ace and Anurak were sitting on the floor, their heads bowed together as Ace showed Anurak some video on his phone that had my boy giggling. They both looked up when I walked into the room, and Anurak smiled at me. Leaning over, I dropped a kiss to the top of his head then headed over to where Gunner was standing, leaving the two boys alone.

We hadn’t officially met before, though I did know who he was. I held out my hand, and he clasped mine in his, giving me a firm handshake that I definitely approved of. It was firm and showed his strength without him trying to prove himself to me. One look at the man and I knew he wasn’t a man who felt the need to prove his masculinity. It oozed from his pores.

“Rico Martinez,” I introduced myself. “Gunner Matthews, correct?”

His lips twitched. “Jax warned me you’d probably know my entire life story.”

I shrugged. “The moment I was aware you and Ace were together, I did my homework on you. I’m protective of that boy, even if he doesn’t know it. He’s an extension of Jax, which makes him my family.”

“You’re not like that with his other brothers.”

I shook my head. “They tolerate me, and I tolerate them. That’s about as far as that goes.” Honestly, it was about as far as it would ever go. I didn’t appreciate their abandonment of Ace. I gestured to the couch. “Take a seat. Niran has made us coffee.” I watched as the man himself walked in carrying cookies and sodas on a tray. My lips twitched. “Seems our boys will be on sugar highs soon.”

Gunner snorted and then walked over to Ace, gripping his hair to pull his head back. Ace looked up at him, his blue eyes bright and happy. “Yes, Papa?”

“If you start bouncing off the walls, I’ll bend you over my knee and spank you before forcing you to take a nap, understand?”

Anurak’s eyes widened, fear glinting in his eyes. Ace nodded, and as soon as Gunner released him, Ace tugged Anurak close, cuddling him like they’d known each other for years rather than a matter of days. “It’s okay, little bunny. I consent to his punishments.”

Anurak’s face paled at the word punishments. I stepped forward to comfort him and assure him I would never punish him, but Ace beat me to it. “Your Papi would never put his hands on you like that,” Ace assured him, his normally bratty tone soft and sweet for my boy. Yeah… the feelings thing was already happening. There would be no stopping it, not that I wanted to. Anurak needed people outside of me, even if I didn’t want to share him. With time, I knew I’d come around. “You had it rough, huh?”

I blew out a breath and sat on the couch. Gunner took the other end, and I leaned forward, pouring us each a cup of coffee. Leaning back, I looked over at Gunner as he grabbed his mug. “You’re good for him. I’m glad that he’s found somewhere to belong.”

Gunner shrugged. “Knew he was mine from the moment I laid my eyes on him.” His lips quirked. “Seems to be the same for you.”

I grunted. “I slaughtered a room full of men just to keep him as mine.”

Gunner snorted, amusement bleeding into his blue eyes. “I get it,” he told me simply. And I knew he did. He’d done the same for Ace when Ace had been kidnapped. I was still pissed about that, but I knew that blame didn’t lie with him. It lay with FAME, the president of the Ghost Born MC. He’d sent Ace out on his own to gather intel, and it had almost cost Ace his life.

I turned on a soccer game, and Gunner and I remained quiet, watching the game as our boys formed a bond with each other on the living room floor. An hour into the game, Anurak looked up at me. “Papi?” I tore my eyes from the TV to look down at him. He stood to his feet. “I’m hungry.”

Bento appeared at that moment with sandwiches and water for the boys. Silently, he set it on the floor. Anurak beamed at him. “Thank you, Bento.”

“Of course,” Bento told him quietly before looking at me. “Do you need anything, boss?”

“Nah,” I said, waving him off. He nodded once and left the room. Ace and Anurak dug into the lunch Bento had prepared, talking quietly as they ate. I focused back on the game, one ear trained for my boy and the other listening to the television.

When silence suddenly rang from the floor, I looked down at them and chuckled. They were cuddled into each other, Ace’s arms wrapped tightly around my puppy, and Anurak’s face was buried in Ace’s chest. Both of them were asleep, their bellies full. Gunner grunted and shook his head, a small smile pulling at his lips.

“Just a warning—Ace has latched onto Anurak,” Gunner told me quietly. “And he will be sticking to him like glue.”

I shrugged. “Anurak needs someone like Ace, so I don’t mind.” The game ended, and another was already being announced. I looked at Gunner. “Looks like you’re here for a while. You up for another game?”

He nodded. “Always down to watch a game. You got beer?”

“Yeah,” I told him. Niran, who had been sitting in on the loveseat working on his tablet, silently set the device aside before standing and heading toward the kitchen. I grabbed Anurak’s throw blanket off the back of the couch and stood, draping it over the boys. Gunner kneeled beside them and gently tugged Ace’s shoes off his feet.

I pressed a kiss to the top of Anurak’s head, smiling at him. I was too selfish to take him places to possibly make his own friends, but I had a feeling Ace would be one of the best things to happen for him.

Ace would love and protect my boy with the same prejudice I did, and that was damn good enough in my book.