Chapter 33

They didn’t getto eat. Hell, they didn’t even get to cook. Scotty demanded to know what was going on and because they were suckers, both Vince and Zander caved and told him about Syren Rua’s unexpected appearance and his fascination.

Scotty didn’t see it as a big deal nor was he on board with Zander adding more people to his security detail. Yeah, he could pout all he wanted; Zander wasn’t giving an inch when it came to that.

“You’re gonna do it, aren’t you?” Scotty folded his arms, eyes all pleading as they stood around in the kitchen.

Zander had to look away from him, otherwise he would give in again because he couldn’t stand to see Scotty in distress. Fuck. Was that what love was? Because goddamn.

“Zander will do what’s best for us,” Vince said before Zander could. “He loves us and besides, this is kinda his area of expertise.”

Scotty’s pout got more prominent and Zander rubbed the middle of his chest. He didn’t like seeing the younger man out of sorts—it felt unnatural—but he had to stand his ground. Syren Rua was not one to be played with and before something happened that none of them could come back from, he had to ensure that Scotty was fully protected.

He’d already warned Syren that he would consider any attempt to contact Scotty or Vince an act of aggression and react accordingly. The crazy fucker had simply chuckled in his ear and then ended the call. Dude was unhinged and Zander wasn’t taking any chances.

“Hey, c’mere.” He crooked a finger and that fast Scotty closed the small space between them and stepped into his arms. Zander cupped the back of his head, pressing a kiss to his nose. “Trust me, okay? Don’t let his looks fool you. Listen to Vince. Listen to me. Syren is the most dangerous fucker around.”

Scotty placed both hands on Zander’s hips and tipped his head back, meeting his stare. “But you’re also dangerous.”

Zander nodded. “I am, which means it would be war between us. I don’t want that. I want a life as conflict free as I can get it despite being who I am because it means you two would be safe. I want you to be safe. It’s not good for your mental health for you to be involved in anything like that.” Emotion roughened his voice as he stared into Scotty’s eyes. Nothing was more important than the men he loved being happy and safe. “I want to be your safe space and that can’t happen if I’m beefing with Syren.” His relationship had to come first, which meant he would do all he could to prevent anything or anyone fucking with them.

Scotty studied him for a while, expression earnest, and then he nodded. “Okay.”

Zander tightened his grip on him “Yeah?”

“Of course. Like Vince said, this is your world. I guess, I just”—he looked down briefly—“needed reassurance?”

Zander hugged him, gaze lifting over Scotty’s shoulder to find Vince where he sat at their kitchen table with soft eyes. “I got you,” he promised them both in a murmur. “I got you.” He’d long stopped feeling bad that the magnitude of what he felt for them far outweighed what he’d once had with Derri. And though the guilt of what he’d had to do to his former lover never truly left him, it wasn’t as sharp as it’d once been. The pain wasn’t as great. He missed Derri sometimes, but it was more the idea of what they’d once been. He had no love for the man who’d eventually turned into a threat at the end.

“Should we order dinner since we didn’t get to cook?” Vince asked as he got to his feet.

“Yeah, but that can wait.” Zander pulled away from Scotty and took first his hand, then Vince’s in the other, and led them upstairs.

To their bedroom, where they immediately fell onto each other.

There was always something new to see, to experience when they made love. And he stood still for a moment, laser focused on the way Vince and Scotty kissed, the way Scotty gripped Vince’s face in his hands. The way Vince kneaded Scotty’s ass.

They got Zander so hard he was aching, dripping. So he stripped while they sucked on each other’s tongues, then made his way to them, wading in between. Kissing first Vince then Scotty and then it was the three of them, their tongues snaking around each other. Hands everywhere.

He blinked and they were on the bed, everybody naked, warm skin slipping and sliding, limbs tangled and twisted together. He found himself on his back and they were on him, lips kissing down his body, and another set wrapped around his dick. He closed his eyes and gave himself over to them so they could do with him whatever they wished.

He didn’t care.

They sent him soaring, slick fingers digging inside him, finding places that made him cry out and arch, teeth in his bottom lip as he spread wider.

An offering that they took eagerly, his men.

And soon they were inside him; he was too far gone to even open his eyes to check who it was. Not that it mattered. It never would. Pleasure scorched his spine, undulating like flames, and he panted, legs lifting to the ceiling, grunting as teeth sank into his nipples and a tight palm stroked his shaft to brick hardness.

He opened his eyes then. Scotty was the one fucking the hell out of him while Vince kissed every area of Zander’s body, fingers plucking at his nipples while the other hand stroked and jerked him. He lifted his ass off the bed, riding Scotty’s dick while thrusting into Vince’s grip, fucking himself there too.

“Fuck.” Normally he’d have so much to say but right now he had nothing, could only moan and grunt, the sounds falling from a throat that was tight and hoarse. He reached for Vince, who was now turned so his head was near Zander’s groin.

Zander stroked a hand over the swell of Vince’s ass, trailing a finger down his crack and then teasing his hole. Vince arched, tipping his ass higher as he sucked on Zander’s crown.

“God—” He grabbed Vince’s hips, awkwardly moving and positioning him until Vince was on top of him, his ass in Zander’s face, balls sitting on his chin. Zander buried his face between those taut cheeks, tongue circling, spearing his hole while Vince squirmed and moaned, his saliva dripping down Zander’s balls.

The entire time, Scotty kept up a hard and brutal pace, fucking Zander closer and closer to orgasm. He voiced his pleasure, muffled by Vince’s clenching ass. He tongue-fucked that hole, then inserted a finger after getting him nice and wet. Vince’s hips rolled as he cried out around Zander’s dick. A nip of his teeth on Zander’s sensitive tip had his eyes rolling back, body jerking.

He was gonna come. Shit. Shit. He worked his hips frantically, chasing the orgasm, body tensing up in preparation, and then Scotty pulled out.

Oh fuck, no?—

Vince also lifted his head, easing away, and then something soft and hot sank onto him. Scotty. Who’d apparently already gotten himself ready and was now sitting on Zander’s cock that was thisclose to spitting out his cum and wetting up Scotty’s insides.

“Fuck.” He pulled away from Vince. “I’m gonna—Shit!” He didn’t stand a chance, not with the way Scotty’s body gripped him, clenched around him. He came, hips jerking wildly, teeth cutting the inside of his cheek. Scotty took all of him, never breaking stride as he rode him.

On top of him, Vince got up and reversed his position, straddling Zander until they were face-to-face, his ass pressed to Scotty’s groin. Zander kissed him, shoving his tongue into Vince’s mouth so he could taste himself while Vince reached behind himself, fumbling.

“Ugh. Goddamn it. Yesss!” Vince moaned into the kiss.

A glance showed Zander that Scotty was inside Vince. While riding Zander.

Shit.That had Zander’s poor spent dick swelling up again.

“Fuck me. Fuck me,” Vince panted. “Oh God. Yes, Scotty. C-coming. I’m—” He spasmed and Zander felt the spurt of Vince’s seed against his abs when Vince threw his head back with a low keening sound.

Scotty’s hole clenched impossibly tighter, his throaty groans rising louder, and then he, too, was peaking. His body gave out and he fell forward onto Vince’s back. They were heavy, squishing Zander, but he had zero complaints. They could smother him to death; he didn’t mind.

In the aftermath, they were a mess. Their cooling bodies were sticky with sweat and cum, quaking with the aftershocks of their releases. Nobody seemed to care. They were too busy kissing, touching with lazy strokes, soothing each other.

A sigh left Zander. It should be criminal to feel this good, this happy, this content. But in that bed, with those men, was where he wanted to live.

And die.

At the beginning,Scotty had grumbled a bit about having to go to therapy. He hadn’t seen the appeal or need to sit on some stranger’s couch and spill all his thoughts and fears. But it was growing on him now.

Deep inside, he’d worried about fitting into this world that he hadn’t even known existed until he’d decided, like the desperate idiot he’d been back then, to break into a mechanic’s shop.

A small smile played on his lips as he waited for Lobo, one of his bodyguards, to open the door leading to the building that housed Doctor Esai’s offices. Yeah, the full-service entourage was a bit of an annoyance, but he was also coming to tolerate it. Because breaking into the mechanic shop had turned out to be the best thing he’d ever done in his miserable life, so he accepted that there would be minor inconveniences.

He nodded to the receptionist, Tricia, and like always whenever he came, which was twice a week, she paled and stared at the three men who flanked him as if they were about to launch themselves at her. They’d proven to be quiet and unobtrusive, but there wasn’t anything else he could do about it until Zander decided bodyguards were no longer necessary. He didn’t see that happening for a while, though.

Zander tended to worry.

Scotty loved that about him.

“He’s ready for you,” Tricia said, gaze darting from him to the men at his back.

Scotty bit back a sigh. At least they didn’t come into his sessions with him. They only waited out in the lobby, likely giving poor Tricia a fright for the entire ninety-minute session. “Thank you.” He flashed her a smile. It was frustrating, but at least he could try to put her at ease. “I’ll be back,” he told his babysitters before striding away.

He wanted to get this done and go home. He’d recently started in-person college classes studying business management and it wasn’t easy, but he was glad he’d decided to go for it. Glad, too, that his men championed him during the times when he’d doubted himself. They’d been with him every step of the way during his NA meetings, and even when he’d been diagnosed with PTSD. They’d even sat in on a couple therapy sessions with him. Therapy helped him deal with the trauma he’d suffered in childhood, giving him better tools to deal with it than what had been his usual MO: getting high.

There’d been nobody to worry about Scotty’s disappearance. No family to raise the alarm. Through Zander, he’d learned that Don’s death had been ruled as a drug deal gone bad because his body had been found in an abandoned house with drugs all around. The authorities had pinned it on a local drug dealer who’d died in a shootout with police when they’d gone to question him. All Scotty felt was relief that Don was gone. He had an actual family now; Vince and Zander were his family. They were each other’s family.

Now, he’d just come from class and was hungry. Vince had texted that he would be barbecuing tonight for dinner and Scotty’s mouth watered at the thought. Vince’s culinary skills were improving by leaps and bounds since he’d made it his mission to learn, and Scotty for one was happy for him.

They each had their thing that brought them joy. Zander too. As much as the business was cutthroat and could be so very dangerous at times, he knew how much Zander relished the challenge and the uncertainty of it. He thrived on danger and all that darkness, but when he came home to Scotty and Vince, he was all in with them, giving them his undivided attention.

Scotty couldn’t ask for more than that. Well, he could, but Zander had a way of anticipating their needs and making it happen before Scotty or Vince even thought to voice it. Like knowing that Scotty didn’t like having to ask for things, so Zander made him co-owner of one of his smaller businesses, a car wash, and ensured Scotty had his own bank account, separate from the one they all three had jointly, and his own credit cards. His own money to do whatever he wanted. It was a freedom Scotty had never envisioned.

Arriving at Doctor Esai’s door, he pushed it open and walked in, closing it softly behind him.

“Hello, Scotty.”

He startled, falling backward into the door.

Syren Rua sat in Doctor Esai’s plush white armchair, legs crossed, a smile on his face.

“What—What are you doing?” Scotty glanced around. “Where’s Doctor Esai?” His voice rose in pitch as his heart thundered. “Did you kill him?”

Syren tsked, flicking something off his suit jacket. “What am I, a monster? The good doctor is…indisposed.”

“What the hell does that mean? Is he dead or not?”

“He could be.” Syren got to his feet and Scotty pressed harder against the door. “If that’s what you want.” He stared pointedly.

All the things Zander and Vince had warned him about regarding Syren flooded his brain then. The guy was fixated on Scotty, they’d said. Scotty hadn’t believed it, not really. He and Syren had met only briefly that one time. How could he have any interest in him? But maybe that wasn’t as farfetched as it’d sounded at the time.

“I don’t—What do you want from me?” He could probably start screaming, but that wouldn’t do much. The doc’s office was soundproof to protect patient privacy. His phone? But no, it was with his backpack that he’d left out front with the bodyguards. Fuck.

Syren studied him, his head cocked. “How are your men treating you, Scotty?”

He blinked. That sounded as if Syren genuinely wanted an answer, but Scotty couldn’t be sure. “Uh… It’s fine? They’re treating me fine.”

Syren’s eyebrow shot up. “Are you asking or telling me?”

Scotty cleared his throat and then swallowed. “My relationship is just that, my relationship.” He lifted his chin. “I don’t know you, but I know them and I love them just as much as they love me. Zander will kill you when he finds out you came here.”

“I mean…” Syren shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll try. If you tell him.”

Scotty frowned at the suggestion. “I’m not keeping secrets from them.”

Syren smiled then, his purple eyes twinkling, and Scotty had to look away to prevent himself from being sucked in.

“I’m glad.” Syren sat back down in the doc’s chair. “Relationships are tricky things when it’s between just two people. I imagine it’s even more so when it’s three of you.”

Eyes narrowed, Scotty asked, “So you’re my new therapist now?”

“I am whatever you want me to be.” Syren spread his hands. “I’m intimately familiar with being vulnerable, with not knowing who you can trust, with being afraid.”

Scotty couldn’t see it. He couldn’t imagine the man sitting before him, as beautiful as he was, as fragile as his features falsely made him appear, ever being weak or afraid.

Syren chuckled, having obviously read Scotty’s mind. “Sit.” He motioned to the couch where Scotty usually sat during his sessions. “Join me and I’ll tell you a story.”

Scotty hesitated at first, but Syren hadn’t hurt him. Maybe keeping him talking would prevent him from doing anything that would give Zander cause to retaliate. So Scotty sat, if a bit apprehensively, and Syren began talking.

He told Scotty of the boy he’d once been. A little boy whose entire family had been murdered, a boy who’d then been stolen and sold, who’d been used and abused, a young man who’d betrayed his fellow captive, the only person who’d loved him at that time. Then he shared about being homeless and all the things he’d had to do to survive, and of his plans for revenge. Doing whatever it took to find the people responsible for all of it. How he’d become powerful with a face that so many feared.

And then he shared about being a father, falling in love, and building a family.

Through it all, Scotty barely breathed. He was riveted. It was a story that didn’t fit what his eyes saw before him. But maybe that was the entire point. Underestimating Syren was a deadly mistake. When Syren finally finished his story, Scotty just stared at him.

And Syren smiled, though this one was not as exuberant as those previous. “Shocked you, did I?”

“Uh.” Scotty coughed. “Yeah.” His voice was hoarse. “A little.” A whole lot.

Syren nodded. “I see myself in you.”

That had Scotty’s eyes widening. How could that be? Syren was Syren and Scotty was…not.

“You’ve been through some things, and you’ve been cast aside.” Syren leaned forward. “You’ve been vulnerable, and I want to make sure that you are safe. That you are where you want to be and for the right reasons.”

Ah. Now it was making sense. In his own fucked-up fashion, this was Syren’s way of checking that Scotty was okay, that he was happy, and that Vince and Zander weren’t taking advantage of him. Something in him softened and his shoulders relaxed, lowering from where they were perched near his ears. He pressed his lips together. “They take care of me. And I take care of them.”

Syren kept watching, studying him.

“I imagine you know my story?” Scotty asked, because Syren looked like a man who knew everything about everybody.

“I do.”

Scotty didn’t even want to know how he did. “Right, well…” He exhaled. “For the first time, I feel like I can breathe. Because they insisted I do therapy, I was finally able to fully grasp that it’s not my fault that my uncle killed my mother in front of me. Zander made my boogie man disappear without me having to ask and now I can sleep at night. Vince gives the best hugs and they’re both so protective of me.” He choked up. “I didn’t even know what it meant to have goals until I met them, so you can stand down from whatever this role is that you’ve appointed yourself. I am happy and I am loved, not because they speak the words but because I feel it and see it in their actions, big and small, every day.”

Just thinking about it filled him with a fresh rush of gratitude. He really had that. After everything he’d endured, he had it.

Syren’s eyes did that glittering thing again. “Good.” He stood, shoving his hands into his pockets. “If that changes, you know how to contact me.” He turned away.

“Wait.” Scotty got to his feet, taking a step toward him before stopping. “So all this is what, your twisted way of looking out for me?”

“You could say that.” Syren cocked his head. “You ever been to Costa Rica?” Scotty stared at him drolly until Syren grinned and touched his face fleetingly. “I meant what I said; I see a lot of me in you.” He winked. “Take care of yourself and your men, Scotty.” He opened a door that led into another area of the office and disappeared from view.

Scotty stood there for a good minute or so, trying to absorb what just happened. How was it that he had one of the most dangerous criminals around worried about his well-being? And how would Zander and Vince handle hearing about this?

He blew out a breath and took some time to gather himself. It was time to leave since Doctor Esai was obviously indisposed. After a while, he left the office and made his way back to where his bodyguards stood around waiting for him.

“Ready?” Lobo asked. He’d appointed himself as somewhat of the spokesperson of the trio.

“Yeah.” Scotty nodded, taking his backpack and phone when Lobo handed them over. He kept his mouth shut about what just happened, but on the drive home, he sat in the back of the black BMW and replayed every word Syren had spoken.

When he got home, he made his way out to the back patio where Vince and Zander were waiting. They sat on one of the lounges they’d put out there, Zander laughing softly as Vince nuzzled his neck. They looked so different from the men they’d been the night they all met. They looked relaxed, at peace.

Just the sight of them made Scotty smile.

He’d meant everything he’d told Syren. Those men were his and he was theirs.

“I’m home,” he called, and they pulled themselves apart, rising to greet him.

Zander glanced at his watch. “That was a short session.”

“Um, yeah.” Scotty bit his lip. “There was an unexpected hiccup.”

Immediately Zander’s gaze sharpened. “What kind of hiccup?”

He might as well spill it. “Syren Rua showed up.”

Next to Scotty, Vince stiffened. “What?”

“What the fuck?” Zander headed for the door and Scotty grabbed his arm.

“Listen. Listen.” He quickly went over what happened before Zander ran off to start a war that wasn’t really necessary. “Aside from the initial shock of seeing him there, he didn’t hurt me. He just wanted to make sure I was okay,” he told them. “He wanted to check that you two were treating me well.” He didn’t feel the need to share what Syren had disclosed about his childhood.

Zander’s frown didn’t go away, but Vince seemed to soften. “He was worried about you?” he asked Scotty, tone incredulous. “All this was because he was worried about you?”

Scotty scratched his head. “I guess so?”

“God.” Vince scoffed. “Can’t that guy do anything the normal way?”

But then he wouldn’t be Syren Rua, would he? Scotty touched Zander’s chest, pressing a kiss to the other man’s jaw. Trying to soothe him and calm him down because he knew how Zander got when he was worked up. “I believe that he was just looking out for me in his own way. He didn’t hurt me or threaten me. He wanted me to know that if I ever needed help I could reach out to him.”

Zander scowled. “Why the fuck would you need his help?”

“He wouldn’t, so let’s stop discussing it,” Vince interjected. “Scotty is fine and we’ll make sure he stays that way. Now”—he motioned between Zander and Scotty—“you’re gonna help me with this barbecue, right?”

Zander nodded, albeit grudgingly.

“Yeah,” Scotty answered.

“Okay then. Come on.”

They cooked together, and it was the loudest, messiest, most fun Scotty had ever had. And by the time they made their way upstairs to their bedroom, everything else had been forgotten.

Everything but the love they shared.