Page 14 of Inevitably Yves

“Nice building,” Damiano says.

“Thank you. Do you need to get settled first before we…talk?”

“No, Yves, I don’t. I haven’t been settled a single day since I last saw your face. I want to talk and be alone with you. Now.”

Nodding, I gesture towards my unit. “Right this way.”

All the gods. Damiano, my Enzo, is about to enter my home. If fate is truly kind, I pray we will never part again.

FIVE

Damiano

I linger behind Yves as he opens the door to his apartment and steps inside. As soon as I cross the threshold, I’m unable to hold back the one thing I’ve wanted since I saw his face again, and I rush forward, pressing our chests together in an embrace.

Yves wraps his arms around me and our mouths collide, soothing every broken and lonely part of me in an instant. Nothing has changed. Our love didn’t die.

His lips part, inviting me in, and I accept, melting into him as he walks backward until he’s against the wall. The scent of him washes over me, reviving me, erasing the centuries of longing.

“Cillian,” I whisper into his mouth.

“Enzo,” he whispers back, nipping my bottom lip. “My Enzo.”

“I never stopped missing you. Never.”

Yves pulls back slightly, his hands on both sides of my face. “Never?”

“No. I searched the world for you.”

“I did the same. How did we miss each other this long?”

Gazing into his eyes draws a bubble of joy from my depths and I simply laugh. “Gods. You’re in my arms again.”

Yves nods. “We should talk.”

“Yes, of course.”

Yves takes my hand and leads me to a sitting room. His home is exactly as I would have envisioned it. It’s elegant and understated, but every detail is thoughtful and stunning, like the man himself. The only out-of-place item is a desk with a computer at the end of the cavernous foyer.

“You work there?”

“No. Viper works there. She manages my business for me.”

“And she’s mortal?”

He nods as we sit on an oversized cashmere couch. “She is. A witch, but she knows what we are.”

“The witches and vampires get along in New Onyx?”

“All the vampires here are mine, and yes, we do. We have a club called Lair. The council and I decided New Onyx was the right place for it. We do allow outside vampires in, but there are rules of engagement.”

“You’ve created what Hadrian always wanted.”

“I learned well before he lost his mind.”

I hold his hand in mine, stroking his skin. “What is your business?”

He chuckles. “We are assassins. Paid for by the city’s powerful and elite.”

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