Page 19 of The Rescuer

“Yes, they are.” Bart winked “They’ll keep you busy, that's for sure. Anytime you want to watch them for us, let us know. I know they'd love it, and we would appreciate it.”

“This one will fall asleep soon.” Edwin gestured to Simon, who closed his eyes. “So adorable like a little angel!” he exclaimed, then changed the subject. “I have a lot of time on my hands, so what about every other weekend?”

“That’s fine with us,” Brian and Bart answered in sync, which made the other man huff a short laugh. “Bro, hope you’re ready.” The librarian flashed another cute grin, then turned to where the children were playing. “Who will catch Uncle Edwin first?”

“Easy-peasy!” Blaise raised his hand “I will!”

Dane imitated his older brother. “Me, too!”

“Uncle Ed’in, put me down, pwease.” Simon opened his eyes. “I want to catch you, too.

In an unexpected move, Brian caught Blaise. “Run, bro, I'll hold them back,” he exclaimed between two fits of laughter.

Blaise managed to free himself and ran after Edwin, who tripped and fell. “Guys, I got him.” The little boy called his siblings to action, and all attacked the man with tickling fingers.

He smiles again. Thank you.The words were carried by the breeze to Brian’s ears as he watched the happy scene in front of him.

CHAPTER 13

That was close.Brian let out a sigh of relief as he tucked Breanna and Simon in, both children already asleep. He lightly kissed their foreheads, then stepped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind him. On the way to the bedroom he and Bart shared, the librarian balled his hands into fists, tightening his jaw.

Ottavio has to be dealt with as soon as possible, Brian said to himself. Had Luca not insisted on putting Lawrence and one of his fellow biker gang members in charge of guarding the three sets of twins, the youngest of them would have been in the traitor’s claws. The possibility sent chills down the librarian’s spine, making him wonder what was going to Ottavio’s next move and was going to be his next target.

Brian stepped into the bedroom, grateful to see Bart was already asleep.My poor husband. Life has been so unfair to him lately.The librarian shook his head.And I’m the only one to blame for this. Instead of protecting him and our children like I promised on our wedding day, I dragged them all into my new and very dangerous life.

Brian changed for the night and slid under the covers, back turned toward Bart, who wasn’t asleep as he thought. He sensed his husband’s distress and waited for him to settle in bed, then protectively wrapped an arm around his waist, closing the space between them. He snuck a hand under the librarian’s pajama top and ran it up and down his torso.

There wasn’t anything sexual in the way Bart caressed Brian, and soon his back relaxed against the other one’s chest. A few minutes later, the hand stopped moving, the telltale sign the man was soundly sleeping. Unlike the librarian, who restlessly shifted in bed all night long, his husband reacted to stress by falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Brian sighed again, this time in frustration.Ottavio has to be neutralized before he can try something else.The thought from earlier came back in the man’s mind. He brought the subject to Luca right after Breanna and Simon were rescued from the scumbags the traitor hired to kidnap them, but a nod was all he got as an answer.

Brian understood his friend’s reaction, even if he didn’t completely agree with it. One day, Martino would become Luca’s husband, and that made Ottavio his brother-in-law to-be, part of his family. One didn’t kill his relatives so easily in the Old-World Mafia, not without The Council’s blessing, anyway.

Besides, Ottavio was a legitimate child, while Luca was born out of wedlock, which certainly didn’t make things easier for him. Last but not least, what frustrated Brian the most was that they didn’t have solid evidence to point to the manipulative bastard as the author of the kidnappings and assassinations that plagued the Grand Families over the last few months.

At that point, Brian felt the familiar coldness wrapping around him in tendrils like a fishing net. Not wanting to risk and subject Bart to an attack from a ghost with communication problems, he slowly disentangled himself from his husband’s embrace, left the bed, and walked out of the room, heading downstairs to the library.

As Brian suspected, the ghost — a man bearing horrible scars — was very aggressive, even trying to attack him physically while he was shouting unintelligible words. Fortunately for the librarian, Reardon was also there, and he convinced the ghost to stop, then start again, taking it slow so he could make himself understood.

As always, when he wanted the specter to deliver a clear message, Brian suggested hie use his body and write instead of talking. Apparently, Reardon had a great influence over the horribly mutilated man because he calmed down and guided his host’s hand over the sheet of paper the librarian produced earlier.

Maximilian, Valerian, Baldacci, Gaspardo Galliani, auction, andthirteen morewere the only words Brian wrote, then he felt the spirit leaving his body. With Reardon also gone, the librarian stared at the piece of paper in confusion, trying to decipher the message, but he suddenly felt very tired and gave up after a few minutes, going into the bedroom.I’ll show the note to Don Calogero tomorrow, he’ll know what to do, was his last thought before drifting into a deep, dreamless sleep.

In the morning, Brian woke up with the feeling something was going to happen that day, if not bad, at least very important. The air around him was dense and sticky, his stomach heavy like it was filled with stones. Somehow, the librarian got the indisposition under control, and he enjoyed every minute of breakfast in the company of his family.

On the way to work, Brian was calm and relaxed, but from the very first second he set foot in the library, the unpleasant feeling kicked back in with a vengeance. “It must be because of what happened last night,” he said to himself, remembering the episode with the aggressive ghost so vividly as if it had happened right then and there.

This is it.Brian slapped his forehead and pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans’. He quickly typed a message to Julien, asking him to find what he could on the names the ghost wrote on that piece of paper. The man was about to message Don Calogero and Baldassare and tell them to meet after work when a noise distracted him, making him raise his head.

“Is it true? Is Gaspardo Galliani still alive?” The Educator was standing in front of him, his voice thick and shaking.

“Yes, but we must move quickly.” Brian had the expression of a man with a plan. “I have information they will be auctioned off soon.” He took a deep breath, then continued after a few moments. “I’ll message Ardan, tell him to getthe brothers together, and I’ll do the same with our men.”

“No, we can't let that happen! Not Gaspardo!” Don Calogero didn’t seem to hear what the librarian had just said; the usually calm man lost all his composure, allowing despair to overtake him.

“Sir. I won't let that happen.” Brian spoke in a reassuring voice. “I'm working as hard and as fast as I can, and so are the others.” He turned to Malaspina. “We need the men ready. Did you message Luca and Dominic?” The buzz of his phone signaled an incoming message, and he sighed in relief after he read it. “Julien located the boys, but we’re running out of time.”

“Half an hour is all I need, Capo,” the guard answered in his calm voice.

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