Page 36 of Destruction

“Definitely not me,” Tennant replies. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Tesoro. You saw someone in need and gave it to them. Is it something any of us would have done? No, but that is only because we live by your rules.”

He says it so simply, and a fissure of anxiety rushes through me. I’ve never hidden my possessive need of them. Even if my accepting both Roman and Jude seemed easy, it wasn’t.

My past meant latching onto Tennant was the only thing I could do, once I finally decided to let him in. Roman and Jude became extensions of that, and as proven before, I’d kill to keep that intact. There’s a reason I was the first one to make a move with Jude, why our relationship was the cornerstone to ending up where we are today.

What I’ve done with Emilio should have been exactly that, except unlike with Jude, there was no discussion about it beforehand. No one had a chance to say they were uncomfortable with it. Not that I need the words from Ten; he’s always been easy for me to read, and his opinions on monogamy and closed relationships are well-known and acknowledged.

It’s Roman and Jude I’m unsure about. Their protests can’t change what happened, but they’ll be taken into consideration when it comes to the next steps.

“Emilio needed what he got, maybe not the way he got it, but he’s been pushing since we first learned about Il Padrone being kidnapped. I, for one, don’t want to have to clean up whatever mess would be left behind if an already unstable Boy went off the rails.”

“Oh, so you fucked him because you’re so altruistic?” Roman says.

I snort. “I fucked him because I wanted to. I made him bleed because he asked for it. Any objections?”

Roman shakes his head. “No, but does this mean the Martellis are fair game?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, you can ask your friend to use you if you want, Giocattolo. Sei un ragazzo sporco.”

He snorts. “I mean, if I have your blessing, I wouldn’t mind having some fun with Lio. But that’s not why I was asking.” He nods his chin towards Tennant. “Ten’s been handed his perfect catnip, and I think he should be allowed to play.”

My immediate reaction is no.Hell no. But…that’s unfair. The double standard has always,alwaysbeen that Tennant is mine.

He is the first person I ever trusted with my body and heart after everything that happened when I was a teenager. He never asked for my story, never cared about why I was so obsessive and possessive. Tennant, for all his faults, has only ever shown me how much he cares, in his own way. And has gone out of his way to make me his top priority, after Cristian.

Roman is right, Benjamin is Tennant’s perfect type, and he’s handed himself over on a silver platter. Denying Ten would be unfair, not that he’d ever see it that way.

“It’s true,” Jude says. “I saw how Benjamin and Ten responded to one another. It was like watching the two of you,” he gestures between me and Tennant, “and your weird foreplay dance.”

I snort at that. “Is that right? You want to taste Benjamin, Love?”

Tennant shrugs. “He’s attractive enough, and the fire in him calls to me, but I don’t need it.”

“No.” Reaching for him, I grab the back of his neck and pull him in for a harsh kiss, his teeth tugging on my lip until it bleeds. Pulling back, I stare into ice blue eyes that never look at me with anything but trust and endless patience. “I want you to. Give hima taste of what he can have when he behaves. Mostragli il mostro sotto al gentiluomo.”

Tennant huffs. “Shall I film it, Tesoro? Do you want me to take him apart?”

My breath catches and the thought excites me, the previous anxiousness dissipating as a need to watch Tennant take the boy in hand rises. “Yes,” I answer simply.

Tennant grins, soft and indulgent. “Thank you for such a gift, Hol. I won’t disappoint.”

“Are we all good then?” Roman asks. “We’re all on the same page about Hollis doing whatever he needs to do in order to keep Lio under control?”

Tennant nods as he pulls back from me. “Yes. Someone needs to keep the little shit in line, and Hol is the best one to do it outside of his Master.”

Jude doesn’t speak for a long moment. When I look at him, it’s not hesitation I see in his gaze, but there is something there. He eventually nods, at the same time he nods his fist in a yes. “I don’t pretend to understand what Lio or any of the Martellis need,” he says slowly. “But I’m aware of howthisFamily works, and how important it is that we cultivate the friendships and alliances we have—especially in such a dire time. So if this is what he needs, who am I to stop you?”

“Good,” Tennant says. “Because we have other things that need our focus, like what Roman theorized earlier.”

“Yes,” I reply. “We can reevaluate and discuss it, but Ten is right; we have other things to worry about. Which is the whole reason Emilio and Keegan were here. Seems Keegan isn’t just a pretty face, as he also parsed out what Roman did. His knowledge of how law enforcement works will be helpful. He didn’t suggest which branch of the law might be the ones after us, but considering they’re using the locals to terrorize both our Families, I’d go out on a limb and suggest someone with federalauthority. Only because they’d have the advantage of a bigger reach. However, that’s a theory you’ll want to run by him.”

Roman nods. “I’ll set up a meeting with him to see what other information he has, and what his thoughts are. I’m both glad that my theory proved to give us a way forward, and disturbed by it.”

“That’s the vibe I was getting from the Martellis too, before things took a turn.”

Jude snorts. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

I cast a look at him, but don’t say anything. Instead, Tennant moves things along. “We should get back to work then, if there are no other pressing matters. Joel rounded up two cops for me to interrogate, so that will be tomorrow’s lesson. Today’s didn’t go exactly to plan, but with two of them, we can spread out the fun.”

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