Page 80 of Petrichor

He’s my Butterfly, and I’ll never let him fly away from me ever again.

The drive seems infinite. Twenty fucking minutes driving though red traffic lights.

Seb called me at one point to tell me that the rumors around the house are darker than we thought. It’s used for human trafficking and prostitution. If this wasn’t making my skin crawl already, someone spotted Jerry fucking Evans hauling the limp body of a blond-haired boy inside that house an hour ago. Was it Fly?

Fury turned into lava inside my veins. The impulse to kill and mutilate the fucker is getting too strong to be ignored. If he touched Fly, I’ll rip off his cock and make him choke on it.

We finally arrive in the area. The crew is a block from the house. Except for Santo, who is waiting for us. Everybody is armed to the teeth. I left my gold knuckles inside my pocket and am holdingboth my guns. Jo sent a pic of Fly, so the men know not to shoot him, but to bring him straight to me.

“There’re two sentinels outside the house. Brian and Filippo can take them down easily. Mario Enzino entered with two men fifteen minutes ago,” Santo says. Damn it. We need to go now!

“Shoot to kill,” I order before we start moving toward the house. I hear a muffled moan and see Filippo dragging a body away from the back door across the neglected garden. I nod at Carlo as he points his gun at the door’s handle and shoots twice, before kicking it open.

Carlo and Jo move before me, firing their guns at two men before they can even move.

“Where is he?” I growl, looking hastily around the living room and then the corridor.

I’m dimly aware of my surroundings, all my attention is on one person. Fly. Sitting on the floor. The most beautiful sight I’ve ever laid my eyes on.

The hurt in his eyes stops me. He looks disheveled and filthy, still wearing the clothes he had on earlier—gray leggings and a large black hoodie. His cheek is red, there’s blood at the corner of his mouth and on his sleeve. I’ve grown numb to the sight of my blood, but one look at the red staining his body, and I can’t breathe.

Arturo fucking Enzino is sitting next to him. He looks in worse shape. I don’t like their nearness.

“What are you—?” Fly coughs. His voice is gruff, raspy. Only now I notice the bruises around his neck, like someone tried to strangle him. It makes me see red, and I take two steps toward him. He clears his throat and gives me a wary look. “What are you doing here?”

“I came for you.” I don’t think I’ve ever said anything that I felt to my core like those words. “I’ll always come for you.”

He tenses while his eyes turn glassy. For once, I can’t read him. But it doesn’t fucking matter. My crew is checking the rest of the place, but I just can’t drag myself away from Fly. I’ve been obsessively imagining a hundred different horrific scenarios, and now I’m so fucking relieved at seeing him that I can’t hold back anymore.

I holster one gun and finally reduce the distance between us. Ignoring Arturo, I scoop Fly up with a forearm under his ass. I feel so fucking satisfied as he sucks in a breath when I part his legs and perch them on my hips, our bodies glued together. The thud of his pounding heartbeat slams against mine. I stop myself from pulling his cock flush to my stiffness, though. He isn’t fighting me, but his body remains rigid, his arms rest between us like he needs some distance from me. I don’t fucking like it.

So, I utter, “I’m here. I got you. Never gonna let you go.”

His head snaps upward. Those glacial eyes narrowing. “You’re here? You got me? Are you out of your mind? After what you put me through?”

“Let him hear it, Fly!” Arturo cheers him on, and I feel the desire to rip that silver tongue out of his mouth. “Please don’t hurt me, this face is all I’ve got,” he then adds, lifting his arms up in a defensive pose.

Fly rolls his eyes as he turns my face to him again. “You used me, found me guilty for something I didn’t do, refused to listen and rejected me. Left me…broken and alone and so fucking lost.” Angry and sorrowful tears roll down, creating wet paths on his dirty cheeks. “Your actions, the words you said to me. You hurt me somuch, so much, Marco.”

“Cazzo. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. All I have is my family. That’s all I’m loyal to, all I ever cared about. The only thing I live for. I’m not used to thinking about other people. I was blinded by my past mistakes, and my temper didn’t help. But the truth is that I was furious because I realized I was never letting you go either way. I didn’t care if you were a snake or not. And that fucking scared me. I can’t–”

My words are cut off by a loud curse. Then Arturo screams Fly’s name. I turn just in time to see Jerry coming out of a room with his gun pointed at me. He shoots, grazing my neck. I swiftly raise my gun as I pin Fly against the wall and fire two bullets, one to his heart and the other to the head.

“Shit!” Arturo pants out. “You’re a gigantic asshole, but you’re good with a gun.”

I holster my Glock and call for Santo. “Go see if Jeff is fine, that fucker must have jumped him when he was checking that room,” I bark at him. How the fuck did that happen? “And check the rest of the place!”

I look down at Fly. “Are you hurt,amore mio?” My eyes flicker over his face while my hands are going up and down his body.

His palm suddenly pushes on my neck, and I grit my teeth against the sting.

“You were shot!” he whispers with a distraught look on his face. I hurt him badly, but he still cares. It’s a good starting point.

“He’s fine. He just got a little flying kiss while shielding you.” Arturo exchange a long look with Fly before sniffing. “Me on the other hand…fuck, I’m hungry!” I hear him walking toward the kitchen. My crew is here, he can’t go anywhere.

I focus on Fly again. “Did that dead fucker touch you? Where?” Jealousy and ire is riding me hard, and I stroke my palms over hislegs, arms, and sides—his waist perfectly fits in my hand. I need to erase those dirty fingers from him. “Did he do…more?” I whisper.

Fly shakes his head, and relief engulfs me as I squeeze him against me. My brain suddenly relocates to my dick. The feel of him is so unequivocally perfect. So fucking right.

---