Page 56 of Finders Keepers
Silence stretched between them as Wesley ate slowly; not uncomfortable—complete. Nate’s steady presence pressed warm against the raw edges of Wesley’s resolve.
I love you hovered on his tongue. Was it too soon?
Eventually, he whispered, “I didn’t think I’d ever get this. Any of it.”
Nate’s soft blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “Well, you do. You get me. You get us. I get us.” He leaned forward and let his hand settle briefly over Wesley’s forearm, warm and steady. “You’re home now.”
That was a huge expression considering how much Nate hated this place. But home was a person in this case, not a place. “Yeah,” he said, voice shaking a little. “I am.”
He let the moment settle, warm and steady in his chest. Then, almost absently, he said, “I still think it’s wild that yours was the first unlocked car I found that night.”
Nate smiled—a slight curve of the lips, small but sure. “I don’t know how that happened.”
“Me neither.” Wesley exhaled a slow breath, let his eyes drift shut. “But I’m glad it did.”
Epilogue
Wesley lay cuddled up against Nate’s side, drawing circles around his navel and watching his lower abdominals flutter beneath his touch. A happiness Wesley didn’t know he could have, that he could feel, spread through him like fog on a spring morning.
Streams of light slanted into the bedroom from the tall windows facing the bed, stopping just short of the footboard. The mottled brick gave the whole place a warmth that Wesley now realized had always been missing from Nate’s living spaces.
He shifted and winced as his kidney pulled. Even after two months, some injuries still lingered. The surface-level bruises were gone, but his ribs remained tender and the deep ache in his kidney flared whenever he moved wrong.
It’d been a month since he and Nate had moved into a loft in the Old Market. Not the same one they’d toured that first sweltering summer afternoon, but one a realtor friend had found in the final stages of renovation, which let Nate make some design choices such as the large sun-washed windows.
Hockey season had started in the meantime, and the Bennetts attended opening night at Nate’s insistence. His quiet string-pulling landed them seats on the glass. A picture of Nate with Darius and Zariah sat on the credenza in the living room.
While they’d waited for the loft to be completed, Wesley moved into the condo with Nate and put out feelers. Next week, he’d speak with the director of a charter school, and a local youth center wanted him to run a literacy program starting in January.
They’d both also started counseling. Nate was working through the trauma of his childhood, and Wesley needed to process the ordeal of two brutal attacks.
The jangle of his cell phone made him jump, and Nate chuckled.
“Shut up,” he said, rolling over and over and over across the great expanse of the barge that Nate called a bed. Oh, who was he kidding? Wesley loved this freakin’ bed.
He glanced back at Nate. “It’s Agent Simmons.” He swiped a finger across the screen and scooted back against the headboard. “Hello?”
“Wesley Byerly?”
“Yes?”
“Mr. Byerly, this is Agent Simmons with the FBI.”
Wesley rolled his eyes. “I know who you are, Agent Simmons; we’ve been in contact for the last two months. How can I help you?” Wesley punched the speakerphone button.
“I have news.”
He shared a look with Nate. “Okay. Nate’s here with me, and I have you on speakerphone.”
“Stavros and D’Amato are both in custody with no option for bond. Stavros has been charged with extortion and computer fraud—he’s the one who accessed your personal data. D’Amato’s been charged with assault and battery for the attacks on Wesley.”
Wesley leaned into Nate, who’d scooted up beside him and looped an arm around him. A huge sigh of relief filled the air between them. “Computer fraud?”
“Hacking. That’s how they got your cell phone number and address in the first place as well as Mr. Hennessey’s data.”
“When’s the trial?” Nate asked.
“No date’s been set yet. Unfortunately, the wheels of justice move slower than we like, but because of who the targets of extortion were, probably in the next six months.”
