Page 36 of Embracing Darkness

Chapter twenty-six

GIANNI

Those two were fucking adorable, Paval curled up in Rhys’ lap as he leaned against the passenger door. Both of their mouths were parted, little snores escaping into the thick air of the car. I wanted to draw them closer and hold them and never let them go but they needed the rest. Yesterday had been fucking stressful for Rhys and I had no idea how Paval wasn’t falling apart after climbing into that basement. We had tried asking him what was going on in his head but all he told us was that Rhys needed his help.

Valentyn pulled up to Rhys’ house, Dmitri opening the car door and extracting Rhys. Paval sleepily crawled over to me and promptly went back to sleep as Dmitri disappeared into the house with Rhys in his arms. The slight tremble to his slim form made me want to call Owen out and rip him apart but there would be a time for that. If Valentyn didn’t get to that fucker first.

“Are we really leaving him there alone?” I hated the uncertainty of whether or not we’d get another call tonight that Owen was in the house. “We put a few deadbolts on the door and reinforced the windows but it doesn’t make me feel any better, Val.”

Valentyn sighed. “Dmitri will stay tonight. Rhys almost asked us to move in, Gia. He’s scared. I can see that but I’m also not going to push him. I don’t think he’s ready for the kind of love we’re prepared to give him.”

I chuckled at that, glad that Valentyn had finally seen reason. “Love, huh? Is it crazy to say I’ve already fallen?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

I leaned back in my seat, resituating Paval as Valentyn pulled out of the driveway and headed to our house. “I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone else after Owen. Anything good coming at me, I’d definitely think was a trap. I guess it makes sense why he wasn’t really laughing. There’s still so much pain…” I trailed off, thinking about the different families we had come from and the things we had had to go through over the years to be the men we were today.

This incident would no doubt strengthen Rhys but it was the pain he had to endure to get to this point that was breaking me.

We pulled onto the highway, but my mind was still reeling. “What now, though? We work on his kitchen, figure out what to do with Owen, and then what? Just leave? I don’t see that going well, Val.” Not for us, not for Rhys, and definitely not for Paval.

Valentyn wasn’t much of a talker but I had to work through my thoughts. He was more of a ‘create a plan, enforce the plan, regroup’ type of guy. “Me neither but Gia, this has to behischoice. He only knows the tip of the world that we work in. I am not going to subject him to that without making sure he understands what he’s getting into.”

That was a fair assessment because the life we led wasn’t an easy one.

A shrill ring through the car brought my attention to the unsaved number rolling across the dashboard. I’d recognize it anywhere though. Valentyn answered the call. “What?”

The cheery voice coming through the speaker didn’t do the man justice. He was a lean kid, no taller than Rhys, but one of the most terrifying fucks in our line of work. If you needed something done and done right, you called us. If you needed someone fucked up or something done in a big way? You called Chester.

“Working a job?” He song-singed and I could almost imagine the way he’d dance around the room, giggling like a maniac as he sipped some fruity drink.

“Maybe,” Valentyn ground out, my loveable Belarusian waiting for Chester to explain what he called for. The guy would say it all on his own.

“I thought so. My spidey senses were tingly. Some wank ass dude strolled up in here a few minutes ago with a job for us, not our usual type of shit so I told him I’d think about it. Talking about some program he wants to squash. Sound like your guy?”

My blood froze just hearing about the fact that Owen had approached Chester. Owen had to be fucking desperate to be on that side of town.

“Why are you callingmeabout it?” There was no emotion in Valentyn’s voice but even I could hear the displeasure with what Owen was trying to pull. It was bad for business when clients pitted us against each other. You just didn’t do it unless you wanted a bullet to the head.

“Because he seems like the guy who tries to get multiple people on a job. Doesn’t seem like one straight thing comes out of his body. Told me that the original people he hired fucked up but The Kolas Crew? No fucking way. So? He yours?”

“He’s mine.”

“And you fucked up?” Chester asked, sounding almost hopeful.

“Haven’t even taken the job yet. Doing some research first.”

Chester burst out laughing. “I knew it!” A gunshot sounded in the background, Chester screeching. “You fucking idiot! Who let the pleb in here? Take him out back and shoot at him too. Let him know how it feels. Goddamn, I think I shit my pants. Where was I? Right, the little bastard said you stole his fiancé. That a load of crap too?”

Chester had always been a wild card, only made more evident by the way he talked. Valentyn kept his eyes on the road but I could see the beginnings of a snarl upturning his lip. “He doesn’t even have a fiancé.”

“I’m not vouching for homewreckers, Kolas.”

“And I’m not one. Fuck off.”

“Fair enough. I’ll tell him I’m not buying and put the word out. You drop the job though, let me know. That’s a pretty penny.” Chester hung up, leaving us unsettled. If we decided not to take the job, every goddamn crew would be clawing at that payday which meant that Rhys’ safety was at risk.

We drove in silence for a while before I finally asked what we were going to do. Valentyn grinned as he looked at me through the rearview mirror. “Pack a bag when we get home. Seems like Rhys is going to have a few roommates after all.” The fact that we were going to be bunking with the sweetest guy I had ever met shouldn’t have put as big of a smile on my face as it did.

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