In those moments as we’d been dancing our asses off or watching or talking smack to each other about who was going to win, we’d been just a normal couple living a normal life. And we’d used the nights and the privacy of our bedroom to explore each other’s bodies and learn all we could about what brought the other the most pleasure. Aleks had made love to me every single night and I’d finally gotten to taste his cock a few nights earlier. He’d been horrified when he’d come inside of my mouth and we’d had a long talk about it being something I wanted. Aleks had admitted that he hated needing so much reassurance from me, but I’d made it clear that I’d gladly spend the rest of my days both telling and showing him that the things we did together were natural and normal and nothing like what he’d known in the past.
The only problem was, we didn’t have that many days left. As much as I loved these weeks I’d spent with Aleks, he wasn’t mine to keep. I’d already talked to Luca, King, and Con about the fact that Stylianos hadn’t made contact in the two weeks since we’d made it known that Luca had Aleks. We were coming to accept that either the man had lost interest in Aleks, which seemed unlikely, or something had happened to him where he couldn’t communicate. He could have been hospitalized, put in jail, killed, or he’d just needed to keep low and out of sight for some reason… there was just no way to know. There was also the possibility that we’d gotten things wrong and the men who’d taken Aleks from his shop hadn’t worked for Stylianos.
Either way, I couldn’t keep Aleks with me indefinitely. As much as he seemed to enjoy being with me, he had a family that he wanted to get back to and who were eagerly waiting for him to come home. And Dante and Magnus now understood the danger Aleks faced so they’d take steps to make sure no one could ever get to him again. They’d do all the same things to protect him that I was.
And I still needed to find Gio.
Even if Stylianos was out of the picture, Gio was still out there.
I couldn’t have the life with Aleks I wanted, even if by some miracle we found Gio. There were too many kids like Gio and Aleks and the boy Luca had been forced to leave behind who needed to go home.
I forced myself to let go of thoughts of a future without Aleks as a couple of men approached the seating area we were in. “Mr. Black?” an older man with carefully groomed gray hair said as he used Luca’s online alias. Chances were good he knew who Luca really was, but the guests usually referred to each other by their online monikers. The man reached out his hand toward Luca.
Luca didn’t react to him at first. Instead, he glanced at me and then waved his hand. “Get me a drink,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
It was all part of the plan… getting Luca a drink would give me the freedom to check out the initial layout of the building. Since no one would dare touch Aleks while he was with Luca, I didn’t hesitate to walk away from the pair. I overheard the man whose hand Luca finally deigned to take mention how lucky Luca was to have found such a prize, and I knew the fucker was talking about Aleks. I glanced over my shoulder to see my brother looking at the man like he was nothing more than a bug he’d inadvertently stepped on and messed up his fancy shoes with.
I had to give our father credit for making Luca such a stunningly convincing actor.
Aleks, for his part, didn’t even flinch or respond to the comment. I wished there was a way I could show him how proud I was of him and that I was there and always watching out for him, but I couldn’t interact with him in any kind of meaningful way in public or it would all be over.
I scanned the room as I made my way to the bar. There was only one marked exit besides the front entrance and both were heavily guarded by several men. There was another doorway that wasn’t marked. There was one guard there along with a smaller man dressed in a tux. I watched as two men and a young girl stopped in front of Tuxedo Man. He said something to one of the men and pointed behind him, then gave the man a slip of paper. I felt my stomach drop out because I knew where the men were taking the girl. I confirmed it when I reached the bartender and ordered Luca’s drink. As I waited I asked, “Are there private rooms?”