Xavier (Vigilance 4)

“Since he realized he would do anything to protect Emilio.”

I wanted to punch the smirk off Giorgio’s face. “I would do anything to protect any member of my team, and you know it.”

Giorgio held up his hands in surrender. “I do know that, but even if it hadn’t been obvious before you left Boston, you’d have to think we were idiots not to have noticed how close you and Emilio have gotten.”

“I brought Emilio into this. I encouraged him to take risks, risks that have put his entire career and his life in jeopardy. It is my responsibility to eliminate those threats.”

“And to comfort him while you’re doing it?” Niall asked.

Devil whistled. “You’re even getting sass from Niall? This is serious.”

Niall raised his brows. “Tell me you didn’t notice how solicitous he’s been of Emilio.”

“Oh, I noticed. I figured I’d get the scoop from Joe before I started teasing him, though. X isn’t the kind of man you want to toy with out of hand.”

I snarled. “The rest of you would do well to remember that.”

“We all know there’s something going on. Come on. Confess,” Giorgio insisted.

“My friendship with Emilio is personal.”

“That’s bullshit,” Leo said. “We’ve all been about as personal with each other as you can get.”

Devil’s eyes widened comically, and he looked around the room. “Are you telling me there’s been a Vigilance orgy? I might’ve asked Joe if he wanted to join in.”

Niall groaned. “No. We haven’t fucked each other, but—”

“I know,” Devil said, expression serious now. “You’ve been through hell together, and that’s a bond you’ll always share.”

“Can we get on with mission planning?” I asked. “We’re not here to talk about my personal life.”

Giorgio frowned. “Maybe we should be.”

“No, the mission comes before any of my personal issues.”

“Not if your personal issues might get in the way of the mission,” Devil said. “I’m speaking from experience.”

Niall nodded. “He’s right, and believe me, I don’t like admitting that.”

Devil snorted. “You’ve just been talking to your boyfriend too much. Like I’ve said before, I could tell you all kinds of stories about stupid shit he’s done.”

I sighed. “Fine. We might as well get it over with now. Go ahead and get all the you’re-not-so-straight-after-all jokes out of the way.”

Giorgio grinned. “I did tell you that someday you’d learn how good the D is.”

Devil rolled his eyes. “So you like men and women, right? Why not? Just because you haven’t been with a man before doesn’t mean you’re suddenly different. It just means you hadn’t met a man you wanted that badly yet.”

We all stared at Devil. He was rarely serious, rarely sensible, but when he was, he tended to say things that were actually quite wise. This was one of those moments.

I met his gaze. “Thank you.”

Giorgio put his arm around my shoulders. “You know we only joke because that’s what we do with each other. We don’t care if you’ve realized you’re bi or gay or that you only like unicorns. We’re still going to love you no matter what.”

I trusted these men with my life, with Emilio’s life. Why was it so hard to tell them the truth? “I like him. I really fucking like him.”

“And maybe more?” Giorgio asked.

I nodded.

“Don’t walk away from this,” Devil said. “I tried it, and it won’t work.”

Niall, Giorgio, and Leo nodded in agreement.

“How can I—”

“You don’t have a choice, so you’ll figure it out like you have every other impossible thing you’ve done.”

“We want you to be happy,” Niall said. “You deserve it. You deserve someone to love. You deserve some time away, time when you don’t have to be responsible for everyone and everything.”

“I don’t even know if I can do that.”

“I thought you could do anything?” Devil said. “That’s what all the bad boys say.”

“And I want people to keep thinking so, but that means I can’t look weak. I can’t look like—”

“A rich, powerful man who bought his own island and wants to spend time relaxing on it and fucking his young lover?” Niall shrugged. “Doesn’t seem very weak to me.”

“Seriously. Trust me, it will change your whole perspective on things,” Giorgio said.

“Do not make me think about you and Lane.”

“Ooooh,” Devil whistled. “As much as I’d like to find out which one of you would win in a fight, maybe you should tone it down, Giorgio.”

“Fine. You never let me have any fun.”

An alarm sounded, signaling someone was on the island who shouldn’t be.

“Shit. I didn’t think they’d move this fast,” Niall said.

“Get to your positions. I’m getting Emilio.”

“Keep me posted,” Leo said before signing off.

Before I’d gotten Emilio downstairs to the safe room, Devil gave me the word that the intruder had been captured and was demanding to speak to me. “It’s Lancelot Theriot.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve known the bastard most of my life.”

I’d had a feeling the Theriots were going to be more trouble than help.