by Stormy Glenn
“I shouldn’t,” the man said, but I could see the need to not be alone in his eyes.
“You should.” I pulled on Jerry’s wrist, steering him toward the backseat of the long limousine. I pushed him into the car before climbing in behind him and taking my seat.
Sal leaned down so I could see his face. “I’m going to go let his driver know Jerry will be with us.”
I smiled at Sal. “Okay.”
Once Sal disappeared and the door closed, I turned to my uncle. He was just sitting there, staring out the window. I didn’t feel there was anything to say at the point, so I reached over and clasped his hand in mine. Jerry squeezed my hand, and maybe that was enough. The man may have lost the brightest light in his life, but he wasn’t alone.
I just prayed he was strong enough to not let his light go out.
Chapter Two
Salvador
“Hey, Lany, have you seen my tie, the black one?”
“Top left drawer,” Lany called out from the other room.
I grabbed the indicated drawer and pulled it out. Damn, there it was. I didn’t understand how Lany did it. He always knew where things were. Considering how absent-minded he could be, that ability always astounded me.
I pulled the tie out and fit it over my head, twisting and turning it until I could get it set in place and tucked under the edges of my dress shirt. I hated the damn things and wouldn’t be wearing one if I didn’t have to go to court.
Wearing a tie might actually be the reason I became a SWAT officer instead of staying a regular police officer. I never had to wear one when in my regulation gear. I hated the fact that I was having to wear one now. Unfortunately, the district attorney didn’t think wearing full SWAT gear would look good to the jury.
I still wasn’t sure exactly why I had been subpoenaed to testify. The case had been pretty cut and dry. A domestic disturbance call that had turned into a hostage situation. My team and I had gone in when we were called, rescued the hostages—a young mother and her five-year-old son—and subdued the suspect—her husband.
We hadn’t killed the guy, so that was a plus.
I pulled my gun holster on and put my gun in it. After sliding the suit jacket on over the shoulder holster, I smoothed down the lapels. I still thought I looked ridiculous. Granted, I had grown more used to wearing a suit since I married Lany. He wasn’t really the suit type, but his parents were. With the number of times we had attended social functions with the older couple, I had grown used to being all dolled up.
“You look good.”
I glanced in the mirror over the dresser to the doorframe where Lany was standing. “Yeah?” I looked down at the suit, giving it a critical eye. “Not too much for court?”
“Sweetie, that’s a Ralph Lauren suit. Anyone would look good in it.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at my love again.
Lany giggled. “You’d look good in a gunny sack and you know it.”
Maybe, but it did my ego good to know my husband thought I looked good. It certainly didn’t hurt.
“What are your plans for today, caro?”
“After the girls get done eating their breakfast, we’re headed down to Bloomingdale’s. Mother wants to buy them a birthday dress.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at the whine in Lany’s voice. “That sounds like fun.”
“So does bamboo shoots under the fingernails, but you don’t see me doing that,” Lany grumbled.
“Why don’t you and the girls come by the station after you get done shopping and we’ll have lunch together?”
“Are you sure we wouldn’t be too much trouble?”
“Non c’è problema.”
Lany’s grin was huge. “I love it when you talk in Italian.”
I winked at Lany in the mirror. “I know.”
There were a great many things I still had yet to discover about my husband, but the way his face lit up when I spoke to him in Italian was not one of them. It was why I did it.
Lancaster Harris III, now Lany Delvecchio, had an inner light that shined through from his very soul. Besides being a hundred and twenty-five pounds of beautiful sex kitten, he was smart as a whip, so funny he one made me fall out of a chair laughing, and he had a way of looking at me that made me feel like a king.
I wouldn’t trade him for all the gold in the world.
I was the leader of SWAT Team One. I was a lieutenant on that team. That made me a fairly intelligent man, and yet, I had never been able to figure out how Lany had stayed single before I’d rescued him from a beatdown in the bathroom of a bar.
Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would have grabbed him up long before I came on the scene. I would be forever grateful that it had never happened.
“Are you worried about court?”
My surprise had me turning to look at Lany. “No, why should I be? It was a domestic disturbance call. We were called to do an insertion. We rescued the hostages and secured the suspect. Everyone came out of it alive. End of story.”
Lany was so cute when he frowned. “Then why are you having to testify?”
I shrugged. “Non ne ho idea.”
“Well, I don’t like it.”
I went back to making sure my suit looked right in the mirror. “I don’t either, caro, but a subpoena is a subpoena. If I don’t show up to testify, the judge can have me arrested.”
When Lany shuddered, I stopped messing with my suit and drew the man into my arms. “I’m not getting arrested, caro. I promise.”
Lany had one eyebrow raised as he tilted his head back. “Our anniversary is this week. I don’t believe you.”
I chuckled because I knew he was right. For some reason, every year when we tried to celebrate our anniversary, something happened to mess it up. An undercover assignment that went haywire. An insane father bent on stealing my brother’s millions and willing to kill to do it. A mobster fiasco of epic proportions.
The list was never-ending.
This year had been by far the worst. I had no idea how Jerry was handling it. After the wake, the man had taken some personal leave, which he no doubt needed. I had no idea what I would do if anything happened to my Lany.
I loved my twin girls, adored them. I loved my brother and my nephew. I respected the men I worked with. Loved my job, what I did on a day-to-day basis. I even felt something kind of like affection for Lany’s parents now that I had truly gotten to know them.
But Lany, he was my reason for breathing. Without him, nothing in my world worked. The man had stolen my heart the moment our eyes met in that seedy bathroom four years ago, and I willingly let him keep it.
I wrapped my hand around Lany’s neck and pulled him closer. I covered his mouth with all of the desire I felt for the man. Much to my utter delight, Lany moaned and pushed into the kiss, his tongue coming out to brush against mine. Lany’s lips were soft and warm, sending spirals of ecstasy through me.
My breath caught in my throat as Lany pulled away and dropped to his knees at my feet. My cock became so hard as I watched him looking up at me, I thought it might rip right through my slacks.
I had to have him.
Without taking his eyes off the visual feast at my feet, I unbuttoned my pants and pushed my boxers down until my cock popped free. “Voglio sentire le tue labbra su di me, caro.”
Lany’s eyebrow arched and a slow sensual grin lifted the corners of his lips. “I would be more than happy to wrap my lips around your cock.”
Not exactly what I had said, but close enough.
I looked down into Lany’s beautiful amber-green eyes as he opened his mouth and wrapped it around the head of my cock. Lany groaned then tightened his lips, his body jerking a little, but he didn’t take his gaze away from mine.
“Damn, caro, your mouth is like hot silk.”
Lany licked up one side of my cock and back down the other. He swirled his tongue around the helmet, licking at the clear liquid as he reached between my legs and gent
ly massaged my balls.
Lany leaned a little closer, taking my cock farther into his mouth, his tongue flattening against my length. I cried out when the pressure became too much, my entire body shuddering as I spilled inside of Lany’s mouth. Lany swallowed down every last drop.
Once I stopped shuddering, I reached down and picked Lany. I was so glad the bed was only a few steps away. I dropped Lany onto the mattress and yanked his pajama bottoms down before settling myself between his legs.
I wrapped my hand around Lany’s cock and licked the tip, pressing my tongue into the small slit on the top before swirling it around the mushroomed head. Lany’s body went stiff for a moment, his thigh muscles going rock hard, then he trembled almost uncontrollably.
Lany shouted out my name and bucked beneath me. Hot spunk filled my mouth. I swallowed it down and kept licking and sucking until Lany giggled and tried to squirm away from me.
“Too sensitive.”
I chuckled. It was a low, mean, yet satisfied sound. I loved watching Lany come apart in my arms. Knowing I had brought my love pleasure was better than any orgasm I had ever experienced.
“So, lunch then?”
I chuckled. “Lunch.”
Maybe we could get Lyn or Clarke to watch the twins for a few minutes while we snuck off to the broom closet.
I could fantasize anyway.
“I need to get going, caro. I can’t be late.”
“I know.” Lany’s tone was resigned.
I pressed a quick kiss to his lips before getting up and rearranging my clothes. Any longer than that and I’d never make it to court. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Don’t forget to kiss the girls,” Lany said as he scooted off the bed and headed for the bathroom.
As if.
The shower came on as I left the bedroom. I could hear excited babbling coming from the kitchen and knew where my girls were. It still amazed me pretty much on a daily basis that I was the father of two beautiful little girls.
They had just celebrated their birthday, both girls turning one years old. They were now officially crawling everywhere, starting to talk, and making a valiant effort to walk. They were giving Lany fits with how fast they were.
Lany had taken the first month we had them off from work. Luckily, the police bureau that we both belonged to gave maternity leave to both the father and the mother, or both fathers in our case. Lany had been able to take that time off with pay.
We might live in a fancy penthouse apartment, but it had been a present to Lany when he graduated from college. Many people thought we had a huge infusion of cash from Lany’s very rich father. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. We lived on our salaries, and only our salaries.
Of course, we accepted help here and there. I refuse to let pride stand in the way of my family having everything they needed. Marcus, Lany’s bodyguard, was one such present. Lany’s father paid Marcus’s salary.
When Lany had gone back to work, it quickly became apparent that all of the good daycares cost more than my car, and there wasn’t much one-on-one for the girls. They were pretty much just two of the many kids in the daycares we investigated. We had eventually decided that we needed a fulltime nanny.
Vincenzo Castellano, “Uncle Vinnie”—alleged mobster and the biological father of the twins—had given us a gift when he’d brought us Jenna, our housekeeper and nanny. Vinnie had bought an apartment on the floor beneath ours and moved Jenna in.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Jenna was a former Mossad officer, but I was. The slim little dark-haired beauty didn’t look as if she could fight a bumblebee. I had been proved wrong when she laid me out on my ass in the training ring.
The guys were still teasing me about that one.
I smiled when I reached the kitchen and found the girls chatting loudly as they ate their Cheerios and sliced fruit. Jenna stood at the sink rinsing dishes. Marcus was on a stool at the center island, reading the newspaper.
“Papà.”
I never got tired of hearing that word. I bent down and kissed the top of Bella’s head. “Come stai oggi? How are you today?”
Bella beamed.
Rosy started beating her spoon on her highchair tray, obviously wanting my attention. “Papà, Papà, Papà.”
“Ciao, bella.” I repeated the words in English before giving her a kiss as well. “Hello, beautiful.”
Lany had insisted the girls learn both English and Italian from the very beginning, so I always said what I wanted to say in Italian and then repeated it in English.
I glanced at Jenna. “Lany and the girls are going to come have lunch with me at the station today.”
Jenna smiled at me. “That should be fun. Do you want me to pack a lunch?”
I thought about the food venders in the area around my station and grimaced. Not many of them were vegetarian. My Lany ate fish and chicken, but only wild-caught fish and free-range chicken. He didn’t eat red meat of any kind.
“Yeah, that might not be a bad idea.” I shuddered to think of what Lany would do when presented with my favorite hot dog stand. “Okay, Papà has to get to court. I love you both. Ti amo entrambi.”
I gave each girl another kiss and then headed for the door. I grabbed my badge, wallet, and keys from the small bowl on the entry table and put them in my pocket. Lany had put the bowl there soon after we got together when he realized I needed a place to keep all of that stuff.
I waved to Jenson as I exited the elevator a few minutes later. The man had been around longer than I had. He guarded Lany’s safety almost as manically as I did. He was a retired Marine, a man Lany’s father had hired to work the security desk. Gilbert, the doorman, was also a hire by Lancaster, although he wasn’t a retired Marine. Both good men.
“Have a good day, sir,” Gilbert said as he held the door open for me.
“Thank you, Gilbert, you too.” I paused halfway to the car and glanced back. “Fair warning, Mrs. Harris might be dropping by today.”
Gilbert paled. “Yes, sir, thank you, sir.”
Yeah, Cynthia Harris was a formidable woman who made dictators look like schoolboys. But she adored Lany and our girls, and that made her okay in my book. Anyone who adored my family was okay in my book.
Chapter Three
Salvador
“Rough morning?” Clarke asked as I hopped into the waiting vehicle and closed the door before securing my seatbelt.
Sgt. Victor Clarke, my second-in-command, and a very good friend, maybe my closest friend next to Lany and my brother Angelo.
I smiled as I remembered the mutual blow jobs from this morning. “No, great morning.”
Clarke grimaced. “I don’t want to know.”
I chuckled. “Probably not.”
“Are we still on for Wednesday?”
That was our usual get-together night. After being betrayed by one of my team members, it had been decided we needed to bond more. We started having a night out once a week to forge those bonds. Sometimes, it was just a poker game at someone’s house. Other times, it was dinner out or the movies or whatever. It wasn’t what we were doing that was important. It was that we were doing them together.
“As far as I know,” I replied. “Let me check with Lany first.”
I always checked with Lany nowadays. I had forgotten our anniversary one year and Lany had been heartbroken. I had been heartbroken when I learned he had been going to propose to me that night. I learned my lesson.
I slid my cell phone out of my pocket and typed out a text to Lany. I knew it might take Lany a few minutes to return my text depending on what he was doing. I held on to my phone as I waited, watching out the front window.
“Lyn wants to do some sort of potluck thing,” Clarke said. After a moment, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Okay, and?” I asked as I looked at the guy.
Why would he have a problem with that?
“Lyn wants to bring this guy he’s been dating.”
&nbs
p; Ah.
“Okay.” I could barely keep my grin to myself at Clarke’s look of disgust. “It would be good for us to meet the man in Lyn’s life.”
“I don’t like him.”
“So, you’ve met him then?”
“No, but…”
I had to wonder if Clarke would ever admit his feelings for Lyn. We had all been watching for the past year, waiting for the man to acknowledge that he wanted Lyn for himself. As of yet, we hadn’t seen anything but grumblings from Clarke.
Maybe Lyn had finally given up waiting.
“What do we know about this guy? He could be into drugs or something. I’ll bet Lyn hasn’t even done a background check on him.”
And I was pretty sure that was the first thing Lyn had done. He was a computer genius and an important part of my team. While he went out on calls with us, he stayed in the on-scene Tactical Command Vehicle. Lyn wasn’t trained for the live action stuff, but he kept us glued together.
Lyn was in charge of keeping all of our equipment in good working order, making sure we had all of our required certifications, and giving us whatever information we needed when we went on a mission.
“Clarke, Lyn has the right to a life outside of the station.” I knew my second-in-command wouldn’t like that, but it was the truth. If Clarke wasn’t going to step up to the plate and claim Lyn, someone else would.
“Has Lany gotten back to you yet?”
I glanced at my phone. “No.” That shouldn’t make me nervous. “He’s probably getting the girls cleaned up and dressed. They’re going out shopping with Cynthia this morning.
“I’d rather eat glass.”
I chuckled. “Right?”
I dialed the penthouse phone. I’d leave a message with Marcus or Jenna. “Damn. Busy.”
An ambulance flew past us going in the other direction, lights and sirens blaring.
My heart froze in my chest.
“Turn the car around and take us back to the penthouse.”
“What?” Clarke asked as he kept driving. “You’ll miss court. The judge can have you arrested if you miss court.”
