Carter Harrison
He posted, refreshed the page to make sure it showed up correctly, then sat back with a sigh of relief. “Done.”
Mattias stood so that he could see over the monitors. “I stand by what I said. I’ll help you clean this up.”
They’d already argued about how much the Genovese family should be involved in all of this. Kyou was of the opinion that supplying information was fine, but they shouldn’t do anything else. It would damage all of the hard work they’d already put into straightening up their lives, and he was loath to do that. Mattias didn’t agree.
“I still think the only good enemy is a dead enemy,” Deidra surprised him by saying. She had a very fierce expression as she looked down at not only her son, but the little girl at her side. “I do not like leaving things at a warning.”
“We’ll hit the larger donators; there were about six of those. They’re seriously bad men anyway, so we’ll be doing the world a favor.” Kyou looked at Brannigan as he said this, weighing probabilities. “But I think by the time we handle those six, the rest will go so thoroughly to ground that it will be impossible to find them without doing a lot of digging. They’ll be running scared for a while.”
Brannigan watched him with the same evaluation. “I think it’s alright to focus on the six and then keep open feelers out for the rest. Take care of them as they surface.”
“It’s the only sane approach,” Kyou agreed with a faint smile. “Otherwise I’ll be fused to this chair twenty hours of the day trying to find everyone.”
“No.” Brannigan’s stance was adamant. “You promised.”
Kyou softened, smiling helplessly at this man he was so completely head over heels for. He’d promised to live and love, and he’d hold to that promise. He had no desire to break it. “So I did. Let’s finish this cleanup and get back to doing what we really want to do.”
Epilogue
Kyou
It was safe to say that Kyou had never taken a vacation in his life. Sitting here on the beach, shades on, the waves gently crashing against the shore, with a cold drink in his hand, Kyou couldn’t remember what had been so important that it had kept him holed up in his various apartments like a hermit.
Especially with that view.
And no, he wasn’t talking about the ocean.
Brannigan had dipped into the water to cool off a little, but he was walking back now. With his dark hair slicked back, water still glistening on his skin, and the very, very skimpy Speedo, he was a vision. Kyou almost popped a boner from the sight alone. He lowered the sunglasses on his nose to take his lover in without any obstruction. Damn, the man was fine.
Seeing his reaction, Brannigan paused under the umbrella and struck a pose. “Enjoying the view?”
“You are utterly shameless, and yes, yes I am.”
Dropping to his knees, Brannigan leaned in to kiss Kyou with sweet, lingering heat. “Regretting not coming to a beach with me before this?”
“So many regrets,” Kyou bemoaned before kissing him back. He seriously entertained the idea of tackling the man to his back, but sand. Sand and sensitive skin did not a good combination make.
Brannigan pulled back, and there was a serious light in his eyes. “It’s been three months, my love. How are you feeling?”
Three months. Three months of hunting down the men who’d wanted Kyou and his family dead. Three months of stress, elation, and victory. Three months of oscillating between insanity and bliss. In those three months, he’d changed his world, including Brannigan in it. He’d seen two of his brothers marry as Ari and Carter spoke vows to each other in a wedding at the Genovese family home. Mattias and Deidra had firmly insisted on throwing them a wedding, and Ari, for one, was happy to let them as he frankly admitted he had no idea what to do. It had been quite the party. The Genoveses knew how to entertain, and they’d pulled out all the stops for the event. The ballroom had been decorated like something out of a fairytale. Kyou kept expecting a princess and a missing slipper to make an appearance at some point.
After the reception, he and Brannigan had retreated to the other man’s townhouse to indulge in drunken sex. Sated, sleepy, and still tipsy, Kyou had been on the verge of falling asleep in his lover’s arms when Brannigan had asked if Kyou would move in with him.
Kyou hadn’t known how to respond. Part of him wanted to. Part of him feared it was too soon. He’d asked for time to think about it.
Apparently, time was up.
Seeing his hesitation, Brannigan gentled his tone even further. “If you need more time, that’s alright. I’m just selfish. I want to come home to you every day.”
Blowing out a steady stream of air, Kyou turned to look out over the ocean. It was a little hard to meet Brannigan’s eyes just then. “I didn’t want to think about it before because I wanted us all safe first. Everything else was secondary to that. Now…holding myself back from you is a habit, I think. Even when there’s no reason for it, I still find myself doing it.”
Brannigan’s hand found his and laced their fingers together. Kyou’s eyes were drawn to their hands, and he stared for a long moment. He wondered if Brannigan meant for that to look as symbolic as it did—because he was sure the man wanted to twine their lives and hearts together, just like this, so that one couldn’t separate from the other. His head came up and he locked eyes with the man who had been the central focus of his entire world for nearly a decade. Funny, he didn’t think that would change much for the next fifty years.
Kyou informed his heart in needed to gather some courage. He was tired of fear keeping him from this man. Sucking in a breath, he found words. Maybe not the right words, but words regardless. “I want to move in with you. But I want more. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.”
Delight lit up Brannigan like a second sun, rising in stages until he was blinding to look at. “Can we get married, then?”
“Yes. I—” Kyou had no chance to get what he wanted to say out next, as he was immediately hauled into an impassioned kiss. He responded just as ardently, but a little impatiently, as there was still something he wanted to say.
Brannigan eventually reined in his excitement enough to pull back and talk. “You said when we first met in real life that you didn’t have a true surname. Will you take mine?”
“You’re stealing all of my lines,” Kyou complained.
Laughing, Brannigan kissed him again, sweeter this time. “Kyou Genevese. I like it.”
“It sounds weird, but of course you like it.”
“I now feel this urge to cut vacation short and drag you home so we can get married immediately.” Brannigan tapped a thoughtful finger on his chin. “But I like seeing you so relaxed. Decisions, decisions.”
“How about you climb over here”—Kyou patted the spot on the large beach towel next to him—“we can try to avoid getting sunburned for another hour, then retreat back to the hotel for engagement sex?”
“Or,” Brannigan murmured as he threw a leg over Kyou’s waist, straddling him. There was a very determined glint in his eye. “We can have engagement sex now and even more engagement sex later before we call up friends and family to tell them the news.”