Page 79 of Emeric

SYLVAN

“I don’t know what to say.” Nothing I did would change anything. At least I could put his mind at ease. “You did the right thing.”

When Oleander returned to his apartment, we thought it was from the gym, not from a meeting with Jordan, where everything went to shit. I wasn’t surprised Noah had fallen for Lawson. He was the one who helped put Noah’s life back together again, at least as far as his identity and online records were concerned. Lawson found them after digging and restored them. I could see how, in a time of complete vulnerability, Noah latched on to him. It couldn’t be Barrett, given he was in a relationship with Reghan when they met Noah. Barrett had been closest to him, due to the circumstances surrounding what had happened back then. Barrett was the one Noah ran to for safety. Noah was lonely and had no one to lean on. Jordan’s guards were good at being there for others in their time of need. I was a case in point, although I’d had feelings for Oleander for years.

“When Jordan asked what I thought, I immediately went to what you would do,” Oleander said. “Would you have let him go with Lawson? You’d met Noah when he'd just been freed from a terrible situation. I couldn’t imagine you’d want him hurt again.”

“I would have said what you did. Noah doesn’t need to go through anything again. That doesn’t mean what he did to us was right. It’s fucked up.”

“If Lawson was ignoring him, it was for a reason,” Emeric said.

“I’m sure,” Oleander replied. “But if you could have seen the looks on their faces, there’s something between them. It didn’t matter what Lawson said about not being who Noah needs. The reality is, he’s who Noah wants. Now, what they do with that is between them. Noah can’t come back here. I wouldn’t test Jordan. Noah is lucky to be alive after that.”

“Jesus,” Emeric muttered. “If I hadn’t been in Jordan’s life already, knowing the shit he and the rest of you get yourselves into, I’d be astonished at how much goes on here. Between the threats, the death, injuries, and random stuff happening, I’m not sure how any of you sleep. Well, not you, Ollie. We know you sleep sounder than anyone else.”

It took a lot to wake Oleander up. Emeric and I tried one night. I woke with Emeric hard behind me. We wanted to include Oleander, but we couldn’t get him to wake up. Emeric and I had some fun and filled Oleander in the next morning. He wasn’t happy he missed out.

Oleander pointed at Emeric. “That’s never happening again. I don’t care if you have to pour ice water on me; I’m not missing out on sex with you two.”

“Sure, that will be sexy as hell. You soaking wet and frozen before we fuck.”

“Whatever,” Oleander grumbled and gave Emeric a light shove.

Emeric grabbed him in a headlock, but there was no way he could overpower Oleander, not that Emeric was weak. He wasn’t in the slightest. Oleander was just powerful.

They eventually calmed down, and Oleander relaxed onto Emeric’s chest, his legs kicked up onto my lap. I wanted more days like this. Not the shit with Noah. I didn’t want any more of those. I meant the good times, like right now, where we could just be. There were no expectations, no jobs we had to immediately do. We could be normal people. As normal as the three of us could be, that was.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy,” Oleander said. “After losing my daughter, I wasn’t sure what to do, where to go. Working for Jordan allowed me to pour my energy into something bigger than me. Sure, there’s a lot of illegal stuff we do, but the good is there. With what he pays us, and most of us living here saving money, we donate too. It’s only right to give back to the city we live in. I still miss her every day. That won’t go away.”

I gave his socked foot a gentle squeeze. “She’s always with you. In here…” I rubbed my hand over my heart. “You carry her with you wherever you go.”

“I never thought I’d have one, let alone two people in my life I love like I do the two of you. People who understand me and don’t ask me to change. Who don’t have high expectations and aren’t with me for what I can do for them. Or those who find out who I work for and run in the other direction.”

“I feel that more than you know,” Emeric said.

“I don’t,” I added. “My love life was sad before you two.”

Oleander nudged me with his foot. “Stop it. You were just waiting for me to get my head out of my ass and for Emeric to enter the equation so we could be together.”

“True. We have a path to follow in life. Mine was always meant to lead to you two.”

“We haven’t had it easy,” Oleander stated. “I don’t think any of us who work for Jordan had perfect lives previously. It’s what we do with them now that matters. My mom texted me, asking when you’re coming over again. She wants to cook for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she starts asking when we’re taking the next step.”

“As soon as I can find a place that suits us,” Emeric said. “Nothing has felt right. I don’t want to show you every house that comes up. There’s something special out there. I just haven’t found it yet.”

I smiled. “You will.” I wasn’t sure how I knew. I just did. Emeric was going to be the one who found us our place to live. We would love it and be happy there.

Oleander’s phone started to ring on the end table. He grabbed it and tapped the screen, putting it on speaker. “Hi, Mom.”

“Ollie, are you all okay?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“I’m not sure what happened. I could feel it, but it wasn’t dangerous if that makes sense. It was more like an alarm to be careful.”

I smiled. Oleander’s mom just knew. She didn’t ask what or why, but called to check in or to warn him if need be. Oleander never took off the talisman he wore around his neck. I’d come to love it as much as I did him, because it protected him. Anything that watched out for the men I loved was fine by me.

“It’s a long story. I can fill you in next time we’re over. It’s too much to say over the phone.”