Page 33 of Toxic Devotion

He opened his mouth to protest but he knew from the sharp look Marco gave him that he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Marco was getting his way.

Ty was more than happy to stay behind with Dumb. Neil knew the man well enough to know that if Dumb knew anything, Ty would get it out of him, though he doubted the mole was stupid enough to have revealed anything important. The important thing was that he now knew for sure that someone at the agency was not only working with Hughes but that they wanted him dead.

They walked to the garage where Marco’s car was parked and got in the back of the car, Rome getting behind the wheel to drive them to Baltimore. He must’ve fallen asleep at some point because he woke up with his head in Marco’s lap, fingers carding slowly through his hair.

“We’re home,” Marco whispered.

Neil hummed and blinked a few times before he pushed himself up into a seated position.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, giving Marco a sheepish look.

“Don’t be.” Marco’s lips spread in a soft smile. “Seemed like you needed it.”

He’d been on high alert for several days and Marco was his safe space. It was no wonder he’d fallen asleep. He’d needed it desperately, though not as much as he needed Marco.

“I already sent Rome home,” Marco said.

Neil turned his gaze toward the front of the car and found it empty.

They were alone.

Marco got out of the car and Neil followed, a smile on his lips. Marco grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the door. As they stepped into the house, he noticed how quiet it was. When Alicia was around, silence usually wasn’t an option.

“Where’s Alicia and Dante?”

He hadn’t seen them in three weeks and despite how terrified he was of hurting or dropping the little guy, Dante had taken a real shining to him, and he was barely allowed to put him down. He was almost a year old, and he’d just started walking and was making his mother’s blood pressure rise any chance he got. The kid reminded him of someone he knew.

He looked at Marco, the corners of his lips creasing.

“Last I saw her, she was packing,” Marco said, grabbing Neil’s hand to tug him toward the stairs.

“Packing?” he asked with a frown, uneasy spreading through him.

Marco nodded. “She wants to go on a little getaway. Our father had a cabin built for Mamma for when she wanted to escape the life for a little while. Alicia invited us to come but I figured we should stay. We’ll have the whole house to ourselves.”

Nowthathe could get behind.

Marco turned, backing toward the stairs while he shrugged out of his suit jacket. Neil followed, catching up to him before he reached the staircase, hands sliding around the man’s waist to jerk him against his body, lips crashing together in a deep kiss.

He groaned into Marco’s mouth, their tongues tangling desperately while he pulled Marco’s shirt free of his pants so he could slide his hands up the man’s back.

A phone rang and they both groaned. Marco shook his head and pressed a quick kiss to Neil’s lips before untangling himself and walking to where he’d discarded his jacket on the floor.

He watched Marco, a smile teasing his lips. Marco’s eyes were on him, dark promises in them as he picked up his phone. A frown formed on Marco’s forehead and a second later, he went pale, staring at Neil with panic in his eyes. He shook his head, his phone landing on the floor and Neil barely made it in time to catch Marco before he too hit the floor. Marco’s heartbreaking scream would forever be seared into his brain.

Chapter Eleven

Marco

AS HE stared down at the casket, he felt nothing. The hole in his heart grew each day. Expanding until he was certain there would be nothing of his heart left. It was as if his last breath had left him as hers had left her. Raped and murdered. His beautiful sister was gone. There was nothing left of who she had been in that mangled shell of a body. They had taken everything that made her who she was and left a shallow pit behind.

Fortunately, she had left the house without Dante who had been with the nanny, but now Dante would have to grow up without a mother. He would never remember her laugh or the way her arms felt around him. Someone had taken that from him.

Alicia’s body had been left in an alley outside of his territory. Someone had taken her, raped her, shot her, and then dumped her. As if she was nothing. As if she didn’t matter. But she did matter, and her killer would pay. He would make them pay. Whatever it took.

The police were getting in his way of finding out who’d done it. They wouldn’t share information with him but at least they hadn’t accused him of the murder. He wouldn’t have put it past them. They knew nothing. Nothing of the love he felt for his sister. They never would.

Rome had gotten the crime scene photos, and he refused to let Marco see them. He knew why. Seeing his beautiful sister like that? It would break him.