Page 77 of Toxic Devotion

A dangerous smile played on Neil’s lips as he reached for Marco’s hands.

“I quit.”

Marco’s heart stuttered in his chest.

“What?” he breathed, barely able to get the word out.

“I quit the agency.”

He couldn’t talk. Couldn’t move. Hell, he couldn’t think. It made no sense.

“My boss convinced me to put in for retirement. That’s why it’ll take a little while before I’m out. I need to cross my T’s, dot my I’s, and hand everything over slowly. As much as I wantto leave, I don’t want to do it at the expense of my agents or officers.”

“But you’re leaving? You’re quitting?”

Neil nodded, and the sound that escaped Marco could’ve been described as a sob but, fortunately, there was no one but the two of them to hear it. There was no one to impede on their privacy as he wrapped his arms around Neil and buried his face in the man’s chest. Neil held onto him, and he had never felt more at home than he did right then. Nothing had ever felt as right as this moment.

He leaned back in Neil’s arms and looked into stormy gray eyes.

“I love you and we both know tomorrow isn’t guaranteed,” Neil said, Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed hard. “I want whatever time I have left to be with you. I’ve always wanted that.”

Marco nodded slowly, his words barely above a whisper as he said, “I’ve been stopping you from doing that.”

“You had your reasons,” Neil said, eyes shuddering for a moment, the memories stark for them both.

Marco took a deep breath.

“I want to spend that time with you, too.”

There was nothing he wanted more.

“These are gonna be the hardest months of our lives, aren’t they?” he muttered, gaze on his fingers running along the lapels of Neil’s suit jacket.

He knew he’d spend every second worrying about Neil getting hurt or worse. While he didn’t doubt the man’s skillset, he knew fate could be a bitch. She’d fucked them over enough times already. Perhaps she would let them have this? The hope spreading through him was terrifying.

“I’m coming home to you. No matter what it takes,” Neil said, lips brushing Marco’s temple. “No matter what.”

Epilogue

Neil

QUITTING HIS job at the CIA was the best thing he’d ever done. It hadn’t been easy. Being with Marco had never been easy, but it was well worth it. Everything that had been thrown at them over the years was worth waking up next to Marco each day. Having the man look at him with nothing but love in his eyes had healed his soul and heart. The parts of him that had thought him unworthy of having love and a family were well and truly gone. Marco had ensured that, showing him every day that he was worthy just by loving him.

The day Marco had asked him to marry him, he’d damned near passed out. Marrying Marco wasn’t something he thought he’d ever get to do. He didn’t necessarily need a ring or a piece of paper to prove his love for Marco, but the first time Marco had called him his husband, something had settled in his heart.

He had always been Marco’s, body and soul, but for the man to claim him so openly? Having Marco show him off with pride? There was no feeling like it. They had also set a precedent for Dante. Others had come before them in their world, but they’d shown Dante that love wasn’t something to hide away. Neither of them wanted that for Dante. That was how he’d lost his parents.

His husband made sure every day that he knew he was still madly in love with him. The fact that Marco still looked at him with love and desire would never cease to amaze him. He felt as if they only fell more in love each day. Their sex life hadn’t suffered despite them getting older. Marco’s sex drive certainlydidn’t slow down which was probably why he’d walked in the door after returning from a two-day business trip with Rome and pulled Neil up the stairs and into their bedroom.

He was lying on his back on the bed, looking up at his gorgeous husband. The love in those enchanting eyes of his never wavered. He had crow’s feet, and he was starting to gray at the temples, and it only made him that much more handsome. He’d gone completely gray himself a few years ago and he was thankful that Marco found it sexy. Dante had tried to ban the words silver fox, but Marco had simply reverted to calling him Gray instead, and hell if that didn’t hit him square in the chest each time.

He raised his hands to run them down Marco’s chest, brushing over his nipples and making the man groan. He only grinned when Marco grabbed his hands and pressed them into the mattress above his head.

“Playing with fire, are we?” Marco rumbled, that deep voice sending shivers down his spine.

He licked his lips, eyes dropping to Marco’s mouth for a second before he looked up into the man’s dark eyes.

“How else am I gonna get you to hurry up?”