Page 146 of Alpha Heat

“It’s not anticipated that he’ll be released for a very long time. If ever.”

“Excellent.”

Xan cleared his throat. “Yes. I’m glad that he met such a poor end, but I do feel sorry for his omega. Kerry never had a brutal bone in his body.”

“In all likelihood, he was abused, too.” Urho cracked his knuckles. “Men like Monhundy enjoy giving pain.”

“Yes.”

They walked quietly for several more minutes, the moon sparkling over the water, and the water lapping at the shore, washing away the remains of the day.

“Anyway, I thought you’d like to know.” Xan took Urho’s clenched fingers and unfolded them. “That portion of my life is put away. For good.”

Urho raised Xan’s hand to his mouth and kissed the knuckles. “I love you and I’m glad you are safe from him. I’ll feel better when you go into the city knowing that he’s not there to accost you.”

Xan nuzzled Urho’s neck, and they held onto each other as the water swirled at their feet. Finally, Xan asked softly, “Speaking of, do you really have to go into the city tomorrow?”

“I need to see Yosef about making some legal preparations for you and Caleb should anything happen to me.”

“Don’t talk about that.”

“It needs to be considered, love. And I need to see a real estate agent about the house. I promised Mako. It’s time I decided what to do with the place.”

“I don’t want you to sell it,” Xan blurted. “I want you to keep it. The house and, well, even the room. The one with all of the mementos of your Riki.”

Urho swallowed hard. “You know about that?”

“I saw then, when I…” Xan waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it’s important.”

“That was the home I shared with Riki. It’s no place to start a future with you, Caleb, and the baby.”

“You’re wrong. It’s the perfect place. We can’t forget Riki was here, or what you shared asErosgapé, or…your son with him.”

“We were going to name him Tarin.”

“That’s a good name.”

Urho shrugged. “It was Riki’s choice. I wanted the name of a friend of mine who’d died in the war. Evan.”

“That’s a good name too.” Xan held onto Urho’s biceps. He needed to get this right. “If you sold the house, what would become of all that stuff? Or the bedroom you shared with him?”

“I can’t just leave it there to molder.” Urho frowned.

“We don’t have to. I’ll sell our place in the city. When we go in for business or family dinners, we’ll stay at your home instead.” He’d recently come to a cold but reasonable agreement with his father to attend family feast nights again for the sake of his pater. So long as Urho was invited as well. “We’ll stay in one of the guest rooms.”

“We can change the room,” Urho said.

“Maybe. But if we do it this way, we can all learn about Riki and Tarin. Our new Riki should know about where we got his name. We should all know.”

Urho gazed down at Xan. The moon shone in his eyes. “You’re a good man.”

“Am I?” Xan laughed. “I mean, I try to be, but—”

Urho took Xan’s face in his hands and kissed him fiercely. “You are.”

Desire sparked to life, and Xan begged against Urho’s lips, “Show me.”

They practically raced to their bedroom, all the emotions of the day coalescing into passion. They tore off their clothes, and Xan stretched out on his back on the mattress, Urho burying his face between his legs.