“Bend over,” Jase commanded, spinning Leyton so that he could use the wall to prop himself up.

Trailing his hands down the rigid contours of Leyton’s back, Jase briefly fingered the numerous scars that marked him, then squatted down behind him, separating his ass cheeks before spearing him with his tongue.

Leyton groaned, his hips thrusting back to meet Jase’s tongue. “Holy mother of… Fuck.”

Jase penetrated him several times with his tongue, then licked the puckered skin, enjoying the way Leyton’s moans echoed in the tiled area. Unable to wait too long for fear he’d come before he ever got his dick inside Leyton, Jase spent far less time rimming Leyton than he would’ve liked before he stood. With several squirts of lube on his fingers, Jase eased one inside Leyton, then two, fucking him slowly as he leaned over Leyton’s back, pressing his lips to Leyton’s wet skin.

“Tight,” Jase muttered, feeling Leyton’s body clench around his finger. “Relax.”

Not wanting to cause Leyton too much pain, Jase fingered Leyton’s asshole for long minutes, continuing to trail his mouth over Leyton’s skin, until he could slide three fingers inside, scissoring them to open him up.

As he applied a generous amount of lube to his dick and more down the crack of Leyton’s ass, Jase panted with a desperation that pierced him deep. He needed to feel Leyton wrapped around him, gripping him.

“I won’t be easy,” Jase reminded him.

“Don’t need easy,” Leyton grumbled. “Just fuck me, Jase.”

Jase gave Leyton exactly what he asked for. He pushed inside, giving Leyton’s body time to acclimate to the intrusion before gripping Leyton’s hips and pounding him furiously. He lost all sense of time as he fucked Leyton, driving inside deep, retreating, then slamming in again and again. Their groans echoed, the sound of the water like white noise, soothing Jase as he took what he needed from Leyton’s willing and eager body.

“Harder,” Leyton pleaded, his hands pressed against the wall as he thrust back against Jase. “Use me, baby. Fuck me.”

Jase was having a hard time sucking air into his lungs, his sole focus on taking out his aggression on Leyton, letting the pleasure drown out the emotions that swamped him. But that term of endearment had his heart clenching tightly in his chest.

Digging his fingers into Leyton’s flesh, Jase let himself go, his release surging through him. “Coming! Fuck… Leyton… Fuck.”

Leyton groaned, his hand stroking his own cock furiously. “That’s it. Come inside me.” Leyton’s hand stilled. “Fuck.”

Unable to hold himself up, Jase pulled out of Leyton, then leaned forward and wrapped his arms around him, fearing he would never be able to let go. Leyton’s arm cradled Jase’s. They remained just like that for several minutes.

“It’s okay,” Leyton assured him as he somehow managed to get free of Jase’s grip, turning to face him.

But rather than leave, Leyton simply pulled him into his arms and held him tightly as they stood there under the water, neither of them speaking. Jase took the comfort Leyton offered, holding on to him, burying his face in Leyton’s neck as he battled the emotions that he’d fought to keep buried.

Although Moroso was dead, it wasn’t over yet. The hard part was still to come, because Jase had to bury his brother, he had to say his final good-byes to Sal. No, killing Moroso had been easy compared to that.

That didn’t mean, while he geared up for the worst part, he couldn’t embrace what Leyton was willing to give.

Chapter Fifty-Six

Good-bye has never been this hard.

Present day

Friday, November 20 th

When the procession had arrived at the gravesite nearly forty-five minutes ago, Ashlynn had done her best to keep it together. During the funeral, she’d sobbed uncontrollably, mourning the loss of two men she’d considered family, and when they’d lowered those caskets into the ground, it’d taken every ounce of her control not to fall apart in front of all those people.

For the past few days, she’d been preparing, trying to convince herself she needed closure, needed to make peace with Derrick and Sal so she could move on, so they could move on with their lives. Unfortunately, she didn’t think their lives would ever be the same without them.

Max had been the one to claim both bodies, doing whatever it was he did, calling in favors and getting everything handled without Jase having to lift a finger. It’d been hard enough for Jase when he’d called his mother. Ashlynn had been witness to that horrific event, heard the woman blame Jase for every bad thing that’d ever happened to their family. Never once had the woman accepted that she was a failure as a parent; instead, she’d torn Jase down until Ashlynn had been forced to take the phone from him.

Of course, she hadn’t been able to simply hang up on the woman. Instead, she’d given Amy Malone a piece of her mind. Not that it’d helped, but at least Ashlynn had felt somewhat better. At that point, Leyton had made the call to Max, and her brother had taken it from there, calling Jase’s mother and paying her off to keep her away from the funeral. They hadn’t been willing to risk her causing a scene and making Jase feel worse than he already did. Still, it hadn’t changed a thing, as they’d learned with everything that had happened in the past week. Derrick and Sal were still dead, never coming back.

With Sal, there hadn’t been anyone to call. His parents were both deceased, and he had no siblings, no wife, no children. They’d been the only family he had.

Saying good-bye had never been so painful.

Not even when her father had died had Ashlynn felt such an overwhelming loss. No, when Samuel had died, she’d felt somewhat relieved.

There was no relief at the moment, only pain.

Perhaps that was because Derrick was Jase’s brother and because she loved Jase, watching him suffer was weighing on her. She wanted to comfort him, but it seemed he was the one comforting her. The three of them had consoled one another, or tried to for the past few days, but they all knew that until this day was behind them, they couldn’t move forward.

And here they were, watching as the dirt was being tossed into the holes where the two men’s bodies would forever rest while their souls moved on.

“We’ll stay as long as you need,” Leyton told Jase, standing beside him while Ashlynn stood on Jase’s other side, a death grip on his arm.

There were more enforcers there than she’d ever seen, but most of them weren’t there for the funeral. They were there as protection. With all of them there, the entire Adorite family, they knew shit could go bad in a minute. So Max had been prepared. They wouldn’t leave until everyone was safely where they were supposed to be.

“I’m good,” Jase finally said after several minutes.

“You sure?” Leyton asked.

The only response was a nod, and then Jase placed his arm around Ashlynn’s shoulder, pulling her against him and kissing her forehead. Again, he seemed to be the one consoling her, but she hoped, simply by being there, that he knew how much she loved him, how much he meant to her.

Several more minutes passed before Jase began backing away. Ashlynn moved with him, keeping her arm around his waist. And when they were in the limo, she didn’t let go.

“I love you,” Jase whispered, his breath fanning her hair as he rested his cheek against her head. “Both of you.”

“I love you, too,” Leyton said softly at the same time Ashlynn did.

“Thank you,” Jase muttered. “For being there.”

No thanks were needed, but Ashlynn didn’t say as much. The three of them would forever be there for one another, that she was sure of. Through good and bad…

Though she prayed like hell that the bad shit was behind them.