Three days after the bedroom incident, Ian finally decided that he was done. Eton’s childish attitude of locking himself up in his room and avoiding Ian at all costs had gone on long enough. If Eton was ever going to get his memory back, they actually had to spend time together. That meant putting an end to this little game Eton kept playing.

Ian stormed over to Eton’s bedroom, pounding his fist against the closed door. He was going to give Eton a chance to come out willingly. If he didn't comply, Ian’s hand would be forced. He didn’t want to treat his husband this way, but sometimes tough love was necessary.

“Come out, Eton. I’m only going to ask once,” Ian ordered, his voice booming throughout the entire floor. Two guards stood behind him, waiting for his orders.

“I’m not hungry. Just go away!” Eton shouted from inside.

Ian scoffed, shaking his head. He took a few steps back from the door, glancing over his shoulder at his guards, Josh and Brian.

“Grab him,” he merely said before stepping forward and driving his foot against the door, breaking it open. In an instant, Josh and Brian rushed past Ian into the bedroom. Sounds of protest sounded from the room, and Eton was dragged out by his arms a few moments later.

Eton kicked his feet, glaring at Ian.

“You’re so desperate that you’ll force me to be with you?” he spat.

Ian narrowed his eyes. The words stung, but he knew that this was a phase. He had to grit his teeth and get through it. Without a word, he walked to the dining room, Eton being dragged behind him. Breakfast was already ready on the table, so he took a seat, nodding to the seat beside him for Josh and Brian to drop Eton into.

“Eat,” Ian said as he placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of Eton.

Eton tightened his jaw, staring straight ahead and ignoring Ian.

Ian no longer had any more patience. He struck his hand out, grabbing Eton’s jaw with one hand and a piece of toast with the other. He shoved the toast into Eton’s open mouth before leaning close with a glare.

“I said eat!" he growled, staring down into Eton’s wide, shocked eyes.

Eton coughed a few times as the toast was nearly shoved down his throat. As he chewed, he glared at Ian, his eyes full of hatred.

Ian leaned away from Eton, collecting himself. He didn’t like treating Eton this way, but it had to be done. He did this out of love.

“You’re coming to work with me,” he said. If he left Eton here, he would keep trying to hide in his room. They needed to spend some time together.

“I want to stay here,” Eton protested. When Ian whirled around to face him, Eton cowered back slightly.

“You’re coming. If we spend more time together, there’s a better chance that your memories will be triggered,” Ian replied before grabbing his cup of coffee and taking a sip. He would need the energy today to deal with Eton’s attitude.

Eton remained quiet, staring down at his plate of toast as he picked at it. It seemed like he was done fighting for the moment, but Ian didn’t expect that to last long.

Once Ian made sure that Eton ate a decent bit, he stood from the table and motioned for Eton to stand up as well.

“Time to go,” he said.

Eton clenched his jaw, but he obeyed and stood. He followed Ian out of the dining room, being trailed by the guards himself. He rolled his eyes, tightening his hands into fists as he moved.

Ian grabbed his things and strode out of the villa, stopping at the SUV and stepping aside so that Eton could get in first. He noticed how Eton kept as much space between them as possible, like he didn’t want to touch Ian even by accident. It bothered Ian down to his core, but he didn’t say anything.

The ride to his office building in the center of town was quiet and tense. He wanted to try to start a conversation, but he knew that there was no point. Eton would just ignore him or spout off some religious rambling like usual. He didn’t understand how the person he loved was basically a different person now.

With each passing day that he didn’t truly have his husband back, his heart continued to crack, splintering more and more. He tried to hide how much it affected him, but it was hard when he felt so lonely while still sitting right next to Eton. Nothing about this was easy for either of them.

“You are not permitted to wander around,” Ian told Eton as he strode into his office building and to the elevator. It wasn’t a towering building, but it had quite a few stories. It blended in with the rest of the city. He had to be private when it came to his business affairs. The less attention he drew to himself the better.

“Why?” Eton asked.

“I don’t trust you right now,” Ian said simply, waiting for the elevator’s doors to open before walking through them. It felt like swallowing shards saying that to the love of his life, but he didn’t want this version of Eton to stumble upon something top secret or sensitive.

“Likewise,” Eton muttered as he followed Ian down a hallway, passing by some offices. He could hear voices inside, but he couldn’t see what anyone was doing.

Ian’s jaw tensed as he unlocked his double, wooden office doors and walked inside. He switched on the light, a dim glow filling the large space. His desk occupied one side of the office, while a seating area with light gray couches occupied the other side. One wall was full of shelves lined with more books than he could count. The opposite wall was mostly made out of huge windows, looking out at the city.

“Sit,” Ian ordered, pointing to the seating area in front of his desk. He shed off his jacket and sat in his black office chair. A white backdrop loomed behind him as he watched Eton stiffly sit on the couch near a circular coffee table. Today was going to be a long day.

“Do I just sit here the entire day?” Eton asked, sounding annoyed.

Ian nodded to the shelves full of books. They were mostly history books or other informational texts. He liked having as much knowledge about the world and people as he could. It gave him an edge in business, and knowledge truly was power.

“You can read,” he said before hearing a knock on his office door. “Come in.”

His second in command at Nox Congregatio, Zack Morris, strode into the office with a manila folder in his hand. Morris immediately paused at the sight of Eton, his green eyes widening in shock.

“Eton! I can’t believe you’re here. Awake!” Morris greeted Eton excitedly, taking a few steps toward him.

Eton stared at the unfamiliar man, his eyes sweeping over his brown hair and dark blue suit. He then gave Morris an uninterested look before looking away to browse the shelves full of books.

Morris frowned at his reaction before turning to Ian, giving him a questioning look.

“I’ll explain later,” Ian sighed, motioning for Morris to sit down in front of his desk. He hadn’t told many people that Eton was awake because he wasn’t acting like Eton. Once things went back to normal, he would break the news to everyone.

Morris nodded as he sat down, placing the folder on Ian’s sleek, wooden desk.

“Within the next few hours, we should have an update on De Leon’s location,” he reported.

Ian sat up straighter, his heart racing slightly. He had been waiting for this update for so long now. De Leon went into hiding a while ago, and Ian had been determined to find him and kill him for shooting Eton. He wouldn’t stop until De Leon was a pile of ash.

“Finally. We’ve been scouring all over for months,” Ian replied as he joined his hands together in front of him. His eyes shifted past Morris to watch Eton as he browsed through the books, picking them up and flipping through their pages with a look of wonder. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Ian’s mouth as he continued to watch him. Eton actually looked more like himself right now.

Eton lowered the World War II book and glanced over at Ian, realizing that he was being watched. His eyes widened slightly as he stared back for a second. Then, he quickly turned away, shaking his head.

Ian cleared his throat and looked back at Morris, trying to focus again. He needed as much information on De Leon as possible. The more information he had, the easier it would be to take De Leon down. De Leon had found Ian’s weak spot, and he attacked it without mercy. Now, Ian was going to return the favor.

“What’s that?” Ian asked, nodding to the folder.

Morris frowned slightly, glancing behind him at Eton briefly before turning back to Ian.

“We have reason to believe that there is a spy leaking information to De Leon,” Morris said.

Ian narrowed his eyes, leaning close across the desk as he lowered his voice.

“What do you mean? A spy in my organization?” he hissed the last part. He had whipped every single person in his organization into shape, ensuring that they were loyal to him and him only. He had done unspeakable things to traitors.

“De Leon has been a step ahead of us for months. It’s like he knows when we’re coming,” Morris explained. “We intercepted some messages that we believed were sent to De Leon months ago. We don’t know who sent them, but they seem to be warning him of our planned ambush in Milan a while ago.”

Ian clenched his teeth as he slid the folder closer to him. He opened the folder and glanced through the messages, growing angrier and angrier as he read through them. There was a spy alright. No one knew the details of the plan to flush De Leon out of one of his hiding spots besides people involved in the plan.

“I need you to find out who this spy is. When you find him, I’m going to break every single bone in his body,” he growled beneath his breath. He glanced over at Eton, who was staring at him with wide eyes from the couch. He sighed and tried to relax, not wanting Eton to get too curious.

“We’ll find the spy. If we have to question every single person working for you, we will,” Morris promised with a confirming nod.

Ian nodded, hoping that the spy was found soon. If the spy kept feeding De Leon information on Nox’s next moves, they would never catch him. He had managed to escape Ian for two years, but that would come to an end soon. Ian could feel it in his very bones. He was close to the confrontation with De Leon that he deserved.

“Good,” he replied, leaning back in his chair. “Any good news?”

“We’ve successfully completed the Detroit move,” Morris replied. “I’m sure Hammond will make great use of a couple hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“He’ll enjoy using that money to buy a bulk of narcotics to sell on the black market for a profit,” Ian muttered as he rubbed his temple. His organization dealt with unsavory people, but business was business. If someone with power needed money to carry out their plans, Nox Congregatio was their loan provider. If they didn’t pay back their loan, consequences followed.

De Leon’s mafia group, Red Vortex, owed Ian 200 million dollars. That was no small amount. Not only was Ian upset that he lost a ton of money, but he was also upset that he was double crossed and his husband got shot in the process. When a mafia group didn’t pay back their loan, they were hunted down one by one. De Leon and a few others were left.

“Smart,” Morris smirked before checking his phone. “Veronica is calling me. They might have a lead on De Leon.”

Ian nodded, watching Morris walk out of the room to answer the call. Veronica was the line of communication between his ambush group and the higher ups in Nox. Hopefully, he would get some good news soon.

“Find anything interesting to read?” he called out to Eton, who was sitting on the couch with his face buried in a huge book. At least he wasn’t just sitting there and moping.

Eton merely nodded, not saying anything. He seemed tense.

Ian tapped his fingers on his desk, figuring that Eton was trying to acclimate to his surroundings. Admittedly, things could be pretty tense in the Nox Congregatio building. Something was always going on, whether he was sending out agents to try to track down De Leon or some sort of move or transaction was happening. Needless to say, business was booming, which he was grateful for. He wanted to do right by the family business, which was started by his great great grandfather.

Part of him wanted to walk over to Eton and apologize for earlier, but he knew that Eton wouldn't accept his apology. Eton would just push him away, snapping at him for forcing him to be here. With a frown, Ian lowered his gaze down to his desk. It was torture not being able to talk to the person that he used to trust the most. It was like staring at a stranger.

Suddenly, his office door burst open, and Morris rushed back in with his phone in his hand.

“They believe De Leon is in the Bahamas. He was spotted on a CCTV feed,” Morris reported.

Ian’s heart nearly burst out of his chest at the news. He stood from his desk, his mind threatening to race. He wanted to hop on a plane and fly to the Bahamas himself to take De Leon down. However, his eyes shifted over to Eton. He didn’t want to leave Eton behind. De Leon could be brought here to him.

“Send extra agents over there. I want him captured and brought directly to me,” Ian ordered. As much as he wanted De Leon to be killed as soon as possible, he wanted to be the one to pull the trigger or light the match. He hadn’t decided on how he was going to torture De Leon to death, but it certainly wouldn’t be pretty.

Morris nodded before hurrying out of the room to carry out the order.

Ian looked over at Eton, who watched the scene with a nearly scared look on his face. Eton was staring right at Ian, though, like he was looking right at the grim reaper himself. Ian slowly sat back down in his chair, wishing he could comfort Eton. However, if De Leon really was in the Bahamas and was captured, Ian would happily play the role of executioner.