Taste of Iron

Twenty Nine: Manlier Than A 6'3" Gangster

Twenty Nine: Manlier Than A 6'3" Gangster

"A little bit more salt," Atlas spoke, tasting the broth Leo was making. The younger chef nodded as he followed the instruction. "You've been doing good. Learning fast."

"Thanks, I guess," Leo muttered, clearly not very smooth at accepting compliments. His phone rang, and he was going to ignore it but his boss intervened.

"It's okay, pick it up. Might be important," Atlas said. Leo wiped his hands before stepping away for a minute to answer the call. When he got back, he had a perplexed expression on his face. "What's up?"

"It's nothing," Leo answered, sighing. "My sister is here along with my dads and my uncles. They were asking if I could come out to the dining room to say hi but I told them I just started working here and I'm not going to—"

"Are you kidding me?" Atlas frowned. "Family comes first, always. Go meet them! The kitchen won't burn down if you're out for a couple minutes."

"But—"

"Seriously, Leo, your family is here to show their support and you're hiding in the kitchen?" Atlas shook his head. "Go before I kick you out."

"It's really okay if I go say hi?" Leo asked, his voice low. Atlas nodded, he could tell that Leo wanted to do it, and had only refrained for the sake of seeming professional.

"Yes. Go."

Leo passed a look of gratitude before leaving to go meet his loved ones. Atlas watched the kid's retreating figure with a sad smile. He missed his mom and his siblings a lot. This was the longest he had been away from them, and he had no idea when he would be able to see them next. Oliver and Hannah's graduation was in a couple of months, so maybe he could take time off for that... 

But they would have to find someone to take over in his absence. Maybe Roy? But Roy wasn't too good at having people listen to him. Denise might be a better fit. Or maybe all of this was a bad idea. Atlas probably shouldn't take an extended time off. There was no telling what could happen during that.

But he really wanted to see his mom and hug her. He wanted to binge watch One Piece with Damian and play basketball with Trent. He wanted to take Oliver and Hannah out for dinner as a gift and maybe he could see his old friends too...

"Tienes el corazon mas dulce," Emil interrupted Atlas's train of thought, startling him.

The head chef turned back, his cheeks flushing a light of pink at Emil's words and at the way that he was looking at the blue-haired man. His eyes were so full of affection that for the first time Atlas wasn't surprised that everyone had assumed the two were dating.

"It's not a big deal," Atlas mumbled, facing the table once again, unable to keep looking at the crime boss.

Emil chuckled as he walked closer to the chef, until his chest was almost touching his back. He kept one hand on the counter beside Atlas, the other on his waist and rested his chin on top of Atlas's shoulder. Atlas was shocked. It was as if his heart had almost stopped. The proximity wasn't anything new but... Emil had never done anything like this in public before.

And they were at work, for fuck's sake!

"The way you value family shows how big your heart is. It's like you... precioso," Emil whispered in Atlas's ear, sending a shiver down the chef's spine by how low and deep his voice was. "I hope there is space for me in there too."

"Emil—"

"I want your heart to be mine," Emil continued, his hand moving up and down Atlas's side as he shifted even closer. Atlas could swear that he felt something hard rub against his ass, and he knew he could only be one thing. "And your body too."