Across the table, Freddie studied the icy cold bottle the bartender had served. I’d watched him open both and declined the glasses.
“You think I can really do this?” Freddie asked and I met his gaze evenly.
“Do you love her more than yourself?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. No reconsideration.
“Then you have your answer.”
It wouldn’t be easy. But then, nothing worth having ever really was.
“I really want to believe you,” Freddie admitted. “I am so scared of fucking up. Sometimes, it gets so hard and then I think, I’ll do a hit or two and that will make it okay. One or two can’t hurt and then I remember that I’m an addict, and there is no such thing as just one or two.”
Silence draped the table at the end of his statement and he tipped his bottle up and took a long drink.
“Thanks,” he said eventually.
“Always,” I told him before taking another drink of my own.
This wasn’t an overnight problem nor was it an overnight fix. But I had faith in both of them.
“Would you like me to tell you a story and distract you?” It was the one thing I could do.
“Fuck yes,” Freddie said, damn near sagging then he shot me an almost chagrinned look. “I mean… Please?”
“You asked me once why I kept going into the facilities and I told you I was looking for someone.”
I leaned back in the seat, aware of where everyone in the room was and how close they might be. At the same time, my attention was on Freddie.
“The person I was looking for… my brother.”
My. Brother.
I’d been looking for one and as it turned out, I’d found two. But I’d save the mushier part of that for later, when Freddie was feeling better.
“Holy shit. I didn’t know you had a brother…”
“Not many do. You see, my mother…” This was how I could help Freddie. He opened a vein to talk to me. I would do the same. I’d meet trust with trust. Teach his amygdala to take that leap…
Eventually.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
LAINEY
Our second day in Prague dawned before the sun came up. Adam and Ezra were leaving—again—to continue dancing the dance with local crime families and other power brokers for the region.
“I can come with, if you want,” I said around a yawn as Adam dropped a kiss on my head.
His soft chuckle wrapped around me as he stroked a hand over my hair. “Keeping you in our back pocket like a secret weapon. I don’t want them to know how dangerous you are unless we have to.”
It was the indulgence in his eyes that had me reaching out to snag his hand. “Be safe?” I flicked a look to where Ezra stood by the door. “Please?”
“Well,” Ezra said, smirk firmly in place. “Since you said please, Kotyonok.”
Adam rolled his eyes, then glanced past me to where Milo had been sprawled. “You with Lainey today or is that Bodhi again?”
“Me,” Milo said. “You two check in, regularly.”
“I’d be happy to oblige,” Ezra quipped. “But you forgot to say please.”
I snorted, but that just made his smirk grow. “He’s incorrigible.” It came out far more of a groan than a scold.
“He is,” Adam said. “But we’ll check in. I expect to hear from you if anything comes up. Liam told me you had watchers yesterday.”
The Vandals were all in hyper aware mode. Not that I blamed them. Em was the one we were hanging out in front of us. She was both bait and a distraction. Neither were terms I wanted to apply to her.
“I know, but they kept their distance. Could be people working for Zhukovsky. He’s got a large investment in the show and maybe he wants to make sure it goes alright.”
Heavy emphasis on the maybe.
“Be careful.” Adam stroked a finger down the center of my face to the tip of my nose. The warmth in his eyes wrapped me up into a tight embrace. “Stay armed.”
“Promise.” I caught his hand and squeezed it. One last, light brush of his lips to mine and then he stood. Ezra pushed off from the doorframe to cross over to the bed. “Behave,” I murmured to him when he cupped my face and kissed me.
