Page 84 of Desperate Victory
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.
“But I like being bad,” he protested with a grin.
“You’re good at it,” I teased, then cupped his cheek. “While we’re here, just—be less bad. Please.”
With all the drama he was capable of, he clutched at his heart. “You had to say the magic word.”
Behind me, Milo chuckled. “You’re terrible.”
“The absolute worst,” Ezra agreed before he focused on me again. “And yes, I’ll be mostly not bad.”