He swallowed hard, uncomfortable and now fucking annoyed. This wasn’t the way things with Drew were supposed tobe.
“Right, of course,” he snapped. “I’m sure these guys all decided they wanted to run away and join the circus. Maybe start a commune for retired crime lords somewhere inAlaska?”
“Or they moved back to Russia, Bas. Or they went into witness protection, which we would never know about. Or they were fake names to begin with, and now they go by othernames.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that this guy is a murderousshithead!”
“Whoa! Chill, Sebastian. In whatrealmam I saying that he’s a good guy? He’s a fucking crime boss, and I doubt he offers a retiree pension plan. I’m just saying, he doesn’t have an unlimited reach, right? So these associates could havechosen—”
“He’s dangerous, and the authorities can’t stop him,” Basinsisted.
Drew shut his eyes and sighed. “Ah.”
“Ah? What’s that supposed tomean?”
“It means now I understand why you were eager to show me what you were working on.” Drew walked back around the desk, flopped back into his seat. “And it means Cam, who specifically asked me to track you down today, wasright.”
Bas narrowed his eyes. “Right about what?” He was unreasonably annoyed that Drew had sought him out because Cam told him to, rather than because he’d been missing Bas the same way Bas had missedhim.
Their friendship had never been like that, ever. But now suddenly everything was fuckedup.
“Right about you being on a quest to do everything yourself,” Drew continued, drumming his fingers on the arms of the chair. “I mean, not that it came as a shock to me that you’re in this up to your eyeballs. I just don’t think I really understood just how far you intended to take thison your own. Riding off to save the day. All byyourself.”
Patience. Patience.Bas’s foot tapped restlessly against the floor, and he belatedly realized that the pounding heavy metal he’d been listening to was gone, replaced by Classical bullshit. So fucking like Drew to just come in and take shitover.
“We can’t all be like you, counselor, biding our time. Some of us make leaps, takerisks.”
Drew regarded him with a smirk that Bas wanted to kiss — no, punch. Obviously,punch— right off his stupid face. “You want to talk about taking leaps and risks suddenly,Sebastian?”
Bas looked away. Did he? Given the way his heart pounded at the very thought, he was pretty sure he didnotwant to talk about it.Not yet, anyway. Not until he’d figured out why he was suddenly looking at Drew in a whole new way, not until he’d categorized things properly and found a logicalsolution.
“Andthat’s what I figured,” Drew said, throwing up his hands, his smile smugger than ever. But after a second he leaned forward with a sigh. “Listen, I didn’t come here for afight.”
“Yes, you did,” Basgrumbled.
“Fine. Maybe a little,” Drew admitted. “But only because I knew you weren’t going to like what I had to say.” He shook his head. “You promised — you fuckingpromised— back in my kitchen a month ago that you would not go off half-cocked. You agreed that you wouldn’t do this on yourown.”
“As I recall, you threatened to inform on me to theFBI.”
“Whatever. In any case, youagreed.”
Turning his neck to the side, stretching his cramped muscles, Bas acknowledged this. “I did. And I’m happy to have everyone help. Problem is, no one else seems to give ashit.”
“Not even a little bit true,” Drew countered. “Cort has his FBI contacts, Cain has been talking to his father, who might have more info on SILA. Damon’s friend Eli has law enforcement contacts. And all of them are ready to help, but they want to have aplan.”
Bas blinked. “I didn’tknow.”
“Because it’s hard to stay on top of things when you’re living in a fucking bunker.” Drew threw up his hands indicating the windowless lab. “And especially when you’re avoiding me and anyone who might mention myname.”
Bas looked into Drew’s eyes, golden brown and simmering with impatience. “I…I…”Didn’t, he wanted to say, but that would be a lie, and they both knewit.
Drew sighed again. “I seriously didn’t come here to fight,” he said again, like he was reminding himself as much asBas.
“Why did you come, then?” Bas’s stomach clenched in a way that had nothing to do with the food he’d just shoveled in. He was invested in Drew’s answer to this question. He was thinking of Drew’slips.
Drew’s voice was warmer when he answered. “I came here to bring you food, since I figured you’d be starving, and to stock your fridge with soda, so the cleaners wouldn’t find your desiccated husk hovering over yourcomputer.”
Bas grinned, shaking his head. “Like One-Eyed Willie with his jewels inGoonies? When we were kids, I always felt a kinship with that dude, hunkered over his treasure for centuries.” It washistreasure, for fuck’s sake. Nobodyelse’s.
