Chapter Eighteen
Crow
Os was looking at me like I was insane. In reality, I was used to that look from everyone by now. Worthy had fallen asleep a while ago, and I wanted to run through the plan while he was resting. I had just finished telling him how I was going to deal with Terrence, but he wasn’t on board, yet.
“So let me get this straight. We’re going to pretend to be Frick and Frack that we let go last night, take Worthy to his evil ex, and then you’re going to kill the ex and re-kidnap Worthy to take home and keep?”
“Well, there are other parts to the plan, but that’s the gist, yeah.”
He was still pursing his lips, and then he began stroking his beard over and over from top to bottom. In typical Os fashion, he was overthinking it as usual.
“On the surface, it’s a good plan, but what if he knows we aren’t the guys?”
As objections went, it wasn’t bad. And he did have a valid point. But I had an answer that was just as valid.
“Think about it, how likely is it that Diego introduced Terrence to two flunkies he got to do his dirty work?”
“Okay, you have a point with that one. The only way he’d even think about leaving Vegas is if everything went sideways. As far as he knows, the plan is still running on time. I’m glad we got those idiots to leave the phone they’d been given to check in.”
“Yeah, they were good for something at least.”
Sitting across from Os at this crappy table in this cheap room, felt oddly comfortable. We were colleagues, but we just didn’t get to sit in the same room and talk often. The hazard of the job was that it wasn’t usually safe to be in the same place together. It was cool just to sit and shoot the shit for a change. If we weren’t about to get on the road, some beers would have made it even better. We could pretend just to be two friends hanging out. But at the end of the day, it would only be pretend. That made me sad, but it was our reality.
I moved the curtain aside from the dirty window behind me and noticed daybreak was just dawning. It was time to get going. We could fly to San Diego in about an hour and a half. We’d be at our destination in the same amount of time it would have taken if Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had driven straight through. And we could sleep on the plane for an hour. That was all I needed to clear my head.
I hadn’t felt comfortable sleeping while Worthy slept. I had to keep watch. He was mine now, and nothing would happen to him ever again on my watch. It ate at me that two idiotic nobodies had gotten the drop on me and taken him in the first place. I had gotten complacent in my home territory and become wrapped up in him, in Worthy.
That wouldn’t happen again.
I had left him for a short time right after I’d tucked him into the bed. We’d gotten into that routine at the cabin, and after the scare we’d had, we both needed the routine, the familiarity to make us feel better. When I was sure he was asleep, I’d run out to wally world to get him some fresh clothes. Underwear and socks, new jeans, tee shirt, and sweatshirt were the necessities, the extra sweatshirt, tee and rainbow tennis shoes were just because I knew he’d love them. Finding not one, but two sweatshirts with cute-as-fuck animals on them made me feel like I’d won the lottery. The one with the otter and the sayingHello from the otter sidewas my favorite, so when I got back, I laid it out for him to put on when he woke. And since it was morning, that time was now.
“Worthy, time to get up.”
He was slow to come around, so I shook him on the shoulder. I never thought it would scare him so much, but he shot up to the head of the bed, curling into a ball with his head tucked below his arms in a classic defense position. Being very careful to speak softly and move slowly, I did my best to calm him down.
“Worthy, it’s Crow. Calm down and look at me. You’re safe, boy. Just open your eyes and look at me. Everything is okay now.”
Slowly, Worthy dropped his arms in increments, peeking through his arms to take in the room. When he saw me clearly, he launched his body at me across the bed. I only had a split second to open my arms and catch him, before we both fell to the end of the bed with Worthy on top of me acting like he was trying to crawl into my skin. His breathing was shallow and fast, eyes dilated with fear at first, then settling into tears of relief.
“I thought they killed you. I thought I had dreamed you came to get me and that it was all in my mind. I was so scared that when I woke up, it wouldn’t be you. I’d be back with Terrence. I was terrified that he would hurt me so much worse than he ever did before. He’d burn me because he knew it was the most painful thing he could do to me. Please don’t let him burn me, Crow. Please don’t let him hurt me again.”
I held my Worthy,my Worthy,and felt him shaking with the terror his mind had convinced him was real. He had buried his face in the crook of my shoulder, looking for the safety and comfort he thought I could give him.
Could I give that to him? I had always thought I was broken, definitely the opposite of all things normal. Did I care? I knew I could keep him safe, but could I give him the comfort he so desperately craved? As these questions swirled around in my head, I noticed he was silently crying. The realization that this brave boy was crying in my arms made that thing in my chest flutter again, and I realized what it was. His fear was breaking my sad excuse for a heart. It had never bled for another human being, but it was cut and wounded by Worthy’s tears falling on my shoulder.
I cared about him.
If I hadn’t acknowledged it before, I couldn’t deny it now. I cared about Worthy. Rocking him and crooning into his hair that he was safe and I’d never let anyone hurt him, I pet his back until he calmed and eventually sat up. His green eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the room. He didn’t move other than to search my own gaze. I had no idea what he was looking for, but he must have found it. His whole face began to ease out of the pinched expression of fear he had been wearing since he had woken up. His golden eyebrows smoothed, his eyes widened, and his mouth lifted into the sweetest smile. How could one person have captivated me so completely in such a short period of time? I had no answer for that, but I knew it was true.
“You’re telling the truth, I know it’s your thing, and I believe you. I heard you tell Osprey about the plan. Maybe that’s why I had the nightmares, but I know it has to be done and this is the easiest way to track him down and trap him. But looking in your eyes, I know you won’t let him hurt me again, and I feel better now.”
After he was finished speaking, Worthy lowered himself on top of me again and kissed me. We had kissed a few times before, but never like this. We weren’t playing. We weren’t in the middle of our kind of intense kink. No, this kiss was comfort. It encompassed everything I had promised him and his acceptance that I would never go back on that promise if I could help it. It was the best kiss we’d ever had, and I planned on there being many, many more.
In the end, Worthy didn’t deepen the chaste touch of our lips. He lifted back up off of me and squealed, yes, squealed, when he saw the new clothes. Giving me a quick thank you and another quick kiss, he took the clothes into the bathroom and started another shower.
When he was gone, I suddenly remembered Os was still in the room. Whipping my hand through my hair, I got up and began moving around the room gathering Worthy’s other clothes, making the bed, anything to avoid the bastard red head’s smirk.
Fuck, I hadn’t even thought about him. I had been so wrapped up in my boy. I’d lost track of my surroundings again. I needed to get my shit together before we got to San Diego or I’d fuck it all up, and it would go sideways fast. I couldn’t risk that.
