“Great idea.” Pavel threaded their fingers, tightening his grip and wincing while clutching his side when Zane tried to pull away. “Ow. Be gentle with me, gorgeous, your brother got me good.”
“Oh fuck off,” Zane growled.
“Willingly.” He smirked. “Should we do it together? It’s been a while…”
“I’ll check in with you in a few days, baby brother,” Aodhan waved.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Zane stopped him from leaving. “Just because you’re stuck here longer than you planned doesn’t mean it’s a free pass to go around killing whoever you want. This,” he motioned over his shoulder toward the warehouse, “was already a massive mistake.”
“I got it, relax. Mercy already warned me about making things difficult for you.”
He had? After they’d come to that agreement, Aodhan had gone off to talk to him in private for a bit.
“Pavel,” Aodhan called out, “this might come as a surprise, but I care about my brother, in my own way. If you do anything to him, like try to get him to marry you even if he doesn’t want to, your eyes won’t be the only thing I remove from your body. Understood?”
“Loud and clear.” Despite the threat, Pavel was grinning.
“You’re both twisted.” Zane shook the other member off of him and headed toward Pavel’s car. “Let’s go.”
“Can you help me with this?” Pavel gave him a ridiculous look as he stopped by the passenger side door, clutching his side and giving a performative wince when Zane glared. “You stitched me up without any anesthetic. It stings like a bitch right now. I’m worried I’ll pull—”
“You’re such a fucking drama queen.Nowyou care about your stitches?” Zane went over and yanked the door open, motioning for him to get in. As soon as Pavel dropped into the seat, he bent over him, securing the seatbelt before the other guy could put on the performance a second time.
“You’re getting to know me, Doctor,” Pavel sounded far too pleased by that.
Zane slammed the door with enough force to rattle the whole vehicle.
“Where are you headed?” Aodhan asked, stopping him before he’d gotten to the driver’s side of the car. “Should I accompany you?”
“Quit acting like you give a shit about me,” Zane demanded.
“Why?” He tilted his head. “Is it getting your hopes up?”
“No, because I don’t give a shit about you either.”
“I don’t recall you ever swearing this much before. You must be really annoyed right now.”
“Aodhan—”
“I do care,” he cut him off, expression enigmatic. “I wasn’t lying. I know I would prefer not to see you hurt, and I don’t hate the idea of you visiting us on Emergence. Isn’t that what caring is?”
Zane didn’t respond because…sort of?
“It’s not what I feel for Mercy,” he continued, “obviously. But you can still matter to me even if there’s no love involved, can’t you?”
“Are you even capable of love? Since when?” He knew his brother had changed since meeting Titus a couple of years ago, but he hadn’t paid close enough attention to all the little differences.
“My own form of love, yeah.” Aodhan shrugged. “You shouldn’t go to the Little Palace alone. I’ll escort you and distract her while you collect your things.”
“I never agreed to that.”
“You’re smart. We both know you’re going to do it.”
Zane opened the car door. “Lyra is out of town on business. I don’t need you to babysit me. Just don’t be here when the cleaning crew arrives. I don’t want anyone seeing you.”
He gave a salute and a wink and then slipped into the car, starting the engine and peeling off before Zane was even settled in Pavel’s vehicle.
“You seem closer than I thought,” Pavel said, resting his head back and openly staring at Zane as he eased them onto the road. “Half the planet isn’t even aware you have any siblings, but he doesn’t seem as uninterested in your life as you make it seem.”
