“Okay. I think we’re done here.”
Chris let out a breath, telling himself that despite needing to deal with Dima, he’d gotten what he needed the most—protection. “Thank you, Oscar.”
“Of course, darling. There’s too much ugly in the world. Us handsome men must look after each other.”
Dima grunted.
8
CHRIS
It turned out that finding photos of Trevor and Andy wasn’t difficult because Trevor had an old Facebook profile with a public gallery. Chris went over old photos of the Mitchells, pushing down his bile yet feeling relieved he wasn’t in any of the photos. Seeing Robert and Kim after so many years allowed a flood of memories to sneak through his defenses. He quickly saved a few of the more recent photos of Trevor and Andy. When he was about to log out, he noticed that Trevor’s latest status update was from yesterday. It was a check-in from Florida, with a short post that read,“Road trip with the little brother!”
Chris stared at the post until the edges of his vision blurred, heat rising across his skin. Jay had been right—Trevor was preparing and building an alibi.
“Fuck you!”
The door flew open. Dima had his hand hovering over the side of his pants, where he was likely keeping his gun underneath the blazer. “Why do you shout?”
“It’s nothing.” He rubbed his face, angry at himselffor losing his shit at work. His coworkers already suspected something was off. “I got the photos of Trevor and Andy you wanted.” He sent them to the printer.
Dima closed the door behind him and sat on the other side of the desk. He looked grumpy and bored, but Chris had more urgent concerns than the man’s mood. He was still processing that his life now involved seeing him every day.
“Here.” He handed Dima the printed photos.
He watched them closely “Trevor is handsome. Andy is... weird. Both are a threat?”
“Mostly Trevor. Andy’s mental, but he’s not likely to start attacking or fire a gun.”
“Doyouhave a gun?”
Chris opened his blazer. He wore a shoulder holster, which was both comforting and uncomfortable.
“Were you going to shoot me at Tobias’s?”
Chris didn’t want to answer, but Dima kept staring at him with his icy gaze. “I would’ve shot if you had overpowered Jay, and I would’ve tried to aim at your legs.”
“My legs?”Dima laughed. “You think I need my legs to kill you? If you shoot someone, do it right.” He pressed a finger between his eyes. “Right here.”
This is just a temporary arrangement. This is just a temporary—
Chris’s phone rang. It was Ethan. “I need to take thiscall.”
Dima stood and kept the printed photos. “I’m going to eat. Try to stay alive until I’m back. Or not.”
When he left, Chris answered the call. “Hi, E.”
“Hi, busy?”
“Not really. How’s work?” He turned around to watch the view from his office. He had been dreaming of this view for years, but the novelty had worn off like cheap perfume.
“I went outside to breathe some air,” Ethan said with traffic noises in the background. “I totally forgot what it’s like to sit in front of a computer for hours. My eyes itch, and my head hurts.”
“You’ll get used to it like you got used to driving that cool FedEx truck.”
“Hell no, I never got used to that!” He laughed. “But you’re right, I need more time. It’s weird working with so many people, though. And some are so young!”
“Tell me about it. Whenever I see new interns coming in, I stop myself from shouting, ‘Run!’”
