The realization was vivid, and it raced through Sterling’s veins alongside his spiked adrenaline. Somewhere along the way, between their head-butting and love-making, Sterling had fallen for Adrian. And not only had he fallen for Adrian, he’d fallen for the idea of them as afamily.
Adrian. Gabriel. The baby. All of them slotted into Sterling’s life like they’d always belongedthere.
He was ready to be a father, but he was also ready for somuchmore.
“He needs to be treated at Stonecrest Omega Rehabilitation Center.” Lucian ducked out from behind Marcus, visibly unshaken from the near-attack. “They helped me when I was at my worst. The counselors there retrained me how to think, how to act, and how to behave in public. I don’t know what happened to Gabriel after thebust,but—”
“Hetookme,” Gabriel snarled, struggling to break free. Sterling locked his arms around Gabriel’s chest, surprised by his strength. “Hetookme and he ran when the police came. He kept me away from Garrison, locked me up,usedme…”
“Who did?” Adrian demanded. “Who took you,Gabriel?”
“The man without a name.” Gabriel thrashed. “Hetookme.”
They weren’t going to get any more out of him than that. Gabriel had been triggered, and he wasn’t going to comebackdown.
“I’m going to put him to bed,” Sterling said. He lifted Gabriel by the chest and set him beside the couch so his feet were on the floor. “He needs to calm down. I’m sorry for theupset.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Lucian’s hands were on Marcus’ shoulders, rubbing them to calm Marcus down. “He’s hurt. We all were. I don’t hold it against him any more than I hold it against myself. The only man to blame isBaylor.”
Gabriel started to sob, and his shoulders slumped in sudden defeat. Sterling took it as his cue to lead him fromtheroom.
“Life will get better, Gabriel,” Lucian called as they left. “I know it doesn’t seem like it. I know it feels like you’re going to feel this way forever—that you’re out of options, and that you’ll never be happy again—but that’s not true. You’re going to pull out of this. You’re going to come back, and you’re going to be happier than you could ever dreampossible.”
“But Ilovehim.” They were too far from the living room for Gabriel’s whisper to carry to anyone’s ears but Sterling’s. Sterling tucked him closer to his chest and continued to escort him to the bedroom. “I love him, and now I’ll never see himagain.”
There was no way to fix pain like that but to let time take its course. Sterling showed Gabriel to the bed, and Gabriel collapsed into it as though he’d been up for three days straight. He curled up pitifully on top of the sheets and didn’t move, even when Sterling coveredhimup.
“You’re going to be okay,” Sterling promised as he stood by the bedside. Gabriel’s eyes were glossy with tears, set somewhere far beyond the limits of the room. “I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure thatyou’reokay.”
“Why?” Gabriel whispered. He pulled the covers up so that they covered his nose, but left his eyes exposed. “Why doyoucare?”
The answer came naturally, and Sterling didn’t hold back on it. Gabriel deserved the truth. “Because I’m in love with your brother, and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep him and everyone helovessafe.”
Gabriel sniffled, but he didn’t argue. It was only when Sterling was on his way out the door that Gabriel replied. “I know that he’s prickly, and unpleasant, and bossy, but… what we went through growing up… he couldn’t be any other way, because he took everything onto himself so that I wouldn’t be hurt likehewas.”
The statement made Sterling pause. His hand on the doorknob, he let the wordssinkin.
“And I think… I think he loves you, too, even if he can’t show it.” Gabriel’s voice was meek, but it was determined. “Please don’t leave him. Don’t let him push you away. I don’t want him to suffer like I’m suffering. If he loves you and you love him, then you have to stay together. You have to. He deserves to behappy,too.”
“I know.” Sorrow spread like cracks across glass through Sterling’s heart. “I’m doingmybest.”
“If you love him,” Gabriel whispered, “never lethimgo.”
Sterling closed the door, his cracked heartaching.
No matter how tough times got, he wouldn’t throw in the towel. Hecouldn’t.
Adrian was the one for him, and no matter how long it took, Sterling would prove ittohim.
26
Adrian
While Sterling putGabriel to bed, Adrian faced down the couple he’d tried to split apart. It was cruel that the people he’d done the most damage to were now the ones he had to turn to for help, but karma was a bigger bitch than Adrian, and he owned his punishmentfully.
“When the police stormed the operation, Gabriel was with a client.” Lucian had settled back onto the couch while Marcus stood behind the armchair again, his protection no longer needed now that Gabriel was out of the picture. “There were police everywhere. They were breaking down doors, arresting whoever they found, and doing their best to collect the victims and keep them safe while the special forces continued their sweep of thebuilding.”
Adrian listened, sick to his stomach. He imagined dim, flickering lights. Grimy walls. Underground hallways lined with rooms. With so many souls in one place, it had to have been bedlam. Hot, humid conditions. The smell of sex on the air. Special forces in Kevlar, smashing in doors withnightsticks…
