And amongst it all, Gabriel, partially dressed, cheeks reddened from service and hair a mess, led by force through thechaos.
“Baylor kept his boys divided. It was…” Lucian made a face, and Adrian watched him look to Marcus for support. Marcus, expression kind, met his eyes. Those small glances alone told Adrian that they were in love. Seeing the bond between them made him feel worse about the wrongs he’d done them. But right now, he couldn’t focus on his own shortcomings—he needed to be present for Gabriel’s sake. “It was almost like a hierarchy. Those who performed the best, who obeyed him without question, and who he found most attractive were promoted to ‘top’ positions. Seth was his favorite, but he kept Gabriel in his bedbecause…well…”
“Because Gabriel let him.” Adrian folded his arms over his chest and rubbed a hand along his stomach absentmindedly. “I can’t imagine Gabriel ever toldhimno.”
“Right. And all of us near the top, we kind of looked out for him. We take care of our own. That’s the only reason I’m here today—because if I find out one of my brothers needs me, I’ll drop whatever I’m doing to help him. Even if Gabriel is brainwashed, I want to be there for him. We went through the same horrors, and no one understands the pain like someone who suffered it with you.” Lucian rubbed at his jaw, his eyes distant. Memories clouded them, stealing him from Sterling’s penthouse to plunge him into the past. The look was familiar, but Adrian couldn’tplaceit.
“So why did you get out, but he didn’t?” Adrian glanced toward the hallway, expecting to see Sterling on his way back, but was met by nothing. “If the police stormed the outfit, then he should have been released at the same timeyouwere.”
“Right. It, um… it didn’t really work that way.” Lucian’s face fell. “Like I said, Gabriel was with a client. The last thing I saw before I was put into police custody was his john dragging him along toward the door. The place was built like an anthill—all these different exits. I imagine that the john saw his chance to get the hell out, and he dragged Gabriel along with him. After that, I don’t know. I could onlyguess.”
There was no need for Lucian to speculate when Adrian could imagine what had happened just as easily. Gabriel, meek and compliant, wouldn’t have put up a fight. He’d been taken somewhere and kept, just likehe’dsaid.
Adrian swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but it only made him feel morenauseous.
“All of us were taken to Stonecrest and rehabilitated. If our families could be located, they were contacted. Sometimes, the boys I knew were taken from therapy prematurely by their families, but most of us stayed in.” Lucian looked at Marcus, almost nervous, then looked back to Adrian. Adrian met his eyes. “Stonecrest does good work. They helped me get my GED, they bolstered my confidence, and they stripped out the lies that Baylor had planted in my head. They even helped me get a part-time job when I was still going through therapy so that I had some experience on my resume when I left for the real world. And after they clear you to be released, they set you up with subsidized, omega-only housing, so your transition into the real world is gradual, and so you’ll always have a safe place to call home until you’re ready to move on withyourlife.”
“How do I convince him to go?” Adrian asked. Treatment like that was what Gabriel needed. As much as he wanted to care for him, Adrian knew he couldn’t spend the rest of his life at Gabriel’s side. Co-dependence wouldn’t help Gabriel—what he needed was professional training and intensivetherapy.
Lucian shrugged. “I can’t help you there. Gabriel and I knew each other, but it wasn’t like… it’s kind of like when you have friends at school, you know? The kind of friends you hang out with every day, but don’treallyknow?”
“Okay.” Adrian exhaled slowly, doing his best to work through the nausea. “Is there anything else you think Ishouldknow?”
“I don’t think so.” Lucian’s eyes focused on an arbitrary point in the distance, and in a moment of clarity, Adrian understood why they looked so familiar. He’d seen the same haunted look on Gabriel’s face. “All that you need to know is that, out of all of Baylor’s boys, Gabriel was the one who was the most wrapped around his little finger. I don’t know what Baylor did to him, but that man knew how to take advantage of troubled young men and make it seem like what he offered was so much better than the alternative. He did it to me, he did it to dozens and dozens of others, and he did it toGabriel.”
“Thanks.” The nausea was reaching an all-time high, and Adrian stood in the hopes that changing positions would help. It didn’t. Bile burned the back of his throat, and he clamped a hand to his mouth and darted for the kitchen sink. There was commotion in the living room, and as Adrian expelled the contents of his stomach, a hand met his back andrubbed.
“You’re fine,” Sterling whispered. Adrian’s elbows wobbled, and he had to tighten his grip on the edge of the sink to keep from collapsing onto the counter. “It’s okay. You’ve had a rough time. Letitout.”
Bitter, acidic fluid burned his nasal passages. Adrian spat and sputtered, then reached blindly for the tap and turned on the water. Shaking, he splashed at his face and sucked water into his mouth to try to get thetasteout.
“What have you had to eat today?” Sterlingasked.
Adrian prickled. “Does it look like I’m in the mood to eat somethingrightnow?”
Sterling didn’t bat an eyelash as he replied, “You’re throwing up liquid. If you have an empty stomach, we need to take measures to fix that. You will not starveyourself.”
Frustrated, Adrian splashed water at his face and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He rinsed thoroughly, and when he turned, he found Lucian standing not all that far away. Water dripped from Adrian’s chin and onto his shirt, and the front of his hair was soaked. If he had to guess, his cheeks were red and his nose was running. He had to look like a mess. But there wasn’t smug satisfaction on Lucian’s face. If anything, he lookedconcerned.
“Are you okay?” Lucianasked.
The abrasive part of Adrian’s soul told him to shoot back with a reply aimed to tear Lucian down, but a softer, gentler side urged him to show compassion for the man who’d dropped everything to come help Gabriel, even after Adrian had been unspeakably cruel to him. “I’m fine. It was hard to hear about what you and Gabriel went through. When I was talking to you at the bar, accusing you of… you know… with Marcus?” Adrian dropped his gaze. “I didn’t know about your history. I’m sorry for how much that must havehurtyou.”
There was a long, suspicious pause. Adrian lifted his gaze to find Lucian studying him, looking for the catch. At last, Lucian nodded. “Thankyou.”
No relationship as damaged as theirs could be bridged in a day, and just as Adrian knew it would take hard work to redeem himself to the people he’d hurt, he knew it would take hard work to see Gabriel restored to the young man he’d used to be. Hard work didn’t mean that the job was impossible. Hard work just meant he had to dig in his heels to do what needed to be done, whether he wanted anything to do with itornot.
Pushing people away and isolating himself from the world had been a Band-Aid—and sometimes, a tourniquet. During the darkest days, it had been the only way Adrian knew how to cope. The self-flagellation reminded him that he had no business being happy, and that he was a bad person who wouldalwaysbe a badperson.
But that wasn’t true. Sterling had taught himbetter.
He deserved tobefree.
Before Adrian could foster healthy relationships with others, he needed to forgivehimself.
“I really appreciate that you came out to see us today, and I’m sorry that things went so wrong.” Adrian looked between Marcus and Lucian, doing his best to sound genuine. “I’m going to do my best to make sure Gabriel gets the help he needs… and I’m also going to do my best to make sure that I don’t hurt anyone else in the way that Ihurtyou.”
Sterling’s hand looped around Adrian’s waist, loosely coiled, but present. A touch like that spoke volumes more to Adrian than words could—it said that Sterling was there to prop him up when he was weak, but that he wouldn’t take control. Bicker as they may over little things—like when Adrian should eat, or what was best for Gabriel—when Adrian stepped back to look at the complete picture, he knew Sterling had his best interests atheart.
