And time.
Skylar directed River to Rubi’s bedside and kicked me out.
Saint waited for me at the exit. “If we leave brothers here, it lets anyone watching know we’ve got something inside that matters.”
“You don’t think they’ll notice Rubi didn’t come out?”
“Maybe, but they won’t know River’s here. He got a taxi and snuck in the back.”
“Yousaw him.” Of course he had. It was the only reason River had been able to walk up on me like that: Saint had let him.
Saint cleared his throat. “Rubi has to stay. There’s no way around this.”
Fuck, I hated that he was right. Hated that I couldn’t protect my sick brother. That I hadn’t protected him enough in the first place to stop him getting hurt.
I sighed. “We should go back.”
Saint nodded.
And we left.
24
Alexei
I could still smell them on my skin, a reality that would’ve tormented me if it had been anyone other than Cam. And now Saint. It was strange how his scent was so different to Cam’s, and yet so familiar it felt as if he’d put his lips to me before.
Perhaps it was in another life. Saint seemed like a man who had lived more than once. More so than Cam.
More so than me?
Maybe. It was becoming harder and harder to read myself. Before Cam, the notion of more than one man in my bed had been a hard pass. Fear was a complex emotion. It evolved and adapted, like a virus, and I’d accepted that I’d never catch up.
I miss them.
Already. After twenty-four hours. But with no idea when this purgatory would end, the longing in my heart for my biker boy and his wingman was an open wound.
The added salt came from the three missed calls lighting up my phone screen, all from Cam. I had faith in Saint to keep me in the loop if Cam needed me, but blanking him hurt.
It was only a matter of time before I cracked and picked up, but before that could happen, I had work to do—work that took me away from South West England and onto the continent, to Berlin, a city I knew well enough to despise.
At least it’s not Moscow.
I drove my car to the airport, knowing Saint would be watching, and parked in an underground car park a mile away from where I needed to be. Then I got on a plane and left him and Cam behind, immersing myself in the bustle of civilisation.
It was what I did best, among other things. Crowded streets made for an easier escape than cumbersome, trackable vehicles, and I did not know if I would need that today.
Or tomorrow. However long it took to get the answers I needed.
My phone rang again as I moved through the streets. Not Cam. I did not have to look, I just knew.
Saint?
Maybe. I took a chance and glanced at the screen. It wasn’t Saint, and the disappointment I felt was... complex. Did I want to hear his voice as much as Cam’s?
No. Maybe.
But why?
