“Yeah, the one I tortured and set alight was very friendly at the end. Gregory sends his regards, by the way.”
“I had already assumed these bullets were his way of saying hello. So, one down and?”
“Two down.”
He shrugged. “The world is full of Chechens for hire.” He spat.
Ben gave him a tiny eye roll, the internal politics of Zaslon going above his head. “I’m still voting for the debauching option.”
“Hmm, I agree. But then we would have to live our lives waiting, constantly expecting to be found. It’s not a good way to live, trust me, I know. My head still hurts.” He pulled Ben down to lie on his chest, as if that would help his headache, and added, “There is a third viable option. After all, they are only men, and men only want one thing.”
“Blowjobs?”
Nikolas chuckled. “Well, you could offer that. Gregory would certainly enjoy it. I meant money.”
“Buy your freedom?”
“Yes. Why not? Money is very powerful. I’ve bought freedom before.”
“You think they’d keep their agreement? Leave you alone?”
“That would be the great gamble.”
“There’s one more option.”
Nikolas pulled Ben’s head up with a questioning look.
“You become Aleksey again.”
Nikolas was silent for a long time then said to clarify, “I die again.”
“They believed you were dead for ten years, and you almost got away with it for good.”
“Another accidental death wouldn’t be believed. There are only so many balconies one can fall off.”
“I wasn’t talking about an accident. I was thinking along the lines of murder.”
“Let them think they’ve killed me?”
“Not exactly.” Ben faced him more squarely. “I was thinking of killing you myself.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
When Ben had fully outlined his plan, Nikolas had to agree it had merit. By now, Gregory and his thugs would know who Ben was and what he was capable of—the two dead men he’d left in the kitchen had been a small clue. They would know of his relationship with Aleksey, and that he was now looking for him, too. It was entirely possible that, given the way they viewed the world, they would find a spurned, lied to, bitter ex-boyfriend murder scenario entirely probable. After all, as Ben pointed out, Nikolas had kind of expected that, too. Nikolas agreed to think about it, and he appeared to be doing that for some time until with a sigh, he said, “So, you find me and…kill me, and then I live a lie again for the rest of my life. And this time I couldn’t even be Nikolas Mikkelsen.”
“Fuck.”
“Yes. A good English word: fuck.”
They sat in the sun, and Ben produced some beers he’d stashed in his pack. Nik argued that as he was on painkillers and antibiotics he might as well drink, too. Ben didn’t have the heart to say no to him, and this was a trait, he could see now, that hadn’t served him so well over the years; saying no more often to Nikolas might be a very good thing to practise.
After his second beer Nikolas came up with a solution that combined all the options. They invite Gregory to a meet on the promise of a payoff, kill him and then themselves in a vast, total-extinction-level event. He thought it was quite funny, so Ben cut him off the beer. But by this time, Nikolas had cheered up considerably and had decided to give Ben what Ben had pointed out men always want. Ben certainly did, and as he informed Nikolas, he’d been hard since waking to those first wordshello Benjamin; and as Nik tried to informhimaround his laughter and the cock in his mouth, he didn’t need his leg to give blowjobs. Apparently, this was too funny to cope with, and he passed out once more—still laughing, Ben’s cock abandoned.
§§§
When Nikolas woke, finding life slightly less funny, Ben made him eat a can of soup. Nikolas took it grumpily, rubbing his temples. “Why are you wet? You’re very wet.”
“Because I’ve been busy. Want to come see?”
