“I’d give you a five-star rating,” Matthew offers. “On your chauffeur skills, I mean. You even strapped him in nice and secure.”
Miles scrutinises Matthew, like he’s trying to figure him out. Good luck. I never know what’s going to come out of his mouth. An endearing trait instead of the annoyance it really should be. “Hunter did that.”
Matthew tilts his head with a smile that gathers the attention of all three of us. So simple, guileless. Innocent. Qualities we don’t often glimpse in our lives. “A team effort,” Matthew says. “Besides, it’s usually the driver that gets the rating since they don’t bring a passenger.” He pauses, blinking as the thought solidifies. To know just what he’s thinking. “That seems like it would feel predatory. I wouldn’t want to get into an Uber or a taxi, or a limo or any kind of transport that has a driverandsomeone in the passenger seat. Why is he bringing a friend? Will I get to my destination? I wish pepper spray were legal, so I had some way to defend myself against the nefarious.” He scrunches up his face. “The only appropriate mode of transport for more than just the driver is a plane, really. Because there’s a copilot. You don’t see them, though, so I guess that’s different. And there are a lot of other passengers.”
His face goes red as he realises that we’re all staring at him in mild amusement.
“Never mind, carry on,” he says quietly, hunching down into his chair and focusing intently on his mug, which has to be close to empty now.
“Will you make up a guest room for us, or do you have a better arrangement in mind?” Xavier asks, a light curl to his lip thatshould make me want to hit him but only makes me want to drag him closer and force him to lose his mind the way he does to me.
“Why don’t you sleep on the couch?” I ask saccharinely, tilting my head with a raised eyebrow. “Or a sleeping bag outside.”
“I don’t think we’d all fit on the couch. How many sleeping bags do you have?”
“Why are you doing this?” Does he enjoy tormenting me so much that he’s doing it during waking hours now too?
Xavier curls his thumb over the rim of his mug, the thick silver band on it glistening. “I do a lot of things. You’ll have to be more specific.”
He has a point, and I’m not sure what I’m really asking. There are a million reasons for the question, and so many answers I wish I had. Others I wish Ididn’thave. I settle on the easiest one. Or the most pressing, at least. “Why are you here? You don’t need to be here to sort this out.”
“There are only three people in this world that I trust to keep you safe, and I’m one of them.” He removes his hand from the mug and splays it over the table. “You may not want my protection, but you’ll have it all the same.”
“Whynow? I’m in danger all the time.” I lead from the front, and I’d never ask my team to do anything that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself. The very nature of our job is to wade into danger. “Where were you every other time my life was in danger?”
“That’s where the third person comes in,” Xavier says mildly. “I’ve never worried—much—because Jericho is always watching you.”
“You don’t think he is now?”
“I think his priorities are more divided now.” He relaxes into his chair, his unassuming smile back on his face as if I don’t know him. It’s a front, it always has been. “I created this mess, the least I can do is help clean it up.”
“And that’s it?”
“What answer are you looking for, Hunter? The one that allows you to keep a distance between us? Or the truth?” His lips flatten, jaw twitching. “Would you have let me in any other time? You think I haven’twantedto, all these years? That if I thought you would let me in, I wouldn’t be here every night? You may have stopped loving me, but I haven’t stopped loving you. I only wait for you to let me back in.”
I can’t think about the way my heart skips a beat, how it flutters to life with the horrible feeling of hope and the aching pain that always accompanies my thoughts of him. “That’s not fair.” My loving him has never been in question, it’s the whole reason I got myself into this mess, the whole reason he got so close to taking everything from me.
“You only came to me in the first place because you thoughtIhad sent you that finger.”
“F-finger?” Matthew asks weakly. “Like, a metaphorical finger, right? Not like the—you did say body part. You don’t actually really mean—” He cuts off, colour rapidly draining from his face. He looks down at his drink like he’s not sure if he can keep down what he’s already had.
Miles puts his hand on Matthew’s knee, and Matthew visibly calms, though he still looks white in the face. I turn my attention back to Xavier. “I had good reason to think it was you.”
“I don’t cut off body parts unless someone has really pissed me off. And lately, I’ve been in a good mood. Were the flowers not enough? You wanted more severed pieces to get your blood running hot?”
I stand and brace my hands on the table, leaning towards him. “You can’t change the past or walk back everything that you’ve done.”
He stands as well, mimicking my stance until we’re so close I only need to lean forward a little more to feel his lips on mine.It’s almost enough to distract me. “Does that mean the future is out of my reach as well? Is there no forgiveness here?”
“Forgiveness? You can’t be serious. Xavier, you tried tokillme.”
There are more noises coming from the direction of Miles and Matthew, but I can’t look away from Xavier, can’t think of anything,anyoneelse but him.
“Indirectly,” Xavier says, fingers curling on the table. “I never—”
“Don’t argue semantics with me. I gave youeverything, trusted you as much as I trust my brother, and you used that against me. You were deliberate and methodical and made yourself everything that I wanted so that you could get inside and use it to destroy me.”
Xavier swallows, pain flickering in his gaze. “It wasn’t like that.”
