“It’s okay,” I responded. I’d have plenty of time to ask him what had happened, but for now, I just wanted him to rest. “Let’s go to our room, okay?”
He nodded against me.
I got to my feet and pulled him up with me. He leaned heavily against me so I swept an arm beneath his legs and put the other at his back, lifting him. “No, James, I’m too heavy,” he whispered, even as he pressed his face against my chest. His arms went around my neck again.
“No, you’re not,” I said. “And I don’t think I’ve ever told how much I love carrying you. It makes me feel all caveman-like.”
I felt him smile against my neck. “There’s nothing caveman-like about you, James,” he said softly. “Besides, I think cavemen drag people back to their caves by the hair.”
“Your hair isn’t long enough for that, so you’re just going to have to settle for me carrying you around when I’m feeling all possessive and dominant.”
Another smile.
“Okay,” he said on a sigh.
The door leading to the office wasn’t completely closed, but itdidn’t matter because as soon as I reached it, it opened. Luca’s worried eyes skimmed over Aleks, then me. I nodded my head to indicate the younger man was okay, but not surprisingly, it didn’t diminish much of the concern in Luca’s gaze. Just beyond the door were King and Con. Con still looked devastated and King looked pissed – at Con.
I couldn’t imagine what the hell had happened to cause the brothers to be at odds, but I couldn’t deal with any of it right now.
I got Aleks to our room. Con ran ahead of us to open the door. As we passed him, Aleks said, “I’m sorry, Con. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”
“No worries, Aleks,” Con said, completely flustered. For once, he looked at a loss for words.
I kicked the door shut behind me and then carried Aleks to the bed. I settled him on top of it, then crawled in behind him. He turned over and pushed into my arms and I gladly wrapped them around him.
“I didn’t go away, James,” he said softly against my neck. “That’s good, right?”
I knew he was talking about the fact that he hadn’t blacked out.
“That’s amazing,” I said. “I’m so proud of you, baby.”
“It means I’m fighting back,” Aleks murmured. I could feel him trying to ward off the sleep that was threatening to take him.
“Yes, it does,” I said. I rubbed my hand up and down his back. “Just sleep, Aleks. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
He nodded and snuggled deeper into me. “Tell Con I’m sorry I got upset. And tell him I’ll do it, okay?”
“Do what, baby?”
Aleks was so quiet that I thought he’d actually fallen asleep. But when I heard the words he whispered right before he drifted off, I felt a chill go through my bones.
“Wear the collar.”
Chapter 22
Aleks
It wasinteresting to watch the men fight, even when they were all in agreement about an issue.
It was also really exhausting.
And loud.
The issue in question was the dreaded collar that was currently sitting about twenty feet from me on Luca’s desk. I couldn’t actually see the collar, but I recognized the box from the previous week when it had been sitting on his desk in the other house… the one in the Hamptons.
Because of my freak-out when Con had shown me the collar, we’d ended up spending another night in the ocean-front house and it hadn’t been until the following afternoon that we’d made our way to the city. I’d slept through the entire night after my meltdown, so Vaughn and I hadn’t made love. I’d woken up in his arms with him watching me with a solemn expression on his face. I’d kissed him and told him I was okay, but it hadn’t been hard to figure out that he was upset. He hadn’t asked me about what had happened, so I’d figured he’d talked to Con about it at some point while I’d been asleep.
But it wasn’t until Vaughn and I had entered the kitchen that morning for breakfast that I’d realized Con hadn’t had a clue about the collar I’d been forced to wear for so many years.
