“And I’m not worth whatever they’re planning to do with that research.” His eyes were fierce, the blue darkened with pain. “Viv, listen to me, you. Whatever it is, it’s bad. These people—” He broke off with a cough that made him grimace.
“There’s water,” she said, nodding to a plastic cup on the small table beside him. “Can you...?”
He reached for it with his uninjured hand, but the angle was wrong with his wrist still zip-tied to the arm of the chair.
“Let me,” she said, standing.
“Sit down,” one of the guards barked.
She turned and fixed him with a stare that had made far more dangerous men step back. “He needs water. Either you untie his hand so he can drink, or you let me help him.”
The guard looked to his companion, who gave a curt nod.
“Hands where we can see them,” the first guard said. “Give him the water. Nothing else.”
She crossed to the table, filled the cup from the pitcher, and carried it to Sabin. As she pressed it into his hand, her fingers wrapped briefly around his wrist—a half-second, no more, but it was all she needed.
She returned to her seat as he took a sip of water.
“You don’t look great either,” he said after a moment. “They treating you okay?”
“We have better accommodations than you,” she admitted. “It would almost feel like a vacation if not for the cameras in every corner. Dominic hates it.”
A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “I’m glad he’s here with you.”
She couldn’t quite hide her wince. “He wasn’t my first choice in partners.”
“Don’t be like that. I know you care about him. You can bullshit everyone else, but not me.” Sabin leaned forward as much as his restraints would allow. “Viv, listen to me. In Istanbul?—”
She shook her head. “We’re not talking about that. It’s ancient history.”
“No, if something happens to me, you need to hear this. What happened in Istanbul wasn’t Dom’s fault. It was mine.”
She went still. “What are you talking about?”
“I told him to get you out. Not just get you out—to keep you out, by any means necessary. The safe house, that was my call. I made him promise.”
The room seemed to tilt. “No.”
“Yes.” Sabin’s eyes never left hers. “I knew you’d come back. Try to turn yourself in alongside me. I couldn’t let that happen. You had a future. I didn’t.”
“So you had him imprison me?” The words came out sharp, brittle.
“I had him save you.” Sabin’s voice softened. “And he did, Viv. He got you out. He kept you safe.”
“By locking me in a room for a week while you went to prison.” The old anger flared, but it had nowhere to go now. It ricocheted inside her chest, searching for a target and finding none.
“It was a week in a safe house versus years in prison. Simple math,p’tite.”
“It wasn’t his choice to make.”
“No, as your older brother, it was mine.” He leaned back in his chair. “And I’d make it again. Every time.”
She wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him that he didn’t get to make that choice for her, that neither of them did. But the guards were watching, the cameras were recording, and she had so little time. This wasn’t the place for the conversation they needed to have.
“How bad is it?” she asked instead, nodding to his hand.
“Ah, you know us Cavaliers don’t break easy. We’re swamp stock. Built for worse than this.”
