Page 136 of My Three Billionaire Rockstars

I turn back to him. “I’m serious, Gabe. This could crack him open.”

His gaze doesn’t waver. “He’s already cracked.”

Xander’s been functioning. Leading. Building. Even laughing, on rare occasions. But none of that means he’s healed. It just means he’s good at carrying damage and calling it purpose.

Gabe sees that, too.

Maybe more clearly than the rest of us, because Gabe’s built to locate structural weakness before anyone else admits a foundation’s shifting.

Still…

Understanding something doesn’t mean you get to push on it.

“That doesn’t give you the right to decide when he faces it,” I say.

“I’m not trying to decide for him,” he says. “I’m trying to make sure that when the moment comes, it isn’t wasted.”

That slows me down.

Because I believe him.

Damn it.

I believe he thinks he’s doing this for the right reasons. Not just for the label. For Xander, too, in whatever complicated, emotionally stunted way Gabe allows himself to care about people.

The problem is, caring and being right are not the same thing.

I cross my arms. “So, what, exactly, is the plan?”

Gabe leans back against the desk, mirroring me without realizing it. “There isn’t one yet.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“It shouldn’t be.”

I laugh once under my breath. “At least you’re honest about being terrifying.”

Gabe leans back against the desk, arms folded. “I’m assessing options.”

“That’s Gabe-speak for ‘already built three contingency plans and a spreadsheet.’”

“Four,” he says.

I stare at him. “See? This is why people want to throw your phone into lakes.”

A flicker of amusement crosses his face and disappears. “You still came up here.”

“Yeah, because somebody in this house has to have impulse control, and it’s obviously not you or Xander.”

That gets the smallest possible twitch out of his mouth.

Progress.

I straighten a little. “You can’t blindside him.”

“I’m aware.”

“No, I mean it. None of this can come crashing through the front door because you decided the timing made sense.”