Page 379 of Eight of Swords, Part One

‘What?’ Jules pulls off. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’

Jules, of course, cannot be fooled.

He zeroes in almost instantly on Lachlan’s wrist, mouth falling open.

‘Oh my God.’

‘Not that,’ Lachlan says quickly. ‘It wasn’t that. I swear. I just… it’s…’

Thickly, Jules says, ‘I can see what it is.’ He shakes his head, wipes his eyes. ‘I need you to tell me what happened during the three days we were apart.’

‘I was held while they tried to—’

‘No, not the blurb. Everything.’

Lachlan wants to squirm at the idea of Jules feeling sympathy for him when people suffered so much worse, when Roman died, when Savannah was hospitalised… it’s unbearable to him.

‘It was pretty standard.’

‘Tell me.’

‘It was…’ Why can’t he say it? ‘They had us tied up.’

‘Did they hurt you?’

‘Yeah, but not too bad.’

‘What’s not too bad, Bodyguard?’

‘Just beating, cutting, burning.’ He shrugs. ‘Waterboarding.’

‘And if someone did that to me?’ Jules asks. ‘Would you say it’s not too bad?’

Lachlan scowls. ‘It’s different.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I was trained for it.’

‘Why?’

‘Why… what?’

‘Why were you trained for it? Is that normal for soldiers?’

‘Deniable assets are trained for capture-risk environments.’

Jules starts opening his shirt, looks up for permission. Lachlan nods, then sighs shakily as the taller boy’s warm chest presses bare against his own. He loves being touched, yet it always threatens to break him apart.

‘So you were a deniable asset?’

‘Jules.’

‘If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t push, but I love you and I want to know you, Lachlan. What did you actually do? Like, what was your title? You joined the army and then what?’

I won’t push but here’s a million questions anyway.