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“A little get-well gift from my brothers.”
“They didn’t have to do that.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Hell yes they did. Cal especially. He’d better spend the rest of his life making things up to you. I can’t believe he let you get taken.” Anger burned under my skin until Felix placed a calming hand on my arm.
“Hey, it’s okay. And it was my fault too. I didn’t want to wait for him. It was my choice to go into the building while he was on the phone. I could have waited.”
“It doesn’t matter. He never should have taken a call while he was supposed to be protecting you. I never should have left.”
Felix set the large bag on the counter and rose up on his tiptoes, taking my face in his hands. “I’m not going to let you be mad at Cal for the rest of our lives because of this. It was a mistake. I’m an adult, and I made a choice too. McMahon needed you. Stop beating yourself up. Everything turned out fine.”
“But what if it hadn’t?” The stupid lump was back in my throat.
“My love, life will be full of realities and what-ifs. It’s the realities that make life a beautiful roller coaster ride. If you live in the what-ifs, you’ll miss everything else.”
For someone a decade and a half younger than me, my mate was immensely wise. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been that terrified and angry in equal parts ever in my life. I thought I was going to lose you.”
My mate’s lips brushed against mine, and I could feel the healing cut on his lip. He was still hurt. There was no reason he should be the one comforting me.
“But you didn’t.” He moved his hands, grabbed my wrists, and placed my palms on his hips. “I’m right here.”
It was the first time I’d touched anything more than his hands or his face as I held ice packs to it in almost four days, and the contact did more to soothe the ragged edges of my soul than any of his words.
My heart unknotted, and I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with Felix’s seaweed-and-salt scent. For the first time in days, my head felt clear.
“That’s better.” Felix pressed another kiss to my lips. “Now, let me open my present.”
I laughed, the sound rough, while Felix grabbed the bag and tore out the tissue paper. He pulled out a small blue box first. There was a neon sticky note on it. “Hacked your optometrist’s office. Figured you’d need these,” Felix read, then pulled the lid off the box. Inside was a brand-new pair of glasses. “Designer? Nice! I usually pick the cheap knockoffs.” Felix tried to put the glasses on, but his face, including the bridge of his nose, was still too puffy. “I’ll save these for later.”
He set the box on the counter and reached back into the bag, coming out with a soft robe covered in comic book pages. “Oh my God. I love this! Help me put it on.”
I took the robe from his hands and held it open. He slipped into it and tied the belt around his waist, then turned to look at himself in the mirror.
“This is awesome!”
“I bet Julius picked it out.”
Felix shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe, but I bet it was Cal. I was telling him about my favorite comics when we went to get the drive. Oh shit! The drive. Where is it? Nero, we need to go back to my apartment. I dropped it when that goon picked me up.”
“Shh, it’s okay, babe. Relax. We have it. Cal went back into your apartment and found it. Julius has it downstairs.”
Felix’s shoulders relaxed. “Oh, good. I think the file on that drive is the key to whatever this is. I was just a means to an end for Agent Cooper.”
“Who?” This was the first time I’d heard that name.
“Agent Lance Cooper is the guy who kidnapped me. I’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”
“I agree. Kidnapping you wasn’t the endgame.”
Felix shook his head. “No. I don’t know what the endgame is, but I know it has something to do with the file on that drive.”
“We can check in with my brothers and Jack after you shift and we go for a swim.”
Felix’s brow creased. “Who’s Jack?”
“We’ve got stuff to fill you in on too.”
“Sounds like it, but you’re right. Let’s go for a swim, then we can debrief.”
