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“Always.” Taking a long drag from the cigarette, I closed my eyes and held it in. Exhaling slowly, I handed it back to her and headed for the door.
It was time for Viktor to learn the same lesson as his nephew.
49
Roan
“I’m so bored,”Frankie whined, her head hanging upside down on the bed. “Are you two going to be done soon?”
“Flank them!” Freddy shouted, thumbs moving quickly over the controller as our squadron spread out on the TV.
“In a min—come on!” I threw one hand up as my soldier’s head exploded. “You were supposed to be watching for snipers!”
“Sorry, dude,” Freddy chuckled, steering his character in a completely different direction from where mine bit the dust. “So have you heard from him yet?”
Frankie smacked her brother upside the head. He flipped her off over his shoulder and kept playing.
“No,” I muttered, tapping out the button sequence required to move my character up a wall and crouch along a building. I’d been with the Starlings for three days already without any form of contact from Sasha. As much as I tried not to think about it, it wasallI thought about.
“Are you worried?” Freddy asked as his character launched a grenade at a sniper nest.
Frankie flopped over on her stomach, glaring a hole in her brother’s head. “Oh my God! Why are you bringing up that asshole?”
“Shut it, Frankie.” Freddy paused the game and turned to me, his brown eyes soft and judgment-free, unlike his sister’s.
“I mean…” What was I supposed to say? Yes, I was fucking terrified. Sasha was out there, doing God knew what. Would he get arrested? Would he make it out alive? If he did, would he come back? Maybe once he was done, he’d disappear. Maybe he’d have to, to avoid the cops. “I don’t know. He’s, um, good at his job. I guess.”
“Being a criminal?” Frankie asked, wedging her head between Freddy and I to be part of the conversation.
“Cut him some slack. He didn’t really have a choice,” I replied quietly.
“What does that mean?”
“He doesn’t talk about it, but I think he was trafficked as a kid. That’s why he’s so… hard. It’s not about being a criminal, it’s about surviving. It was him or them, you know? I don’t know… Does that even make sense?”
Freddy nodded. “Totally. He’s been conditioned by it. But you can’t unlearn that, dude. Not without a fuck ton of therapy and actually wanting to change.”
“It’s notwhohe is, it’s just what he does to stay alive,” I grumbled, staring at the controller. “Once you get to know him, he’s—”
“What? A completely different person? A big old teddy bear?” Frankie snorted.
“No, he’s still an asshole,” I snapped, but a smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. “But he’smyasshole. He’s actually funny. He cares, in his intense, overprotective way. And he understands people a lot more than I originally gave him credit for, even if he thinks feelings are all bullshit.”
“I don’t like it,” Frankie said bluntly. “He kidnapped you, Roan. He beat you. He held you for fucking ransom. Those aren’t the actions of a guy who ‘cares.’”
“Did we say anything when you dated that dickhead on the football team?” Freddy interjected, glaring over his shoulder at his twin. “No. Did we say anything when you dated the fucking ‘photographer’? No. So shut the fuck up. Roan is a big boy. He can make his own decisions without you chiming in like a nagging wife. Sorry he’s gay, but he can’t be your emotional boyfriend for the rest of his damn life.”
I blinked.
Frankie blinked.
Freddy nodded curtly and resumed playing his game, as if nothing happened. I wasn’t even surewhathappened. Freddy had always been the reasonable one, but the reasonable one just gave his blessing to my relationship with Sasha, who, as Frankie correctly pointed out, was not exactly “boyfriend” material.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Starling appeared at the door, knocking against the frame. “Roan? There’s someone here for you.”
“Who?” All three of us asked in unison.
She chuckled and shook her head, gesturing awkwardly. “I don’t know. Some big guy who asked for you by name.”
