“I will, Dante, I promise,” Aleks said softly into the phone. “Tell Magnus I love him. Matty too. And Leo and Jamie and Connor and Miss Savannah…” Aleks fell silent and then smiled and nodded. Whatever Dante had said to him in response to the long list seemed to lift some of the sadness from his expression.

I’d somehow managed to release him after what had to be the most incredible kiss… or series of kisses, rather… that I’d ever known. I’d held onto him for a long time and neither of us had seemed eager to speak. When I’d finally pulled back, he’d asked me if he could call his brother to reassure him he was okay.

That had been a few minutes ago. Aleks hadn’t put the phone on speaker and I hadn’t asked him to. I hadn’t really needed him to, either. Aleks was like an open book when talking to his brother, and it hadn’t been hard to figure out that the first minute of the call had been Dante trying to convince his little brother to tell him where he was.

But Aleks had held firm and he’d also kept it together surprisingly well.

There was no doubt he was scared shitless about what was happening, but he wasn’t regretting his decision. I also knew if he’d been given the choice to do what he’d done over again, he would have in a heartbeat.

Including leaving me without telling me.

It’d been a smart move on his part, because there was no way in hell I would have let him make that choice.

At least he didn’t hold that fact against me.

I was all for Aleks making his own decisions, but if there was one I would have fought him on, it was this one.

As it was, I was trying to figure out if I should still try and talk him out of it. But a little part of me was so fucking grateful for this chance to find Gio that it was keeping me from voicing all the objections in my head. It helped to know that Aleks seemed so certain. Because if there was anything that would have made him second-guess himself, it would have been his brother.

“I love you too, meu melhor,” Aleks said softly, waited a beat and then hung up the phone.

Thank fuck Dante hadn’t wanted to talk to me. I might have been tempted to tell him where we were so he’d come get Aleks and we’d be forced to give up on this insane plan to use him to draw Stylianos out.

Aleks wiped at his eyes, but he managed not to cry. “They’re safe,” he said. “They took Matty to a house that belongs to some friends… lots of the family is there so they’re all keeping an eye out for each other.”

“That’s good,” I said as I reached for his hand. I linked our fingers and then Aleks leaned into me.

“He’s still upset,” he said quietly.

“Not at you,” I reminded him.

“He doesn’t understand why I don’t just come home so he can watch out for me.”

Aleks hadn’t told Dante anything about what we were planning and he’d never brought up Luca or Gio, so as far as Dante knew, Aleks was choosing to stay with me until the danger had passed. If the man found out how close Aleks would actually be to those who were hunting him, Dante would lose his shit for sure. Not to mention Luca’s role in Aleks’s abduction…

“He does, Aleks. He knows you’re trying to protect your family.”

“He also knows I’m not strong enough for this… I’m too broken.”

I’d been in the process of rubbing my thumb over his skin in the hopes of soothing him but stopped at his words.

I shifted so I could look at him. “Aleks, do you really believe that?” I asked gently. “That you’re broken?”

He looked at me like I’d grown two heads. Then his face fell. “Please don’t play with me,” he said, then he dropped my hand and stood. He stepped away from me and toward the window, bypassing the one that he’d shattered to break up the fight between me and my brother.

“Aleks, I’m not—” I began as I got up to follow him.

“Then don’t say that I’m okay… that I’m perfect or normal or whatever.”

He actually seemed angry. He crossed his arms as he stood in front of the window and stared at the ocean, which was just a few dozen yards from the back of the house.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” I said. “But you’re not broken, Aleks. I’ve never met anyone more unbroken.”

He shook his head and hardened his jaw. As much as I hated seeing him upset, it was also weirdly comforting.

“Aleks, look at what you’re doing,” I said softly.

He looked at me, his mouth pulled into a mutinous frown. “What?” he asked. “What am I doing?”

“You’re arguing with me. You’re letting me know you’re angry with me.”

“I’m not angry—” he began but fell silent when he looked down and saw his own folded arms. He dropped them and flexed his hands like he was trying to figure out what to do with them.

“Two days ago, you wouldn’t speak to me unless I spoke first. You wouldn’t ask questions, you called me sir…”

“I called King sir,” he admitted.

“Since you left this morning, have you spoken to my brother and friends without being given permission to do so first?”

“No,” he began automatically, then snapped his mouth shut. Then he nodded. “Yes, but…”

“But what?”

“I trust you. I know I can say things to you and you won’t punish me. I don’t… I don’t trust your brother or your friends like I trust you.”

“Did you think about what Luca would do to you when you broke the window?”

He nodded.

“Did you care?” I asked.

He hesitated, then shook his head.

“Two days ago, you couldn’t choose what you wanted to eat from a menu… you didn’t want to choose. But everything you’ve done since then has been your choice, Aleks. That’s not a sign of someone who’s broken.”

“But I’m so scared,” he admitted.

“You’re not alone in that. I’m scared shitless.” He seemed confused, so I moved closer to him and stroked my fingers down his temple, more to touch him than anything else. “Do you know how many people never have to deal with even an ounce of what you’ve had to since you were a little boy?”

“But I let those men hurt me. I didn’t try to stop them. I never said no, I never fought back. I never even tried to run,” he whispered.

“You did fight, Aleks… in the only way you could… by surviving. Those men tried to break you. They probably think they succeeded. But look where you are. Not only did you get out and start living your life, you’re about to go back into that world to bring some of those same men down. If that isn’t a big ‘fuck you,’ I don’t know what is.”

He dropped his eyes and crossed his arms again. But he wasn’t angry, just lost in thought. “Fuck them,” he suddenly said so quietly, I almost didn’t hear him. The swear word sounded so strange coming from him, but I couldn’t help but smile when he nodded his head just a little after saying it.

Like he was just now realizing it was his choice, his right to say the word.

“Fuck them,” he repeated, a little more loudly this time. His eyes lifted to meet mine.

“Fuck ’em,” I confirmed.

“Fuck them,” he said firmly and with a nod. “Fuck them.” He shifted his gaze so he was looking out at the ocean. “Fuck you!” he suddenly screamed. When he shouted it again, I stood behind him and wrapped my arms around his upper chest and dropped my head so it was resting on top of his. His fingers dug into my arm as he yelled the swear word over and over again. He was hoarse when he finally stopped, then he slumped against me.

“Better?” I asked as I pressed a kiss against his temple.

He nodded. “I hate that word, by the way.”

“My mother did too,” I said. “She used to say things like fudgesicles or fiddlesticks when she was upset… she had a whole catalog of non-swear swear words.”

I could see enough of Aleks’s face to see him smile. “I think I would have liked your mother a lot.”

I felt a pang of sadness that he’d never get to meet her. “She would have loved you,” I said.

“Will you tell me more about her someday?”

I wanted to ask him if we had a someday, but then remembered I already knew the answer to that. I was saved from having to answer him when motion to my right caught my attention. Aleks and I both watched as Con walked along the small walkway that led to the back patio that bordered the room we were in. He reached down and pulled something out of the bushes.

It was the sculpture Aleks had thrown through the window.

Con stepped through the shattered window, his boots crunching on the broken glass. He was rubbing the green rock as if to get some scuffs off it. Somehow the ugly decoration had survived Aleks’s rare show of force. Con glanced at us and shook his head like he was disappointed. But I could tell he was just fooling around.

Aleks, on the other hand…

“This thing cost me a fortune,” Con said, feigning anger as he went to open the main door to the room. King and Luca were both standing outside it. “Look, Luca, it’s okay,” he said with a big smile. “No reason to worry.”

Concerned Aleks would take Con’s pretend irritation to heart, I said, “Stop fucking around with him, Con.”

Aleks was tense in my hold but relaxed when Con winked at him.

Luca grabbed the sculpture. “Oh good,” he muttered. He looked at me and Aleks. “Everything okay in here?” he asked. His face was a mess. He’d cleaned the blood off the worst of the wounds I’d inflicted on him. I was still every bit just as angry as I’d been when I’d stormed through the door, but my fury was tempered by the fact that Aleks was safe.

“Yeah, we thought we heard yelling,” Con said. He looked pointedly at Luca and King. “Told you fighting isn’t what they were doing in here. Pay up,” he said as he held out his hand.

“You need to grow the fuck up, brother,” King said with a shake of his head, then he went to sit down on the sofa.

“What?” Con asked innocently.

Luca warily approached us. His eyes met mine briefly, then surprisingly, they shifted to Aleks. I was stunned to see what looked like protectiveness in my brother’s gaze as he looked at the man in my arms. “You good?” he asked.

Aleks nodded. “I’m sorry about your window… and your rock,” he said as he motioned to the sculpture. He was still a little stiff in my hold, but he wasn’t pressing into me like he was afraid. And I loved the fact that he was still in my embrace and the fingers of his left hand were running up and down the forearm I had pressed against his chest… like he was trying to soothe me as if I were a wild animal or something.

“The window can be fixed,” Luca said. “As for this thing,” – he held up the sculpture – “we just need to work on your aim a bit.” With that, Luca drew back his arm and threw the sculpture through the broken window. It landed in the huge pool that was a good deal away.

“Hey!” Con called indignantly. “Do you know how long it took me to find something pretentious enough for this room?” he asked. “See if I bother to get you something for your next birthday.”

I couldn’t help but smile. But it was Aleks who surprised us all because he looked pointedly at Con and said, “Con, I’m sorry, but that rock was ugly as fiddlesticks.”

We were all silent for a beat before bursting into laughter.

Even Con.

And Luca.

“Good one, baby,” I said as I hugged Aleks from behind.

“It wasn’t quite right, I think,” he said.

I tipped his head back enough so I could brush my mouth over his. “Actually, I think it was fudging perfect,” I said with a smile.

He laughed and turned into my arms. I held him as I met my brother’s gaze. Seeing Luca laugh for even that brief moment made him seem twenty years younger. My brother had never exactly been an easygoing guy, but he’d been a different man around his son… a side of him our father had tried really hard to snuff out. But Gio had allowed my brother to be who he really was and that light had been stolen just as surely as his son had been. I was certain I’d never see it again.

But just those few seconds was enough to temper some of the rage I was still feeling toward him.

If Aleks could put aside his fear to help us find Gio, then I could put the shit with Luca aside for a while too.

Everything from here on out would need to be about finding Gio and protecting Aleks.

I held Luca’s gaze and saw him nod slightly.

So he was on the same page as me.

It was a truce.

For now.