“I hope so,” he whispered, letting her go. “Thank you. If you hadn’t gotten your people
here when you did—”
“You were able to call nine-one-one, and that made all the difference. I’m happy for you.
You’re safe now.”
Of all the things he’d been through the past week, nothing hit him quite so forcefully as
that—he was safe. He felt his eyes filling and tried to force himself to knock it off. “Thanks.
Thanks for everything.”
She pretended not to notice the tears. “Okay, you two, I need to go find your brother. Half
brother. My longest-running case, solved at last. Don’t think I’ll let you become strangers now,
though.”
“We won’t,” Gev said.
“What will happen to Stef now?” Nina asked.
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Ramirez looked away from them, scanning the crowd. Gev did too—Lee still had people
around him, and Gev didn’t see Stefan anywhere.
“Unfortunately, his involvement with his father puts him in a precarious position. I’ll be
busy for a while with him, figuring out if and where there are warrants out for him.”
Nina winced at that. “What if he’s involved in”—she waved her hand at Gev, her eyes
sad—“Chad?”
The detective took a deep breath. “We’ll address that if it comes up. We won’t be charging
Stefan for what happened to Chad, as long as he cooperates, which he’s promised he will.”
“He will,” Nina said, her eyes narrowing. “I’ll see to that.”
“Good. He’ll need someone in his corner.”
“Our parents will be too,” Nina promised. “We all will. Right, Gev?”
Gev said nothing, though he realized he was behaving like a pouty child. “Right,” he said
finally, which satisfied Nina.
“All right. Better go round up Stef and take him on in. He and I have lots to talk about,”
said Ramirez. “You get some rest, Gev.”
Nina looped her arm through his. “He will, I promise.”
The detective left, but Nina remained next to him, firmly holding on to him. After several
silent minutes, she abruptly squeezed his arm and released him.
“Thank God,” she said, bolting to her feet and letting the blanket slide off onto the ground.
Curious, Gev turned to see what had sparked that reaction, just as Mason swooped in and Nina
leaped into his arms. Gev watched as the world suddenly shrank for them, Mason covering
Nina’s face with kisses, the look on his face racing from fear to unhidden relief.
It was beautiful, and Gev was happy for Nina. His worries about his baby sister marrying
someone so much older—and with three kids, to boot—left him, and he really did wonder why
he’d been so judgmental.
Mason let go of Nina, more or less—his hand still gripped hers firmly—and turned to Gev.
“You okay?”
Gev stuck out his hand. Mason looked at it in surprise. “Thanks, Mason—for everything.”
Mason took his hand and shook it, such an expression of relief on his face that Gev felt like a
troll for being so negative about him. He was, he realized, very much his mother’s son. What a
bastard he’d been. His sister looked like she was about to cry with happiness. He kissed her on
the cheek. “Go home. Be with your family. It’s going to be okay. Okay?”
She hugged him fiercely and whispered, “Thank you. Go talk to Lee.
Fix it
.” She pulled
back. “We’ll check on the parents. Don’t worry about them tonight.”
“Thanks.”
“Call if you need anything,” Mason said.
Gev watched them as they walked off, arm in arm. He wasn’t as confident as Nina that
things could be fixed between him and Lee. Now that Stefan was back—and back in the
family—Gev wasn’t sure about anything at all. Everything he’d stood on—being the oldest by
default, the only son, the disappointment who was forever judged by his mother and compared to
a brother who was lost—it was all so very mixed up. His dad knowing all along about Stefan still
blew him away. And everything between him and his mom and not knowing how she would
react to him now…
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Carolyn Gray
He ran his fingers through his hair, mentally and physically exhausted. His face hurt—
again—and he wanted to take a long nap before he talked with Lee, yet every part of him ached
to be held by Lee again. The brief moment in the workshop had rocked him, and he knew the
best and safest place he could be would be right there with Lee, wherever he was.
Some of the cops had finally left, and the other ambulance had retreated from the scene.
The backyard was still packed with people; he figured it would be for a while, until they’d
gathered all the evidence they wanted. He’d seen it all before.
But he didn’t see Lee, though the truck was still there, parked haphazardly in front of
Drew’s car. Then he spotted Lee standing with a couple of people, one of whom was Detective
Ramirez. The other was Stefan. Lee’s expression was sober while he listened intently to
something the detective said. He held his bandaged arm close to his body as he pulled out his
wallet with his good hand and passed a card to Stefan. Stef put his arms around Lee and hugged
him—a long, lingering hug.
Gev’s heart fractured as he watched, and all his doubts became realities. His big brother
was back, and though Lee had denied Stefan meaning so much to him anymore, the truth was
right in front of Gev’s face. Stef dropped his arms and looked past the detective, his gaze settling
on Gev. Gev looked back. He didn’t hate his brother, but it hurt. It hurt so damn bad. Stef turned
to Lee again, and Gev couldn’t bear to see any more.
He went into the house, where a couple of cops were still working. He wanted to tell them
to get the fuck out but settled for glaring, then went down the hall toward his former room at the
end.
He had to pass Stefan’s room to get there. Not really understanding why, he hesitated
outside the room, then pushed the door open. The room was as Stefan had left it, except for one
thing—Stefan had never lived in this house. Yet his old cover was on the bed, posters on the
wall, all his games and now-ancient computer sitting there as if, any second, a teenage boy
would run in and flop on the bed and stare up at the ceiling to agonize over the latest adolescent
angst. It had always creeped Gev out, the way his mother had recreated Stef’s old room, and he
had refused to ever go inside.
Now he kind of understood why she’d done it. There had to have always been a glimmer
of hope inside her that, somehow, Stefan would come back. He pitied her at that moment. He
couldn’t imagine the hell she’d been through, knowing who had taken her son but powerless to
do anything about it.
Powerless because of
him.
He slammed the door, not wanting to think about it, not wanting to acknowledge what was
clear—she’d been forced to choose between Gev and Nina, and Stef. He leaned against the
doorway, blinking away the wetness in his eyes. For the first time in a long, long time, he ached
to see his mom, to talk to her like she was a human being. What a shit he’d been to her. He
wasn’t sure how, but he knew he would have to find a way to forgive her for all that had
happened between them since. And ask her to forgive him.
He rubbed his forehead, heading for his own room. Too much had happened; he was too
raw, in pain, full of loss. The room swam before his eyes a little as he sat down on the bed, his
back to the door. It was now a guest room; all evidence of his teenage years spent here was gone.
He cradled his head in his hands, eyes tightly closed as he fought off the agony that was trying to
break him in two—Stefan and Lee, together again.
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It was too much. Too damn much. He sank his hands into his hair, clenching it between his
fingers and pulling hard, welcoming the pain. It was the only thing keeping him from breaking
completely apart.
* * * *
her at her car, then stepped back to give them a moment alone.
“Yeah, best to not make her track you down anymore,” Lee said.
Stef’s blue eyes were bright, his easy smile reminding Lee how beautiful Stef was. And
yet, as Lee watched him, this man he’d spent so many years mourning, the feelings Lee had
thought he’d never lose for Stef weren’t there anymore.
Instead, his mind kept rocketing back to Gev. He wanted Stef to go, he realized. He was
starting to feel anxious to get out of here, away from all these people, and be alone with Gev.
Detective Ramirez wanted him to “drop in later” at the police station, but he had no intention of
doing so today.
Tonight, he intended to reclaim Gev. The thought made his heart race.
“Go find him,” Stef suddenly said.
“What?”
Stef gave him a shove. “You want me to leave. Admit it.”
“I—No, of course not,” Lee said, but the amused expression on Stef’s face made him
stumble over the words. He gave up. “Okay, yeah. Get out of here. I need to find my boyfriend.”
Stef burst out laughing. “I’m glad for you guys, you know. I’d kinda hoped that somehow
you two would’ve found each other.” At Lee’s surprised look, Stef said, “I’ve always been a
romantic. You know that.”
So was Lee. And so was Gev. Not a bad thing to be, a romantic. The yard was emptying at
last. Ramirez motioned for Stefan to come with. “You’re being paged.”
“I see.” Stef sighed, making no move to go.
“What will you do?” Lee asked softly.
“I don’t know. If I don’t end up doing jail time—which is a possibility,” he said ruefully,
“I won’t stick around here for long, I don’t think.”
Lee understood that, oddly enough. “You know how to reach me. No matter what, I want
to hear what happens.” No matter whether he and Gev managed to cross this huge mountain
they’d built between each other. “If you need a job, we’re always looking for help.”
Stef stuck his hand out. Lee took it—gingerly—with his injured hand. He winced as Stef
shook it, and Stef let him go. “Thank you. I might take you up on that, eventually. Now, go get
Gev.”
“I’m not sure where he is. I haven’t seen him since they dragged me to the ambulance,”
Lee said, unease folding over him. It was good, real good, how he and Stefan were ending, but
now he was worried about where Gev had disappeared to.
“I did, a while ago. We were still talking to Detective Ramirez, though.”
Lee’s mind shot back to that. “What did he do?” he demanded, Stef’s eyebrows flying up
at his urgency.
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Carolyn Gray
“He… I don’t know. He turned around and walked inside the—” The light dawned on
Stef’s face. “Oh shit. He didn’t see me hugging you, did he? I think he did.”
Lee closed his eyes briefly. Fantastic. “I better go find him.”
“Take care of him, Lee. Let him know… We were only kids.”
“Yeah. I will.” Lee started to turn around and go, then stopped, remembering something.
“Stef, wait.”
Stef turned around. “Yeah?”
“You wouldn’t happen to know about some mysterious tickets sent to me, to see Gev’s
ballet, would you?”
Stef looked thoughtful. “No, can’t say as I do.” Detective Ramirez called for him, and Stef
turned away again. Lee swore there was a smile on his face as he did so, though.
“Yeah, right,” Lee whispered, then took off to find Gev.
Two cops came out of the house. Once they were out, Lee slipped inside, made sure no one
else was around, and then locked the door against any interruptions.
The house was quiet, almost eerily so. He stood in the middle of the living room, the ache
in his arm sizzling merrily, making him a little light-headed. They’d given him something for the
pain, which would probably make him tired, but he was already exhausted from the whole
ordeal.
And now came the hardest part of all.
Heading down the hall, Lee listened intently for Gev. He looked in the other rooms as he
passed, stopping when he reached what looked like a teenager’s room. He blinked, stunned as he
recognized the bed covering, the posters, the books, the old guitar in the corner… What the hell?
Stefan’s things. Not his room—he hadn’t lived here. But his things, here, like a fucking creepy
shrine to the dead.
Except Stefan hadn’t been dead, and Irini had known it.
What must it have been like for Gev, living with that room, a gaping, ugly wound that
would never let his family heal? Irini had done some terrible things in the course of protecting
Nina and Gev as she had. But damn, this—And yet, he kind of understood now. She’d had
reason to hope.
He found Gev in the last room, sitting on the bed, his back to the door. Lee drank in the
sight of him, even hunched over, despair radiating from him in waves.
Gev flinched on hearing Lee’s breathing and raised his head. “What do you want?” he said,
his voice dead.
You
. Lee moved into the room and closed the door behind him. “For you to look at me.”