CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Akio
THE WAIT was killing him. The lack of contact? Not knowing? Fuck. He hated it. He knew it came with Lucas’ job, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. After pacing the apartment for what felt like hours, he’d finally ended up on the couch, wrapped in the blue blanket while he watched whatever popped up on the TV.
It was well past midnight when the front door opened. He pulled the blanket back and padded into the kitchen. Lucas was wearing a dark blue FBI jacket over the clothes he’d left in, a tired look on his face as he smiled at Akio.
He walked straight into Lucas, forcing the man to wrap his arms around him.
“You okay?” Akio whispered, face buried in Lucas’ neck to breathe in his scent, the spicy smell of his cologne mixed with sweat and something he didn’t want to discern.
“I’m fine.”
Hands found Akio’s face and tugged him back until he was looking up into Lucas’ green eyes.
“Are you? ” Lucas asked, worry creasing his brows.
Akio nodded and tried for a smile. Lucas didn’t relax so he figured he failed miserably.
“There were eighteen girls there,” Lucas said, his voice catching for a second. “They’re all safe now because of you.”
Akio felt his throat close up.
“They wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it wasn’t for me.”
Something dark flashed in Lucas’ eyes and he gripped Akio by the arms.
“Don’t you dare think that. It happened to you, Akio. Not because of you.”
Lucas was not talking about the girls. He was talking about Kaito.
He shook his head, tears prickling in his eyes.
“I know,” he whispered, his voice coming out croaky.
Lucas pulled him tight against his chest and held him there, face buried in Akio’s hair, hands on his back keeping him from moving away. Not that he wanted to.
He could happily stay just like that forever, wrapped in Lucas. In the warmth of the man’s embrace.
He knew. He knew it deep in his bones. Straight into his soul.
He was in love with Lucas.
Deeply. Terribly. In love.
He knew Lucas loved him. He had loved him since they met, and he had told Akio that he was falling for him.