Chapter 13 #2
“Eh.” Will waggled a hand back and forth.
“By the time we got into the system, I was too old for most people to even think about adopting me. Being stubborn as a mule didn’t help, either.
” Will smiled as he thought back. “I kept running away from my foster families to go check on Baby Boy. He was adopted almost immediately, cute little shit, but I had to make sure his new parents were treating him right. That got me kicked out of a lot of placements until I finally ran away for good.”
Cole was quiet for a moment before asking, “His parents didn’t want you, too?”
Not even close.
“They couldn’t afford two kids, much less three,” was all Will said.
“Who was the third—”
The radio crackled to life, and Cole refocused. “Starbase Airport Tower, this is Cessna 48722 eight miles northeast with Charlie, landing full stop.”
Will snickered at the airport name. Someone’s a sci-fi fan.
He listened as Cole and the air traffic controller talked through the landing.
Wow, so formal. So official. So different from picking a strip of grass and just going for it.
Ten minutes later they were on the ground, heading for a hangar. It was all so… civilized.
And boring.
“You could have bounced once or twice on the way in,” Will said. “Y’know, to keep my spirits up.”
“I can’t control for your feelings of inadequacy,” Cole said, but even though it was dark Will could tell he was smiling. He liked being able to know how Cole was feeling from the sound of his voice. It felt like privileged information.
“Nor would you care to,” Will replied. “All right, big shot. We’ve landed at the ass-end of Virginia. Now what do we do?”
“What, you don’t have a safehouse near here?” Cole replied as he finally brought the plane to a halt.
“Nah, this coast seems more like your stompin’ grounds,” he said. “I’ll leave it to you to pick the next one. What have you got up your sleeve? Another private island? Maybe a historical villa in the middle of—”
“Actually,” Cole said as he pulled off the headset he’d been wearing. It left a flat space in the middle of his hair that was just begging to be fluffed. “I think we need to avoid my established safehouses for the time being.”
Huh. “Mmmkay. Why is that?”
“Because.”
Oh, ha. No. “Not that I don’t think it’s cute when you try to stonewall me,” Will said, “but I’m not gettin’ out of this plane until you tell me what’s going on in your head.”
Cole glared at him. “I could just leave you here.”
In a showdown over abandonment issues, Will was going to fucking win.
“Do it, then,” he taunted. “Run away and handle things all on your little lonesome instead of giving me thirty seconds of fucking honesty. Then when Alders drags you and your family through the mud and Marcus trashes your rep to the point of no return, you can comfort yourself with the satisfaction of knowing that you won an argument you didn’t even need to have—”
“I think my safehouses are compromised.” The you jackass went unsaid but very well heard at the end there. Will didn’t care; at least they had a starting point now.
“Okay,” he said easily. “Is this why we didn’t go to your place in Buffalo?”
“In part.”
Jesus Christ, it was like pulling the fangs out of a viper to get anything from this guy. “Elaborate on that.”
Cole sighed and closed his eyes for a second. He seemed tired. “I was running a test. I told you we were going to a safehouse in Buffalo, I told Lilith we were going somewhere else, and then I drove us to a third location.”
“Uh…huh.” Will couldn’t pretend it didn’t sting a little that Cole hadn’t trusted him with the truth earlier, but that was the game.
Never forget you’re playing a game. Can’t let yourself be turned into a pawn.
“And we found the trackers in our passports, so that explains how we were found there. What about the other safehouses?”
“Both of them were compromised.”
Both… wait. “How is that possible?”
“I’m not sure,” Cole replied. “Unless both you and Lilith are selling me out.”
Flickers of heat rose up Will’s spine, flaring over his neck and out his cheeks. It was a good thing it was dark in here, because he was probably bright red right now. Not his best look, but then—“What the hell?” he snapped. “Have I ever sold out anyone I worked a job with? Ever?”
“Not that I know of,” Cole muttered. “But there’s always a first time.”
“Sure, right! That makes sense!” He was hitting his stride now.
“Yeah, I’ll just abandon you to a psychopath ex of ours and an emotionally unstable billionaire with a grudge and hope that you take the fall for both of us without implicating the fuck out of me!
Or what, what, was I supposed to be leading you to your death?
Did you think I was going to try and kill you?
Have you seen my self-preservation instincts?
Or do I need to remind you I almost got dragged out of a fucking window to save someone I don’t even like, you stupid done of a bitch? ”
There was a moment of silence, and then—“You like me?”
Oh, for the love of emotional repression.
Will ripped off his own headset and threw it into the hold of the plane.
“You,” he said through gritted teeth as he unbuckled himself, then climbed from his chair into Cole’s lap, “are a goddamn fucking fool.” He grabbed Cole by the hair, mussing it just the way he’d been thinking about, then pulled him into a fierce kiss.
Do I like you?
Idiot.