by Ella Frank
Out of the corner of his eye, Priest caught Julien trying to tug his arm free. But Priest didn’t dare look directly at his husband, not when he finally had the snake coming his way.
“I’m going to need more money eventually,” Jimmy said. “And your famous husband here happens to have a lot of it.”
As those words registered in Priest’s brain, any leash he had on his control snapped as the thought of Jimmy coming after Julien again slammed into him. Priest lunged forward, his eyes fastened on Jimmy’s gun hand, and as he wrapped his fingers around Jimmy’s wrist, Priest poured all of his anger and strength into twisting the barrel of it away from him and above Jimmy’s head.
Jimmy grunted and stumbled back at the attack. Stunned, no doubt, that his “coward” of a son was no longer scared of him. But the years spent behind bars hadn’t softened Jimmy Donovan, because the second he got his footing, he swung his other arm up until his fist connected with the side of Priest’s face.
Priest’s head snapped back from the force of it, and his grip slipped, allowing Jimmy to shuffle back a step. Before he got too far, though, Priest charged, slamming Jimmy to the ground with enough force to take the breath from them both, and Priest’s gun fell free of his pants and skidded out of reach.
Jimmy’s eyes flew to the gun, and then back to Priest, and as a victorious expression crossed the fucker’s mouth, Priest rose up over Jimmy’s body and punched him square in the face. As Jimmy coughed and sputtered, blood pooling in his mouth, Priest did it again. He then reached for the hand Jimmy still had clamped around the gun, and smashed it into the concrete, and as he did, Jimmy’s other hand came up and connected with Priest’s ribs.
A shout left Priest as the wind was knocked out of him, and Jimmy reared back to punch him again. Priest saw the fist coming his way and rolled off Jimmy, and as they fell apart, a demented smile crossed Jimmy’s bloody face as he scrambled away from Priest and brought the gun up and aimed it at Priest’s chest.
“Like I was saying,” Jimmy said, and spat some blood on the ground. “Eventually, I’m gonna need more money if I’m on the run. What I won’t need…is a lawyer.”
Jimmy pulled the trigger, and as the blast ricocheted around the warehouse, Priest looked at Julien as the bullet left the barrel and hit Priest square in the chest.
Shimmering jade…
That was the last thing Priest saw before everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
CONFESSION
Sleep has never come easy to me.
I don’t see why death should.
AS PRIEST HIT the ground, a shout tore from Julien’s throat. His entire body recoiled at what he was seeing, and as he sat there, helpless to do anything, Jimmy got to his feet and staggered over Priest, heading straight to the bags.
Without sparing his son a look, Jimmy pocketed the passport, unzipped the bags to check their contents, and then, apparently satisfied, picked them up, one bag in each hand. Then he looked over at Julien and said, “I’ll be in touch,” before he ran for the door and disappeared.
As it shut, Julien frantically began to tug on the ropes around his arms and legs, tears flooding his eyes.
“Priest,” he cried out, his voice cracking around the word as he stared in disbelief at Priest’s lifeless body. “Priest.” His heart pounded so hard that it hurt.
This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening, Julien thought, hysterical, tears streaming down his face as he struggled in the chair, trying to scoot closer. The rope rubbed his wrists raw as he twisted his arms, trying to get them free.
“Joel…” Julien sobbed, shaking as shock began to set in, his voice fading as he realized nothing he was saying was working. He yanked at his arms until the rope cut deeper, and he hissed at the sting of it. But the pain and anguish made him grit his teeth and find that fight all over again, and that was when he saw it—Priest’s foot moving.
“Priest?” Julien blinked several times, trying to clear the tears away from his eyes so he could focus. “Joel?”
Julien shook his head and madly tried to get the chair to move again, but when he barely got it to shift an inch, he cursed.
Maybe he’d imagined it…
Maybe he was hallucinating…
Seeing what he wanted to see instead of Priest just…lying there.
But then it happened again.
Priest’s foot moved, and so did his leg, and then—he sat up.
“Priest,” Julien shouted, as Priest brought a hand up to his chest, rubbing at it as he blinked and coughed.
When their eyes collided, Julien opened his mouth to speak. But Priest was pushing up to his feet and rushing over to him before Julien could say a word.
As Priest collapsed in front of him, untying Julien’s ankles and then his arms, Julien watched in disbelief that the man kneeling before him was even breathing, and when Priest got the final knot untied, Julien yanked his arms free and threw them around Priest’s neck.
Priest caught him with a grunt, pulling Julien off the chair and into his lap, as Julien began to sob uncontrollably.
“Oh God, oh God,” Julien said, as he held on tighter, his fingers digging into Priest’s neck, as if to make sure he was really there, really real. “I thought you were dead. I thought you were…”
“Shh,” Priest said in Julien’s ear. “I’m right here. I’m here.”
As the sobs racked Julien’s body, he felt Priest vibrating against him in response. He finally raised his head and looked into eyes he never thought he’d see again.
“Joel…” Julien whispered, and touched his shaking fingers to Priest’s face, tracing them along the line of his beard and down to his lips. “How…? I saw…” Julien sniffed and shook his head. “I…”
“A princess,” Priest said, and kissed Julien’s fingers as his own tears escaped. “A princess saved me tonight.”
Julien trailed his fingers down Priest’s neck until he got to the collar of the turtleneck and pulled it back, and there beneath the fabric was a bulletproof vest.
“Robbie?” Julien said. “He made you wear this?”
Priest hugged Julien in close to him and flinched at the contact, his chest obviously aching from the impact of the bullet. “Yes. Gave it to me when I was getting dressed tonight. All outfits deserve an accessory, according to him.”
“Oh my God,” Julien said, and unbelievably, his lips turned up in a smile, which made him wince. “I’m going to kiss him so hard when I see him.”
“I think he’ll like that very much.” Priest let go of Julien so he could sit back. “Your head,” he said. “And your eye. That fucking piece of—”
“Joel,” Julien said, and took Priest’s hand. “I don’t even care about that right now. You’re safe.”
Priest leaned his forehead against Julien’s. “So are you.”
“Jimmy?”
“He won’t be bothering us anymore.”
Julien frowned. “But—”
“Trust me,” Priest said, and the chilly tone in his voice told Julien to believe what Priest was saying. “Let’s go. We need to get Robert and then get the hell out of here.”
Julien shifted off Priest’s lap and looked over his shoulder. “Robbie’s here?”
Priest grunted as he got to his feet and held a hand out to Julien. “He’s close by.”
Once Julien was upright and steady, Priest dug his cell phone out of his pocket, grimacing at the movement.
“Close by?” Julien asked, as Priest hit a couple of buttons and handed him the cell, and before Julien could ask anymore, the phone connected.
“WAS THAT A gunshot?” Robbie said, as he sprang to his feet in the empty transit shed where he and Henri had taken up residence.
“Shit,” Henri said, as he peered out the dirty window he was crouched in front of. “Don’t fucking move.”
Robbie froze, and when Henri turned his head to look at him, Robbie said, “Was that a—”
“Yes,” Henri sa
id, and then jabbed a finger at Robbie and then the floor. “But you gotta sit down. Stay out of sight.”
“But I—”
Henri turned away, effectively cutting off communication as he peered back out the window, and Robbie did as he was told. He sat his ass back down on the dusty ground and started to bite at his nail.
He didn’t know how long they’d been sitting there, but it felt like forever. It was cold, dark, and one of the most stressful things Robbie had been through in his life. But if, at the end of this, Priest and Julien walked out of that warehouse alive, then he would happily do it a million times over.
As that thought came and went, Henri stood to his full height and growled between clenched teeth, “You motherfucker.”
Robbie trembled, too scared to ask what was going on, as Henri moved down to the second window of the shed and stopped. He stood there for a second, watching whatever was happening below, and then turned back and marched over to Robbie.
As he neared, Henri dug a phone out of his pocket and pushed a couple of buttons, then he handed it to Robbie and said, “You stay here until that phone rings.”
Robbie looked down at the phone in his hand and then back to Henri. “Wh… Huh?”
“If it doesn’t ring in fifteen minutes, you call the cops.”
Robbie blinked a couple of times, shock rendering him mute.
“Got it?”
He nodded, and as Henri turned and began to walk away, Robbie quickly got to his feet and said, “Where are you going?”
Henri didn’t stop, but he did look back over his shoulder to say, “Nowhere you need to worry about, bright eyes.” Then he winked at Robbie and pushed open the door that led to the narrow staircase they’d climbed up to get there. “Remember, fifteen minutes.”
Robbie clutched the phone, and as the door shut, he took a step back until he hit the wall. He shook as his nerves caught up with him, along with a whole lot of fear, and as he stood there by himself, Robbie brushed away the tears he couldn’t seem to stop.
Fifteen minutes, he thought, as he stared at the timer Henri had set on the phone. But if it didn’t ring in fifteen minutes, what did that mean? Priest wasn’t coming? Julien wasn’t safe? That gunshot he’d just heard had—
As the phone lit up in his hand, Robbie startled, and his heart pounded like a jackhammer as the chimes echoed off the walls. He took in a deep breath and swiped a seriously shaky finger across the screen, and then he brought the phone up to his ear and waited for the person at the other end to speak.
“Bonsoir, princesse.”
Robbie gasped and covered his mouth as he slid down the wall to the floor. “Jules…?” he said, as he shut his eyes and pictured Julien the way he had been the day before at breakfast, smiling at him, kissing him goodbye.
“It’s me,” Julien said, and then coughed, and Robbie shook his head, not wanting him to speak if it hurt.
“No,” Robbie said. “Don’t talk. Are you…? Is Priest…? Did Priest find you? Are you both okay?”
“Oui. He found me…” Julien said, and his voice was like angels singing in Robbie’s ear. It was that beautiful. But he hadn’t answered Robbie’s question. Were they okay?
There was some rustling and a curse through the phone, and then a voice Robbie would know with his eyes closed said, “Robert?”
“Priest,” Robbie said on a rush of air, relief flooding him now that he knew both of his men were alive. “You’re okay? And Julien?”
“Yes. Both okay,” Priest said in a clipped voice that told Robbie now wasn’t the time. “We’re coming to get you. But you need to tell me where you are.”
“Oh.” Robbie looked around as he got to his feet, and was about to go and look out the window when he froze and said, “Uh…Henri told me not to go near the window while Jimmy—”
“He’s gone, sweetheart,” Priest said. “Come to the window. Tell me what you see.”
Robbie shuffled to the window. “I…I can see Henri’s car. The trunk’s open.”
“Are you looking at it from the front? Or the—”
“Back,” Robbie said. “I’m looking at it from the back, and we climbed three flights of stairs. Henri said this is an old transit shed?”
There was silence at the other end for several seconds.
“I see you.” Priest’s voice was strong and sure. “Don’t move. We’re coming to get you.”
Chapter Thirty
CONFESSION
I want this, us, forever.
“TRY NOT TO move, okay?”
Julien sat on the side of the large porcelain tub in the master suite at The Peninsula, and Robbie stood between his legs with alcohol, bandages, and cotton balls. He was wearing a robe and frown that would rival Priest’s, and his tongue was poking out as he concentrated on what he was doing.
“I’ll try to be as gentle as I can, but”—Robbie carefully ran a finger along the cut on Julien’s swollen eye—“I know it’s going to hurt no matter what.”
“It’s okay, princesse. Do what you have to.” Julien didn’t care about the pain. He was just happy to be sitting this close to Robbie again. To be able to touch him, talk to him, smell him—and he smelled delicious. Whatever body wash he’d used earlier when they’d all gotten home, it lingered on his smooth skin as he moved a little closer and dabbed at Julien’s eyebrow.
When Julien winced, Robbie grimaced. “I’m sorry, Jules.”
“Non,” Julien whispered, and touched his trembling fingers to Robbie’s wrist. “It’s good to feel it. To know I’m alive. Don’t apologize for that.”
Robbie shut his eyes and let out a shuddering breath.
“Princesse?”
“Hmm?” Robbie said as he went back to gently cleaning the cut.
“Did you want to ask me something?”
It had been a couple of hours since they’d gotten back to the hotel, and while it had been early morning when they arrived, none of them had been able to sleep. Instead, the three of them had curled up on top of the covers of the master bed—Robbie and Priest flanking Julien—as they wrapped their arms around Julien’s waist in an effort to comfort, in an effort to just be, as they’d all lain there in silence and let the healing begin.
Now, the pain from the injuries and the heartache was still present, but so was the need to talk.
“I…” Robbie gnawed on his lower lip, and then brushed his fingers along the line of Julien’s uninjured cheek. “I was just going to say, I was so scared for you while you were gone.”
“I was scared too,” Julien said, his voice cracking. “So scared of never seeing you or Priest again. Scared to think of all the things I would miss, like your beautiful smile.”
Just as Julien had hoped, Robbie’s lips curved into that shy smile. “I wasn’t scared of that. I knew I would see you again. Priest, he…” Robbie paused. “He never wavered, Julien, not once. From the second he knew you were gone, his determination to get you back was so strong.” His voice was full of love and awe. “I was scared because you were suffering, and I hated that I couldn’t comfort you.”
Julien moved to his feet and raised his trembling hands to take Robbie’s face between them. “You’re wrong.”
Robbie’s eyelashes fluttered shut, and when a tear fell down his cheek, Julien leaned in and pressed a kiss to it.
“You are what I was fighting for, what I wanted to see when I came home. You and Priest, waiting for me. So don’t cry, princesse, not anymore. Je t’aime.”
ROBBIE OPENED HIS eyes and drank in the sight of Julien back in front of him, touching him. “I love you too. I never knew I could love people the way I love you, the way I love Priest. It frightens me. But at the same time, I know as long as I have you both, I can get through anything.”
Julien ran his fingers through Robbie’s hair, as if touching him somehow helped soothe him. “I know. Feelings like this, they should frighten you. But that’s what makes them so special, and what makes us so sure of who we love. The night P
riest proposed to me, he said something so simple, and yet it made perfect sense. I want you—”
“This,” Robbie added, remembering the story.
“Forever.” As they looked over to the door, they saw Priest standing there with a shoulder against the frame, a towel wrapped around his hips, and a wicked bruise forming across his chest. As he pushed away from the doorway, he said, “I feel that way right now.”
“Oui,” Julien said. “So do I.”
As Priest came up alongside them, Robbie marveled at the men in his life. “I want that too. This, us, forever.”
Priest’s eyes roamed over Robbie’s face. His lips parted and a shiver racked his body at the intensity in that look.
Priest’s attention, his love, was something one could only dream of, because he so rarely gave it away. But as Robbie stood there with Julien, he knew they both had it, and he’d be crazy not to snatch it right up.
“Forever’s a long time,” Priest said. “That’s a big commitment.”
Robbie swallowed. “Not long enough, if you ask me.”
Robbie noticed a smile slowly beginning to curve Julien’s mouth, but when he winced and reached for his bruised cheek, Robbie shook his head.
“But we can talk about this later,” Robbie said. “I think you both need to get back in bed, now.”
“Really, Robert,” Priest said, as Robbie hooked his arms through Julien’s and Priest’s elbows. “I don’t think we’re up for that right now. At least let us recover first.”
Robbie was appalled that Priest thought he wanted to—
When he spotted Priest’s lips twitching, Robbie narrowed his eyes. “Oh, I see. You think you’re being funny right now.”
