Unbroken (The Protectors 12)

That everything Juliana and Pedro Silva said was about them and their suffering. There’d been little mention of how Aleks had suffered. But there’d been plenty of blame to go around. The interview had clearly been orchestrated to cast the mall and the cops in a negative light and help move the suit forward, probably for a lucrative settlement deal. When the interview reached the part where it talked about Aleks being settled in the U.S., I knew he was looking at the picture of himself. His parents and the reporter had been careful not to actually say Aleks was in Seattle, but they’d foolishly used the picture without cropping out the name of the flower store. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out the store’s location.

Aleks handed the phone back to me before the interview even ended. I stopped it and watched him carefully. He looked numb.

And so very tired.

I was sitting on the floor in front of him, but as badly as I wanted to take him in my arms again, I knew he wouldn’t welcome the contact. He was way too raw.

“The men who took me from that alley… who sent them?”

“I’m not sure,” I hedged. “Most likely someone who was worried you’d be able to identify them.” I didn’t add in my second guess.

Or someone who wanted you for himself…

I didn’t know a lot about Aleks’s past, but I’d heard enough that he’d been a coveted prize because of both his unique looks and his impeccable obedience. Marcus had taken pride in showing Aleks off to every perverted piece of shit in his tight circle of deviants. The young man had become like a prime piece of horseflesh that everyone wanted but no one could get the owner to sell. I’d had more than one fucker comment on what a shame the loss of Aleks had been – none of those same men had even made mention of Marcus’s death.

But it wasn’t something I wanted Aleks to know. It was bad enough that he had to face the fact that he was considered a dangerous witness… to learn there were men who just wanted to possess him was something he didn’t need to deal with at the moment.

And he most definitely didn’t need to know that there might even be those who were willing to use him as a pawn…

That was a fact I myself didn’t want to accept, but I knew I didn’t have a choice.

Aleks let out a strangled whimper that distracted me from my thoughts. I began to reach for him, but he pulled away and backed even farther into the corner. The rejection stung. He shook his head at me. “I don’t know how to believe you,” he admitted.

I swallowed hard and nodded. I deserved that. I put some space between us so he wouldn’t feel so boxed in. “I had to get you out of there, Aleks. I knew you wouldn’t understand why I couldn’t take you home and I didn’t want to take the time to explain it to you. I needed to make sure those guys weren’t being followed. I couldn’t take the risk that you’d fight me.”

Aleks let out a harsh laugh. “I don’t fight,” he said softly. “You of all people should know that.” Before I could respond, he dropped his eyes and whispered, “So what happens now?”

The fact that he seemed more willing to believe me didn’t make me feel even a sense of accomplishment. “I’m still working on that part,” I admitted.

Aleks raised his hands to wipe at his wet face. As soon as he was done, he curled one long arm around his raised knees, then held out his hand. “I want to call my brother, please,” he said.

My stomach dropped out at that.

So my words hadn’t been enough to convince him I was just trying to help him.

Fuck, that hurt.

But hell if I’d go back on my word. And it wasn’t like I could really blame him for choosing his brother over me.

I unlocked the phone and handed it to him. “Our location can’t be traced so you’ll have to tell him where we are,” I said. “We’re in Huxley. It’s a small town on the southeast side of Lake Chelan. This house is a foreclosure that’s about three miles north of highway ninety-seven. It’s on Parkview Lane.”

Aleks studied me for a moment, then dialed. I was surprised when he put the phone on speaker. As it rang, he softly said, “He’s going to kill you for this.”

The words weren’t spoken as a threat or in some kind of vendetta-like fashion. In fact, he almost sounded regretful. I had no doubt who he was talking about.

The line rang twice before Dante answered. “Aleks? Aleks, is that you?”

Regret went through me at the sound of the man’s panicked voice, but it wasn’t until Aleks began crying again that I felt the bile rise in my own throat.